Women and children should not be killed unless and until women and children are killed. If women and children are killed then more women and children can be killed. If women and children are killed then more women and children should be killed. If women and children are killed then more women and children must be killed. – Wambui Mwangi,…
Category: Commentary
Tell Me a Story
When Governor Kidero raised his hand and let it accelerate rapidly towards Women’s Representative Rachel Shebesh’s face he made a very public statement – a statement that has been made, and reiterated for generations: when a woman gets in your face, it is advisable to remind her of where she belongs, and using physical force is the most convenient way…
Lights, Camera, Fire
And so when I finally decided to write I sat down at my computer and began to think. Steam from the cup of coffee on the side of my desk warming my fingers. Thoughts swirled around in my head. Egypt, Syria, The USA, South Africa, Kenya. Kenya. We burned the airport and the analysts came out. Everyone spoke, and with…
Teach Them to Talk; Then Teach Them to Speak.
Life isn’t at all like what you imagine, but that can’t mean you stop imagining, can it? – The Artful Dodger K’naan wrote this amazing Op Ed in the NY Times on 8th December. Turns out that life is a lot complicated once you become a big musician. Before writing his 3rd album K’naan’s producers bought him breakfast. Thankfully, they…
I Occupy, Therefore I am
To occupy means to fill or take up a space of time. Once one has filled that space, they may, in theory, take charge of it. This is seen in statements like “the occupying army.” Of course, in order for you to decide to occupy somewhere you must not have been there in the first place. You can’t go to…
Yes, Sir. We Accept Your Offer
The British government, in all their gracious splendour, has decided that the Mau Mau veterans are to be rewarded for the torture that happened to them at the hands of the colonial government. William Hague (no relation to the other hague) gave a statement that the British government understands “the pain and grievance felt by those who were involved in the…
Abracapower
On Sunday I attended an event where one speaker said “A society with strong women will never fail.” This was a great statement, until it was qualified with “because women are mothers of society, and we have another great mother right here.” The event was highlighting the achievements of a friend who has done truly amazing things. And somehow motherhood…
Arrest Them, Arrest Them All.
If you just dropped onto the planet from wherever then I should inform you that there was an occupy Parliament in town yesterday. Boniface Mwangi (who I previously wrote about here) led a crowd of people through town to standing outside parliament, raising placards and culminating in pouring blood on some pigs. The police, in retaliation to the blood that had been spilled…
Justice, A Concept We Used to Know
A friend narrated how she went into a room and talked about the Kenyan honour at a party. After she said those words, everybody burst out laughing. It was a joke. Integrity as an integral part of Kenyan thinking? Unheard of. It is common knowledge that the government will, inevitably, steal from us. Anyone who dares dream otherwise is naive,…
Give Unto Caesar A Full Page Advertisement
I’ve been bothered for a while now. One question, has been eating at me over the last couple of weeks. What is the point of all these congratulatory advertisements? Every single day since the promulgation there has been a plethora of advertisements congratulating Hon. Freedom and Billy on winning their seats in government. I can’t help but wonder who they…