Nyeri Women:-Husband Beaters,or is it a woman Scorned?

Any man who grew up during my days was taught that long held unwritten rule that MEN DON'T CRY!In fact, our fathers used to increase the intensity of the beatings when we cried or lacked bravado in the face of that thick bamboo stick being used to administer painful canes on our backsides for what they deemed a 'failure to measure up' on our end as their ‘heir apparent’.

The slightest hint of discomfort or welled up tears in our eyes would be met by a harsh reprimand for us to ‘man up’! This meant, you clench your teeth as tight as you can, apply some brain freeze maneuver to whatever pain inflicting situation you were in and feign amnesia like it is not happening, then soldier on like the man you are!

The same values are instilled on young men as they ‘face-the-knife’ at circumcision. Later in life, when as full grown men they are overburdened by work{or lack of it} and home pressures in the face of adversities of a poorly performing economy, they have to hold their heads up like its -7 degrees when it’s infact sweltering hot under their armpits.Oh..The pressure of being a man!

You see, in any African society and Kenya in particular, tradition forbids men from crying or speaking about any abuse administered to them, especially by women.

Nancy Baraza:Kenyan Society's Sacrificial Lamb?

Do you remember some time in 2011 when most Kenyans (me included) were literally glued to live TV watching with intrigue as candidates for the position of Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice were being grilled?

Do you remember also how in glee you were when they were publicly ridiculed with questions concerning their sexuality? It made a good laugh,right?Im sure for some men it made a good enough ice breaker to chat up that sumptuous but elusive office intern, right?

Now >>fast forward>> to the events that have unfolded since 31st Dec 2011….

At this point let me introduce the cast of our Kenyan Soap Opera {Sound track*Smooth melodious Mexican lady singing in the background*}

Jaffer Isaac..The Kenyan President that never will be.. Phew!

On the tube this morning for yet another time was Jaffer Isaac-‘The Kenyan presidential aspirant that never will be’ on the Power Interview on Citizen TV.

Oh,you don’t know who that is:let me bring you up to speed with my last blog on this character: http://www.ogeezone.blogspot.com/2011/09/jaffer-isaac-ambitions-of-youth.html

If you missed the News as the curtains closed on 2011, Jaffer decided to call off his presidential bid for the 2012 national elections.Pheew!

I breathe a sigh of relief for all Kenyan youth who would have yet again buried their head in their hands in utter shame at misrepresentation because Jaffer Isaac epitomizes the mediocrity that is Kenyan ‘youth’politics.

Listening to him speak you realize that he lacks vision. Most of his ideologies are utopian if you ask me.

PayScale Kenya - Kenya Country Salary, Average Salaries

PayScale Kenya - Kenya Country Salary, Average Salaries

KCPE 2011: Genetic Dunderheads?

Last week I had a seemingly never ending debate with my colleagues at work on the dismal performance of school children in national exams in light of the 2011 KCPE results.

This debate was occasioned by demos by parents countrywide in a bid to oust head teachers whom they blamed for a below par show by their kids in the national exams.

Protesting parents have in the past weeks since the release of the exams been holding demos and storming poor performing school premises baying for the blood of the school heads.

What became apparent from the debate is that some kids are ‘genetically engineered’ to be dunderheads!

I bet you are thinking that is a shallow point of view, right? Well, before you crucify me in your minds and close the browser let me expound.

Kareke Mbiuki "Look..i'll give you 5K..Go ahead and give birth like rabbits.."..

There is a common Kenyan saying that goes...”Kuzaa sio kazi..Kazi ni kulea mwana... (Loosely translated..Giving birth is not work, the real work is raising the child...)

It therefore sounded to me like complete lunacy when recently on National TV during an opening ceremony for a new public maternity wing an MP declared that he is giving women in his constituency an incentive to get pregnant and give birth.

In a heavy Meru accent the legislator said..” mimi naendelea kupingia watoto ndebe muendelee kuzaana tujaze ndunia ili kura zitoshe…kama ulikuwa umeenda mbreak urundi ili tuungane na nyinyi tunjaze ndunia,”NKT!!!

Not Every Somali Looking guy is AL-SHABAAB...

I was in Nairobi town today.I could feel the uneasiness in the city with most Nairobians on 100% natural radar alert.The slightest of bang noises would send the next person infront of me to walk three-to four steps faster then look behind to see what was happening.

Two particular incidences made me blog today.

SCENE 1:

Im on the 10th Flr of Teleposta towers,waiting for an elevator to the Ground Flr.Im late for an appointment so im pacing about waiting for the elevator.

The elevator opens and in it are 5 muslim women all covered up save for their eyes..I take one step back.If ur in Kenya considering the recent happenings between Kenya and Somalia,u know what came into my mind.....Al Shabaab!Then considering i was on the 10th Flr..hmmm.how convinient...

I think these women were more scared by my towering  6.8ft frame than i was of them and the thought that they were strapped with explosives ready to scream Allah-u-Akbar then BOOOOOM!!

Facebook Monitors you even when you log out...

Social network site Facebook has admitted that it monitors every single web page you visit, even when you have logged out.

So...you thought that when you hit that logout button on your phone or PC after updating your status on FB you are done...?In the era of cyber space and internet technology everything you do is monitored. 

In its latest privacy blunder, the social networking site was forced to confirm that it constantly tracks its 750million users, even when they are using other sites.

Internet users in a cybercafe in Kenya

Wangari Maathai..a Heroine that was never feted in her own home..

YET another dark Monday in September! 26th September 2011.

I woke up to the news of the death of the most celebrated environmentalist in Kenya and the world in general: Prof.Wangari Maathai

My heart sunk when I thought of the struggles she underwent during the 80s and 90s in the Moi era championing course. Many are the times she found herself hospitalized after brutal beatings by the police:sometimes,senseless.I recall TV footage of her in braided hair bloodied from being ‘plucked’ from her head by the police. Countless are the times she picketed against the powers that be over land grabbing.

Wangari Maathai:A real Conservationist

Countless are the times she was arrested and humiliated in public.Still, she soldiered on!What a spirit she had!

Thanks to Wangari Maathai Kenyans can still enjoy the peace and serenity of nature at Freedom Corner amidst all the hustle and bustle of the city. We would be having an eyesore of a tall structure instead.

Her life story reads like a fairy tale. She came from grass to grace literally speaking. Her awards cabinet is full of accolades that will make even the most celebrated of Hollywood stars throw a fit in jealousy.

Kenyan Illicit Brews: Why the ‘Black-out”….

9 Dead, 10 Others Turned Blind After Consuming Illicit Brew in Kenya

 Banned 'kill-me-quick' home-brew kills and blinds hundreds in Kenya

20 Blind As The Brew Death Toll Rises To 125

 

 These are just some of the headlines that feature in our local dailies when illicit brews are reported.
 

Mind boggling, right?

I had always wondered why most of the victims of illicit brew went blind after drinking. Why for instance didn’t they go, deaf, dumb, or even complete lunatic?

After much pondering, consultation with peers and research, I came to know the root cause of this.

I must admit reading the seemingly nerdy material in my research made me reminisce  my High School Chemistry teacher ,Mr Okumu.Teaching chemical bonding during the afternoon double Chemistry lesson:90 minutes-most part of which half the class was dozing after a heavy lunch constituting beans and Ugali !{Madondo power} is not an easy task for the most hardened of teachers. Little wonder some of my colleagues opted to ‘dropping’ the subject for the much favored Biology, I on the other hand soldiered on.

But I digress…yet again...

Any Kenyan reading this is well aware that most of the deaths caused by illicit brews hail from the Central Province of Kenya. Rarely will you hear of such incidences in Western, Nyanza, Rift Valley provinces for example. This is because the fermentation of the brew follows the due process without any catalysts.