closing the sukuma kenya chapter

It's taken me a few months to think this through and now its thought...

It's time for Sukuma Kenya to lay to rest. I believe it has done more than what it was originally set out to do when we started this almost two years ago. It began one not-so-fine day in december...when... ah shit...we seen and heard it all too many times...

Anyways, like all things driven by sense and a desire for change, it evolved and we joined the march to tell the politicians to stop feeding themselves and start feeding the people. So much for that...



But there are those that never tire and never give up no matter how unreachable it seems to be...MARS Group, Philo Ikonya, Bunge La Mwananchi are amongst a handful of movements that Sukuma Kenya has been fortunate enough to learn from.

Unfortunately, the struggle goes on but the noise in the tangled matrix of the internet has grown loud enough to show us all that it might just have a lot more use than telling all our friends what colour underwear we are wearing today.

Or maybe not...

And life goes on...just the way we like it...



As for Sukuma Kenya...clearly there ain't much more to say...the book is incomplete but it's the end anyways...

Pamoja...

Why the government is broke

It's pretty obvious to most of us that Kenya's so-called government is broke because they ate it all amongst themselves in tax free salaries, flowers for their offices, holidays for their wives and mistresses and billions of shillings in ostentatious cars...but for those of you who would like a little extra reading and even more proof in just how this happened, the MARS Group as always go through lengthy and necessary research to show us Kenyans that we are getting screwed.

Click on image below for the erudite facts and
WAKE UP KENYA before its too late...

KENYATTA DAY – what’s there to celebrate?

By George Nyongesa
Bunge la Mwananchi

Fact: The Government of Kenya (GoK) will on Kenyatta Day spend on Airforce jets and State festivities over K.Shs. 300 million raised from high taxes on fuel, electricity and water; whereas thousands of Kenyans are cold in the IDP camps and millions more cannot afford even one meal a day.

Fact: The Government of Kenya (GoK) will on Kenyatta Day spend on Airforce jets and State festivities over K.Shs. 300 million raised from high taxes on fuel, electricity and water; whereas thousands of Kenyans are cold in the IDP camps and millions more cannot afford even one meal a day.

Fact: The Grand Coalition’s fat cabinet of 42, squanders K.Shs. 46.2 million per month while 5 Kenyans die per day in Turkana district, thousands eat wild berries and rats and millions of poor families are on a permanent skip-a-meal-a-day program.

Fact: Kenyans, as you sit, squirm and sweat in the hot sun (at Uhuru Park or wherever they decide to take you), or are drenched in the pouring rain, listening to their sanctimonious and lip-service speeches about "hard times", “the struggle”, and fictitious achievement or politically correct mention of it is “the time for change”; your Members of Parliament (MP), sitting in the covered dais away from the harsh elements and enjoying "the Coke side of life" will have every reason to celebrate Kenyatta Day:

1. the GoK gives your MP a tax free salary of K.Shs. 1.1 million for working 12 days a month plus lots of allowance such airtime, mileage, hardship etc;

2. your MP can from his one month salary buy Unga daily at K.Shs. 85 for 35 years whereas you can’t afford 1 packet of Unga from your wages and you don’t even know where tomorrow’s packet will come from;

3. the GoK gives your MP K.Shs. 15 million as housing scheme allowance whereas thousands of Kenyans are squatters and homeless on the streets of cities;

4. besides giving your MP a Mercedes Benz or a Prado as official car, the GoK gives your MP K.Shs. 3.3 million to buy a family car that is fuelled by your taxes, whereas, you – the taxpayer, walks to work because you cannot afford hiked Matatu fares;

5. your MP receives a life insurance cover of K.Shs. 10 million while 90% of Kenyans cannot access health care.

My fellow Kenyan:

- Are you struggling because of the high cost of basic commodities such as Unga?

- Are you struggling because you were displaced in post-election violence?

- Are you struggling because of the high cost of fuel?

- Are you struggling because of the lack of a job?

- Are you struggling because the minimum wage policy has kept your wage so low?

- Are you struggling because of poverty?

- Are you struggling because you are landless, a squatter and homeless?

If the GoK, the MPs and political class does not CARE about YOU why should you join them in Kenyatta Day celebrations?

Personally, I am not participating in the Kenyatta day celebration unless the Government of Kenya at minimum and immediately agrees to the following demands:

1. Reduce 2kg packet of Unga to K.Shs. 30/=

2. Reduce Petrol prices to K.Shs. 65/= per litre.

3. Reduce Electricity tariffs to K.Shs. 3/= per KW/h.

4. Reduce Kerosene prices to K.Shs. 35/= per litre.

5. Reduce Bread price to K.Shs. 20/= per 500mg.

6. Reduce 2kg packet of Sugar to K.Shs. 40/=

I invite you to make this statement with me!

Bunge la Mwananchi

Politics is about exploiting the poor

It's Blog Action day and this year bloggers around the world are you uniting in one common cause: making noise against poverty. Does it help throwing more cluster into cyberspace? I doubt it. The poor will still be poor at the end of today and the rich will be richer. Do we splash logos, banners and pictures of emaciated children across the screens because we sincerely believe it will help or because it makes going to sleep easier? What's special about today is that there are hundreds of thousands of people who are concerned for whatever reason giving a few minutes or hours in their day to something that does not have any direct impact on their lives. But the best thing about this is that there are people out there who are united in this and not being paid to be concerned. No cushy job in an air-conditioned office with an SUV parked outside while they sit in a workshop and come up with some solution to world poverty (with no conscience about the fact that they are part of the problem - yes that includes me minus the SUV).

So let us have a minute of silence for these people - not the poor ones - the rich ones...

And let us have two minutes of silence for that other lot of people that call themselves Ministers, Members of Parliament, Prime Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Diplomats and of course Presidents. Now this lot ( at least in Kenya) are a really special breed. They have mastered the art of not just making a living from poverty but getting the very poor people they represent to pay them to get even richer. Geniuses. I salute you.

So now that we have had a few minutes of silence for Patriots Paid to Protect the Planet, I would like to make a noise about the other kinds of heroes. The silent kind who don't do any of this for a living or for the feel good factor. They have been around for too long to get a kick out of any of this.

And I needn't look very far. Today I want to make a noise about two people:


Mr and Mrs Pabari.
My mother and father.

change the conversation

Blog Action Day 2008...

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

one day. one issue. thousands of voices

October 15th is Blog Action Day