Thank You so much for 2014

Yours truly has got many things to be grateful for; but to you I can never say thank you enough. This, 2014 you came through for me big. Am honored and truly thankful for your kindness, wit, and love. This is to wish you a happy and prosperous 2015. Asanteni sana!

• Amber Westerborg
• Atkins Oriko
• Beatrice Kodero
• Beryl Magwa
• Beryl Ooro
• Betty Mithia
• Charles Lwanga-Ntale
• Cosmas Butunyi
• Davis Adieno
• Debra Ojuka
• Eastone Owino
• Emmanuel Oduor
• Emmanuel Rukundo
• Esther Kimani
• Evelien Bosch
• Hilary Ngeso
• Jason Braganza
• Joseph Bonyo
• Kapere Ndege
• Karen Rono
• Kingsley Sheteh
• Mariam Ibraim
• Mike Wamaya
• Peace Nganwa
• Sally Owuonda
• Samora Kapere
• Stephanie Tung
• Steve Kenei
• Twailer Chelal
• *** (someone am not allowed to mention his name here; you know who you are)

"Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier" ~ Mother Teresa

They gave us a 'non-NATION'

I want a neo-KENYA. Give me my Kenya – OUR Kenya. 

They gave us a 'non-NATION' - a country; a state - patched up space inhabited by conveniently settled ethnicities.

They gave us a ‘non-NATION’ - lands and wealth they already stolen from us - owned by them; not us.

They gave us a non-NATION - a creed; a prayer to cram; an anthem to brainwash us and our children and our children’s children to the fakeness of a NATION that never existed.

They gave us a non-NATION – a flag; an insincere symbolism of fake blackness (Afrianness); fake redness of blood of just a few important ones; fake whiteness of non-existent peace riddled with undertones of deep hatred; fake greenness of the lands – flora and fauna not ours but theirs.

They gave us a non-NATION - already deeply unequal; deeply divided; deeply sectarian.

They called it Kenya; but there was never a NATION. Just a country - an engineering of the people who wanted it to stay that way – a country, coordinates on the world map, an enterprise; a corporation; GDP; because they profited from it and planned to profit from it further. Not develop us.

So forgive me when I disregard that freedom twaddle. That self-decided heroism. 

I am Kenyan; but I do not know what Kenya really means; what Kenya truly stands for! Because that’s the dishonest vagueness that was handed down to me by our greedy; selfish fore-fathers; our ‘heroes’. And am expected to pass it down that way – religiously to my unsuspecting children.

What did they free us from? Poverty? – NO. Disease? – NO. Ignorance? – NO. Gave us better institutions to govern ourselves? NO – in fact they screwed up some of the white man’s better legislation/laws.

So what are they heroes for? Fighting for they stomachs and their children's stomachs? Or for conquering their subdued folks?

So why should we sing their names; why should our children be condemned to cramming; reciting the names of a people so selfish they took our nation even before we began. Why should our streets, our schools, libraries, hospitals, bridges be named after them?

They gave us a non-NATION – Luo, Kikuyu, Kamba, Kalenjin, Luhya etc NOT Kenya. But they baptized us Kenyans. Divided us into ethnic little-hoods but remembered to balkanize us into a fake ‘nation’ – Kenya.

A Kenya to refer to when legitimacy to plunder further is needed; A Kenya to summon when authority to dominate is required; A Kenya to call on to when sovereignty to protect themselves and their perverse wealth is of the essence.

They gave us a non-NATION. Hungry; sick, ignorant and esteem-less beings - oppressed by the white man and fleeced, raped, maimed and killed by the black 'hero' – the Shujaa!

I want my nation; our nation. A redefined meaningful sense of nationhood - that inspires genuine patriotism - not forced; fake sense of sovereignty - Kenya one-ness that never exists.

I want our 'nation' - of fairness in opportunity;

I want our ‘nation’ – of greatness in aspiration and discipline to work and live our dreams;

I want our 'nation' of inalienable rights to own something; to share our prosperity;

I want our nation of some sort of ‘true morals’ – not shameless double standing.

I want a neo-KENYA. Give me my Kenya – OUR Kenya. 

10 Kenyans be sure to find down the comments section

For Kenya, sometimes when there is little time to read the whole thing, go to the comment section and have some fun. Thou shalt find:

1. The sectarian, ethnocentric tribal lieutenant. Does not give a rat's shit who said it, what it was, how it was said - so long as the title says something against 'baba' or inches close to Uhuru-not-good. You can predict the rest of the text.

2. The wannabe PLO. The cheap, ordinary Kenyan who just found some space to excise with the few words they picked up off the thesaurus. 'Cantankerous' 'Idiosyncratic' 'Exasperating' 'Plebiscite' 'Achondroplasiastic' etc. Too many disjointed grotesque jargon devoid of substance (notice am trying to do it).

3. The verbose one: - hehe the one who should just go write a rejoinder or response to the article. Missed the communication skills class on 'summarising'. Comments always close to the size of the main article itself. And they can do many of them by the way.

4. The intellectual conman. The truly intelligent one with no sense of occasion. This one will tire you with theories of Walt Rostow and Socrates and Niccolo Machiavelli and Adam Smith. Has a point but fails to notice the diversity of the audience. Will easily loose you in their argument. Most of the time it is for show (you can bet his/her name will begin with a vowel 'O' or 'A' hehe).

5. The vulgar fraction. Do not spend time looking for the point. It is all about insults and abuse and shameless vulgarism. You either get pissed off if you are new to this stuff or learn to see the humour. Their comments are full of 'F' and 'D' and 'P' and 'C' words.

6. The shameless pitcher: This one smells opportunity. Never mind the article was about maternal mortality - they will post a link to their facebook fan page advertising their 'Ongata-Rongai world-class fumigation services'. They obviously never read the thing - they just saw so many people who are worth the pitch.

7. The know-it-all, ‘diasporic’, well-travelled, seen-it-alls. Their exemplification is full of "in the west" "in Europe" "in the States" "Go to Abu Dhabi you will see' etc. They will demean all other comments with their global views and self-righteousness.

8. The sorry slow-head. Never gets it. Bad spelling; terrible grammar. Arguments always out on a tangent. Lacks even the simplest and most obvious facts. You wonder why they showed up on the comment box.

9. The ruthless, die-hard debater. Has too much time. Probably lives on the net. Commenting, debating, hating is their job. Must have been in those upper-primary debating clubs of "a teacher is better than a doctor" Do not start an argument with them. It never ends.

10. The crack-head clown. Funny chap who draws humour out of even the dimmest most mundane comments. There is always something to make fun of and people like their comments a lot.

What kind of audience are YOU?

"IGAD; EAC - treat Salva Kiir as part of the problem"

5 reasons why the South Sudan crisis must now be dealt with decisively

The crisis in South Sudan now threatens to compromise regional security, peace and stability in Eastern Africa. It is undermining economic and political interests of states in the East African Community (EAC). The region has been putting out fires in the DRC, Burundi and Somalia. A new conflict just dampens momentum for growth - tranquility is attractive for business.

IGAD and EAC heads of state must now loose the friendly posturing and treat Salva Kiir Mayardit as part of the problem – he does not enjoy exclusive legitimacy of office. 

     1. Crisis undermining investment:

Kenyan investors who already had a foothold in South Sudan especially in Banking (Equity, KCB), insurance, ICT, aviation and construction now have their investments hanging in the balance. Businesses belonging to Kenyans were looted during the heat of the violence in late 2013 and early 2014. Some businesses have closed down; others have scaled down operations fearing further losses.

2. Job losses:

Thousands of East Africans, Kenyans especially have lost jobs due to the ensuing crisis in Juba. In Kenya for example some 12 thousand people were registered by the foreign office as working in South Sudan; another 20 thousand were found there unregistered when war broke out in December 2014. All these folks came back to compete for employment. The new directive by the Kiir administration to expunge all expats just exacerbates the problem. 

3. A blow to regional trade:

South Sudan is an important export destination for East African goods especially for Kenya and Uganda. Kenyan exports to South Sudan were equal to 10.2% of all trade to COMESA in 2013. South Sudan is the 4th largest export destination for Kenyan goods and services out of the 18 COMESA countries. Since most of the trade is carried out via road transport; continued conflict diminishes the volume of trade.

4. Slowing down EAC regional integration:

The crisis continues to put some of the ambitious joint EAC infrastructure projects like LAPSSET and Standard Gauge railway into jeopardy for as long as it lasts. Conflict slows down entry of South Sudan into the EAC which would be great for trade and investment in Eastern Africa.

5. Refugee crisis getting out of hand:

East African states – Kenya and Uganda are already overwhelmed by the influx of refugees from DRC, South Sudan, and Somalia. The refugee situation precipitated by the Juba crisis is stretching capacity to host refugees beyond limit. Kenya now has more than half a million refugees to deal with. Moreover, the refugee situation is proffering security challenges: - proliferation of illegal arms, influx of contraband and penetration of the Al Shabab terrorist cell in the horn of Africa that has already caused enough mayhem. The South Sudan conflict could as well spread into the refugee camps.

So what if Mr President was pelted with rotten eggs?

So what if Uhuru Kenyatta was pelted with rotten eggs? Who gives a rat’s shit if the president was heckled; meeting disrupted by ‘rowdy’ youth? Who cares whether it was ‘local politics’ or national?

Look George Bush ducked for cover from a missile shoe in Iraq. Obama was heckled just last month at a press briefing on GITMO: 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/24/medea-benjamin-the-woman-who-heckled-obama.html

I will say three things here quickly and succinctly for ye who have got an ear to listen. I will leave my neck (as per usual) for you to chop, ye who are already Jubilee or CORD on whatever matter. But I will leave an open mind as well for ye noble Kenyans who argue facts. Three points:

• The two way traffic thing that is RESPECT
• Hooliganism amongst the youth: - the microcosm of moral rot; unemployment; inequality (ethnic and socio-economic) in our country that we have paid lip service to fixing for way too long
• Genuine solutions – not gimmickry and political expediency

On RESPECT

There is a chronic self-entitlement that president Uhuru and the people who believe he belongs to them portray in this country that is appalling and nauseating. Respect like the old adage goes – is two way traffic. It is earned, not thrashed down people’s throats. And there are two things that Kenyans must learn to separate: - i) RESPECT for the institution of the Presidency of Kenya; and ii) RESPECT for the person of Uhuru Kenyatta. Those who combine the two and sit on moral high horses administering tirades at us all who would like to distinguish the two are moral conmen that must be treated with the contempt they deserve. If you want me to respect you and regard you as ‘My President’ which is a high honor I would love to accord the gentlemen at state house – Give me reason to do so. You don’t get that by yelling at the top of your voice at roadsides and public rallies about how important you are and deserve exclusive RESPECT.

You rarely see people call President Kagame names, or vilify him on social media or disrupting his meetings. It is because he has earned their respect. He picked up a country at the brink of the precipice; on its knees destroyed by ethnocentrism and sectarian politics no different from the Kenyan case. He has helped unite the nation, and bring it to the global arena of international political economy. Rwanda’s economy grew on average 7% over the past decade; country showed best progress in Africa in combating poverty; reducing maternal mortality; country now has one of the best healthcare systems in the continent – spending largest on health (8%) in East Africa; basic public goods and delivery of services is impressive.

You my president has spent your year or so making yourself look good; clearing your name. Reminds me of the Swahili saying: Kizuri cha jiuza, kibaya chajitembeza (If you have to say you are awesome, then you aint)

Quit posturing as a tribal chieftain; respect the rights of every Kenyan and accord then the respect and dignity that they deserve (especially those who did not vote for you). Act like a stateseman! This is far from wearing military combat regalia; sharing meals at backstreet food kiosks; pall bearing at funerals; dancing with kids or giggling at public events like a sorority girl. READ i) meritocracy in public service; ii) genuine interest and action on furthering devolution; ii) decisive action on insecurity, iv) addressing high cost of living; iv) and according young people meaningful space at the decision making table (just to mention but a few).

On Hooliganism amongst Luo youth

What we like to call ‘rowdy youth’ or ‘hooliganism’ in Kenya is a microcosm of the inequality, unemployment and moral rot in our country – leaders using young people to further their political interests, promising heavens and delivering hell. 

   

FOREMOST: Young people in Kenyan must now clever up, however desperate and hopeless the situation, and desist from utlilising their energy in furthering political agenda that they least understand.

That said, hooliganism amongst the youth is a problem in Kenya – not an exclusive domain for Luo Nyanza like some people would like to paint it. They are hired by Waititu, Sonko, Kidero, Ongoro etc here in Nairobi when needed to disrupt traffic and make political statements.

Yelling and vilifying the youth with 140 character tweets or facebook updates will never fix the problem. It is not rocket science – fix the economy; increase real economic and employment opportunities (NOT Waiguru’s fake jobs) and you will wish to see young people hanging around politicians, chirruping and pelting stones. Until we substantively address unemployment, deep rooted economic inequalities that lock out the youth from active participation in the economy – young people will keep throwing stones. And God forbid, one day they will blow up this nation.

On Genuine solutions – not gimmickry and political expediency

This is the point where I ask you to listen; and you should. And this is the reason why President Uhuru will keep hustling for respect in futility. The president and his Jubilee government must quit pretending to offer solutions when all they do is attend to their idiosyncrasies far removed from the plight of the people they purport to care so much about. That’s the nonsense that is the Uawzo fund; and that’s the nonsense that is the 1.1 billion shilling pocket change he flew to go peddle in Migori County yesterday.

Look I was born and raised in Miwani – at the heart of the Sugar-belt region in Kenya. The poverty is despicable for a region that boasts the only ecological zone in Kenya that can efficiently produce sugar – and it used to do so. Sugarcane is a lucrative business known world over. So what keeps them poor? The sugarcane industry in Kenya (and this is where you are free to call me conspiracist) was deliberately brought to its knees and neglected by 4 consecutive administrations because of political-economic reasons we can argue on another platform.

My point is that the 1.1 billion shillings that the president went to dangle in Nyanza has very little to do with fixing the real chronic issues that have killed sugarcane farming in the region. Why do I say so? There are 5 milling factories in Luo Nyanza – Muhoroni, Chemelil, Miwani, Kibos (all in Kisumu County) and Sony Sugar in Awendo. I can tell you for a fact that the problem with those industries is with the MANAGEMENT and not the areas that they owe farmers (which is the non-problem the president went to fix). They have always been mismanaged, people used to walk into those factories and emerge with sacks of 50shs notes during KANU campaign time. That’s why they end up not paying farmers, that why they end up suspending operations, that’s why they are perennially in receivership and always squandering farmers investments.

Mr President – PRIVATISE all those cane milling factories and let the private sector do what they do best. We have invested a lot in improving the private sector in this country, they must now be let to reap us benefits. Kenyans in the sugar-belt region care least about who owns Chemelil sugar factory – so long as it is crushing cane and paying famers in time; so long as Miwani sugar factory can keep employing fork lifters, electrical engineers, cane cutters from the area etc; so long as Muhuroni Sugar can keep generating spillovers in terms of Small Micro and Medium Enterprises and informal sector business like they used to do. Your graceful 1.1 billion clearing areas won’t fix the real problem but simply kick the can down the road – as you dance your way home with political mileage.  

Free public money from such wasteful, abysmal expenditures and use it to invest in proper infrastructure in the sugarbelt region – the feeder roads in the area that make cane farming a nightmare. Farmers cultivate sugarcane but cannot afford tea with sugar! Even after painstakingly tilling and patiently working a farm for 18 months. So when someone sits somewhere and calls such a farmer lazy – you baffle me.

You see, Mr President the 1 billion shillings allocated to Athi Galana irrigation project in FY2013/14 is such kind of ‘in-genuine’ solutions that fail the feasibility and allocative efficiency test. Same as this 1.1 billion areas clearing PR exercise. Go to Siaya County at the former Yala Swamp and you will see what private sector investment in agribusiness can do – Dominion Farm.

I wonder - If it wasn’t politricks then what? - I ask myself; why did the president choose the one political hot bed in Luo Nyanza to go dishing his political confectioneries? If he was genuine (and I would love to believe that he was), there are 4 other cane farming zones in the sugarbelt region all in a politically conducive, receptive Kisumu County. Why did the president choose the one county where political tensions were ripe; where a governor had just been threatened with impeachment up to the supreme court; the controversial ODM-PDP-Jubilee governor? To fuel tensions and blame it on the perennially politiking, lazy, hooliganist, intolerant Luos?

NOTE: I am well aware that there are those who will disagree with me from the 1st sentence; there are those who will agree with me from the title. Well – accord yourself the dignity to reflect and argue suitably.

Don't be too full of yourself

Living Kenya's real politik: 

Of Gladiators, Transitionals and Spectators

Verily, verily I tell you. Hark my voice. If you had anything in any way to do with the installation of President Uhuru, and you haven’t yet gotten your piece of the meat, or bones - YOU ARE TIME BARRED. The King wound up the rewards, rents and favours machinery last night with decorations for the oldies - the likes of Mwakwere, Ongeri etc.

So check yourself; you there. You who were so mad about the 'young' savvy president you were willing to butcher your neighbour, abuse and insult your friends on social media.

DO THE MATH. What have you gotten in return for your loyalty? For your grand standing? For your tribal fiefdom? Maybe chronic insecurity - you and I still living scared in the same Nairobi. Maybe poor public transport – You and I still chocking in dust, traffic jam packed rowdy matatus? Maybe the ingering spectre of poverty - its 15th you and I worried about our pockets?

Next time you go wearing party colours and chanting people’s names and reciting their awesomeness, remember me. I am your countryman, I might not be your brother, or your friend, or your tribe, but I got KENYAN blood running deep down my vena cava. I got the resilience and go get it attitude, same as you, that defines who we are as Kenyans.

Remember me. Remember that we will still share the same Matatu to wok, to town; that we will still share the same dingy pubs downing a Tusker, drowning our sorrows, chanting our frustrations at poorer bar maids and reliving our aspirations in our drunken selves. Remember that they shall have found themselves perks - all friend and foe - somewhere in government, in some state authority, department, embassy etc. sipping on their Moet, Chivas Regals and Hennessies in Karen.

Folks it is never that serious. Politics I mean. It is you and me, lowlies who haven’t gotten the hang of it. It is you and me, desperate with our sorry sore cheap lives that go on hating.

My political science professor at Maseno University, Tom Mboya taught me Basic concepts in political science. He said there are three levels of Political participation: 1) Gladiator stage, 2) Transitional, and 3) Spectator.

Gladiator stage my friend is where you find the folks on the news last night, receiving jobs and accolades. The ones you defended so hard when they were accused of hate mongering – like Makwere, or presiding over misapplication of state funds – like Ongeri. The ones the electorate rejected at the ballot at the ballot like Gitahae. Yes, despite all that, they are in government, ambassadors – the true face of Kenya out there - in DC, India, UN etc.

You my friend, my brother, my countryman – you are down here with me – in our Spectator life. Ordinary Kenyans, cheap, but not too poor to afford 10MBs for hate mongering on face book. Busy hustling for our survival but not too occupied to buy party emblems, red ribbons, oranges and yellow hats to show up at Kamkunji, Uhuru Park, Tononoka, Bukhungu, 54, Afraha, Kericho Green etc. That is our role – showing up for the numbers on TV later on. Singing ‘baba’, ‘shiyenyu ni shiyenyu’, ‘kamwana’. And of course the solemn one, showing up at 4am, standing on long ques for 7 hours to do the sacrosanct duty – VOTE.

I won’t say much about the Transitionals – but take care, they are the ones that look almost like you and me, but they are not us. They have access to the Gladiators and are in ‘transition there’. And they have access to us – so they can peddle all the falsehopes and whip emotions. They are the ones who block you from accessing ‘our man’ – ‘baba’ – ‘omundu khumundu’ when they ascend to power and we need to be rewarded.

My 2pence counsel to you this morning: - Do the arithmetic. Does the math add up? Elect your level of participation and live it, knowing the true consequences and opportunities that come with it.

#Okwaroztake - I am a spectator – at least for now; an open minded one, am I?

The 3 games in the USA - Africa summit:

America playing catch up with the Orient; Obama playing legacy politricks; and Africa playing host

Last week President Obama hosted Africa’s crème de la crème in Washington at the ‘US-Africa summit’. This was by all means a good thing and deserves a round of applause. However, it is imperative that Africans put this meeting into context and reflect on its efficacy.

Ask yourself: who decided the timing and schedule of the US – Africa summit? Who decided the venue? Who elected who to invite and who to alienate? Who determined the agenda?

Symbiosis or clever lopsidedness?
This summit came at a point in time when both the USA and Africa need one another.  Maybe USA needed Africa more. To claw back on Chinese influence in Africa after a lost decade fighting terror in the middle-East, to reassert US hegemony and ‘big-brotherdom’, to tap into Africa natural resources and to increase trade and investment in the region.

Trade: - Over the past decade, US-Africa trade declined substantially when some of US arch rivals and Africa’s trading partners like the European Union, China and Japan expanded their portfolio of trade and investment in the continent. Notably, EU-Africa trade expanded to an all-time high of about US$200 billion in 2013. Chinese – Africa trade likewise increased exponentially from just about US$10 billion in 2000 to US$ 170 billion in 2013 (largely exports to Africa - 70%). Meanwhile big brother USA’s trade that stood at US$80 billion (US$ 40 billion imports from Africa due to AGOA and US$ 20 billion exports to Africa) in 2011 declined to US$ 60 billion (US$ 40 imports from Africa and US$ 20 billion exports to Africa) in 2013. It is important to note that even the small portfolio of trade with Africa (US$ 20 billion exports) was very crucial for American jobs – supporting over 100,000 jobs. Therefore for America, this summit could not have been for a better reason than to explore and expand export opportunities for American goods and services in Africa.

 For Africa, this summit came at a time when the continent was ripe with opportunity and required strategic partnerships for trade, investment and for combating some of the ills that have perennially hamstrung economic, social and political progress in the continent like terrorism and violent conflict. It’s important to note that Africa’s trade with the rest of the globe accounts for only about 2%. Yet Africa is home to 14% of the global population; has an increasing middleclass population which will expand to 100 million by the end of 2015 and has consumer spending projected to increase to 80% by 2020.  This means market, that the continent could bargain with or leverage for intra-Africa trade. Moreover, African countries are prospecting or already exploiting and commercialising substantive natural resources, oil and gas, in Ghana, Mozambique, Angola, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and South Sudan for example. African countries have also made considerable progress in regional integration and cooperation. The East African community for example was one of the fastest growing regional blocks in 2013. All this is evidence to the economic and political opportunities that Africa is realising that require strategic partnership and cooperation (multilateral or bilateral) like with the USA.

Just a playing ground or real prospects?

Africa is now undoubtedly a pot of gold, and a beehive of economic and political activity that could be a tipping point in global political economy. How the super powers like China and USA handle Africa could mean great opportunities or their greatest undoing. Could Africa be merely the amphitheatre for deep seated political and economic wrangles between the West and the Orient? Are African leaders alive to this reality? How could Africans exploit this for the best interest of the continent? These are difficult questions that require reflection amongst Africans.

Nonetheless, three possible good things that I hoped the summit could herald. Maybe Africans should check with their Presidents and entourage if any of these came through:  

·         Increasing USA Africa trade and investment through a strengthen and extended AGOA.  

·      Enhancing trade competitiveness in Africa: - African countries can exploit partnerships with USA to speed up progress towards meeting the Bali agreements on trade facilitation for example. This could also pave the way for useful Public Private Partnerships under AGOA that enhance competitiveness. Such links could also help build the capacity of private sector in African countries to promote investment in key sectors like energy, agriculture and other trade related infrastructure.

·   Africa US cooperation could also support and deepen regional integration in many of Africa’s mushrooming regional blocks like the EAC, ECOWAS, SADC, and COMESA. US partnership in Trade Mark East Africa is a good example of how strategic cooperation could facilitate integration.

Tricky partnerships

Nonetheless, the flipside is that this manner of cooperation or partnerships between the USA and Africa could as well have been detrimental to Africa or yield dismal returns. The summit itself could just have been another of the many conferences of ‘nothing’ that have been witnessed in the past. The agreements and pronouncements made also risk benefiting the USA more, judging by the lopsidedness of the conduct of the meeting.

However, one thing poses a greater threat to possibilities of a favourable outcome both for the USA and African countries. Both the USA and African (as individual states and as AU) appear to be ill prepared for the outcomes of the conference. Why? The US is not the only country that has noticed that potential opportunities in Africa. China has, and adapted quickly, fronting innovative modalities for development financing (that some African countries are warming up to), pursuing fewer restrictions on credit/loans and assistance strategies. The USA on the other hand is stuck in idealist modalities for development cooperation. Further, while China is actively and aggressively engaging Africa in all corners, US infrastructure for economic diplomacy in Africa appears lame and ill suited to succeed. China currently has over 150 commercial attaches in different corners of Africa while the US department for commerce has presence in just about four countries in the continent each of which supported by no more than two officers.

Africa on the other hand has failed to determine a common political-economic agenda and framework for haggling with potential partners in the international arena. The continent (AU) was unable to meaningfully influence the conduct of the summit in terms of setting the agenda, agreeing the modalities for engagement and so on. However, it is fair to note that some regional blocks like the East African Community met ahead of the summit in Nairobi and compromised to front some of the EAC’s infrastructure projects like Lamu Port Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor project as a block instead of individual bilateral engagements. In fact the architecture of the summit was in such a way that it couldn’t allow serious bilateral or even multilateral dialogue for substantive action.

Legacy politricks?

The question that cannot escape being asked is that about the timing of the summit. Why did the Obama administration choose 2014 to host this meeting? Why so late in the course of his tenure? Was Africa ever seriously on his agenda? Was this Obama’s clever way of making peace with his clearly underwhelmed kins? Is this summit for Obama’s memoirs? Every US president has had something to take home to the books in their sunset days. Bill Clinton penned the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), that though not been fully exploited was something both for Africa and for the Democrat. George Bush, despite the bad name took the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to his memoirs as one of the greatest initiatives for Africa. PEPFAR was very successful in supporting programming and interventions for combating HIV/AIDS. So, when all is said and done, was this Obama’s legacy card for Africa?

Beyond selfies, cowboy boots and statesons, what?

In summary, when all the picture ops are exploited, when all the dinning and winning on White house south lawn are done; when all the interviews with CNN and curtains drawn o the US-Africa summit, what have African leaders brought back home? Beyond selfies, cowboy boots and Stetsons; what should they have returned to Africa with? May be three things:

·     Extension and strengthening of the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) beyond its expiry date in 2016. Strengthen the Act and encourage African countries to fully exploit the opportunities it offers. There are some countries that exported very little to the USA despite the provisions of AGOA.

·     A road map to a US-Africa trade and investment treaty: - The leaders could have laid the ground work for a bold move towards ratifying a treaty of partnerships (not necessarily of equals as many African leaders demand). They could have left Washington with a framework of action towards actualising this in the future.

·     From aid to partnerships: - This summit should have ignited the departure from more of aid or Official Development Assistance (ODA) or Humanitarian Assistance towards more of meaningful and inclusive partnerships for development financing, for combating terrorism and violent conflict, and addressing food insecurity and disasters like Ebola and HIV/AIDS. 

You do the math; sum up the expense of summoning 50 heads of state to the US for some 72 hrs and the returns. Check the bag of goodies that your ‘leader’ brought back home. Was it worth the hype? Are the prospects real?

You kill me Kenya!

You kill me Kenyans; with your shameless double standing, with your selective reasoning; with your insolence and ethnic chauvinism. You are poor (just like me). You own no land (just like me). You will die poor (just like me). Your children will inherit nothing (just like mine). But you are rich in your ethnicity – you are Luo, Kikuyu, kalenjin, Kamba, Luhya, Gussii, Ogiel bla bla. If ethnicity were monetized we would be billionaires! But you will die for your tribesman; what he owns you own too right? When you go home to your humility, you dine with him right?

Kenyans hark my voice. What your president and his company want you to do (and he's sure you will), is resign to the cheap lazy conversation of chest thumping and ethnocentrism and forget the real issue. How the point shifted from the chronic land grievances in the Coast instigated by historical land injustices to the guilt of former Lands Minister James Orango for not detecting illegal allocations, I wonder.

The point that people want to bury their heads in the sand and wish never existed is how a group of people found themselves in the Coast, settled in land that never belonged to them, but to people who were originally there, born there, displacing and disenfranchising them.

Kenyans it happened, all these will not end until we acknowledge that these injustices occurred. They have been well documented in the Truth Justice and Reconcilliation Commission report and the Ndungu report - of the Commission of Inquiry into the illegal/iregular allocation of public land. They will have to be addressed my fellow countrymen.

We all love Kenya. If you are young, take note that these folks in high office today will tear down this country to dust and leave us and our children this filth that they call Kenya and we will have to live in it or die in it. Wake up, we all hustle today to own 1/8ths of land in Nairobi when people are talking of thousands of hectares of land. But you are willing to defend them on social media, abuse, and murder and kill your 'facebook friends' because they are your fathers? Your brothers? Your mothers? Your tribe? Painful indeed!

Uhuru and Ruto are doing a great disservice to this nation. If they had no interest in addressing the 'sensitive' land issue - they should have kept off it and let Kenyans deal with it like we always have - accepted and moved on. Not open up a dangerous conversation they are not willing to honestly engage in. 

I hope no one finds this - hate mongering'. Am poor, I cannot afford 5 million Kshs bail. I only got my voice, my mind. Those are free, bequeathed to me by Ochieng Okwaroh (who never owned land) - no law, no man, can ever alienate or take them away, so long as they are just. I got no land and am not obsessed with land.

I am Okwaroh Ja' Paprombe. Good day Kenyans

Mr President: - focus on the real issues

Implement recommendations of TJRC and Ndungu reports

As Okwaroh I refuse to let people in public office insult my intelligence like Uhuru Kenyatta is trying to do. 

You show up on TV claiming to revoke titles for some 500K hectares of land allocated by the Government of Kenya when there are deeply rooted, chronic land grievances all over the country; fuelling ethnocentrism and threatening our nationhood that you are NOT saying a thing about. And we all know why!

IMPLEMENT the recommendations of the TJRC report, the Ndungu Report - "Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Illegal/irregular allocation of public land. Public money and time was spent conducting investigations and gathering historical information for these two reports. But you want to rely on politically expedient 'new' investigations right?

This is the same president whose lieutenants told the International Criminal Court (ICC) that there are no records of his ownership of land in Kenya. Then he demands respect from Kenyans?

We passed the days of whimsical presidential decrees eons ago. Address the real land issues at the Coast not hiding behind LAPSSET if you want respect.

http://www.africog.org/reports/mission_impossible_ndungu_report.pdf

http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-171707/what-tjrc-report-said-about-lamu-violence

Kenya’s Catch - 22

When the country is tense, about to burn and prophets of doom - smell genocide, violence: - the country is 'ours' - us all Kenyans. And we must exercise restraint, and we must let reason prevail, and we must respect institutions, and we must remember that we have nowhere else to go after it all burns down. There are things that cannot be said (no matter how truthful - they are inflammatory; they are ethnocentric; they are war-centric). We must soberly find solutions to our problems - Together as one nation. All that matter is PEACE and Kenya. So we gag ourselves and crucify those who attempt to speak. We are all Kenyans - we must be one.  

When the country is calm and we have our institutions, and our laws and our policies and our resources. When it is time for resource allocation. When it is time for reflection on our inequities and poverty. When it is contracts time; when it is public appointments time; when it is development decision time. Wither REASON. Wither NATIONHOOD. There is no such thing as nation/country/Kenya. Everyone for himself - God for us all. Let lazy people feed on their laziness. Let those outside political power wait for their turn in government, wait for 2017; 2022 whatever. It is every Kenyan and his/her pocket; it is every Kenyan and his/her family; it is every Kenyan and his/her business. This is what disturbs PEACE; threatens NATIONHOOD.

The hypocrisy in Kenya is chronic. You see people of influence (based on their business acumen, or their intellectual standing, or their political capital) administer half truths. You see intellectuals interpret events in this country like we began yesterday – like our problems have no cradles. It is a pity. 

I have watched a talk show considered ‘sober’ re #Sabasaba. The problem with talk shows is the correctness, the fence sitting and clever posturing that they demand from panellists. They make people look good even as they give naive, 'agreeable' impractical solutions. They make people say things they don’t believe in – speaking for debate-sake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD1cPElagbc&feature=share

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHZHKVOzZWY#t=97

Until we fix the poverty and inequality (economic, social and political); ours is a non-nation and will remain on the brink of the precipice; always unstable, squandering our wealth and opportunity and mortgaging our future generations. If we truly care about Kenya, and genuinely want solutions to our problems – we must be HONEST and OPEN with one another.  

Does saying GOD bless Kenya help? If it does, then Amen!

THE SPARKS FOR IGNITING THE DATA REVOLUTION

The data revolution should include a universal legislation requiring states to provide open, good quality data

Ever since the release of the High Level Panel report on the Post 2015 development agenda in 2013, the concept of a data revolution has gained significant traction in conversations at the global level. Nonetheless progress towards actualising the revolution in practical terms remains hamstrung by data sourcing and a myriad other challenges that can potentially be dealt with by an internationally-led consensus and sustained momentum to bring multiple stakeholders on board, and work closely with governments on issues of accessibility and usability of good quality, timely and relevant data and information.

  

I have participated in forums discussing the idea of the data revolution. I have also engaged in related conversations that seek to leverage the use of data and information for better policy making, governance and service delivery like the Open Government Partnership (OGP), the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) and the Open Data movements. A lot has been achieved towards outlining what is meant by the data revolution, of course with diverse and sometimes divergent views, what we want to achieve with it, and what obstacles remain on the way towards realising it.

  

The World Bank has sponsored elaborate conversations on the data revolution both in international forums and within localised national level facilitated processes. The Oversees Development Institute (ODI) as well through the Post 2015 blog has sponsored a series of research work and literature on the nature and impetus behind the data revolution. The PARIS 21facilitated an event on the sides of the UN General Assembly in 2013 on engineering a development data revolution. Elsewhere Civil Society Organisations are organising a broad range of stakeholders in many countries to make sense of the data revolution and what developmental ends could be achieved from it. In East Africa Development Initiatives is engaging an ecosystem of data handlers to discuss how to make sense of and utilise the data revolution to end poverty.

  

There is near consensus that the data revolution must be underpinned by a focus on providing open data, that is of good quality – available in machine readable formats and up to date.

However, the common narrative about what impedes the data revolution seems to rest on source challenges emanating from the supply side. These apply both in developed and developing countries. The argument is that even before discussing what to do with the data and how to make it relevant to poverty reduction in order to resonate with lives of common citizens, we need to locate the data. Data providers on the other hand lament that whatever is made available, no matter how little, is not being used. So where do we stand?

I am persuaded that unless these sourcing and usability of currently available data issues are resolved there will be significant challenges in realising the data revolution.

Across the globe, the approaches to data sourcing and tackling usability challenges vary, with similarities in certain instances. Some are using national level legislation or policies to compel custodians of development data to make it available to the public, while some are using laborious and expensive processes of purchasing and digitising data that is not available in machine friendly formats. But these approaches have achieved very little since, governments - custodians of the largest proportion of development data either lack the incentive, political will, or legal frameworks to make data available.

We now know that many interventions and programmes being implemented globally and at national levels are based on poor quality data or statistics that make them tenuous and contestable.  Yet for over a decade, enormous resources have been allocated and programmes implemented to tackle development challenges. African economies are suddenly leaping into middle income status due to revisions in national statistics and introduction of data previously not considered in calculating important national development indices.

The current development data isn’t good enough. Nearly 40% of developing countries cannot measure their poverty trends over the last decade due to inadequate data. The HLP report on post 2015 development agenda and UN Secretary General’s report on poverty both call for pioneering approaches to improving quality, timeliness and relevance of development data and a fundamental rethinking of the way we use data for social good” – Dr Jim Yong Kim, World Bank President.

I am of the opinion that now more than ever, the data revolution requires an international level facilitated process, to require national governments to make good quality data available to the public. Such a process could drive country level action by multiple stakeholders to invest in producing data and translating it to usable information.

This has been achieved in other spheres, for example the declaration on human rights was ratified globally compelling states to abide by and guarantee a minimum set of rights for all their citizens.

Through diplomacy and international driven consensus, development practitioners can lobby for a similar international declaration, or better yet, a standalone goal in the post 2015 framework to guarantee access to information to all citizens across the world. This could provide the much needed leverage that actors at national levels pushing for increased access to development data can use to further the agenda of the data revolution

This blog was originally posted on Open Development Toolkit here:  http://opendevtoolkit.net/en-US/blog/sparks-igniting-revolution/