THE MARK IS SURE

ODM DEAD LIKE DODO!

By Barrack Muluka

I am thinking I should be Monsieur Jean-Batiste. I see that the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is posturing for raw power. They want to bamboozle us to install them over us, so that they can do to us what Kanu and Narc have done to us.

ODM big guns assemble not to discuss what they can do for Kenya, but how to divide power and wealth among themselves. I see that I will have to be the voice of the man screaming in the wilderness. I will call their bluff. These power hungry ODM people cannot save Kenya – and you can take these words to the bank.

In my dream, a dear friend asks me, from the blues: "What is the dream of your life?" My response is equally abrupt: "To witness the day when we will look back and say, ‘this far have we come. We travelled on a rocky and slippery uphill road, full of thorns.

But we have built a good country. We mounted on wings like eagles; we ran without getting weary and walked without being faint. Alas, we have this beautiful country! We renewed our strength in hard times and so we have this blessed land and nation, where justice is our shield and defender. We are counted among those who truly dwell in unity, peace and liberty.

See how service is our earnest endeavour and our home a veritable heritage of splendour. We are proud to defend this home, any time. See how with one accord we are all united, in a common bond to build this our nation together. I am proud to witness this day, today, when the glory of Kenya and the fruit of our labour fill every heart with thanks giving’."
But the derisive words of the mocker interrupt my dream: "I will not sack anybody, and nobody will resign! Even if you do not like them, they are going nowhere. And there is nothing you can do about it." Now this is classic contempt after the fashion of the Greek hubris. It is the substance tragedy is fashioned from. I give up on wasting my precious words on those who scoff.

And I am admonished by French dramatist and Nobel Literature laureate (1947), Andre Gide, when he wrote in ‘New Fruits of the Earth’, "Stop transferring poetry into dream; know how to see it in reality." And so I decide to see it as it is. I see that in the end I am bored of pouring poetry onto rocky ground, in a futile dialogue with the deaf. If the dreams I cherish must be fulfilled, then I must dream ahead, with a new generation. Those who once said, "Fellow Kenyans, I am inheriting a country which has been badly ravaged by years of misrule and ineptitude. There has been a wide disconnect between the people and the Government, between the people’s aspirations and the Government’s attitude toward them," have betrayed me.

I see that ODM is enjoying itself, turning the spoon, even as the Government that lied to me about the "return of the culture of due process, accountability and transparency in public office" roasts in its own fat. ODM has affected pious rage.

Kanu vampires and barracudas who ran down one State Corporation after the other, to line their pockets, now deafen you with refrains of "Oh, when the Saints Go Marching In…" As the battalion rings "Oh Lord I want to be among the number, oh when the Saints go marching in…."

I am acutely reminded of how the Catering Levy Trustees and the Kenya Airports Authority once sunk billions of shillings in deposits and liquid investments in collapsed financial institutions in the Kanu sunshine.

Even at the rate of Sh200b, this is Goldenberg 15 times! Sadder still, I know that these funds were sunk despite Treasurer’s guidelines and circulars, and especially Circular No. 10 of 1991.

I am reminded of the Ngemwa Pump Station under the aegis of Kenya Pipeline, in which a paltry nine- kilometre road (yes, kilomita tisa!) cost the Treasury some Sh510m, in effect some Sh56.7m per kilometre! And between 1991 and 1994, KPTC financed fake projects to the tune of Sh1.8b. Consultancy alone, consumed Sh1.75b. The project never took off. Elsewhere in Mombasa, the Kenya Posts Authority paid – between 1995 and 1998 – Sh666m for a container freight project that never was.

These are not Joseph’s dreams. No, this is what you witness when you stop transferring poetry into dream. ODM is nothing, but Kanu just before the Uhuru Project –of course minus Moi, Saitoti and Biwott. And I have told you nothing about all manner of grand theft through emergency import of goods regulations, import duty exemption, diversion of transit goods, disposal of goods impounded by customs, Government tenders and procurement, pending bills, fake contracted services, public asset stripping, external and domestic loan system; and a whole whale of other thieving tricks under the good old Kanu.

Now, because President Kibaki’s inaugural address and his self-serving pious promises of yesteryear have evaporated into hot air and water vapour, the Serpents of yore are disguised as democrats, securely ensconced in ODM.

Youth for Kanu ’92, the singular highest beneficiary of Goldenberg in 1992 is chanting: "Oh when the saints go matching in…." This ODM solidarity is a slippery path for a people who would seek justice as their shield and defender.

Has the time not come when we must look beyond ODM for the beautiful ones who would lead this nation to the land of milk and honey? If President Kibaki and all the President’s men constitute the rocky corner of the deaf, is the ODM the cacophonous sinking sand?

After the constitutional referendum, ODM has outlived its welcome and relevance. I will say it again; Kenya wants new leaders who will be responsible and dignified servants of the people, and not the mandarins of yesteryear, under whatever guise.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today's most read articles
Uhuru’s take on ODM unity
Minister targets Raila at city demo
We’ll ignore Government critics, says Kibaki
Russian mercenaries relocated, says Lang’ata MP
‘Standard’ raid: Apologise, Japan asks State
Woman, 26, gets donations for therapy
Michuki handled media like Mungiki
Murungaru wants Kacc stopped from demanding wealth declaration
IMF delays aid decision further due to corruption
Reinstate chiefs, LDP demands

A wedding of the year.

W. MUGAMBI ARIMI

W Mugambi Arimi has distinguished himself even where there are giants. In the academic field he has proved many wrong. He is an international player who knows more than people realizes.He can never be hidden in a pack of academic giants.Can you see him in this pack?

Social Justice is a concept that has fascinated philosophers ever since Plato rebuked the young Sophist, Thrasymachus, for asserting that justice was whatever the strongest decided it would be. In The Republic, Plato formalized the argument that an ideal state would rest on four virtues: wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice.

Social Justice is distinct from justice as applied in the law — state-administered systems which label behavior as unacceptable, enforce a formal mechanism of control, and may produce results that do not match the philosophical definitions of social justice — and from more informal concepts of justice embedded in systems of public policy and morality, which differ among cultures and therefore lack universality. Social justice is also used to refer to the overall fairness of a society in its divisions and distributions of rewards and burdens and, as such, the phrase has been adopted by political parties with a redistributive agenda.

CHEPTERIT GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL

St. Josephs Girls High School, Chepterit stands as the oak tree among the dwarf shrubs. Academically, the school has done exempary well and has produced the best in all fields.

THE FEAR OF ONESELF IS THE BIGGEST ENEMY OF PROGRESS. MUGAMBI ARIMI NEVER SHYS FROM HIS ROOTS.

With his roots always in mind, and determined to discover what others have to offer, Mugambi Arimi has never shrunk from speaking his mind. His next destination is the Kenyan August house. He is and he has been a great advocate of social justice.

What is social justice?
Social Justice is a concept that has fascinated philosophers ever since Plato rebuked the young Sophist, Thrasymachus, for asserting that justice was whatever the strongest decided it would be. In The Republic, Plato formalized the argument that an ideal state would rest on four virtues: wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice.

Social Justice is distinct from justice as applied in the law — state-administered systems which label behavior as unacceptable, enforce a formal mechanism of control, and may produce results that do not match the philosophical definitions of social justice — and from more informal concepts of justice embedded in systems of public policy and morality, which differ among cultures and therefore lack universality. Social justice is also used to refer to the overall fairness of a society in its divisions and distributions of rewards and burdens and, as such, the phrase has been adopted by political parties with a redistributive agenda.

THIS SHOULD NEVER AND EVER BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN IN KENYA!

At the bay at Meru Prison, Francis Ndonga, a tuberculosis patient, heaves himself up to his feet, careful not to step on fellow patients jam-packed in the small room.
Inmates at the Meru Prison (above and below), which was built to accommodate 350 but now has more than 1,450 prisoners.
Beside him, inmates suffering from various diseases squeeze against each other on the bare floor. Some are half-naked, their withered bodies further weakened by sickness gleaming with sweat.
The air is intolerably humid. A sharp, rancid stench hangs within, a product of human waste, sweat and filth. Not even the open windows allow in enough fresh air, and the 76 patients are struggling for breath.
"You come to this place, you want to die," said Ndonga, pausing to allow a flurry of coughs from the prisoners to calm. "This is where they bring you when you are sick, but it is a place where you come to die."
Sweat droplets dot Ndonga’s aging face as well as those of other prisoners. They say that since last December, 10 inmates have died of what they suspected to be tuberculosis.
Better attention and medication
When the coughing dies down, a hushed silence engulfs the room. Scraggy-haired prisoners stare with sad, pleading eyes.
"Every week, you hear someone has died," says Esther Waikuru, one of three paralegal officers assisting inmates to have their pending court cases speeded up.
"This is suffering like you can never imagine."
The patients suffer from a catalogue of diseases: some have
TB and HIV, which causes Aids, while others suffer from typhoid, pneumonia, skin conditions and injuries.
The room should hold no more than 10 patients but sometimes, the number rises to as many as 90.
Although many patients defy death, none knows how much longer they can last.
"When we are crowded like this, we can’t get well. Instead, we catch more diseases," Ndonga said.
Ailing prisoners are taken to the sick bay ostensibly to get better attention and medication. But they are shocked to find only misery and vermin, huge gobs of disease.
At least 40 of the prisoners in the sickbay are TB and HIV patients, says the officer in charge of the prison, Henry Kisingu. But few are on treatment and have not been put on antiretroviral drugs, which prolong life for HIV patients.
Dehumanising conditions
Despite their weakened bodies, which require good food, their daily meal is ugali and beans, often not well cooked. Sometimes, the sick ones are given rice.
Although patients with infectious diseases should be isolated from others, this has not been the case.
The sick bay is just one of the wards where inmates, most of them in remand, live in dehumanising conditions in the Meru Prison. The congestion is mainly caused by delays in the hearing of their cases.
As a result, the jail, built in 1962 to hold about 350 prisoners, is congested with more than 1,450.
The jail is a hallmark of neglect and abuse. Child offenders mingle with suspected murderers, violent robbers and rapists. Hardcore convicts criminals share halls with remandees accused of misdemeanours.
In the women’s section, infants accompanying their mothers sleep in the same cells with mentally unsound murder suspects.
With their trials still pending, the remand inmates are presumed innocent until proven otherwise. But the appalling conditions they live in appear to have condemned them to death already.
Patients often get re-infection
Kisingu says conditions in the jail are no fault of his and is beyond what the administration can do. He blames it on neglect of Kenya’s prisons over the years and says only expansion could solve the problem.
"We would like to hold TB patients separately from the others, but we have no space for that. Those who are nearly healed often get re-infected because they continue to stay together with the sick ones," said Kisingu.
"Because of overcrowding, we’ve not been able to give them the care that they deserve. The environment does not help them to get healed, " he said.
The 76 patients share eight mattresses, which they spread on the floor because the sickbay lacks beds.
There is more horror in this room, and across the jail. At one corner in the sickbay, a patient, deeply asleep, snores loudly beside a plastic bucket full of human waste. Another prisoner sits beside the bucket, his eyes wide open as if in a trance.
Patients say they use the bucket at night and empty it in the morning for use during the day. The room is crawling with vermin.
"Most times, there is no water and when we get it, it is never enough," another patient, Christopher Maore, amid coughs and sneezes.
No room to stretch legs out
Several prisoners, having stayed here for many years awaiting the conclusion of their cases, are dressed in worn-out clothes.
In Ward Four, John Ndichu and 235 others spend most of the day and night squatting. This is because if they sit, they would have to stretch their legs and there is no space for that.
Ndichu, 20, has dry, cracked lips with blood caked on them. He is dressed only in shorts. What remains of his only shirt is in tatters and is wrapped around his head.
"I have lived like this since I came here five months ago," he said.
Too tired and deprived of sleep, several prisoners doze while standing against walls in the hall that is as congested as the sickbay. Some have swollen legs because of spending too much time on their feet.
In the ward, every inch of space is so valued that prisoners take turns to sleep in two toilets.
"In the evening, we choose who will sleep in the toilets and in the main hall," said Francis Ngunja, pointing at the wet and filthy toilets.
"This is where I slept last night," he said. The toilets were long blocked and do not flush.
Every evening, inmates dry up the floor of the toilets and spread blankets to sleep on. The toilets take about 10 people.
Not that the blankets are worth the name. They are torn and brown with dirt. During the day, they hang from a wire fastened on the window. In a cell next to the toilet, prisoners can hardly sleep because water leaks in through the wall.


Venting out frustration through graffiti
Waikuru, the paralegal officer with the Legal Resources Foundation, says brawls are common in the wards at night.
"Some sleep while standing and fall on their colleagues," said Waikuru. "When that happens, fighting erupts."
With no signs of help, some prisoners only hope for divine intervention. Graffiti on walls reveal their frustration and yearning for better conditions — not from prison authorities but from God.
"Nothing but prayer," reads graffiti on the wall. "Keep praying, my brother." Another graffiti captures the tragedy of prison: "Never die alone."
Indeed, when a prisoner dies, he never dies alone. Inside a tiny cell where five prisoners died last year after they were allegedly beaten by warders, the situation remains the same as the time they died.
Prison authorities say the inmates died from suffocation due to congestion. New prisoners have taken up the space left by their dead colleagues in the six by seven feet cell, now housing eight prisoners.
"We fear something bad will happen," says an inmate in the cell, Muriithi Nkarisia. He looks healthy, but two of his cellmates have contracted tuberculosis. He says it is only a matter of time before he too comes down with it.
His colleagues are unlikely to die alone.







Social Justice is a concept that has fascinated philosophers ever since Plato rebuked the young Sophist, Thrasymachus, for asserting that justice was whatever the strongest decided it would be. In The Republic, Plato formalized the argument that an ideal state would rest on four virtues: wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice.

Social Justice is distinct from justice as applied in the law — state-administered systems which label behavior as unacceptable, enforce a formal mechanism of control, and may produce results that do not match the philosophical definitions of social justice — and from more informal concepts of justice embedded in systems of public policy and morality, which differ among cultures and therefore lack universality. Social justice is also used to refer to the overall fairness of a society in its divisions and distributions of rewards and burdens and, as such, the phrase has been adopted by political parties with a redistributive agenda.

VIVA TSOTSI

Thank Tsotsi for doing Africa pride once more.




Social Justice is a concept that has fascinated philosophers ever since Plato rebuked the young Sophist, Thrasymachus, for asserting that justice was whatever the strongest decided it would be. In The Republic, Plato formalized the argument that an ideal state would rest on four virtues: wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice.

Social Justice is distinct from justice as applied in the law — state-administered systems which label behavior as unacceptable, enforce a formal mechanism of control, and may produce results that do not match the philosophical definitions of social justice — and from more informal concepts of justice embedded in systems of public policy and morality, which differ among cultures and therefore lack universality. Social justice is also used to refer to the overall fairness of a society in its divisions and distributions of rewards and burdens and, as such, the phrase has been adopted by political parties with a redistributive agenda.

IS THIS WHAT KENYANS EXPECT AFTER 40 YEARS OF HARD LABOUR?

Wha are the true liberators of Kenya? NARC, KANU, ODM, FORD?