Our Lame Media

Human beings have a noted bias towards those of their kind and creed. This explains why Kenya's media has been the equivalent of a Nazi propaganda machine when it comes to Kenya's war on Somalia.  The media has been forever overlooking the serious crimes the army has been accused of committing in anyplace it has ever been deployed to; be it Mount Elgon, Mandera and now Somalia.

I'm not sure if its tribal. Tribal loyalty mainly consists of judging people solely by which side they are on and if the coverage is anything to go by, the media has been nothing short of cheer-leader for this effort.

It's not so much as being patriotic, it's that they've been consistently pursuing hatred and bigotry against Somalis for half a decade now.

The media eschews fairness and accountability, writes editorial urging the government to invade Somalia and casts a blind-eye on all the shortcomings of the military and the political class. It's like they've been paid to shill for all that is bad about this country.

Joseph Goebbels' (Hitler's propaganda minister) infamous propaganda principles included this

"Propaganda must facilitate the displacement of aggression by specifying the target of hatred."


Clearly some at NTV, KTN and Citizen have been reading this.

I hope this instills some cognitive dissonance in you and makes you seek information from unbiased sources. What we have in Kenya is a sham hate mongering machine that masquerades as MEDIA.

Let's all pray for peace and brotherly love.

The Kleptocracy That is Kenya

In a post I wrote about 11 months ago titled "Kenya: The African Mexico, its Stockholm Syndrome and What Somalis Can do to change their fortunes" I wrote this telling paragraph:

 Kenya is being over-run by drug cartels and narco-hitmen. Its unprofessional and untrained police officers are getting whacked Mafia style right in the heart of Nairobi while they are pre-occupied with explaining their bad fortunes on non existent 'terrorists' and burqa clad femme fatales.
The uptick in clashes between Police and drug traffickers is a sign that Kenya's long running drug problem is coming of age. We have now entered a new phase where drug barons feel powerful enough to take on the weak  and co-opted police force. Kenya's is fast morphing into a Mexico. Its now the equivalent of a Brazilian Favella. Traffickers have heavily embedded themselves deep into every level of society and  are virtually controlling law enforcement on this almost failed state.

That prognosis still holds true today and this is the actual war we should be fighting today.

Much of the hooblah surrounding Kenya's occupation of Southern Somalia has gone overboard now. Those of us opposed to the Somali war are opposing it on philosophical, humanitarian and economic grounds. We are not opposed to the war in Somalia because we are lily-livered weaklings. We understand declaring war is different from winning a war and Kenya has over the past 47 years shown that it is bad at fighting.

There is a temptation to take uncritical pride in your country when its defending you against enemies foreign even if that enemy is the imagination of a couple of brain-addled politicians.

The real war Kenya's security apparatus should be fighting is the one against narcotics. Our youths and children deserve to be protected from the evils of hard drugs. Our greatest enemy is the insidiousness of  drugs, the way it separates families and corrupts every lever of our society.

The video embedded below is a good indication.

Kenyan Somalis at Risk of Xenophobic Attacks

Apparently people are shocked that the constant vilification of Somalis on TV, Social Media and Parliament could lead to reprisal attacks against them. Some of us are on the record stating the obvious long before this war.

The distrust of Somalis will always hurt national cohesion more than it will harm actual Somalis living in Kenya. To the extent that there is a significant portion of the Kenyan populace that is somaliphobic, I think that emanates from trade envy and a failure to understand the significant role we played in this country's history. Historical revisionism has edited out the vital role Somalis hold in this nation and our contribution to the remarkable success of the Kenyan economy in the past decade.

It doesn't help either that we have brain-dead leaders who continue to feed upon our disenfranchisement rather than unity. The unintended consequence of  this conflation of Somalis with Al-Shabab might be the unification of all Somalis living in Kenya.

Let me get to the point of this post.. which is this assessment offered by the head of NCIC regarding Somali Kenyans.

The continued branding of Kenyan Somalis as Al-Shabaab sympathisers could fuel xenophobic attacks against them, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission has warned.

NCIC also criticised Friday’s attack on presidential hopeful Raphael Tuju who was on a campaign tour in Kisumu, which it described as the "apex in the country’s pyramid of intolerance".

On the hate propaganda targeted at Kenyan Somali community, chairman Mzalendo Kibunjia said this was being propagated through social media, broadcasts and SMS text messages.

“These include one that advises Kenyans to alight from matatus if they get on board. This outrightly amounts to fear mongering and is likely to fuel xenophobic attacks against the community. We shall not allow this to happen,” said Mr Kibunjia at the Commission’s Delta House headquarters in Nairobi Saturday.

“People become Al-Shabaab or any militia group on their individual capacity and not as an ethnic group or race,” he said citing Elgiva Bwire Oliacha, the self-confessed terrorist, who pleaded guilty to the grenade attacks in Nairobi last month.

Finally, I received an e-mail, yesterday, from a friend asking me to make a distinction between Somali Kenyans and Somali refugees so (non-Somali) readers can know who I'm referring to. I refuse to do so mainly because those who hate us for being Somali generally hate us without making any such distinction. I don't think selling out my refugee brethren would make them accept me for the Kenyan that I am anymore.

Principal Harun Wins

Court defers transfer of teacher honoured by Kibaki

Published on 29/05/2011

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By David Ochami

The High Court in Nairobi has extended orders barring the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) from transferring a secondary school principal to teach at a primary teacher training college by three weeks.

On Friday, Justice Daniel Musinga extended the orders he gave on May 13 to July 21 to enable the lawyer for the principal, Mohamed Harun Yusuf to respond to an affidavit filed by the TSC justifying the transfer from Garissa Secondary School to Mosoriot Teachers Training College in Nandi Country. Ironically, last December Yusuf received a Head of State Commendation for exemplary contribution to excellent academic performance in North Eastern Province and Garissa County.

Through his lawyer Evans Ondieki, the principal has gone to court to overturn what he considers to be a politically motivated transfer engineered by local PC James ole Serian. Yusuf said the transfer followed political pressure from a powerful political elite opposed to his efforts to stop land grabbing at the school.

Staff balancing

The principal argued in an affidavit that TSC as an independent commission should not be arm-twisted.

Ondieki said the premise of the transfer was a letter by ole Serian to the TSC on April 13, this year alleging the principal was at loggerheads with a powerful minister in the province and, therefore, had to be transferred. He told Justice Musinga on May 13 that the coincidence of the transfer by TSC on April 29 this year and the letter by the PC cannot be separated.

This caused the judge to suspend the transfer until May 26 when TSC was to reply to Yusuf’s claims that the movement to Mosoriot was a demotion and not a normal transfer.

But on Friday, TSC through Nancy Macharia, its director in-charge of staffing opposed the petitioner’s claim, arguing that as an independent commission created by article 237 (1) of the Constitution, it could not have succumbed to external pressure to make the transfer.

She alleged in a sworn affidavit that the petitioner was deployed and not demoted to Mosoriot "owing to his exemplary performance and mastery" of Islamic Religious Education and history, adding that the Commission was "motivated solely by its guidelines and the need to ensure correct staff balancing."

Profiles in Modern Discrimination {Citizen TV}

 Citizen TV profiled Mohamud Hussein, a 21-year old Garissa resident whose efforts in trying to acquire national Identity card have been rendered futile due to discriminatory policies put in place by a modern day fascist government.

Every time we belly up to the filthy inarticulate explanations offered by authorities, their dishonesty embarrassingly bares itself out.The way the buffoonish D.C contemptuously addresses an issue that riles up emotions in NEP, as though it were sideshow clearly shows how little regard he has for the complaints of the public. He kept referring to us "These people" and "Hawa Watu" as though we are some alien population.

The very same man who has enriched himself [through bribe solicitations] by lording this document over genuine Kenyans is condescendingly pointing fingers at us. What a sham!




I am glad that Citizen TV has brought light to an issue that we Somali Kenyans are passionate about.

NTV's Bull's Eye Lampoons Aden Dualle [Video]

Aden Barre Dualle is no stranger to self destruction or to saying really stupid things in front of crowds. If you are a self-obsessed rookie politician with the intention of getting in the news cycle as often as possible, what do you do? Go to every open Mic and say whatever stupid drivel that rolls through your head with no sense of shame or self censorship.

The flip side of this: such attention will come with a degree of (substantiated) mockery, satire, lampooning and of course a stable diet of tailored insults. Comes with the game sir!

Sunday Nation & this month's latest in Anti-Somali Racism

Malignant Racists, like the Daily Nation's Editor's, don't know went to drop the old beat-up story of  how Somali refugees are a threat to Kenya's "security".

In typical xenophobic cabiid fashion, their template article for drumming up hatred, probably to influence the Kamkunji election is out.

The template always looks something like this:

HEADLINE: Somalis/Illegal immigrants pose risk to Kenya

"Kenya is grappling with the increased risk of (Insert one of the xenophobic lies they propagate e.g home grown terrorist, property price spikes, money laundering etc)

Blah blah blah...Monkey X, an expert in Security, finance, real estate said yada yada yada

Insert a definitively sweeping negative statement about all Somalis, Kenyan or otherwise,alleging the same aforementioned crap.

In this particular case, what stood out for me was the supposed security officer who said:

"Unlike the Ethiopians who use the country as a transit route, the Somalis mean no good; they are a security threat,”

Seriously? Not be a racist myself but come on, Ethiopian are better for Kenya than Somalis? HAHAHA!
Expect more of this as the normally notorious Kamkunji Politics heat up.

If you want to read the full story, here is the link

KTN Insults Somali Culture, Again!

 It's a long, winding road from the crucible of some third rate college to a media house. But Saida Swaleh seems to have made the leap before she learnt anything. In some horseshit clip purporting to be a study of Somali culture, this brain-addled bimbo serves up  the usual racism that has become the trademark of KTN and The Standard Media Group in general. She dabbles in propagating stereotypes, spreading unfounded lies, insulting Islam and belittling Somali culture. For someone who claims to be a Muslim, this scumbag of a reporter is as Bipolar { the ending was somewhat conciliatory}as they come.

What I like the most about the video is the Gentleman in the Raila-esque cap who said:

 "Unaona hii nyumba. Zamani ni ya Mkikuyu, sasa ni ya Wariya"

Fucking deal with it bitch. We are successful because we work harder than any of you retarded morons. Gotta love it though. No one gets the adoons as cranky as we do.

Wagalla Massacre Victims Want Hussein "Maendeleo" Questioned

  He is not going to like this. Former Dujis MP and Klepto-Minister for Life, Hussein Maalim, has been mentioned in the same breath as those who were responsible for the horrible massacre of innocent Somalis in Wajir in 1984. Witnesses alleged the former Minister played a role in the massacre and should thus face inquiry over his actions, The Nairobi Star reports.

According to my own sources who know the guy and meet him regularly, he is said to be suffering from clinical depression since his ouster in 2007.

 Look, Mr. Minister, don't get us wrong, the transition from an illiterate autocrat MP to just another old Somali man wearing a three-storey Kofia can be a bit difficult. Seriously though, take care of yourself. Exercise regularly, read the Qur'an {it helps with depression} and take a hobby, like playing "Shax/jar" under some abaq. Or pay the old "fadhi kudirir" a visit. And by the way, if and when you go to prison, invite the whole crew of "Wayaha Cusub" to help in chasing away the blues. I'm sure you can afford the bill.

Here is an excerpt from The Nairobi Star's article

Former Cabinet minister and Dujis MP Hussein Maalim should be questioned among potential witnesses to the Wagalla massacre, the TJRC was told.
Ismail Bishar a witness who was in Wagalla when the 1984 massacre happened, told the Commission that Maalim was then Minister for Provincial Administration. “Maalim should be questioned alongside M M Tiema who was acting DC, C M Wabwire who was the OCPD and a Mr Wachira who was in charge of CID,” Bishar said. He said the massacre was carried out by the armed forces, the AP and Regular police.
He demanded compensation for the massacre saying he was fired from his job as a civil servant for being vocal about the rights of the victims. He said the government has never bothered to explain why it killed more than 5,000 people.
Bishar said the security personnel arrived and rounded up men from the Degodia clan and took them to the local airstrip. “We don’t know why we were picked for the genocide,” he told the commission. “They were stripped naked and forced to sleep on their bellies for five days. They were burnt using their own clothes,” he said.
Efforts to sing the national anthem to draw sympathy from the officers bore no fruit. The residents were sprayed with bullets on the fifth day as they attempted to flee from the illegal confinement,” he said.
Another witness, Mohammed Dagane, said the government should apologise for the massacre and then institute compensation for reconciliation to commence between the government and the residents.
He ruled out forgiveness for the perpetrators of the massacre. “The individuals involved directly or indirectly should face prosecution and the survivors compensated,” Dagane said.
He said the province has been neglected in health and education. “What we have as hospitals don’t even meet the standards of dispensaries,” he said.
During the hearing at Wajir Red Cross Hall the commission briefly adjourned to confirm that a victim, Garad Siney, lost his manhood during the massacre. Five others with varied injuries exhibited them to the commission.

Mogadishu Girls Basketball Team

UPDATE: Mogadishu Girls made it to the Semi-Finals of the tournament eventually finishing in third place after they beat fellow semi-finalists Nairobi. 

 If you don't know what I'm about to tell you, you've probably been living under an acacia tree in some Alshabab controlled village for the past week.

 Ladies & Gentlemen, Mogadishu is no longer satisfied with dominating the "war scene". That's why the world's most violent city has sent its best girls to conquer East Africa's women's basketball competition.

The hotties were quite impressive in their first outing against reigning champions Nairobi Girls and almost gave us the biggest upset of the tournament. The match was full of alley-oops, hook shots, great dribbles, excellent passes and overall, an outstanding display of basketball. All this achieved with just two weeks of training. You hear that Garissa High School? Speak of making it against the odds!

This's in stark contrast to Garissa High School's effete crew of muscle-atrophied "jocks" who were hapless in all their three matches at the recently concluded KSSSA Kakamega Games.

Embedded Below is a video of the remarkable and inspirational Mogadishu Girls. Just ignore the douchy reporter's claims that Somali women are culturally subjugated. As far as I know, our women are some of the most opinionated and fiercely liberal women in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab league {Think Hawa Tako & Company}. And its not like cabiid women are associated with any kind Feminism, militant or intellectual.

Crossing my fingers for a Cinderella story here.

In unrelated news, Garissa might host the Kenya Secondary Schools Games next year. Read full story here

Painful Memories for Families affected by Wagalla

NEWS

Suffering with bitterness for relatives

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Stephen Mudiari | NATION Wagalla Airstrip in Wajir town where the massacre took place.

By SAMUEL SIRINGI ssiringi@ke.nationmedia.com

Posted  Tuesday, April 19 2011 at 22:00

IN SUMMARY

• Tears flow as villagers pour their hearts out to Truth, Justice and Reconcilia-tion com-missioners

Suleiman Abdi is 18. He was born nine years after the infamous Wagalla Massacre in which two of his uncles were killed.

RELATED STORIES

• Massacre widows testify in private
• Tears as victims recall Wagalla killings
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Yet he speaks with the bitterness of someone who witnessed the killings.

“If I had a gun and found those who carried out the killings, I would kill them all myself,” he said, anger written large on his face.

On Tuesday, Abdi walked the lonely runway of the Wagalla Airstrip — the place where, according to government records, 57 people were shot dead by gunmen believed to be government security officers. Independent estimates put the figure at more than 2,000.

Infamous airstrip

Abdi, a Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam candidate, walks alone on the infamous airstrip with 50 goats — seven of his own and the rest belonging to his father.

He wears an uncomfortable grin and says: “My two uncles died here 27 years ago.”

At the other end of the runaway, birds land on the airstrip. No aeroplanes land here any more. They use the more modern airstrip near Wajir town.

At the Wagalla Airstrip Abdi walks his goats, clutching a radio and hoping to hear that the perpetrators of the massacre have been identified and brought to book.

“I hear there is a government team in Wajir looking into the issue, but I am sceptical. I would rather the suspects are to be taken to The Hague,” he said.

He would rather the killers of the people, mainly from the Degodia clan, are taken to the International Criminal Court like the so-called Ocampo Six, accused of bearing the greatest responsibility for the post-election violence that killed 1,300 people after the 2007 General Election.

“I want to know why our people were killed.”

His remarks were a reflection of the bitterness expressed by Habiba Mohammed whose husband was killed. She also became deaf after being kicked and slapped during the atrocities.

She lives in the village surrounding the Wagalla Airstrip. “That is where our men were killed. That was where the men were stripped naked, tortured and then executed,” she says.

“I wouldn’t have so many financial difficulties, had my husband not been shot by security forces,” she said pointing at her son, Shukur Rashid, 18, a primary school pupil at Wagalla Primary School.

“Even paying medical bills at the Wagalla Health Centre when my children fall sick is a nightmare,” she says as she shouts at a goat going astray.

At the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission hearing, a survivor of the massacre, Abdi Nur, said the airstrip was now useless.

“When you go to the airstrip, as you (commissioners) did on Sunday, you find people are just crying,” he said as he wiped tears from his eyes, while pointing out the injuries on his body he says were inflicted during the massacre.

“Many survivors and my relatives live there, and have sad memories of the place.”

 

State Urged to Compensate Wagalla Massacre Victims

Updated 7 hr(s) 21 min(s) ago

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By Ally Jamah

The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission sitting in Wajir has heard from three witnesses who recounted the events of February 1984 at the airstrip where the Wagalla massacre allegedly happened.

One of the witnesses, Bishar Ibrahim Ishmael, who was a Government official during the period when the alleged massacre occurred, said he identified the Government and security officials who were at the airstrip between February 8 and 16, that year.

Mr Bishar said by February 8, about 2,000 people had been rounded up at the airstrip and by February 16, about 5,000 people had been brought from far as Mandera.

Bishar later recalls seeing two truckloads of dead people, being driven out of the airstrip.

"I can identify the actual Government official and army personnel, who were here during that period. I also can identify the vehicles they drove and the number plates of these vehicles," said Bishar.

The commission heard that in 2003, the Narc Government had promised the construction of Wagalla memorial and public library.

"All we want from the Government is a formal apology for us to move on,’’ said Bishar.

He said upon accepting responsibility, the Government should compensate the people of Wagalla in accordance to the Somali traditions. He said the compensation would be five camels for each man killed.

The commission also heard the area is socially and economically marginalised and the trend must be changed. Witnesses cited the poor state of health and educational facilities in Wajir and greater North Eastern region, saying it resulted to poor education standards and health challenges.

Wajir has 34 witnesses identified and the hearings end on Wednesday.

TJRC is mandated to inquire into human rights violations, including those committed by the State, groups or individuals between December 12, 1963 and February 2008.

The violations include but are not limited to politically motivated violence, assassinations, community displacements, settlements and evictions.

TJRC will also inquire into major economic crimes, in particular grand corruption, historical land injustices and the illegal and irregular acquisition of land especially as these relate to conflict or violence within the stated period of time.

The commission will receive statements from victims, witnesses, communities, interest groups, persons directly or indirectly involved in events or any other group or individual; undertake investigations and research; hold hearings and engage in activities as it determines to advance national or community reconciliation.

Massacre Survivors appear before TJRC

NEWS

Massacre widows testify in private

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Stephen Mudiari | NATION Mr Abdilahi Shurie (centre), a victim of the Wagalla Massacre, is led away from the public hearing on the atrocities on April 18. 2011.

By SAMUEL SIRINGI ssiringi@ke.nationmedia.com and ISSA HUSSEIN iissaa_nation@yahoo.co.uk

Posted  Tuesday, April 19 2011 at 22:00

IN SUMMARY

• The commission made the decision after it emerged some of the women were victims of sexual violations

A special session to hear testimonies of women rendered widows by the Wagalla massacre 27 years ago was held in camera on Tuesday.

RELATED STORIES

• Women wail as they meet Truth team
• Wagalla: TJRC calls ex-security men

The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) presiding chairman Ronald Slye made the decision after it emerged some of the women were also victims of sexual violations.

The session, held at Raha Palace Hotel in Wajir town, was led by women commissioners including vice-chairperson Tecla Namachanja.

Some of the women were determined to speak out on the atrocities last Sunday when they wailed at the Wagalla airstrip, where more than 2,000 people were said to have been killed by security officers in 1984. The official figure is 57.

At the open session, former soldier Abdirahman Elmi Daud narrated how he was asked to wake up his colleagues who were to join an operation with the regular and Administration Police to round up members of the Degodia clan.

Mr Daud was an army corporal serving in the 7th battalion based at Wajir military camp.

“I was personally asked to use military lorry since I was a military truck driver to ferry the rounded up residents who were my clan members to Wagalla airstrip,” he said.

He said he witnessed 30 people beg urine from others since there was no water to drink.

The commissioners heard that 30 people felt they were overwhelmed by the suffering and decided to flee from their tormentors leading to massive beating by the security officers.

Mr Daud said he was arrested after he picked up injured victims and secretly took them to a centre created by an Italian aid worker for treatment.

Military orders

He was taken to Wajir Army camp where he was accused by the commanding officer of breaching military orders.

He was later referred to a martial court in Nairobi leading to his early retirement from the force. “I was denied renewal of contract.”

Mr Daud claimed he drove former military chief of staff Joseph Kibwana, who was then brigadier, from the airstrip to the military camp then to Wajir DC’s office where he held a meeting with former TJRC chairman Bethuel Kiplagat and former Provincial Commissioner Benson Karia.

More witnesses continued to speak about the human rights violations they underwent over the years in the region.

Mr Mohammed Ibrahim Dayow told of how he lost his father and five brothers in Hadado during the Shifta war in 1966.

Military men, he said, raided his home and killed his father, five brothers and 300 camels.

Mr Dayow said security officers torched his houses before seriously injuring him. He was detained for 33 days during which his 300 sheep and 400 cows were stolen.

Meanwhile, the commission was told that the ethnic feuds that led to the Wagalla massacre were as a result of the colonial government’s decision to demarcate boundaries in Wajir town along ethnic lines.

Unlike other regions in North Eastern Province, Wajir town was divided into three areas, former Wajir West MP Ibrahim Ali Hussein said.

The east of the town, he said, was left for the Degodia clan, which bore the brunt of the Wagalla massacre.

The west was left for the Ajuran while the south was occupied by the Ogaden.

Mr Hussein, who served between 1969 and 1974, said every community protected its grazing land.

But this changed in the early 1980s when the Degodia clan spread its dominance towards the west, sparking inter-clan flare-up with the Ajuran clan.