Sudan, Post January 9th

For most people of Southern Sudan January 9^th is awaited for with a mixture of excitement and fear. Excitement in the sense that a Yes win will be seen as a win for freedom for the people of Southern Sudan, apprehension in the likelihood of a third civil war should the South decide to secede.

For the rest of the world, all we hope for is peace and prosperity after the referendum.

But intrigues are what have been taking place since the signing of the agreement in Naivasha five years ago. Today, the SPLM/A are openly campaigning for separation, an act that the North says is against the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005, which set the rules of engagement that extend even beyond the January 9^th referendum. Just two weeks ago, Southern Sudan suspended the National inter-School Games that were to be held in the South, because the North, or rather the National Congress Party (NCP) which is the ruling party had for several days bombed the northern regions of Southern Sudan. These are just a few examples of negative schemes that are taking place from both sides.

But the issue of the referendum must be looked into critically, wholesomely, historically and with our eyes on the future.

Was the referendum the sole most important piece in the CPA agreement? After years of segregation and war, will cessation bring peace, justice, inclusivity, representation? And most importantly, will it bring food, housing, education, access to health care and general quality of life to the people who live in Southern Sudan?

Was the decision by IGAD and the donor countries to exclude other parties from the Sudan peace talks right? There are many interests in the Sudan, other than NCP and SPLM/A. Even the overally accepted, revolutionary and very strong leader, the late Dr. John Garang had some problems trying to contain some of the groups in the South itself(including the separatists within SPLM/A)

Some analysts claim that the war in Sudan is a Muslim vs Christian war, in fact, they will always mention the two regions as the Muslim North, and the Christian South. Others say that the problem is racial. The Arab North vs the Black South. And others just say that it is regional, the South vs the North.

But the facts are that most of the people in Southern Sudan follow Traditional religions and not Christianity as is claimed, and even those who follow these religions do not hold them so dearly that they can go to war over them. Most of the blacks in the North are Muslims.

On the racial issue, the South is almost entirely black, but the North is not as of the Arab/Semitic race as these analysts claim. Very many people in the North would be considered black by other Africans, even President Al Bashir would pass for an black person if he were to take a walk in the streets of Nairobi. It is said that in Khartoum, you will find many black people who say that they are Arab, just because somewhere in their lineage/culture there are traces of some Arabic origin. Even some of the people in the Janjaweed Militia are said to be as black as it can be, but in their minds they are not black, and because of that, they wouldn’t hesitate to participate in exterminating a whole black tribe when engaging in some racial aggression.

There have also been fears that over one million black Sudanese from the North have registered for the referendum in the South, with an intention of voting for Unity rather than separation, because they have invested quite a lot in the North, especially in Khartoum, and they fear being expelled from the North, should the Yes vote win.

As for those who say that the problem is a North-South issue, then regions in the east, and regions in the west, especially Darfur would put them in a tricky situation. Darfur cuts across from the North to the South, and stands at 493180 sqkms....(just a little less than the size of Kenya, 582650 sqkms)

During, and after the second civil war, most the civilians from the South ran for thousands of kilometers into refugee camps in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and some even went into Egypt. But the majority could not make it to the camps and had to contend with the even harsher and more dangerous conditions in the IDP camps.

But there were others who took flight into foreign lands and have been leading normal (and at times better) lives. Whenever you speak of the Sudanese in Nairobi, most Kenyans will have the picture of the moneyed refugees.

In the North also, many of the so called Arabs live in extremely bad conditions, but unlike their Southern counterparts, they have a sense of “freedom,” and hence they do not complain as much as the Southerners have done.

The biggest problem in Sudan, like in most of Africa, is the presence those who exploit, and those who are exploited. The presence of those who oppress, and those who are oppressed…And some of the best conditions necessary for exploitation are found here in Africa. They include the colonial boundaries, the existence of numerous tribes, clear cut clans, regionalism, religion, among other identities.

In Sudan, the exploiters and the oppressors have continuously used regionalism, i.e. the North-South divide to advance their class agenda. In Darfur, they realized that regionalism was not enough to secure their agenda, so they brought in ethnicity, so as to counter Darfur, which is said to have a high concentration of valuable minerals and oil. It is good to note here that most people in Darfur are of the Muslim faith, and most of them communicate in Arabic.

If we now go back to the referendum issue, only two things are going to happen on January 9^th, either the Yes vote (separation) will win, or the No vote (Unity) will take the day.

There are many questions that run in our minds, whichever way the elections go. Assuming that the yes vote take the day, will NCP accept the loss? Or will they follow the text book reaction where they will claim that there was massive rigging, claim victory (after giving out their parallel results), mobilize their Military and militias and instigate a war? Will the blacks in the North be expelled?

Assuming that the NCP accepts the outcome of the referendum, will it mean peace for the Sudan, or will it just open several other fronts in this expansive country? We should keep in mind that the talks that led to the CPA deal involved two parties only. The NCP and the SPLM/A. there are regions that are crying foul over this deal, and these are notably the regions of Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile region. The people of Abyei also claim that they want autonomy; they do not want to choose between joining the South or the North.

We should also keep in mind that the west of Sudan, the Darfur region, with its SLM/A have had largely the same grievances as the South, so will we see escalation of war/interests in this region? And will they finally be asked to take the referendum route? Will the North and the South form some Condominia in the middle regions? What about the regions in the east? Does it mean further fragmentation in Africa is the only solution to the oppression issue?

What if the SPLM loses,

Will the leaders accept the loss? Or will the go to the classical methods that begin with claims of voter rigging and so on and so forth? Will they mobilize their army, this is keeping in mind that last year, Kenya helped them acquire some T-72 Battle tanks and probably many other weapons (also against the accord)

Will the oppressors continue with their oppressive ways? Will they assume victory to mean mandate to even exploit the South, East and West and oppressed Northerners even more?  Will we see another India-Pakistan, Ethiopia-Eritrea or N.Korea-S.Korea scenario?

The international community has not put any checks with respect to openness, freeness and fairness in the forth coming referendum. This is just recipe for disaster, in that any loser will claim victory and justify themselves to cause trouble. This international community itself has numerous interests. There are many Kenyans, Ugandans, Somalis and Ethiopians who have invested in Juba and would love to see separation. Kenya for instance is bound to benefit largely by acting as a transit country for S. Sudanese Oil and exports, there are even jokes in the streets that S. Sudan will become one of the Kenyan Counties. The media is actively campaigning for separation, such that should the No vote win, it will come as a shocker to most Kenyans.

Unity is imperative if we are to see any meaningful development in Sudan. It will be sad if the Yes vote wins, and the South decides to cut ties with the North. It will be even sadder if the No wins and the Northern oppressors (rulers) continue with their oppressive ways in South. Whichever way the referendum goes, both sides must agree to work together with more love and trust than ever before.

But the biggest unity must come from the progressive people from both sides of the divide, so that they may consciously work together to remove the oppressors on both sides. It is only after the oppressor has been removed, and the rest of the people, the peasants, the small-scalers, and the workers take over the leadership of the state that we can see real development and truest democracy in the Sudan.

Should cessation happen peacefully, then the progressives will have even more work, so as prevent new wars in the South, since the most likely thing to happen is that the Southern oppressors and opportunists will create tribal tensions, and we might see more wars and more calls for cessations in the South, even before the January 9^th dust settles down.

In the meantime, the African Union must ensure that there is peace in Sudan by whatever means. The AU must ensure that there is peace in Darfur at whatever cost. Common Darfur Africans must feel the presence of their AU brothers. They should not be living in IDP camps and in Chadian territories while all that the AU does is observe the situation. If President Al Bashir and his Janjaweed cannot understand that there must be peace in Darfur, then the other African countries must make him understand. In 1998, we saw how troops from Zimbabwe, Angola and other South African countries helped prevent the worsening of the situation in the DR Congo. It was their military intervention that shoved the Rwandese and the Ugandan forces and puppets away. It was the brotherly intervention from Cuba (largely considered as the 54^th…soon to be 55^th after 9^th) that helped stop the war in Angola and subsequently end the apartheid regimes in Southern Africa. It was in Tanzania, under the visionary leadership of Julius Nyerere that other freedoms fighters organised themselves so as to liberate their countries. What Sudan needs is not seperation, no. Sudan needs Liberation. It must be clear to Al Bashir, and any other African office holders, that the African people will defend their land, and will not hesitate to offer African Solutions to “African problems.”

In as much as the conditions in Sudan may be different, Separation is not the way forward in Africa, it doesn’t solve anything, especially given that differences in Africa, just as in the rest of the world, can arise from anything. Should this separation idea take root, and then we could easily have north and south Ghana, resource-wise divided Nigeria, black and white South Africa, Muslim and Christian Egypt, Tribally divided Kenya, clan A and clan B Somalia, Outtara and Gbabo Ivory Coast etc. The whole of Africa should be moving towards African Unity, and not African separation.

The American government should also keep off the lead role in the issues of Sudan. This is because history has shown that the US governments only propagate their selfish interest in issues like this. The US government should know that their direct involvement might lead to the unwanted of African support to Al Bashir, since everyone will mobilize under the Anti-Imperialism banner, which Al Bashir will not hesitate to take advantage of (this is irrespective to the any good intentions-if any- that America might have) and hence further jeopardize the lives of innocent people.

Benedict Wachira

31^st January 2010,

15:05pm

Revolutionary Lyrics-Maybe, Slogans, Talking Bout a Revolution, Not One Penny, Fire on the Mountain, Plantation Boy, Crossroads.

MAYBE-ASA

MAYBE THE SUN WILL RISE
MAYBE THE STARS WILL SHINE

THIS WORLD IS FULL OF PAIN
USERS AND THEIR USELESS WAYS
THERE’S PEOPLE DYING EVERYWHERE
CAN’T SOMEONE TELL ME WHO’S TO BLAME?

THERE NEVER USED TO BE
THIS MUCH ATTENTION TO SECURITY
UNTIL THE TERROR AND CATASTROPHE
AND NOW THERE’S GUNS AND WAR MACHINES

MAYBE THE SUN WILL RISE
MAYBE THE STARS WILL SHINE

NO ONE IS LISTENING
TO THE TRUTH OR IS IT JUST ME

I GUESS I MUST BEGIN FROM NOW
TO MAKE THAT CHANGE I ALWAYS SPEAK ABOUT

I AM WAITING FOR ONE DAY TO SUCCEED
TO BREAK DOWN ALL THE BOUNDARIES AND BE FREE

FROM THOSE WHO TAKE FROM ME AND MISLEAD ME
FOR THEY’RE GREEDY AND THEY’RE EMPTY OH

MAYBE THE SUN WILL RISE
MAYBE THE STARS WILL SHINE

MY FEET, MY STRENGTH
I’M GONNA BE MYSELF
AND NOBODY CAN STOP ME
I’LL FINALLY BE, WHO I’LL BE

SLOGANS-BOB MARLEY

Can't take your slogans no more,
can't take your slogans no more,
can't take your slogans no more,
can't take your slogans no more.

Wipe out the paintings of slogans
all over the streets (ooh, ooh, ooh),
confusing the people
while your asphalt burns our tired feet.
I see borders and barriers,
segregation, demonstration and riots (ooh, ooh, ooh),
a-sufferation of the refugees,
oh-oh, when, when will we be free?

Oh-oh-oh, we can't take your slogans no more,
can't take your slogans no more,
can't take your slogans no more,
no more sweet talk from-a culprit,
no more sweet talk from the hypocrites.

/guitar solo/

So we know we can't take your slogans no more,
can't take your slogans no more,
can't take your slogans no more,
no more sweet talk from-a culprit,
no more sweet talk from the pulpit.

No more sweet talk from-a culprit,
no more sweet talk from the hypocrites (oh, no hypocrites!),
no more sweet talk from-a culprit (wo-ah yeah),
no more sweet talk (no-no-no-no sweet talk) from the hypocrites (hey!),
no more sweet talk from-a culprit,
no more sweet talk (no-no-no-no sweet talk) from the hypocrites (no-no-no-no hey!).

TALKIN’ BOUT A REVOLUTION LYRICS

Don’t you know
They’re talkin’ bout a revolution
It sounds like a whisper
Don’t you know
They’re talkin’ about a revolution
It sounds like a whisper

While they’re standing in the welfare lines
Crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation
Wasting time in the unemployment lines
Sitting around waiting for a promotion

Poor people gonna rise up
And get their share
Poor people gonna rise up
And take what’s theirs

Don’t you know
You better run, run, run…
Oh I said you better Run, run, run…
Finally the tables are starting to turn
Talkin’ bout a revolution

Fire On The Mountain-Asa

There is fire on the mountain,
and nobody seems to be on the run.
Oh there is fire on the mountain top,
and no one is'ah running.

I wake up in the morning...
tell you what I see on my TV screen :
I see the blood of an innocent child,
and everybody's watching.

Now, I'm looking out of my window,
and what do I see ?
I see an army of soldiers that're
marching across the street, heh... 

Hey Mr soldier man

Tomorrow is the day you go to war

Boy you are fighting for another man’s cause

And you don’t even know him
What did they say to make you so blind,
to your conscience and reason ?
Could it be love for your country,
or for the gun you use in killing ? So...

There is fire on the mountain,
and nobody seems to be on the run.
Oh there is fire on the mountain top,
and no one is'ah running.

Heh, Mister Loverman !
Can I get a chance to talk to you ?
'cause you are fooling with a dead man's corpse,
and you don't know what you do. Oh... 

So you say you have a lover,

and you love her like no other

So you buy her a diamond that someone has died on

Don’t you feel there is something wrong with this

Tell me who’s responsible for what we teach our children,

Is it the internet or the stars on television

Why oh why why oh why oh..

So little Lucy turns sixteen,
and like the movie she's been seeing,
she has a lover in her daddy.
She can't tell nobody...
'till she makes the evening news.

For there is fire on the mountain,
and nobody seems to be on the run.
Oh there is fire on the mountain top,
and no one is'ah running. Oh yes.

One day the river will overflow,
and there'll be nowhere for us to go ;
and we will run, run.

Wishing we had put out the fire

For there is fire on the mountain,
and nobody seems to be on the run.
Oh there is fire on the mountain top,
and no one is'ah running. Oh yes.

fire in Africa, everywhere, in the sea

NOT ONE PENNY- DEZARIE

How could this be?
Not one penny!
We pockets empty

Not one penny no one see we havn't
Not one penny no one see we havn't
And when the money make you a de first one fe grap
Not one penny no one see we havn't
Not one penny no one see we havn't
Not one penny no one see we havn't
And when the money make you a de first one fe grap
Not one penny no one see we havn't

´Bout fight guess this woman a upon the same job
And for all the hard work she do and performance
Fifty sentences alone you giving to a conman
All the time she pay rent and bills all the money done
It circle right back unto the rich man
And it circle right back wrong to the rich man
It circle right back unto the rich man
It circle, it circle, circle, circle...

(chorus)

Want make we haffe pay fe water and natural resources
Won’t make we haffe buy land, for none dis-nat-yours
Won’t change wrong things and do upon a arm force
Where only you and your people benefit by force
Gas flinging and bleeding upon your gulf force
While the poor scene in a hard time score us
All the poor scene in a hard time spore us
While you poor scene in a hard time score us…

(chorus)

You can keep you chon change, better worth we have
Worth more than any president money bag (money bag)
And than the money in a the world put together (together)
And that amount to die regress since from creator (creator)
We singing and shouting out harder (harder)
Babylon watch out fe the Almighty Father (Father)
Babylon watch out fe the Almighty Father (Father)
Babylon watch out fe the Almighty Father (Father)

(chorus)

Even the robber man no rob as much as you pap
Already paid and steal I corn like a tug
Claiming pennies to refuge minorities
And expect a million dollar worth laboring
Unutilized men supply, but now you see
Striving to leave that kind of crazy scenery
Striving to leave that kind of crazy scenery
When already has them money hungry

(chorus)

PLANTATION BOY- BONEY M

Lots of people walk about proud and free
Lift up your head, start looking around
There's a brand new feeling of liberty
Like a clear bell that's starting to sound

Plantation Boy, c'mon and get going
Yesterday's chains have broken in two
Plantation Boy, the new move is growing
Reaching the hills and the valleys and you

Plantation Boy
Plantation Boy

Lots of smiling faces for you to meet
So many hands to help you along
Just shake off the mud that weighs down your feet
If you stand tall, you just can't go wrong

Plantation Boy, c'mon and get going
Yesterday's chains have broken in two
Plantation Boy, the new move is growing
Reaching the hills, the valleys and you

Plantation Boy
Plantation Boy

Years of picking cotton for little pay
Living alone in some wooden shack
Sweating in the heat of a summer's day
This is all over, you won't come back

Plantation Boy, c'mon and get going
Yesterday's chains have broken in two
Plantation Boy, the new move is growing
Reaching the hills, the valleys and you

Plantation Boy
Plantation Boy

Plantation Boy, c'mon and get going
Yesterday's chains have broken in two
Plantation Boy, the new move is growing
Reaching the hills, the valleys and you

Plantation Boy
Plantation Boy

Plantation Boy
Plantation Boy

Wherever you may go

Reaching the hills and the valleys and you
Reaching the hills and the valleys and you
Reaching the hills and the valleys and you

CROSSROADS-TRACY CHAPMAN

All you folks think you own my life
But you never made any sacrifice
Demons they are on my trail
I’m standing at the crossroads of the hell
I look to the left I look to the right
There’re hands that grab me on every side

All you folks think I got my price
At which I’ll sell all that is mine
You think money rules when all else fails
Go sell your soul and keep your shell
I’m trying to protect what I keep inside
All the reasons why I live my life

Some say the devil be a mystical thing
I say the devil he a walking man
He a fool he a liar conjurer and a thief
He try to tell you what you want
Try to tell you what you need

Standing at the point
The road it cross you down
What is at your back
Which way do you turn
Who will come to find you first
Your devils or your gods

All you folks think you run my life
Say I should be willing to compromise
I say all you demons go back to hell
I’ll save my soul save myself

I’ll save my soul save myself

I’ll save my soul save myself

Benedict Wachira

Updated on:

27th Dec 2010

9:47am

An Open Letter to the Norwegian Prize Committee

Benedict Wachira
P.O Box 12654, 00400
Nairobi, Kenya
wachira.benedict@gmail.com
10-October-2010

Norwegian Nobel Committee
• Thorbjørn Jagland
• Kaci Kullmann Five
• Sissel Marie Rønbeck
• Inger-Marie Ytterhorn

Henrik Ibsens gate 51
NO-0255 Oslo
Norway

Dear all,
Request to you, to nominate the Cuban Five for the Nobel Peace Prize year 2011
I am Wachira, a 25 year old Youth from Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city, and I am writing this letter first to congratulate you for your bold step in selecting Liu Xiaobo as this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, a step which has led to international awareness about his case, and a step which will lead to a bigger space in the freedom of expression in China, and the world at large.
Secondly, I am writing to inform you of the case of the world’s most famous innocent prisoners today, Gerardo Hernandez, Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labanino and Fernando Gonzalez, commonly known throughout the world as THE CUBAN FIVE, and to request you to nomination them as candidates for next year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
In this respect, I have enclosed these three short books: Forbidden Heroes (The untold story of the Cuban Five), Chronicle of an injustice (five Cubans imprisoned in the United States for fighting terrorism) which give a summary of the case of the five, and the third one which gives a list of petitions (on Amicus Curiae) to the Supreme Court of the United States for the review of the case that was presented by the defence of the Cuban five.
Terrorism: A big threat to world peace
In the present world, terrorism is said to be one of the greatest threats to world peace. These five heroes had unearthed numerous terrorist plots against Cuba, which were being organised in Miami, in the United States of America. Thanks to their actions, many Cuban lives, probably in the hundreds or even thousands were saved. The information that the five risked their lives to find was very important to the security of the U.S itself, and of other citizens of other countries. Since 1961, thousands of terrorist actions have been conducted against Cuba, planned or financed from the U.S, and over 3500 lives have been lost, with over 2000 mutilations been confirmed. These terrorist activities have included:
• The hijacking of Cuban airliners where they are flown to the U.S and destroyed, bombing of planes, with the most famous being the 1976 downing where 73 people died, including 11 Guyanese, and 5 North Koreans.
• The bombing of ports and ships.
• The bombing of Schools and theatres.
• The bombing of Cuban embassies, most notable being Peru, Madrid, Spain and Argentina.
• The killing of Cuban diplomats.
• The use of Biological weapons, like the introduction of Swine Fever into Cuba in 1971, and introduction of Dengue virus in 1981 (made in a laboratory) which led to the death of 158 people, among them 101 children, with over 300,000 being infected.
• Drug and Human Trafficking.
• Not to mention the over 600 attempts on Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolution leader.
All these and many more have been organised by the terrorist organisations in the U.S, most notable being the Cuban-American National Foundation (CANF), the Council for Freedom of Cuba (CFC), Brothers to the rescue, Omega 7, Movement for Democracy and Alpha 66. The involvement of these groups is no rumour, since they have often admitted responsibility. All these organisations are based in the United States, with the full knowledge (and in most cases support) of the U.S government. Even self confessed terrorists like Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carriles (the plotters of the downing of the airplane that killed 73 people and many other terrorist actions) have been walking freely in the U.S, with presidential pardons from Bush senior and Bush Junior respectively. Even Eduardo Arecona, a New York Cuban born Terrorist who confessed of having introduced the Dengue fever in Cuba was not tried, nor investigations carried out by the American authorities.

Why they were in the U.S
It is due to these terrorist acts that Cuba, in its defence, sought to know beforehand those plans, in order to prevent the destructions and bloodshed that these groups have done, that the Five Cuban heroes decided to sacrifice their lives and went to Miami to collect information about the plots of these terrorist groups. And most of the information they collected has actually saved many Cuban and American lives, up to date.
It was due to this that these five were arrested in September 1998, kept in isolation cells for 17 months after which a six month trial began (the longest in the U.S at that time.)

The Injustice in the American Justice System
Near the conclusion of the trial, the U.S government recognised in writing that it had failed to prove the main charge of conspiracy to commit murder against Gerardo Hernandez. The jury nonetheless found the five guilty, with Gerardo receiving 2 life terms plus 15 years, Ramon Labanino getting 1 life term plus 18 years (later reviewed to 30 years), Antonio Guerrero getting 1 life term plus 10 years ( re-sentenced to 21 years and 10 months), Fernando Gonzalez getting 19 years(resentenced to 17 years and 9 months) and Rene Gonzalez receiving 15 years imprisonment.
Their appeal process lasted for 9 years, and in 2005, a three judge panel revoked all their convictions on the grounds that the five had not received fair hearing in Miami. In unexpected move, the government put up a three judge panel to review the other panel’s decision, which then revoked the decision of the three other judges. In September 2008, the court of appeal ratified the sentences of Gerardo Hernandez, and Rene Gonzalez, while considering those of Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez and Ramon Labanino wrongful, and revoked them and referred the cases back to the Miami District court for re-sentencing.

Despite Media Blackout, support from people from all corners of the earth
While the trial of the five was going on in Miami, the Miami media had already declared them guilty, and they were leading the Miami public in baying for their blood.
After their unfair trials, the American media and the international media in general have given the issue a total blackout. But this blackout has not stopped over ten Nobel Laureates and over 6000 world leaders, intellectuals, writers and artists from demanding for the immediate release of the five, in writing. They include Noam Chomsky, Oscar Niemeyer, Mario Benedetti, Harry Belafonte, Pablo Gonzalez, Ernesto Cardanel, Thiago de Mello, Danny Glover, Walter Salles, Edurado Galeano, Alice Walker, Manu Chao, Atilio Boron, Francois Houtart, Ignacio Ramonet, Luis Sepulveda, Tariq Ali, Ramsey Clark, Gianni Mina, Frei Betto, Howard Zinn, Jorge Sanjines, Russel Banks, Alfonso Sastre, among many others. Other prominent Americans who have publicly called for their release have been Gayle McLaughlin (mayor of Richmond, CA), Bill Richardson (Governor of New Mexico,US), Bishop Thomas Gumbleton (Bishop of the archdiocese of Detroit), the now late Rev. Lucius Walker (Pastors for Peace)and Lawrence Wilkerson (former Secretary of State Collin Powell’s Chief of Staff)


The Nobel Laureates that have called for their immediate release are:
Desmond Tutu, 1984 Nobel Peace Prize
Jose Ramos-Horta, 1996 Nobel Peace Prize
Rigoberat Menchu, 1992 Nobel Peace Prize
Adolfo Perez Esquivel, 1980 Nobel Peace Prize
Mairead Corrigan Maguire, 1976, Nobel Peace Prize
Wole Soyinka, 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature
Nadine Gordimer, 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature
Jose Saramago, 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature
Dario Fo, 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature
Gunta Grass, 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature
Harold Pinter, 2005 Nobel Prize in literature
Zhores Alfiorov, 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics

Not mentioning many other respected Organisations, members of parliament, and many conferences held all over the world, including the September 2010 African Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba, held in Angola, where delegations from over 15 African Countries demanded for their release, led by Sam Nujoma, the first president of Namibia, Marcelino Dos Santos, former Mozambican Leader and a much respected African statesman, Carlos Gonez Junior, the Prime minister of Guinea Bissau, and Patrick Herminie, the speaker of the Seychelles Parliament.
There are also millions and millions of people all over the world, who have gone on peaceful processions for the last 10 years, demanding for the release of the five. Millions of petitions have also being written to the various American presidents and Attorney Generals calling for the freedom of the five.

Barrack Obama
Unfortunately, President Barrack Obama, 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, who has the legal power to free the five at the stroke of a pen, has been quiet on this issue, two years into his presidency and one year after he received this most prestigious award. This is in spite of the calls by the millions of voices, and by his Nobel Peace Prize peers.
Awarding this prize to the five heroes will not only speed up their release, but will be a big step towards the war on terrorism, and will also give a lot of meaning to the award.

My Plea
It is with the above, that I write this open request to you, since individuals in the Norwegian Prize Committee can nominate a person for the prize, and now that the five qualify for the prize, since they have clearly done a lot for the fraternity of not just Cuba and U.S, but the whole world by risking their lives unearthing this enormous danger, terrorism, requesting you to nominate them for the Nobel Peace Prize, 2011.

With Highest Regards,

Benedict Wachira
National Secretary, Kenya-Cuba Friendship Society
Chairperson, Bureau of Young Social Democrats, Kenya


****It is worth noting that Gerardo, Rene and Fernando also participated as internationalist combatants in Angola’s search for peace in the 80’s, where they helped stop Savimbi the Butcher, and the Fascist South African government and hence the liberation of South Africa, Namibia, and general peace in Southern Africa.
****The association, Kenya Cuba Friendship Society is planning to inform the most famous Kenyan Wangari Maathai, 2008 Nobel Peace Prize, and Kenyan parliamentarians in order that they may support the freedom of the five, but I thought I’d make this personal contribution.
****Links where you can get more info on the five are: http://www.antiterroristas.cu/, http://www.freethefive.org/ and many others.
**** The wives of Gerardo Hernandez and Rene Gonzalez, Adriana Perez and Olga Salanueva respectively, have been denied temporary visas to visit their husbands by the U.S government.
**** Probably in an attempt to kill him, the prison authorities had put Gerardo inside a hole, which was over 100 degrees hot, not minding his Asthmatic condition. This happened last month, and he was only removed due to the outcry from the public after his lawyer reported of the situation.

Why the Constitution won't change anything, and why i will vote for it.

Why the proposed constitution won’t change anything, and why I am voting for it.

Kenyans have been LIED to, Kenyans are being CHEATED, that the current constitution has been/is the cause of our misery as Kenyans. Some people have been/are spreading this lie consciously, while others are doing it without knowing it is a lie and others have been brainwashed to that school of thought. Others are doing it for ‘legacy,’ so that it may be said that they were there when this constitution passed (this class is mostly in the parliament, the CoE and these other bodies here and there, and may be including the American government)

Let us not fool ourselves, the problems that Kenya has is the problem of leadership. Period. When the leadership of a country is bad, people will steal large tracks of land and walk free. When the leadership of a country is evil, it will cut down the forests and occasionally sell the forest lands to unsuspecting buyers. When the leadership of a country is corrupt, people will take Goldenberg money, and shamelessly continue balling in town. When the leadership of a country is decayed, people’s balls will be crushed, and the balls crushers will walk scot-free even after a regime change. When the leadership of a country is totally wicked, it will allow the leadership that has done all the above to lounge somewhere in Baringo, and occasionally comment on how the state should be run,,,,and so on and so on.
Some argue that it is the constitution that gives us that good leader. That not exactly true. If we had a good leadership, with the current constitution, Kenya would prosper. Conversely, if the best constitution was given to a bad leader, the sufferation of Kenyans would continue. People can actually put in Good leadership in whatever circumstances.

This is why I am saddened when I hear the progressives of yesteryears coming out strongly and saying that the proposed constitution was the reason that took them to Castrators of Nyayo house. I had earlier thought that they did these patriotic and heroic actions, and underwent all that anguish because they wanted good leadership in this country, I guess if at that time Moi knew that the proposed constitution was what they wanted, he would have given it to them more easily than they thought.

It is now time for the progressives of today, to fight our own struggle, ourselves. Let us not be pulled into other people’s battles, and forget our own war. Those of yesteryears have now gotten what they fought for. We must now fight for what we want. GOOD LEADERSHIP. Leadership that will feed Kenyans, leadership that will house Kenyans, leadership that will protect Kenyans from this “market” economy, leadership that will bring power to the people, leadership that will eventually break and end the class differences in Kenya.

Some people are tirelessly campaigning for the proposed constitution, so that at the end of the day, they will get jobs in the numerous commissions formed, so that they may face less competition for the variety of positions of power. In some places, they are even publicly announcing their line ups for 2012. They say that Kamau (the current MP) will continue being the MP, Njoroge (the immediate former MP) will become the Governor, and Mwangi (always a threat in all elections) will become the Senator. I am left wondering where WANJIKU is, in all these arrangements.

The new Wanjiku wants the Matatu prices to be controlled by the government, not by Greedy Matatu crews, benefiting from the “market” economy. The new Wanjiku wants to work and participate in nation building immediately she completes schooling, she doesn’t want to complete her 8-4-4 so that she begins tarmacking around, her life now determined by LUCK, and how many people she KNOWS. The new Wanjiku wants to benefit from her farming, and not for all her profits to be taken away by middlemen, who are an important entity in the “market” chain. The new Wanjiku wants her security to be guaranteed, she is tired of being harassed by “illegal” gangs who operate in broad daylight, in full knowledge of the security forces. Our Wanjiku wants to give birth in safe and proper environment, without being asked for some cards,without being asked for money. The new Wanjiku wants her child to get quality schooling for free, and she also wants to pursue her research and discover the cure for breast cancer, at no cost.
The new Wanjiku is tired of her name being used ovyo ovyo, Wanjiku is tired. Tired totally.

And that is why I will be voting for the proposed constitution. To end the “Constitution is the problem lie” and now face the real problem.
Today, almost all what we can call major forces, are supporting the proposed constitution. The media, the elite, the politicians, the so called Civil Society Organisation, the American government etc.
And so after august 4th, the LIE will end. They will now have to discover another lie. The new Wanjiku will by then be tired of the lies, she will rise and demand what she’s been waiting for, for all these years. Good leadership.
>>>>>>> The church is opposing the proposed constitution for either moral (abortion) or religious competition (kadhi’s court), so it has nothing to do with governance,,,,,,they can’t come and tell us that “Hey! You are sleeping hungry because of the abortion clause!” Or “Hey! The new Kamlesh has stolen billions because of the Kadhi courts!”………as for the other NO guys, what they are proposing is in real sense the same as what is being proposed……Ruto seemingly wants Countries, not Counties…….as for Moi, let’s not discuss him any further<<<<<<<
In my little analysis, after this final lie is unearthed, Kenya will be ripe for two things, Socialist Revolution, or Somali-like destruction.
It is now upon the new progressives to rise up, and LEAD this country towards the former, or our current bad leaders will throw us into the latter.

Let us sort this political leadership mess, through politics itself, or through any other practical means.

Benedict Wachira
31st July 2010
10:46pm

World Cup 2010 Analysis

World Cup 2010 Analysis

The Vuvuzela
This instrument, which is claimed by the African Methodist church as their invention (invented in early 1900s) will definitely remain with the African cheering squads for a very long time. There is only one secret about it: Blow your own, and the one from the person standing next to you will cease to be a nuisance.

The best tuned national anthem
If there was one national anthem that I didn’t want to miss (other than the S.A one, of which I know by rote, including the Tanzanian version) was Uruguay’s national anthem. Unlike these other boring anthems, theirs was lively and interesting, and their entire team sang along. As for the other teams, you’d wonder whether those players were really Nationals of the countries that they played for.

Goal of the Tournament
Maicon’s goal against Korea was the goal of the just the GOAL, it was an impossible goal,,,,,,well,,,,,until he made it possible. People are still arguing on whether it was a cross or a shot. I’m sure he was also shocked (going by his calm celebration of that goal)

Miss of the Tournament
Alone, totally unmanned, no goal keeper, between the two goal posts, less than three yards from the goal line and Yakubu misses. Again, just like Maicon’s goal, this was impossible, until Yakubu made it possible. Such are the events that make people believe in witchcraft. And with that, the Nigerians were bungled out of the games by South Korea.

The most interesting coach
Even non-Argentinean supporters had to like Diego Maradonna. At one point, he is being given instructions by one of his players at the start of a game. The next minute (and for the rest of the games) he acts as the ball boy, and does some interesting tricks with the ball. And finally, he promises to pull an “Archimedes”by running naked should Argentina lift the cup.
I guess he would have spiced up the world cup final…..hope he’ll still be there come 2014!

Best Player
Arjen Robben was the best player in my eyes. Football is not just about passing the ball around and scoring goals, no, football is about flicks, flares, going through four defenders alone, beating a defender by passing the ball in between his legs (Choboo) and passing the other one by hitting it over his head (Kanzu.) That’s exactly what Robben did. Surely, the best palyer.
I could add here that the second best player was Germany’s Ozel.

The most disappointing player
Who else other than Didier Drogba! The guy goes into the tournament FAKING a shoulder injury. Wastes several clear chances against Portugal and Brazil. Insists on playing (due to his influence on public opinion back at home) and thus keeps good players eg Keita and Kalu on the bench, and also fails to coordinate with Gervinho, who was Cote d’ivoire’s best player.

Best African team
Going into the world cup, my favorite team was the Black Stars, with Steven Appiah as my favorite player. But after the games began, all this changed. Appiah was denied most of the play by that Coach of theirs (and ironically addressed the crowds on behalf of the team when they landed in Accra,,,kwani where was that team captain of theirs? Ama he doesn’t speak English?) Futhermore, Ghana just survived through the matches, with free kicks and penalties. (Though they played well in their two last games.)
With that, the best African team was ALGERIA. These guys were fast, very professional, and they didn’t care a rap about the perceived big teams, and their defense was just superb. Were it not for the poor officiating during their qualifying matches, those boys would have taken the cup. Just look at how they played England, Rooney was almost crying on the field. The Algerians made them play like high school kids. As for the Americans, luck (or was it Paul the Octopus?) was just on their side.
Kudos Algeria, you just proved that you were there by right (of course we all missed Egypt, but they should have come in for CAMEROUN, not Algeria.)

Best team, overall
The best overall team was North Korea (DPRK).
This Communist country last qualified for the world cup in the 60’s, and still made my day. Of course, they lost all their matches, but what would you expect when you put such a team in the same group as Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast? Had they been spared the group of death, they probably would have made it to the quarters. And the guys were extremely patriotic, just the sound of their anthem made their captain shed tears (unlike Kenyans who play for the cash, and for the European scouts.)

Worst Team
France.

The stadiums
Speaking of Communists, South Africans seemingly had two names for each stadium. The second best being named after Moses Mabhida, a former sec-gen of South African Communist Party, killed by S.A mercenaries in the mid 80’s in their Mozambique camp. We had Chris Hani Stadium (which had three other names!) who was also a sec-gen of SACP, and commander of Umkhonto we Sizwe(MK), killed by some white fellow just before the end of apartheid. Another interesting name was that of Peter Mokaba, the ANC youth league leader who made the “kill the Boer” song popular, and of course, Nelson Mandela Bay, a great man who has strong Communistic leanings(and the old man is still strong, eh?). In Kenya, we would have had MOI kasarani stad, NYAYO stad, Kenyatta stad, Jommo stad, Toroitich grounds, Kenyatta grounds……….

Women
It could be the effects of where I grew up, but I don’t remember women having interest in football dem days. These days we have them in the Premiere league, Champions league, and now in the world cup.
But going by what I saw at some pub the other day, some of them just do it for their guys, which is not veeerry bad.
One woman who was serious though, was the one on Spain’s technical bench No wonder they won, you can imagine being psyched up by a woman!(for the men, that is.)

The world cup songs
The person who chose those songs knew what they were doing. Listening to K’naan’s original waving flag song was very inspiring, especially as an African, and so was Shakira’s Waka Waka, just look at these rylics, quite proggressive:
Wavin' Flag lyrics

When i get older, they'll call me freedom
Just like a Waving Flag.

[Chorus]
When I get older, I will be stronger,
They'll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag,
And then it goes back, and then it goes back,
And then it goes back

Born to a throne, stronger than Rome
but Violent prone, poor people zone,
But it's my home, all I have known,
Where I got grown, streets we would roam.
But out of the darkness, I came the farthest,
Among the hardest survival.
Learn from these streets, it can be bleak,
Except no defeat, surrender retreat,

So we struggling, fighting to eat and
We wondering when we'll be free,
So we patiently wait, for that fateful day,
It's not far away, so for now we say

[Chorus]

So many wars, settling scores,
Bringing us promises, leaving us poor,
I heard them say, love is the way,
Love is the answer, that's what they say,
But look how they treat us, Make us believers,
We fight their battles, then they deceive us,
Try to control us, they couldn't hold us,
Cause we just move forward like Buffalo Soldiers.

But we struggling, fighting to eat,
And we wondering, when we'll be free
So we patiently wait, for that faithful day,
It's not far away, but for now we say,

[Chorus] 2x

(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And everybody will be singing it
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And you and I will be singing it
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And we all will be singing it
(Ohhh Ohh Ohh Ohh)

[Chorus] 2x
When I get older, when I get older
I will be stronger, just like a Waving Flag,
Just like a Waving Flag, just like a Waving flag
Flag, flag, Just like a Waving Flag


Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)"
Oooeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehh
You're a good soldier
Choosing your battles
Pick yourself up
And dust yourself off
Get back in the saddle

You're on the front line
Everyone's watching
You know it's serious
We are getting closer
This isn't over

The pressure is on
You feel it
But you got it all
Believe it

When you fall get up, oh oh
If you fall get up, eh eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa
Cuz this is Africa
Tsamina mina, eh eh
Waka waka, eh eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa
This time for Africa

Listen to your God
This is our motto
Your time to shine
Don't wait in line
Y vamos por todo

People are raising
Their expectations
Go on and feed them
This is your moment
No hesitations

Today's your day
I feel it
You paved the way
Beleive it

If you get down get up, oh oh
When you get down get up, eh eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa
This time for Africa
Tsamina mina, eh eh
Waka waka, eh eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa
Anawa a a
Tsamina mina, eh eh
Waka waka, eh eh
This time for Africa
[2x]
Django eh eh [2x]
Tsamina mina zangalewa
Anawa a a


Benedict Wachira
12 July 2010
4:07pm

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds (Marcus Garvey*)

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds (Marcus Garvey*)

In line with the theme “Afreeka is the wealthiest, Afreekans are the poorest,” I think that the problems that the African people have is mental slavery, just as Garvey put it many years ago. This has been brought about by years of condemnation and deliberate lies, that have affected our self respect and self confidence. Our history has been deliberately changed, so that it may be seen as if the African knew nothing, before the white man came. Once we change our mode of thought, then everything else is bound to change.

Unfortunately, our education system does nothing to change this, it in fact entrenches it in to the minds of young Africans, and hence making the process of mental emancipation very very difficult.

Some of the things that I have over time come to be aware of over time, and have really captured my attention and interest have been:

3Zs

Hunger is synonymous with Africa. Every year, hundreds of Africans die of hunger, and thousands suffer from malnutrition. But what is interesting is that Africa can more than sufficiently feed itself. Numerous studies have shown that Zaire(DRC,) Zambia and Zimbabwe can comfortably, safely and strategically feed the whole of Africa and beyond. By comfortably I mean that the Zambians will continue mining copper, exporting cash crops and doing all the other things that they are doing today. By safely I mean, the farmers will continue using the normal seeds and natural manure, without involving GMOs and heavy fertilizer. By strategically I mean, the cost of transporting the food to the whole of Africa will be low, since these countries are positioned somewhere in the middle of the continent.

But the question is, what is it that prevents us from making use of the 3Zs? And the simple answers are the artificial boundaries that were erected by the colonialists over a hundred years ago. The other factor is the imperialist involvement in these three countries.

Let us emancipate ourselves from mental slavery, Africa can feed itself, only if we unite, and after we kick the imperialists out.

The Congo River

The Congo river is a massive river, deep in the DRC, that towards the end pours into the Atlantic, and interestingly divides two capital cities of two different countries, Kinshasa and Brazaville.

Africa is known to have a big big energy problem. There are constant electricity shortages from Jo’burg to Nairobi, from Addis to Dakar and all over Africa.

Again, numerous studies have shown that the Congo River alone can generate electricity for every household in Africa and beyond. This can be done cheaply, strategically and with almost absolute environmental safety.

Unfortunately, this cannot be done, because of the imperialist interests, who have managed to destabilize DRC since 1962, and are currently harvesting timber, mining the rare minerals from that rich country. And that is why we must honor those who over the years have tried to liberate DRC, from the days of Che Guevara and the Cubans and Nyerere, to the days of Mugabe.

Let us emancipate ourselves from mental slavery, and save the Congo before they milk it off completely.

The size of Africa

We all know the USA, the superpower of the world, let us picture it in our minds, let’s picture China, that big, populous and emerging economic superpower. Let’s take India, with a population of over one billion people and finally take Europe (without Russia, of course.)

What most people do not know is that Africa is bigger than USA, Europe, China and India combined.(you can even include more countries of you remove the territorial waters.)

But the world map is intentionally drawn to make Africa appear small, so that Africans will not have a “big continent mentality.” In earlier maps, the error was genuine, but since the discovery of the error many years ago, the maps have never been changed.

Given that kids learn maps at a relatively early age, these diagrams stick to their heads, and denies them the confidence that comes with “bigness.” The effects are so deep, that even an adult who is hearing this for the first time will dismiss it as a big lie.

I would also like to relate this to population.

Africans are always told that they are too many, and the must bring control their population growth. That is not true, Africa is the most under populated continent in the world, vis a vis its size. According to the recent census result, USA, whose size is 9.6 million sqkms, has a population that is approaching half-a-billion, while Africa, which is more than three times the size of USA (and with a bigger percentage of habitable land), has a population of just under a billion. Yet we never hear of population control in America.

Some people will argue that the African governments cannot handle the ever increasing population, so we must control our productivity. This is a very dangerous way of reasoning, what needs to change are our incompetent governments, not our sex lives. (It is like the police telling us not to use a certain street, because it has many thieves,,,,,,,,,,,,,it is the thieves who should be removed from that street and not vice versa!)

But could there be a hidden agenda? Especially given that Africa is the continent of the future? We all know what they did with the red Indians in the Americas, and thanks to their syphilis, Gonorrhea, and smallpox, red Indians are a minority in America.

Let us emancipate ourselves from mental slavery, Africa is the continent of the future, let us populate it.

The Pyramids

The technology that was used to built the pyramids over 6000 years ago was so advanced, that it even today, it would be very difficult to built such pyramids. For a long time, it was naturally thought the it is the Semitic Egyptians who built the pyramids, but scientific evidence in the 20^th century shown that the black Africans were involved in the making of the pyramids, but since nobody would believe that the black man could build such a wonder, it was decided that it was built by black slaves, under the Semitic leadership. But as we jumped into the 21^st century, it was conclusively discovered that by the time the pyramids were being built, the lighter colored Egyptians had not occupied the area, and hence the pyramids were built by black Africans, with black leadership.

This hasn’t gone down well with some people, and they are now trying to bring in lies about Extraterrestrial involvement in the building of the pyramids.

Let us emancipate ourselves from mental slavery: If our forefathers had such technology over 6000 years ago, what is my potential today, 6000 years later?

Gicandi

Coming home now, it is said that Kenyans didn’t know how to read and write until the missionaries came, and taught them how to do this. This is not true.

The Kikuyus knew how to read and write, many many years before the Europeans appeared. In fact, it was these Europeans who came and completely destroyed the kikuyu writing, so that it would be said that the peoples of sub Saharan Africa knew not how to read and write. To the Kikuyus, this was just a game, so the missionaries had an easy time destroying it.

This writing was called; Gicandi. It was a form of writing using a style similar to that the Egyptian writing. One village would write a piece of story on a gourd, and pass the gourd to the next village, the next village would try to decipher (read) the information on the gourd, and once they succeeded, they would sing that information to the other village.

Unfortunately, what remains of Gicandi today is the song aspect of it, not the writing. I am told that only one gourd is known to exist in the world, and it is in the museum of Turin, complete with info of its origin.

Let us emancipate ourselves from mental slavery, we knew how to read and write, and ours was much better.

Neurosurgery and medicine

Though neurosurgery is a very ancient art, it is still one of the most sophisticated branch of medicine. In Kenya, many people die of brain diseases, and the lucky ones get specialized treatment in the developd world.

What many people do not know is that we have brain surgeons, right here in Kenya, who have never stepped into formal schools. They are to be found among the Kisii people, and their success rates are very very high. They will open your scalp, sort out the brain, and stitch it back in just a few hours,,,,at a extremely affordable fees.

My fear is that 15-20 years from today, these people will be long gone and forgotten. They will die with their art. Fifty years later, people will be told that such doctors existed, and that will be dismissed as a lie.

Today, many women die because of birth related complications. Others give birth to dead babies. Those who are lucky undergo the caesarean operation, which is not only expensive, but puts a limit to the number of births one may have after that.

Among the Mijikenda, there are women who can assess the development of a baby in the womb, and without the use of surgery, can correct the positioning of a baby who’s bound to come out legs first. They can even position the baby in a manner that reduces the pain at child birth.

Unfortunately, these old women will also die with their skill, and Kenyan women will be condemned to unnecessary surgeries and pain for the rest of the ages.

Traditional herbal medicine is still dismissed as non dependable medicine, some even consider it evil, this is despite numerous research done by some African professors.

There are many other examples of people (mostly very old men and women) who can cure many conditions which are otherwise fatal, but our leadership, which has the capacity and machinery to ensure that these arts do not die, and are instead improved and spread all over the world, is just not interested at all.

Let us emancipate ourselves from mental slavery, lets us save our traditional medicinal practices.

But we must not forget that with the emancipation from mental slavery, there is need for the physical and visible emancipation. This can only come through a revolutionary process, since the bad leaders, the artificial boundaries and the imperialists will not just fade away. And their roots are deeply entrenched into our society. An African revolution is the answer.

In my opinion, the revolution will sweep across Africa, just as the “winds of change” did over 40 years ago. My bet is that it will begin either in Kenya, or in South Africa, and will sweep over the whole continent. As for us, we now need to study revolutionary theory, since there can never be a revolution, without revolutionary theory.

Benedict Wachira Mamluki

24^th May 2010

11:50pm

Why Magoha must go (as drawn from my experiences.)

Today, Police are all over the University. The administration police have surrounded Kikuyu campus. The GSU are baying for innocent students’ blood, across the Kabetes.

A combination of anti-riot, AP, and GSU police have cordoned off the statehouse road, and all they are waiting for is the whistle, the whistle to allow then to maim, maim male students. The whistle that allows them to rape, rape female students. And the whistle that will allow them to kill, kill anybody who runs away from them.

The media, the Kenyan media, has decided to give the situation of national importance a total black out, or give a one sided story, on the turn of events.

The media is trying to make this issue of national importance, to look like a simple politico-goonship story. The media wants to make the students look like barbarians, and that all they want is to stone cars and cause disruptions.

The media is part of the problem.

It all began in 2006. April, 2006. A group of former expelled students came to the University, they came as “revolutionaries” who had been kicked out because of fighting for students rights. They came and made promises, they came and excited students, they came and played with students’ emotions, but all they wanted to do was to fuck the students up.

Unknown to the University Comrades, Magoha had made a deal with these returned expellees, a deal to help him steal money, a deal to help him stay on his seat for longer, and a deal, to feed them with the cramps that fell.

In 2006, April, 2006, Magoha and his accomplices succeeded very well, and took almost all the executive posts.

Come 2007, May, 4^th, 2007, Magoha wanted more, he wanted a tribally balanced SONU. He wanted arse-lickers, who could do whatever he wanted. And he had prepared well for it. Very well indeed.

In the course of 2006, he instigated for the changing of the SONU constitution, so that the outgoing office, would serve as the incoming electoral commission, this he did by: And I quote him “massaging the backs of the then student leaders.” Bribing through stealing from the students’ fund no longer had the common name of corruption, no, it now had been given a new name: Massage.

Come May 4^th, 2007 Susan Chege, won the chairperson’s seat with a landslide majority. But Magoha could not allow that. He wanted the chairperson’s seat to go to a person who understood how “The system works,” not a novice whom he could not trust. Furthermore, he wanted a tribally balanced SONU, and given that there was no Luo vying for the SecGen’s post, he had to get a Luo for the chairman’s post. This was against the wish of the majority of Luo students, who didn’t like Adinda, Magoha’s candidate, due to his poor performance as a sports secretary the previous year.

Those who had tried to stop the rigging were instead beaten up by the riggers, and the University security.

Not only was Adinda, a person who had been booed and dismissed all through his campaigns given the seat, but so was a whole lot of others students vying for other seats.

We mobilized students to oppose those fake results and tension was all over the university. Even two former student leaders, the late Oulu GPO and Fwamba NC, could not just sit aside and watch, they came to our aid.  The University students wanted to take to the streets, but we told them to wait. To wait until we tried out the other channels. We went to all the offices that one could think of, from the ministry of justice, to the ministry of education, from well known lawyers, to river road lawyers, we did letters to the University Council and we finally met the VC himself. All he did was plead with us, not to cause chaos in the University. He instead blamed the constitution. But what he seemingly could not remember was that HIS constitution (new) was never passed by an AGM, and it was thus ILLEGAL. All we wanted was a repeat election of the elections, with neutral electoral commissioners. The talks failed and we settled for our last option: Leading the students to the streets with two agenda only.

1.       Magoha must go.

2.       Yote yawezekana bila SONU.

It was the only option that we had been left with, everybody else, the government, the Council, the Judiciary had given us a blind ear.

Oblivious to some of us, Magoha had already begun clandestine talks with some of the people we were together with, and by the date of the demo, only three people had remained. Demoralized and disoriented.

How did this happen? Was the only question in our minds. Magoha had proved that he was not only a master tribalist, but a master in the world of bribing. Some of the fellows had been given money, lots of money, others had been given imaginary posts, and others were merely threatened. (Here I can’t help but remember how I had a very progressive meeting with one Mr.Kibore, on how he would mobilize guys from Upper Kabete, drop with them in Chiromo, and head on to main campus. then 20minutes later, I meet Dann Mwangi, who shows me an sms from Kibore, who was already campaigning for the speaker’s post! A post that he had been assured of by Magoha himself!,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,of which needless to say, he never got. )

*Interestingly, the same rigging tactics that were used by Magoha’s men, were the same rigging tactics that Kibaki used in the presidential elections later that year (lack of ballot papers in some areas, changing of results at the summation halls, the use of security persons to protect the riggmasters etc etc)

But this was just the beginning of of Magoha’s successes.

That year, millions of shillings were stolen, by the SONU leaders in conjunction with Magoha’s administration. By the way, the SONU leaders had given the stealing a nicer name: Jackpotting.

Adinda had no decency whatsoever. His lowest point being when he led his goons to beat and maim around 60 Biomedical students, who had sought the University’s intervention for the recognition of their degree, by the Kenya Biomedics registration Board.

Instead of the goons, who had used metal pipes and whips to beat up the peaceful and innocent young women and men from Upper Kabete being suspended and facing disciplinary action, it was the victims who were suspended, and some even expelled from the university. It was hence quite clear, who was behind all this.

After a year of stealing, stealing and more stealing the elections were here again. This time round, I decided that I was not going to vie for the Secretary General’s post, but not under the conditions that were there.

Comrade Amuke and I (and later joined by Onchari) formed the reformist movement. And our call was >>no reforms no elections<<

All we wanted was one thing and one thing alone: THAT THE ELECTIONS BE SUPERVISED BY A NUETRAL BODY other than THE OUTGOING OFFICE. We had proposed the University religious student leaders, or NGOs like CMD, ford foundation and even the ECK, all of whom were ready to run the SONU elections.

Since when did the outgoing president of a country, chair the country’s electoral commission at the end of his term?

But Magoha could hear none of it. He instead told his commissioners (the outgoing exec.) that they should do everything in their power to ensure that one Mr. Mamluki does not get any post that he will be vying for.

I had forgotten who what we were dealing with, and I organised a meeting with the V.C, to try and prevent any trouble, and to promote conditions favorable for a fair vote. We attended the meeting with Che Ndumia, and Marvin Sissey. We had planned that Sissey would put our case up, and the rest of us would react later, the meeting lasted for around 10 minutes and Marvin managed to make our point very clear to the VC. As usual, the VC had to cut him short, but Sissey tried to push on (with reason,)

But reason seemingly doesn’t go well with him, so I intervened, and told him that all those things about security and supervision were useless, if we had the outgoing office overseeing the election. He then retorted something to the effect that he wouldn’t allow me to abuse him in his office, and this is roughly how he finished:

Magoha: Mamluki, if you think that you are a man, you will know that I am also a man, and you (Sissey) leave these people and go back to class!

Ndumia: Professor, when I was coming to this office, I thought that we could reason, but all we have had was a waste of time!

I went out of that meeting a very happy man, the battle horn had already been blown. When Sissey, Ndumia and I passed the info to Amuke and GPO, who were waiting for us outside JKML, they were both happy, not happy because now there would be a struggle ahead, no, they were happy to confirm that Magoha was just evil, we now not only  knew, but we confirmed what we were fighting.

But 2008 was not a good year to stage a struggle in the University. The tribal tensions were still very high, due the effects of the PEV.

By the time we hit the road for our >>No reforms no elections/SONU must go campaign<<, the SONU election date had been announced, and it was so near.

All this time we were doing quiet sensitization, some comrades could not imagine a UoN without SONU. Here are some of the questions that they would ask:

Question: Without the congressman, where will we be getting our bulbs from once they burn?

Answer: From the Custodian.That is where you get it even now.

Question: Won’t the admin misuse our SONU money once SONU is not there?

Answer: If SONU goes, then the subscription to SONU also goes, so there will be no money to misuse, but with these bad leaders, they will continue misusing the fund together, and that is why the admin insists on rigging guys in.

Question: Who will fight for our rights once SONU is not there?

Answer: The vacuum will be filled, by genuine people, since they won’t get paid to represent you, they won’t use or misuse your fund. As at now, SONU doesn’t fight for anyone’s right, it is actually used to pacify students, by giving them an illusion of representation,,,,,Kwani didn’t you see what they did to the Biomedical students? Didn’t you see how they raised the subscription fee from kshs100 to kshs500? Are those the rights that you are speaking about?

Our first place to hold a meeting was hall 5.

There we met a full house that thought we were looking for seats. That was until Onchari, who was acting as the MC took to the floor. Onchari didn’t know how to shout, but the guy was perfect when it came to passing of rebellion messages. As for my part, I would express my fears to them, which were their fears, and finally charge the crowd through songs and chants, Amuke would then kill it by telling them on the way forward. At the end of the meeting, all the freshmen who were vying for whatever posts stepped down, and we went chanting>>No reforms, no elections/SONU must go<<

But of all the meetings we held, the most memorable is the HALL 10 Kamukunji. Hall 10 hosts senior students only, and in most cases, they are never interested in politics, in fact, 4^th years always hope for a smooth running of the uni so that they can finish up their studies. But this time round, even they had decided that they had had enough. Sisqo, Ndumia, Moraa, Musonye and I took the whistles and asked guys out.

On hearing the whistles, some guys from hall 11 also joined in.

As usual, Onchari cleverly introduced what we were pushing for, then Ndumia (I think) addressed the crowds, I charged the comrades through songs and chants, and Amuke finally killed it. In that Kamukunji, students were baying for Adinda’s blood, somebody within the crowd would shout that we go to his room and burn it(since he himself resided in hall 10) and the crowd would show their readiness but I remember Onchari telling them that if we did that, we would lose our objectivity, since it was Magoha that we wanted, others would ask us to take them to the road, but Onchari, almost overwhelmed by the crowds, told them to wait for proper mobilization. Adinda tried to mobilize his goons, but by the chants that they heard from afar, they could not dare come near.

I will never forget those comrades.

As I have noted, 2008 was a tribally tense year, but from hall 5, we had Kisii, Kikuyu, Luo and many other candidates stepping down. Truth had managed to remove the tribal veils from their eyes. In hall 10, I could see Mutiga, Onyancha, Fred&Poly, Onguka, Limo and many other people in solidarity with us. For them, they already knew the truth, since they had been at the university for a long time, all they now wanted was action.

But in the prefabs, we were met with serious resistance, some freshmen had been bought for alcohol, they came to disrupt our message, there was some physical tussle, and we knew that the system had begun retaliating.

Amuke, believed that it was Atemo DFO who had sent these people, since they were chanting his name (in fact, I had thought that there would be a fist fight once they meet, but that didn’t happen, they just exchanged some words)

(Some of the guys would later apologize, and wish they had supported us)

I then went ahead to a meeting in hall 7, and a few rooms in hall 8. But one thing that was very clear, was that the tribal divisions would not allow people to reason, and it would have been extremely difficult to holds more meetings in such conditions. Magoha was well aware of this, as we could see his bootlickers going round, polarizing the students, so that they could not support the third way. They had well oiled pockets for that job.

I didn’t really care for the outcome. Since the elections were held on an illegality (even the dates it was held were not constitutional>both in the Magoha and the legal documents<)

When elections are held under such conditions, there is bound to be complains. Even those who lose fairly are bound to claim victory, since the process itself is flawed. Whatever has been happening in SONU elections since 2007 has been pure madness, thanks to the machinations of the mad Prof.

That is why I am so happy today, two years later, to see that the students have risen, one and all, to fight this corrupt Tribalist.

That is why I support the methods that they are using, since we had tried all the other methods and failed.

But above all, that is why I am optimistic that, this country too, will rise from the oppression, exploitation and tribalism and the petty nationalism that the larger Magohas have used to suppress and divide  us for over 40 years.

Wachira Mamluki

17^th May 2010

1:39pm.