New Tricks

The country is slowly getting back to normalcy. You can almost feel the celebratory mood in the air when you are around social places. Everyone seems to be making extra effort to prove their Kenyan-ness and if in cosmopolitan company, there are some who are going the extra mile to prove this by dangling their mixed heritage or non-ethnic credentials.

The winner in this struggle by old dogs learning new tricks was a wisecrack from a lady colleague after the CEO requested for opening prayers during a formal meeting in the office. She quipped, "should'nt we be starting our meetings with a hearty national anthem instead of prayers?".

She got me thinking. Why not, especially after the fiasco that our religious leaders created by taking sides when they were supposed to keep off the murk that politics can be. At least the anthem would be neutral, secular and apolitical.

Come to think of it, why not?

How Kenyan are You ? The Big Test

At this very difficult time for our dear nation, it is rare to find alot of Kenyans who can crystallize issues without seeming to take sides. It is becoming difficult to find "voices of reason" that can talk about the real issues facing us without elections and all the emotions therein blurring the picture. Once again Eric Kimani-my favourite homegrown motivational speaker and business leader- has hit the nail on the head. In a speech he delivered in December 2007, titled "Proudly Kenyan", he discussed some real issues that face our country. Had this been made this year, it would have sounded pedestrian, but looking back now,I will shamelessly use the word prophetic to describe this insightful piece. Karibu. PROUDLY KENYAN! A talk by Eric Kimani to the Final 2007 Nairobi Marketers Night on 7th December 2007 Distinguished guests, ladies & gentlemen, Thank you for inviting me to come and speak at the Marketers Night Out dinner. Your publication “Marketing Africa” is known for its high standards and it is an honor for me to be here tonight. I am told that all good speeches begin with a light moment and I will keep to this tradition and tell you a true story…about Mr. Smith, Kamau and Mr. Patel! The choice of a topic for you was complicated by the diverse nature of your audience-some are pure marketers, some are sales people some are in advertising while some are in pure branding. I believe everyone though is a marketer of some sort. The one thing you have in common that made me choose a topic is your influence on society. I don’t think there is any other professional group that influences the social economic and political fabric of our society more than you marketers. You even shape public opinion. I am known for my talking about the soft issues in life rather than technical one and I have today chosen to talk to you on being Proudly Kenyan. The first time I moved out of the confines of my constituency to experience the greater Kenya was when I joined form 5 in Meru School in 1977. There I met people from all over Kenya. My best friend was Omondi Oloo. We talked and shared our common aspirations as young Kenyans. As we approached the end of 1978 amid calls of “The cock is too old” our then president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta passed away. There was unease, fear and anxiety. Many said Kenya would disintegrate into civil war! This quickly passed away. The immediate past president Moi took Power and ruled for 24 years. An attempted but failed coup in 1982 almost interrupted Moi’s rule spreading further fear among all and sundry. At every election time during Moi’s 24-year rule, there was unease, anxiety and fear. It reached its height in 1992 with the politically instigated tribal clashes appearing in the Rift Valley and the Coast. Again many predicted this was the beginning of the end and Kenya stood at the brink of civil war! In 2002 as we approached another change of guard, there was fear and unease again and amid calls “Moi must go and Kibaki Tosha” president Moi gave way to HE Mwai Kibaki. In my humble view, this is the first time during elections in the history of independent Kenya that I sense that the unease, anxiety and fear level is lower than it has ever been which in a sense is political maturity. But before I digress too much into politics let me come back to the point I wanted to make. After school I began work. I worked under the late Mohamed Akram Bhatti, an Asian of Pakistan origin who was the then chairman of the Young Muslim Association. When I decided to get married in 1983, he among others wearing the customary uniform suits and standing nearly seven foot tall, was one of the groomsmen in my wedding- himself a Muslim leader. My parents are deeply religious and anchored on Christianity. Akram’s family, which was deeply Islamic severally visited the village and enjoyed our company. Indeed we started a partnership to rear chicken with him and my father but the venture failed! What am I driving at? I am driving at the point that Omondi Oloo, Akram Bhatti and Eric Kimani were, besides being Luo, Pakistani and Kikuyu proudly Kenyan! Our diversity was our strength. It gave us color! Why has it become so pronounced that we are of this and that tribe and not Kenyan? How deep is your love for Kenya? Are you proud to be Kenyan? What do I want to tell you tonight? I want to tell you to be proudly Kenyan; I want to remind you that you have no choice; I want to remind you that Kenya is all there is for us all; I want to remind us that being Proudly Kenyan must begin by marketing this agenda in our minds! I would like to begin by describing why in my view we have failed the test of being Proudly Kenyan. 1. Tribalism- We wrongfully accept that our tribal differences is our greatest weakness. In my view this should be a strength and not a weakness as I will allude to later. Some of our politicians and outsiders have made this worse by using it for their own selfish ends. As I speak there is heightened tribal animosity in some places where it was planted in 1992! Ethnic and tribal discrimination and identification is based on perceived insecurity. Indeed, I accept an argument by Pastor Oginde who recently argued that were it not for our strong religious grounding, tribalism would by now have torn Kenya apart! Kenyans have exercised restraint in the face of great provocation as history has shown. My prayer tonight is that we will continue to exercise this restraint while at the same time building a national identity that is truly Kenyan! When is the last time you got out of your way to help one who is not from your own tribe? This weekend we had the mentoring session for about 100 Palmhouse Secondary school kids- It was so fulfilling for me to see the Muslim girls and boys spread out their mats on the open grass to pray! It was exciting to see Terry Davidson and his wife among others spend time mentoring Kenyan kids; it was exciting to see Michael Owuor from Nyanza mentoring Josephine Kamene from Kitui; while Jane was mentoring Fatuma! Serving your own does not bring the Kenyan message home- even thieves watch over their own. You must begin where you are- invite the diversity on your board of directors on your management team. How you behave speaks louder than what you say 2. We are not patriotic enough to be proudly Kenyan. We have agreed to be influenced by some outsiders and selfish leaders to hate our own country. Who can hate his/her own mother? Have you observed the patriotism of Americans, Japanese, British, Indians, Chinese, and French etc? It always amazes me when I visit America- Many Americans will tell you what a great country America is: how lucky they are; how blessed they are and then proceed to give you their political opinion which may be as harsh as any. Ask a Kenyan his view of our country and he/she will start mourning the troubles of Kenya and the government. Recently a well educated Kenyan lady came seeking my assistance to go to America. She began telling me how life in Kenya is hell! How there is no hope in this country. How she must get herself and her family to America. I go America relatively quite often in the last few years. I have two sisters and other relatives. While admittedly life in the short run is better in the US, nothing in my view beats Kenya. If those in America were to tell you frankly, many would love to come back home if there were opportunities! Why do we speak so ill of our country? President George W. Bush this year issued an official proclamation of May 1st 2007 as Loyalty Day- This is a now a legal holiday (not federal) in the US whose purpose is quote “a day for the affirmation of loyalty to the United States and for the recognition of the heritage of American Freedom” end of quote. We are not short of examples to follow. 3. We have failed the proudly Kenyan test because we are unable to separate Kenya from the political leadership. Kenya is not made up of politicians. The president is not Kenya. Parliament is not Kenya. Kenya is bigger than the sum total of all! I like the way for example Americans and Canadians are proud of being such- in many American homes they fly their flag; the Canadians wear lapel pins of their flag. If you did it in Kenya people might mistake you for a member of KANU. We must change this. We must treat our flag with pride and no political party should be allowed our national colors! 4. We have failed the Proudly Kenyan test because of a deeply colonized mind- I once observed the behavior of a particular African head of state at a dinner function. When a person of any other shade except black went to whisper/exchange niceties he would straighten up and put on a wide smile. When an African approached him his demeanor would completely change to one of “what do you want”? We are our worst enemies! We still do not believe enough in ourselves; we still largely think we do not measure up! 5. We have failed the proudly Kenyan test because of a poor work ethic-I am finally persuaded to agree with a theory that perhaps due to long and undue colonization, we Africans came to believe that work is to be avoided. I once received a call from London in the early nineties from an investor in a tea plantation who left Kenya in the late sixties. He could not understand that workers had gone on strike and his question was why we could not get the DC to whip the natives back to work! In Africa unlike in the west and the east work is not treated as godly or duty or something that must be done. Indeed if you can get paid to do the least, you consider yourself as doing well! This must change if we are to get anywhere! Work is no longer punishment! We must treat work as a duty and a godly thing to do to be proudly Kenyan. 6. We have often failed the Proudly Kenyan test because we believe and think small of ourselves- As a family we own and run a micro-dairy processing plant where we have packaged milk for over a decade. It never ceases to amaze me that often when we tell people we sell milk to Serena hotel or Nairobi Hospital among others, their first reaction is “do you supply raw milk in big containers”! We think small! 7. We have failed the Proudly Kenyan test because of what I refer to as a PHD mentality- A “Pull Him Down”! We seem to pursue a line of thinking in a scarcity paradigm that if we are all doing badly it is okay but it is not okay that some do so well and better than us! I once had an employee walk into my office and argue that we should not give a pay rise to another employee on promotion because he would get better paid than him and he considered himself senior but grossly underpaid. I agreed that he is underpaid but pulling his colleague down was scarcity approach. He should have supported his pay rise and use it to argue for an even bigger pay rise himself instead of wearing a PHD hat! What must we do to get better at being Proudly Kenyan? 1. We must lead the way and begin by marketing Kenya in our own minds. We must begin to walk the talk and talk positively of Kenya. I have resolved never to take part in a conversation to demean my country. We must stop confusing Kenya with some of our poor leaders. Very often some foreigners will start a conversation on how corrupt Kenya is! I refuse to accept this line of argument. Kenya is not corrupt but a very small number in leadership often working in cohort with foreigners are corrupt! Being Proudly Kenyan calls for us to live it and show it! I once sent an exchange student back to America before his time for among other things his stand on Kenya- he persistently talked ill of the country and our leaders! 2. Being Proudly Kenyan calls on us to begin to take responsibility. You must begin to be the one who gives way in traffic; the one who refuses to cut others in traffic: the one who refuses to drive on the pavement and break the kerb. Do you know that in the USA and other western cities for example, there are no lights or policemen to control inter-sections and motorists just control themselves? Common courtesy is lacking for us to be proudly Kenyan. Stop talking and shifting blame on government- you are the government. Do something! Half of the traffic jams in Nairobi are caused by lack of common courtesy- let us resolve to lead the way. 3. Being proudly Kenya calls for Buy Kenyan Build Kenya- Buy Tusker, Yana etc. attend local theatre; attend local restaurants; retain local talent; get services like medical, etc from Kenyans! Stories are told of people who bought suits made in Kenya from some western cities for three times the price on Biashara Street in Nairobi! The Export Processing Zone at Sameer is one of the largest manufacturing facility for jeans for one of America’s largest clothing company but I wonder how many would buy them in Nairobi and feel proudly Kenyan? I have an America friend who is so proudly American that he persistently asks if I could supply him with Goodyear tyres! 4. To be proudly Kenyan calls for us to support the less endowed in our society. A society with too large a group that is poor is difficult to cohere together. Those of us who have must attempt to bring up those who don’t. It is amazing how poor we are at giving which in my view leads us to fail to appreciate the bigger picture in life. I have travelled to many cities in the West particularly the USA, and it amazed me that the local hospitals, the local theatre, the school, and other utilities in many towns in the USA and much of Europe were largely built by the donations of those who are more endowed in those societies. What legacy do we see of our Kenyan rich and able? How many would build a facility like the Jaffrey club and give it to the public to use like Mr. Merali has done? To be proudly Kenyan we must begin to support our own causes. 5. Being Proudly Kenyan calls for us to have more Kenyan innovators and entrepreneurs. These will be the true and sustainable drivers of a proudly Kenyan economy. We need to empower our people- I give the example of Palmhouse Dairies our decade old micro-dairy processing again. When we set up we began to give farmers feeds and extension services on credit. We then stopped to allow budding small entrepreneurs to do it- We now have 5 suppliers from whom they can pick feeds and other necessities and we deduct from their milk deliveries at the end of the month. When the government extension services collapsed we bought containers for semen, employed inseminators and clinical officers. We have in the 10 years employed and fired 5 clinical cum insemination officers but the interesting phenomena is that none has left the vicinity of our dairy- they are private practitioners serving our farmers and beyond- we no longer need to offer such services ourselves! Being proudly Kenyan calls for creating more Kenyan entrepreneurs! Where can we begin the journey to being more proudly Kenyan? I suggest we make little step that will soon lead to giant strides; 1. I suggest we go back to our National Anthem and rekindle what it sought to achieve. I was reading through some material and I learnt that the commission that was set to create the Kenyan National Anthem had as its object, quote “…to express the deepest convictions and the highest aspirations of the people of Kenya as a whole. Words have immense power to unite and divide, and great care had to be taken to choose the right words to ensure that the anthem would become an indisputable unifying factor in the life of the nation”. Unquote. I suggest we start here- for both the young and the old. I suggest the National anthem be re-introduced as a daily routine in all primary and high schools. Employers may also be encouraged to sing/use it. I am told in Japan, companies developed their own anthems to build loyalty. I have attended many informal functions in the US and the loyalty pledge is almost a must do at every occasion. 2. I suggest that we affirm Kenya at every opportunity- I meet many successful business men who are always mourning how bad Kenya is yet they continue doing business and flourishing; they spread fear and anxiety. When people ask me about Kenya I tell them it is a great Country: that I could never trade Kenya for any other country. Those who have taken my word and visited prove that for themselves and often return or recommend to others! 3. We must stop telling discriminatory jokes and myths about each other- that Luos don’t circumcise; that Kikuyu are thieves; that Kambas are sexy… etc! Next time you want to do it- stop yourself and think Kenyan! Slowly it will die. In some western countries it has been outlawed to tell discriminatory jokes because it fuels sectionalism. 4. We must begin to stand up for Kenya. Kenya is bigger than any single tribe or leader. We must begin to teach our children to respect and love our country. We must stop the negative attitude about our beautiful country. Our diversity must become our strength. When it comes to Kenya, let us hang our tribal and religious labels and be Proudly Kenyan. When we are out and inside Kenya let us sell Kenya as a great brand. Great brands posses’ great attributes. Such great attributes must be communicated positively, both verbally and by our actions/behaviour. Will you join me and many others on this journey of making us proudly Kenyan? May I ask you to kindly stand up and re-affirm with me that we will be proudly Kenyan by singing the National Anthem that is before us… O God of all creation, Bless this our land and nation. Justice be our shield and defender, May we dwell in unity, Peace and liberty. Plenty be found within our borders. Let one and all arise With hearts both strong and true. Service be our earnest endeavour, And our Homeland of Kenya, Heritage of splendour, Firm may we stand to defend. Let all with one accord In common bond united, Build this our nation together, And the glory of Kenya, The fruit of our labour Fill every heart with thanksgiving. Tonight I challenge us all to start the small steps towards being Proudly Kenyan. Thank you and God bless you.

My Elections Diary

Run-up.I have only voted twice in national elections before this year. Once in 1997 and again in 2002. Though I qualified to vote in 1992, I was out of the country. More recently, I missed the referendum vote due to negligence on my part (I forgot to remove my voter’s card from the office)! In the run up to the 2007 elections, I was taking no chances. Over one year ago, I transferred my voting station in an effort to lend a helping hand to two friends running for civic and parliamentary offices in my current home constituency. I made two attempts to confirm the updated status via text messages, but both times, I got negative feedback. ECK could only update these movements in November. So three days to the election, I try the text confirmation and I am still a voter in my old station! I am in panic, since all offices are closed. More panic, when I recall all the friendly antagonism I have generated in my circle of friends with my unbridled and passionate support for my preferred presidential candidate. What will I say to them if I fail to vote? What excuse, will I give after the referendum fiasco, a painful day that I wish to erase from my memory forever! With such a backdrop to my voting history, and in view of how important this elections are, its understandable to say that I went to bed on 26th night with only one choice open to me the next day- to vote by any means necessary Election Day.I woke up early and a few minutes before six I was driving to my voting stations about 3 kilometres away. What surprises me is how heavy vehicular and pedestrian traffic is at this early hour. Seems like the civic education worked. At the voting station, I was pleasantly surprised by the lengthy queues a few minutes after six. I joined the one I perceived shortest, but after an hour of very orderly queuing, we are informed that we need to follow some alphabetical order. I find myself at the furthest point from my rightful queue. There is grumbling and a few heated exchanges majorly directed towards the ECK presiding officers (POs), but after half an hour we are in the right queues and waiting our turn to vote. Of course the actual voting starts at least 90 minutes late. When my turn comes, I am exited, but alas, I am not on the voters roll! The PO recommends I check the queues with initials of my other names. I patiently wait for two other chances to check. By this time there are tens of other potential voters facing a similar dilemma. We eventually congregate at the PO’s office to scrutinise the Deletion list for double registered voters. Some are on the list and submit themselves to the mercy and discretion of the PO. He advices them to produce their second cards and forfeit one. Others are advised to go vote at their original stations. Since I am not on that list, I try two master lists which contain voters listed by ID number and another one listed by Voters Card Number. I am not on either. I get desperate. The PO informs me that though I have a voter’s card for the station, there is no way I will vote without appearing on the register! I am devastated. It is now about 1.00 pm. I take a break at a nearby shopping centre to contemplate my fate. Most of my friends have voted and my phone rings incessantly as they remind me of that fact. I watch happy Kenyans walking away with a gait of accomplishment and this adds to my misery. I rue the day my altruistic side drove me to transfer my vote! I also declared ECK an incompetent lot for not effecting a simple transfer. Rather than blame the world, I decide to go back and try talking to the PO once again. I link up with a friend of mine who suffers the same fate. The crowds have eased considerably and the PO is now able to talk to us. He scrutinises our cards and discusses with his officers. They request we hang around until all the voting is finished. I bet they want to ensure that we don’t vote here and dash to another station. So when the last voters are almost done, we are allowed in and our names are put down in the “black book”. We are then “lectured” on the virtues of ensuring our papers are in order well in advance and though technically we are valid voters, it is only the POs good heart and humane approach to the law that sees us voting. After profusely thanking the PO, my friend and I vote with permanent smiles on our faces and glee in our hearts! It’s now 5.00 pm and we can join the droves of other Kenyans in drinking dens all over town as we await the results. What a day. Results receiving party. Back in 2002, along with a few friends, I spent the two days after elections under a tree receiving the tumultuous results through the Citizen Radio. A few days to elections, I decided, we could have a small party to receive results a la 2002. So, I invited about a dozen of my friends, from a cross-section of political persuasions, to my house. George would provide bitings, while my guests would bring their beverage of choice. Since many families were not travelling, I end up with quite a number of guests and their families. We have a jovial day as we receive the election results. As happened in 2002, ECK are slow in releasing results and the media gladly fills this vacuum to the delight of a news-hungry Kenya. Unlike 2002 when Citizen Radio took the lead, KTN and NTV are the most reliable stations for the latest news. They have also invested heavily and prepared for this exercise- both have correspondents and reporters all over the country and especially in the hotspots. They are able to get in live feeds from the field. Once or twice, we are able to see micro satellite- dishes behind Rita Tinina as she reports “live” from Mombasa. This can only be good for the media. The kids are all over, the mothers are in the lawn while the men are in my study room, fitted with a TV, the day’s papers and a radio. The mood is jovial, the conversations centre on how much our democratic credentials have grown. Although we belong to assorted political persuasions, we respect each other’s democratic right to support whoever they wish. Half of the guests are also of mixed community marriages. Our kids fondly refer to each other as “Nairobi cousins”. We are a small cosmopolitan Kenya. Exactly as I envision my Kenya. Anyway, back to the results, we sense something is amiss in the manner that the results are trickling in, after all in 2002 on the night of elections, at least 40% of the results were in and by end of the second day, we had a pretty good picture of the overall results. But here we were on the second day with less than 30% results declared. The one million margin in the presidential vote notwithstanding, the news of the day is the resolve with which cabinet ministers have been shown the door - at least by early afternoon we are counting over 16. There is also a high turnover of MPs across the political divide. It seems to me that there was a genuine desire for change. After the last of my guests have left well past midnight, I continue watching the TV and exchanging views with a few friends on phone………then Kimunya and Uhuru appear on TV assuring their supporters of a victory when they wake up “tomorrow”! I go to bed anxious and apprehensive. Something is afoot… The next morning and all day is the most agonisingly long day in the collective life of our country. There is drama on TV all day and I can’t help imagining what would happen if there is an electric blackout? I believe Shailja Patel, a poet is better placed to take up the rest of my, and I believe millions of other Kenyan’s story. She has put words to all the mixed emotions that dominated the best part of the first week of 2008…….. (This letter made the runs in the internet and also made it to the mainstream media.) AN OPEN LETTER TO SAMUEL KIVUITU, CHAIR OF THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF KENYA Mr.Kivuitu,We've never met. It's unlikely we ever will. But, like every other Kenyan, I will remember you for the rest of my life. The nausea I feel at the mention of your name may recede. The bitterness and grief will not You had a mandate, Mr. Kivuitu. To deliver a free, fair and transparent election to the people of Kenya . You and your commission had 5 years to prepare. You had a tremendous pool of resources, skills, technical support, to draw on, including the experience and advice of your peers in the field - leaders and experts in governance, human rights, electoral process and constitutional law. You had the trust of 37 million Kenyans. We believed it was going to happen. On December 27th, a record 65% of registered Kenyan voters rose as early as 4am to vote. Stood in lines for up to 10 hours, in the sun, without food, drink, toilet facilities.As the results came in, we cheered when minister after powerful minister lost their parliamentary seats. When the voters of Rift Valley categorically rejected the three sons of Daniel Arap Moi, the despot who looted Kenya for 24 years. The country spoke through the ballot, en masse, against the mindblowing greed, corruption, human rights abuses, callous dismissal of Kenya's poor, that have characterised the Kibaki administration. But Kibaki wasn't going to go. When it became clear that you were announcing vote tallies that differed from those counted and confirmed in the constituencies, there was a sudden power blackout at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, where the returns were being announced. Hundreds of GSU (General Service Unit) paramilitaries suddenly marched in. Ejected all media except the government mouthpiece Kenya Broadcasting Corporation. Fifteen minutes later, we watched, dumbfounded, as you declared Kibaki the winner. 30 minutes later, we watched in sickened disbelief and outrage, as you handed the announcement to Kibaki on the lawns of State House. Where the Chief Justice, strangely enough, had already arrived. Was waiting, fully robed, to hurriedly swear him in. You betrayed us. Perhaps we'll never know when, or why, you made that decision. One rumor claims you were threatened with the execution of your entire family if you did not name Kibaki as presidential victor. When I heard it, I hoped it was true. Because at least then I could understand why you chose instead to plunge our country into civil war. I don't believe that rumor any more. Not since you appeared on TV, looking tormented, sounding confused, contradicting yourself. Saying, among other things, that you did not resign because you "did not wantthe country to call me a coward", but you "cannot state with certainty that Kibaki won the election". Following that with the baffling statement "there are those around him [Kibaki] who should never havebeen born." The camera operator had a sense of irony - the camera shifted several times to the scroll on your wall that read: "Help Me, Jesus." As the Kenya Chapter of the International Commission of Jurists rescinds the Jurist of the Year award they bestowed on you, as the Law Society of Kenya strikes you from their Roll of Honour and disbars you, I wonder what goes through your mind these days. Do you think of the 300,000 Kenyans displaced from their homes, their lives? Of the thousands still trapped in police stations, churches, any refuge they can find, across the country? Without food, water, toilets, blankets? Of fields ready for harvest, razed to the ground? Of granaries filled with rotting grain, because no one can get to them? Of the Nairobi slum residents of Kibera, Mathare, Huruma, Dandora, ringed by GSU and police, denied exit, or access to medical treatment and emergency relief, for the crime of being poor in Kenya ? I bet you haven't made it to Jamhuri Park yet. But I'm sure you saw the news pictures of poor Americans, packed like battery chickens into their stadiums, when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana . Imagine that here in Nairobi , Mr. Kivuitu. 75,000 Kenyans, crammed into a giant makeshift refugee camp. Our own Hurricane Kivuitu-Kibaki, driven by fire, rather than floods. By organized militia rather than crumbling levees. But the same root cause - the deep, colossal contempt of a tiny ruling class for the rest of humanity. Over 60% of our internal refugees are children. The human collateral damage of your decision. And now, imagine grief, Mr. Kivuitu. Grief so fierce, so deep, it shreds the muscle fibres of your heart. Violation so terrible, it grinds down the very organs of your body, forces the remnants through your kidneys, for you to piss out in red water. Multiply that feeling by every Kenyan who has watched a loved one slashed to death in the past week. Every parent whose child lies, killed by police bullets, in the mortuaries of Nairobi, Kisumu, Eldoret. Everyone who has run sobbing from a burning home or church, hearing the screams of those left behind. Every woman, girl, gang-raped. Do you sleep well these days, Mr. Kivuitu? I don't. I have nightmares. I wake with my heart pounding, slow tears trickling from the corners of my eyes, random phrases running through my head: Remember how we felt in 2002 ? It's all gone. (Muthoni Wanyeki, ED of Kenya Human Rights Commission, on the night of December 30th, 2007, after Kibaki was illegally sworn in as president). There is a crime here that goes beyond recrimination. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolise. (John Steinbeck, American writer, on the betrayal of internally displaced Americans, in The Grapes of Wrath) Haki iwe ngao na mlinzi.... kila siku tuwe na shukrani Justice be our shield and defender.... every day filled with thanksgiving" Lines from Kenya's national anthem I soothe myself back to patchy sleep with my mantra in these terrible days, as our country burns and disintegrates around us:

Courage. Courage comes. Courage comes from cultivating. Courage comes from cultivating the habit. Courage comes from cultivating the habit of refusing. Courage comes from cultivating the habit of refusing to let fear dictate one's actions. (Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese Nobel Peace Prize winner). I wake with a sense of unbearable sadness. Please let it not be true..... Meanwhile, the man you named President cowers in the State House, surrounded by a cabal of hardline power brokers, and a bevy of sycophantic unseated Ministers and MPs, who jostle for position and succession. Who fuel the fires by any means they can, to keep themselves important, powerful, necessary. The smoke continues to rise from the torched swathes of Rift Valley, the gutted city of Kisumu, the slums of Nairobi and Mombasa. The Red Cross warns of an imminent cholera epidemic in Nyanza and Western Kenya , deprived for days now of electricity and water. Containers pile up at the Port of Mombasa, as ships, unable to unload cargo, leave still loaded. Uganda, Rwanda , Burundi, Southern Sudan, the DRC, all dependent on Kenyan transit for fuel and vital supplies, grind to a halt. A repressive regime rolls out its panoply of oppression against legitimate dissent. Who knew our police force had so many sleek, muscled, excellently- trained horses, to mow down protestors? Who guessed that in a city of perennial water shortages, we had high-powered water cannons to terrorize Kenyans off the streets? I am among the most fortunate of the fortunate. Not only am I still whole, alive, healthy, mobile; not only do I have food, shelter, transport, the safety of those I love; I have the gift of work. I have the privilege to be in the company of the most brilliant, principled, brave, resilient Kenyans of my generation. To contribute whatever I can as we organize, strategize, mobilize, draw on everything we know and can do, to save our country. I marvel at the sheer collective volume of trained intelligence, of skill, expertise, experience, in our meetings. At the ability to rise above personal tragedy - families still hostage in war zones, friends killed, homes overflowing with displaced relatives - to focus on the larger picture and envisage a solution. I listen to lawyers, economists, youth activists, humanitarians; experts on conflict, human rights, governance, disaster relief; to Kenyans across every sector and ethnicity, and I think: Is this what we have trained all our lives for? To confront this epic catastrophe, caused by a group of old men who have already sucked everything they possibly can out of Kenya , yet will cling until they die to their absolute power? You know these people too, Mr. Kivuitu. The principled, brave, resilient, brilliant Kenyans. The idealists who took seriously the words we sang as schoolchildren, about building the nation. Some of them worked closely with you, right through the election. Some called you friend. You don't even have the excuse that Kibaki, or his henchmen, might offer - that of inhabiting a world so removed from ours that they cannot fathom the reality of ordinary Kenyans. You know of the decades of struggle, bloodshed, faith and suffering that went into creating this fragile beautiful thing we called the "democratic space in Kenya." So you can imagine the ways in which we engage with the unimaginable. We coin new similes: lie low like a 16A (the electoral tally form returned by each constituency, many of which were altered or missing in the final count) We joke about the Kivuitu effect - which turns internationalists, pan-Africanists, fervent advocates for the dissolution of borders, into nationalists who cry at the first verse of the national anthem . Ee Mungu nguvu yetu Ilete baraka kwetu Haki iwe ngao na mlinzi Natukae na undugu Amani na uhuru Raha tupate na ustawi. O God of all creation Bless this our land and nation Justice be our shield and defender May we dwell in unity Peace and liberty Plenty be found within our borders. Rarely do we allow ourselves pauses, to absorb the enormity of our country shattered, in 7 days. We cry, I think, in private. At least I do. In public, we mourn through irony, persistent humor, and action. Through the exercise of patience, stamina, fortitude, generosity, that humble me to witness. Through the fierce relentless focus of our best energies towards challenges of stomach-churning magnitude. We tell the stories that aren't making it into the press: the retired general in Rift Valley sheltering 200 displaced families on his farm, the Muslim Medical Professionals offering free treatment to anyone injured in political protest. We challenge, over and over again, with increasing weariness, the international media coverage that presents this as "tribal warfare", "ethnic conflict", for an audience that visualises Africa through Hollywood: Hotel Rwanda, The Last King of Scotland, Blood Diamond. I wish you'd thought of those people, when you made the choice to betray them. I wish you'd drawn on their courage, their integrity, their clarity, when your own failed you. I wish you'd had the imagination to enter into the lives, the dreams, of 37 million Kenyans. But, as you've probably guessed by now, Mr. Kivuitu, this isn't really a letter to you at all. This is an attempt to put words to what cannot be expressed in words. To mourn what is too immense to mourn. A clumsy groping for something beyond the word 'heartbreak' . A futile attempt to communicate what can only be lived, moment by moment. This is a howl of anguish and rage. This is a love letter to a nation. This is a long low keening for my country. Shailja Patel KENYANS FOR PEACE, TRUTH AND JUSTICE STATEMENT FROM KENYAN CITIZENS, GOVERNANCE, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LEGAL ORGANIZATIONS

A country on the brink of tearing apart

Kenya is hurting. Sections of our great nation are aggrieved, while other sections are hanging collective heads in shame. The cohesiveness of our country has been tested. We are a hurting nation. Professional incompetence and negligence on the part of ECK has taken a heavy toll on the emotions of a nation. The emptiness and uncertainty created a vacuum which exposed how short we are of leaders. One lone GSU officer was caught on TV successfully pleading with a group of youths to keep off the streets and allow ECK to do their work. Our rulers went quiet when the country needed them most. It was heartening to see a few civilians and retires like Gen. Sumbweyo, Bethwell Kiplagat, etc come out and appeal for peace on TV. That was a mark of bravery and direction in the face of doubtful outcomes. These are private citizens who took it upon themselves to show direction due to a lacuna created by our mandated leaders’ inaction. It was shameful for shameless people like Mutula Kilonzo to be caught on air bargaining for positions and taking sides when selfish interests should have been postponed for a later and appropriate date. Shame. Carol Mutoko came out to bring together her listeners by deftly side-stepping the directive banning all “live” broadcasts. Between seven and one pm of Monday, she was the only news outlet telling the nation what was going on. She gave her listeners a shoulder to cry on. All the pent-up national emotions of anger, confusion, aghast, betrayal and thankfully hope found a valve through her all-morning vigil. She sounded scared too, and it was therefore a mark of bravery and leadership, to put her self and the station on the line when bigger media houses had been cowed into submission. All call-ins on KISS FM are recorded as a matter of policy and therefore, so she was not affected by the ruling. In the New Year, Carol portrayed leadership by being on air for a full day and preaching the message of peace. KISS FM also developed an advert with the same message for calm and patriotism. Other media houses followed suit in the course of the day. By Wednesday, she had taken her crusade to the next level-she was urging the media to blackout any politicians that were grandstanding instead of preaching peace. Talk of the need to heal the wounds caused by the acrimonious elections will dominate the airwaves in the next few weeks, but I find such a call hollow and insincere if it’s not accompanied with some mechanism of sorting out the real or imagined injustice that sparked this national disaster in the first place. I expect that ECK will come out and offer some sort of explanation to this fiasco.

Eric Kimani's Motivational Lecture on Success & Significance For Young People

In the past I have confessed to being a big Eric Kimani fan. He is Kenya's answer to Steve Covey, in my humble opinion. I am glad that he is slowly, but surely branding himself a motivational speaker. I find every speech or writing he has generated full of lessons and wisdom that can be used by everybody to enrich their lives. Below is one of the oldest speeches he made(some 5 years ago)- long before he attained his now celebrity status in motivational speaking:- A MOTIVATIONAL LECTURE ON SUCCESS AND SIGNIFICANCE DELIVERED TO YOUNG PEOPLE It is my singular honour and privilege to give this talk. Many scholars and business writers have attempted to give out a definition of success. I do not boast to know how to define it, but I will try to provide some insights to what I consider are the basic ingredients to leading a successful and significant life. What is success? I define success as a journey towards having what you want and the experience of continuing to want and enjoy what you have. I call it a journey because success does not have a beginning and an end. Indeed success is more the journey than the destination. A significant life in my view is one that impacts positively on others. In other words a life of legacy. What then are the prerequisites of success? I will try and enumerate eight characteristics of successful people and where relevant will draw from my own experiences and those of other people. Successful People have a Dream Your dreams are central to your success. Martin Luther King’s is perhaps the world’s most famous dreams and I quote. “I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream tonight.” End of quote. Martin Luther’s dream changed much of the history of America. A dream by definition is a burning passion, desire or obsession. Dreamers will have a thousand and one ideas. Many would not stand up to any test but it is some of their dreams that changed the world. I recall the days I carried a tape recorder to capture my thoughts and dreams. To this day I still carry pieces of paper where I put down my dreams as they hit me. In 1993 I had a dream of setting up a milk processing plant. I went even to the local lending institutions but they could not buy into my dream. I had a dream of setting up a company to fill in a void that I saw being created by the eminent fall of the giant KCC. That dream today is a reality albeit small in the form of Palmhouse Dairies Ltd. Dreams require dream catchers. In my life some of my bosses have been great dream catchers providing great inspiration and support. My first employer, saw it in me; encouraged me to forego the then troubled University and set my career path towards professional Accountancy. In my first attempt towards this goal, so fierce was my passion that I was the best National student. I qualified as a CPA under the mentorship of my then immediate boss (now late), who not only became my dream catcher but a great friend – He was one of the best men in my Christian wedding – himself a Muslim leader! Dream catchers form a pillar of support for ones dreams and a useful sounding board. My next dream catcher came in 1987 when I joined a new employer and found the then Managing Director. He caught all my dreams. The years 1987 to 1992 were perhaps the years of my greatest dreams. You will need dream catchers in your life; men of vision, “can do” people. Men and women who see a mountain ahead and say; how can we get over it, around it, or even get rid of it!” Avoid dream killers who say “that it the biggest mountain I have ever seen and I bet people have died trying to get over that thing, probably some this very afternoon.” Dreams will often fail and this is part of the game of success, as I will mention later. Finally, fix your mind firmly on what you want to do; then go out and do it. The challenge is to find that dream; that thing that ignites the fire within you and the search is what makes life meaningful, interesting and challenging. Get rid of naysayers – those who throw cold water at your dreams. I recall in 1996, when I told one of my best friend, that I was setting up a milk processing plant in pursuit of my 1993 dream, he told me that the giant KCC was likely to wipe out the competition at a strike. I have reaped immense profits and benefits todate and six years later KCC is still a fallen giant. Naysayers are negative people who waste your time. Avoid sharing your dreams with them. Successful People have Fun To be successful it is important that you enjoy your work and your work environment. If you do not enjoy your work or your colleagues you are better off looking elsewhere. The writer in the wisdom book of Ecclesiastes says and I quote “I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That every one may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his task.” I recall that my first and second change of jobs were precipitated largely by my failure at a point to enjoy the jobs. I recall vividly that even my wife and some friend’s thought I was crazy to leave some green pasture to pursue the unknown. In both cases my dream catchers gave up on me and the nay sayers took over. Indeed I recall at one of the companies the very top management had started to label my ideas as “the flavour of the month”. At that point they lost me. It was no longer fun working. Strains, pressure and tensions are danger signs that it is time to leave. It is not a disaster to take a job and find you did not want it; it is a major disaster if you decide to stay in a job you do not enjoy. In my last job I stayed two years; earning what I considered above industry average pay but left when I realised I did not enjoy what I was doing. It is impossible to succeed where you do not enjoy what you do and those around you. Having fun doing your work will make you truly excel. Successful People have a Vision A craving and burning desire to achieve what they are out to do. Vision is the ability to see is beyond the physical realm through creative imagination. Stories of men and women driven by passion abound. The power of vision is well demonstrated in the life of the late (died only last year) Victor Frankl an Austrian Psychologist who survived the dreadful Nazi concentration camps. While in the camp he observed that it is not the health, vitality, genetics, skill or intelligence that counted in survivors but a sense of future vision – some important thing to do on the future. A calling to the future. Mahatma Gandhi came from a background of timidity, scarcity, fear and insecurity and his vision brought the British government on its knees to liberate the world’s largest democracy; India. He said in his words, and I quote “I claim to be no more than an average man with below average capacities. I have not the shadow of doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have if he or she would put forth the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith”. End of quote. The passion for vision is expressed in hope and faith. You must seek to connect to your mission and vision; your mission is what gives your life meaning. You could express it in a mission statement; How to develop and internalise a mission statement could be the subject of another talk. I recall in 1992, when I decided that I needed to look into building my own house and move out of the company house. A friend of mine pointed me to some properties that were on sale next to an upmarket area. The property was then bush – indeed very unattractive at the time. My vision saw beyond the bush. I bought with vision to one day develop it and build a home. My friends thought I was nuts – we even ate wild pig trapped on the property! There was an impassable 0.6 km and I bought at the middle of it. My wife confesses to me that when she saw the property her heart sank! By mid 1998, we had completed a house, the road was tarmac and the street lit! The power of vision helps one to see beyond what exists and create what does not. Successful People have Faith Faith is a belief that you can do it. Faith gives you life, power, a starting point. It removes limitations. It moves mountains. It enables you to hear the small voice that tells you that you can. Faith is persistence and perseverance. One Calvin Coolidge put it this way. “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not! Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with great talent. Genius will not! Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not! The world is full of educated failures. Persistence prevails. Determination alone makes you omnipotent.” End of quote. When I saw the job of a Managing Director from my current employer advertised in August 2000, I applied and besides my other qualifications, it is perhaps my faith that outranked all. I knew deep inside me that I could get the job. I trusted (and asked God) that I could. When it came, it only consolidated my faith in a most profound way. My faith is based on the believe that there is a higher being in God. From this faith and this God I draw my strength to press on. Successful People make their own Luck Many say successful people are lucky but nothing could be further from the truth! I define luck as “the ability to take advantage of opportunities”. Seeing a way where others don’t. Not blind hope. Work hard and put yourself in a position to capitalize on opportunities that come your way. Seek situations that provide the opportunity. I recall late 1992 when I was appointed Finance Director for one of my previous employers perhaps the first African to hold that position within that sector. Many may have thought I was lucky. What they may not have known is that I had written a cost reduction proposal with myself proposed as Finance Director which the principal shareholders naturally approved! It was a deliberately orchestrated move to make my own luck! Making your own luck is central to your survival. The best analogy to this is that of a striker in a soccer match. He does not waste his energy chasing the ball from goal post to the other. He looks out for that pass that gives him a break and sends the ball hitting the net like a bullet! That is not luck. You do not call lucky a fisherman who has studied the habit of fish and regularly takes home a large catch. You have to position yourself to make your own luck. Successful People are not afraid of failure Successful people believe in what Tom Peters describe as the 3 F’s – Fail, Fast, Forward. Sometimes you will fail and so what? Fix your mind not on your failure but on the next act. Pick yourself up. If you are not experiencing failure you are not working had enough. You must not confuse the fear of failure with failing. The former is dangerous and leads to paralysis. The fear of failure will lead you to loose the ability to have a rewarding, meaningful and enjoyable life. It is a dangerous emotion that breeds indifference, indecision, doubts, worry and procrastination. These will lead to the window of opportunity to open and close without you taking advantage. Don’t be afraid of failure, it is part of the game of success. Perhaps the best-case example in my life here is my pursuit of studying law. Realising as I did that I had for good reason, missed out on University education I enrolled for an LLB degree with the University of London by correspondence in 1991. It was an uphill task. My wife went for a whole year 1992/93 and I was left to look after our three kids the oldest then 8 years and youngest 2! That year I could not study. But I did not give up! A promotion in 1993 derailed me. But I still did not give up. In 1995 I completed the LLB degree with honours. In the year 2001 just before I joined my current employer, I got an opportunity, after two earlier failed attempts to do my Pupillage and attended the Kenya School of Law where I graduated as an advocate in September 2001! To succeed you just cannot quit! Successful People do not Quit You will have bad times – at such times you will need to draw from the strength deep inside. Your passion for vision. People have seen their world fall apart – death, divorce, sickness etc, but in all this they find stamina, willpower, energy and the courage to go on. The only way you can fail is if you quit. So you cannot fail the last time you try. Winston Churchill said “There is only one answer to defeat, and that is victory. Successful People Persevere Persistently You will recall that the initial dream for the milk factory was 1993 – and it did not materialize until 1996. I recall days I thought that my investment in the milk processing was a wrong move. Sometimes the milk went bad in the market; there was too much of it and my bigger competitors were cutting prices beyond what we could stand. But we persevered and persisted and these bad times came to pass. At times we made no profit at all, but many times after persisting we made money. You will recall elsewhere in this talk I alluded to the fact that perseverance and persistence makes you omnipotent. Those who know Mukore Academy, now a fully fledged primary school and tertiary college will tell you what perseverance and persistence can bring your way. I have a dream that in the not too distant future, if we persist and persevere we shall be able to offer fully-fledged degrees at Githunguri campus from reputable Universities. In concluding my talk on success, I quote from one of the most inspiring sources of motivation; The Holy Bible in Luke 9:25 where it says “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self.” To be a success you must determine what really matters. Character and truth are cornerstones to true success. Your guide and compass will be your ability to educate and follow your conscience. Apply a commonsense approach to life. Common sense is defined as the coming together of experience, learning and talents and applying it. Finally, remember that as one scholar put it, life and success is not measured by duration but by donation – give it away. A life of significance and legacy is perhaps the greatest success any man or woman can have. Leave a lasting legacy. Ladies and Gentlemen I thank you very much E.M. KIMANI

First Anniversary

One year and seventy-five posts later, the blogging experience has been fulfilling and fun-filled. At an average of 1.4 posts per week, I am off my target of at least two posts per week. This will be reviewed in the coming year. Other shortcomings in the last one year, include the fact that I never got to register and share in the Kenya Unlimited fraternity. This will be rectified soon too. Otherwise it has been a joyful journey. Thanks to all the good people who make regular visits here. I look forward to another fulfilled year in blogsphere!

Goodbye..........

After a decade plus working in a city-based company, mid next week I will be starting a new phase of my career in a new organisation and environment. Having spent over 34,000 hours of my life in this big family, I am leaving with fond memories, a national network of friends, a global view to business and no regrets. My brief in this company was challenging, but I took it up and gave my all. I never once lost hope or motivation during my time there. However the need for personal and professional growth beckoned and I heeded. Below is my paraphrased farewell message to my friends and former colleagues. I will keep you posted on the new job across town.

In the same way that Shakespeare saw the world as a stage, this company too can be likened to an arena in which each plays their part. Having played my part for a decade plus, my time to exit has come. I will soon leave to seek another stage and another role. As I leave, I borrow and paraphrase the recent words of Jose Mourinho, thus, “ I am very proud of my work in this company and I have never regretted my decision to work here. It was a beautiful and rich period of my career. I want to thank all my peers, colleagues and directors for what I believe is a never-ending love story. I wish greater successes to the company, a company that will be forever connected to me for some historical moments. I wish you all happiness and fulfilment in your work and in your family life.”

Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending. ~Lazurus Long

“All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages”. -William Shakespeare

The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning. ~Ivy Baker Priest

Man's feelings are always purest and most glowing in the hour of meeting and of farewell.- Jean Paul Richter

“Those to whom we say farewell, are welcomed by others.”- Author unknown

Adieu

Moto Poa

During the recently concluded Nairobi International Trade Fair (popularly known as Nairobi Show) I happened on this very innovative cooker at the Tanzanian Stand. Selling under the brand of Moto Poa, the cooker uses a molasses jelly as fuel. The attendants at the stand didn’t know a word in English and they only volunteer that the bottled fuel is made from miwa. As they go on about this nishati mbadala (alternative fuel) I ponder about chances the East Africa Community has of integrating the three countries with such a wide gap in articulation of the same language spoken! I thought the jiko is innovative- once you load the jelly into the tray; you light up and get a blue flame with no soot at all. A one litre bottle of molasses costing 100/= can last a week of cooking for a family of four. They promised that the fuel would be available at Nakumatt soon. I tested the cooker last Saturday and it passed my test- no soot, no smell and no spills. My only problem is that I have no information on what the fuel is and whether it has any chemicals that could be harmful in a domestic setting. I have written to the manufacturers in TZ and hope to hear from them soon.

I will test it further when I go camping in the next few weeks and I hope to see how the cooker copes outdoors. When I googled moto poa, I stumbled on an editorial in the Tanzanian Daily News with a commentary on the cooker, thus:-

Yes to alternative fuel sources

The initiative by a local company, Trade Networks Limited (TNL), to produce ethanol-based jelly for cooking should be encouraged by both government authorities and consumers.
According to TNL officials, the company’s plant at Mikocheni in Dar es Salaam can produce about 2,000 tonnes of the fuel daily at full capacity, which is six times the nation’s current daily demand of kerosene.
In effect, the new energy source can replace kerosene, which is widely used for cooking throughout the country. When the bureau of standards and other agencies verify the efficacy of the fuel known as ‘Moto poa’ as well as its impact on the environment, there would be no reason why consumers should not adopt it instantly.
Apart from providing an affordable and user-friendly alternative to fuel wood and the now scarce kerosene, ‘Moto poa’ is used in stoves made by small industries, which would create several thousand jobs once the cooker becomes popular.
Consumers should likewise warm up to charcoal made from waste by a Tanga-based company, East African Briquettes Limited, which was showed at the just ended Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair.
The energy ministry and other relevant authorities should provide the necessary support to that company to expand production and marketing of the fuel source as directed by the Prime Minister, Mr Edward Lowassa.
The initiatives by the two companies should challenge scientific researchers in this country to re-orient their work towards resolving specific problems facing consumers.
Having said that, we should emphasise that the acute shortage of kerosene following the drastic reduction of levy on the imported petroleum product is scandalous and should be addressed urgently.
A survey carried out in Dar es Salaam by the Daily News showed that oil traders were avoiding the product because it was no longer profitable. Some claim they would incur big losses by selling old stock under the new lower price while others are reported to mix it with diesel to maximise profits.
The association of oil marketing companies has even suggested that some traders have re-exported old stocks to fetch higher profits across the border. All these are unfair and criminal practices, which must not go unpunished.
Oil trade is, indeed, lucrative, but supplying kerosene is also an essential service to consumers and protection to the environment.

http://www.dailynews-tsn.com/news.php?id=2246 Tuesday Oct 16, 2007

The big four-O

I am not big on special days, but for the sake of peace and order, I have learnt that I should never forget my wife’s birthday, our wedding anniversary, the kid’s birthdays, the specific time, day, weight, weather, name of midwife on duty, billing details, meals ordered in the hospital during their delivery. I have even gone further and familiarized myself with the news headlines for the day, the hit song reigning that month and a hundred other details during the week they were born! You never know when your claim to serious parenthood will be called to test! My auspicious days however rank very lowly in my list of priorities. So when it was time for the significant 40^th birthday, I had no illusions that it would be any different from all the previous 39.

My family, however were busy plotting behind my back about a surprise birthday party. Actually it was Georgina and Gregory at the centre of the conspiracy. Natasha was excluded after her loyalty and ability to keep a secret longer than a minute was questioned!

So on the morning of my birthday, which was a Sunday, I was woken by Natasha’s scream rushing towards my bedroom with her brother hot in pursuit and attempting to gag the incoherent words coming out of her rapidly and breathlessly. Poor girl had just woken up and as is her habit, stumbled to the sitting room in search of the television when she bumped into the two conspirators putting candles on a cake in the sitting room and putting together gifts! So much for the surprise.

I was pleasantly surprised and thanked them profusely after I had eaten the cake and sang for until Natasha was hoarse. After church I was treated to a sumptuous lunch in a 4-star hotel. How I wish every other day was my birthday. I don’t know how I will ever repay them for making my fortieth so special and different.

My friends had no qualms using my aging as the butt of their crude jokes. I was honoured with a month-long celebration and will do my best not to let them down. I am the first in my circle of friends to turn 40, though at least another four or so will follow in quick succession in the next six months. They can rest assured that I will be at hand to “celebrate” with them! Any untoward action on my part is now met with retorts of how I am expected to behave my age. A few are now questioning my faculties on account of “age”! In response, I can only demand that that the “elderly” deserve to be respected!

Some of the advice I got for my troubles included:-

• Lovemaking tips for older persons - Put bifocals on. Double check that you're with the right partner.- Set alarm on your clock for 2 minutes... in case you doze off in the middle.- Set the mood with lighting. Turn 'em ALL OFF !- Make sure you put 999 on your speed dial before you begin... just in case!- Write partner's name on your hand in case you can't remember what to scream out at the end.

• Our brother has turned 40 years old today. He is the first of the brother hood to turn 40. He opens the door for many others to follow. A pioneer in his own right.

• Happy Birthday and Long Live Raphael. As they say Life begins at 40. The man has just started living.- Signed

In response, I said; Guys, Thanks for the felicitations, I look forward to the next forty with enthusiasm in the knowledge that with friends like you, it will be bearable and lots of fun. I hope to see the universal request to all younger people to “respect their elders” being put in practice. Below I share some fine quotes on the subject of growing older. Enjoy.-Signed

Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age. ~Victor Hugo

~o~

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. ~Mark Twain

~o~

Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative. ~Maurice Chevalier, New York Times, 9 October 1960

~o~

Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many. ~Author Unknown

~o~

A man's age is something impressive, it sums up his life: maturity reached slowly and against many obstacles, illnesses cured, grief’s and despairs overcome, and unconscious risks taken; maturity formed through so many desires, hopes, regrets, forgotten things, loves. A man's age represents a fine cargo of experiences and memories. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wartime Writings 1939-1944, translated from French by Norah Purcell

~o~

A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams. ~John Barrymore

~o~

The first sign of maturity is the discovery that the volume knob also turns to the left. ~Jerry M. Wright

~o~

Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle. ~Bob Hope

~o~

Thirty-five is when you finally get your head together and your body starts falling apart. ~Caryn Leschen

~o~

Years ago we discovered the exact point, the dead center of middle age. It occurs when you are too young to take up golf and too old to rush to the net. ~Franklin Adams

~0~

Everyone is the age of their heart. ~Guatemalan Proverb

~o~

We are young only once, after that we need some other excuse. ~Author Unknown

~o~

Old age is fifteen years older than I am. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

~o~

To be seventy years young is sometimes for more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

~o~

From forty to fifty a man must move upward, or the natural falling off in the vigor of life will carry him rapidly downward. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

~o~

Life is one long process of getting tired. ~Samuel Butler, Notebooks

~o~

Don't worry about avoiding temptation - as you grow older, it starts avoiding you. ~Author Unknown

~o~

At 20 years of age the will reigns; at 30 the wit; at 40 the judgment. ~Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac

~o~

A person is always startled when he hears himself seriously called an old man for the first time. ~Oliver W. Holmes, Sr.

~0~

A man is not old as long as he is seeking something. ~Jean Rostand

~o~

The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been. ~Madeleine L'Engle

~o~

Youth disserves; middle age conserves; old age preserves. ~Martin H. Fischer

~o~

One of the best parts of growing older? You can flirt all you like since you've become harmless. ~Liz Smith

~o~

Men at forty

Learn to close softly

The doors to rooms they will not be

Coming back to.

~Donald Justice, "Men at Forty"

Canned Wisdom VI

“Don’t complain, don’t explain”- Disraeli

“Age is the price you have to pay for maturity”- Dr. Karim

“The more they tighten the chains, the more they loosen”- Steve Biko

“You are a feminist (whether you are a man or woman) if you are concerned about equal job opportunities for women, equal pay, quality care for the girl child and other issues concerning women”- Vinita Dawra Nangia

“It is want of imagination that prevents people from seeing things from any point of view but their own and it is unreasonable to be angry with them because they lack this faculty”- Somerset Maugham

“The difference between a good man and a bad one is the choice of cause”- William James

Pain overcome is battle won When you start thinking about people, it sets your heart to bleeding Came into the world-breathed-ate- and all for nothing”- Maxim Gorky

“That scientific study has proved, that the larger the bra size, the lower the IQ”- Rush Limbaugh

Daily Metro - The Newest Kid On The Shelf

The Daily Metro is the newest entrant in the already crowded market for dailies. What with the dominant Daily Nation, resurgent East African Standard, the content-revamped duo of Kenya Times and People and Nairobi Star, the recent and noisy pioneer of the soft news genre.

Its common knowledge that NMG have had this project in their plans even before they launched the Business Daily but may have developed cold feet over this venture and even shelved it until Nairobi Star sneaked in and created a niche for itself selling as “a magazine in a newspaper’s body”. It is interesting that NMG are the printers of Nairobi Star and must have watched incredulously at the growing popularity of their client. Selling at 20/=, the Daily Metro is being positioned as a daily targeting the youth.

I believe there is a market for each of these new publications and even as we experience recovery of most sectors in the economy, growth in the print media has lagged behind their counterparts in the electronic media who have been on a boom mode for the last ten years or so.

I wish them luck and healthy readership.

Day Twelve - Back 2 Life, Back 2 Reality

We wake up at 7.00 am. The kids go to the beach to bottle some sand, shells and other memorabilia. I am busy packing and loading the car. Our host Kazungu we must see the other four cottages under his care. There is one that costs US $ 200 a day with four bedrooms and all amenities one can imagine. Its worth the money and we vow to be back for a visit. He also has four big pet geckos in his kitchen that scare the wits out of George.

We start our journey at around 10.00 am, but our smooth ride is interrupted by a traffic hold-up caused by the First Lady’s motorcade. She is in town for a charity function. Along the way, the kids are sending flying kisses to all the establishments we visited.

We drive to Mazeras where we branch to Rabai village for a visit at the National Museums of Kenya’s Dr. Krapf Memorial Museum. It’s a wonderful place with buildings, churches, furniture, organs, cemeteries, etc dating back to 1846 when Krapf and Rebman came here on a mission to spread Christianity inland. There is a mango tree in the compound that is from back in the day.

In 2003, we had spent our Christmas day in Rabai village hosted by family friends, but we never got an opportunity to visit the museum. We call on them, but cannot stay for long due to time constraints.

We are back on the road at 1.00 pm and we seem destined to arrive home very late. We briefly stop at Voi for liquids and Mtito Andei for lunch. The ride is smooth until we encounter the rough part after Sultan Hamud that take us to Mlolongo. It is an agonizing 100 kilometres. After Mlolongo, we are rudely welcomed to the notorious Nairobi jams even though it is well past 8.00 pm. Talk about realities

Day Eleven - Finishing Touches

We are supposed to travel back to Nairobi today, but on further consultations with the family we decide to extend our stay by one more day. Kazungu, the cottage’s caretaker, lays an elaborate breakfast that impresses my daughter. She thinks he is better than all the waiters she saw last week in the hotel we stayed in! After breakfast, we go to town to shop at Lulu Centre, No Maneno and Nawal Centre. We have an invitation to a friend’s restaurant at 2.00 pm. We follow that with a swim at Kigothos, where George opts to lounge in the shade while I frolic with the children. While at it, Natasha even learns how to float without the aid of a floater. She is overjoyed, as is a boy who I teach to float after suffering from the fringes of the pool! His mother is overjoyed too. As the late afternoon turns to the evening, we order some tea to chase the chill. The beverage turns out to be the best tea I have ever taken in the coast region. I will be back here, if for nothing, for the cuppa. For dinner we have burgers and pizza at the Mobil Galitos before we retire early to prepare for the long drive back to reality. Yes, the reality of unpaid bills, the reality of at least two months of brokenness, but also the pleasant reality of good memories to last the family a season.

Day Ten - On the Road again

We are all up at 5.00 am. After bidding the folks kwaheri, we hit the road using three bicycles. I ride myself in my mother-in laws bike, Daniel, the family poet, takes Georgina, while a neighbourhood lad takes Gregory and Natasha on one bike. We are riding to a bus stage called Peleleza to intercept the bus from Mukowe at 8.15 am. The Falcon bus seems to be stopping at every imaginable place on the whole way to Mombasa where we arrive at 3.00pm

A friend picks us up at the Bondeni bus terminal and drives us to our car. We proceed to the Bamburi Beach are where we are staying for the night in a delightful cottage on the beach. After showers and a walk on the beach, we go for dinner at the Kigotho’s Hotel & Apartments on Nyali Links Road. It is my first time here. They have reasonably priced cottages and excellent nyama choma. They also have an enticing swimming pool. We retire at 9.30 pm.