OPEN LETTER TO ALL ELECTED LEADERS FROM ALL THE COUNTIES IN COAST REGION

Dear Leaders,

 I hope this finds you in good health, and I pray that God the almighty gives you the wisdom to run the respective offices. I would like to congratulate you all in your capacities as County Representatives, Members of Parliament, Senators, Women Representatives and Governors, from the deepest of my heart, I do congratulate you. The campaigns are over, it is time to work.

 I believe you are all aware that the challenges we as natives of pwani, are similar from Kwale county on one end to Lamu county. We have similar problems ranging from poor educational standards, land ownership, poor health care, the drug menace to name but a few.

 And I believe that most, if not all of you joined politics not for your own sake but because it is a calling. The responsibility you have is enormous and we expect you to perform to the best of your abilities. The hopes of the masses are entrusted on you as leaders and you have to know that we look up to you.

 I decided to post in my blog after almost two years (this s my first post since 2011) because I had gotten tired and bored by our politics in particular and the political players in general but I have been forced my mind and I want to believe in you again.This is because of the number of new faces in the political scene. we have a number of young members of Parliament and County Reps not forgetting Governors. This can be both blessing and a curse depending on how you embrace leadership.

 As I said earlier, we have similar problems and it is your duty as leaders because you are the bridge that links mwananchi to the central government. I would like to point out a few of the problems we have;

1. Poor standards of Education

We have witnessed dwindling standards of Education year in year out. We lack motivation on both teachers and the students. It hurts me every time the Minister of Education announces the KCPE or/and KCSE results, top performing schools are all from upcountry save for Sheikh Khalifa Secondary school once in a while. why should Maranda High always beat our schools? Methinks we need role models and we have been lacking some for a long time .You as leaders are the mirror of society. The teachers and students alike need motivation from you. Why not start convening workshops and exchange ideas on how to improve on this in each respective county? With the devolved system of governance, why not fight for a National school in each county? With these National Schools in each county, it will enhance intake in Higher learning institutions which dot the whole of the Coast region but whose intake is less than 10% local. Most of the students in these Universities hail from upcountry hence the need for good Secondary School to ensure intake of our children.

2. The Drug Menace

Because of poor standards of Education, most of the students end up getting solace in drugs. There is so much drug abuse in our schools and society as a whole. This needs attention immediately. A whole generation risks extinction if no action is not taken. Why not start by improving our educational standards (it is a vicious cycle), arrest all the drug dealers and make a swoop on all dens and lock up all the addicts in rehab centres. I am impressed by the action taken by H.E Hassan Ali Joho, the Mombasa County Governor. He has shown commitment in this fight, God willing, he will triumph.

The fight against drugs MUST not be lest to the political leaders only. The parents have a bigger role to play. I was dismayed when I saw boys as young as twelve rolling marijuana in the Majengo area behind Masjid Azhar. When I asked why this was happening openly, I was warned of the parents’ ire!!

 What beats logic is how these parents let their children smoke marijuana openly. This is a responsibility of the whole society. Our leaders need our support. The sellers and addicts are amongst us and we all know them.

3. Unemployment

The vicious cycle goes on. Poor Educational standards may lead to drug abuse and vice versa. This brings us to unemployment. The best way to deal with this is by improving on Education and fighting drug abuse. With the devolved system, I believe there will be many openings but do we have the manpower? This takes us back to Education. Each ward should be allocated a Polytechnic or Vocational colleges to train our youths. Our youths can be job creators as opposed to job seeking. And you as leaders are charged with this.

Nurturing of talents in Sports and the arts is the easiest way of job creation. We have witnessed many young people making a living out of their talents. A good example is Harames Stars captain Dennis Oleic, McDonald Maria and his younger brother Victor Megabit who are now plying their trade in Europe. We have very talented players who just need a little nurturing. Investment in Sports academies will be vital towards achieving this. It has worked in Europe and West Africa, it can work here too.

4. The M.R.C and the Tana river Conflicts

 I am very sure we are all aware of this problem. And I am sure our new president, together with you, will be able to address the historical injustices that motivate these people. The youths are easy to recruit into these outfits because of the first three problems i.e. Poor Standards of education lead to Unemployment which may lead to drug abuse which leads to one easily becoming a Member of the MRC the first three problems are addressed, the Mombasa Republican Council will die a natural death.

 It will be blind of us to talk of the solutions to this problem without addressing the land issue. There have been injustices by the previous governments. An example being the fact that only in Coast do we have areas where land Title deeds are a dream! Are we Second class citizens? As I said earlier, you are the bridge between us and the Central Government.

The Tana River issue is still about the scramble for resources between the respective communities living there-The Ormos and the Pokomos. There should be a conflict resolution mechanism to tackle this problem. The leaders from other counties need to ensure that there is peace in the Tana Delta. This is important because any bad publicity can affect the tourism industry which is the backbone of the economies of all the counties in Coast province.

5. Agriculture

Agriculture is the backbone of any economy but I am not sure if it is sheer laziness or our people lack the proper guidance. I have visited Central Kenya and what I noticed is that one needs not have a big chunk of land to produce a high yield. It is the expertise that we lack. Why not train our farmers? Take them on learning tours to Israel. The Israelis have turned desert areas into nice farms. This will help tackle unemployment as well as ensure food security. We can replicate this here. This can make Coast Province the bread basket of Kenya.

What happened to the cashew nut factories? why can’t we make use of the coconut tree to it’s full potential other than just thatching our houses and fermenting mnazi? Dear leaders, the ball is in your court.

Lastly I would like to wish you well in your endeavors and I pray for your good health. I would also like to remind you that we are in a new constitutional dispensation where we, the people, have the power to recall you. We demand proper service.

I smell the scent of the Jazmine in kenya

'Every generation needs a new revolution'-Thomas Jefferson

The last time I blogged was just when Mohammed Bouazizi,the Tunisian vendor ignited the spark that lit up the Arab world,pushing two dictators out of power and two more holding onto their seats against the wishes of their people.I have been watching the events in the Arab world and wishing the scent of the jazmine could just move southwards towards sub-saharan Africa.To all the despots,the time is nigh!!
If there is one thing that we can learn from the Arab spring,it's the fact that real power is in the hands of the people and that our destiny is in our hands if and only if we can stick together.No amount of oppression can stop the power of the people.We saw what happened in Tahrir Square where the people congregated,demonstrating day,day out.We saw,in admiration,proffessionals ranging from Doctors,lawyers,teachers to Engineers who decided enough was enough and decided to join the people till the dragon was slain.The power of the people is indeed mightier than the guns and tanks.we saw it in Tahreer and we can see it still happening in Syria,Yemen,Bahrain,Libya and Tunisia where the Presidency of ben Ali was cut short by a fruit vendor-mohammed Bouazizi.
You may ask why I am emphasising so much about the Arab spring but wait and reflect about the leadership that we have in our country.do we have sincere leaders with the interests of the people at heart or do we have leaders with self interests.Can you look our leaders in the eye and ask them why they are in politics.I believe many do not know why they are in politics in the first place.Eighty percent are in it for the money and power.I pray and hope that one day,we will have leaders who care about the interests of the masses.I think that most of the leaders in our counties have failed us and need a kick.They need to be fired and we have that power-the voter's card.We don't have to go the Bouzizi way.We can still use peaceful means.If a half naked Indian could defeat the British empire,so can we!!!
All we need in this country is a revolution.Yes we need a revolution.We need to rise up and vote the right kind of people.We need to change our thinking during election time where leaders start thinking according to their tribes and not the quality that the candidates possess.We need to sanitise politics and stop thinking and labelling politics as a dirty game.We need to stand up.The egyptians did that through social media.It took the courage of a young google executive,Wael Ghonim to put up a facebook page and as they say,the rest is history.We should emulate this great Egyptian who had the choice to stick to his job at Google and see the masses suffering but said 'enough is enough'.
I urge Kenyans of goodwill to stand up.Leave the comforts of your high paying jobs and stand for elective posts to sanitise the politics in this country.If not,shut up and stop complaining.One great Kenyan I had an opportunity to brainstorm about the politics of the day with (and yes he stuck in my mind as the kind of leader that I dream to have) is Mr.Suleiman Shahbal,the chairman of Gulf Africa Bank.He is a leader with a vision,very accessible.He is ready to leave the comfort of his job for the sake of righting the wrongs in the leadership of our county.I was so impressed when he declared the fact that he is standing for Governor because of the leadership vacum in thecounty of Mombasa.This country needs more Suleiman Shahbals and we need to change our thinking and start getting men and women of substance stand for office.
I know I may be stepping on some people's toes by imparting my thoughts but I have no apologies to make.My loved ones fear for my safety but I believe I am fine.That's what I think and there is nothing I can do about it.We need to stand up and get counted.To the leaders who think you are demigods-your time is up.The youth of this country want their country back!

Unity as a society is a catalyst to development

“I dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent. I dream of our vast deserts, of our forests, of all our great wildernesses.”

Nelson Mandela

    Yesterday was an eventful day for me.I had been invited at the presentation by an Iranian delegation from the province of Khouzestan,led by the Governor,MP's and entrepreneurs.
Our host,the humble,kind and down to earth Chairman and founder of Grain Bulk Handlers,Mr Muhammed Jaffer gave a really inspiring speech on the need for unity as the only way to spur development in our country.Later after the meal,we had a chit chat and he gave an example of Mwalimu Nyerere and his ujamaa system.Economically,ujamaa failed,but socially,it helped build the peaceful and united society that is Tanzania where a person is not judged by his tribe,but capability or rather merit.I have personally realised that 80% of Tanzanians do not know what President Kikwete's tribe is,and they care less!
    The Chairman attributed the sense of oneness in the Tanzanian society to the leadership of the Late Julius Nyerere and posed a question: 'how if Kenyatta also did the same thing for Kenya,where would we be economically?'
     The above Tanzanian context applies to China,they are not a superpower by default,they have advanced technologically because of the unity,they have earned th respect.The oneness that they experienced under Chairman Mao Tsedong is all that they needed.I am not a communist but I am sure even the other superpowers envy China's strides in scientific,economic,military and agricultural advancement.
    When I mentioned 'envy' above,Iran came into my mind.The Iranians,despite the sanctions by the Bretton woods institutions and the U.N,coupled with the negative publicity by the western media,is so advanced in all aspects of life.After watching the presentation of what Khouzestan province has to offer not just Kenya,but the whole world,I came to one conclusion-Unity can bring development in a society.
    I came to learn that despite the problems that they face during electioneering periods,the Iranians stand as one nation,yet they have different ethnic groups,just like in the Tanzanian and Chinese cases.Then,enter Rwanda under President Kagame,he preached unity after taking over a country that had been ravaged by a war that brought about one of the worst genocides in history,only compared to the holocaust.He has steered little Rwanda to the heights never achieved by any other East African nation through a sound leadership.Kudos Mr.President!
Another thing I noticed is the way our leaders struggle so much with English,they believe that by speaking English,it shows how advanced one is.It's a pity that,they debate in Parliament using English as a medium of communication,yet they would be better off using Kiswahili because it's what they and the masses understand better.The Iranian Governor stuck to his Persian.So does Venezuela leader and most leaders from the middle East who stick to Spanish and Arabic respectively.
    Lastly,I would like to urge all of us Kenyans to always remember that,for us to make strides as a nation,we need to remove those 'tribal tags' that we have,only then can we stand tall amongst other Nations!

Are we this cheap?

'A vote is like a rifle,it's usefulness depends upon the character of the user' ~ Theodore Roosevelt,American 26th President (1901-1909)


   Elections have been around since time immemorial.Election malpractice is as old a trend as the elections,
In beloved Kenya,it is a notch higher and it is public knowledge that we get the leaders we do not deserve as a result.Most of these leaders use unacceptable ways to win seats.In other words,candidates will do anything to win elections and we as a society end up getting the wrong leaders.
Politicians have been traversing the country preaching the need to vote in 'youthful' leaders,yes,they youth need to take this country back,they need to determine their own destiny,but we need to be careful lest we might fall into bigger problems.This is a story for another day.
Today,I would like to talk about the cheapness of our votes and how we can use the same vote weapon to liberate us;
  The highest amount of money that an average politician will pay for a vote is KSH 500 per person during elections.He will spend his money once every five years.This comes to KSH 100 per annum,per person,for him to be in parliament or any political office that we elect them into.Is that amount worth the poor leadership this politician will steer,for five years,only to appear before another election to repeat the same thing again?We need to wake up!
  Also,we need to get people of integrity,not people with questionable pasts.I would rather be led by an old person with integrity than a younger leader with a can of worms.
All we need are good leaders with a vision.Leaders who will improve our infrastructure and make the systems work.A visit to little Rwanda will make you realise what exactly we are missing in Kenya.They have a leadership that loves it's country and that's all we need in Kenya and I hope and pray that we get such leaders soon.
  I would like to urge more youthful leaders in the private sector to vie for elective posts and try to right the wrongs done by the 'leaders' we have had.I know it is a difficult decision to trade the confort of your secure job for the dirt in politics but you can't sit and watch the country go to the dogs.What shall we tell our children and their children?

The cops,too,are human!

The whole country was dismayed at the manner in which the Police executed suspected thugs last week and we were quick to condemn the action of the cops forgetting that many lives are lost on a daily basis throughout the country courtesy of thugs.
The manner in which those people were killed left alot to be desired,yes,the cops failed.I would like to commend the government,especially the Minister of Internal Security,Hon.George Saitot,for admitting publicly that there was a mistake.
Hardly a week passed and the thugs hit back,shooting two cops.What amazed me was the failure by human rights groups or anyone in government,to condemn what the thugs had done.Many cops have lost their lives in the line of duty.The same week,we saw a truck driver whipping a traffic Police Officer like a child,that was despicable!
It's true,they are paid for their job,but we,as the citizens of Kenya,need to learn a lesson or two on gratitude.The cops are human too and any loss of human life should be condemned equally.
On a different note,I would like to urge the government to take the Police back for some lessons on 'customer care' or 'Public relations',that's an area they are poor at.

Haki yetu

My fellow countrymen,First,I would like to thank God the almighty for keeping us safe and seeing us through tougher times than we have.It could have been worse,always remember.
Then,I would like to thank you for your precious time to visit my blog.The main purpose of this blogg is to mainly sensitise and educate the youth of this nation on the need to wake up and realise our potential,the need to get to know how powerful we are,yet all we get is a raw deal from the political class.The time is now and we need to organise ourselves.
Much has been talked about by many policians lately regarding matters 'youth' and how important it is to get the youngest of them to lead this nation.I have realised how the top leadership of this great nation lambasted the U.S. Ambassador,Michael Ranenberger,for,ironically,helping the youths of this nation develop!They should have applauded Mr.Ranenberger and not criticise him,on a national holiday,to the full glare of the whole nation.They ought to know a thing or two about how President Obama was elected,it was by volunteers,mainly the youth and their parents,who were at first hesitant,but later succumbed to the pressure from the youths.I could see this duplicating itself right here,right now.Yes we too can!
We are 60% of the voters! Don't you think we should unite as one youth 'tribe' regardless of where we come from?Do you think the crop of leaders we have will stand the storm if we,as a youth 'tribe' and not Kikuyus,Luos,Kalenjins or giriama,spoke as one.All we need is affairs in this country being run the right way,period!
I would like to conclude by asking you to unite and the rest as they say,will be history.All we need is get together.I will be updating,on this blog,whatever event we will have.We need to start a movement of volunteers,cadres to help popularise this movement.Are you ready?