Uhuru Kenyatta’s meeting with Kikwete: Just a photo opportunity

Nicodemus Minde

October 24, 2012: Kenya’s presidential aspirant and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta is meeting regional leaders in a bid to win their backing for the forthcoming presidential elections. Mr. Kenyatta is facing a trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the post-election chaos in Kenya in 2007/2008. Uhuru Kenyatta who is known to be super rich with an estimated net worth of $500 million has planned to go against all odds to run for the presidency. There have been outcries from civil society organizations and the ‘international community’ against his running but Mr. Kenyatta remains adamant that he is eligible to run. The eligibility and moral efficacy of his candidature remains a subject of court interpretation. 

Jakaya Kikwete with Uhuru Kenyatta in Dar

Mr. Kenyatta is now meeting regional heads of state in a bid to win their support for his mission to be president. He recently met Tanzania’s president Jakaya Kikwete at Dar es Salaam’s state house. He carried a delegation of government officials and The National Alliance (TNA) party officials. It is believed that they spoke on a number of issues regarding his quest for presidency. It has been reported in various mainstream Kenyan media that he plans to meet Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame in the coming few days. The meetings have even been termed as ‘Uhuru’s Shuttle Diplomacy’. These meetings have been interpreted to mean that Mr. Kenyatta is winning the support of regional heads of state and that he is positioning himself for leadership. 

The Photo Opportunity

I understand that legitimacy and political authority is sourced and derived both from within and outside. But this been said, Mr. Kenyatta needs to understand that neither Kikwete nor Kagame can salvage his imminent trial at the Hague based international tribunal. Mr. Kenyatta has of late been voracious in attacking the West and the mediator who brokered the peace deal in Kenya, Mr. Kofi Annan. He says that Kenya’s sovereignty should be respected and who leads Kenya should be determined by Kenyans and not any other foreign influences. 

Mr. Kenyatta should first understand that seeking regional support is not a bad idea, neither is it a ticket for his election to presidency. Tanzania’s president Kikwete has two more years left to see off his second term. Mr. Museveni has been heavily criticized for his undemocratic ideals and his hanging on to power. Mr. Kagame on the other hand is said to be destabilizing the region by allegedly financing the M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Kikwete is facing a difficult political battle in his ruling party and the country in general. These three men are not influential in terms of wielding support for Uhuru’s presidential ambitions. The meeting in Dar-es-Salaam to was just a photo opportunity and will not add any value to Uhuru’s presidential ambitions. Even with the proposed meeting with both Museveni and Kagame, it will count to nothing. The legal process of his imminent trial will definitely hamper his presidential ambitions.    

The Unacceptable face of Capitalism in Kenya: The Matatu Fare Madness

By Nicodemus Minde

Capitalism; Hidden Mysteries. A matatu in Nairobi's Thika Road

Francis Fukuyama famously declared the ‘end of history’. This was the antithesis of the belief that history is progressive and cumulative. All in all, his thesis was that liberal capitalist democracy had triumphed over communism.  The author explored the dynamics of international relations with the end of the Cold War. He was the literati progenitor of the discourse of the universality of post-Cold War triumph of capitalism. Alan Greenspan once said that ‘Capitalism is based on self-interest and self-esteem; it holds integrity and trustworthiness as cardinal virtues and makes them pay off in the marketplace. Capitalism is constructed by the thirst for more profitable productivity at the expense of moral obligations and societal virtues. Karl Marx, the greatest critique of capitalism says that this system saps into the original source of all wealth, from the soil to the laborer. Society has been built on such exploitation. From slavery to colonialism to now globalization, the cruel face of capitalism has oiled the engines of life.

Matatus in Nairobi

Britain’s Prime Minister Edward Heath is credited for coining the phrase “the unacceptable face of capitalism-to refer to the activities of Lonrho, the predecessor to Lonmin (the mining company operating in Marikana, South Africa). These companies are the embodiment of global corporate capitalism which saps not only the soil but the laborer in which the end result is profit. The phrase ‘the unacceptable face of capitalism” has caught my eyes in Kenya. Tanzania’s founding president Julius Nyerere famously labeled Kenya as a “man-eat-man society” ridiculing its capitalist approach to post-independent policies. Kenyans rebuffed this label by saying that ‘Tanzania was a man-eat-nothing society”. This was also a public ridicule to Tanzania’s socialist policies. Kenya has grown into a nation of extreme capitalist tendencies which has ruined the social fabric of its people. Hitherto, every form of the Kenyan society has been based on the antagonism of oppressing and oppressed classes. This has led to growth in the ugly face of individualistic capitalism. The class divide in Kenya is now of concern.

No where has this divide been much visible than the transport industry in Kenya. The capitalism code calls for non-state interference in the economy and the stringiest application of market forces of demand and supply. Today the matatu transport industry is in the hands of capitalist investors whose aims are profit. The matatus charge fares according to the ‘market forces’ of demand and supply. The demand and supply here is (1) flow of traffic, (2) weather changes, (3) residence status, (4) time of day etc. This has also led to a unique scenario which I believe only occurs in Kenya. The transport fares to the city and back are different. But again, this is a relational type of equation to factors affecting ‘the demand-supply’ of people’s needs when it comes to transport. 

Even with the completion of arguably the best highway in East Africa, the Thika road route remains the most notorious when it comes to fare variation and cruel exploitation of the public transport users plying that route. The matatu people have now solidified the exploitation of people by charging exorbitant and sometimes ridiculous fares. This is not unique to the Thika road route but is rampant in all other routes across the city of Nairobi. The Ministry of Transport and the government in general has not reprimanded this heinous exploitation of its people. The sad part is that people are now adjusting according to this ‘matatu fare madness’. These adjustable mechanisms are only unique in places where the tenets of capitalism have triumphed.            

What a Magnificent Sight: St. Peters Basilica

A general view of St Peter's Square as Pope Benedict XVI presides over a special mass to name seven new saints, in the Vatican, October 21.

Obama, Romney hold round 3 presidential debate

Via Press TV

US President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney have held the third and final debate of the US presidential campaign, which focused on international affairs.

On Monday, Obama and Romney met for the 90-minute debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, the biggest swing state.

The debate touched on a broad range of issues, including the popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, the threat of al-Qaeda and other extremist groups, and the US-led war in Afghanistan. The two candidates also talked about Iran's nuclear energy program and trade with China.

Romney faulted President Obama's leadership on the Middle East.

"We certainly can't kill our way out of the mess," the former Massachusetts governor said.

Obama responded by saying Romney had changed his position on foreign policy over and over again and warned that he lacked the consistency needed to be a commander-in-chief.

"On a whole range of issues, whether it is in the Middle East, Afghanistan, whether it is in Iraq, whether it is in Iran, you have been all over the map," the president said.

And he challenged Romney's claim that he had run down the armed forces to levels not seen since early in the 20th century.

"You mentioned the navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets because the nature of our military's changed," he said to laughter from the audience.

On Syria, Romney said he did not want military intervention in the country. Instead, Washington should play a bigger role in financing and arming the insurgents, he suggested.

Obama also voiced support for the armed groups fighting against the Syrian government.

“…we are going to do everything we can to make sure that we are helping the opposition. But we also have to recognize that for us to get more entangled militarily in Syria is a serious step," Obama said.

Both candidates repeated the accusation that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons and expressed strong support for Israel, the only player in the Middle East that possesses nuclear weapons.

"Israel is a true friend. It is our greatest ally in the region. And if Israel is attacked, America will stand with Israel. I've made that clear throughout my presidency," Obama said.

The 57th US presidential election is scheduled to be held on November 6, 2012.

REMEMBERING SAMORA MACHEL: 26 YEARS ON

Nicodemus Minde 

Machel, Julius Nyerere and Augustino Neto

It has been 26 years since liberation hero Samora Machel was assassinated by Apartheid South Africa. Machel struggled for the liberation of Mozambique throughout his life. 

A revolutionary leader, Machel carried out guerilla warfare to oust the Portuguese from Mozambique. In 1962 Machel joined the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique or FRELIMO, as it was called by most. FRELIMO was dedicated to creating an independent Mozambique. In 1963 Samora Machel left Mozambique and traveled to several other African nations where he received military training. In 1964 he returned to Mozambique and led FRELIMO's first guerilla attack against the Portuguese in northern Mozambique. Machel spent most of his time in the field with his men, leading them in combat and sharing their dangers and hardships. By 1970 Samora Machel became commander and chief of the Frelimo army. He believed in guerilla war and Frelimo's army established itself among the poor in Mozambique's.

 
Upon Mozambique’s independence in 1975 Samora Machel supported and allowed revolutionaries fighting white minority regimes in Rhodesia and South Africa to operate within Mozambique. Both of these countries attacked Mozambique with an anti-Frelimo organization called RENAMO. On October 19, 1986 Samora Machel was on his way back from an international meeting in Zambia in the presidential Tupolev Tu-134 aircraft when the plane crashed in the Lebombo Mountains, near Mbuzini. 

Initial reports indicated that the president was alive after the crash and that he was poisoned thereafter. There is no doubt that the apartheid government led by the foreign ministry in South Africa. It has been 26 years but there is no official report on the death of this great African leader. Pik Botha, the apartheid foreign minister for 17 years, is said to be one of the top officials who arrived at the scene of the crash within 30 minutes, accompanied by a doctor from the "Seventh Medical Battalion" based in Pretoria. What else could he have gone to do at the crash site other than to confirm that Machel was no more.

The lies

·         South African foreign minister Pik Botha suggested that the Russian crew were high on      Vodka. But the alcohol concentration was found to be normal for a decomposing corpse.
·         Pik Botha said the plane was obsolete, which was far from the truth.

The Questions

Why was Pik Botha one of the first people to arrive on the crash site?

Did you know?

·         There was no weather vagaries contrary to earlier beliefs that that could have forced the plane to crash?

·         On that fateful night (October 19 1986), there was a significant concentration of South African Special Forces in the area. And there was a full military alert?

Bio of Samora Machel

Names: Machel, Samora

Born: 29 September 1933, village of Chilembene, Mozambique

Died: 20 October 1986, Border of Mozambique and South Africa

In summary: Politician and Freedom Fighter. Revolutionary leader of the Mozambican liberation movement FRELIMO and Mozambique's first President, killed in a controversial plane crash in 1986.

Our Lady of Peace Basilica in Yamoussoukro, Cote d'Ivoire

The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace Yamoussoukro, Cote d;Ivoire

My visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, Yamoussoukro. What a magnificent and well structured and designed piece of architecture.

Me at the Basilica

My colleague and very hilarious friend Chidi Odinkalu

The marble floor and the inside of the church

Nicodemus Michael Minde
@decolanga

Mau Mau win UK ruling

Via BBC News

Three Kenyans who were tortured by British colonial authorities can proceed with their legal claims against the UK government, a court has ruled. London's High Court ruled the case, relating to the 1950s Mau Mau uprising, could proceed despite the time elapsed.

The ruling means the case will now go to a full trial. Lawyers for the three hailed it as a "historic" judgement. While the government accepts UK forces tortured detainees it denies liability and will appeal against the decision.

Thousands of people were killed during the Mau Mau revolt against British rule in Kenya in the 1950s and 1960s. The government had initially argued that all liabilities for the torture by colonial authorities were transferred to the Kenyan Republic upon independence in 1963 and that it could not be held liable now. 

Lawyer Martyn Day (l) described the judgement as historic. But in 2011, the High Court ruled the claimants - Paulo Muoka Nzili, Wambuga Wa Nyingi and Jane Muthoni Mara - did have "arguable cases in law".

Their lawyers allege that Mr Nzili was castrated, Mr Nyingi was severely beaten and Mrs Mara was subjected to appalling sexual abuse in detention camps during the rebellion. A fourth claimant, Ndiku Mutwiwa Mutua, died earlier this year.

After the 2011 ruling, the case went back to the High Court in July to consider a claim by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) that the actions had been brought outside the legal time limit. The FCO said it faced "irredeemable difficulties" in relation to the availability of witnesses and documents.