Leaving West pokot

I am having withdrawal symptoms. I miss the simple living that was five days in West Pokot!

To think that I almost refused to go there! In my defense, the portrayal of this part of the country has always been negative. We constantly see pictures of extremities; insecurity and a deserted people.

It was quite a surprise to find that a Kapenguria though small is a well organized town with all the essentials of urban living. And the food was much fresher and the restaurants very clean.

The people still have the untouched innocence that only cultural rural living brings. Everyone was friendly and constantly smiling and greeting persons on the streets! That, you do not find in the city. It reminds that not all that courtesy means.

The eagerness of the people to have their voices heard both moved and saddened me.In some places they have never had an outsider sit with them, listen and talk. It was humbling to find people who only wanted to speak out and be recognized.

We jokingly call it the forgotten lands but you get on the ground and you realize that is no joke. These are forgotten people, the forgotten lives. for such a large area, the few number of schools and hospitals is a big joke. To have one dispensary serve a place as big as the city of Nairobi is not only ridiculous but also extremely irresponsible of any Government.

Finding a girl by the roadside heading walking to school, we gave her a ride. It took almost an hour to reach that school!!! This girl was meant to walk as vehicles on that road are very few; passenger vehicles are in fact non-existent!

How can one promote education if school are made inaccessible. In a community where girls are hardly educated it is shocking to see the lack of support towards the girls that do get a chance to go to school. In fact Government does not build these scarce schools; they are all (almost) courtesy of the various missions and donors!

These are people who have to deal with a harsh nomadic lifestyle which is in itself unsustainable but they have even fewer alternatives. They have no basic infrastructure; roads, schools, hospitals etc. They are hardly educated hence unaware of the dangers of some of their practices like female genital mutilation.
They can not seek a better life when they do not know there is another way.

They have been abandoned by the very government that is supposed to help them and serve them. They are people who survive because of sheer strength, belief and hold on culture.
There is so much that West Pokot has to offer. Preservation of a cultural way of life and Amazing landscape that should draw a big tourist crowd, Lands that could become the source of Kenya's crops, warriors who are natural archers who could use their talents to bring us Olympic glory, the sheer desire to learn that is unmatched and much more.

You learn t live again. You learn to smile even when you have nothing left. You learn to remember, remember to live!

I HEART WEST POKOT!

power and corruption

You know about 24 years ago a military lead a coup d'etat in guinea. He did so, according to him, to safeguard the integrity of the nation of guinea and the prosperity of his people. he went as far as as to make a solemn promise that he will relinquish his newly acquired power in two months to allow for the democratic due process. This man was president Conte, he ruled guinea until his recent death.

24 years later we have another military man who has lead a coup for the same reasons and promises to hold a general election in two years.

I think this could rightly be reffered to a dejavu. A Re-take but with the main actor changed does not make the script different and it can rightly be assumed that the climax will be the same.

Captain Musa, the man in charge in guinea, has sought to assure the international community of his good intentions and is courting their support. If his intention was to only hold on to power until corruption in his country is booted out and crisis averted then he would'nt be taking steps that are clearly meant to legalize his regime and at the same time he wouldn't be giving himself a two period in power.

The danger that i think we are all likely to face if this regime is recognized is that we will be having some crazy man in uniform with a desire for power thinking he could wrestle the same from the people without any backlash from any quarters.

I am more than sure that after Captain Musa has tasted the advantages of being the boss, he will never want to go back to being just another man in the country.

The reasons why politics should not be mixed in with military service is the same reason the same should not be mixed with religion absolute power corrupts absolutely. These were not just words spoken but a truth that has been a reality.

So i hope that i am wrong and this man who is the cause of guinea men and women jubilation will turn out to be a man of change, good change. I laugh but i hope not for long!

what i dont understand

you know this country like many others across the world was liberated by blood. and so as kids we were taught that the color on our flag symbolized the blood of those who lost their so we can be free.

so i was watching the news the other day and they had this segment on congo and the crisis there. and the rebel leader who is leading an uprising against the government was talking and what he said had the most chilling implicatons for me
he implied that the killing of several thousands is but a small price to pay for eternal freedom.

it begs the question are the people of congo not free? because last time i checked they were people in their own right with their government.

and who appointed this so called saviour?

and when did torture, murder and rape lead one to eternal freedom.

i think somewhere down the line, the line between freedom fighters and crude murderers got blurred. here was a man who advocated such atrocities on his own people in the name of fighting for freedom.

if this man was gaining some form of freedom that was not afforded to him before, i would understand but what he desires is power and in its purest form.

its sad that in a continent so devastated we choose to multiply the suffering of our own. and it is even sadder that the young that we expect to lift our continent to greatness are the same ones who are working so hard to destroy it.

so i say laurent is no saviour!