The Siege on our Jumbos must end

In 1979, Kenya had about 167,000 elephants. In 2016, the population is estimated at about 38,000.

Satao, one of the world’s most iconic and oldest elephants was butchered by poachers inside Tsavo East National Park, on May 30, 2014. A poisoned arrow ended his life as poachers chased his majestic tusks.

Many more elephants have been killed as rampant poaching has become the constant shadow of death stalking them.

On April 30, 2016, President Uhuru Kenyatta will lead the nation in burning 105 tons of illegal ivory, about one ton of rhino horns.

This will be the biggest haul to be burnt in Kenya.  Former president Daniel Moi set ablaze 12 tons of ivory on July 12, 1989.

The events are a testament to the nation’s political resolve to say no to the illegal trade that is threatening the existence of elephants across the world.

According to The Atlantic, United States of America burnt six tons in 2013, China destroyed six tons in 2014 and Hong Kong set out to destroy 28 tons from 2014.

In Africa, Gabon, Mozambique and Ethiopia have followed suit. Sadly, about 100 elephants are killed across Africa daily. Kenya is part of this vicious cycle.

This is more than the number of elephants born each day. Their ivory has turned to be their biggest enemies as poachers viciously hunt them.

The battle is tough as poachers, armed with guns and poisoned arrows stalk our elephants in the bushes of Tsavo national Park and other homes.

According to Kenya Wildlife Service, the nation lost 302 elephants in 2013. This is a grim reality that faces the remaining 38,000 elephants across the country. In 2014, 137 elephants and 24 rhinoceros were lost to poachers.

As Uhuru leads the nation in setting ablaze illegal ivory, rhino horns, skin and hides, efforts to slay poaching must be stepped up.As a nation, we must ask questions beyond the burning of these tons.

The poachers must be nailed, the big boys who traffic these trophies must be nipped and global markets like China, Vietnam and other countries in the Far East must be place on alert.

The loss of elephants spells doom to our tourism which is still chocking since 2014. It is a threat to environmental conservation too.

The priceless efforts and campaigns of conservationists like Dr. Paula Kahumbu must be supported fully by the government.

Corruption and unduepolitical influence should be discouraged. The poachers are our brothers. They live within us and we know their faces.

We choose to hide them and pretend to shed tears when our lovely jumbos are killed. Numerous seizures across different entry and exit points have been made in Kenya.

Is it possible that the faces behind the trafficking are not known? Have punitive measures been instituted against them? We laud Uhuru for tomorrow’s event.

 It is aloud declaration by the government on the political resolve to fight poaching. Beyond the fire, a lot needs to be done to secure our 38,000 elephants that stare at extinction in the face.

 Each day must be devoted to combatting poachers and their moneyed financiers. The government should come clean on the war and unmask the known faces in the trade.

Corruption must be fought too. Undue political interference must be stopped. Punitive measures, deterrent enough must be adopted in legislation and government policies.

The Wildlife Conservation and Management Act of 2013 must be enforced with full force. If well used, it is punitive enough to deter the culprits involved in the decimation of our jumbos.

 In the future, if Kenya burns similar hauls of illegal ivory, rhino horns and other products, then it will be a harsh indictment on our failure to fight poaching.

We must act and save our elephants. We owe it to these great and intelligent creatures!

A cry for Kenyan Soccer

In the last ten days, two events happened in our much suffering football fraternity and one deserves praise while the other is cause for concern. Our national team qualified for the African Cup of Nations! Sorry, not our mediocre Harambee Stars but our heroines, Harambee Starlets. The team will grace the women’s showpiece in Younde, Cameroun from November 19, to December 3 2016. Under the tutelage of Moses Ouma, the young ladies did what Harambee Stars has failed miserably in since 2004! A tough 13 years in the cold! Barely a week after defeating Sudan in the first leg of the final-round qualifier in Khartoum, our national Under-20 was this week banned for fielding over-age players. This is the joy and pain of being a football lover in this great nation, disappointments and excitement come in equal measure. On Tuesday, April 12, 2016, at a packed Safaricom Stadium Kasarani, the nation drowned in a sea of excitement as our girls re-wrote history. But we forgot that we lack a running women’s national league. The determination of the girls with the help of several high schools and universities such as Kenya Methodist University made it possible. The new Football Kenya Federation boss, Nick Mwendwa never told us about any plans to put structures to ensure consistent success in girl’s football. A look at our competitors later in the year in Cameroun shows an elite cast who take women football seriously. Nigeria’s Super Falcons and the hosts are products of proper structures of women soccer in their countries. Kenya must take that tough route and set up proper leagues, from the grassroots to the national levels. This group of talented girls wishes to play on the global stage like their role models. Carli Lloyd, Sydney Leroux, Abby Wambach and Mia Amm from the USA, Birgit Prinz and Nadine Angerer of Germany, Marta Vieira da Silva of Brazil and Lotta Schelin of Sweden among others. These are mercurial players of the modern women’s game. They are the Ronaldinho’s, Messi’s and Christiano Ronaldo’s of the ladies version. We need proper league and age-group structures to make sure that our qualification to the 2016 AFCON is no flash in the pan. Harambee Stars Under-20 was banned for fielding over-age players in their away qualifier to Sudan. Kenya must sanitize the age-group soccer structures. Proper leagues must be put in place and sponsors should be wooed to support them. Currently, we have no structures for various age-group leagues, except the haphazardly organized Kenya Premier League under-20 league which is not a steady league so far. Some years ago, before the former office scarred away the corporate world; Kenya had the Copa Coca Cola tournament that took the best talents to compete against Africa’s best in South Africa. These are the efforts that are needed now, to make sure under-age soccer development in Kenya is on track. Kenya must rise up and take her rightful place in African and global soccer. Harambee Stars will shun mediocrity and stamp authority in African soccer only if we put in proper structures to nature talent through successive age-groups.

The Kenyan wounds that never healed

She was clobbered to near-death and raped. On August 30, 2016, her child will turn 8 years. She is Elizabeth Njeri. Her talk on a local television station greatly contrasted with the political hooting disguised as a prayer rally at Afraha Stadium, Nakuru County.

At Laini Saba in Kibera, Nairobi County, the opposition held its purported prayer rally. In both gatherings where God’s name was soiled, the plight of the victims was used to score political points.

They are the forgotten Kenyans. Children of this great nation whose hope for justice collapsed on the day all the suspects had their cases terminated at The Hague. 

Our politicians play cheap politics with everything. On Saturday, prayer rallies danced upon the graves of innocent souls who were butchered between December 2007 and February 2008.

The media too got lost in the heat and relegated the plight of the victims to the back foot. The talk was all about the politicians. This is the nation where unfortunately the big always have their way and the low are down-trodden upon.

National healing never happened. The Waki Report is still sealed with names of various suspects. The rhetoric is on and elections are around the corner. 

It is a shame that no one has been held to account yet we have Kenyans living in dilapidated camps. They are captives in their own land.

We blatantly refused to pursue the tough road of reconciliation as Rwanda did after the 1994 genocide. This is Kenya where politics transcend everything. 

Our neighbors in Rwanda initiated Gacaca courts which took care of all the small fish involved in the genocide. The big boys such as Jean Kambamba (former prime minister) have already been convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. 

The tiny Central African nation can claim that truth and justice which must come before reconciliation, indeed took place. Both local and international efforts made it possible.

Sadly, Kenya failed to learn from them. We chose to roll a carpet over the bitter and fresh wounds we inflicted on our fellow brother and sisters. 

In churches, political rallies and other gatherings, our politicians shout and gloat over how well we have dealt with the matter. Ridiculous at best.

Eight years and two elections later, the Kenyans of a lesser god are living with the nightmares. To some, the little monetary compensation have done little to heal them.

Led by our politicians, a media that chose suspects as the main focus of The ICC trials and a section of religious charlatans who chose to misrepresent God, we became insensitive to the plight of our scarred Kenyans.

Some babies were born out of brutal rape ordeals, children became orphaned, Kenyans lost their property and economic stability, and others cannot go back to their homes in Naivasha and other parts of the nation.

The wounds are fresh and the hatred keeps growing. Political talk ahead of the general elections in 2017 is rife with ethnic undertones! The embers of the post-poll violence are slowly being re-kindled. They might burn us one day if we do not put them off.

Politics of The Rift!

Politics in the Rift Valley have taken interesting twists in recent months and two key leaders, Deputy President William Ruto and the fiery Bomet Governor, Isaac Rutto are at the heart of events.

On one hand, a political ‘rebellion’ led by the Bomet Governor has shaken the deputy president and his die-hard lieutenants in Kipchumba Murkomen, Uasin Gishu governor Jackson Mandago and his Narok counterpart, Ole Tunai among others.

Gideon Moi, Senator John Lonyangapuo, vibrant Nandi Hills legislator, Alfred Keter and Johanna Ng’eno of Emurua Dikiir are helping Rutto stamp his rising authority in The Rift. The voting block, previously seen to be under the mercy of the deputy president has never been this divided.

Weeks ago, the little-known Mashinani Party led by Rutto and his men swept aside Deputy President’s man in a ward by-election in Bomet County. It was the much-needed spring that will eventually lift Rutto to shaking the deputy president in a manner few expected.

On March 7, the Kericho senatorial seat is up for grabs. Once again, Rutto and his ally-turned-foe Ruto will face off in one battle that will go a long way in determining who wields the political power as we head to 2017.

The drums are beating and Rutto and his friends from URP have thrown their weight behind KANU’s Paul Sang. This has irked the Deputy President and his loyalists who have their hopes on the shoulders of Aaron Cheruiyot.

It is a political contest that has thrown URP and the JUBILEE coalition into disarray. An aspiring king is leading a vicious democratic onslaught to topple the king.

Sadly to the Deputy President’s loyalists, their leader has publicly shown nerves much to the joy of the Rutto-led camp.

The popular decision by the people of Bomet County on Monday will have two repercussions; Ruto will be left battered and severely vanquished or he will survive the onslaught and dismiss Rutto as a political lightweight.

It is a referendum on the Deputy President’s political grip on Rift Valley!

A Cry for Kenyan Soccer!

Dubbed “The Football Debate”, national broadcaster, NTV hosted aspiring candidates for Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Presidency on live television interview on Wednesday evening. Sammy Shollei, SsamiAina, Nick Mwendwa, Gor Ssemelang’o and Ambrose Rachier engaged each other and the entire nation on solutions they offer to long-suffering Kenyan soccer if elected to office, on December 14. Conspicuously missing was embattled FKF President, Sammy Myamweya; the name that stirs bad taste in the mouths of football fans across the nation. Much of the responses the candidates gave offered vague solution, much to the chagrin of Kenyans who followed the show. That’s beside the point, Kenyan football has key issues that need urgent solutions.

Kenyan under age teams rarely play in continental championships, with the CAF Under-17 and Under-23 championships and the Olympics being such examples. We do not qualify for the simple reason that we lack structures at both national and grassroots levels to nature talents progressively through the ranks to enable such feats. We need a national office that will decentralize football from Nairobi and spread it across the country, to as far as Turkana County, to enable identification of young talents and nature them.

The issue of unpaid allowances for Harambee Stars, Harambee Starlets, and horribly bungled preparations in the run-up to tough FIFA and CAF assignments is so dominant, each year. Barely three weeks ago, Harambee Stars landed in Cape Verde about two hours before the return match of Russia 2018 pre-qualifier, against the hosts, after a grueling 18 hours in a chartered plane! This is how worst it can get for any national team, shameful and despicable. On numerous occasions, our foreign-based players have had to pay for their tickets to come for national duty! Absurd it sounds but to the current Nyamweya-led office, this is a norm! We need an office that cares for the national teams, and accords them dignified treatment that befits a national team.

Coincidentally, after Nyamweya’s election into office in 2011, CocaCola developed cold feet and stopped sponsoring the great yearly CocaCola Under-17 championships that were spread all over Kenya. Now that was a huge blow to the young talents of this nation. The global giant beverage manufacturers paint the grim picture of how the Corporate world is scared of the Football Kenya Federation akin to a plague! Simply put, trivial politics, sheer incompetence, stinking corruption and unprecedented misappropriation of funds at FKF have seen corporates like Coca Cola and others shun Kenyan football. We need an office that brings with it accountability for every cent, proper use of funds for the right and intended projects and largely opens its books to the public and corporates for scrutiny, in order to woo back the sponsors to Kenyan soccer. The current office under Nyamweya has miserably failed in this endeavor and intentionally so!

The current office has notoriously been embroiled in fights with Kenya Premier League (KPL) Limited, and unfair treatment and favoring of clubs over others has dominated the pages more than the action itself. We all know that there are two elite leagues currently, FKF Premier League and the KPL League. The fight for control of soccer and also relegation and promotion of clubs in the 2014 Season led to this. We need to see harmony return to Kenyan soccer. The sad issue of referees’ payment nearly interrupted the FKF Premier League, and referees had to go for periods without pay.

As football-mad nation, we need to see proper and accountable use football development funds that come from FIFA House in Zurich each year, the FIFAGoal Project and other funds. We need to know how these funds are used and hold the national office to account. Kenyans are tired of the constant politics that emanate from FKF office, and an end to the intolerance meted out to officials with differing opinions, as was the sad case with former Vice President, Sammy Shollei and Nairobi Branch Chairman, Dan Shikanda. We need a tolerant and progressive house at FKF. Kenyan football is crying for change that the current office under Sammy Nyamweya has failed to bring.

As the countrywide sub-branch elections take place on Friday, to elect officials who will decide the ballot on December 14 in the national elections, the delegates responsible have a huge responsibility in their hands. They owe it to current and future football generations to do just and vote in change.

A clear plea to the delegates, “Kenyan football has bled for years, and in your minds and hearts lies the respite, do justice to Kenyan soccer. You owe it to footballers and its fans all over the country who have suffered for long”.

Pope Francis Historically Sets Foot on African Soil….

He has shunned the princely trappings of the papacy, epitomizes humility and modesty. He is arguably the world’s most loved religious leader. In his first ever visit to Africa and the first nation to set foot on, Kenya, he awed the world with his humility and meekdemeanor. He even chose to celebrate mass in a slum setting, Kangemi, in St Joseph The Worker Catholic Church. He identified with the low in the society, those that we profile as poor! His love for the poor and down-trodden shone in his humble gesture. He is Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to an Italian immigrant.

When he touched down Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, aboard Italian Airliner, “Shepherd One”, Pope Francis chose to drive in a Honda Ballade, on his way to State House, as he greeted jubilant Kenyans lined up along the roads to catch a glimpse of The Pontiff. The meekness and humility of a true servant of God was shown to the entire nation, contrary to the lavish, flashiness and obsession for fuel guzzlers like Range Rovers, Chryslers and hefty security detail that are the other name for Kenyan religious charlatans, disguised as pastors! The very men and women who perpetuate social injustice instead of fighting it. They rob Kenyans economically and spiritually, destroy their marriages all in the name of religion. We all know the stinking scandals that they treat us to each day. They preach the Gospel of Prosperity and to them humility and meekness are a non-existent vocabulary. Well, God through Pope Francis ashamed them! No wonder, the so-called pastors were aloof and missing in action in the entire Pontiff’s voyage to Kenya. To Pope Francis, love for the poor, humility, care for the environment and building a just society are the pinnacle of Christianity, contrary to the same Word of God, that pastors intentionally manipulate to suit their business needs, driving Kenyans to death, spiritually and financially and sadly sleeping around with married women!

Pope Francis castigated land grabbers and private developers who do so at the expense of the poor. Remember, the Langata Road Primary school land saga with Weston Hotel, when innocent kids were teargased by police as they peacefully demonstrated? Well, he revisited this when he decried the fact that even children’s playgrounds are being grabbed! To the perpetrators of this evil, Pope Francis had no kind words for them. He stood brave and told them in the eye that this acts were evil and abhor able. He spoke against corruption that as we all agree, has reached unprecedented levels, especially under the JUBILEE watch and the blatant funds misappropriation by the County governments.

In his Friday mid-morning address to the youth at Safaricom Stadium Kasarani, Pope Francis famously said that ‘corruption is the way to death’. He condemned this evil vice, and appealed to the youth to shun it, build a justet all-inclusive society that is the very wish and desire of God, our Father. In his apt message, Pope Francis added that we all had a choice to make between doing the wrong and right. The ball is in our hands as a nation’s youth.Well put, the Pontiff came with a message of hope for the youth, to stand strong in the face of challenges such as tribalism, corruption, lack of employment and many others that are an agonizing threat to the youths. 

In winding up his first ever itinerary in Africa, Pope Francis went to neighboring Uganda and the war-torn Central African Republic (CAR). Totalitarian government under President Museveni has ruled but not led Uganda and a vicious religion-fueled civil war has divided Muslims and Christians in CAR. But Pope Francis did what many religious leaders at best fathom at; he flew into war torn city, over gravely dangerous air-space and even prayed with Muslims! Perfect example that our religious leaders ought to follow, in order to ease the ever rising global tensions between Muslims and Christians. He took off his shoes and entered the Mosque in Bangui, prayed with local muslims and taught us all that after all, religious differences are our major undoing, God is one. Fundamentalism is rooted in all religions but above all as the Pontiff said, it lacks God! 

He bravely condemned corruption that is so rife in Kenya, urged Kenyans to fight ethnicity and also do more to conserve the environment, met all religious leaders in Kenya, and breathed new life into Kenyans. He also preached a message of hope, reconciliation, compassion, political and religious tolerance in Kenya, Uganda, CAR and the entire continent.