Sometimes I'm right and I can be wrong
My own beliefs are in my song
The butcher, the banker, the drummer and then
My own beliefs are in my song
The butcher, the banker, the drummer and then
Makes no difference what group I'm in
I am everyday people
Oh sha sha...
I am everyday people
Oh sha sha...
I am everyday people
Oh sha sha...
Our president got jokes. No really, jokes.
As always, he began by condoling with us, all sad and sombre like. Thing is, if he expresses shock and outrage one more time, so help me I will find the words for him, bloody woiyee president. Nkt! These meaningless platitudes are the same ones he gives us every time something bad happens.
The rest of the speech however...
Reckless leaders
propagate the unlawful message that some are more or less Kenyan than
others. Dangerous leaders preach the insidious message that some
people are holy whilst others are evil. The sum total of these
campaigns is to portray certain people as less human, and therefore
less deserving of compassion and consideration, and perhaps, fair
game for brutality and abuse. Such leaders divide instead of unite,
scatter where they should gather, and destroy where they should
build. They also make it easy for terrorists to operate comfortably
among us, and to inflict murder and mayhem on innocent Kenyans.
The attack in Lamu
was well planned, orchestrated, and politically motivated ethnic
violence against a Kenyan community, with the intention of profiling
and evicting them for political reasons. This therefore, was not an
Al Shabaab terrorist attack [emphasis mine]. Evidence indicates that local political
networks were involved in the planning and execution of the heinous
attacks. This also played into the opportunist networks of other
criminal gangs.
So, no terrorists.
It was politics.
Right.
Wait, what?
But didn't the terrorists say they did it? Why, in the name of all that's good and right, would you not blame the evil idiots who want to be blamed? I know you have an obsession with Raila, and you do like to spin, but come on...
But didn't the terrorists say they did it? Why, in the name of all that's good and right, would you not blame the evil idiots who want to be blamed? I know you have an obsession with Raila, and you do like to spin, but come on...
Our president continued...
Kenyans and the
Government in particular, have, over the last several weeks, observed
frenzied political rhetoric laced with ethnic profiling of some
Kenyan communities and obvious acts of incitement to lawlessness and
possible violence. The inciters have also given examples of other
countries where thousands of citizens have died and been maimed in
similar circumstances. This rhetoric is unacceptable and will not be
condoned. My Deputy and I undertook to make sure that the country
will never go the route of ethnic division and political violence. I
reiterate that Kenya will not go that route again! We will not allow
Kenya to go down this violent path again.
Ummm, sir, your government has recently
engaged in a wee bit of ethnic profiling, rounding up a couple of
Somalis in Eastleigh. Just thought to point that out, now that you
asked me to be vigilant and shit. You've also thrown in some pretty
frenzied rhetoric right here, talking about obvious acts and such like inflammatory nonsense. Besides, you and your deputy are currently charged
with crimes against humanity over at the Hague. You remember the
Hague, yes? Ti kwa nyina...
This is the problem with the spin idiots at State House, they are not clever, and they have no memory, and they think we are equally not clever, with no memory. Giving us silly speeches that make no damn sense. What the fuck kind of crack are these idiots smoking? Hang on, that's completely wrong. They are smoking the herb, yes? Yes. You idiots, you cant keep reworking the same condolences, pledges to beef up security (which just for the record should be a pretty fat cow right now, ripe for slaughter and ef'thing. Oh my...), and then throwing in the Raila bogeyman, just because.
I'm curious, who do you think comes up
with these theories? If it was just prezzo talking smack, such as he
does, I wouldn’t pay him any mind, but this is across his
government. Listen to our, well, his, secretary for internal
things...
This incitement story is the government
line. Witnesses are saying, "There were around 50 attackers,
heavily armed in three vehicles, and they were flying the Shabaab
flag. They were shouting in Somali and shouting Allahu Akbar..."
but the government is insisting this was political, which is their
fancy way of saying this was Raila. Tell me, how would Raila, he
that can't even rig an election when he's PM, get 50 or so armed
youth from Somalia to go conduct a massacre in Lamu County? No,
seriously, this bugger can't even organise a party worth a damn and
you think he's a criminal mastermind, plotting attacks in the back of
beyond? Really? And how is it, pray tell, the government with all
its beefy security can't seem to stop him? Ah yes, he has American
money, and we all know American money is evil. Quick question, where
did you go to sell that bond thingi?
Am I the only one who's afraid? These
buggers are starting to exhibit delusional tendencies, seeing Agwambo
where there is none.
I am everyday people...
There is a long hair
That doesn't like the short hair
For being such a rich one
That will not help the poor one
Different strokes
For different folks
And so on and so on and scooby dooby dooby
Oh sha sha
Now we got to live together
Oh sha sha
Now, I'm not saying there is no ethnic dimension to these attacks, as we have since found out Mpeketoni is not the peaceful little hamlet as they would have us believe it was. From a man who has more knowledge in these things than I do, in an interview conducted in February, this year...
The Ndovu (Elephant) in the Room (warning, GRAPHIC IMAGES)
“What you have
in Lamu is a question of internal colonialism. Lamu people, even
though they are Kenyans have long been treated as second class
citizens in their own country. All the powerful government people-
the PCs, the DCs, the DOs all the powerful public officers,
especially those handling land matters have never been local, they
all come from Nairobi. Land in Lamu was declared government land,
unlike other areas of Kenya. Most Lamu peasant and small farmers do
not have title deeds. And then the ultimate monstrosity: in the
1970s, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta opted to tackle the burning land question
in Central Province by importing thousands of Agikuyu into Lamu,
creating the Lake Kenyatta Settlement scheme in what is today Lamu
West This was done in total disregard to the interests of the Bajuni,
Swahili, Orma, Awer and other indigenous Lamu people, many of whom
had been evicted from their ancestral land earlier. Jomo Kenyatta and
his acolytes like the former Coast PC were in power when local,
politically connected elites from Nairobi grabbed a lot of land in
Lamu County. All these issues planted the seeds of simmering conflict
that will explode in the region if local grievances are not dealt
with.”
What Professor Bujra is saying is Lamu is complicated, as is the rest of the
coast. Bwana Oloo continues...
When I pressed on,
playing devil’s advocate to tease out the details I uncovered that
the elephant in Lamu was the huge influx of Gikuyu migrants and
settlers making Mpeketoni what some locals considered a second GEMA
homeland. As raw and as uncomfortable and as politically incorrect
the conversation unfolded it is clear that there is a lot of seething
rage in Lamu today over the unresolved land issues in contemporary
Lamu and the continued influx of Kenyans who are considered
“outsiders” from up country into the archipelago.
“We Lamu and
Coastal people have for centuries welcomed and embraced visitors into
our midst. Many people have come to Lamu, Mokowe, Hongwe, Mpeketoni,
Manda-you name it. Some have become Muslim; intermarried, made Lamu
their home, speak in the Amu dialect- you cannot tell they came from
Kirinyaga, Machakos, Meru, Kisumu, Bungoma. They have become part of
us; they are our neighbours our friends. But how do you go to
someone’s home; grab their land; kick them out; bring your own
family members, recreate and rename the neighbourhoods after your own
villages up country. On top of that you come into the local elections
and attempt to usurp power! A significant percentage of the ward
representatives of the Lamu County Assembly are from one ethnic
group! The Member of the National Assembly is called Ndegwa for
crying out loud! Be more respectful of us! At least give us the
courtesy to run the affairs of our own county! Already only two
tribes are dominating the national government! Can’t the Lamu
people govern Lamu? We fear that this LAPSSET project which requires
a population of one million will make us, the indigenous people of
Lamu, lose our cultural, religious and ethnic identity forever. We
are only 100,000 right now in the whole of Lamu!”
Question is, was
Mpeketoni a target because of these 'outsiders'? And if so, were the
attackers locals? And are these locals members of Al Shabaab? See,
its easy to blame Somalia for all our woes, but what if the enemy is
within, one of us? Does a Kenyan still qualify as Al Shabaab or it
that a strictly Somali thing? As silly as that question sounds, that
is what the spin doctors would have us believe, hence Operation
Usalama Watch (the clumsiest name ever given to an operation, hands
down. And the site is down, if it was ever up that is...).
Everyday, everyday, everyday people...
For the record,
witnesses make no such claims.
Residents of
Mpeketoni, the town in Lamu that was raided by gunmen on Sunday
night, described the attackers as an organised group that took its
time and was methodical.
The armed men had
the time to take bags of rice, sugar, packets of spaghetti, maize
flour, cooking oil, bottles of juice, soda and water from their
victims’ shops. They then set the shops on fire and destroyed most
vehicles in the town - pick-ups, tractors and lorries. They selected
their victims, separating men from women and children. At one point,
the Nation was told, an adolescent boy who had joined the men was
ordered back to where his mother and sisters were standing.
Most of those who
saw the attackers said they were dressed in military fatigue, with
black scarves around their heads covering their faces such that only
the eyes could be seen. They are also reported to have had a
coordinator with a communication radio, while one man recorded videos
as they attacked.
This is the attack the government
claims is politically motivated. By Raila.
Am I
the only one who is afraid?
I am everyday people...
The song is 'Everyday People', originally done by Sly & The Family Stone, a beautiful piece of psychedelic funk. That's not what you're listening to, if you hit play. I felt compelled to put up a most brilliant cover, off the soundtrack to Sons of Anarchy, The Forest Rangers featuring Audra Mae, Billy Valentine, Curtis Stigers, Franky Perez and Katey Sagal. I don’t get to say this very often, but in slowing the song down, this bunch of country musicians made this song better (how now, right?), more soulful, and because I know you don’t believe me, I've put up both. Done in the late 60's, it was all about race and what not, but as with all timeless classics, it works just as well almost fifty years later, in our country of peculiar 'ethnic' issues and petty politics. I'm hoping that one day soon we will realise...
I am no better and neither are you
We are the same, whatever we do
You love me, you hate me, you know me and then
You can't figure out the bag I'm in
We are the same, whatever we do
You love me, you hate me, you know me and then
You can't figure out the bag I'm in
I am everyday people
I am everyday people
I am everyday people
Oh sha sha...
Our president...
Fellow Kenyans, I
am satisfied that, for the most part, our security agencies have
performed well and thwarted innumerable terrorist and other criminal
conspiracies and attempts. Security is a vital national requirement;
everyone living in Kenya has a right to expect the security of their
persons and property as well as those of their loved ones.
Fellow Kenyans, we
have been victims of terrorism in the past and the threat of terror
continues to hang over us.
Fellow Kenyans, as
we mourn the dead, condole with the bereaved and comfort the injured,
I ask every one of us to reflect deeply on what each must do to keep
our country safe, and to be our brother’s and sister’s keeper. I
also urge every Kenyan to revisit our core values and remember who we
are. Fear and helplessness are not, and will never be our way of
life. Together, we shall grow and keep rising. Let us not give
space for those who want us to be afraid, or divided.
I also take this
opportunity to assure every Kenyan that no matter the challenges
assailing us, my Government stands with the people and works for all
Kenyans wherever they are.
Mr President, kindly kiss my fat black ass.
Fellow Kenyans, my lovelies, we are
everyday people.
Be safe.
Be safe.
