OKARI GOES GLOBAL

Kenya’s Dennis Okari has secured a job with the BBC.

Okari, who, until now, had been an investigative journalist with the Nation Media Group, NMG, is the latest entrant into the international media.

On a Facebook post on Wednesday, Okari announced the transition with awe.

“I am joining BBC World. I leave the local scene with my head held high that in my very small way through my stories, I was able to make a small difference.”

Before joining NMG, Okari had had a long stint in the Kenyan media industry.

“I have worked with KBC, Metro FM, TBN - Family Media, Baraka FM, KTN, Kiss TV,” read the post.

Adding that it was time to spread his wings to a global audience.

In a speculative Tweet earlier on, blogger Robert Alai had intimated that Okari was poised to put on Komla Dumor’s shoes at the BBC.

Dumor, a Ghanaian, passed on in January 2014 after an illustrious 8-year career at the BBC as a celebrated TV journalist.

In the post, that had attracted an avalanche of reactions and was shared widely, Okari reaffirmed that he will face the challenge coming with the new assignment head on.

“I will continue telling the Kenya (African) story to the world,” the post read.

Hail the Chinese Railway

A Chinese civil engineer on a feasibility study at Mr. Kituku Thyaka’s farm in Kinyambu, Kibwezi, 285 Km Southeast of Nairobi. The Standard Gauge Railway corridor snakes through Mr. Thyaka’s farm. Photo: Pius Maundu

Kinyambu residents whose  farms are earmarked for the Standard Gauge Railway project corridor bemoan of being sidelined.

When the Chinese engineers passed through their farms, they say, they trampled upon their maize, kunde, and beans recklessly, destroying them in their wake.

"Upon inquiring, an Administration Police officer told me that I am only going to till this land for one more season," offered Mr. Kituku Thyaka, an octogenarian.

"They are not telling us where we shall go after that."

In addition, the residents are in the dark on the prospects of compensation.

Both the county administration and the local political leaders are mum on the same.

Outbound travelers in Nairobi bear the brunt of removed luggage racks

All is not well at Athusi.  The busy bus terminus squeezed on Ukwala Road in Nairobi is reeking with dejection. 

Piercing through the engines throbs of the 39-seater Isuzu FH matatus, the voices of bus conductors soliciting for travelers continue to dominate.

“Sultan, Emali, Makindu, Kibwezi, Kambu!” “Sultan, Emali, Makindu, Kibwezi, Kambu!”

But business is low. Bus conductors contend that it now takes longer to fill their buses.

“Following the directive by the government to remove these luggage racks, few people are travelling,” offered Mrefu, a seasoned bus conductor.

“But what do we do?” he quipped nonchalantly, pushing a pile of plastic chairs into one of the sets of seat on a Kibwezi-bound bus.

But hard hit in this antagonism are the travelers. Those carrying with them luggage to and from the city are now digging deeper into their pockets to make this happen.

“We are at a loss,” offered Ndunda Kiluva, a trader who regularly buys his commodities in Nairobi. “It now costs me 1000 shillings more to get these two boxes to my shop in Kiunduani.”

The directive to remove the luggage racks, according to Traffic Commandant Sammy Kimaru, is aimed at taming runaway road accidents.

Kimaru directed that for matatus to be allowed to carry both passengers and luggage, they should be fitted with load spaces rather than the carriers.

But in the meantime most matatus are engineered without sizeable load spaces. Consequently, travelers such as Kiluva have to pay for the extra seats where their luggage rests.

And travelers are not willing to entrust the ubiquitous courier trucks now filed alongside the buses on Ukwala Road with their luggage.

With the night travel ban on PSVs still biting, travelers have limited options. “When things turn this bad, I always turn to River Road,” offered Kiluva referring to picking Mombasa-bound buses that park along River Road and pass by his place.

 “But today, this option is locked. These buses go for travelers destined for Mombasa. With this directive, the government leaves us at the mercies of vehicle owners. Something should happen.”

Until something happens, business in Athusi will remain unusual.

Determined to “graduate,” I ended up at Central

In 2007, I was arrested while attempting to graduate

Wednesday, August 29, 2007. The day I set my foot in a police cell for the first time. And spend there. Central Police Station, Nairobi. The occurrence book read that I had stolen. A camera. Property to a relative, a business associate, hereunder, associate.

But spending a night at the cells calmed my spirits in ways I could not imagine.

Five days before my associate handed me in to the Police, the University of Nairobi had graduated its 2007 cohort. I was supposed to have graduated. So on the eve of the graduation day, on its rehearsal, I made my way into the Graduation Square.

Ideally, I had worked to ensure that I graduate. The furthest I could go towards this end was to take photographs while clad in the graduation gown. With these photographs, it will be easy to convince people that I finally graduated, I reassured myself.

But that did not happen. Not that I did not have sufficient funds to hire a gown and take photographs amidst jubilant crowds of the once fellow students. No. The 2000 Kenya shillings I had secured from money merchants on Luthuli Avenue upon offering the camera as collateral, was sufficient. I did not muster enough courage to advance this plot to fruition.

Everyone at the Square was overjoyed. Genuinely so. Everyone was unlike me. I spotted my former classmates at Chiromo. And friends from Main. Kim. Presly. Dan. Jackson, the Big Head, Stella. Faith. NAAS. Koome. But for once, it was clear that we were now worlds apart. The closest any of these friends came was to wave.

Jubilation. Occasionally, they would all try to toss the caps into the air, just the way they do in film. Once or twice, a group would break into dance. Then they filed in the seats clearly bearing their names. Spectacular. Meanwhile, I sat close to the parking bay, at the University Cafeteria. Dejected. Forlorn. I did see it coming. The migraine.


Unable to hold it any longer, I found my way out of the University premises. I cannot tell how I preferred walking all the way to Pipeline through Mombasa Road. At my friend’s place, I lay on the bed for three consecutive days, and nights. And on the fourth, my 3310 rung, the associate calling. He wanted to inquire on my whereabouts.

I was unwell, and was unable to come to our Luthuli shop. He offered to meet me around Cabanas. But I could sense that all was not well. He was accompanied by a well build plain clothed Police officer, and, as my friends tried to explain that that I have been unwell for days, he told them that I had stolen from him. That night, I spent at the Station. Reminiscent.

When I fished out the folded loan contract from my wallet in the morning and accompanied the Police to collect the camera, he offered that I could not possibly be a thief. So when he bought me coffee that afternoon, the associate leaned closer and, in a matter-of-factly tone, and citing a morphing in my behavior, offered that I must be on pot. Hence the ultimatum that I should never cross his ways again, if I valued my life.

I did not own that got into all these as I attempted to graduate. Till now.

NAS should reign on Nairobi addressing bug

National Addressing System adds efficiency to the delivery of mail

Nairobi could soon feel like London, New York. Thanks to the National Addressing System. But the ambitious addressing system has to overcome its teething problems. 

Walk along any street of Nairobi and one thing will stand out: every building carries an addressing insignia. Those traveled far and wide cannot help compare the ease in navigating the streets of Nairobi to that in First World cities. However, in that excitement, one could fail to notice that some buildings have more than one address. 

NAS assigns buildings conspicuous green addressing labels. On these labels are legible numerals identifying each house and the street where it is located. The premise of the addressing system was to facilitate ease of identifying the ever-growing city properties. 

Instead of relying on the names of buildings, NAS makes it easy to use numbers to identify buildings found along any given street. This system, a brainchild of Universal Postal Union, UPU, makes it easy to identify a building in a given street and tell its proximity to other buildings in the same street. 

For instance, the address for Bazaar Plaza along Biashara Street is ‘01 Biashara Street.’ From this address, one can easily guess that this building is on either of the extreme ends of Biashara Street. Therefore, it is utterly confusing that some city buildings have two different addresses. 

In Nairobi, some buildings have two different addresses. Anshi Plaza along Biashara Street, for instance, has labels for ‘05 Biashara Street’ and ‘38 Biashara Street.’ The inherent confusion flies in the face of making the navigation of the city easy.

No. This is not about buildings sitting on two streets carrying different addressing labels on each on different facades. 

In bilingual countries using a similar addressing system, buildings carry two labels bearing similar numbers, only in different languages. In Morocco, for instance, buildings carry insignia done in French and Arabic.  

The case of NAS in Nairobi is inexcusable. It needs redress. 

One can only hope that the resulting disarray with the NAS is short-lived, and that someone is working to reign on it. Otherwise, it challenges the very logic behind the mooting of the National Addressing System. It makes it arduous to navigate the streets of Nairobi.

To grow responsible adults, teach children to communicate

Martina Muthoni, 2. Parents should teach children to communicate.

Not many took over 10 years on their undergraduate studies. I did. However, I am certain mine is not an isolated case. It can happen to children and teenagers who are poor communicators.  

   

Without communication, individuals cannot get along. It requires effective communication for individuals to have their ways in institutions, and succeed in life. Children need to learn communication skills to develop favorable personalities. 

Parents, guardians have a responsibility of ensuring that children acquire effective communication skills early enough. Nurturing communication skills should not stop even at the height of teenage. I can confirm that doing so is counterproductive.

After mysteriously missing a place in Starehe Boy’s Center, and the inability to afford schooling in Maseno School, I ended up enrolling in a public day school within a cycling distance from home. This, of course, was after a lot of persuasion from my father that he would do everything within his means to ensure that I acquire secondary school education. 

Dad would work at the school, drawing water and collecting firewood, for use at the school. Throughout the four years, my studies went on uninterrupted. I did well. But I missed the opportunity to hone my communication skills. I did not get the opportunity to explain to the school’s administration that my fees would delay, and convincing them to keep me in school in the meantime, for instance. 

Joining the University of Nairobi subjected my poor communication skills to test. It all started with my attempt at Interfaculty Transfers. Thrice, I attempted appealing for a change in the course that I was supposed to pursue, in vain. Nothing is more infuriating. 

It became worse when I learned belatedly that my Medicine, Mechanical Engineering, and Law choices were my undoing, since, according to the Joint Admission Board, they did not depict my interest, passion.  Did they know which school I came from and that I had never assumed heavy responsibilities before?

That colleagues with lower grades could shift faculties with ease heightened my frustration. At some point, I wished that Dad could be around to talk things out. 

Many would take my throwing in the towel after a two-year struggle at the University of Nairobi as the height of indiscipline. And it could be the case, especially considering the impatience. However, methinks that my poor communication skills were responsible. 

Inability to express myself to the authorities at the University, at least with the anticipated gusto, I came to realize, was to blame for my tribulations. If I had camped at the administration, for instance, I am convinced I could have seen the resolution of my predicament. At least, they would have explained the determination to dismiss the request for course transfer incessantly. 

My case borders on the extreme. However, I am certain it is not isolated. Several students attend remote schools where JAB, for some reason, cannot reach out, or where the administration and teachers are ambivalent. 

Irrespective of the background, children grow into adults who interact with one another and with institutions. Armed with communication skills, they are able to express themselves convincingly. Not many people are ready to take poor communicators seriously.  

More importantly, the ability to communicate well nurtures self-confidence. With high self-esteem, it is safe to assert that children develop into successful teenagers and adults. The reverse is disastrous.

Institutions may not be trusted with inculcating communication skills to children. Kicking back and mourning this will not solve the problem. Parents have a responsibility of ensuring that as children grow into and past teenage, they are able to express themselves and get along with people, institutions. 

Parents can explore several strategies to nurture good communication skills in their children and teenagers. Seeking vivid explanations on behaviors and encouraging critical thinking around particular developments are good starting points. Similarly, developing an accountability culture such that children appreciate reporting on events is a good way forward. 

Engaging children in assignments that entail interacting with authorities can go a long way into imbuing them with communication skills. You do not know how much allowing your teenager to question your decision on acquiring a new car can save his/her future. 

Parents should stop pampering their children even in teenage. Instead, they should teach them how to get along with others and institutions. To grow responsible adults, teach children to communicate.

Daily Nation: http://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/Living/The-best-gift-a-parent-can-give-a-child/-/1218/2335478/-/1cao2qz/-/index.html

State should enlist Somalis among 2014 resolutions

In 2011, Kenyan troops took the anti-terrorism war into Somalia. Kenyan Somalis have been victims of terrorism

When I started working, even before I got my first pay, I acquired my first jacket from a Somali trader. But this could not just pass as any other acquisition. It was the only way I retained my maiden teaching job, for it required one to dress formally, in a suit. 

It was not only the pocket-friendly prices that earned Rashid Omar loyal customers amongst Makindu residents, but also his allowing customers, even first time customers, acquire stuff and pay for them later at their paces. How could he just trust us? From the ingenuity and resilience of this trader one could hardly tell that he belonged to the most marginalized community in Kenya. 

None of the Kenyan communities has experienced half the suffering that the Somalis have gone through. Kenyan Somalis have been marginalized for decades. Only for the world to train its cameras there when famine wrecks havoc in their midst, or terrorists kill and abduct residents of Garissa, Wajir.

Explaining this state of affairs is deep-seated suspicion, engineered and let to brew for eons. British colonialists feared that dealing with Kenyan Somalis would pose administrative challenges. This constituency could become slippery, and easily ebb into Somaliland, they opined.  Ever since, Kenyan Somalis have been discriminated against. 

Today, Kenyan Somalis pass as dubious, foreigners, and terrorists. That it is relatively difficult for Somalis to acquire national identification documents complicates the maze. Desperate to enroll for social services, and register businesses, those who are capable result to bribing authorities to acquire these essential documents. 

Paradoxically, this marginalization by the state peaked immediately Kenya became independent from its colonial masters in the 1960s. In 1984, the government of the day oversaw the beating, raping and killing of over 5000 Somalis in what became the Wagalla Massacre. Chilling survivor stories in Mohammed Adow’s Not Yet Kenya posit that Kenyan authorities tossed bodies of the Somalis who succumbed the gory atrocities into Tana River. None of the successive regimes has shown any resolve to recognize Somalis as Kenyans enough. 

Kenyatta’s administration effectively thwarted the miniature efforts to serve justice on the Somalis gained during the Kibaki regime. It is common knowledge that the editing and shelving of the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) Report spells doom for any prospects of serving justice to the perpetrators of the Wagalla Massacre. The international community has not been helpful, either.  

IGAD, often bragging as the institution solely responsible for ensuring that Somalis remain on the global map, has had nothing to show for championing for the cause of the Somalis. The clamor by Ambassador Mahmoud Maalim, IGAD’s Executive Secretary in a Nairobi forum in November that IGAD is committed to ensuring peace and stability in Somali flies in the face of the reality on the ground. Just like IGAD, the global community has been consistent in scapegoating Somalis for insecurity and terrorism, a precursor for collective punishment. 

Imposition of the Hawala system by the United States and other Western bigwigs is the height of the affliction of the Somalis. The wisdom behind this ban in international money transfer is that Somalis living in diaspora are the financiers of terrorism. How careless!

Drawing the line between terrorism and a community is a no brainer. In fact, Somalis have become the greatest victims of terrorism activities in the region. Not so long ago, a grenade hurled at bus in Pangani, Nairobi left seven people dead, four of them Somalis. But the world would stop at nothing to use the thickest of brushes to tar Somali, justifying the imposition of collective punishment. 

Just like denying Somalis national identity cards and branding them terrorists, taming the transfer of funds to the ubiquitous Somali families located in Somalia, and Kenya, for instance, the world is uniting in ensuring that future Somali generations do not acquire education. Under development in North Eastern Kenya greets travelers. 

Naturally, this turn of events breeds anger and frustration among ordinary Somali folk, scholars, diplomats, journalists and politicians. Telling from the ensuing antagonism, things are no longer rosy. When, for instance, Dr. Ibrahim Farah of the University of Nairobi describes the AU mission in Somali as a “proliferation of mafia groups,” it is clear that all is not well.  

In a recent forum in Nairobi, Mymunah Mohamed, a Somali entrepreneur felt that the current Somali leadership is to blame for complacency. Mohamed is not alone. More Kenyan Somalis support the thesis that Somalis are to blame for their woes. Emerging from this is that the problem facing the Kenyan Somali is amorphous and calls for concerted efforts.  Ironically, having Somali leaders in leading coalitions does little to ameliorate the state of the Kenyan Somali.

If the Kenyatta administration is determined to bring social harmony in Kenya, its 2014 resolution should be serving justice to the Kenyan Somalis. To make this happen, the state should encourage efforts that go into reversing the suspicion on the Somalis. It could start by allowing more Somalis to sit in the committees steering the LAPPSET project. 

Among the most sustainable ways of taming terrorism is by taking Kenyan Somalis onboard. Judging from its geographical spread on a cultural watershed, this community can be resourceful as a human barrier, and through community policing, wade off insurgents infiltrating through the precarious Kenya-Somalia border. However, this anti-terror approach cannot work when suspicion against the Kenyan Somalis reigns. Failure to address injustice amongst Somalis, the Kenya government is setting a dangerous precedence.  

Meanwhile, according to Adow, Kenyan Somalis are learning a lot from their kin in Somalia. For instance, they are learning to become more aggressive.  One can only hope that this translates into the acquisition of rare business acumen and resilience exhibited by Rashid Omar as he transverses the dusty sunbaked Makindu market, carrying with him loads of apparel, jewelry and perfumery.