Mwizi Kibaraka Toka

Soccer Referee Information

2009-04-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

After playing and coaching is over, one must become a referee.
Crazy! Young kids can now abuse you. Thugs might try to beat you up, but what else can you do to stay in touch with the beautiful game.

Nice Links for any Soccer Referee:
Referee Pre-Game Card
Ask A referee

Hope to ban the Arabic word for “slave”

2009-01-13T14:47:00.000-08:00

BASRA (Reuters)

Barack Obama's election in the United States has already had an impact in Iraq, inspiring some black Iraqis to run in a forthcoming election in the hope of ending what they call centuries of discrimination."Obama's win gave us moral strength," said Jalal Chijeel, secretary of the Free Iraqi Movement.He said the group would be the first to field black candidates in any Iraqi poll when it joins provincial elections scheduled for Jan. 31He argues Iraqis of African origin are not represented in top office, suffer disproportionately from poverty and illiteracy and are commonly referred to in derisive terms. (More)

My reaction to another post on the same subject:

You see Islam blah! Blah! I am sick and tired of stupidity of my fellow Muslims and pure racist shit. There is racism among Muslims and we cannot use Islam to explain it away. It is all over and you don't have to go to Iraq to see it. Just go to any community anywhere in the world. Why Siraj Wahaj and fellow outsiders start MANNA? Because of RACISM. Pure and simple. Yes, there it is. It is present in everyday Arabic or any language used by Muslims in conversations. Call your mama ABD and ask her how she feels. Would you like to be called abd or Abeed? I don't think so. Muslims have to realize that the tide is changing and Islam will not wait.

Black Iraqis are saying we are hurting and you are trying to say, "no you are just trying to benefit," .... whatever. The Dalits of India are making some progress, but every now and then haters just do what haters do.

Solution: Do what the jews are doing. Reaching out to all the Jews even in Yemen. It is bad, hha ha, but guess what; we can hate the Jews as much as we like, but at the end, we respect "their respect for their own." Black people have a long way, but we have to start reaching out for our own. Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu, Animist or whatever. We have to love our own soo much, until the others, just hate us for doing the right thing.

To paraphraze Brother Malcolm Shabazz, "They don't hate us because we ar Babtist, Methodist or Muslim...they hate us because we are BLACK."

Before I forget, can you ask the Imam to speak about the al Akhdam of Yemen and what Islam has to say about it. Tell her not to quote the Quran, but what Muslims can do to clean this racist shit from fake Muslims.

OBAMA an OBSEQUIOUS PRESIDENT?

2009-01-10T10:42:00.000-08:00

Greetings people,

Trying to understand Obama's support for Isreali inhuman behavior and his indifference to the suffering people of Gaza, I googled, and what an English language lesson it was. Obama obsequious? My English language is not limited, but I uncomfortably approached a dictionary hoping it is not negative. My reaction was, Ummm! No, I don't think so and "NO he cannot be obsequious."

Here is what I found out and it made me throw up. After 8 years of the WORST creature in office, I cannot imagine an OBSEQUIOUS PRESIDENT.

Obsequious(əb sē′kwē əs, äb-)

adjective
showing too great a willingness to serve or obey; fawning
Archaic compliant; dutiful

Obsequious Synonyms:
docile, submissive, cringing, slavish, sycophantic, deferential, servile, subject, enslaved, subordinate, parasitical, stipendiary, toadyish, toadying, fawning, truckling, groveling, spineless, crouching, cringing, mealy-mouthed, subservient, abject, beggarly, sniveling, prostrate, sneaking, oily, bootlicking*, brown-nosing*, kowtowing*, apple-polishing*, flunkyish*, toad-eating*; see also docile, obedient 1.
Antonyms insulting*, proud*, haughty.

What do you think?
Yes, I am informed, but often selectively choose not to agree with the Obama negatives. When Obama was asked about Isreali massacre of innocent women and children is Gaza, I painfully remembered Obama's statement, "There is only one president," (when it comes to foreign affairs) but he had something to say when India was attacked. "Barack Obama on Friday expressed sorrow for the victims of the attacks on Mumbai ... Rice has called Obama twice to brief him on the series of attacks in Mumbai."

While reading some of the google output reports, a little voice inside me was whispering to Obama:
"Please don't abandon us, please, please don't go to the wrong side. We believe in you and trust our inner instict that we made the right choice. We are with you and don't be afraid of anyone. Please do the right thing. You cannot forget what injustice feels like. Don't let the wrong side convince you to wear a gas mask. Smell it, smell it, it is nothing but the stench of injustice. All we want is justice for all."

A little sad reminder on what politics is all about. We voted for Obama because we thought WE could, or to be more realistic, he could make a difference. "No Obama is still a politician," and frankly I don't know what that means, but it sounds bad.

President Obama has every right to support whoever he wants, but when it comes to justice and fairness I hope he will be very careful in making the right humane choice. His choice will depend on how active we all can be and more on how passionate we want him to be on the right humane side.

I still strongly support Obama, but I cannot afford to just hope and allow my win to be turned to the worst catastrophe. Obama belongs to the people and we have to fight as hard as we can to keep it that way.

Thanks,

I found the word obsequious in this article by Uri Avnery.

Here is how it caught my attention:

After months of a tough and bitter race, a merciless struggle, Barack Obama has defeated his formidable opponent, Hillary Clinton. He has wrought a miracle: for the first time in history a black person has become a credible candidate for the presidency of the most powerful country in the world.

And what was the first thing he did after his astounding victory? He ran to the conference of the Israel lobby, AIPAC, and made a speech that broke all records for obsequiousness and fawning.

That is shocking enough. Even more shocking is the fact that nobody was shocked. MORE

Finkelstein versus Dershowitz

2009-01-08T20:39:00.000-08:00

Havard Law Prof. Dershowitz is humbled
How can Havard keep a fake?

A Growing Demand for the Rare American Imam

2008-12-05T21:47:00.000-08:00

New York Times does it again, "Educate American Muslims about their religion."
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
Published: June 1, 2007
MISSION VIEJO, Calif. — Sheik Yassir Fazaga regularly uses a standard American calendar to provide inspiration for his weekly Friday sermon.

Around Valentine’s Day this year, he talked about how the Koran endorses romantic love within certain ethical parameters. (As opposed to say, clerics in Saudi Arabia, who denounce the banned saint’s day as a Satanic ritual.) More

Zbigniew Brzezinski

2008-11-30T10:26:00.000-08:00

The Grand Chessboard

American Primacy And It's Geostrategic Imperatives

Key Quotes From Zbigniew Brzezinksi's Seminal Book

"Ever since the continents started interacting politically, some five hundred years ago, Eurasia has been the center of world power."- (p. xiii)

"... But in the meantime, it is imperative that no Eurasian challenger emerges, capable of dominating Eurasia and thus of also challenging America. The formulation of a comprehensive and integrated Eurasian geostrategy is therefore the purpose of this book.” (p. xiv)

"In that context, how America 'manages' Eurasia is critical. A power that dominates Eurasia would control two of the world's three most advanced and economically productive regions. A mere glance at the map also suggests that control over Eurasia would almost automatically entail Africa's subordination, rendering the Western Hemisphere and Oceania geopolitically peripheral to the world's central continent. About 75 per cent of the world's people live in Eurasia, and most of the world's physical wealth is there as well, both in its enterprises and underneath its soil. Eurasia accounts for about three-fourths of the world's known energy resources." (p.31)

“Never before has a populist democracy attained international supremacy. But the pursuit of power is not a goal that commands popular passion, except in conditions of a sudden threat or challenge to the public's sense of domestic well-being. The economic self-denial (that is, defense spending) and the human sacrifice (casualties, even among professional soldiers) required in the effort are uncongenial to democratic instincts. Democracy is inimical to imperial mobilization." (p.35)

“The momentum of Asia's economic development is already generating massive pressures for the exploration and exploitation of new sources of energy and the Central Asian region and the Caspian Sea basin are known to contain reserves of natural gas and oil that dwarf those of Kuwait, the Gulf of Mexico, or the North Sea." (p.125)

"In the long run, global politics are bound to become increasingly uncongenial to the concentration of hegemonic power in the hands of a single state. Hence, America is not only the first, as well as the only, truly global superpower, but it is also likely to be the very last." (p.209)

"Moreover, as America becomes an increasingly multi-cultural society, it may find it more difficult to fashion a consensus on foreign policy issues, except in the circumstance of a truly massive and widely perceived direct external threat." (p. 211)

Zbigniew Brzezinski's Background

According to his resume, Zbigniew Brzezinski lists the following achievements:

Harvard Ph.D. in 1953

Counselor, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Professor of American Foreign Policy, Johns Hopkins University

National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter (1977-81)

Trustee and founder of the Trilateral Commission

International advisor of several major US/Global corporations

Associate of Henry Kissinger

Under Ronald Reagan - member of NSC-Defense Department Commission on Integrated Long-Term Strategy

Under Ronald Reagan - member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board

Past member, Board of Directors, The Council on Foreign Relations

1988 - Co-chairman of the Bush National Security Advisory Task Force.

Brzezinski is also a past attendee and presenter at several conferences of the Bilderberger group - a non-partisan affiliation of the wealthiest and most powerful families and corporations on the planet.

The Grand Chessboard by Zbigniew Brzezinski – More Quotes

"...The last decade of the twentieth century has witnessed a tectonic shift in world affairs. For the first time ever, a non-Eurasian power has emerged not only as a key arbiter of Eurasian power relations but also as the world's paramount power. The defeat and collapse of the Soviet Union was the final step in the rapid ascendance of a Western Hemisphere power, the United States, as the sole and, indeed, the first truly global power...” (p. xiii)

"... But in the meantime, it is imperative that no Eurasian challenger emerges, capable of dominating Eurasia and thus of also challenging America. The formulation of a comprehensive and integrated Eurasian geostrategy is therefore the purpose of this book.” (p. xiv)

"The attitude of the American public toward the external projection of American power has been much more ambivalent. The public supported America's engagement in World War II largely because of the shock effect of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.” (pp 24-5)

"For America, the chief geopolitical prize is Eurasia... Now a non-Eurasian power is preeminent in Eurasia - and America's global primacy is directly dependent on how long and how effectively its preponderance on the Eurasian continent is sustained.” (p.30)

"America's withdrawal from the world or because of the sudden emergence of a successful rival - would produce massive international instability. It would prompt global anarchy." (p. 30)

"In that context, how America 'manages' Eurasia is critical. Eurasia is the globe's largest continent and is geopolitically axial. A power that dominates Eurasia would control two of the world's three most advanced and economically productive regions. A mere glance at the map also suggests that control over Eurasia would almost automatically entail Africa's subordination, rendering the Western Hemisphere and Oceania geopolitically peripheral to the world's central continent. About 75 per cent of the world's people live in Eurasia, and most of the world's physical wealth is there as well, both in its enterprises and underneath its soil. Eurasia accounts for 60 per cent of the world's GNP and about three-fourths of the world's known energy resources." (p.31)

“It is also a fact that America is too democratic at home to be autocratic abroad. This limits the use of America's power, especially its capacity for military intimidation. Never before has a populist democracy attained international supremacy. But the pursuit of power is not a goal that commands popular passion, except in conditions of a sudden threat or challenge to the public's sense of domestic well-being. The economic self-denial (that is, defense spending) and the human sacrifice (casualties, even among professional soldiers) required in the effort are uncongenial to democratic instincts. Democracy is inimical to imperial mobilization." (p.35)

"Two basic steps are thus required: first, to identify the geostrategically dynamic Eurasian states that have the power to cause a potentially important shift in the international distribution of power and to decipher the central external goals of their respective political elites and the likely consequences of their seeking to attain them;... second, to formulate specific U.S. policies to offset, co-opt, and/or control the above..." (p. 40)

"...To put it in a terminology that harkens back to the more brutal age of ancient empires, the three grand imperatives of imperial geostrategy are to prevent collusion and maintain security dependence among the vassals, to keep tributaries pliant and protected, and to keep the barbarians from coming together." (p.40)

"Henceforth, the United States may have to determine how to cope with regional coalitions that seek to push America out of Eurasia, thereby threatening America's status as a global power." (p.55)

"Uzbekistan, nationally the most vital and the most populous of the central Asian states, represents the major obstacle to any renewed Russian control over the region. Its independence is critical to the survival of the other Central Asian states, and it is the least vulnerable to Russian pressures." (p. 121)

[Referring to an area he calls the "Eurasian Balkans" and a 1997 map in which he has circled the exact location of the current conflict - describing it as the central region of pending conflict for world dominance] "Moreover, they [the Central Asian Republics] are of importance from the standpoint of security and historical ambitions to at least three of their most immediate and more powerful neighbors, namely Russia, Turkey and Iran, with China also signaling an increasing political interest in the region. But the Eurasian Balkans are infinitely more important as a potential economic prize: an enormous concentration of natural gas and oil reserves is located in the region, in addition to important minerals, including gold." (p.124)

"The world's energy consumption is bound to vastly increase over the next two or three decades. Estimates by the U.S. Department of energy anticipate that world demand will rise by more than 50 percent between 1993 and 2015, with the most significant increase in consumption occurring in the Far East. The momentum of Asia's economic development is already generating massive pressures for the exploration and exploitation of new sources of energy and the Central Asian region and the Caspian Sea basin are known to contain reserves of natural gas and oil that dwarf those of Kuwait, the Gulf of Mexico, or the North Sea." (p.125)

"Uzbekistan is, in fact, the prime candidate for regional leadership in Central Asia." (p.130)

"Once pipelines to the area have been developed, Turkmenistan's truly vast natural gas reserves augur a prosperous future for the country's people.” (p.132)

"In fact, an Islamic revival - already abetted from the outside not only by Iran but also by Saudi Arabia - is likely to become the mobilizing impulse for the increasingly pervasive new nationalisms, determined to oppose any reintegration under Russian - and hence infidel - control." (p. 133).

"For Pakistan, the primary interest is to gain Geostrategic depth through political influence in Afghanistan - and to deny to Iran the exercise of such influence in Afghanistan and Tajikistan - and to benefit eventually from any pipeline construction linking Central Asia with the Arabian Sea." (p.139)

"Turkmenistan... has been actively exploring the construction of a new pipeline through Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Arabian Sea..." (p.145)

"It follows that America's primary interest is to help ensure that no single power comes to control this geopolitical space and that the global community has unhindered financial and economic access to it." (p148)

"China's growing economic presence in the region and its political stake in the area's independence are also congruent with America's interests." (p.149)

"America is now the only global superpower, and Eurasia is the globe's central arena. Hence, what happens to the distribution of power on the Eurasian continent will be of decisive importance to America's global primacy and to America's historical legacy." (p.194)

"Without sustained and directed American involvement, before long the forces of global disorder could come to dominate the world scene. And the possibility of such a fragmentation is inherent in the geopolitical tensions not only of today's Eurasia but of the world more generally." (p.194)

"With warning signs on the horizon across Europe and Asia, any successful American policy must focus on Eurasia as a whole and be guided by a Geostrategic design." (p.197)

"That puts a premium on maneuver and manipulation in order to prevent the emergence of a hostile coalition that could eventually seek to challenge America's primacy..." (p. 198)

"The most immediate task is to make certain that no state or combination of states gains the capacity to expel the United States from Eurasia or even to diminish significantly its decisive arbitration role." (p. 198)

"In the long run, global politics are bound to become increasingly uncongenial to the concentration of hegemonic power in the hands of a single state. Hence, America is not only the first, as well as the only, truly global superpower, but it is also likely to be the very last." (p.209)

"Moreover, as America becomes an increasingly multi-cultural society, it may find it more difficult to fashion a consensus on foreign policy issues, except in the circumstance of a truly massive and widely perceived direct external threat." (p. 211)

What a Hijab can do for you

2008-11-24T18:37:00.000-08:00

UN soldier in Lebanon trades her blue beret for a veil
Sep 12, 2008
MARJAYOUN, Lebanon (AFP) — Sylvia Monika Wyszomirska is a Catholic from Poland, but in an effort to integrate better into south Lebanon's conservative society she has traded her UN peacekeeper's beret for a headscarf during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
"Out of respect for the environment I work in, I feel I need to try to integrate myself" during Ramadan, said 37-year-old Wyszomirska who has been stationed in the country for four months.
"And since my contingent is deployed in a Muslim area, I have decided to wear the hijab," the Muslim veil, over military fatigues, the mother of a little girl told AFP (More)

Lenana 1967 (Wow! Asante Sana)

2008-11-12T20:43:00.000-08:00

The power of the Web
Visit the site for more information:
Take a step into the past
Nakumbuka thse names:
Ramtu
Odula
Garood
Karago
Okumu
Kariungi
Nyanjom

In Memory of Roger Otolo

2008-11-12T19:41:00.000-08:00

Wazee ukumbuka. Picha inaleta raha. Nimeipata Hapa.
Sitting on the left is Bigger Otolo

Mukulu great job.

Hongera na asante sana.
Imagine MEN MACHINE

Sijui wako wapi lakini furaha sana.

Front row: Coutts Otolo, Kalambo Kaisi, Geoff Simiyu
Second row: Dave Awimbo Aggrey Awimbo

Back row: Tom Oketch Frank Abukutsa, Chief Edebe

Half backs: George Mngongo, Bimbo Mutere

Centres: Ben Mukuria, Dave Muraya

Wingers: John Akatsa, Kadir Shapi, Emmanuel Lubembe-wingers
Full back: Cliff Mukulu

Ongeza the following alafu angalia mchezo.
Ochido

Kibisu

Ngaruiya

Sagala

Belsoi

Walter na Jack Omaido

Opoti yuko wapi? (Just a thought)

An excellent site. White African Kenya Rugby

Obama Slideshow

2008-11-11T20:13:00.000-08:00

Enjoy this day
Take it
digest it and run with it

Why not

2008-11-02T19:11:00.000-08:00

Jane Stillwater, a 64-year-old citizen journalist who says she loves all religions and is a practicing "Catholic/Christian/Hindu/ Muslim/Buddist," faces East as she does her evening prayer in Berkeley on Tuesday. Chronicle photo by Kurt Rogers

Minneh K. Kane

2008-11-02T18:51:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to keep this in mind after watching an interview on Yahoo. She has bi-racial kids. (Future interview for Kenyans Abroad)

Minneh K. Kaneh, Lead Counsel, Legal Vice Presidential Unit (VPU), World Bank
Ms. Kane, a Kenyan national, has worked at the World Bank since January 1988, and at present serves as a lead counsel in the Legal VPU. Focusing mainly on legal and judicial reform issues, she is currently working on projects and /or sector assessments in Kenya, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Prior to joining the Bank, Ms. Kane worked as a barrister in Kenya for Hamilton, Harrison and Mathews, the oldest and, at the time, the largest, law firm in East Africa. She handled corporate and commercial matters taking cases to the High Court and other courts in Kenya. Ms. Kane has a master's degree in law from Harvard Law School. She is a barrister-at-law of Grays Inn, London, and an advocate of the High Court of Kenya. She has a B.A. with honors in English law and French law from the University of Kent at Canterbury, England and a diploma in French law from the Université de Paris-Sud, Faculté de droit de Sceaux, Paris, France.

This was very moving and I wondered if the swimming pool was finished

From Sr. Pauline:

"As you know I have recently celebrated my Golden Jubilee 50 years as a Loreto Sister. To mark this achievement I have launched a SWIMMING POOL FOR LORETO NYAKATO (Mwanza, Tanzania) project. I am appealing to you my past students, parents and teachers to help me to realize this dream I have for our children in Nyakato. I believe that our combined efforts can bring this about. The target is $50,000 and the goal is a swimming pool by the end of my Golden Jubilee Year.

In Tanzania, a swimming pool in a school is not only unheard of, but is not even in their imagination that such a thing could be possible. Yet I believe that a swimming pool would do so much to help our girls to gain self-confidence. Drownings in the lake are common because no one knows how to swim so this is another reason why a swimming pool is needed.

I want our girls to know that they are as good as young people anywhere in the world, and to have the confidence to face the world as well-equipped equals of Loreto students world-wide. They have already left their Mwanza contemporaries far behind because of the unique Loreto education which they are receiving. But there is still a lot of catching up to be done before they will have reached the full flowering of their talents and personalities which I believe they are capable of. A swimming pool for Loreto Nyakato is just one of the ways by which this catching up will happen.

Please help me to make my Golden Jubilee dream come true a swimming pool for Loreto Nyakato, please.

Thank you my dearly loved girls, parents and teachers for doing this for me.

(Sr.)Pauline Boase

Loreto@mwanza-online.com
Loreto Girls Secondary School,
Box 92, Mwanza, TANZANIA

Who are We and are We Proud to be British?

2008-11-02T09:56:00.000-08:00

Answering Haitham al-Haddad's "Who are We and are We Proud to be British? "

Asamalum Alaikum,

I enjoyed your article with a lot of reservations. I googled your name to get a better understanding of who you are. What I found out was a bit interesting and I wonder if you have a problem with being defined as a Palestinian, who grew up in Saudi Arabia and schooled in Egypt. Can we say that your idea of pride would have been different if you were a Saudi national or you had full citizenship in Palestine? I hope you don’t see my view as a personal attach, but just an honest individual observation

I am not a scholar to claim there has been a study, but it is a fact that many non-Saudi Muslims who were born and raised in that "Muslim country" have a negative feeling towards expressions of national pride. When it comes to British citizens (Christian and European) many would say that, the British are proud of their Britishness, but they don't throw it in your face and treat others with disgust. It is true there might be some lingering racism, but it is a FACT the British have basic HUMAN respect. The British do recognize your citizenship even if you are a Hindu. Comparing that to Saudi citizens (white, brown and black) I don't think you would disagree with what many born and raised non-Saudi Muslims would say. I am not claiming you were born in Saudi Arabia, but just in case you were, I can imagine how good it would feel if you were recognized and respected as a Saudi national.

The point I am trying to make is not to disagree with your theological explanation, but to bring you to what OUR MUSLIM reality looks like in the so-called Christian WEST. Could you or any of those Muslim scholars make a similar argument in the outskirts of Makka or Madina. There is nothing wrong with promoting and teaching our religion, but once in a while we have to be honest with the reality we are in. Quite often we select issues and hot topics that do not serve Muslims well, but put many of us on the wrong side of “fighting social justice for all.”

Is it wrong for an Indian Muslim to say, “Yes, I live in the Dubai and I am very proud of the Muslim-British cricket team captain.” For someone in your position, I totally believe your priorities are off the “Serving-Muslim Well” mark. Please do read my letter with the understanding that, we are on the same side and want the best for Humanity, Muslim or non-Muslim. Let me conclude by saying that I am a proud naturalized American citizen and a proud father raising two American kids. I cannot allow anyone to take that away from them.

Interesting vindication and not all Muslims are on the “Us Vs Them” train. At a Muslim conference in the USA, “Dr. Alkhawaga, a psychiatrist, said the rhetoric is "very troubling." In fact, he proposed that the integration of pure Islam with American culture at its best would make "a perfect marriage."

Read the rest of “From the emotional to educational, topics vary at Muslim confab.”
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08307/924770-85.stm

Proud American Muslim,

Mohamed Ahmed

Million Man March Pledge

2008-10-30T20:24:00.000-07:00

I was there and it made me very PROUD.

"The Endorsement from Heaven,"

2008-10-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

Greetings Obama supporters,

This is my take on Kristoff's Op-Ed titled, "The Endorsement from He*&%$."
The heading is very loaded and it is supposed to have the same Bush "fear effect." Hell is a negative and in this case it's deeper meaning is nothing but, MUSLIM; ISLAM; ARAB; NON-CHRISTIAN; OTHERNESS; THEM and all the negatives that don't apply to "US." Us could be anything, depending on where one stands or sees themselves. Does the other leaning towards McCain make the Obamans better human beings? I don't think so.

The use of the new code word which is beyond HATE, connecting a religion followed by the OTHER, yes ISLAM to fascism is something despicable and it's effect is the same as "Hate yourself" as well as "I hate you because..." Why should anyone try to make Muslims hate themselves? Why should anyone make any human being hate themselves? The only reasonable answer is, the opposite of hate is a bit too hard a path for many. LOVE. (just putting those letters together, yes, LOVE has a calming effect.)
Here is a link to I love you in many languages
LOVE LOVE LOVE NAKUPENDA, Je t'aime, Ngiyakuthanda, mein ap say muhabat karta hoon
I also could not understand how Kristoff after writing:
(1) "The U.S. chose a very confrontational route," in Somalia.
(2) "The greatest catastrophe is the one endured by ordinary Somalis who now must watch their children starve. "

His conclusion was beyond basic logic that, "the only winner has been Islamic militancy," which also means, MUSLIM, ISLAM, ARAB, NON-CHRISTIAN, OTHERNESS or THEM. One wonders who the losers are. If WE, US, not THEM are the losers, then who else are the winners. One in New jersey or Oklahoma cannot see the Somali mother as US nor anything near our humanity, but THEM. Yes, that Somali mother watching her starving child must be a WINNER too. Bush believed in Us Vs THEM and after thousands of innocent deaths, many have come to an intelligent conclusion that he was very wrong, and the human as well as DOLLAR value has been too high a price to pay.

We all have to refuse the "Us Vs Them" mentality and promote building bridges between all human beings. We have come too far as a species to accept and allow a pilot to drop death on those who don't even have running water nor the mobility to go to the river. It is about time we supported our troops to feed the hungry, fight disease, celebrate our differences and never to allow the destruction of a school, hospital, dams and all that makes us human.

I was not supposed to write or share my thoughts, but to tell you the truth, I feel good and free.

I totally believe Obama will be the next president of the USA, but just in case, you never know what the GOP magician has under her/his pants. If at all something very bad happens (God forbid), we saw it in 2000 and it is still possible. I will be able to say, "five days before the election, I was free and felt great." I will work very hard the next 5 days to hold on to this feeling of being FREE by knocking more doors, making more calls and do all that is possible to help Obama win the presidency and bring POSITIVE CHANGE.

We can do it! Yes We Can!
Being an Obama believer, I HOPE and wish the Obama era will be filled with basic humanity to the OTHER. We have come a long way to go back to FEARFASCISM. ( I deeply apologize to all those beautiful letters especially A and F)

"Dehumanizing even the worst of the worst, in a way diminishes our humanity."

The whole world has voted for Obama, now they are counting on YOU and ME.

Change We Can Believe,

Mohamed Ahmed

I posted this letter on other sites
NewYork Times (comment 335)
The Philistine

Hamza Yusuf Speaks

2008-10-28T23:27:00.000-07:00

Muslims in the USA

Saudi Solutions ( a very telling statement)

2008-10-28T22:37:00.000-07:00

This is a very good documentary about Saudi Women. The ending is very perfect. The prince seems a bit arrogant, but in a way he is trying to solve a very serious problem. Slow but Sure is the best way.

Imam Zaid Shakir on Segregation among Muslims in America

2008-10-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

RACISM in the USA is "understandable," but among Muslims, it is the most dispeakable and rotten acceptable thing in many American Masjids. I am sorry to say that most of the Muslim leaders in many Muslim organizations and Imams in most of the Masjids were trained in the TOILET. While Americans are busy trying to get rid of their racist past, Muslim immigrants are busy reaching out to all the waste from the segregation out houses. The following interview is an indictment to the Muslim community and if nothing is done about it, defending the image of Islam will be impossible. Imam Zakir Shakir happens to be an indigenous American and that is why he can point at the cancer. It is about time ISNA, ICNA and all immigrant led organizations come out and say they have been busy spreading FITNA.

You can click the link below for more information.

Segregation and Marginalization is NOT the will of God

Wajahat Ali (AltMuslim)
There is a problem of race relations within the Muslim American community: Muslim on Muslim crime, if you will. Often most Muslim conferences talk about "Unity" yet we traffic in stereotyping and racial prejudice that is rampant within the American Muslim citizenry. What causes this?

Imam Zaid Shakir:
As Muslims in this country there are lots of factors that work to create divisions at a fundamental level between communities whose populations are rooted in immigration and communities of converts: African Americans primarily, but increasingly Latino and Caucasian-American. From an immigrant perspective you have people in many instances who are coming to America, who have been, historically, attracted to her through "brain drain politics."

People who were successful on their own right, people able to pass very rigid entrance exams in their respective countries - they were very privileged and talented individuals. When coming to this country, they found the universities to be very receptive, and the brightest were given scholarships and education. When you have that degree of talent, it becomes very easy to assume anyone, who just works hard and gets ahead, makes it the way "I made it" - and not to look at the some of the factors that work against everyone getting ahead just like in the country where you come from. In that country, there were, say, only 5000 seats for education, but there were millions who couldn’t pass the high school exams, and millions who couldn’t pass the junior high exams.

So, there is a tendency when one is successful to forget the realities that render a lot of people unsuccessful – to use those terms. Coming with those attitudes and seeing people whom you assume had the same opportunities you had in this land of opportunity – it works towards creating very narrow minded attitudes that are very shallow in terms of really understanding the dynamics at work in the lives of many people from different racial, ethnic groups. Those prejudices play themselves out in the mosques.

In addition, many of our societies are plagued by racialized thinking. You see a lot of color consciousness in a lot of Muslim societies - Syria and to a lesser extent Sudan. Pakistan and India where lighter skin people are looked in a different light than darker people. The daughter who has lighter skin, even if her features aren’t as attractive as the darker skinned daughter, she gets all the marriage proposals.

Wajahat Ali (AltMuslim)
She’s the number one draft pick.

Imam Zaid Shakir:
Yeah, so then you come to this country and you see a lot of African American Muslims and you have this built in mechanism to project the inherent, intrinsic racialist, racist attitudes towards those people. These create a lot of discomfort when the two groups come together and this is perceivable. Especially at those who are considered to be at the lower end of the economic spectrum. It is very important for Muslims to acknowledge this and not be in a state of denial regarding a lot of these racialist attitudes, color consciousness, and social economic snobbishness – it’s real!
You have those attitudes, you have that tension, and then you have a desire to exclusively pursue those interests. Each group is pursuing its respective interest and not looking at how coming together in certain areas could strengthen certain communities, especially in this indigenous, racial divide. So, when each group is selfish, then the everyday life activity and organizational activities of the other group becomes irrelevant.
You get a phenomenon like 40,000 people in Chicago for an ISNA conference [the largest Muslim American conference in America] and less than 1% of that is African American Muslims, even though 35% of American Muslims are African American. Or, you have Warith Deen Muhammad’s convention [Elijah Muhammad’s son] and over 99% of attendees are African American, because people feel it is relevant to their circumstance and identity. We have, as Muslims, stagnated ourselves in terms of how we organize ourselves, our interests and those advancements that deepen these divisions. We need to transcend this because we have so many ways we can help each other and strengthen each other.
Malcolm X when he went to Hajj had an observation that I don’t deny: that people of different groups tend to congregate and gravitate towards ones who are similar. Urdu speakers go to Urdu speakers, Spanish speakers go to people who speak Spanish for example. Should there be a level where we can recognize this and even celebrate it? This is part of what the Quranic message encourages: "We made you into nations and tribes." It’s a reality, it’s a cultural reality. But shouldn’t there be a higher level where we can identify some common issues that no individual group or no individual ethnic collectivity has the power to address individually? And then come together at that level to those larger issues that affect all of us? So, it’s important for us to mature to a point, where as you said, as opposed to empty cries for unity that totally ignore the sociological basis of the separation that exists in the community are replaced by a mature call for creating common agendas that don’t seek to eradicate the existing divisions, but seek to glorify and celebrate those divisions.
But, on the other hand, look at a higher level of interest where our collective resources are needed. For example, challenging the spread of prejudicial and hateful attitudes towards Muslims. That’s a massive project. The people spreading those ideas are spending lots of money, publishing books, dominating talk radio, getting their voices on major media outlets like Fox and others. So, to compete on that level and put out a countervailing message, is going to take a tremendous amount of resources that no one community possess. It will taken a common agenda, a common message, a common strategy and pooling of resources, such as a nationwide legal endowment with lawyers on retainer with ongoing research into civil rights and human rights issues that are relevant to Muslims in this country – like a NAACP legal fund but for rights of all Muslims. Responses as a community to those situations in a very effective manner: fueled jet plains loaded with resources to supply medicine ready to fly anywhere in the world for example. That’s what we are capable of doing as Muslims if we are to come together and think at a higher level and not confine our activism to issues that are specifically germane to "my corner and segment" of the Muslim community

AN APOLOGY to African American Muslims

2008-10-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

After coming accross this wonderful letter by Azhar Usman (on the left), I shared with friends in a Muslim group by writing the following:

Asalamu Alaikum,

Thank you for reading and may Allah Subhanna wa taalah give you the strength to do what is right. My observation of Islam in America has been very painful and sometimes it is reflected in my writing. How can one be a Muslim and not feel the pain of outright racism. It is better to be seen as divisive than accept what is outright inhuman.

The link below is a letter of apology from a Muslim Immigrant. Please read it and pass it to others.

Heartfelt reflections on the passing of a legendary
Blackamerican Muslim leader

By Azhar Usman

On September 11, 2008, while countless American flags whipped in the wind and the television and radio waves were dominated by remembrances, recordings, and stories about the terror attacks of seven years ago, I attended the funeral of Imam W.D. Mohammed (may God be pleased with him). For me, it was a somber day, but I found myself mostly lost in thought: about African-American Muslim communities, about the challenges ahead in American Muslim institution-building, and about the future of Islam in America. If you don't know who Imam WDM was, you should look him up. The Sufis say: “The true sage belongs to his era.” And of the many gifts given to Imam WDM by God, perhaps the most obvious and beneficial one was the Imam’s profound understanding of the principles of religion, and his adeptness at intelligently applying those Islamic principles in a socially and culturally appropriate manner befitting the everyday lives of his North American followers. While carefully respecting sound, traditional jurisprudential methodologies of the Islamic religion, and the collective religious history and time-honored scholarship of classical Islam, he promulgated creative ideas and dynamic teachings across many domains of human endeavor, including theology, law, spirituality and even ethics and aesthetics, that together articulated a vision for a quintessentially “American Muslim” cultural identity. And he did all of this before anyone else, with quiet strength and unending humility—a true sage indeed.

So I stood before his final resting place, brokenhearted. And I suddenly began to feel the weight of the moment, realizing that when God takes back one of his dearly beloved friends, those who are left behind should cry not for the deceased, but rather for themselves. For the fact that they are now without one of God’s friends in their midst, and, in a sense, they are orphaned. And the tears began to well up, for I became acutely aware that I was standing in front of the grave of my spiritual grandfather, who was himself a spiritual descendant of Bilal al-Habashi (may God be pleased with him), the mighty and beloved companion of the Prophet himself. Bilal was the first Black African to convert to al-Islam at the hands of the Prophet Muhammad (may God bless him and keep him) in the sands of Arabia nearly a thousand and a half years ago. Undoubtedly, some measure of that love, mercy, compassion, and spiritual stature that inhabited the heart of Bilal has found its way down through the ages, and I found myself begging God to transfer to my own heart some glimpse of these realities now laying before me.

Almost five years ago, my business partner, Preacher Moss (who is a member of the WDM community) founded the standup comedy tour “Allah Made Me Funny,” and he invited me to be his co-founder. Needless to say, it has been nothing less than an honor to work with him on the project. But to many, it was an unusual pairing: a Black comic and an Indian comic? Both Muslims? Working together? And before we ever even announced our partnership publicly, we met privately and swore an allegiance to one another—a blood oath of sorts—which was this: No matter what happens, in good times and in bad, we have to be the brothers no one expects us to be. And built on this promise (and premise), we brought on our first collaborator, Brother Azeem (who is a member of Minister Farrakhan's NOI), with whom we toured for over two years (2004-2006) before parting ways amicably. Then we brought Mohammed Amer onto the team in the fall of 2006 (a Kuwaiti-born Palestinian refugee who grew up in a Sunni Muslim family in Houston, Texas). Mo, Preach, and I are still going strong together, and we are grateful for the unqualified support, love, and blessings that Imam WDM and the entire community have always given us.

But today, as I observed the funeral proceedings, I felt sad and heavy-hearted. Something wasn’t sitting right. Something was physically paining my heart, and it felt like remorse, shame perhaps, maybe even guilt. I began to realize that the tears flowing from my eyes were as much a function of these feelings as they were any lofty spiritual aspirations of mine.

You see, I attended an interfaith event a couple of years ago on 9/11. A group had assembled to commemorate the tragic event, to honor those who perished that day, and to pledge ongoing inter-community support and bridge-building to fight ignorance, hate, and intolerance. At that event, there was this short, middle-aged, sweet, extremely kindhearted, White Christian woman. When she took the microphone to speak, she was already teary-eyed, and I assumed that she was going to make some comments about the victims of 9/11, as so many others already had that night.

But she didn’t do that. Instead, she explained that she had become utterly grief-stricken by the constant barrage of news stories she witnessed about Muslims and Arabs being harassed, profiled, and mistreated after 9/11. She explained that she felt powerless to do anything about it, and that it made her sick to her stomach to hear of hate crimes against Muslims and Arabs, and especially to hear of Christian preachers denigrating Islam and its Prophet. She started to cry, and so did many others in the room, humbled by the magnanimity of this simple woman.

And then she did what I thought was a strange thing: she apologized. She prefaced her apology with all the logical disclaimers, such as “I know this may mean nothing to you,” and “I know that I am not the one who did these horrible things," and "I know that you may dismiss this as empty rhetoric until you see some follow-up action on my part, but anyway,” she continued, “I want to apologize on behalf of all the Christians and all non-Muslims and non-Arabs who have been attacking your communities, harassing your people, and accusing your religion of all these horrible things. I'm sorry. I'm very, very sorry.” I was stunned. Speechless, in fact. Though all of her disclaimers were true, and my skeptical mind knew it, her apology melted our hearts. Here was this powerless servant of God sharing some of her most deeply felt emotional vulnerabilities, and she was apologizing to Muslims for something she didn't even do? Jesus (may God bless him and keep him) once famously remarked: “Make the world your teacher,” and so I immediately took this woman as a lesson in humility. Admitting her powerlessness made her incredibly powerful.

And this brings me to the point (and title) of this essay. I would like to unburden myself of something that has been sitting like a ton of bricks on my heart for my entire life. I want to apologize to my Blackamerican brothers and sisters in Islam. I know that this apology may not mean very much; and I know that our American Muslim communities have a LONG way to go before we can have truly healthy political conciliation and de-racialized religious cooperation; and I know that I am not the one who is responsible for so much of the historical wrongdoing of so-called “immigrant Muslims”—wrongdoings that have been so hurtful, and insulting, and degrading, and disrespectful, and dismissive, and marginalizing, and often downright dehumanizing.

But anyway, for every “Tablighi” brother who may have had “good intentions” in his own subjective mind, but behaved in an utterly insensitive and outrageous manner toward you when he suggested that you need to learn how to urinate correctly, I’m sorry.

And for every Pakistani doctor who can find money in his budget to drive a Lexus and live in a million-dollar house in suburbia, and who has the audacity to give Friday sermons about the virtues of “Brotherhood in Islam,” while the “Black mosque” can’t pay the heating bills or provide enough money to feed starving Muslim families just twenty miles away, I’m sorry.

And for every Arab speaker in America who makes it his business to raise millions and millions of dollars to provide “relief” for Muslim refugees around the world, but turns a blind eye to the plight of our very own Muslim sisters and brothers right here in our American inner cities just because, in his mind, the color black might as well be considered invisible, I’m sorry.

And for every liquor store in the “hood” with a plaque that says Maashaa’ Allah hanging on the wall behind the counter, I’m sorry.

And for every news media item or Hollywood portrayal that constantly reinforces the notion that “Muslim=foreigner” so that the consciousness of Blackamerican Muslims begins even to doubt itself (asking “Can I ever be Muslim enough?”), I’m sorry.

And for every Salafi Muslim brother (even the ones who used to be Black themselves before converting to Arab) who has rattled off a hadith or a verse from Qur’an in Arabic as his “daleel” to Kafirize you and make you feel defensive about even claiming this din as your own, I’m sorry.

And for every time you've been asked “So when did you convert to Islam?” even though that question should more properly have been put to your grandparents, since they became Muslims by the grace of God Almighty back in the 1950s, and raised your parents as believers, and Islam is now as much your own inheritance as it is the one's posing that presumptuous, condescending question, I’m sorry.

And for every time some Muslim has self-righteously told you that your hijab is not quite “Shari‘ah” enough, or your beard is not quite “Sunnah” enough, or your outfit is not quite “Islamic” enough, or your Qur‘anic recitation is not quite “Arabic” enough, or your family customs are not quite “traditional” enough, or your worldview is not quite “classical” enough, or your ideas are not “authentic” enough, or your manner of making wudu is not quite “Hanafi,” “Shafi,” “Maliki,” or “Hanbali” enough, or your religious services are not quite “Masjid” enough, or your chicken is not quite “Halal” enough, I'm sorry.

And for every Labor Day weekend when you”ve felt divided in your heart, wondering “When will we ever do this thing right and figure out how we can pool our collective resources to have ONE, big convention?,” I’m sorry.

And for every time a Muslim has tried to bait you with a question about the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, trying to force you to condemn him—turning it into some sort of binary litmus test of true iman—with reckless and irresponsible disregard for the historical fact that he was among the first Black men in America to ever do anything meaningful for the upliftment and betterment of Black people, I’m sorry.

And for every time you’ve heard of an African-American brother who tried to bring home a South Asian or Arab sister to meet his parents, only to learn that her parents would rather commit suicide than let their daughter marry a “Black Muslim” (a/k/a “Bilalian brother”), even as they cheer hypocritically at stadium style speeches by Imams Siraj Wahhaj, Zaid Shakir, Johari Abdul Malik, or others—or get in line to bring one of them to speak at their multi-million dollar fundraiser for yet another superfluous suburban mosque, I’m sorry.

I’m sorry. I’m very, very sorry. From the bottom of my heart, I want every African-American Muslim brother and sister to know that I am ashamed of this treatment that you have received and, in many cases, continue to receive, over the decades. I want you to know that I am aware of it. I am conscious of the problem. (Indeed, I am even conscious that I myself am part of the problem since curing hypocrisy begins by looking in the mirror.) I am not alone in this apology. There are literally thousands, if not tens of thousands of young American Muslims just like me, born to immigrant parents who originate from all over the Muslim world. We get it, and we too are sick of the putrid stench of racism within our own Muslim communities. Let us pledge to work on this problem together, honestly validating our own and one another's insecurities, emotions, and feelings regarding these realities. Forgiveness is needed to right past wrongs, yet forgiveness is predicated on acknowledging wrongdoing and sincerely apologizing. Let us make a blood oath of sorts.

When the bulldozer came to place the final mounds of dirt over the tomb of Imam WDM, I was standing under a nearby tree, under the light drizzle that had just begun (perhaps as a sign of mercy dropping from the heavens as the final moments of the burial were drawing to a close), and I was talking to a dear friend and sister in faith, whose family has been closely aligned with Imam WDM for decades. She shared with me a story that her father had just related to her about the passing of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad in 1975 (the same year I was born, incidentally). She told me that her father described the scene in the immediate aftermath of Elijah’s demise: utter confusion and chaos within the NOI and the communities surrounding it. There was much debate and discord about what direction the NOI would take, and many were still in shock and denial that the founder had actually died. Out of the midst of that confusion arose Imam WDM, and along with his strong leadership came an even more, perhaps surprisingly courageous direction: the path away from the Black nationalism, pan-Africanism, and proto-religious beliefs of his father, and instead the unequivocal charge toward mainstream Islam, the same universal and cosmopolitan faith held and practiced by over a billion adherents worldwide. In this manner, her father explained, the death of Elijah Muhammad became a definitive end to a chapter in our collective history, and the resulting re-direction by Imam WDM marked the beginning of the next, far better, chapter in that unfolding history.

Maybe I am just an idealistic fool, or maybe Pharaoh Sanders was right about the Creator’s Master Plan, but I sincerely believe that all we have to do—all of us together: Black folks, South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis), Arabs from every part of the Middle East and North Africa, Southeast Asians (Indonesians and Malaysians), Persians, Turks, Latinos, assorted Muslims of all stripes, colors, and backgrounds, and yes, even our White Muslim brothers and sisters—is live up to a simple promise to one another: No matter what happens, in good times and in bad, we have to be the brothers and sisters no one expects us to be.

It is hoped that the passing of Imam WDM will also mark the end of a chapter in our collective American Muslim history, and perhaps now, in earnest, we can all look together toward The Third Resurrection.

May God mend our broken hearts, lift our spirits, purify our souls, heal the rifts between our communities, unify our aims, remove our obstacles, defeat our enemies, and bless and accept our humble offerings and service.

-------------------------------------------

© 2008 Azhar Usman | 10 Ramadan 1429 | 11 September 2008

About the Author

Azhar Usman is a Chicago-based, full-time standup comedian. He is co-founder of "Allah Made Me Funny—The Official Muslim Comedy Tour," which has toured extensively all over the world. He is frequently interviewed, profiled, and quoted in the press, and he is an advisor to the Inner-city Muslim Action Network's Arts and Culture programs. Mr. Usman is also a co-founding board member of The Nawawi Foundation, a non-profit American Muslim research institution. He considers himself a citizen of the world and holds degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Minnesota Law School. Born and raised in Chicago, his parents originally hail from Bihar, India.

For more information, please visit:

www.allahmademefunny.com

Islam in the USA is more Segregationist

2008-09-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

I am very sad to report that while Christians are trying to reach out and rehabilitate their ugly racist past, Muslims are busy embracing segregation. Andrea Elliot of New York Times does an excellent job exposing "just a glimpse" of the worst cancer ever to affect Muslims in modern times.

Between Black and Immigrant Muslims, an Uneasy Alliance

By ANDREA ELLIOTT
Published: March 11, 2007
Under the glistening dome of a mosque on Long Island, hundreds of men sat cross-legged on the floor. Many were doctors and engineers born in Pakistan and India. Dressed in khakis, polo shirts and the odd silk tunic, they fidgeted and whispered.

One thing stood between them and dinner: A visitor from Harlem was coming to ask for money.

A towering black man with a gray-flecked beard finally swept into the room, his bodyguard trailing him. Wearing a long, embroidered robe and matching hat, he took the microphone and began talking about a different group of Muslims, the thousands of African-Americans who have found Islam in prison.

“We are all brothers and sisters,” said the visitor, known as Imam Talib.

The men stared. To some of them, it seemed, he was from another planet. As the imam returned their gaze, he had a similar sensation. “They live in another world,” he later said.

Only 28 miles separate Imam Talib’s mosque in Harlem from the Islamic Center of Long Island. The congregations they each serve — African-Americans at the city mosque and immigrants of South Asian and Arab descent in the suburbs — represent the largest Muslim populations in the United States. Yet a vast gulf divides them, one marked by race and class, culture and history.

For many African-American converts, Islam is an experience both spiritual and political, an expression of empowerment in a country they feel is dominated by a white elite. For many immigrant Muslims, Islam is an inherited identity, and America a place of assimilation and prosperity.

For decades, these two Muslim worlds remained largely separate. But last fall, Imam Talib hoped to cross that distance in a venture that has become increasingly common since Sept. 11. Black Muslims have begun advising immigrants on how to mount a civil rights campaign. Foreign-born Muslims are giving African-Americans roles of leadership in some of their largest organizations. The two groups have joined forces politically, forming coalitions and backing the same candidates.

It is a tentative and uneasy union, seen more typically among leaders at the pulpit than along the prayer line. But it is critical, a growing number of Muslims believe, to surviving a hostile new era.

“Muslims will not be successful in America until there is a marriage between the indigenous and immigrant communities,” said Siraj Wahhaj, an African-American imam in New York with a rare national following among immigrant Muslims. “There has to be a marriage.”

The divide between black and immigrant Muslims reflects a unique struggle facing Islam in America. Perhaps nowhere else in the world are Muslims from so many racial, cultural and theological backgrounds trying their hands at coexistence. Only in Mecca, during the obligatory hajj, or pilgrimage, does such diversity in the faith come to life, between black and white, rich and poor, Sunni and Shiite.

“This is a new experiment in the history of Islam,” said Ali S. Asani, a professor of Islamic studies at Harvard University.

That evening in October, Imam Al-Hajj Talib ‘Abdur-Rashid drove to Westbury, on Long Island, with a task he would have found unthinkable years ago.

He would ask for donations from the immigrant community he refers to, somewhat bitterly, as the “Muslim elite.”

But he needed funds, and the doors of immigrant mosques seemed to be opening. Imam Talib and other African-American leaders had formed a national “indigenous Muslim” organization, and he knew that during the holy month of Ramadan, the Islamic Center of Long Island could raise thousands of dollars in an evening.

It is a place where BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes fill the parking lot, and Coach purses are perched along prayer lines.

In Harlem, many of Imam Talib’s congregants get to the mosque by bus or subway, and warm themselves with space heaters in a drafty, brick building.

Before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, Imam Talib had only a distant connection to the Islamic Center of Long Island. In passing, he had met Faroque Khan, an Indian-born doctor who helped found the mosque, but the two had little in common.

Imam Talib, 56, is a thundering prison chaplain whose mosque traces its roots to Malcolm X. He is a first-generation Muslim.

Dr. Khan, 64, is a mild-mannered pulmonologist who collects Chinese antiques and learned to ski on the slopes of Vermont. He is a first-generation American.

But in the turmoil that followed Sept. 11, the imam and the doctor found themselves unexpectedly allied.

“The more separate we stay, the more targeted we become,” Dr. Khan said.

Each man recognizes what the other has to offer. African-Americans possess a cultural and historical fluency that immigrants lack, said Dr. Khan; they hold an unassailable place in America from which to defend their faith.

For Imam Talib, immigrants provide a crucial link to the Muslim world and its tradition of scholarship, as well as the wisdom that comes with an “unshattered Islamic heritage.”

Both groups have their practical virtues, too. African-Americans know better how to mobilize in America, both men say, and immigrants tend to have deeper pockets.

Still, it is one thing to talk about unity, Imam Talib said, and another to give it life. Before his visit to Long Island last fall, he had never asked Dr. Khan and his mosque to match their rhetoric with money.

“You have to have a litmus test,” he said.

One Faith, Many Histories

Imam Talib and Dr. Khan did not warm to each other when they met in May 2000, at a gathering in Chicago of Muslim leaders.

The imam found the silver-haired doctor faintly smug and paternalistic. It was an attitude he had often whiffed from well-to-do immigrant Muslims. Dr. Khan found Imam Talib straightforward to the point of bluntness.

The uneasy introduction was, for both men, emblematic of the strained relationship between their communities.

Imam Talib and other black Muslims trace their American roots to the arrival of Muslims from West Africa as slaves in the South. That historical link gave rise to Islam-inspired movements in the 20th century, the most significant of which was the Nation of Islam.

The man who founded the Nation in 1930, W. D. Fard, spread the message that American blacks belonged to a lost Muslim tribe and were superior to the “white, blue-eyed devils” in their midst. Under Mr. Fard’s successor, Elijah Muhammad, the Nation flourished in the 1960s amid the civil rights struggle and the emergence of a black-separatist movement.

Overseas, Islamic scholars found the group’s teachings on race antithetical to the faith. The schism narrowed after 1975, when Mr. Muhammad’s son Warith Deen Mohammed took over the Nation, bringing it in line with orthodox Sunni Islam. Louis Farrakhan parted ways with Mr. Mohammed — taking the Nation’s name and traditional teachings with him — but the majority of African-American adherents came to embrace the same Sunni practice that dominates the Muslim world.

Still, divisions between African-American and immigrant Muslims remained pronounced long after the first large waves of South Asians and Arabs arrived in the United States in the 1960s.

Today, of the estimated six million Muslims who live in the United States, about 25 percent are African-American, 34 percent are South Asian and 26 percent are Arab, said John Zogby, a pollster who has studied the American Muslim population.

“Given the extreme from which we came, I would say that the immigrant Muslims have been brotherly toward us,” Warith Deen Mohammed, who has the largest following of African-American Muslims, said in an interview. “But I think they’re more skeptical than they admit they are. I think they feel more comfortable with their own than they feel with us.”

For many African-Americans, conversion to Islam has meant parting with mainstream culture, while Muslim immigrants have tended toward assimilation. Black converts often take Arabic names, only to find foreign-born Muslims introducing themselves as “Moe” instead of “Mohammed.”

The tensions are also economic. Like Dr. Khan, many Muslim immigrants came to the United States with advanced degrees and quickly prospered, settling in the suburbs. For decades, African-Americans watched with frustration as immigrants sent donations to causes overseas, largely ignoring the problems of poor Muslims in the United States.

Imam Talib found it impossible to generate interest at immigrant mosques in the 1999 police shooting of Amadou Diallo, who was Muslim. “What we’ve found is when domestic issues jump up, like police brutality, all the sudden we’re by ourselves,” he said.

Some foreign-born Muslims say they are put off by the racial politics of many black converts. They struggle to understand why African-American Muslims have been reluctant to meet with law enforcement officials in the wake of Sept. 11. For their part, black Muslim leaders complain that immigrants have failed to learn their history, which includes a pattern of F.B.I. surveillance dating back to the roots of the Nation of Islam.

The ironies are, at times, stinging.

“From the immigrant community, I hear that African-Americans have to learn how to work in the system,” said Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations, adding that this was not his personal opinion.

At the heart of the conflict is a question of leadership. Much to the ire of African-Americans, many immigrants see themselves as the rightful leaders of the faith in America by virtue of their Islamic schooling and fluency in Arabic, the original language of the Koran.

“What does knowing Arabic have to do with the quality of your prayer, your fast, your relationship with God?” asked Ihsan Bagby, an associate professor of Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. “But African-Americans have to ask themselves why have they not learned more in these years.”

Every year in Chicago, the two largest Muslim conventions in the country — one sponsored by an immigrant organization and the other by Mr. Mohammed’s — take place on the same weekend, in separate parts of the city.

The long-simmering tension boiled over into a public rift with the 2000 presidential elections. That year, a powerful coalition of immigrant Muslims endorsed George W. Bush (because of a promise to stop the profiling of Arabs).

The nation’s most prominent African-American Muslims complained that they were never consulted. The following summer, when Imam Talib vented his frustration at a meeting with immigrant leaders in Washington, a South Asian man turned to him, he recalled, and said, “I don’t understand why all of you African-American Muslims are always so angry about everything.”

Imam Talib searched for an answer he thought the man could understand.

“African-Americans are like the Palestinians of this land,” he finally said. “We’re not just some angry black people. We’re legitimately outraged and angry.”

The room fell silent.

Soon after, black leaders announced the creation of the Muslim Alliance in North America, their first national “indigenous” organization.

But the fallout over the elections was soon eclipsed by Sept. 11, when Muslim immigrants found themselves under intense public scrutiny. They began complaining about “profiling” and “flying while brown,” appropriating language that had been largely the domain of African-Americans.

It was around this time that Dr. Khan became, as he put it, enlightened. A few weeks before the terrorist attacks, he read the book “Black Rage,” by William H. Grier and Price M. Cobbs. The book, published in 1968, explores the psychological woes of African-Americans, and how the impact of racism is carried through generations.

“It helped me understand that even before you’re born, things that happened a hundred years ago can affect you,” Dr. Khan said. “That was a big change in my thinking.”

He sent an e-mail message to fellow Muslims, including Imam Talib, sharing what he had learned.

The Harlem imam was pleased, if not yet convinced.

“I just encouraged the brother to keep going,” Imam Talib said.

An Oasis in Harlem

One windswept night in Harlem, cars rolled past the corner of West 113th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue. A police siren blared as men huddled by a neon-lit Laundromat.

Across the street stood a brown brick building, lifeless from the outside. But upstairs, in a cozy carpeted room, rows of men and women chanted.

“Ya Hakim. Ya Allah.” O wise one. O God.

Imam Talib led the chant, swathed in a black satin robe. It was Ramadan’s holiest evening, the Night of Power. As the voices died down, he spotted his bodyguard swaying.

“Take it easy there, Captain,” Imam Talib said. “As long as you don’t jump and shout it’s all right.”

Laughter trickled through the mosque, where a translucent curtain separated men in skullcaps from women in African-print gowns.

“We’re just trying to be ourselves, you know?” Imam Talib said. “Within the tradition.”

“That’s right,” said one woman.

The imam continued: “And we can’t let other people, from other cultures, come and try to make us clones of them. We came here as Muslims.”

He was feeling drained. He had just returned from the Manhattan Detention Complex, where he works as a chaplain. Some of the mosque’s men were back in jail.

“We need power,” he said quietly. “Without that, we’ll destroy ourselves.”

Since its birth in 1964, the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood has been a fortress of stubborn faith, persevering through the crack wars, welfare, AIDS, gangs, unemployment, diabetes, broken families and gentrification.

The mosque was founded in a Brooklyn apartment by Shaykh-‘Allama Al-Hajj K. Ahmad Tawfiq, a follower of Malcolm X. The Sunni congregation boomed in the 1970s, starting a newspaper and opening a school and a health food store.

With city loans, it bought its current building. Fourteen families moved in, creating a bold Muslim oasis in a landscape of storefront churches and liquor stores. The mosque claimed its corner by drenching the sidewalk in dark green paint, the color associated with Islam.

The paint has since faded. The school is closed. Many of the mosque’s members can no longer afford to live in a neighborhood where brownstones sell for millions of dollars.

But an aura of dignity prevails. The women normally pray one floor below the men, in a scrubbed, tidy room scented with incense. Their bathroom is a shrine of gold curtains and lavender soaps. A basket of nylon roses hides a hole in the wall.

Most of the mosque’s 160 members belong to the working class, and up to a third of the men are former convicts.

Some congregants are entrepreneurs, professors, writers and musicians. Mos Def and Q-Tip have visited with Imam Talib, who carries the nickname “hip-hop imam.”

Mosque celebrations are a blend of Islam and Harlem. In October, at the end of Ramadan, families feasted on curried chicken and collard greens, grilled fish and candied yams.

Just before the afternoon prayer, a lean man in a black turtleneck rose to give the call. He was Yusef Salaam, whose conviction in the Central Park jogger case was later overturned.

Many of the mosque’s members embraced Islam in search of black empowerment, not black separatism. They describe racial equality as a central tenet of their faith. Yet for some, the promise of Islam has been at odds with the reality of Muslims.

One member, Aqilah Mu’Min, lives in the Parkchester section of the Bronx, a heavily Bangladeshi neighborhood. Whenever she passes women in head scarves, she offers the requisite Muslim greeting. Rarely is it returned. “We have a theory that says Islam is perfect, human beings are not,” said Ms. Mu’Min, a city fraud investigator.

It was the simplicity of Islam that drew Imam Talib.

Raised a Christian, he spent the first part of his youth in segregated North Carolina. As a teenager, he read “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” twice. He began educating himself about the faith at age 19, when as an aspiring actor he was cast in a play about a man who had left the Nation of Islam.

But his conversion was more spiritual than political, he said.

“I’d like to think that even if I was a white man, I’d still be a Muslim because that’s the orientation of my soul,” the imam said.

He has learned some Arabic, and traveled once to the Middle East, for hajj. Yet he feels more comfortable with the Senegalese and Guinean Muslims who have settled in Harlem than with many Arabs and South Asians.

He is trying to reach out, but is often disappointed.

In November, he accepted a last-minute invitation to meet with hundreds of immigrants at the Islamic Cultural Center of New York, an opulent mosque on East 96th Street.

The group, the Coalition for Muslim School Holidays, was trying to persuade the city to recognize two Muslim holidays on the school calendar. The effort, Imam Talib learned, had been nearly a year in the making, and no African-American leaders had been consulted.

He was stunned. After all, he had led a similar campaign in the 1980s, resulting in the suspension of alternate-side parking for the same holidays.

“They are unaware of the foundations upon which they are standing,” he said.

Backlash in the Suburbs

Brush Hollow Road winds through a quiet stretch of Long Island, past churches and diners and leafy cul-de-sacs. In this tranquil tableau, the Islamic Center of Long Island announces itself proudly, a Moorish structure of white concrete topped by a graceful dome.

Sleek sedans and S.U.V.’s circle the property as girls with Barbie backpacks hop out and scurry to the Islamic classes they call “Sunday school.”

It is a testament to America’s influence on the mosque that its liveliest time of the week is not Friday, Islam’s holy day, but Sunday.

Boys in hooded sweatshirts smack basketballs along the pavement by a sign that reads “No pray, no play.” Young mothers in Burberry coats exchange kisses and chatter.

For members of the mosque — many of whom work in Manhattan and cannot make the Friday prayer — Sunday is the day to reflect and connect.

The treasurer, Rizwan Qureshi, frantically greeted drivers one Sunday morning with a flier advertising a fund-raiser.

“We’re trying to get Barack Obama,” Mr. Qureshi, a banker born in Karachi, told a woman in a gold-hued BMW.

“We need some real money,” he called out to another driver.

The mosque began with a group of doctors, engineers and other professionals from Pakistan and India who settled in Nassau County in the early 1970s.

“Our kids would come home from school and say, ‘Where is my Christmas tree, my Hanukkah lights?’ ” recalled Dr. Khan, who lives in nearby Jericho. “We didn’t want them to grow up unsure of who they are.”

Since opening in 1993, the mosque has thrived, with assets now valued at more than $3 million. Hundreds of people pray there weekly, and thousands come on Muslim holidays.

The mosque has an unusually modern, democratic air. Men and women worship with no partition between them. A different scholar delivers the Friday sermon every week, in English.

Perhaps most striking, a majority of female worshipers do not cover their heads outside the mosque.

“I think it’s important to find the fine line between the religion and the age in which we live,” said Nasreen Wasti, 43, a contract analyst for Lufthansa. “I’m sure I will have to answer to God for not covering myself. But I’m also satisfied by many of the good deeds I am doing.”

She and other members use words like “progressive” to describe their congregation. But after Sept. 11, a different image took hold.

In October 2001, a Newsday article quoted a member of the mosque as asking “who really benefits from such a horrible tragedy that is blamed on Muslims and Arabs?” A co-president of the mosque was also quoted saying that Israel “would benefit from this tragedy.”

Conspiracy theories about Sept. 11 have long circulated among Muslims, and Dr. Khan had heard discussion among congregants. Such talk, he said, was the product of two forces: a deep mistrust of America’s motives in the Middle East and a refusal, among many Muslims, to engage in self-criticism.

“You blame the other guy for your own shortcomings,” said Dr. Khan.

He visited synagogues and churches after the article ran, reassuring audiences that the comments did not reflect the official position of the mosque, which condemned the attacks.

But to Congressman Peter T. King, whose district is near the mosque, that condemnation fell short. He began publicly criticizing Dr. Khan, asserting that he had failed to fully denounce the statements made by the men.

“He’s definitely a radical,” Mr. King said of Dr. Khan in an interview. “You cannot, in the context of Sept. 11, allow those statements to be made and not be a radical.”

When asked about Mr. King’s comments, Dr. Khan replied proudly, “I thought we had freedom of speech.”

It hardly seems possible that Mr. King and Dr. Khan were once friends.

Mr. King used to dine at Dr. Khan’s home. He attended the wedding of Dr. Khan’s son, Arif, in 1995. At the mosque’s opening, it was Mr. King who cut the ribbon.

After Sept. 11, the mosque experienced the sort of social backlash felt by Muslims around the country. Anonymous callers left threatening messages, and rocks were hurled at children from passing cars.

The attention waned over time. But Mr. King cast a new light on the mosque in 2004 with the release of his novel “Vale of Tears.”

In the novel, terrorists affiliated with a Long Island mosque demolish several buildings, killing hundreds of people. One of the central characters is a Pakistani heart surgeon whose friendship with a congressman has grown tense.

“By inference, it’s me,” Dr. Khan said of the Pakistani character. (Mr. King said it was a “composite character” based on several Muslims he knows.)

For Dr. Khan, his difficulties after Sept. 11 come as proof that Muslims cannot stay fragmented. “It’s a challenge for the whole Muslim community — not just for me,” he said. “United we stand, divided we fall.”

The Litmus Test

Imam Talib and his bodyguard set off to Westbury before dusk on Oct. 14. They passed a fork on the Long Island Expressway, and the imam peered out the window. None of the signs were familiar.

He checked his watch and saw that he was late, adding to his unease. He had visited the mosque a few times before, but never felt entirely at home.

“I’m conscious of being a guest,” he said. “They treat me kindly and nicely. But I know where I am.”

At the Islamic Center of Long Island, Dr. Khan was also getting nervous. Hundreds of congregants had gathered after fasting all day for Ramadan. The scent of curry drifted mercilessly through the mosque.

Dr. Khan sprang to his feet and took the microphone. He improvised.

“All of us need to learn from and understand the contributions of the Muslim indigenous community,” he said. “Starting with Malcolm X.”

It had been six years since Imam Talib and Dr. Khan first encountered each other in Chicago. Back then, Imam Talib rarely visited immigrant mosques, and Dr. Khan had only a peripheral connection to African-American Muslims.

In the 1980s, the doctor had become aware of the high number of Muslim inmates while working as the chief of medicine for a hospital in Nassau County that oversaw health care at the county prison. His mosque began donating prayer rugs, Korans and skullcaps to prisoners around the country. But his interaction with black Muslim leaders was limited until Sept. 11.

After Dr. Khan read the book “Black Rage,” he and Imam Talib began serving together on the board of a new political task force. Finally, in 2005, Dr. Khan invited the imam to his mosque to give the Friday sermon.

That February, Imam Talib rose before the Long Island congregation. Blending verses in the Koran with passages from recent American history, he urged the audience to learn from the civil rights movement.

Dr. Khan listened raptly. Afterward, over sandwiches, he asked Imam Talib for advice. He wanted to thaw the relationship between his mosque and African-American mosques on Long Island. The conversation continued for hours.

“The real searching for an answer, searching for a solution, was coming from Dr. Khan,” said Imam Talib. “I could just feel it.”

Dr. Khan began inviting more African-American leaders to speak at his mosque, and welcomed Imam Talib there last October to give a fund-raising pitch for his organization, the Muslim Alliance in North America. The group had recently announced a “domestic agenda,” with programs to help ex-convicts find housing and jobs and to standardize premarital counseling for Muslims in America.

After the imam arrived that evening and spoke, he sat on the floor next to a blazer-clad Dr. Khan. As they feasted on kebabs, the doctor made a pitch of his own: The teenagers of his mosque could spend a day at Imam Talib’s mosque, as the start of a youth exchange program. The imam nodded slowly.

Minutes later, the mosque’s president, Habeeb Ahmed, hurried over. The congregants had so far pledged $10,000.

“Alhamdulillah,” the imam said. Praise be to God.

It was the most Imam Talib had raised for his group in one evening.

As the dinner drew to a close, the imam looked for his bodyguard. They had a long drive home and he did not want to lose his way again.

Dr. Khan asked Imam Talib how he had gotten lost.

“Inner city versus the suburbs,” the imam replied a bit testily.

Then he smiled.

“The only thing it proves,” he said, “is that I need to come by here more often.”

Rock Star Sheikh Jebril

2008-09-17T04:26:00.000-07:00

Egyptian Imam performs all over the world
Got a website: jebril.com

Arundhati Roy

2008-09-12T15:12:00.000-07:00

"What Form of Resistance is Effective."

This is an education

Kenyatta says, "I am a dictator." Wewe Odinga unajua.

2008-08-26T15:06:00.000-07:00

Vinyangarika

What if?

Stay Fit. Play Tennis. How to serve.....

2008-07-20T06:32:00.000-07:00

Well, here is the truth, " Serena made me do it." Mmmmm, not de truth, but a nice explanation why I go out and just blast that yellow ball. To become better at anything one has to take a lesson or two. Here is a nice video on how to serve.

Roger Federer Magic -- Monster Kick Serve Ace. Only in my dreams.

Tennis is Fun

Tennis is fun
Noah and Barhami in the 90's

Now I can upload all my videos

2008-06-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

Nairobi Street Comedians was my first video to upload on YouTube, but I was a bit disappointed. Now I got it tuned and should be easy to upload and also make some money. WoW!

Flip-Flotsam

2008-06-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

This is one of my best documentary. I enjoy watching it for relaxation.

Enjoy Flip Flotsam

Synopsis:
Flip-Flotsam is a Kenyan short made in association with the Kenyan Wildlife Service. It follows the working life of the ubiquitous flip-flop from production in a Mombasa factory to disposal and eventual rebirth as children's toys. Tens of thousands end up in the sea, floating refugees for sea-life, before landing on Kiwaiyu island's beaches on the Lamu archipelago.

The Ball

2008-06-25T09:11:00.001-07:00

This is very telling about how far Africa has Not Gone.

Harambee Stars 2010

2008-06-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

Mambo Bado

Gaddafi: Obama might "behave worse than whites"

2008-06-19T12:05:00.000-07:00

Gaddafi was speaking before thousands of cheering supporters at a ceremony to celebrate the 38th anniversary of the departure of U.S. troops from Libya.
Thursday, 12 June 2008 11:38 (Link)

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Wednesday U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would have an "inferiority complex" because he is black and if elected he might "behave worse than whites."

"We fear that Obama will feel that, because he is black with an inferiority complex, this will make him behave worse than the whites," Gaddafi told a rally at a former U.S. military base on the outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli.

"This will be a tragedy," Gaddafi said. "We tell him to be proud of himself as a black and feel that all Africa is behind him because if he sticks to this inferiority complex he will have a worse foreign policy than the whites had in the past."

He was speaking before thousands of cheering supporters at a ceremony to celebrate the 38th anniversary of the departure of U.S. troops from Libya.

Gaddafi took power in 1969 in a military coup in his oil- and gas-rich North African state.

Obama, the son of a Kenyan father and a white mother from Kansas, would be the first African American elected U.S. president. In his campaign he has largely eschewed the rhetoric of racial struggle and drawn support among blacks and whites.

Gaddafi said Obama should adopt a policy of supporting poor and weak peoples such as the Palestinians and be a friend of free Arab peoples rather than "U.S. agents" in the Arab world who, he said, were hated by their own people.

"We still hope he will be proud of Africa and change America and free America of its past policy, namely with the Arabs," said Gaddafi.

Regarding a recent speech by Obama about Israel, "Obama offered $300 billion in aid to Israel and more military support. He avoided talking about Israel's nuclear weapons," he said.

"We suspect he may fear being killed by Israeli agents and meet the same fate as (assassinated former U.S. President John Fitzgerald) Kennedy when he promised to look into Israel's nuclear program," Gaddafi said.

While the existence of Israeli nuclear weapons is widely assumed, Israeli officials have never admitted their existence and U.S. officials have stuck to that line in public.

Reuters

Mutabaruka "This Poem."

2008-06-12T19:58:00.001-07:00

Wow!

Dreams are ...Twn Poets at Def Poetry

2008-06-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

Kali sana

Uganda in My Mind

2008-06-05T23:07:00.000-07:00

Uganda Dance : Abakyla na Abami
More about the group, The Planets

Dr.Cheikh Anta Diop

2008-06-02T10:54:00.000-07:00

I must be Craaaazy. Sheikh Anta Diop is here. Know who you are

Dr. Ben Carson " Great Inventions."

2008-06-02T10:45:00.000-07:00

WOW!! African Inventors!!! I just cannot believe it. How can this GREAT BRAIN SURGEON make such claims? I don't know if it is true. I have to Google all these fantastic claims:

Rev. Jeremiah Wright speaks at NAACP 6

2008-06-02T05:48:00.000-07:00

This is Jeremiah Wright

Umurage From Rwanda

2008-05-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

Let The Healing Start.

Care Providers Interacting with Muslim Patients

2008-05-28T07:38:00.000-07:00

This is quite interesting (International Strategy and Policy Institute)
Dying and Deceased Muslim Patients (University of Michigan)

Ibrahim Al Khouli Vs Wafaa Sultan Transcript

2008-05-12T21:56:00.000-07:00

The full Transcript of Wafaa and Al Khouli
Another one

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouly... Wow that is mean. Before I hard his response to Wafaa, I thought she had a point. Well after the Dr. gets his word out, Madam Wafaa or Daktur Wafaa seems childish and illiterate. Aljazeerah is opening new doors with these debates. It is nice to see an Arab woman speak her mind. Sorry to say it, "She is MEAN."

WAFA SULTAN: Reformist Islamophobe or opportunist?

Read Selective Memri to understand what Muslims are against

A llink with

The Death of Boubacar Bah

2008-05-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

Africans and many people of color fought the colonialist so that We...you would think, "we would be better off," but now Africans and many people of color are fighting for acceptance in the WEST.

What has gone wrong? Or, "What went wrong?

My hypothesis is that:

Citizenship and self-worth can be measured by how much your family and country of origin value you.

" If your family looks down on you, the people outside will do likewise. If the people running your country mistreats and oppresses you, the people running other countries will do the same to you and your country too."

(1) New York Times, Editorial "Death by Detention."
(2) Watch the video below and
(3) Read about Seko Toure and "how he treated his people."

The Death of Boubacar Bah

This is not to justify, but to stand up to our own hoodlums.
"During the reign of Sekou Toure a lot of children lost their parents and relatives, who were either killed or died in detention."

Are Kibaki of Kenya and Mugabe of Zimbabwe hoodlums? I think they are. Blame the West! Balme the West! To a certain point, but we have to move on. These old politians are turning to thugs in their old age. Mugabe mattered, but today, all I can say is, "let him burn in hell."

Tony West & The Imani Dancers

2008-04-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

Artist's Narrative Tony West and the Imani Dancers is an ensemble of dancers, musicians, and actors who blend their contemporary experiences with influences of African heritage. More

THE GHAZALIAN METAPHOR ON GROWTH

2008-04-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

Islam is Fluid and Mobile, but Muslims Seem to be STAGNANT

This is what Al Ghazali said about growth:

In al-Mustaßfå, al-Ghazal• likens Islamic legal theory, and the competence to extract
legal rulings, to a tree cultivated by a man. He explains that the fruits of the tree represent
the legal rulings - which are the purpose for planting the tree in the first place. Its
trunk and branches are the textual material that allows the tree to bear fruit and sustain
them. But in order for the tree to be cultivated, human agency must play its part. The
method used in cultivating the tree is a metaphor for the juristic methods and principles
employed by the cultivator: the cultivator who brings the tree to fruition being, in this
metaphor, is the mujtahid.

Read more:

The Truth About Taqlid (Part I)

Muslims Discuss Hejab and The Polygamist Sect

2008-04-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

SO COPIED WHO HERE?

The Polygamist world, only thing missing here is hejab?

The dresses are meant to show modesty and conformity: They go down to the ankles and wrists, and are often worn over garments or pants, making sure every possibly provocative inch of skin is covered.
John Llewellyn, a polygamy expert and retired Salt Lake County sheriff's lieutenant, says the women cover themselves "so that they're unattractive to the outside world or other men."
The appearance of unity through uniform dress, however, can belie the jealousy that often arises when the women — who might all look alike to an outsider — find themselves in competition with one another over the affections of the same man, Llewellyn says.

Omar
______________________________________________________________________________________

AA,

Just to share some information regarding the sentiments you have shared, bro Omar.

Allah's SWT laws and instructions to His creation have been the same in all the scriptures - the Torah, Bible, and Quran. Polygamy is mentioned and allowed in all the scriptures, but humans create laws to suit themselves. In the bible, see Exodus 21 v 10, 1 Kings 11 v 3, Deuteronomy 21 v 15, and Genesis 4 v 19.

The requirements for hijab are given in the same manner in all 3 just as the sheriff has stated - "women cover themselves "so that they're unattractive to the outside world or other men." "

On top of this, women are required in all of the Abrahamic faiths to cover themselves in prayer, and then carry themselves in the same manner and respect outside their homes because ALLAH is EVER PRESENT :-). This is for their own protection, and preservation of their dignity and respect. Look at how nun's, sisters, and mothers in the church set-up cover their heads, and the same thing happens in traditional Jewish societies.

The evidence for this in the bible is in - 1 Corinthians 11 v 1-16, and also in Genesis 24 v 64-65, where Rebeka covered herself when being approached by a man who was unknown to her. The Talmud states "The sight of a woman’s hair constitutes an erotic stimulus {Berakhot 24A}", and "Jewish women, married or not, should not walk in the market place with their hair uncovered {Shulhan Arukh, Evan ha-Ezer 21:2} " In slam, we are told the same thing, and this just confirms that Islam is simply the completion of the messages from Allah SWT through His messengers to ALL HIS CREATION.

Also, in the same manner that Islam explains that men should not wear women’s clothing, and women should not wear men’s clothing, the bible says the same thing - Deuteronomy 22:5.

Also, look at the paintings and movies that depict people of the past, how are they dressed? And with the Pope, and priests and padres, how do they dress ?? For all intents and purposes, aren't they wearing kanzus?? The truth has always existed and evident, but neglected or shoved aside due to our human whims.

May Allah SWT guide us all, ameen, and may more of the truth keep coming out. I say that because, who would have thought that in America, POLYGAMY would be exposed in the manner that it has, that it exists as it does the {the people are saying they are doing this because they are following GOD'S LAW}, and the simplicity and respectability of the dress of the women would have the impact it is having. The sentiments you have shared here are shared by many others, both Muslim and non-Muslim.

Fi Amanillah,

Ali.
_____________________________________________________________________

Akh Ali, mashallah well said.

Abdul
_______________________________________________________________________

Maishallah to Ali. He has done some research! I need somebody like him to fight (by words) my many battles, not with Christians or Jews, but with everyday Muslims!

Kim
____________________________________________________________________________

What I want to express is this seems ok for Jews, Christians, Mormons, to dress up whatever but when we grow a beard, wear Hejab, dress in certain a way, Muslims are picked on at the airports and malls in the west and around the globe. Now the polygamist have shown that they have their own dress code, its not much different from the waht the Quran has been preaching about. Proper dress code ethics!! Get the point guys??

Omar
______________________________________________________________________________

Asalamu Alaikum,

I feel very sorry for these women and what they have been through. Dressed like maids, with the same sixties rock n roll hairstyle is a bit painful for me. I believe in diversity. Give them a HEJAB? I don't think so. It is in such sad situations when I wonder if the HEJAB can be a control tool and limiting in many areas of development. Please don't get me wrong, but I think it is totally unacceptable to take advantage of women who look controlled and ABUSED to score a point for "ISLAMIC DRESS CODE."

Shukran,

Mohamed Ahmed
____________________________________________________________________________________________
u're absolutely corect!

Omar
___________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for understanding. I hope we can take time to look deeper into the issue of HEJAB. The reason why it keeps on coming back is due to the fact that, "WE don't honestly take time to go back into the reasons why HEJAB" came into being. WE have become HEJAB and HEJAB has become US.

Is the HEJAB valid in 2008? The answer or MY answer is YES and NO.
I have attached two files and two options for accessing them. You can download both the files or you can go to the links and read the biography of, "Zaynab bint Jahsh (MABPWH)," and "Origins of HEJAB," by Mohammad Gill.

First let me ask all the Muslim and Non Muslim WOMEN to forgive me for trying to debate an issue that has never and will never affect me directly or indirectly. Some Muslim MEN and a few WOMEN might have an issue with the fact that all Muslim MEN are INDIRECTLY affected by HEJAB, but the truth is more than clear. It does not...but since I am writing about it, might be it does...no it doesn...anyway you get the point.

When it comes to HEJAB, do we take time to think, reflect, understand and then discuss, or do we just argue and then throw the towel. After reading the "Origins of HEJAB," and looking at the verses as well as the initial historical reasons for HEJAB, one would conclude that it was the men who were the main victimizers, but it is the WOMEN who had to change their way of life to accommodate the hoodlums.

"Women whatever their status, were being harassed in the streets, pursued by men who subjected them to the humiliating practice of ta'rud - literally taking up a position along a woman's path to urge her to fornicate, to commit the act of zina."

After reading, go and do more research on all types of HEJABS as well as BURQAS and why WOMEN wear them. Is it really modesty or are they protecting themselves from HOODLUMS? Don't be surprised if you find that:
(a) Most of the WOMEN who oppose or don't wear HEJAB are EDUCATED and
(b) The WOMEN who wear BURQAS are mostly UNEDUCATED

What about EDUCATED Muslim WOMEN who wear BURQAS and HEJAB?
Ummmm!! "Peer pressure."

Shukran,

Mohamed Ahmed
_____________________________________________________________________________

Assalam Aleykum,

We should definitely empathize and sympathize with people who may find themselves in compromised positions, and do our best to help them out.

And what is the truth really as to what is happening where these women and their community are concerned? Aren't they possibly voluntarily dressing and wearing their hair as they are? This is America, they don't have to be there if they don’t want to. A call like the one that was made is all it would take for them to be rescued.

Reread your comments, and then simply just put Muslim women in the picture instead of those women - see the similarities of sentiments that non-Muslims share about Muslim women, and the sentiments that you have shared? Isn't that what is exactly said about Muslim women? That they are oppressed, abused, not developing, the hijab is a control tool that literally prevents them from using their brains? the hijab is the literal flag of oppression? and more and more sentiments like those.

The information was not shared to "score points" for Islam and hijab, but rather, to simply respond with information to the comment made about the only thing missing from the ladies is a hijab. The dress code they have is what we see on tv, but the truth as to whether they are abused or not, only them and Allah SWT know.

And is it not harsh to the extreme to take kids away from their parents, who are alive and well, and give them to other people to raise them? The poor mothers are crying for their kids back. If it was any of us, and our kids were taken as these peoples kids have been, how would we feel? Who is oppressing who now in the name of child safety? There will always be cases of abuse unfortunately, all over the world, but what the "authorities" have done here is extreme and harsh, cruel and unusual punishment.

May their families be re-united, and may any issues plaguing that community be resolved, ameen.

Ali.
____________________________________________________________________________________________

Assalam Aleykum,

I agree that time is needed to study ISLAM , IMAN, AND IHSAN first, before getting to the issue of hijab. And we need to tread cautiously here, and use proper references from those who have spent their lives studying Islam and the Quran.

Regarding the articles, who is Mohammed Gill? I have never heard of him. Please do inform as to who he is. Is he a Muslim scholar in the ranks of almarhum Sheikh bin Baaz, or Sheikh Albani? Caution is urged as to where we get information from, although he does indicate correctly in the article two things:

"But, since hijab had been formally ordained by the Quran, there was no going back and it stayed irrevocably in the Muslim world."
And
"The debate on hijab and jilbab will presumably continue in the western world until the ghosts of xenophobia are laid to rest for ever."

The two points he has made speak for themselves - Allah SWT has ordered what needs to be done in the Quran, and both the ignorance of the masses, and the knowledge and understanding of those who push xenophobia with a less the honorable agenda in the west lead to continued debates over hijab in the west.

He, M Gill, forgot or overlooked to mention the hadith, where Prophet Muhammad SAW said that ladies should be covered for their own benefit except here and here, and when saying here and here, he was pointing at the hands and face.

And regarding hijab itself, what is hijab? Hijab is actually first and foremost a CHARACTERISTIC, an inner trait or quality of modesty, humility, respect, etc, that applies to BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, {note that men are listed first and then women, for men are supposed to be leaders, guides, and protectors of their families, and at large, the community} and then this characteristic is evidenced outwardly, in our instance, through our clothing. It just so happens that women carry a bigger flag of Islam, the literal hijab that we see, but men are supposed to do the same, in dressing modestly, respectfully, and humbly IN THEIR CHARACTERISTICS, and then their outward dress.

And look at America in the 20s, 30s, and 40s, look at how women dressed, even Mexico. They did not leave their homes unless their heads were covered in either shawls or large-brimmed hats or headcovering of some kind, and wearing long dresses, and same thing in Europe and elsewhere, where Islam in all these places was, for all intents and purposes, non-existent. Why so? And how and when did this all change?

And here you have said the following:

"Don't be surprised if you find that:
(a) Most of the WOMEN who oppose or don't wear HEJAB are EDUCATED and
(b) The WOMEN who wear BURQAS are mostly UNEDUCATED

What about EDUCATED Muslim WOMEN who wear BURQAS and HEJAB?
Ummmm!! "Peer pressure."

Two things I ask, bro. - what education are we talking about? Secular? Islamic? Both? None? Because being a Muslim is predicated on having knowledge on how to be and live as a Muslim. Islam is TO BE LIVED EVERYDAY, but to do so in ignorance is dangerous, as anything else done in ignorance is. You can have someone who has secular knowledge, but if the have little or no Islamic knowledge, then what u have stated above applies, that secularly educated women will oppose or not wear the hijab, as they have no Islamic reference or understanding to know otherwise. Education of ALL KINDS is to be emphasized, because the whole point to education , is to move from darkness into light, and especially for Muslims, TO AKNOWLEDGE ALLAH FROM WHATEVER WE LEARN, weather secular or Islamic.

And the second point you made as to why educated women wear burqas and hijab is because of peer pressure, why cannot it not be BECAUSE OF PERSONAL PLEASURE RATHER THAN PEER PRESSURE, AS THEY UNDERSTAND THE PREMISE BEHIND HIJAB. If its peer pressure, then they might as well be un-educated, because the whole point to being educated is to make INFORMED, KNOWLEDGE-BASED DECISIONS AFTER SERIOUS THOUGHT AND UNDERSTANDING, AND NOT MAKE DECISIONS UNDER DURESS OR PRESSURE.

Hence the first ayah, and command from Allah SWT to ALL OF HIS CREATION was IQRA - READ, which is more than just mere reading of words. Iqra entails reading, thinking, contemplating, analyzing, UNDERSTANDING, accepting, forming values and beliefs, and then application and maintenance of those values and beliefs on person, family, community, and ummah, and then further reading, growth, and that cycle is continuos until we die.

That is why Prophet Muhammad SAW said that make sure your today is better than your yesterday, and your tomorrow is better than your today, for if not, then you are as good as dead, because there is no growth and improvement.

We, as an ummah, need to get the basics right first, before we get to the additional matters in Islam. We want to build lofty buildings, but our foundations are lacking {foundations being knowledge and understanding of the basics}. The basics are simply, do we know who Allah SWT is? Do we know what He wants of us? Do we know our purpose in being here on this earth, in this world? Once these have been tackled, then we move on to other matters.

Thanks for sharing the articles, and may we all be blessed with greater understanding and unity. Allah SWT knows we need it.

Fi Amanillah,

Ali.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Asalamu Alaikum,

Sheikh Ali, first and foremost jazzakumulkheir for taking the time to educate me and many who frequent this group. I took the time to read you response and reflected on how you phrased some of the answers.

Initially I took a negative position when you said, "we need to tread cautiously here, and use proper references from those who have spent their lives studying Islam and the Quran." I did not know what to think of it, but I finally brushed it as a curve ball trying to inhibit serious and honest discussion. I think you are honest and totally believe in all that you said. Your answer was more than agreeable literally, but I had some issues when it came to the practical application of what you said.

I took time to think and it was during Jumaa when something hit me. The guy giving hutbah looked shabby and would pass for a hoodlum. He was repeating the same weekly dosage that is full of empty nothing about why we are. Every now and then he would say if Muslims could just add one and one, then they could get two and on and on.

Being human I was every now and then thinking about which bills are due and looking left and right trying to observe who was better dressed than me. Yes me the flag bearer of Islam upstairs. All the other flag bearers were squeezed in the basement with children running around and some crying. Sometimes those flag bearers cannot even hear what the shabby looking IMAM was saying. A thought crossed my mind, "the flag bearers are just happy to be allowed in the MASJID basement. Why would they complain about anything, for they are the designated flag bearers OUTSIDE the MASJID."

Well, I was more than happy and satisfied to see very little competition apart from one African American behind me dressed in SUNNAH. The majority of the MEN, nothing but UN-SUNNAH clothing. There were some suits here and there, but the majority of the congregations, tight, yes very tight pants showing their bodies in a very UN-SUNNAH way.

Sheikh Ali I think it is imperative for us to be more than fair when it comes to the application of sunnah. Islam is fluid and mobile and if only men are allowed to move with the crowd, but women have to wait, then we are doing injustice to both Muslim Women and Islam. When Bin Baz and Albanni were alive, did they say anything for or against women being held behind or men dressed in shorts while participating in sports? I guess they too were busy thinking about how happy and satisfied Muslim women were with their position as the Flag bearers of the Muslim Identity.

If Muslim men can participate in anything without thinking about the "MUSLIM IDENTITY" so should MUSLIM WOMEN. In Pakistan, while playing cricket, men dress the same way like any cricket players anywhere in the world. In Saudi Arabia when men participate in soccer, they dress the same way like the Italians. Lastly, what sunnah clothing do Muslim men who have access to a beach observe? They wear swimming gear like the Sweedish do without a hoot about, "here and a here."

The majority of the Quran is directed to MEN and if there is going to be a flag bearer, then let it be a MAN. Why not, that is how all the armies do it. Finally, don't underestimate the power of peer pressure and the Stockholm effect. Muslim Women will do like any human being under duress.

I took what you wrote and created a question and answer about HEJAB. I hope you don’t mind some of the editing, but it should be a good starting point.

Q. Is Hejab for women only?
A. Hijab applies to BOTH MEN AND women, {note that MEN ARE LISTED FIRST and then women, for men are supposed to be leaders, guides, and protectors of their families, and at large, the community} and then this characteristic is evidenced outwardly, in our instance, through our clothing. It just so happens that women carry a bigger flag of Islam, the literal hijab that we see.

Q. Since men are listed first, don’t you think they should be the flag bearers?
A. The basics are simply, men know who Allah SWT is? We know what HE wants of us? We know our purpose in being here on this earth, in this world? Once women have tackled these basics, then they can move on to other matters.

Q. American and Mexican women in the 20s, 30s, and 40s did not leave their homes without HEJAB (their heads were covered in either shawls or large-brimmed hats or head covering of some kind, and wearing long dresses), and same thing in Europe and elsewhere. How and when did this all change?
A. Education is the main reason and I think once Muslim women have tackled these basics, then they too can grow. The whole point to being educated is to make INFORMED, KNOWLEDGE-BASED DECISIONS AFTER SERIOUS THOUGHT AND UNDERSTANDING, AND NOT MAKE DECISIONS UNDER DURESS OR PRESSURE.

Q. What education are we talking about? Secular? Islamic? Both?
A. Education of ALL KINDS is to be emphasized, because the whole point to education is to move from darkness into light. Prophet Muhammad SAW said that make sure your today is better than your yesterday, and your tomorrow is better than your today, for if not, then you are as good as dead, because there is no growth and improvement?

Shukran,

Mohamed Ahmed
___________________________________
Assalam Aleykum,

Shukran Mohamed for your response, and to others who have participated. Dear sisters, how about we get your input on the matter that is being discussed, as it affects you all.

I would like to state that, first, any correct and beneficial information that comes from this and other discussions, is a blessing and benefit from Allah SWT. Any wrong or mistakes presented are mine, and I ask for forgiveness and to be corrected.

The statement that im throwing "a curve ball trying to inhibit serious and honest discussion" is an incorrect assumption, for in no way does a suggestion of caution indicate that, and furthermore, I have no right to do so {I dont like Texas Rangers sport, baseball, much, but ukisema "bend it like beckham, banana free kicks, original mpira, thats my cup of tea :-), but back to seriousness :-) },

If anything, as like everyone else, I am looking to learn and grow, and look forward to meaningful, critically constructive debates that can help us a a community and an ummah rise up from the malaise that plagues us. This would be in keeping with the stellar muslim communities that contributed so much to humanity in eras gone by.

You have asked some very good questions, and I will say this, from the little that I know:

First and foremost, MEN ARE REQUIRED TO BE THE FLAGBEARERS OF ISLAM. Why? Because Allah SWT has given them the responsibility of leading their families. Leadership is a trust that Allah SWT has placed on men, and please note, I am not talking about dictatorship.

Prophet Muhammad SAW said {and i'm paraphrasing the hadith here} if you want to know the condition of an ummah, look at the women. If they are abiding by and are knowledgeable about Islam as is their right {they observe swala, hijab, are protected and respected etc}, and are not venturing out from their homes unnecessarily, then that means that society is a blessed society, because the men are fulfilling their obligations as leaders of their families, and hence the community, making sure that their families are righteously guided, knowledgeable, and empowered. {The home is the most protective and secure place for women, hence, for example, they are not required like men to pray in masjids, for example, but they can if they want to, and also can pursue matters such as education, business, etc outside their homes. Men have the responsibility of taking care of their wives and daughters financial and other needs, amongst other rights that women have}.

But if in the society women are doing as they please, meaning leaving their homes unnecessarily, no hijab, amongst other things, and the men are not fulfilling their God given responsibility of leadership, and women feel obligated to then undertake this responsibility, then that society is doomed, not because women are not capable leaders, but because the men are not fulfilling their obligations, period, and women are taking up an additional obligation on top of what they have already. {Women are very able organisers, planners, leaders, etc Look at the wives of Prophet Muhammad SAW, and how the contributed to the knowledge of Islam, and how women run and maintain homes}

So men are required to be leaders, but to be effective leaders, they need to be knowledgeable as to what that responsibility entails. So, in my view, men have in general short changed themselves and their families, and in a larger context, the ummah, hence our current situation as muslims. Case in point - education is a right upon every human being - but look at how, generally speaking, the women in our soceity for example are short-changed big time regarding education. They are robbed of their God given right to an education, many being told utasoma mpaka lini, na mwishoe utakwishia jikoni? or girls being pulled out of primary classes to be married off ....

Second, you said it ..... "Islam is fluid and mobile and if only men are allowed to move with the crowd, but women have to wait, then we are doing injustice to both Muslim Women and Islam." I concur 100%, for in no way can a society be built, developed, and improved if only one half of the society, the men, are getting their rights, and the other half are oppressed, denied of their God given rights because of ignorance and cultural practices that have no basis in Islam. Women have the same rights and responsibilities as men in front of Allah's SWT eyes.

"If Muslim men can participate in anything without thinking about the "MUSLIM IDENTITY" so should MUSLIM WOMEN". Muslim men and women are required to develop their muslim identity. The lack of this identity is the foundation of the myriad of problems affecting muslims, the lack of understanding and appreciating our muslim identity. Without this, how can we be expected to appreciate and live as per islamic requirements? If men as supposed to be the leaders, should they not be the first ones to give an example of what having an islamic identity entails?? And do we as men do so? Many of the muslim communities issues begin here.

"When Bin Baz and Albanni were alive, did they say anything for or against women being held behind or men dressed in shorts while participating in sports? Yes, they did, feverently so, they called out and educated the masses against women being oppressed, and the dress of men while participating in sports, amongst other things, and not of their own whims and words, but using Allah's guidance to address these issues, especially as they were living in Saudia. "I guess they too were busy thinking about how happy and satisfied Muslim women were with their position as the Flag bearers of the Muslim Identity". They were disturbed with this being the apparent case, and always called for this to be addressed, corrected, through knowledge and understanding of everyones rights and responsibilities.

Third, before we walk, we have to crawl. Before getting into the sunnahs, which are important, we need to get the basics, the faraidh, understood, established and implemented properly, by both men and women, and then we can expand on that. We need a solid foundation to build on, otherwise, things will be wishy washy, not firm enough, like building on quicksand.

Fourth, just to add to what bro Fayyadh has said, I have heard from a friend who is a pilot with Saudia Airlines that when brothers and sisters are on the flights out from Jeddah to USA, for instance, when the plane is taking off, the seats are a sea of kanzus and habayas, and then half way into the flight, when safe and sound from Saudi airspace, an amazing transformation takes place - the habayas, hijabs and kanzus mostly all dissappear, to be replaced by whatever one fancies, and upon tochdown, a completely different group of people get off the plane than the ones that took off . The reverse happens when flights are going back to Saudia. The whole point to sharing this is that, as long as people are forced to do things {mutawa or not :-) }, any time they get a moments reprieve, they will take advantage of it big time.

Last, Fayyadh said it, that the Quran is directed at both men and women, and he explained the use of the language which addresses both men and women.

I like the way you formulated the questions and answers from the previous email, bro Mohamed. May we all be blessed and guided righteously, ameen.

I look forward to learning more, inshaallah.

Fi Amanillah,

Ali.

Reverend Jeremiah Wright is Right

2008-03-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

Ubaguzi University

2008-02-27T17:47:00.000-08:00

Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology

Egerton’s five campuses — Njoro, Kisii, Laikipia, Nakuru Town, Chuka’s Eastern college
Njoro’s Kenyatta college
Moi universitie
University of Nairobi

Vernacular Days Are Back

2008-02-27T17:31:00.000-08:00

Do you remember the days of vernacular?
Police officers have been banned from speaking in mother tongue at their places of work. The directive is from the Commissioner of Police, Maj-Gen Hussein Ali.
In a communiquÈ to police units, he also warned the officers against discuss politics, especially the December elections, at their work places. Cont.

Obama's speech to Nutter Center

2008-02-26T17:47:00.000-08:00

President Barack Obama February 25, 2008
Nutter Center

Obama Bills

2008-02-23T10:55:00.000-08:00

Washington Post
Judge Him by His Laws

By Charles Peters
Friday, January 4, 2008

People who complain that Barack Obama lacks experience must be unaware of his legislative achievements. Cont.

A win for Obama is a win for all Americans:
“Sometimes freshmen can be more in touch with what people are thinking,” Hart said. “There is plenty of evidence that the longer people are in Washington, the less responsive they become.” Cont.

Obama works hard for Americans. Click the bills below to get a feel on why Obama will work harder for you than any other elected official.

To authorize resources to provide students with opportunities for summer learning through summer learning grants.

S.117 : A bill to amend titles 10 and 38, United States Code, to improve benefits and services for members of the Armed Forces, veterans of the Global War on Terrorism, and other veterans, to require reports on the effects of the Global War on Terrorism, and for other purposes.Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL]

S.133 : A bill to promote the national security and stability of the economy of the United States by reducing the dependence of the United States on oil through the use of alternative fuels and new technology, and for other purposes.Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL]

S.692 : A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a Hospital Quality Report Card Initiative to report on health care quality in Veterans Affairs hospitals.Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL]

ORENGO! ORENGO! ORENGO! Kenya is proud of your courage

2008-02-22T08:15:00.000-08:00

Orengo, Speak Brother Speak

What if Kivuitu had some basic respect? Karibu kila mfanyi kazi wa serikali ana dharau. We have to take a step in respecting our fellow Kenyans. Hata mwenye kufagia ofisi ya kulipa maji huwa na madharau ya hali ya juu. Wewe unakuja kulipa maji ambayo haupati, na huku watakusumbua na kukufanya kama mtoto.

Here is the man called ORENGO!

Kivuitu is just a reflection of the seeds of corruption

2008-02-22T07:53:00.000-08:00

Kumchukia Kivuitu haisaidii hata tone. Ni muhimu kumuacha azungumze bila ya kuogopa. Hivi sasa Mzee Kivuitu anaona makosa yake pamoja na wasaidizi wa ECK. Ukweli ni kuwa ECK ni muhimu sana kama Kenya yataka kuwa huru. Mtu yeyeote ambaye atapata cheo cha mwnyekiti katika ECK atakuwa anaheshimu jukumu la ofisi ya ECK. Sifikiri atakuwa mnyonge kama Kivuitu. Kivuitu pia ajajivunia uzalendo wake kwa kuzungumza kwa lugha ya taifa.

I am proud of the Kenyans and our corrupt system is about to go down. This video stands for what We Kenyans expect from our leaders, "Speak without fear."

Prime Minister Raila Odinga

2008-02-22T07:32:00.000-08:00

This man, "Raila Odinga Achapa Emilio," is confident. I just wonder what gives him the courage to tell it like it is.

Fifa bans three Kenya officials

2008-02-18T17:32:00.000-08:00

Tufanye nini?
There is no soccer in Kenya, but upumbavu plentyful. We have to get rid of all thugs in suits. You already have a job, a good salary and free tickets to many international events, but you are still greeeedy.

From BBC: Saturday, 16 February 2008,
Fifa has handed long bans to three Kenyan officials from taking part in any football related activity because of bribery. Cont.

No Electricity in Lamu, But Plenty in Mpeketoni

2008-02-16T14:45:00.002-08:00

KIRUBI, Charles
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
Master of Science

The findings reveal that access to electricity, in combination with
simultaneous access to markets and other infrastructure (roads, communication,
schools, etc), have contributed to robust growth of microenterprises in clear and
compelling ways. For instance, productivity per worker and gross revenues per
day increased by the order of over 200% for both carpentry and tailoring
microenterprises.

Despite high tariffs [Ksh22.50 (US$0.30)/kWh or nearly 3 times the
national grid tariff], Mpeketoni Electricity Project has demonstrated that there
exists substantial unmet rural demand for electricity. More

No Electricity in Lamu, But Plenty in Mpeketoni

2008-02-16T14:45:00.001-08:00

The findings reveal that access to electricity, in combination with
simultaneous access to markets and other infrastructure (roads, communication,
schools, etc), have contributed to robust growth of microenterprises in clear and
compelling ways. For instance, productivity per worker and gross revenues per
day increased by the order of over 200% for both carpentry and tailoring
microenterprises.

Despite high tariffs [Ksh22.50 (US$0.30)/kWh or nearly 3 times the
national grid tariff], Mpeketoni Electricity Project has demonstrated that there
exists substantial unmet rural demand for electricity.

Kikuyus in Mpeketoni Have Titles, But....

2008-02-16T14:37:00.000-08:00

Mpeketoni is a good example of well-utilised agricultural land. It breaks the continuous
"idle land that stretch from Malindi to Lamu."

By HENRY MWANGI
and MURUU TUVA
EXPRESS Writers

For the past three decades, the government has made efforts to reduce landlessness in various parts of Kenya.

Lake Kenyatta Settlement Scheme in Mpeketoni division, Lamu district, is one of the many settlement schemes initiated by the government under the then President Kenyatta.

An estimated 40,000 people live in this coastal area. Most of them are from the Kikuyu community. They have lived here for more than 30 years on a temporary basis. The government brought landless people from different parts of the country in 1972 following tribal clashes in Rift Valley and Mzee Kenyatta's turudi mashambani appeal.

Others are former employees of the Cotton Board of Kenya that had a big plantation in the area. They were left helpless after the board collapsed.

The settlers had 20 acres of land, which was later reduced to 10 owing to population pressure. They had an agreement with the Ministry of Lands and Settlement to pay Sh5,090 loaned to them at 6.5 per cent interest a year, a condition they could not meet due to lack of a government cash box at the division level.

It is alleged that corruption has interfered with loan payments, leading to some people losing large sums of money and others seeking assistance from the headquarters in Nairobi. Grace Gitu sought help from the headquarters but still receives letters requiring land rent payment even after acquiring a title deed.

Many farmers cannot trace their title deeds owing to lack of funds. This is worsened by poor market for their produce.

Illiteracy, poverty and poor communication has made Lake Kenyatta Settlement Scheme a haven for corrupt government officials.

Farmer Stephen Ng'ang'a Kariara says his land bill was Sh14,000 on December 2, 1999. He paid the money and received a letter certifying that he had cleared the bill. When he went to enquire about his title deed on October 1, 2000, he received another bill for Sh9,131, which he hesitated to pay and went back home. Three years later, the debt has increased to Sh10,375.44. He has never gone back to the local lands office.

When we visited the Land Adjudication and Settlement offices in Mpeketoni, we met officials Patrick Mbatia and Ngokonyo, who refused to comment. They hurriedly left on a government motorbike, leaving the office wide open.

On the other hand, lack of unity among the settlers led to collapse of the Lake Kenyatta Farmers Co-operative Society, which could have improved their marketing procedures.

GTZ has been a good donor, helping to construct roads, schools and the Lakwa water project.

Kariara is a land surveyor, but he lost his job after GTZ completed its operations in Mpeketoni. His plot bordered a forest that was later subdivided and allocated to other settlers. These are currently fighting with wild animals that threaten to destroy their crops.

Mpeketoni is a good example of well-utilised agricultural land. It breaks the continuous idle land that stretch from Malindi to Lamu.

90 per cent of Lamu residents lack title deeds

2008-02-16T14:26:00.000-08:00

By MICHAEL MUMO

About 90 per cent of Lamu District residents do not have title deeds or letters of allotment to the land they occupy, an NGO official has said.

The district has an estimated population of 120,000, living in Lamu West and East constituencies.

The programme officer of the Mazingira Institute-Operation Firimbi in Lamu, Mr Omar Shahbal said only 3,000 inhabitants of Shella and Lamu town hold titles to their land.

Another 30 per cent of the squatters living in the four settlement schemes in the west mainland possess plain letter of offers or allotments.

Mr Shahbal, who is involved in land issues on behalf the residents, is part of a group of people who have filed a number of court cases seeking nullification of irregular land allocations in the region.

A survey by the NGO shows that 60 per cent of land is in the hands of senior district civil servants, politicians and Kanu officials. They own most of the land at Manda, Ras Kitau, Kiwayuu and in the settlement schemes at Witu, Hindi and Magogoni.

Most residents who mainly comprise the Bajuni community are regarded as squatters as they do not hold title deeds to their land.

The acquisition of the plots by a few well-connected individuals is due to their inclusion in the district plots allocation committee and political patronage.

The acquisition of the plots is usually followed by quick sale for fear of losing the allocation in the event of the beneficiary falling out of favour with the establishment.

Eighty per cent of the land in the district remains crown land and residents are opposed to its status changing to trust land as it would become easier for the politically-correct people to acquire the land illegally.

In Shella village, a tourist resort town south of Lamu, there are more than 300 indigenous residents whose land and residential plots, cemeteries, boreholes and playfields have been allocated to civic leaders and MPs through the district plots allocation committee.

Over the years, over 3,600 acres of prime beach land in Manda Island has been allocated to Kanu officials.

The trend started with the acquisition of an eight-acre plot owned by Mr Mohamed Abubakar bin Ibrahim Muhoma, a local farmer who has lived at Manda for over 60 years.

The plot was later sold to a prominent Mombasa entrepreneur.

Between 1992 and 1998, a local civic leader is said to have acquired 54 plots at Manda, while a former Lamu East MP used his influence to get 17 plots.

Another former MP from Lamu West is said to have acquired 34 plots in Manda, Lamu, Pate, Faza, Siu, Kiwayuu, Mkokoni, Shella and Kiunga divisions.

At least 70 per cent of the land has been illegally acquired by local leaders.

The people considered the rightful owners of land at Manda are some 1,600 indigenous Bajuni residents who remain landless and are squatters.

In October, 1983, a Kenya Gazette notice ordered the District Commissioner to ensure that the Bajuni's displaced by banditry attacks were issued with land ownership forms to enable them seek compensation.

The government directive raised hope among the Bajuni people that they would claim their ancestral land. They also hoped that this would later be followed by the issuance of certificates and title deeds by the Ministry of Lands and Settlement.

However, the Bajuni representatives say the prime land and beach plots were allocated to outsiders, senior government officials and politicians, ignoring the community.

Over 30,00 acres of land have been allocated to various connected individuals in Mpeketoni, Faza, Kiunga, Mnazi Mmoja and Witu.

Last year, Lamu residents went to court over the allocation of a part of the exotic island of Manda to a German investor.

In the suit presented before High Court judge Andrew Hayanga, the group protested against a decision by the Commissioner of Lands and the Lamu County Council to allocate the land to the foreigner.

In June last year, the then District Commissioner, Mr Daudi Ekuam, said the government would spend Sh50 million to settle people in the newly-created Hindi-Magogoni settlement scheme.

The DC added that the government had used Sh321 million since 1991 to settle landless people in settlement schemes.

Make Your Own Obama Sign

2008-02-15T19:50:00.000-08:00

OBAMA is The ONE
>>Make your own signs

Mr. Kibaki should renounce his presidency

2008-02-14T11:02:00.000-08:00

Mr. Kibaki should renounce that official declaration

New York Times Editorial

Ambition and Horror in Kenya
Published: January 3, 2008

The murderous tribal violence that has spread through Kenya in recent days would be horrifying anywhere. It is particularly tragic to see this happening in a country that seemed finally to be on the path to a democratic and economically sound future. There may still be a chance to retrieve some of these hopes. That will likely require stepping back from the suspicious and hastily declared election results that sparked this ugly upheaval.

Officially, those results gave a second term to President Mwai Kibaki, despite independent reports of egregious irregularities. Even the chairman of Kenya’s national election commission now says that he was pressured into an early declaration and cannot say who won.

Mr. Kibaki should renounce that official declaration and the embarassingly swift swearing in that followed. He should then meet with his principal challenger, Raila Odinga, to discuss a possible vote recount, election re-run or other reasonable compromise.

Mr. Kibaki should renounce that official declaration and the embarassingly swift swearing in that followed. He should then meet with his principal challenger, Raila Odinga, to discuss a possible vote recount, election re-run or other reasonable compromise.

That isn’t likely to happen without outside prodding. Urgent mediation by the leader of the African Union, John Kufuor, could help bring the two together before the violence gets worse. Already, more than 300 Kenyans are dead, 70,000 have been driven from their homes and thousands have fled to neighboring countries.

How different things seemed five years ago. Then Mr. Kibaki, allied with Mr. Odinga, was the democratic reformer challenging Kenya’s longtime autocratic leader Daniel arap Moi and his handpicked candidate. Mr. Moi’s reign was repressive and notoriously corrupt. International donors grew wary and despite having some of the best agricultural land, the most attractive tourist destinations and the best urban infrastructure in East Africa, Kenya’s economy stagnated.

Mr. Kibaki promised change and won in what was the freest election Kenya has ever known. Since then, he has delivered on many of his promises. Corruption is still a serious problem, but Kenya has enjoyed an expansion of free primary and secondary education, vibrant growth and important reforms of the judiciary, civil service and economy. Now, Mr. Kibaki’s apparent attempt to rig his own re-election has put these gains at grave risk.

Tribal resentments have long played a role in Kenyan politics. They flared anew after Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga fell out over the spoils of the 2002 election. Mr. Kibaki comes from the long-dominant Kikuyu group, Kenya’s largest. Mr. Odinga comes from the Luo, a smaller but politically important tribe. Much of the violence of recent days has involved these two groups. In rural Eldoret, some 50 Kikuyu were burned to death inside a church where they had sought refuge. In the vast and tribally mixed urban slums of Nairobi, rival militias have been waging open warfare.

Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga cannot ignore the chaos around them. No matter their personal ambitions and resentments, they must be brought together and pushed to come up with a solution that will calm their followers and restore Kenyans’ faith in their democratic system — before the damage becomes irreversible.

Raila Do You Support Rape? Speak Up and Fast!

2008-02-13T14:56:00.000-08:00

Raila and the opposition must speak up against rape. Cowards use rape as a weapon against other men, but mostly to destroy communities. Those who are in a position to stop it directly or indirectly should be held accountable. It is time men and women stand up and stop the worst crime against humanity.

Associated Press Writer Rape is a weapon in Kenyan violence
BBC: Gang rape spirals in violent Kenya
Womensenews: Rape Is Prominent Issue in Kenya Elections
Salon.com: Rape on the rise in Kenya
IRIN News: Health workers grappling with conflict-related sexual violence

Micheal More's Sicko

2008-02-12T15:03:00.000-08:00

Click here to watch>> SICKO

70 distinct ethnic groups in Kenya

2008-02-09T15:25:00.000-08:00

According to this site there are 70 distinct ethnic groups in Kenya. I thought there were 42, but who really knows.

If you want information about ODM, where would you go?
I keep on going to Jaluo.com and Jukwaa to get the feel of where ODM stands. I think ODM is made up of a bunch of very disconnected politicians. How can they depend on local media like, East African Standard, Nation or NTV to get there message out? With Salim Lone, one would expect more from Pentagoons.

If you do a search on ODM, you will pull the ODM-K site that included Kalonzo and nothing else. Mutua and his staff are trying and since ODM is nowhere to be seen, I think they are doing an excellent job on the web.

If I am not mistaken, ODM are not only lagging behind on the web, but they seem to be a bit parasitical.

Displaced Kenyans

2008-02-09T15:00:00.000-08:00

Red Cross Report on 6, January 2008

According to official government statistics, there are 211,513 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) spread across the country

Nairobi Province - Kibera, Kawangware, Dandora, Mathare, Korogocho, Dagoretti; Nyanza Province - Kisumu and its environs, Migori and Nyando;

Western Province - Busia, Butere-Mumias, Bungoma andWebuye;
Rift Valley Province - Nakuru, Eldoret town, Narok, Kericho, Sotik, Kuresoi,
Coast Province - Mombasa in particular Likoni and Kisauni, Mtongwe, Changamwe;
Eastern Province - Meru town and Nkubu;
North Eastern Province - Mandera Lamu.

Upto 55,000 people have been displaced in the South Rift Region. There are 20 stations in Nakuru, 24 in Molo, 11 in Kericho and 8 in Narok North and Narok South, as well as in Kipkelion and Ravine.

In Mombasa, 1,529 people have been displaced and are mainly camping in Likoni Catholic Church, Holy Ghost Cathedral, Makupa Hospital, Bomu Catholic Church. In

Busia, 3,750 people have been displaced and have settled in police stations.

In Bungoma, 9,870 people have been displaced and are mainly in Lumakanda, Bungoma town, Mumias, Kakamega and Malaba.

In Butere-Mumias, 700 people have been
displaced and are currently camping in Mumias and Butere police posts, and Khwisero DO camp.

35,000 people have been displaced in Kericho and are camping at the Kericho D.C’s compound, Londiani and Moi Garden. However, the IDPs in Kericho have been reducing substantially as most of them are being relocated to Ikenge and Nyamira.

25,000 people have been displaced in Moroki, Waruini, Sikhondu, Kiminini, Mucharage sokoni, Kiungani, Kibagenge, Kahibora, and Bondeni.
Migori is currently tense, but police are on standby. So far 700 have been displaced and are settled at Migori and
Rongo police stations, Sibania and Mabera D.Os office.

A SONG FOR PEACE (Kenya yasikitisha)

2008-02-01T19:52:00.000-08:00

Sijui nani ameimba, lakini I keep on coming back and I believe we cannot let Kenya down. Wanasiasa wezi washenzi tumewapa nguvu za kudhulumu, kuiba, kuuwa na kuharibu nchi yetu. Sasa hatunabudi bali "Lazima Tuwasimamishe Washenzi Wanafik." Ndio nimekasirika sana na kusikitika kuona Kenya ikichomwa.

Bibi Anaimba vizuri sana

Khamala is a True Educated Dimwit!

2008-01-25T19:54:00.000-08:00

This is not out of the blues, but there are many fools who will come up with an excuse or a very deep justification for any crime. Sometimes we call them advocates full of sh... and the best is, Charles A. Khamala who writes,
" Assuming that Kibaki anticipated Raila’s intention to ignore constitutional requirements in order to introduce federalism, then his motives of preventing a potential unconstitutional dictatorship may be construed as laudable. Kibaki’s uncouth method of vote-grabbing might then be interpreted as being a lesser evil compared with a potentially greater evil which Raila’s forced federalism (ethnic cleansing) might inflict on Kenyans."

Well he also read some fiction written by, "John Stuart Mill, in “Considerations on Representative Government” regarded benevolent dictatorship as the most feasible and viable approach to oversee rapid development of backward societies. Whether Kibaki will be remembered as benevolent or malevolent is for economic historians to record."
Kumbafu Khamala takes Kenyans to be "mentally passive people," and he does not add what John Stuart concludes that, "democratic society will be not only more just but more productive than even the most benevolent dictatorship."

Click What was this fool doing in school? to digest a dimwit.

It is Painful, "Davos Question 2008"

2008-01-20T10:50:00.000-08:00

When I think of many who are poor and how powerless I am.
My family that lives in poverty and how helpless I am.
My brothers, cousins too and how useless I am.
My uncles and aunts and how unthankfull I am.
Push for change and fairness then fight, cry and pray
Kibera, Mathare here we come, our humanity is at stake.
Kibera, Mathare, you are the stakeholders.

The Question

The Answer, but what would Adam Smith say?

Raila on Kenyans in the Diaspora, "Grow up."

2008-01-20T08:27:00.000-08:00

This clip shows how disgusted Raila is with Kenyans abroad. "You are so suspicious among yourselves. You are fighting among yourselves even outside here," Raila tells Kenyans in Toronto, Canada. Just think about that observation compared to Africans in the diaspora before independence.

Ukabila na upumbavu among those who have had the opportunity outside Kenya is mindbogglingly. Wakisii na wakisii, wakamba na wakamba, wkikuyu na wakikuyu, wajaluo na wajaluo, wakalenjin na wakalenjin and on and on. Lunatics in the diaspora cannot be trusted. Raila should put Luos from Kariakoo or Tudor Momabasa in positions of power. You get a Havard Luo, then expect the worst. I am out here and Ukabila umejaa. We are a bunch of educated kumbafus.

Kenya Ministry of Finance, still Okuyos.

"Democracy Not Now," says, Mukoma Ngugi

2008-01-19T09:13:00.000-08:00

Here is another blatant tribalista, Pambazuka,s Mukoma Ngugi who you would expect, tulitarajiya ati he can stand up and speak clearly, but tribal pride forces him to take a dive against justice and democracy. Ati I used to blaa kondoo.

Democracy Now, ndio SASA ama....

AMY GOODMAN: Maina Kiai in Nairobi, we’re also joined by Mukoma wa Ngugi, a Kenyan writer in Cleveland, Ohio. He’s a commentator on BBC’s Focus on Africa magazine. Mukoma wa Ngugi, you are very critical of Raila Odinga and the Orange Democratic Movement.

MUKOMA WA NGUGI: Yeah, I think—well, first I should say that, you know, most of the things I’ve been critical of ODM can also apply to PNU.
What I’m trying to argue and I’ve been arguing in my writing is that we need—first we need to name things, we need to call things what they are. We need to realize that the nature of African politics for the last fifty years has been changing. So we find that people automatically assume that because somebody’s in the opposition it means they’re good guys, because traditionally that has been the role of the opposition. Now we’re in a situation where the government in power in most African countries is neoliberal, and the opposition party is equally neoliberal. This is to say that both parties in power, or once the opposition gets into power, we shouldn’t expect a people power, a revolution, if you will, or progressive politics. So, essentially, that’s my first criticism of the way we’re approaching African politics. Certainly, things have changed. You know, we can no longer assume the opposition automatically means they’re good guys.

What is he trying to say, NEO TRIBALISTA, akili imeruka. Ukabila, Upumbavu. Msaliti. Can we trust anyone NOW. Yes, OSU, remember in Chinua Achebe's "No Longer at Ease," when Obi was told that he cannot marry a woman because she was an osu. Ukabila Upumbavu. The father who had become a christian told Obi that her family was excommunicated. Being an osu is beyond bad, even being saved cannot change osuness. What has become very clear before and after elections is, Wakikuyu hate Jaluos with passion, and Kenyans do not buy into their hate. Kenyans might not have voted for Raila, but voted Kibaki and his fellow corrupt thievs out. Kenya also were not happy seeing dictator Moi all over Kibaki. We know Jaluos have helped Kikuyus to positions of power with unquestionable courage. The prize the Odinga family has paid is too much not to believe in their vision of Kenya. Yes, that is me saying, "Tawala Raila Tawala" and YES, Kibaki LOST beyond stupidity. Those who lead the Nairobi Stock Exchange were off the mark. They put too much behind a drunk horse. Now the apologist are coming out of the woods. Ma big advise to many and people like Mukoma is, just "shut the F.... up."

Wow! Someone is Mad. Mwizi Wazimu

2008-01-19T08:55:00.000-08:00

Mwenda Wazimu, Kraaaazy Mwizi.

I was about to post a response to Mukoma Mukosa Akili, but nothing was coming up. I just had this feeling, "some wazimu mwizi is trying to rig da blog.
The Revolution Will Be Blogged.

3 Paragraphs point to "Bad Changes."

2008-01-18T19:12:00.000-08:00

This article point to a disturbing trend. Three paragraphs appear in the Standard showing a major change. I think the government wants war. But why would they be destroying Kenya? We have seen what war produces. Anyway, let us wait and see if some of the elite jump ship.

Kenya counts losses (somewhere

Police headquarters termed as ‘unfortunate’ an incident in which an anti-riot officer was captured on camera shooting two unarmed protestors in Kisumu, killing one. (The Revolution Will Be Utubed)

Angry residents who claim some Ugandan soldiers were in the country blocked the Eldoret–Nakuru highway and with assistance from a senior GSU officer from Nairobi, established the vehicle had no Ugandans. (Fanya Fujo Uone are negotiating with citizens) That was supposed to be their job, lakini they chose to be dogs.

In Molo armed youths ambushed a contingent of security personnel in Molo and killed an officer, as post-polls violence escalated. (What was that, Armed Youth)

Kenyans Lawyers Agree, "Kibaki Must Go."

2008-01-18T08:56:00.000-08:00

Kenya has lawyers too, but how effective can they be?

Wakikuyu Wanakataa (Jan 16 2008) Arrogance and Shame!

2008-01-16T17:06:00.000-08:00

No Change in the Ministry of Finance (Kenkuyu Tresury). It cannot be arrogance or ignorance, but kukosa heshima na adabu. Fueling tribalism. Are there any wakikuyus near kumbafu kibaraka. Hatutaki chuki na ubaguzi. Kikuyus can keep what they have, but we might end up loosing all we have. F...d up. Take the page out! Do something! Pure wapumbavu hayawani. Ni kama kutia kidole ndani ya jicho. Pocking Kenyans in the eyes is not smart

Minister For Finance
_____Hon Amos Kimunya, See Profile (Kikuyu)
Assistant Minister Finance
_____Mr Peter Kenneth, See Profile (Kikuyu)
Permanent Secretary
_____Mr. Joseph Kinyua, See Profile (Kikuyu)
Investment Secretary
_____Ms. Esther Koimett, See Profile (Biwott's daughter)
Secretary/Director of Pensions
_____Ms. Anne K. Mugo, See Profile (Kikuyu)
Economic Secretary
_____Dr Kamau Thugge, (Kikuyu)

The Title Is Changing To, "The Kikuyu."

2008-01-16T15:32:00.000-08:00

The title is changing slowly but sure to, "The Kikuyu." If the arrogance of the Kikuyu Elite continues then expect the worst adjectives to be inserted before "Kikuyu."

Yes, being Kenyans we are different, we just looked at the inhuman tribal pride, sometimes with a smile. We prayed and hoped that someone somewhere will say "this is not right," but here we are. It is very sad we are here, but can we say for a fact that we Kenyans would never have arrived hapa tuko, this ugly destination? The light was on all those many moons, but blindly we chose to believe our beautiful and soothing words of the national anthem. We sang and believed, but can we also truly say, we all believed? You never know, but there is a possibility some of us were laughing at the rest.

The links below are a sign of something good for the future of Kenya, but it might also turn to be the beginning of the ugly hate of one tribe, the Kikuyu. Many of us can claim to have Kikuyu friends and sometimes family members, but if we don’t start talking to each other and helping those who are really in need of help then all friendship and family will goo to the toilet.

(1) Washington Post on January 16, 2008 had a very telling story or are they writing a future script. Let us hope it is not their wish.

Mjaluo:
"I am at a disadvantage because I'm Luo." Amini usiamini.
lakini sikiza vile anasema:
"Kikuyus and Luos do not read from the same page," Ulikuwa wajua?.
It was around 5 p.m. when he got off a bus run by a Kikuyu company and
made his way through the crowded dirt paths of Kangeme
He bought vegetables at a Kikuyu-owned stand,
walked to his Kikuyu-owned house
on Kikuyu-owned land and
washed his face with water from a Kikuyu-owned pump.
"The vehicles on the road, theirs.
Vegetables in the market, theirs.
Plots, theirs," he said as he arrived home.
"There is only the air we are sharing."

Soma yote:
Tribal Identity Shapes Kenyan Views, Realities
Blocks Apart in Nairobi, Sharply Divergent Lives.

(2) "Corporate Kenya finally faces reality of tribalism."
The East African had another take:
"Corporate Kenya is waking up to the reality of how much political and ethnic conflicts at the national level can affect productivity at the workplace."
Selective ignorance, all those days. Paka alikufa aknuka na sasa ameoza.

Already, many companies with branches all over Kenya are being forced to effect hasty transfers by deploying staff to parts of the country deemed safe for particular tribes.
Some kind of affirmative action.

Unequal Burden: Income and Racial Disparities

2008-01-15T21:49:00.000-08:00

Justice, what does it mean? After reading the report about subprime loans, I just wondered what it means to the people in the third world. This is happening here today, in the United States. In the third world it is worse. Here is the last paragraph that made me wanna...:

Key findings of the Department of Housing and Urban Development analysis show that: 1) From 1993 to 1998, the number of subprime refinancing loans increased ten-fold. 2) Subprime loans are three times more likely in low income neighborhoods than in high-income neighborhoods. 3) Subprime loans are five times more likely in black neighborhoods than in white neighborhoods. 4) Homeowners in high-income black areas are twice as likely as homeowners in low-income white areas to have subprime loans. Cont.

Another link

Mchawi Prof. Mutahi Ngunyi, Ana mastory mazee

2008-01-14T19:48:00.000-08:00

Mutahi Ngunyi said it, but we never picked it up. Zbigniew Brzezinski is the other cat that puts material out there for you see and then, BOOOM! Before sept kumi na moja, Brzezinski had a book out ,"The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives." That kind of blaaaa, and reading it I just wondered how he got it. Chapter four had this thing about whoever controlled the "Blackhole," would control thr world for the next 50 years. IRAQ. But to do so there has to be a war which to Prof Bzee, the Americans could not allow it, unless there was an attack like Paaaaaal Habari. Sep kumi na moja kaboom, na leo vipi. Do they not control the Black Hole.

Anyway I was talking about Mzee Ngunyi na balaa Kenya. Hivi nimepata barua kutoka kwa jamaa, and it was written ... might Dec 2003. It predicted what is going on in Kenya Today. Can you believe this jamaa? And before you go any other place read another of his uchawi, "Shetani Ashindwe." Look at the date.

The Re-colonization of Ngugi’s Mind

2008-01-12T12:35:00.000-08:00

Ngugi wa Thion’go had every right to support whoever he wanted in the past rigged Kenya election. His choice of throwing his weight behind Kibaki his former teacher at Makerere is understandable and commendable. Many would have wished the "internationally renowned Kenyan scholar" remained neutral. Ngugi’s commentary on BBC titled, "Ngugi laments Kenya Violence," is very disturbing and puts many former students, great admirers and people of color all over the world in a very difficult position.

On the violent reaction after Kibaki’s violent coup, Ngugi laments "that this instant seems to have been part of a co-ordinated programme with similar acts occurring in several other places at about the same time against ordinary members of the same community." Rather than standing tall and tell truth to power, our great African scholar, the proud author of "Decolonization of the Mind," seems blinded by tribal pride and chooses tribe over justice. Kibaki’s violent coup instigated violence upon an innocent nation. Ngugi cannot be naive to think, "Shoot to Kill," is a title of a movie, but an order to kill poor Kenyans by Kibakis illegitimate government. After the Rodney King verdict by an all white jury was pronounced, African Americans’ reaction was not co-ordinated and Ngugi would be committing intellectual suicide by stating otherwise.

Because of my high respect of Professor Ngugi wa Thion’go, I find it very hard to comment on the next two paragraphs, but hope he would re-evaluate his insinuation.

Paragraph (1)
An opposition movement is potentially a government of tomorrow. A programme that such a political organisation draws while in opposition would obviously be the programme they'll try to implement when in power.

Paragraph (2)
That's why such acts must be condemned even when they are clothed in progressive, democratic-sounding words and phrases.

It is the people of Kenya who were the opposition and the victims. To promote that the "Kikuyus are the victims and since Kibaki is a Kikuyu, then he too is a victim" is a bit of a stretch. Yes, the illegitimate Kibaki government INSTIGATED violence, (walipanga kuiba na kuuwa), they planned to steal and kill and the best proof is, "Ngugi look at the mirror."

Ngugi knew when he sided with Kibaki he would be accused of promoting tribalism and unless professor Ngugi wa Thion’go reads all his books, don’t expect him to change. Ngugi’s position should not be taken lightly.

The Real Enemies of Dedan Kimath

2008-01-11T12:09:00.000-08:00

Looking Back. If Dedan Kimathi was alive today, where would he be? The answer might be either Kibera or Mathare. Looking for answers is a journey that might take us to places we would rather forget.

Here is a former colonialist talking about his good old days in Nyeri, "This time it was at an abandoned farm known as Tozers. Dedan Kimathi's role was to lead the gangs under his control in a fight against the British Raj, the local settlers, but mainly against those elders of his tribe who continued to prefer the status quo underneath the Colonial Government." Read about the death of Dedan Kimath. What does Home Guard Michuzi think?

Before We Make the Next Move

2008-01-11T10:20:00.000-08:00

It is very important to look back before we make any move. Violence has been a tool used by many freedom fighters. The violent reaction after Mwizi took over is a clear answer that Violence will not work. Some people might say, "let's not take off the table," but the enemy is not the poor neighbor, The Kalenjin, That Kikuyu, That, Kamba, That Mdigo, but let as be very clear, it is the HOME GUARD!

Not only the Kibarakas, but the Aworis, the Kalonzos and many who would like Kenyans to take the wrong tool. Mathare is full of victims Kenyan Satanic Greed and the majority are KIKUYUS. "Hey People, let us think and look back. Dedan Kimathi would also say it is the Home Guards, and the Kenyan Home Guard economy STUPID." Violence will hurt mostly Kenyans and not the Home Guard vibarakas.

Ngugi Accusing the Opposition

2008-01-10T19:25:00.000-08:00

Ngugi laments Kenya violence

Renowned Kenyan novelist and playwright Ngugi wa Thiong'o tellls BBC World Update his views on the unrest that has engulfed Kenya since last month's disputed elections.

Rigged elections is one thing - it can be righted by any mutually agreed political measures - but ethnic cleansing is another matter altogether. Yes We Agree

What is disturbing is that this instant seems to have been part of a co-ordinated programme with similar acts occurring in several other places at about the same time against ordinary members of the same community. It Seems, but it was not coordinated, until there is proof, but there is a lot of BBC proof that shows rigging was coordinated.

Ordinary people do not wake up one morning and suddenly decide to kill their neighbours. That is very true.

Ethnic cleansing is often instigated by the political elite of one community against another community. It is premeditated - often an order from political warlords. Very True

An opposition movement is potentially a government of tomorrow. A programme that such a political organisation draws while in opposition would obviously be the programme they'll try to implement when in power. We don't know what Ngugi is trying to imply, but he has every right to draw any conclusion.

Some bits and pieces. Read The rest

Visit Dictator Kibaki

Ain't That a B...ch

2008-01-10T18:00:00.000-08:00

Ministry of Finance in Kenya: TODAY January, 10 2008. Two weeks of seeing thousands of Kikuyus being displaced and many killed for no reason than belonging to Mwizi Kibaraka's tribe. I hope someone will just do something about the people above. Haven't they seen. Shame on them idiotic satanic thugs. Innocent people being killed and The Ministry of Finance remains the same. The people around the Presedente are adding fuel. Please don't push. Change their names!!!!! We want to save our country from ourselves. We can no longer point fingers to outside forces.

OK!! Mwizi rigged the elections and there is enough evidence and........whatever! It does not matter. What can you say when a thief is too confident, they don't have to hide and sometimes they can do their dirty work in the open. As far as we are hoping to get a piece from the big thief, we will keep quiet and wait. Many Kenyans are used to the belief that, only the big idiot has the power. Munakaa munangojea kama ....

"PEOPLE POWER" is what Kenya needs. If Raila becomes president, the names above will start with OOOOOOs all the way. We all know that and that is why those who are in the second floor are not on the streets. They are hoping the big idiot upstairs will give them a chance. Life is not being given a chance by a bunch of thugs. Kibaki was educated in Makerere and London School of Economics. All that has not made him into a better human being. He is a thief, just like a street thug.

Ministry of Finance in Kenya: TODAY January, 10 2008. Two weeks of seeing thousands of Kikuyus being displaced and many killed for no reason than belonging to Mwizi Kibaraka's tribe. I hope someone will just do something about the people above. Haven't they seen. Shame on them idiotic satanic thugs. Innocent people being killed and The Ministry of Finance remains the same. The people around the Presedente are adding fuel. Please don't push. Change their names!!!!!

We want to save our country from ourselves. We can no longer point fingers to any tribe. Those who killed women and children in the church are Kenyans. Yes, let as stand up and say we killed our own. We never challenged our leaders when they wronged our neighbors.

Kalenjins are killing today as if yesterday never existed.

Do You Believe in "The Power of Prayer"

2008-01-08T19:42:00.000-08:00

It is hard to explain it, but you have to believe it. Having finished my last posting on Kibaki's silliest move where I mentioned the POWER OF PRAYER, I opened my email. I was moving away from the computer, but somehow like a robot, I opened my email. I could not believe my eyes, but like any other human being, I just brushed it aside with some basic explanation. "It must be a coincidence, "no__I convinced myself, "I must have seen the email before writing about the POWER OF PRAYER," and on and on. The truth is known by the Almighty, the Creator. If you don't believe in the POWER OF PRAYER that is OK, but I hope you can read the next line.

This LINE: Read this posting and then this link to a story in Mombasa. Once you are done, Ask yourself, "Have I prayed for those who are hurting in Kenya?"

Kibaki names cabinet. Kalonzo ni Kumbafu Malaya

2008-01-08T12:41:00.000-08:00

God was answering the prayers of those who had lost their loved ones. It looked promising and we thought why not join in prayer. Many of us who believe in prayer convinced many who had forgotten how to pray as well as those who had given up on THE POWER OF PRAYERS, to come along__"Let's US Pray."

EEEwe Moola, Wewe ndio uko na nguvu, Help US! We prayed for our country, our people, and put a lot of emphasis when we prayed for those who had lost family members. Since we prayed a lot, we might have forgotten to pray for our SATANIC LEANING LEADERS.

How tragic. How can we forgive ourselves; what will those who believe in the POWER of PRAYERS think. "God Help Us."

Let us hope and pray that we did not give the non-believers, and those who believe in VIOLENCE the tools to convince our children as well as those who don't see the difference, to destroy our country.

Here we go. When we were busy praying in churches and mosques, the SATANIC ADVISERS to our PRESIDENTE who many believe is nothing short of a THIEF, pulled him back to their SATANIC CAVE, and can you believe, they had the guts to tell him, the KUMBAFU WAKENYA, believe in prayers. They gave our Mr. Presedente a list of SANDUKU. Now that is serious business.
Kivuitu the chair of the Election Commission of Kenya is from the HONEST and PROUD Kamba tribe. Getting TRIBALISIS. Kivuitu did not only let Kenyans down, he should be ashamed of being a Mukamba. If he was threatened or paid, let us not do anything to him. Let him live with that sin and pray that his wish of going to a divinity school materializes. He will need all the prayers before he goes to HELL.

The Wakamba by not giving ODM-K all their votes, by taking away 4 seats out of 17, showed political maturity. At this time, all we say is KALONZO KUMBAFU and continue praying. We cannot afford to forget our SATANIC LEANING LEADERS, in our daily prayers.

Published on January 8, 2008, 12:00 am
By Standard Reporter (click to go to the 17 members of the SANDUKU ya KIFO)

President Mavi Kibaraka has named a 17 member cabinet with ODM-Kenya leader Mr Kamundu Muujinga as the Vice-President.

Letter to JALUODOTCOM, "Ngugi signs Petition that Kibaki rigged the Election."

2008-01-06T05:51:00.000-08:00

Greetings,

Ngugi wa Thiongo, thousands of Kikuyus and fellow Kenyans have signed a petition that Mwai Kibaki and his Party of National Unity (PNU) rigged the December 2007 Kenyan presidential election.

Some of the comments by Kenyans made me cry. Many said they voted for Kibaki or PNU, but agree ODM won. One wrote that he voted for PNU and saw Kibaki as an uncle, but he should step down and let Odinga rule. Another compared Kibaki to Mugabe, but the good thing in all the comments is the civility and humility, which is a true Kenyan value.

For those who have been blaming Kikuyus I think it is about time to tone down and grow up. I am sorry to say JALUO.COM is no longer a place for Luos only, but all Kenyans even if non-Luos do not contribute as much. I have been all over the web looking for other Kenyan voices, but the fact is Jalous are on top. They write more than any other TRIBE and not three paragraphs or six, but more than a basic posting.

The writing shows Jaluos are highly educated and if one would do some basic research, one would find that Jaluos are not only smart, but they too like Kikuyus have had access to education. We cannot say the same for Boranas, Digos, Rendiles, Somalis, Giriamas, Bajunis and many other Kenyans. The way things are, Kibaki is going down, but we cannot allow our emotions and fear to drive other Kenyans out of the country.

Kenyans are facing the worst time all over the country, from Kisumu to Mombasa. In some areas people are being told Mungiki are coming and in other areas, Kikuyus are feeling like they are not Kenyans. It is about time we look back and think for a moment. How many of those posting here or in other blogs have lived in Mathare or Kibera asili. How many of you have access to a refrigerator full of food and drinks. How many of you would like to trade places with those who have never known the difference between breakfast and lunch. I don’t think anyone of you would prefer to be those who are killing their neighbors.

One of the most famous personalities in Kenya and hero of mine is Chege, a Luo. Most young Kenyans today even Kikuyus, don’t want to be Raila or Kibaki, but none other than Oliech, another Kenya star.

I hope other people visiting JALUODOTCOM, will visit the petition page and read the comments and sign, in the hope of saving OUR BELOVED OSHAGO.

Asante Sana,

Mohamed Ahmed

Kikuyus split Wazee Wezi Vs Vijana

2008-01-05T15:44:00.000-08:00

It is true, wazee wezi are not bothered by stealing the election or whatever, tell them they might not be allowed to send their laundry to London. That will get them to wake up. Even the smartest don't see the STUPIDITY. Wamezoeya kuiba iba and not only from their country, but from their own families.

I and you are those vijana who from the very beginning said "No, you cannot do that, you are embarrassing us. We are Kenyans too." I knew only an imbecile , (kumbafu kubwa) could burn our young democracy. Kibaraka does not know the days of Mzee Kenyatta are gone and if at all he tried to come back, atanyolewa ndevu.

Excuse me, but this is an easy target; how could Uhuru forget how all traffic was redirected from Gatundu to Kabarak. I might be wrong, but stupidity is characteristic of many of us. If Mwizi is allowed to rule while drank and Lucy going around slapping whoever for the next five years, then we better accept Uhuru Kenyatta as the president.

Moi, stupid Moi. I said it aha! "Stupid Moi." Can you try to say it and just breath in and imagine how that feels. Now we have Mwizi Kibaraka and wow! That does not feel like saying "Stupid Moi," but it is OK.

With Tororotich as head advisor, IT thinks it can take Kenya back to the days of Kinyangarika and Msaliti, just because, are you ready, ..... Lucy Kibaraka could slap an official a week before the elections and nobody said anything. Moi must have told him not to worry. "Si ona fire mama anapiga baba ya mutu gofi, waghenya ni ghama watoto. Hata haguna haja ya gura."

Because it was accepted as normal, a first lady is like a Mama Taifa and thus, yes, she can slap a government official, a father, an uncle, someone's son, a grown up man in front of everyone to see, take video and pictures if they wanted. The media people were treated like chicken by the thugs. The footage was wiped out, film destroyed. The media reported the humiliation of a Kenyan Citizen, but the country was very accepting. That official, that son of Kenya was all of us. That is why Kibaraka and his thugs felt comfortable and with no respect to whoever was observing, they stupidly thought, Kenyans will accept rigging just like how the Lucy Kibaraka slapped a Kenyan Citizen with no shame.

No! No! NO! We have to empower our people Kikuyu or non Kikuyu to say "NO, WE are grown up women and men."

Commentaries Before the Kenya Elections

2008-01-05T15:26:00.000-08:00

I am trying to compile some of the commentaries before the elections. If you have any please post them.

Spotlight: Mwai Kibaki – Absentee leader seeking re-election
By Barney Jopson and William Wallis
December 23 2007 19:49
Financial Times

“Sisi ni wageni wa nani leo.”

2008-01-05T14:04:00.000-08:00

A response to another blogger in kiswahili.
PHILIP OCHIENG has a nice take on the killing, "Attacking one's neighbour is misplaced anger.

Ubaya wetu haukuanza na kura tarehe 27, 2007, sisi kila siku tunaona binaadamu wenzetu wakidhulumiwa. Mara ngapi tumesimama na kuangalia kama hayawani mwizi akichomwa na tairi. Ndio wizi ni tabia mbaya, lakini tukifika pahali pakumchoma binaadamu mwenzetu, kwasababu ya shilingi kumi, basi huwa hatuna utu.

Ni jambo muhimu tujiulize, kwanini siku zilizopita hatukuwa na ushujaa na kusema sheria lazima ipewe nafasi, na tuhakikishe wale walio na jukumu hilo la kuhukumu wezi wa aina yeyote, wako na uwezo. Kama wakishindwa kufanya kazi yao, basi hao ndio maadui zetu na kama hatua itachukuliwa, sio huyo masikini mwenzako anafaa kutiwa tairi, bali hao askari, majaji, wana siasa, mawaziri mpaka rais mheshimiwa.

Ukabila upo na sio wakati wa kujadiliana kuhusu ubaguzi, bali tujiulize "utu wetu uko wapi leo." Aibu sio kwa huyu ama yule, Mkikuyu, Mjaluo , Mkalenjin ama Kibaki na Raila, dunia nzima inaona uchi wetu. Aibu ilioje leo. Elimu yetu yote haina faida wala utajiri wakupindukia.

Kanisa linatiwa moto na binaadamu, watoto na kina mama. Bado tunazungumza kama hiyo ni sawa. Muerevu ni yule atakubali kuwa sote tuko na makosa.

Umasikini wakupindukia unatuangalia asubuhi na jioni.
Watoto wa barabarani wanavuta gamu.
Barabara zimejaa mashimo kutoka Busia mpaka Mombasa.
Matajiri na magari ghali vijijini.
Mawaziri wana peleka nguo kufuliwa uingereza.
Ofisi gorofa ya pili, kabila moja.
Kupata kibali kwenda kuja kesho.
Hospitali ya serikali,daktari anauliza “wapi sindano yako.”
Jiji kuu la Nairobi limejaa takataka.
Haina haja kuendelea, hata kipofu atasema, "Harufu mbaya."
Mimi na wewe ndio tulitia moto Kanisani.
Waliokufa kifo kibaya chakusikitisha, sio Wakikuyu.
Tumewauwa ndugu zetu.
Nakuuliza, “sisi ni wageni wa nani leo.”

Prophet Barrack Muluka's Preditions

2008-01-05T09:47:00.000-08:00

After reading, Help Stop the Genocide ( The Kikuyu side)
I clicked some of the links and NOT to my surprise, Prophet Barack had some figures that were a bit too much to digest.

The Prophet's predictions are taught in "Disaster 101" in all major schools, from Kindergarten to standard 4. Well, it is not lack of education that puts Kenya in the current situation, but pure GREED and STUPIDITY.

Just wondering: Raila is a multi millionaire can he respond:
What have you been doing in Kibera all these years as far as your millions are concerned?
Do you have a homeless shelter, a clinic, a childcare center, an adult school, a social center in Kibera or as if we care, Langata?

Moody Awori is a very successful Luo, Filthy rich, he is also the vice president who received a "thumping," as Bush would say. A script for uncle Moody with due respect:

Kenyans: Do those figures matter to you?

Thumped Awori: What figures are you talking about, I was rigged out, but I am back.

Kenyans: You should be humbled after WE fired you.

Thumped Awori: Who is we, no one can fire me . You know how many boards are
on my waiting list.

Kenyans: Yes we know how many boards, but it is all blah blah blah,
YOU ARE FIRED!
Thumped Awori: Ero kamano, are you a luo or okuyo?

Kenyans: it does not matter and since we have made you an example, just take
a walk and shut up. You better resign in all the boards before we go after them.

Kenyans: You are our ENEMY , if your company has a politician on your board or your payroll.

Help Stop the Genocide ( The Kikuyu side)

2008-01-04T13:42:00.000-08:00

At last, this is a breath of fresh air. Kenya Development Network and Consortium (KDNC) has published. The debate can start. I agree! I disagree!

"Raila Odinga exploited the above sentiments to gain support of people from Rift Valley and Coast province that are xenophobic." Uh! Ah! That does not help, but it is good.

Help Stop the Genocide

The international press and the international community are pre-occupied with the results of the recently concluded elections in Kenya while genocide goes on unabated. It is sad to note that we are quick to give justification of the killings while ignoring the historical events that have put us in this predicament.

The opposition is accusing President Mwai Kibaki’s party of rigging the election by inflating the results. On the other hand the president’s party is accusing the opposition of locking out its (the ruling party’s) agents from its strongholds then allowing multiple voting by compromising election officials. A close look at the election results shows that there was an unrealistically high turnout of voters in Eastern Province and Central Province where the president is rated favorably. There was also a very high turnout of voters in opposition strongholds in Rift Valley and Nyanza Provinces. This makes it difficult to tell who the real winner is in that poll that was said to be too close to call in pre-election surveys.

So how did the results lead to violence?
Even before the elections were held, there was propaganda circulating in Kenya pitting the Kikuyu tribe against the rest of Kenyans. Lists of Kikuyu government employees were circulated to create the notion that only Kikuyus were occupying top jobs. Those lists contained names of people from the Embu and Meru communities that live in the area around Mt. Kenya.

Kikuyu, Meru (composed of Meru, Mbeere, Tharaka) and Embu make up 24%, 6% and 3% of the Kenyan population respectively. People from these tribes are lumped together as GEMA and make up over 30% of the Kenyan population. One would expect a people who make up 30% of the population to have a noticeable presence in the job market and in the economy.

Then we propaganda saying that Central Province contributed the least in taxes yet it was allocated the most amount of money for development. This was first revealed in an op-ed by Barrack Muluka (The Standard, Saturday July 29, 2006 and Saturday July 22, 2006).

Kenya is a unitary state that is mainly funded by income tax and sales tax. From what I understand the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) doesn’t keep tally on what each province contributes. Such a figure will be hard to come by because businesses are registered in Nairobi and remit their income tax to KRA in Nairobi no matter what part of the country the companies are doing business. Also a significant number of people working in Nairobi City live in Central province. This means that if we were to look at income tax collected from Nairobi, it will also include residents of Central Province.

Those talking about distribution of wealth present the case as though the distribution should be between tribes. The reality on the ground is that Kenya has a few rich people (made of elites from all tribes) and a majority of poor people. The elites pushing the tribal agenda deflect the issue of equitable distribution of wealth from being a class issue and make it a tribal issue. The majority of Kenyans living in the slums is made up of people form the Kikuyu tribe.

The area around Mt. Kenya where the so-called Gema tribes come from is densely populated forcing it inhabitants to seek land and jobs outside their ancestral lands. Today, the Kikuyu and the Kisii (people a densely populated region in Nyanza Province) can be found in all part of Kenya. A majority of Kenyan immigrants in the USA and the UK can trace their lineage to the Kikuyu and Kisii tribes. In Kenya where tribes are supposed to own regions, it creates a lot of tension. A Kikuyu doing business in Kisumu is not viewed as just another Kenyan who is working hard to earn his bread but as an alien coming in to dominate the local people. This tension mixed with politics has in the past resulted in tribal cleansing.

Politicians who seek to control their tribes have used ethic identity (an equivalent of ultra-nationalism as in Germany and Russia). These politicians promise their tribesmen that they will establish Majimbo (Federalism) as a way to ensure that the Kikuyu and other “aliens” don’t dominate over them. To a significant population of Kenyans (mainly in Coast Province and Rift Valley) Majimbo means that Kenyans will go back to their ancestral land and leave behind their property.

The right too own property in any part of Kenya by any Kenyan citizen is a farce. A significant number of Kenyans believe that tribes own regions and those seeking to invest in those regions are temporary visitors who can be ejected at any time. Ejection and murder of “aliens” has happened in the recent past.

The following quote points this out:
“They said although ODM pentagon member William Ruto urged residents to observe peace when he visited the area, a politician from the area met youths and held a meeting at Maemba running into midnight, where he supplied them with torches and gumboots.

The politician is reported to have said that those who had bought land in the area had rendered the indigenous people landless and consequently homeless.”

Just before the election, Hilary Ngw’eno -a Luo veteran journalist- wrote a series of “historical” articles in the Daily Nation on the role of the Gema (Kikuyu) mafia in the late President Kenyatta administration. It is now apparent that Ngw’eno was pushing the Kikuyu vs. Kenyans agenda even further. His articles were supposed to remind Kenyans of the “evil” Kikuyus and their conspiracy to control Kenya. President Kenyatta and Raila Odinga’s father parted ways politically because Oginga Odinga was pro-communism while Kenyatta was pro-capitalism. People who want to rouse ethnic animosity often leave this fact out and argue that Kikuyus pushed Luos out of the Kenyatta government.

ODM and Raila’s Odinga’s role in the current ethnic cleansing
The background above is what has brought us up to this situation. Raila Odinga exploited the above sentiments to gain support of people from Rift Valley and Coast province that are xenophobic. Raila Odinga has never been for Majimbo but he chanced his stand to get the support of William Ruto (hails from the Kalenjin group of tribes), Najib Balala (a Muslim from Coast Province), and William Ole Ntimama (led the 1992 and 1997 ethnic cleansing).

The election results are just an excuse used to execute a preconceived genocide. It is a shame then when Raila Odinga justifies acts of genocide by claiming that those engaging in the crimes are “peacefully” protesting against a rigged election. He has asked the president to step down if he wants the killings stop.
The following quote from Reuters doesn’t show a people who are protesting the election results but a people who are out to commit genocide.

As black smoke billowed overhead, one crowd waved machetes and yelled "Death to Kikuyus". Young boys swigged looted beer.
"We have just started. We will loot all Kikuyu shops and kill them on sight," said Richard Ondigi, 23, a driver.

There are many reports like these.
In an action reminiscent of the Rwanda, Kalenjin Raiders who are supporting Raila Odinga and the local MP William Ruto (promised to be PM) torched a church killing more than 50 Kenyans mainly from the Kikuyu tribe.

Raila is yet to talk about the Eldoret massacre. He has denied a instigating a genocide saying, "The security forces are shooting people on sight. It is Kibaki that should be blamed."

Until yesterday, the Raila campaign website carried rumors that the Army and Police chiefs had quit. This information has been on the site for more than 3 days. The site had also carried rumors that the Electoral Commission chief had been killed. All this was meant to rally Raila Odinga's supporters and create anarchy. (I can provide saved HTML web pages and screen shots).Raila Odinga, William Ruto and Najib Balala have the power to order their supporters to stop the genocide but they are not ready to. They think that the killings will earn them political capital but that is not going to be the case.

The international community needs to look carefully at the historical data that led us to this. We should not excuse those committing the genocide by simply pointing out at the election results. In Kenya we have a saying that loosely translates: “the raging river that you see was once made up of streams.”

Options for a solution to the post-election crisis

2008-01-04T08:30:00.000-08:00

Kenyans Make me proud and I know we can do it. Haraaaaaaambeeeee! Tusaidiane.

Here is Mr Ngugi an assistant professor of Law, in collaboration with six other scholars working in the United States doing what great people do.

Before you read Ngugi's commentary, just step into the mind of FRED MUDHAI's, " Don’t kill your brothers and sisters for the sake of a political elite."

To ensure the road to peace is not full of pot holes with negative thought of what took place in Eldoret, Sammy Kitula paints a very colorful image of our ambassadors of peace. Listen to this paragraph:

"Sitting at the heart of the Great Rift Valley, just a few kilometres from Eldoret town and considered the nerve of athletics is the Kipchoge Keino High Performance Training Camp. It is located on a farm owned by the legendary Kenyan track star and is designated as an approved high altitude training facility by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)."

I read that paragraph three times and just wondered if I can re-programme my thoughts and all those who died in the church. They must have names and we cannot afford to forget them. Anyone with names of the children, mothers, fathers, grand mothers, uncles or who they were. I guess right now it is not a priority.

I am very bitter. I too feel a bit ashamed, (by any means neccesary can wait) but deep inside I recent dictatorships of whatever color or smell. Deep inside I cannot look at Kibaki and not feel ashamed. How could he.? It was like an abortion. The whole world was proud of us, the observers had already finnished their reports and their conclusion was a clear, "hey world, here is AFRICA and the Kenyans are leading." That was not meant to be.

Did you read what Moooooody Awori was saying after being fired by people from his home. He should be ashamed, and Kibaki's letter without mentioning ODM or Raila. Is he drunk or did someone else write the letter in lala land. Concerned parties are all Kenyans and are you deeply disturbed by the senseless rigging.

( Daily Nation)
COMMENTARY
Options for a solution to the post-election crisis
Story by JOEL M. NGUGI
Publication Date: 1/4/2008

KENYA IS IN DEEP CRISIS. IT is sitting on the precipice of a fully-fledged ethnic-based violent rupture. As death, mayhem, and possible genocide unravel, Kenyan politicians and leaders seem dangerously unwilling or unable to show genuine and effective leadership in ending the ethnic strife.

In refusing to seek an immediate end to the ethnic strife, perhaps each side hopes to somehow gain the upper hand in the resolution of the crisis. This is both dangerous and unacceptable.

The first step must be to end the violence. Neither side should equivocate on this. Neither side should take any other steps which might escalate the mounting tension.

Even as the Government attempts to control the violence, it must be sensitive to the underlying cause, and that avoids giving credence to the notion that the Kibaki regime is merely trying to perpetuate itself in power.

The Government must understand that there is genuine anger at the real and perceived irregularities in the elections, and understand that half the country see these irregularities as Kibaki’s illegitimate attempt to remain in power.
On the other hand, ODM leaders and supporters must understand that the first task is not to determine the winner of the elections.

The first task is to end the madness of violence that has engulfed us. They must desist from making any further comments which might inflame their supporters. Averting genocide is more urgent than determining the election winner.

THE SECOND STEP MUST BE TO FIND a political solution to the current impasse on the outcome of the presidential elections. There is no doubt that many Kenyans consider the outcome as announced by the ECK to be rigged.
There are many valid questions about voter turnout in some PNU and ODM strongholds as the Maragua and Rarieda cases indicate. The first step to finding a political solution must be for Kibaki and Raila to meet on mutually agreed terms. Each must desist from making unreasonable demands for such a meeting.

For such a meeting to be fruitful, the Kibaki government must soften its stance that the only solution to the crisis is a “legal” one pursued through the judicial process. The Government must immediately stop its rhetoric that no “mediation” is required to avert a crisis.

On the other hand, Raila must withdraw his demand that Kibaki steps down before he agrees to a meeting. He must understand that by meeting Kibaki, he would not be legitimising his presidency; he would be exercising responsible leadership.

A meeting between Raila and Kibaki would serve both performative symbolic and pragmatic functions. Symbolically, such a meeting sends a message to their supporters that it is time for peace, while giving hope to a mutually agreeable solution. Pragmatically, it will give a chance to both leaders and their advisers to start considering solutions to the crisis.

One such solution is to agree to a re-tallying of all the presidential votes. For this to ultimately work, both sides should agree on the rules of the game first.
FOR EXAMPLE, BOTH SIDES SHOULD agree on what to do where there is evidence of tampering with Form 16(A) or when to pursue further investigations at the constituency level before utilising the numbers provided to the ECK.

The re-tallying should be done by a credible, independent and international body. Such a body will eliminate any claims that the final outcome was determined by the respective party’s self-interest.

Another possible solution, which both sides must seriously consider in light of the ethnic strife engulfing the country, is another presidential election.
If this solution is to work, both parties must agree on terms for a “transitional government.” If this option is elected, for example, a transitional government does not necessarily have to be a short-term power-sharing arrangement.

Both parties could agree to legally limit the kinds of powers the Executive would exercise during the transitional period until another election is carried out.
A third political solution could be to combine a softer version of the “transitional government” solution with a legal solution. The parties could agree that Kibaki continues presiding over a transitional government until a legal solution is pursued and finalised.

However, rather than utilise the deeply flawed, highly technical election petition process, the parties could agree on a new, independent election tribunal that could consider all election complaints and determine their validity.

One could think of creative ways to make such a tribunal “legal” within our legal system — for example by asking the Chief Justice to constitute it, with input from both sides, from among mutually agreeable High Court judges so that it actually sits as an election court with an expedited schedule — and operating under new rules of procedure agreed upon by both parties, but formally promulgated by the Chief Justice.

Finally, both parties could agree on a longer-term power-sharing formula where both the ODM and PNU agree to form a government until the next presidential elections are held.

This could have the advantage of giving the country a chance to heal before the next polls. If this course of action is chosen, it might also include an agreement for legal, political, and constitutional reforms that must be undertaken before the next presidential elections, and the time-table for such reforms.

As this crisis has shown, we badly need electoral and constitutional reforms — and these reforms could be a sound basis for the healing that the country badly needs.

IF ANY OF THESE POLITICAL SOLUTIONS is chosen, the parties must agree on the effect of the solution elected on existing legal mechanisms for pursuing the rights of the parties. For example, the parties must agree if a particular solution pre-empts and precludes the legal solutions envisaged in the Constitution and statutes.

These political solutions require bold and responsible leadership by both Kibaki and Raila, and a measure of humility by their supporters.
On Kibaki’s side, it will require acceptance of international mediation as the basis for establishing consensus. Since the Government prefers “dialogue”, this will be a significant concession.

On Raila’s side, it will require that he takes aggressive action to calm his supporters and that he seeks to legitimise his claim to the presidency through one of the measures suggested above.

Mr Ngugi is an assistant professor of Law, University of Washington, Seattle. This article was written in collaboration with six other scholars working in the United States.

Man Beaten To Death In Kenya( bado tumelala)

2008-01-04T06:16:00.000-08:00

Habari Nyote, (Anaglia Kenya Yetu, hawa ni ndugu zetu)
Tafadhali soma.

Hapa Dayton tuko na wakikuyu na wajaluo wengi na makabila mengine kidogo, lakini sote ni wakenya. Najua kuna chuki baina ya wengi. Chuki ambayo haina msingi wakati ndugu zetu wanauana bure.

Natuma barua na picha kila wakati nikijua wengi wanasoma. Sababu kubwa ya kutuma ni kuhakikisha milango ya mawasiliano iko wazi. Jina langu ni Mohamed, ndio mimi ni Muislamu na wengi wenzangu ni Wakristo, lakini ukiuliza mtu yeyote ambaye ananifahamu, atacheka nakujibu, "huyo Mohamed Mkenya." Pia wewe na wengine, majirani wako wanakujua kama Mkenya.

Barua hii singeweza kuandika, isipokuwa tuko pahali pabaya sana wakenya wenzangu. Tusingojee mambo yaharibike kabisa na Kenya kubadilika iwe kama Somalia ama nchi zingine duniani ambazo ziko katika habari kila siku. Najua wengi hawataki Kenya izungumzwe vibaya. Tusimame kama binaadamu walio barikiwa, tufanye kazi ya haki.

Mungu ametuchagua kuwa pahali ambapo tunaweza kufanya makubwa. Tusaidie nci yetu na ndugu zetu. Basi nawaomba musimame tufanye kazi. Leteni maoni.

Kama kazi yako ni kusaidia wengine, simama uisabiwe
Kama wewe ni mwalimu, simama uisabiwe.
Kama wewe ni daktari, simama uisabiwe
Kama wewe ni fundi simama uisabiwe.
Kama wewe ni mwandishi, simama uisabiwe.
Kama wewe ni mwanafunzi, simama uisabiwe.
Kama wewe ni tajiri, simama uisabiwe.
Kama wewe ni masikini, simama uisabiwe.
Kama wewe ni muhubiri, simama uisabiwe.
Kama wewe ni Mkenya, LAZIMA usimame uisabiwe.
MVUKA itasimama iisabiwe. Huu ndio wakati wakutumia MVUKA.
Mola ametubariki na viongozi wazuri walio hakikisha,
"Miami Valley United Kenya Association," iko hai.

Asanteni sana na Mola awabariki,

Mohamed Ahmed
aka: Kamau Onyango

Thank You Kenyan Pundit. How broke we are

2008-01-03T14:54:00.000-08:00

When I am on the road, Kenyan Pundit keeps me up to date. Asante
When I get in the net, Kenyan Pundit, here I am. Asante
When I blog my thoughts, back N forth to Pundit. Asante
When you said you have to go, how broke I am, but. Asante
When are we going to learn, Kenyan Pundit must not go. Asante
It is NOW to write a cheque, then check out Kenyan Pundit fly. Asante
All you have done the last week, we can never pay you, but. Asante
For those who have not stepped into the world of Kenyan Pundit. Asante.
Just imagine what you have been missing, so say it, yes, say it. Asante

Shame on Luos, Kalenjins and fellow Kenyans

2008-01-03T13:53:00.000-08:00

NewYork Times tells the most horrific story of how the church in Eldoret was burned by Kelenjins and Luos. Ruto, Raila, Pentagon and ODM should think about the loss differently.
The election can be held at another time.
Right now we have to stop the madness.
The killing of innocent people is not the answer.

Thank you NewYork Times for doing the right thing. "Telling the Truth."

“As soon as we heard about the Kalenjins coming, we brought our people to the church,” said John Njorge, a Kikuyu. “A church is supposed to be safe.” Cont.

Red Cross, "Humanitarian crisis in the Rift Valley "

2008-01-02T19:19:00.000-08:00

Watch The Video

Kenya
ICRC regional delegation
Denis Pritt Road
P.O. Box 73226 - 00200
NAIROBI
(covers Kenya, Djibouti, Tanzania)
Tel.: (+254) 202 723 963 - 4 - 5 /
202 713 367 - 8 - 9
Fax: (+254) 202 715 598
e-mail

Kivuitu Did the right thing, "Save his skin."

2008-01-02T18:59:00.000-08:00

What would you have done?

Yes, vote tallying had problems, admits Kivuitu

2008-01-02T18:24:00.000-08:00

Here it is:

Yes, vote tallying had problems, admits Kivuitu
Story by DAVID MUGONYI
Publication Date: 1/3/2008

ECK chairman Samuel Kivuitu has admitted there were problems in the tallying of presidential votes.
And when he demanded all constituency tallies, he found some figures were not the ones he had personally seen, he said.
As of Tuesday, he added, the commission had not received the official Form 16 from four constituencies. The forms give the actual figures from constituencies signed by the returning officer.
It is those forms that had raised a furore when ODM leaders disputed the results, arguing that 49 constituencies had not submitted them and that the ECK was merely using a computer generated form that could be done anywhere.
The commission had delayed announcing the presidential results because it had not received the forms which are normally signed by the returning officer to confirm the true results. Mr Kivuitu also revealed for the first time that an ECK officer had shown him two constituencies whose results had been tampered with before the final results were released. And, although he had asked that the original figures be the ones to be included in the final tally, this was not the case as the inflated figures were allowed to stand.
He said the officer had shown him forms of two constituencies — Juja and Kieni — whose results had been tampered with and the returning officer had not counter-signed, as is the normal practice.
A shocked Mr Kivuitu said: “What surprised me was the files I saw yesterday (Tuesday) were very clean and the two files I saw (previously) were very dirty because of the cancellation.”
But he defended his decision to announce the results, saying they had been approved by all commissioners although he added that some of them were engaged in “stupid quarrels”.
Asked why he had not established the authenticity of the results before announcing, he said: “I announced the totals after all commissioners agreed after analysing them the whole night.”
I insisted
He added: “But when I insisted to get all the files with form 16, I was brought the files yesterday (Tuesday) which had the forms except from four constituencies and the results which I saw there from Juja and Kieni were the ones that were altered. We are still investigating, but I was shocked, absolutely shocked!”
Mr Kivuitu also said although he had seen dirty forms during tallying, those that he was brought when he demanded were very clean. “There seems to be something going on there which I don’t know. I got quite disappointed when observers said they were not being allowed into the building (tallying centre),” he said in an interview.
He said it was then that he decided to go there and see what was happening.
And he added: “When I went to the room later, one officer told me there is something happening here…look at these files — Juja and Kieni — I was amazed to see results which had been signed by the returning officer had been altered and not counter signed.”
Mr Kivuitu said there could be the court alternative or mediation between President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga to resolve the issue through a recount.
However, the second alternative must only be entered into with a solemn agreement that if there was an anomaly, there should be another election like it happened in Lesotho within a year.
He said he wanted to get to the bottom of the matter and could only quit after establishing the truth or if there were roadblocks to stop him from getting to know what happened. He had informed his commissioners that he was dissatisfied.
And he added: “There was immense pressure on me to announce the results in order to avert insecurity which I was advised was building up due to the delay.”
ECK was seeking a legal opinion from two lawyers from the continent to advise them on how to approach the issue.

"Safe Zones" Churches and Mosques a Must.

2008-01-02T18:06:00.000-08:00

Hot Spots in Kenya (We are better than killings each other)

Mombasa
Eldoret
Kericho
Kilifi
Taveta
Wundanyi
Narok__Nairegia,Enkare, Ntulele
Busia
Bungoma
Kakamega
Kuresoi
Molo__Sirikwa, Ndeffo
Kisumu___Manyatta, Nyamasira
Nairobi___Kibera, Mathare, Huruma, Mukuru
Nakuru ____Ngenia, Sirikwa, Meta, Mau Narok, Mukungugo, Kihingo
Rachuonyo
Vihiga
Kisii
Kitale
Matunda
Kapenguria

Kibaki Lost by: 467,176 Votes

2008-01-02T16:40:00.001-08:00

According to the Election Commission of Kenya, the real votes before being terrorized and after:

Real
Raila________4,215,437
Kibaki ______3,748,261
Total ______7,963,698
Kibaki lost by: _467,176

Rigged
Kibaki ____4,584,721
Raila _____4,352,993
Total _____8,937,714
Raila lost by: 231,728

Total Fake Votes 974,016. You wonder if it is a satanic number.
Only Kibaki and some very stupid thugs know. That is why ECK had to stop counting. The numbers were too big. The thugs wanted Kibaki to get all the fake votes, but Kivuitu convinced them to give some to ODM. KMwizi Kibaraka was given 836,460
and Raila 137,556

Total Fake Votes 974,016

2008-01-02T16:40:00.000-08:00

So many have died in Kenya for no reason at all. Some might say Kikuyu this or Jaluo that, but just venture into Kibera or Mathare. Kikuyus and Jaluos are the majority. We have let our fellow Kenyans down and we have stolen their humanity too. .

Elections after what Kenya has been through, MUST be normal like in many parts of the world. We survived Moi and his stupid mlolongo and now upumbavu na ujinga ndio unatupeleka.

A church was burned with people inside.
Why did they do it?
Is it some Satanic belief or something so evil even Satan is better. Women and children were burned in a church and nobody has been arrested and it looks like it is being accepted as normal.

People of good conscious must stand up and demand justice. Hey people! The church is a very sacred place and must be left as such. The church must always be a safe place. Yes, the church is a SAFE ZONE. There is going to be a demonstration against the rigging o f the elections, but we cannot sit and wait. We all must demonstrate against the attack of anyone in a church, let alone burn a church full of people.

Kibaki Must Step Down Petition

2008-01-01T23:16:00.000-08:00

Go add your name to the PETITION. Make history.
Join the Coalition of Kenyans and Allies for Democracy.
Many from all over the world have signed.

.

Even Obonyo cannot believe Kibaki ni Mwizi

2008-01-01T22:38:00.000-08:00

Oscar Obonyo is a Senior Political Writer with The Standard Group.
Standard is doing a very good job, but they too are human including Obonyo.

Obonyo, hey Brother Oscar Obonyo Obonyo. Many Kenyans have died not because of what you wrote, but they too were on the same wave of "make believe lala land. "Where do you stand now? Do you still stand by your last paragraph in, "Is Kibaki out to rig elections?"

"I am strongly persuaded that President Kibaki is not your kind of man who will lose sleep because of an election loss. If it happens, it might just be "Kazi Iendelee" as usual. In fact, he will concede defeat as he did at the referendum, to the chagrin of his diehard PNU operatives."
Obonyo is a Senior Political Writer with The Standard Group

I guess Not.
The economist turned politician, became respected Finance Minister and blah blah blah, has gone bad. What are we going to tell the kids? Our presendente is thief, mwizi, rui.... I guess yes.

Kivuitu, "I do not know whether Kibaki won the election".

2008-01-01T19:34:00.000-08:00

It is official from Kivuitu, the ECK Chairman.
Mwizi Kibaraka LOST.

East Afican Standard
By Isaac Ongiri

On Tuesday night, Mr Samuel Kivuitu made a damning admission that he announced results of the fiercely contested presidential election under pressure.
The announcement plunged the country into a post-election violence of a scale never witnessed before.
The magnitude of the Electoral Commission chairman’s admission and the further dent on the credibility of the election was captured in his answer when asked if indeed President Kibaki won the elections: "I do not know whether Kibaki won the election".
Kivuitu continued with his stunning revelations when he said he took the presidential election winner’s certificate to State House, Nairobi, after "some people threatened to collect it while I’m the one mandated by law to do so".
"I arrived at State House to take the certificate and I found the Chief Justice there, ready to swear-in Kibaki," Kivuitu said.
On claims that he was under undue pressure to declare results, Kivuitu said: "Some PNU (Party of National Unity) and ODM-Kenya leaders put me under pressure by calling me frequently, asking me to announce the results immediately".
President Kibaki ran for re-election on a Party of National Unity ticket, while Mr Kalonzo Musyoka, made his bid on an ODM-Kenya ticket. Mr Raila Odinga, who has said he was robbed of victory, ran on an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket.
On Tuesday, Kivuitu said the alleged pressure to declare results came in the wake of parallel pressure from a number of ambassadors from the European Union countries and Mr Maina Kiai of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights not to announce the results until complaints, which arose, were addressed.
"I had thought of resigning, but thought against it because I don’t want people to say I’m a coward," he said. The embattled ECK chairman made the revelations shortly after meeting with 22 ECK commissioners.
On Tuesday, Kivuitu conceded that matters that arose from the poll results were so urgent that they should be taken to court, and the ruling done with minimum delay to ease national tension.
Court settlement
"If this matter is finally taken to court, the ruling should be made urgently so that if it were decided that Raila is the President, so be it. If it is Kibaki, so be it," he added.
Kivuitu said he made the decision, whose far-reaching implications are now being felt across the country. He said he announced the results because the commission had no legal mandate to investigate complaints raised by the opposition immediately.
Kivuitu fell short of naming the individuals from the two parties — PNU and ODM-Kenya — who coerced him to announce the disputed poll outcome, but went on to announce that the commission was consulting eminent lawyers over the next course of action "so that its actions remain within the law".
The EU observer team has discredited the poll results and urged for an independent audit.
On his part, Kivuitu said he backed independent investigation into what may have happened, but added that this would be only if the law would provide for it.
"We are culprits as a commission. We have to leave it to an independent group to investigate what actually went wrong," the chairman said, stunning local and international journalists, who had gathered at his Nairobi residence.
It has also emerged that some countries concerned with the poll outcome, like South Africa, had sent in their electoral officials to the country.
Kivuitu said the officials would be arriving on Wednesday "to look into the matter".
On Tuesday, Kivuitu was in a meeting with his 22 commissioners, which his deputy, Mr Kihara Muttu, described as "a house-keeping meeting".
In a signed statement, the 22 commissioners condemned the violence, which up to last night had claimed the lives of about 300 people.

Open Letter To US Secretary Of State

2008-01-01T17:35:00.000-08:00

A Kenya Patriot wrote an "Open Letter To US Secretary Of State."
All you have to do is copy, paste, Print and Mail to:
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

Ask Mwai Kibaki To Resign.
He has no legitimacy nor the majority to govern.

Dear Condoleeza Rice,
United States Secretary Of State.

As a US citizen with family in Kenya, I am alarmed at the United State's initial reaction to the disputed Kenyan election.

All foreign observers including the EU have raised serious concerns and withheld congratulatory messages to Mwai Kibaki, who hurriedly swore himself in office after a disputed election.

The congratulatory messages by the US envoy to Mwai Kibaki, emboldened him to deal ruthlessly with the opposition's protestation, after he (Kibaki) unceremoniously swore himself in office last Sunday night, less than 1 hour after being declared winner.

The knee-jerk action by the US envoy was a mistake that could very well be the onset of genocide in an otherwise peaceful nation that Kenya is.

Even though the State Department has recalled the congratulatory message, The United States, being a champion of democracy and rule of law by civilians, must move swiftly to send a clear and strong message that natures democratic principles.

The Kenyan Government must be condemned for use of live bullets to quell wanainchi's (voter's) protestation. The US understands that looters lawless demonstrators must be arrested and prosecuted and not shot at sight with live bullets.

The US must demand that the Opposition must be accorded freedom of expression, and that in turn must use it peacefully.

The US must also demand that the Kibaki government withdraws the ban of live media broadcast, and stop forthwith the harassment of press houses that are not pro-government.

Life is precious and all efforts must now be made to prevent a civil war. As influential as the Unites States is in it's foreign policy of spreading democracy throughout the world, The United States must lead from the front and do it now.

A lot of lives have already been lost. The US' action must be swift, right and clear. This action could prevent further loss of lives, unless the US' national security interest in Kenya does not include preventing genocide.

May God bless the United States and Kenya.