Call it as you see it!

Life would never have been this better without internet, and more importantly social media. Today, almost everyone is completely connected and has a chance to create and share platforms with the world or, so to say, with people who share common interests. With the internet, we have a medium that allows us to social network and spice up our lives, which could be otherwise so miserable. While we are happy with social networking, it is important to ask ourselves the question whether we are willing to be the same person, online as offline, or whether we want to have two personalities; online and offline. It is a kind of a dilemma, since it is hard to be fake (being someone you are not), or having to share each and every aspect of one’s life, even private, on social media. It is therefore a personal choice to choose what kind of a person they want to be online. If one feels comfortable sharing their true selves with the whole world or to be less open, it is wise to do so knowing that th

We have witnessed in the past few days, what we would call the highest level of political prostitution and infidelity by our politicians. In a quest to beat the coalition deadline, Politicians have been running like headless chicken trying to make sure they are at least ‘somewhere’.  Many of us have been shocked by the outcome, although we had heard and seen it all before; those who think they are reformers saying they would never work with non-reformers and those who were once greatest foes and vowed never to work together finally forming   alliances. Who would have ever thought, for example, that Mama Rainbow would have ended up joining forces with a man whose hand she has refused to shake on several occasions or that? This was a clear indication that very few leaders, if there are any, have the interests of Kenyans at heart; they are all doing it to satisfy their own selfish interests. Over the years, Kenya has been governed by men, and we haven’t had any single woman ho

On December17th this year,it will be exactly two years since Mohamed Bouazizi,a 26 year old man who owned a vegetable stand in Tunisia, set himself on fire to protest the government's repression.Bouazizi had a University degree,but after failing to secure work since he did not know anyone in the system,he set up the produce stand to cater for his family of eight.Even after being pushed that far by a corrupt government that never cared about the interests of its citizens,his troubles didn't end there;the local police kept harrassing him and stopping him from selling his produce on the streets.One day,after a confrontation with a policewoman who did not only slap him but also spat on his face and cursed his dead father,Bouazizi went to the provincial administration to seek help,but he could not be seen.He could not be listened. He could not be heard.He was frustrated.He had had enough.He did not know how much he was going to have since he did not know anyone.He therefore set him

So excitement is looming all over following the re-election of Barry for a second term,saving him the pain of being a one-term president like his friend Sarko,former French President.Despite the bad economic situation in the US of A,Hurricane Sandy and disappointments after he failed to fulfill the promises he made in 2008,President Obama emerged the winner early this morning. Being re-elected during such difficult times proves that Obama was picked as the least worst of the two; a good electoral judgement. So unpredictable was this election,given the economic downturn,that many looked at it as an electonomics,since the main issue was economy. You will agree with me that Barry was re-elected while unemployement was at its highest ever in the American history,and so the question is,if the President hasn't done anything about the economy,then why was he re-elected? A few lessons can be learnt; 1.For the candidates Know your audience,well. Are you,as an American better off th

It is so disheartening that for the third time in six years, MO Ibrahim Foundation has withheld its Leadership Award for lack of a suitable candidate. The brainchild of this initiative is Sudanese born British mobile communications entrepreneur and billionaire. He is the founder of Celtel, which at the time of selling, had over 24 million mobile phone subscribers in 14 African countries. Mo Ibrahim This prestigious annual award is set to be awarded to a democratically elected African leader who during his term, helped improve the quality of life in his/her country, promoted good governance and development, and have left office at the end of his term in accordance with the constitution.  It carries a state prize of $5 Million and  an annual payment for life of U.S. $200,000.  Since its establishment in 2007,only three former African leaders have won;Joaqim Chissano,former president of Mozambique in 2005,Festus Mogae,former president of Botswana in 2008 and former Cape Verde

Tomorrow's third and last Presidential American Debate (2012 )is a long awaited event,a few days before  the election of the 45th President of the greatest Nation on earth. The last two debates have generated overwhelming feedback from Americans and the rest of the world.One  outstanding thing in Americans is the way they give importance to the outside appearance(looks) of an individual.Our memory would be defined as short if we have forgotten what happened to Gabrielle Douglas,the 16 year old American girl who won double gold in artistic gymnastics in the London Olympics Games 2012,but received a backlash about her unkempt hair.Everything else was ignored;even the fact that she is one of the few American-African gymnasts to compete in Olympic Games and the first black woman ever to take the all-round individual title.  American(and almost all cultures now with globalization)is a superficial culture, and appearance does not just matter but is a MUST.Pretty hard to understand wh

I have always had a problem with the image of Africa to the rest of the world;that of being a dark continent  where hunger,poverty,illiteracy etc reign.I get disturbed when I see posters of malnourished children as a signature of Africa,and wonder when I will wake up to see a more positive image of this wonderful continent. Why is Africa still poor? Why are  people dying from hunger and poverty even in the 21st century?Is it due to the effects of colonialization?Lack of natural resources or human capital?Laziness?Are African leaders elected?Is there democracy in Africa?  Yes,there is democracy in Africa if that is what you were just about to ask,REAL democracy.It is real democracy since our leaders are elected through suffrage,the right to vote.Democracy prevails where citizens have the right to vote for or against laws or leaders. In a government that holds democracy as one of its foremost  fundament principles, aspiring Leaders are supposed to present the policies that they

T he KTN’s award winning investigative journalist Mohammed Ali of the Jicho Pevu fame has become a household name lately.Many Kenyans have been mesmerized at just how smart and organized the soft spoken journalist is. He validates Martin Luther King Jr words that, "If a man is called to be a street-sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street-sweeper who did his job well.'" Watching  Moha doing his job,one cannot avoid to notice how interested he is in his job and the great passion he puts in what he does.Passion refers to energy,which can be physical,emotional,mental or spiritual.The fact that he captures every single detail and pursues all clues he is convinced will lead him where he wants to get shows passion.It is also obvious that he works outside the 8h-5h normal workin

It has been established that the number of  bars in Central Kenya is higher than the number of schools in the area.The few existing schools have been found to be almost deserted.There have been cases of incentives being offered to accelerate reproduction,with one Councillor from Murang'a on record for offering Ksh500 to any woman who conceives and later visiting the women after birth with baby-showering gifts and a token of Ksh2500. To support all these facts,there have been the now so popular husband battering cases,a phenomenon that has been attributed to irresponsible drinking and abandonment of duty.It is not uncommon to see haggard looking men hanging around in shopping centres,some leaning on the shop walls as if they were preventing them from tumbling down. These men are later to be seen before dusk in a  drunken stupor and in tattered cloths.Some look wobbly and their trousers barely hold to their waist.One wonders what kind of a woman would accomodate such an eyesore of

Last week, while sharing the news about the passing on of the Minister for Environment and MP for Kangema Hon John Njoroge Michuki with some compatriots,one lady friend asked,'Is it  Michuki who was once caught wearing torn socks?'to the amusement of the rest of us. Today as I sat glued to the screen thanks to technology(courtesy of KTN) for over four hours,I felt like I was watching a great movie;a movie that was so interesting and shouldn't have ended.The only peculiar thing was that the lead star,the main actor was passive,the audience were indeed the main actors. Speaker from speaker they eulogized him,each with something different to share about the fallen hero.It is uncommon to have a  funeral so filled with humor as his was.I even had a notebook and kept writing down a point,a lesson to learn from the eulogizers who have had the chance of living a day or more with the late Hon.Michuki. But it was Prof.Margaret Kamar's who brought out a whole and clear pi