YES, LADIES LOVE FOOTBALL

Last year I was sitting with a good friend of mine watching television when the coca cola advertisement about the world cup came up. I noticed that the advertisement was making her angry so I proceeded to ask her what the problem was. She told me that she thought the advertisement portrayed females in a bad light when it came to football games. She said it portrayed them as people who are clueless about football and as people who just watch the game to see handsome footballers with good muscular chests which some of them tend to famously show when celebrating after scoring a goal. 

She went on to tell me how some men irritate her by stereotyping women as people who do not anything about the game or cannot sit down to watch a full match. Suggesting it was high time for those men who stereotype women that way to understand that there are women out there who love the game and understand its dynamics. It got me thinking of the number of times I have received weird stares from some guys after overhearing me discussing something related to football. Luckily for me I stopped getting irritated long time ago and I brush them off as I have loved football from an early age in my life. 

It got me remembering my childhood days when I started knowing about football. My big brother who is almost my age mate used to go with my small sister and I to play around the neighborhood and we got to play. I used to particularly love being a goalkeeper as I used to find it easy. At the end of the day we would go home very dirty but very satisfied.

I started watching football when I was twelve years old back in primary school. I must admit I started watching it for wrong reasons but in due time I got to develop a genuine interest in watching the game. I had seen a photo of Cristiano Ronaldo when he was in Manchester united and I was totally smitten. I started watching the Barclays premiere league particularly Manchester united so that I could watch him play and my interest developed from there. My overzealous father and my two big brothers also contributed majorly to my interest. After developing a genuine interest, I asked one of my brothers to explain the basics of a game, how the teams play and I got to know other teams too. Those were the good old days when Manchester united playing arsenal was a big deal and the rivalry was strong. 

Back in high school my interest started to go down as I was in an all-girls high school and not many of them were fans. By good chance I found out some girls shared my interest and appreciated the game. We became fast friends and frequent discussions of the game were the norm for us. We used to ask our math’s teacher Mr. Thumbi for the scores of the Barclay's premiere league which is played during the weekend or run for the newspapers in the library so as to know the scores. We even ended up convincing our principal to let us watch the world cup final 2010 between Spain and Netherlands and it was on a weekday.

After finishing high school my interest was back in full force as I was back home with my father and brothers as diehard fans. I used to ask my brother to tag along during the weekends in restaurants and pubs to watch the Barclay's premiere league. I used to find myself in situations where I was the only female in a sea of men watching a game while accompanying my brother. I used to endure the weird stares and had to curtail my talk when it came to commenting about the team I was supporting. I have sat in pubs patiently with my brother enduring the smell of beer which I do not like at all and drunkards for the sake of not missing a game.

I particularly loved last year as the world cup was in Brazil and I wasn’t locked up in high school and I could watch the game. My father had also installed a DSTV decoder so I could watch the games from the comforts of my home. I used to hurry up from my judicial attachment, refrain from making any detours so that by seven o’clock am seated comfortably watching the game which would be on. I earned myself a lot of scolding from my mother who expected me to cook supper but I refused to watch the interesting games. As I continue with my love for football I have gotten used to some men stereotyping females as incapable of loving and knowing about football with their weird stares when I discuss about the game. I have learnt to deal with that as I would rather spend my weekends watching the Barclay's premiere league rather than do anything else.

I might not be a fanatic like some people out there, still get confused when free kicks are awarded or when a player is offside but I can still follow a game with ease. I am still learning things when it comes to clubs but all in all football is my favorite sport. To all the stereotypes out there who think females are incapable of watching a football game due to loving the game its high time u change your mindsets. There are females out there who watch the game for the fact that they love it and it’s their favorite sport.

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Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga's Speech at the CORD A.G.M -25th Sept 2014 STRONGER COUNTIES FOR EQUITABLE NATION:

Our constitution opens with five powerful words: We, the People of Kenya.
I get the feeling not all of us appreciate the importance of these words. We, the People of Kenya. These five words in the preamble identify who is responsible for promulgating and upholding the foundations of the Kenya Constitution 2010.
Our intent in giving ourselves the Constitution, is laid out in the remainder of the preamble thus:
ACKNOWLEDGING the supremacy of the Almighty God:
HONOURING those who heroically struggled to bring freedom and justice to our land:
RECOGNISING the aspirations of all Kenyans for a government based on the essential values of human rights, equality, freedom, democracy, social justice and the rule of law:
EXERCISING our sovereign and inalienable right to determine the form of governance of our country and having participated fully in the making of this Constitution...
ADOPT, ENACT and give this Constitution to ourselves and to our future generations.
In the past few months, we have gone around the country, we shall continue to go around the country, for the very reason we've gathered here today: to push to change our constitution in our capacity as the people of Kenya.
The constitution of Kenya 2010 allows for a referendum to amend it.
The constitution says the referendum can be through a parliamentary route or a popular initiative. We, the people, have chosen the route of popular initiative.
In providing for amendments, the constitution of Kenya 2010 does not label any such effort as an attempt to overthrow or to slow down the government or take over power through the back door.
We commit no crime in seeking to change the constitution.
This is not a contest between Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga.
This is not a test of might or popularity between CORD and Jubilee.
Nor is it an attempt to revive or to end political careers.
It is not a battle for short term gains. We are in it for the long haul and for our country.
We are not in this because we love our government less. We are in this because we love Kenya more. And we are in it within the law for we believe in the rule of law.
So ladies and gentlemen, do not be afraid, do not feel guilty, and do not be apologetic over this journey. We, the people, are acting within the law, in the best interest of our country.
We expect the government to facilitate, not frustrate our efforts.
Many battles have been fought from this venue. At this very venue, Dr Crispin Odhiambo Mbai put the case like nobody ever did on why we need to devolve power and resources.
They vilified him. They trailed him. Eventually, they killed him. But devolution came to be.
And Kenya is a much better place today because of devolution.
In Kenya, you know you are into something big and something good when the establishment fights you viciously and gets personal. So when they vilify and stalk you, when they impute bad intentions on your part today and go all out to tarnish your standing,
it is because you have hit where it matters.
We are out to strengthen Devolution because we have seen what it can do what ails it. We have seen what County governments have done with so little money in such a short time.
I will give a few quick and random examples.
In MARSABIT, the National Government drilled only about 20 boreholes in the last 50 years.
The county government has drilled 20 boreholes in one year.
Livestock is the mainstay of Marsabit.
But for 50 years, the region never built a slaughter house. Today, after one year of Devolution, Marsabit is set to perform a ground breaking ceremony for a Modern Slaughter house.
In SIAYA, there were only 3 government tractors when the County government took over in 2013.
In one year, the County Government has bought 7 tractors and hired 30. Siaya harvested 3,300 bags of maize.
Within a year, the County government put 5,000 hectares under mechanization.
This year they expect 880,000 bags.
Kisii Hospital has never had a dialysis unit since it was built in 1917.
One year after devolution, a dialysis unit is being set up by the County government.
The mortuary capacity that never exceeded 20 is expanding into 100.
The hospital is now a teaching and referral facility and a 150 bed capacity ward is coming up.
MOMBASA County mobilized 27 cars within months of taking office for police to ensure security.
At no one time in 50 years did the county manage that number of vehicles.
Last month, we were treated to the Mombasa Cultural Festival. This is a routine culture among resort and tourism cities around the world to attract visitors.
The County of Mombasa has been let down on security by an incompetent and uncaring national government.
Mombasa is set to unveil the first water desalination plant by 2016.
In Wajir, they have launched the first tarmac road-25 kilometres--since independence.
Of course these county governments are not perfect.
But then, no one is. For months, we have been asking the national government to account for the Sh15 billion that was stolen from OP. No one is talking.
When counties are strong, we have an economy firing from all cylinders. That means jobs and opportunities for youth and good living for all.
That is why we are demanding that 45 per cent of National Revenue must go to the counties to enable them carry out functions that are commensurate with this allocation including Ward development.
We want an end to the deliberate confusion around the Provincial Administration.
The Constitution requires that it be restructured to fit into devolved system. The government is busy renaming and strengthening that system. We want state departments and parastatals whose functions were fully or partially devolved to release to the counties all the funds they are holding illegally in Nairobi.
Today, the National Government is holding up to KSH 120 billion for functions already devolved.
Continuous withholding of these funds is a major source of several crises affecting the counties.
Money for class D roads which are the responsibility of County governments has not been released, nor have the roads been gazetted to formally revert to counties.
We recognize that the country’s foreign policy is role national government. However, Counties are now major centres of investment, trade and other critical sectors of economy.
We feel their voices should be heard in determining the core foreign policy direction of the country. The best scenario would have been a bipartisan approach. That would have given us a chance to debate and resolve even non referendum issues, like the relationship between the legislature and the Executive.
There are a number of areas we have gone silent on. We have gone silent on the national values and principles of governance which include integrity and transparency.
Nobody is talking about Chapter Six of the Constitution which deals with Leadership and Integrity.
There is also concern about the exclusion of MPs and Senators from appointment as Cabinet ministers (or secretaries). MPs feel they are stuck in a dead-end job with no chance of rising unless one runs for President. They can’t be ministers however long they get elected.
We missed that chance because they bipartisan approach was never given a chance. I believe it is not too late.
Is it too early for a referendum to amend the constitution?
We say No. The test is not the timing but rather the necessity.
In the USA, the Constitution came into operation on 4th March 1789 and the First Amendment was sent to the States for ratification on September 25, 1789, barely six months later.
In fact negotiations for amendment were already underway even before the Constitution itself had been fully ratified.
The South African Constitution, from which ours borrows heavily, was first amended on 28th August 1997, also barely six month since it came into operation on 4th February 1997.
In its seventeen years of existence, the South African Constitution has been amended seventeen times.
They will tell you Americans did not go to the referendum.
Yes they did not go to the referendum but that was because the government opted for dialogue.
We, the People, must now roll our sleeves from here and reach every corner of our country, for the sake of our children and grandchildren.
Thank You.
Via  L'Emperor Jo

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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IS THE FUTURE FOR KENYA

As the calls for a referendum loom, I wonder is it for the greater good of the society as a whole.

Will it benefit each and every Kenyan, including people in El Molo dying of hunger? Kenyans in Wajir and Mandera counties involved in inter-clan fighting? Kenyan affected by the recent Lamu attacks, whose security has been ‘improved’ only through presidential political rhetoric rather than in actual sense seeing as people are dying from what has been confusing intelligence reports placing culpability on everything and everyone from al Shabaab, to political incitement, MRC, land grabbers, etc. It seems no one cares enough to stop insecurity in its totality and secure the people of this nation that all leaders swore to protect!

This brings me back to my main agenda, public participation. Public participation works through involving people likely to be directly affected by a decision made by public officials, in the actual decision-making process. It portends that persons affected should be provided with relevant information and should be told how their input will affect the decision. We are living in an era where elected and appointed officials cannot make arbitrary decisions purportedly on our behalf as Kenyans, but must consult us at every juncture of decision-making.

As the opposition attempts to collect five million signatures for a referendum, I'm not aware of any of my friends or relatives who has ever endorsed or participated in any decision-making that touches their lives. The only thing that most Kenyans engage in is voting for leaders who ideally should be our eyes, ears and hands in top decision-making places, but who end up using their offices to satisfy their greed or their bosses’ greed. This is especially true of those who were voted merely by calls for a ‘three piece suit’ system to give the big men numbers in Parliament.

The moment we stop lending and auctioning our politicians and our brains to political mediocrity the earlier we will achieve development and kill the tribal card that has always been used to amass votes for one political elite side against the other. We have to be involved directly on every decision that touches our lives by first voting people who share our views and agenda for development, then indirectly, by the leaders we have voted through actions that totally represent us and not themselves.

How representative have decisions by the current government and opposition been of us Kenyans? How representative are they of all ethnicities, religious affiliations and races? If none at all, then it’s high time we do away with them come next election and more so vote for a referendum that is about us and not them. To these political formations, public participation will be through hired populous in their rallies where they marshal up troops to lie to us that we are all one. We must stand up and be counted! Ni Sisi!

The hard hitting reality will be when Kenyans stand up for themselves and be counted. I quote Brian Eno “Democracy is a daring concept, a hope that we’ll be best governed if all of us participate in the act of government. It is meant to be a conversation, a place where the intelligence and local knowledge of the electorate sums together to arrive at actions that reflect the participation of the largest possible number of people”

Extract from my article on the Star

http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-184812/public-participation-future-kenya       

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WE DONT NEED POLITICIANS IN OUR NATION

Looking at many ills in our society, apart from those made by thieves, robbers, rapists, killers, etc. many have been made or fuelled by politicians. I mean this lot of persons are ‘elected and professional thieves, robbers, rapists, killers etc.”

By definition; Politics is the science of government; that part of ethics which has to do with the regulation and government of a nation or state, the preservation of its safety, peace, and prosperity, the defense of its existence and rights against foreign control or conquest, the augmentation of its strength and resources, and the protection of its citizens in their rights, with the preservation and improvement of their morals.

In my economics class my lecture used to say that “we cannot do away with politics but we can do away with politicians” maybe the name itself (politician) has loads of ill that it passes to a person that calls him/herself a politician through demonic possession that even a pastors hands and prayers cannot disposes. We have seen many of them being prayed for now and then, kneeling before the Lord but after that they go back to their evil ways and they don’t even realize that they just ‘received’ anointing, if it’s not their usual political plays.

In the new constitution we created Governors, they were meant to be Chief Executive Officers of the county, but with their political associations, one year four months down the line since the last election, Governors have reduced their roles from development centres that were to meet the developmental need of a certain local county to political wrestlers with wrangles starting with their supremacy battles with Senators to bribing MCA’s and offering them out of proportion allowances to trips that will never benefit the counties nor wanjiku whose dream seems invalid the moment they cast a vote.

As we scraped the Ministerial position to Cabinet Secretaries, we all thought that bringing on board technocrats would benefit us even more given the fact that some of the ministers lacked or had little education. The one thing in common that spoils it all, is that same as Ministers, Cabinet Secretaries are political appointees, this means they will serve the wishes of the hand that picks them. This is the reason we have had numerous attack both in our wildlife and citizens, the number of tourists has gone down, our liability through borrowing has gone up, the balance of trade between us and other nation has dwindled, we are now importing maize from Tanzania, people are dying of hunger in El-Molo etc. and yet no one cares and no one is being held accountable.

We all associate development to politicians and to vote them in they always come up with manifestos as a list and promise of what they will do once they get elected. Development doesn’t need to be instigated by a politician rather it should be a need related where the politicians should fulfill for us as the servants of the people rather than rulers of persons.

All we need are trained professional that will guide us through this development journey, professionals we can fire and hire if we need better services. Politicians act up as the lead and our broker’s to these technocrats. Some of them have manifested themselves as tribal Kings and mostly practice aristocracy in the name of democracy to show us that we have a voice but in truth we don’t.

If we move away from politicians I know they have the ability to camouflage to whatever we need so that they can survive among us and on top of us, but the best thing is we need to have our voice heard on issues rather than borrowing from a few individual that are out to satisfy their unending power belly.

If the roads are bad, the hospitals services are poor, the education facilities are wanting, food supply has dwindled, our products are of poor quality etc. if we all know this surely we don’t need politicians to tell us what we want, we are the bosses lets employ and if it doesn’t work we fire. 

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