END OF THE BEGINNING OF A YEAR THAT WAS

My dear and abiding friends, the world is no more.I arrogate myself the role of a myth buster. Whoever predicted the end of the world must know by now that tequila based cocktails are not a good idea after all. Well, I guess this is the alternative universe, different from what it was yesterday.  Technically we are still on the same awesome and sometimes not-so-awesome planet we were in yesterday but it is the close of business. Almost every person is taking time to cool off.

OVERWHELMING GRIEF

We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Last Friday morning, in a small peaceful town of Newtown, Connecticut, a heinous crime claimed 27 lives, majority of them being elementary school children. Imagine a shooter spraying bullets to 20 innocent children! Those children had not done anything to deserve such cruelty. They had their entire lives ahead of them. Birthdays, graduations, weddings… My heart is broken for all the families affected. This reminds me of the tragedies America has had to deal with in the past few years. Remember the shopping mall incident in Oregon, the temple incident in Wisconsin, the movie theatre and the numerous incidents in street corners in Chicago. May God bless the memory of the victims.

This story more or less has the same characteristics with the Kenyan version, only that it is of a higher scale. The numerous grenade explosions in Eastleigh have become the norm. Almost every Sunday evening, the “BREAKING NEWS” section has been dedicated to that specific kind of news. Is it that the country lacks a competent intelligence base or there’s a general laxity in the body responsible for alerting the security apparatus of any queer activity being organized secretly within the borders? I’m of the opinion that we need a general overhaul in the entirety of the police force. We need skilled undercover agents. We need computerized distributed systems. We need to analyze, evaluate and synthesize the whole system .Being caught off-guard time and again is such ridicule! Now that we almost have a new inspector of police, I think he should introduce a programme that will allow field agents to benchmark with the FBI and CIA.

Late this week, the high court sentenced 6 police officers to death. The ruling came as joyous bacon light of hope to Kawangware families of taxi drivers who were murdered in the dead of the night. It is indeed a night that will forever remain in their hearts. The evidence presented in court not only served to expose the gross unjust treatment of civilians but also added to the ugly record of police brutality. It was proved that the officers fired 61 live bullets to 6 unarmed civilians. Those are among the hard, brutal facts of the case.

KTN reporter Lulu Hassan covered a feature entitled ‘secrets in solitude’ on Sunday night that exposed the biggest open secret that is hidden behind the high Kenya prison walls. Homosexuality is rife in these correctional facilities.

PUT KENYA ON THE WORLD MAP

If there is a president who will go down in history as one of the most hilarious comics of all time, our very own head of state beats the rest hands down. This is especially manifested while delivering keynote speeches in Kiswahili. Forget the English speech written for him by the salaried team who will not miss the opportunity to whip it with excess cream. The real talk gets on when he’s done reading and starts talking from his heart. I remember sometime back when he was talking about family planning. He said: ‘Siolazimawewekilausiku, kilasikuyapiliyatatuatilazimauproducemtoto. What the hell…………haaapaana…..hiyonikukosaadabu’

As his tenure as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the republic comes to an end, Kenyan’s on social media took time to tweet him best wishes and to acknowledge his legacy. Truth be told, the man has upgraded our infrastructure. I’m well aware we are far from putting Kenya on the world map as far as infrastructure is concerned. For instance, Dubai is famous for its audacious engineering projects as well as the neighbouring United Arab Emirates countries like Abu Dhabi which has the most inclined skyscraper on the planet! That leaning tower called ‘Capital Gates’ has rewritten the skyscraper rule book. It defies gravity in all aspects. Abu Dhabi has joined the giant city super league yet it rose from a desert. With the discovery of oil, Kenya ought to undergo a makeover that no East African country can imagine. In Abu Dhabi the Sheikh splashed over $ 200 Billion to transform the metropolitan. Is Nairobi Metropolitan ministry up for this kind of challenge? We would love to see Nairobi become a world class business and tourist destination! I am yet to hear what policies the politicians of the day have crafted in order to put this nation on the world map. It’s all about who is going to be the next occupant of the house on the hill.

SPORTS

Arsenal Football Club was delighted to announce that five of its young internationals have signed new long-term contracts. The quintet of Kieran Gibbs (23), Carl Jenkinson (20), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (19), Aaron Ramsey (21) and Jack Wilshere (20), who are all full internationals, have all committed their long-term futures to Arsenal. I hope the team will invest more and strategize. We need trophies now, more than ever before.

PARTING SHOT

Has anyone else ever locked themselves out of their own systems? Or is it just me? I have just wasted slightly over 60 minutes of my life trying all the possible combination of numbers to unlock my suitcase with no luck at all. This reminds me of another incident where I put some very valuable item in a secure place and I ended up losing the item. It was so secure that I could not remember the location. I guess everyone has had a share of some of those kinds of moments.  You put a password to your own device and forget it. Well, I never forget passwords but I know people who do.

Moral of the story: don’t hide stuff from yourself!

Wishing y’all a merry Christmas and a happy new 2013! Be sure to extend a hand for all those in need.