Kenya at 50 - Celebrating Kenya's 50th birthday and the many faces of Kenya

Gathara's World: Raining On The Parade.

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Monday, December 09, 2013



On Thursday, Kenya marks fifty years of independence. Over the next week, I expect that much of the country's news media will be focused on a retelling of the history of the past half century. However, the previews I have seen over the last week do not offer much cause for hope that this will be an exercise in full honesty.

For example, last weekend NTV had two reports on the Kenya Defence Forces: one posing as a history of the force and the other highlighting the KDF's special forces unit. The first totally ignored the numerous atrocities the KDF has been accused of committing in Northern Kenya against its own citizens; the second similarly skipped over the uncomfortable subject of KDF actions during the Westgate terror attack.

So it is clear that this will be a season of hagiography.
Kenya will put on its Sunday Best and apply some patriotic perfume to cover the stench of the last five decades. We have already heard former President Mwai Kibaki's version of our history, one which largely edited out the corruption and theft perpetrated by his and previous regimes. The National Assembly has just given itself the power to "improve" the report of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission. The Standard newspaper has even taken to comparing Jomo Kenyatta with Nelson Mandela, declaring that he was accommodating of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, whom he held under house arrest, and Tom Mboya, whom he murdered.

There is obviously little appetite for the truth. Like the coverage of the general election nine months ago, no one wants to be the on to rain on the national parade of self-congratulation, no one wants to be the bearer of bad news. Yet, like in March, this is an opportunity for real introspection, a chance to take stock of the achievements and failures of the past and to learn lessons for the present and future. It is an opportunity that we will waste little time missing, but a critical one nonetheless.

So what would we learn if we were honest about the past? At best, it's a mixed bag. At independence, the government identified poverty, disease and ignorance as the most urgent challenges. Fifty years later, it is undeniable that progress has been made. Poverty rates have been lowered, we have more pupils than ever in our schools and life expectancy is as high as it's ever been since independence. We were one of the very few nations in Africa to do pretty well in the 1970s-80s in terms of covering basic needs and have even become a major trading hub in the region, despite up-and-down growth rates. In fact, for the first time in our history, the economy stands a real chance of maintaining a growth rate of above five percent for more than five consecutive years. These are the stories we will likely hear. How we have overcome the legacy of colonialism and put ourselves on the path to wealth and dignity.

Less will be said of the fact that Kenya is actually one of the most unequal places on earth, that much of the progress, especially the growth in incomes, has largely been concentrated in the top five percent of the population. You will probably not hear about the failures of the Free Primary Education policy which has overcrowded the system, destroyed the prospect of quality education and, as whoever could take their kids out did, has driven up the cost of private schooling, locking the poor in a failing system. Or of our over-crowded and understaffed hospitals. Or of the fact that nearly a tenth of all babies do not survive to age five, most dying of preventable causes. The media will not lament the fact that though our lawmakers and government officials are among the highest paid in the world, we have no money to pay teachers, nurses and policemen.

Ordinary Kenyans will be exhorted to pull together for even further progress by 2063. They will be asked to rally behind their government and its visions of progress.
They will not be reminded that they are locked in to a system that delays, not expedites, their emancipation from chains of dictatorship and poverty. They will not be encouraged to question the assumptions underlying the definitions of independence and sovereignty and to ask why the system only seems to work for a few.

In 1997, the Swedish Parliament passed the Road Traffic Safety Bill which declared that, "the responsibility for every death or loss of health in the road transport system rests with the person responsible for the design of that system". Think about that for a minute. Road accidents are not the fault of drunk or crazy drivers, of careless pedestrians or stupid cyclists. Instead the Swedes put the blame on "the engineers who build and maintain the road and the police department that manages traffic on that road. Not primarily on the people who use the road because it has been demonstrated that road user behavior is conditioned by the system design and how it is managed."

In a similar manner,
Kenyan political behavior has been conditioned by the design of our political system and how it has been managed since 1963 and beyond. We have been conditioned to expect failure or at best, mediocrity, from those we pay to deliver services to us. We have been conditioned to accept and move on when elections are stolen, when government revenue is used to line the pockets of elites, when alternative voices are silenced and when the news becomes little more than propaganda.

Kenyans are wont to blame themselves for electing poor leaders, for retreating into tribal cocoons, for driving badly, for the corruption, for the violence and crime. Yet, as Rev Timothy Njoya said recently, that is blaming the victims. We instead need to look at the design of the system we have been laboring under since before independence. We need to scrutinize the conduct of those charged with maintaining it. We must understand why it does not work for us. Why, for example, traffic rules seem to only make money for government and not stem the carnage on roads. Or why constitutional protections seem not to matter when government considers them inconvenient.

According to the World Bank, Kenya has the opportunity to achieve one of the goals we had at independence and eliminate extreme poverty by 2030. To do that, we need to reduce poverty by two percentage points each year. But that would only be possible if economic growth is accompanied by structural changes that reduce inequality and enable the poor benefit from new economic opportunities. We would also need to ensure that safety nets adequately protect them from vulnerability to shocks.

However, for this, and more, to happen, we need to be honest with ourselves about our system and those responsible for it. We will need to expose our past and resist the attempt, whether by politicians or journalists, to improve it. Even when this means raining on the golden jubilee parade.


Gathara's World: Raining On The Parade


hekimatele, this should answer your question.​
 
kenya50.jpg


Leo ni siku ya kilele cha maadhimisho ya miaka 50 tokea kupatikana Uhuru nchini Kenya kutoka kwa waingereza. Raisi Uhuru ataongoza maadhimisho katika uwanja wa kasarani. Viongozi kadhaa wa nchi rafiki wamedhirisha kuhuduria akiwemo, Banda, Museveni, Kikwete, Kabila, Nkurunzinza, HaileMaryam, Goodluck Jonathan na wengine wengi.

Kama mwana EAC nawatakia wakenya sikukuu njema...hakika mmepiga hatua kubwa, toka mwaka huo Mzee Jomo Kenyatta alivyosimikwa uraisi mpaka wa leo mwanae akaidhimisha siku hiyo muhimu.

Mmeluwa mfano mzuri wa maendeleo kwa majirani zenu, mmeonyesha hata bila ya kuwa na mali ghafi nyingi, madini n.k kufanya kazi kwa bidii, kilimo na elimu husaidia kupiga hatua....

Happy 50 Years...Kenya...Mara nyingi tumekuwa tukipata mahitaji kama elimu, bidhaa na kadhalika kutoka Nairobi.....
 
NOT YET UHURU.

Uhuru bila mwananchi wa kenya kumiliki ardhi sio uhuru.Huo ni uhuru tu wa bendera na wimbo wa taifa.Hakuna cha kusherehekea uhuru hapo wanakusanyika kuimba wimbo wa taifa tu.

Sometimes i am forced to respond to daft insinuations, i have bought land in kenya and anyone is free to do so you included
 
heri ya kuzaliwa kenya twenty years before our beloved mom born.. hongereni sana..
 
Happy Independence Day

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Leo ni siku ya kilele cha maadhimisho ya miaka 50 tokea kupatikana Uhuru nchini Kenya kutoka kwa waingereza. Raisi Uhuru ataongoza maadhimisho katika uwanja wa kasarani. Viongozi kadhaa wa nchi rafiki wamedhirisha kuhuduria akiwemo, Banda, Museveni, Kikwete, Kabila, Nkurunzinza, HaileMaryam, Goodluck Jonathan na wengine wengi.

Kama mwana EAC nawatakia wakenya sikukuu njema...hakika mmepiga hatua kubwa, toka mwaka huo Mzee Jomo Kenyatta alivyosimikwa uraisi mpaka wa leo mwanae akaidhimisha siku hiyo muhimu.

Mmeluwa mfano mzuri wa maendeleo kwa majirani zenu, mmeonyesha hata bila ya kuwa na mali ghafi nyingi, madini n.k kufanya kazi kwa bidii, kilimo na elimu husaidia kupiga hatua....

Happy 50 Years...Kenya...Mara nyingi tumekuwa tukipata mahitaji kama elimu, bidhaa na kadhalika kutoka Nairobi.....

Shukran!
 
Did you know?
That Kenyan flag is ranked sixth globally in the list of prettiest flags in the world?
Check this out..

1. Mexico
2. Philipines
3. United Kingdom
4. Canada
5. Brazil
6. Kenya
7. Pakistan
8. Spain
9. Nepal
10. Montenegro

Prettiest Flags in the World

And did you know that Tanzania is the second beautiful country in Africa, after SA and 41[SUP]st[/SUP]
in the World?
Most Beautiful Countries In The World (Page 41)
Most Beautiful Countries In The World
 
View attachment 126246


Leo ni siku ya kilele cha maadhimisho ya miaka 50 tokea kupatikana Uhuru nchini Kenya kutoka kwa waingereza. Raisi Uhuru ataongoza maadhimisho katika uwanja wa kasarani. Viongozi kadhaa wa nchi rafiki wamedhirisha kuhuduria akiwemo, Banda, Museveni, Kikwete, Kabila, Nkurunzinza, HaileMaryam, Goodluck Jonathan na wengine wengi.

Kama mwana EAC nawatakia wakenya sikukuu njema...hakika mmepiga hatua kubwa, toka mwaka huo Mzee Jomo Kenyatta alivyosimikwa uraisi mpaka wa leo mwanae akaidhimisha siku hiyo muhimu.

Mmeluwa mfano mzuri wa maendeleo kwa majirani zenu, mmeonyesha hata bila ya kuwa na mali ghafi nyingi, madini n.k kufanya kazi kwa bidii, kilimo na elimu husaidia kupiga hatua....

Happy 50 Years...Kenya...Mara nyingi tumekuwa tukipata mahitaji kama elimu, bidhaa na kadhalika kutoka Nairobi.....

On behalf of all Kenyans, I say thanks our worthy neighbours.
 
ivibration, Dhuks,

Gentlemen, you might not have understood where @East Afiican Eagle, is coming from with that
statement which is a one of fact. We all know for one to be able to buy land, you have to
have the economic muscle in a rather modest way. There are millions of people within the borders
of the Jamhuri who cant do this. Those are the people being talked about...and by the way this
happens in all all African countries.

Please lets this keep off these sideshows as this thread is about celebrating Kenya.

Happy 50th!
 
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Mututho anaharibia watu starehe....:A S tongue:


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Smatta, hii kitu ataweza kweli?

NO HOUSE PARTY WITHOUT PERMIT

THE new Nacada chief John Mututho yesterday put a dampener on the Jubilee and Christmas celebrations when he confirmed that homeowners will need a permit before serving drinks to friends.

Mututho wants everyone to get a Sh1,000 permit from the police before they host drinks parties at their homes or anywhere else. Mututho also wants drinking at private parties to end by 11 pm.

"The permit law has been put in place and must be followed. You cannot serve alcohol without following the ethics," Mututho said. He was launching a campaign against drunk driving at the Nacada offices in Nairobi yesterday. He urged road users not to drink and drive but to instead employ the services of a taxi.

He said more than 500 people have lost their lives on roads due to alcohol related accidents from April to September."Drivers be warned. It is better for you to go to jail than to cause road carnage," Mututho said. He said Nacada will ensure that no lives are lost on the roads unnecessarily through road checks and tough punitive measures.

Mututho said his authority will not tolerate the sale of alcohol brands not cleared by Kenya Bureau of Standards. "About 500 brands of wines and spirits are in the market and only 50 brands are known by KEBS," Mututho said.

Nacada CEO William Okedi said the campaign will not involve billboards."We have partnered with church leaders, scouts, civil society groups, girl guide association and also county governments to enlighten Kenyans on the need to be safe this festive season," Okedi said.


http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-147008/no-house-party-no-permit-mututho#sthash.OqwZq4eg.dpuf
 
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