THE AFRICAN SAGE

I was opposed to the likes of Aden being made the cabinet secretary for industrialization in Kenya. My argument was very simple; many of the so called professionals are not street smart. They are driven by pipe dreams; they think quantitatively and use models based on principles that are not informed by the reality on the ground. When appointing a leader, it is not about ‘professionalism’ i.e. one who has not engaged in politics but about leadership i.e. one who believes in the people and understands their needs. This is where we went wrong as a country; we cried for professionals (blue eyed whiter collar boys and girls) rather than leaders who had the interests of their people at heart. Martha Karua is a politician but she has the interests of the people at heart; I tend to think. This is why when she was minister of water; she instituted water reforms that revolutionalized the water sector. Charity Ngilu is a politician but she is a leader who cares about the people. When she wa...

I am currently a very terrified individual; because the levels of hypocrisy in the world are a notch higher. As we bay for the blood of terrorists across the globe, I am tempted to ask whether we know real terrorists. The real terrorists are not out there, the real terrorists are in us and with us. To deal with terrorism, we shall have to understand terrorists and what makes them tick. At the heart of any terrorist operation is the victim mentality. A terrorist is an individual who feels he or a given cause has not been given due consideration due to some people advancing their cause. A terrorist believes that this world can be a better place; if only things were in a given way. I consider extortionist groups like the Mungiki in Kenya to have the terrorist mentality. Preconditions for Terrorism For a terrorist group to arise there must be certain preconditions. In often cases, the precondition is a social injustice or a perceived injustice. In the face of such an injustice, ...

In discussions with friends, I have always argued that it is near impossible for Raila to win elections in Kenya because he is always going against the state. I have looked at strong men like Paul Biya of Cameroon, Al Bashir of Sudan, Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda. Is it possible to win an election against such people despite strategic dearth and dexterity? Would the opposition have won against Moi in 2002 had he not chosen to step down? Raila, the enigma of Kenyan politics, the man I have lived to admire, has failed and will never be the president of Kenya. Despite my intellectual peers’ contrary opinions, I believe Raila failed because of the state machinery factor in his opponents strategies. Despite this consolation, I have to stop looking away and face the naked King. I do this with a heavy heart but the truth has a way of carrying the heaviness away. Raila Amollo Odinga will never be the president of Kenya because his strategy was premised on tribali...

We are tired of fighting, it is time to flow and live. We are tired of complaining, it is time to agree on basics and move to the next level. I agree with President Kenyatta, either we assist in providing solutions or we shut up. It is time to reflect on our contribution as patriots. I believe strongly that it is time to decode. I wanted to write about my intent to deCORD but then I realized that Decording is just half of the deal. We can only manage to deCord this country if our Jubilee friends also smell the coffee and in a digital way choose to decode for the good of our nation. It is sad that since March 2013, the daggers remain drawn and insults are the order of life between jubilee and Cord die-hard. While we continue hurling insults at each other:- a).   The rich in this country continue to safeguard their interests at the expense of everyone else Think about it this way; agitation for higher salaries is by the privileged few in our country, who are employed. We c...