As the week comes to a close,three things have really disturb my mind:Starvation crises facing 11 counties in Kenya,the Mau forest conundrum and three the curtail of the media freedom in Kenya.

Starvation Crisis

Kenyans pay taxes which is supposed to provide services to them.As a matter of fact we are taxed very highly ,as expected public service should be of first class status.On the flip side though, a lion share of it goes to public wastage through corruption and servicing the huge public debt.Thus the common mwananchi has to pay for these public services.
More than 2.5 million Kenyans are facing starvation as drought and food security in the continues to detoriate,the most affected counties include Turkana,Mandera,Baringo,Wajir,Garissa,Marsabit and Tana River where resdients are predominantly herders.Others are EvictionsKitui,Makueni ,Kilifi and Meru North which are in the marginal agricultural and agro-pastoral regions,that is according to National Drought Management Authority (NDMA).This should not be the case because we are tax payers but then again welcome to Kenya.
On Thursday, one Martin Munene from Tharaka Nithi County slaughtered, cooked and ate a dog.Munene was a hungry an on the verge of starving,He hadn’t eaten for a whole three days.He was arrested and then released after the Dpp’s intervention.Munene is a just fraction on an equation of millions of desperate Kenyans who would do anything in order to put a meal on their table.

Curtail of the media freedom

Stephen Letoo of Citizen television yesterday on a tweet posted that his rural home in Enooret Village in kilgoris constituency was attacked by unknown people.The move was viewed by pundits as a punishment to the renowned journalist after running a documentary about the controversial Mau forest.Other journalists that have been intimidated in their line of duty include Paul Letiwa on the 20th August 2019 reported at the Central Police station in Nairobi that he had received threats from unknown people over a story that had been published on the the Daily Nation on 18th August.Three days later Bhala Niita of Thomson Reuters Foundation and her crew suffered a physical attack at a donkey abbatoir in Naivasha where she had gone to follow up on a story.The matter was reported at Naivasha Police sation.
Kenya is said to be a country that thrives “On the rule of law”. Is this the case?

Mau Forest Evictions

In summer 2012 there was a political row over resettlement of people, who had been allocated land there during the KANU era in the 1980’s and 90’s.When the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga issued an order that these evictions to be implemented in order to protect the forest from destruction, leaders from Rift valley led by Isaac Ruto and the then Minister of Agriculture William Ruto who further proposed that if evictions are implemented the government should then allocate them land elsewhere.
The story unfolds yet again in 2019 and school goers from the region are caught in between the push and pull between the government and leaders opposing the move of evicting their people without a resettlement plan.
This should not be the case since we are all Kenyans at the end of the day, The National Anthem as it states justice be our shield and defender.Let justice prevail when handling the Mau issue so that no one is left victimized in as much as we are conserving the environment and also let it not be used as a political tool to advance the interests of sinister politicians. The government of the day should rise up to the occasion and come up with a long-lasting solution to this matter. The Kenyans residing in Mau Forest should be treated with dignity and offered a proper resettlement plan. Anything shot of this will just brew unnecessary animosity and bloodshed. God bless Kenya. Have a great weekend ahead.
ADIOS!
Preston Allan Wandera.

History is history;whether made up of bad or good events.It provides us with a compass where we should go.The dark moments in the Kenyan history can be summarized but not limited to the Wagalla massacre,1982 coup de tat and Bulla Karatasi massacre.
On the flipside,the light moments can be summarized but not limited to Kenya’s day of attaining independence, the second liberation struggle and ushering a new era in 2002 general elections.
Going back to what I had said earlier, history gives a society a direction.But what happens if the same history is not revealed to her people?Does the society fall prone to repeating the mistakes of the past?

A people without the knowledge of their past history ,origin and culture is like a tree without root-Marcus Garvey
This past week,the 17th of August,I attended an event dubbed “Scrutinizing our Kenyan past as youths”The speakers were majorly teachers and professors of history drawn from different universities in Kenya.
We were taken through sessions which enlightened us.But before that most of us were green about our history.Some of us had alittle knowledge of the Kenyan history thanks to the history subject being taught in highschool while others confessed the fact that knowing our history was not that important.
In the middle of the whole event,it came clear that in as much as the youths want know the past,no one was there to discuss it.Putting in mind that at the event we had youths drawn from different parts of the country.
The bigger picture is that it is not only the youths at the event that are victims of not knowing their history,many are out there in the dark while the memories are slowly fading away.
This week the 22nd of August, a day very significant to the people of Kenya when we lost our founding father the late Mzee Jomoo Kenyata was marked and has the norm dictates it is accompanied by laying of the wreath at the museoleum.The place unfortunately is usually a no-go-zone the public,which should not be the case.The younger generation also wants to pay respect to their founding father not just through television sets and radios.
Such kinds of actions are what makes it for the youths to look back and reflect.

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it-Winston Churchill
Dark moments in our nation;The 2007/2008 Post Election Violence,The Wagalla Massacre and The Bula Karatasi massacre indeed taught us a lesson as country men and women.Many souls were lost.What if the millenials do not even know this history?They cannot learn from it and therefore they can repeat the mistakes commited before them.
Every youth in the forum was challenged to look back and scrutinize their history.This includes them exhausting means that will help them gain knowledge i.e The internet, visiting places like The National Archives in Nairobi.Places like Garissa lack such kinds of monuments and therefore the relevant people should do something about it.
At the end of the day though it all boils down to interest.The interest of looking back.
Adios!

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. People grow old only by deserting their ideals and by outgrowing the consciousness of youth. Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul… You are as old as your doubt, your fear, your despair. The way to keep young is to keep your faith young. Keep your self-confidence young. Keep your hope young.” Once said Dr. L.F. Phelan.This past week we commomerated The World’s International Youth Day.The common youth in the village ,slums and estates in Kenya is grappling a number of challenges;I won’t mention them because that is not the focus for today.
Today I am walking in this path of affirmation.Spelling hope to my fellow youth man out there.First things first ,we believe that positive affirmations are an amazing tool which can transform your life beyond all recognition. They are so simple that anyone can use them, even a child, they are easy to learn how to use (there isn’t even really a best way to use them), and even if you don’t know what that are yet, you could be using them within 5 minutes, feeling positive, warm, and happy inside too!

What is affirmation and why it is so powerful?
Affirmation is simply a process of thinking, listening, saying or writing a statement to yourself or other people repeatedly. For example, when you wake up every morning, you may affirm by saying aloud “Today is a great day!” It will have great impact to the rest of your day. Trust me! Before I explain to you the power of affirmation, I think it’s important that you understand the power of belief. How many times have you heard people saying “if you believe you can, you can”? Perhaps one of the great truths in life is that your belief creates your reality. In other words, your reality is generally a reflection of the beliefs of your subconscious mind. That’s why if you believe you can, you can.
By the way, what is a belief? A belief is simply a thought that is accepted by your subconscious mind. Actually not all thoughts are turned into realities. Only thoughts that are believed by the subconscious mind are turned into realities.
The reason why belief turns into reality is because of the Universal and Natural Law of Attraction.Another thing, affirmation is very useful for Life ;Success, Money Mastery, Weight Loss, Personal Growth, Confidence, Social Skills, Health, Brain Training, Dreaming.The list is endless.
Before it is lost on me has I down my pen,let me say this; positive affirmations are for real, they can have a really powerful cumulative effect, and they can make real, lasting, dramatic changes to your life – to how you think, to how you act, to how you live your life!
Adios!

A heart is bleeding for Harambee Stars.Yes,my heart is bleeding for Harambee stars.This is a memo from a crying soul.The recent happenings that have befallen our national team are disheartening for a lack of a better word.One,being kicked out of AFCON,two being kicked out of the CHAN qualifiers, three the bitter fallout between the government and the exiting of the head coach , Sebastian Migne,who is leaving a very bitter man.

Once upon a day,harambee stars had a very successful campaign which saw it propelling to the AFCON championship competition after being out in the cold for 15 years.Praise after praise our team received.I even recall a song from a young man Juala Superboy,”Harambee Stars tuko juu,”indeed “tulikuwa juu”.

Harambee stars has proven not once that it can break records if the environment it is thriving in is condusive.When I hear that the head coach Sebastian Migne is lamenting that his dues have not been honored for the past 12 months,my heart bleeds, when I saw the stars exiting the CHAN stage,my heart bled.Being beaten is part of the game, especially with some honor in it.But at your own yard?It is not only embarrassing but also disgusting.Very disgusting.The moment news reached me that our boys were out I felt as if the world was crushing on my feet.

From my assessment,I read a team that has been neglected and expected to bring glory home at the same time.Much is expected but very little input given out to boost the morale of both the players and the coach.Our Swahili brothers were on point when they taught us that ” ukipanda hu utavuna hu” ,has a country ,”tumevuna hu”.

Some pundits may argue that when money and patriotism question is put on the table, the latter should come first.But look at this scenario,a fully grown man , running up and down the field chasing after a cow skin for 90 minutes, with an empty belly, responsibilities on his shoulders and expected to bring victory to his country.That is the definition of “ovyo kabisa”.

There is a man called Nick Mwendwa.The FKF president.According to me,he is doing his homework very well by constantly pushing the government to address the challenges facing our national team.”Kongole” Bwana Mwendwa, May God bless you abundantly for your efforts.His efforts bore fruits before.Remember when Harambee Stars qualified for AFCON.He really fought until our boys and the coach were paid their dues.He did the same last week without success before stars before stars went to battle it out with Taifa stars.Maybe the relevant people heard him but chose to ignore him or they were not aware that our team had a game .

Going forward,a serious discussion needs to be held about the future of Harambee stars.A serious one involving different stakeholders.Stakeholders who have the heart and mind of providing a lasting solution in relation to this issue once and for all.My heart is still bleeding until all this matters shall be solved.God bless Kenya.God bless Harambee Stars.I rest my heart bleeding case.

Mike Mbuvi Sonko, really,now this?, Yes,we all know him.I know him. You know him .A man who spews unfathomable poison without apologies.Once a Member of the August house, to a senator and now the CEO of the great county 047.Nairobi county. Ask the likes of Esther Muthoni Passaris a.k.a ‘Mama Supuu’ she can confirm this.

A sunny afternoon was here with us.Friday, the second of August 2019.A day of mourning in this great land. A send off ceremony for the M.p of Kibra Ken Okoth.I was glued to the television set together with my mother following it closely. Speakers at the event had the message; celebrating the life of Ken Okoth.He was hailed by many for his leadership style. One that stood out was that words were calculated in every speech that was delivered.

Things suddenly took a new twist when sonko rose up to the podium. There was a breach of protocol. Obviously, his turn to speak had not dawned.Word had it that he was expected at the integrity building to answer some questions related to graft.

He began so well that I even gave him a standing ovation for behaving so well for the first time in his life. My sweet mother could not help but to praise the man.Give to Caesar …Little did we know that clouds were still gathering ready for a heavy downpour.

The pandora box was finally opened when sonko mentioned the word ‘Nikimalizia’.The outcome of this was welcomed with jeers and cheeers.Mixed reactions engulfed the vicinity; dismay,disappointed ,happiness.

May be he was right and it was the right thing to do according to him.”Sonko do you think that this is a soko?” my mother shouted .As if the man could listen to her.The cameras could not help but to zoom at the reaction of the members Okoth immediate family. Their faces read patience. Whatever their hearts felt,only God knows.Maybe that was his way of paying his last respects to the late.Letting the cat out of the bag infront of 50million Kenyans. I recall flinching at my seat. I am also sure that the late also turned in his grave .

Maybe the man is maladjusted. Maladjusted. A term my history teacher used to refer to those of us who had the tendency of visiting the washrooms during his lessons. Anyway, we should hold brief for him and just let the sonko man be.Still, in future, the organizers of events of such manner should rethink offering him the chance of speaking.

This is love. Love for our governor. Love without correction of another is counterfeit. I recall Musalia Mudavadi aka ‘madvd’ doing the same. Before it is lost on me there is a Swahili saying that goes ,”Kosa si kosa likirudiwa ndilo kosa”…Bwana sonko pull up your blings…..