That Something Within

My thoughts and work-ethic today is inspired by the poem below:

That Something Within
By: Jackie Dove-Miller


There is something within me
That is strong enough
To keep me from toppling
Over the edge of
Sanity,
Over the ledge of
frustration
Or over the hedge of
All-out foolishness.
It leads me to prayer
When I would otherwise
Break.
There is something in my make-up
Or my bringing up
Or just the way I look up
That straightens my back
And bows my head.
It becomes the focus of my meditation.
The sentiment in my supplication,
The reason for my transformation.
That thing inside me
Has me choosing light
Though darkness covers all.
It wells up like ocean waves
Come to drown those who
Think they deserve to push me back
Hold me down or
Steal my joy.
I have a spiritual strength that
Grows deeper and speaks louder as I get to know
More about who I am.

"Where did IT come from?" Someone recently asked.
I answered, "In my developing stage, someone said out loud,
'You sure are good at _______,'"
My puny soul embraced that seed,
and it planted itself deep inside me and took root.
I tested that tiny bit of ego-strength against
The negative family messages that focused on
What I was NOT good at, making me feel small
And disconnected.
.............................................
But I WAS good at ________
And when I looked a little further, I discovered that
I was GOOD ENOUGH.
Good enough to bear fruit
And reap a harvest.
Good enough to plant a seed
In others and watch them grow
Magnificent and free.
I was GOOD ENOUGH to relate to
The GOD inside of me.

THE EAST AFRICAN INTEGRATION PROCESS: MAKING IT MEANINGFUL TO THE LIVES OF YOUTH IN KENYA

SPEECH BY: FELIX KYALO, PROGRAMS OFFICER, AKIBA UHAKI FOUNDATION DELIVERED AT THE KENYA NATIONAL YOUTH LEADERS CONFERENCE ON THE EAC INTEGRATION PROCESS ORGANISED BY THE MINISTRY OF EAC, KENYA.

TITLE OF SPEECH: THE EAST AFRICAN INTEGRATION PROCESS: MAKING IT MEANINGFUL TO THE LIVES OF YOUTH IN KENYA

“The future of Africa, the modernization of Africa that has a place in the 21st century is linked up with its decolonization and de-tribalisation. Tribal atavism would be giving up any hope for Africa. And of all the sins that Africa can commit, the sin of despair would be the most unforgivable... My generation led Africa to political freedom. The current generation of leaders and the peoples of Africa must pick up the flickering torch of freedom, refuel it with their enthusiasm and determination and carry it forward.” (Julius Nyerere, New African, January, 2000)

Distinguished guests, my fellow youth leaders, ladies and gentlemen, all protocols observed. I am Felix Kyalo, a Program Officer at Akiba Uhaki Foundation, a regional human rights and social justice Fund was founded in 2007 by human rights and social justice practioners and scholars working in East Africa who were persuaded that there was need for an independent and indigenous grantmaking organization, working through the provision of grants and other measures, to strengthen human rights and social justice institutions in East Africa, such that they may powerfully engage with active citizens across East Africa to successfully challenge injustice, transform lives and livelihoods, and secure rights. AUF was founded as a response to perceived failure of the human rights and social justice sector in East Africa to adequately challenge deeply embedded injustice and abuse of rights which was partially traced to the oppressive, predatory state and partly to weak institutions and movements that could not adequately challenge state repression and failure. The Fund is committed to promoting regional integration based on social justice concerns.

The Fund views development as a right and social injustice as an aberration while also seeing geographic and income inequalities as being products of failed/failing development models. We believe that the basis of sustainable development is social justice. In our work, we tackle root causes of poverty, social injustices and human rights violations as well as towards the realisation of the following preconditions (a) an empowered and assertive communities of people, (b) accountable governments and (c) effective monitoring and feedback mechanism by CSOs and other actors. Being an East African social justice grantmaker, we believe that the East African Community will be a pipe-dream unless it puts the concerns of the ordinary people at the centre of negotiations and unless it is owned by people and their communities. Hence, our route to transformation entails creating active and powerful communities of informed and engaged people; holding governments to account on the basis of evidence, creation of strong civil society institutions and movements to empower the people and hold duty-bearers accountable as well as having effective monitoring and reporting mechanisms.

 Allow me to share in brief, my thoughts and reflections around this issue that has brought us together in this convening; the issue of regional integration within the East African Community (EAC). Due to limited time allocated to me, I will only touch briefly on the key issues that I feel are critical for us as young leaders in Kenya to take cognizance of as we engage with the state in pushing forward the integration agenda forward.

Issues

• The EAC Treaty: envisages a people-centered integration but the people's participation and importance has largely been delegated to the periphery. The process has been more government and business interests driven with the people a few steps behind. Also, myths and stereotypes about what effect the integration process will have has also played a great role in reducing the citizenry interest in the process. So can we have the process reflect the people's concerns and wishes? This is the ideal that I dream of.
• Majority of young people have great intellectual potential which can shape the growth of the region if properly tapped but the political establishment is slow to realise this potential-high technological know-how, wide academic exposure, innovations in different sectors led by young people. What the integration process is expected to benefit young people is by creating opportunities for them to exploit their potential for the benefit of our communities. The Ministry can help in this by creating mechanism for availing info on what opportunities exist for young people in different sectors in the five countries. I do happen to travel around the region on work and one of the striking things I do notice is the immense opportunities for business, employment, education etc that exist in the other countries particularly in Rwanda and Burundi but not many young people are aware of this.
• Are we looking to create an integrated region where the livelihoods of the people and individual as well as collective freedom reins or are we integrating autocracy and collective marginalization of the poor in our societies? What would be meaningful-us remaining in the colonially created cocoons referred to as countries with each individual allowed liberty to fully exploit their potential or should we have a regional integration which then exacerbates the existing inequalities, deprivations including of fundamental liberties and lose that individual right to assert our rights? There is indeed need to re-interrogate the kind of regional integration we desire! The kind of integration that young people call for is where it enables creation of networks and partnership that can effectively a respond to challenges of sustainable environment, enjoyment of human rights, access to quality social services, response to humanitarian crisis and preservation and exchange of cultural value not one where once I criticise or expose governance malpractices in the state operations in Kenya, I cannot seek refuge with my brother in Uganda as the coalition-of-state-brothers-in vice will have closed this avenue! The process should create room for more open interactions between the peoples, more sharing of information and know-how, more inch-personal interactions and general openness in airing and dealing with our common problems.
• East African Community to me implies a system of people-focused policy-making and implementation. On the policy-level, there are several ongoing initiatives that seek to push the integration process forward. Key to us as young people include the East African Bill of Rights, the East African Youth Policy, the EAC policy on good governance(relevant particularly on the promotion of equal opportunities) and many more others. But how well aware are young people of these initiatives and how many are actually consulted in their enactment. We must avoid the temptation to make this an elitist process where consultation means calling a few select people “usual suspects” together and purport to speak for the wider youth population-this will create serious legitimacy and ownership challenges which can be avoided. There is need to ensure all-inclusive youth consultation and participation in the enactment of these strategic instruments. The various initiatives working on the various regional instruments need to avoid duplication of efforts and resources.
• The East Africa I look forward to is one where democracy flourishes and in which the people's will and voice is not just heard but is indeed respected, where young people are powerfully represented by youth leaders (not purported but actual youths) at all the key levels of governance. There is a growing worrying silence to the current trend of repression, electoral fraud camouflaged as free and fair elections across the region(all the 5 countries' leadership is attended by questions on its legitimacy) and an increasingly disregard of young people's role in creating positive change in society particularly in the political sphere. As young people, with our silence and acquiescence as the state and other non-state actors perpetrate repression and make a mockery of electoral democracy, we do become guilty by association. Its however heartening to see that not all hope is lost: young people under the “activists for change” banner are steadily making the youth voice heard with regard to the escalating costs of living, our very own Benji Ndolo stood up to question President Museveni's presence in Kenyan soil following the degrading treatment by his forces on Besigye and many other such stories. There is hope but the challenges are many. But the onus is also on our Government to act to ensure rights respect across the region-in my view our President attending the inauguration of Museveni was in bad taste!
• In my view, the integration process should enable us to learn from best practices in each of our five countries. I happened to attend a friends of EAC meeting in which discussions revolved, inter-alia. on the strengthening of democracy and human rights across the region. This was at the period before the Constitutional referendum and I do recall leaders from outside Kenya asserting that a young person below the age of 35 years cannot lead a country and the same assertion was repeated recently by an MP in our parliament during debate on the qualifications of the Chair of the Elections and Boundaries Commission under the new Constitution. This is the kind of apathy that young leaders face across the region. So ideally to me the integration process should be one that allows for sharing of best practices e.g. that Kenya's removal of the minimum age limit on presidential candidates so as to offer opportunities for young people to play their rightful role in development of the region. We have shown in the past and presently that young people can provide quality and progressive leadership-Many such examples abound including around this meeting even myself where I had the opportunity to step in as an interim head of a regional grant-maker organisation at the age of 22! For those nay-sayers we say: We have passed the test of time and we can deliver so don't look at our age but look at our qualifications, our skills etc). The same story applies across the region.

What is needed:

• Support for increased and meaningful networking and experience-sharing among young people-can be facilitated by both civil society and states.
• Stronger, sustained and collaborative measures across the region to address youth unemployment. In this case, the harmonization of the employment/job-creation policies across the region should be made a priority with the aim of ensuring young people can access job opportunities across the regions without the prevalent barriers.
• Increased partnership between the Ministry and youth stakeholders to avail info on available opportunities for young people across the region. If possible a database should be formed on this aspect.
• Work together in harmonisation of the various youth-related initiatives across the region both by the state, business community and by civil society to ensure more effectiveness and avoid duplication of resources
• The integrated states should act in peer accountability of each other to ensure that democracy prevails and rights violations are put to a stop

 

A WIND OF AWAKENING BLOWING

All those who share in the dream of a better Kenya; those who have toiled, written, spoken, demonstrated and endured much suffering, both of the body and mind, including death, in the fight to institutionalize the rule of law and good governance in the country... your selfless devotion to the reform of this country serves as a beacon of hope for the rest of the African continent....

…A wind of awakening blowing from the north-

To dispel the despair of life’s mockery

So that by death their children may live

Once again as men-

Has called them to resist.



They are not alone:

Their moans find echoes in the torn continent.

And the oppressors shall never again

Till the envied blood-clogged earth

In peace.

They shall no longer sleep.

(Extract from Joseph Kariuki (1992) “Sleepless in Angola” in David Cook & David Rubadiri, (Eds.) Poems from East Africa, East African Educational Publishers Ltd., Nairobi at page 72).

I Wish I Knew

I WISH I KNEW

I wish I knew where life goes

when death comes

I wish I knew how the clouds change

rearrange from white to rain

to the pain of memories of millions of

moments past

I wish I knew how the last is least

wish I knew why the heart beats

to the rhythm of the love few people

hear or understand

I wish I knew why the land rises and falls

wish I knew where the birds call

late in the evening

the sad call of air

beneath their wings

I wish I knew about wishes

wish I could describe dreams

not as people or places or

things or rings of church bells

or the clanging of jail cells

welcoming the future ends

of so many souls;

I wish I knew how wishes were made

how they were created out of

wonder and ponder and the thunder

of the heavens ---

I wish I knew what God knows

I wish I knew what Love Is that escapes

the hearts of this lonely world

I wish I could cry knowing that

all is not what it is

but what it could be once

I awaken from my dream.

(c) 2/25/08. simpoet

Ethnic Demagogues v Nationalistic Patriots: The Type of Citizenry this Country Needs

I thought I share this extract from a speech delivered yestered by Dr. Willy Mutunga, the Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya at the NCIC Conference on Diversity. This country is at cross-roads and the decisions the citizenry make on the kind of leadership to adopt and elect will determine the future of this country. Will we opt for a leadership of ethnic kleptocratic demagogues or shall we refrain from retreating to our ethnic cocoons or be swayed by ill-gotten riches and instead opt for nationalistic patriots full of integrity and progressive ideas? The choice is ours ladies and gentlemen of this beautiful country. Here is Dr. Mutunga:

"One of the biggest threats to nationhood has been the over-supply of the vernacular politician and vernacular Kenyan and a shortage of nationalists. Who is the vernacular politician or Kenyan? It is that person who views everything through the prism of the tribe. They equate national interest with ethnic interests. They are obsessed with ethnic hegemonic projects. They hold hollow but dangerous supremacist ideologies and, have invented false notions of ethnic entitlement, most of it anchored on exaggerated grievances, yet mostly fuelled by excessive greed. They revel in insults and derogatory remarks about other tribes and groups, as they descend into mindless orgies of mirth and self amusement. When they lose an argument, they rush to the defense of ethnic stereotype.

They are incapable of mobilizing across communities, and consider being referred to as the undisputed leader of the tribe as the ultimate political prize. They indeed treat it as a badge of honour. They excel in what divides us, and use their evil genius to create more divisions. They will never invest in the politics of issues, unless they are anthropological. When they are appointed to public office, their official trips to the countryside are regionally selective. They readily hide behind the community, when caught in a corrupt deal. They excel in rallying around the tongue; not the flag. They are sometimes very educated, professional and rich, but find satisfaction in spewing ethnic verbiage. They sometimes flaunt modern gadgetry as a mark of sophistication, but use these platforms to purvey sectarian drivel. Yet, both the vernacular politician and Kenyan thrive because they find fertile ground in the minds of Kenyans, who pretend to be powerless victims when caught imbibing this drivel. You cannot choose the days to be a nationalist and the days you will retreat to the comfort of ethnic cocoons. Being Kenyan is a full-time commitment. This country needs citizens who are Kenyans all the time; not those who are vernacular Kenyans most of the time."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For the Love of the Kenya 7s Game

They say its hard being a fan-and I should know this really well given that am an Arsenal fan..oh the anguish, frustration and nail-biting watching my team fight their way through difficult matches..and the oh the joy, the chest-thumping and crazy wild celebrations when the team finally grinds out a win as we did against Tottenham, Liverpool, Newcastle and Aston Villa recently! Thats the life of a fan, mine included. But nothing beats the craziness of being a rugby fan, a 7s rugby fun in particular and a Kenya 7s Rugby team fan to be more specific. They say the Kenyan team has the highest travelling contingent fans across the world in the IRB sevens circuit and the team has the most appealing flair and athleticism amongst all the other teams comparable only to the Fijians and Samoans. In their best day, they can beat anybody as they showed in the 2009/2010 seasons where the likes of Colins Injera and Humprey Khayange really shone through for the nation with Colins becoming the leading try scorer in the series and Humprey being appointed a IRB 7s Rugby Ambassador in the successful bid to have 7s Rugby as an Olympic sport. Even some beer companies cashed in with a Kenya 7s branded ale!

So much has changed since then and the team is not doing as well as it did then as well exemplified by its current ranking at No. 10 in the series and its 2 weeks tailing in its pool in both Hong Kong and Japan. The team seems devoid of ideas as well as leadership and I dare assert that the change of coaches from Ben Ayimba to Mitch Ocholla and the Captaincy from Humprey to his younger brother Colins may be a contributing factor to the visible lack of communication between the bench and the team and within the team itself. Something drastic needs to be done lest we see the team which has been a significant source of pride face the same dizzy fall as that of the Kenya cricket team which has fallen from the highs of reaching the semis of the cricket world cup to being whipped by minnows such as Nepal and Afghanistan in the recent T20 World Cup qualifiers. We love our team and the boys are capable but there is need for inspirational leadership to guide the team back to its former glory. Kenya Hee Kenya Haa!!!!

An Ode to Love

This is an honest cry of a disconsolate heart
Yearning for you,
My sweet looking Lilac.
The one who makes me sheepishly look,
When you give me that look,
that angelic I want-you-look,
I ask of you.

I ask of thee,
What is it that I first saw in you?
I beg to know,
I remember the moment of immense wonder,
When like a vision before me you appeared,
Like a spirit beauty-seared
As your face unfurled,
Brown, proud and flawless,
Curvaceous and serene,
Like a Grecian goddess,
You stood before me,
As I awe-struck gaped.

I ask of you,
What was it that so attracted me to you?
I ask myself,
Was it the seductive way you swung your hips,
Reminding me of a girl I once saw
Walking along the shores of Lake Victoria,
A really, well-endowed daughter of Ramogi,
Only that you were not from the lakeside,
But you were a daughter of Mumbi,
Oh my!
The very essence of classical African beauty.

So on this oh! So glorious day,
I ask of you,
Will we surrender to passion?
Let our mutual liking blossom into love,
Entrance ourselves into the euphoric world of ecstasy,
As I lean forward towards you,
Shall you let me kiss you deeply?
Oh oh!
Oh I ask of you,
My beautiful daughter of Mumbi,
Shall we let our love reach its prime?
Consummating that which we have patiently nurtured,
That which we have sown for long.
That has overcome thorns lined on its path.
I ask of you.

I ask of you,
As the soul in me stirs, waking,
As your virgin beauty rears,
Shall my heart pound celebration,
Shall the soul so-oft consciously hear,
The rebirth.
Of Our life. Our Love. Our Tears.