Well, Palaver is also proud to be a local, especially when the likes of David Rudisha and Pamela Jelimo, to name just two, run like the wind in some faraway lands and leave folks asking: Just what do these Kenyans use? And we hope the German journalist who detected performance enhancing steroids flowing through our athletes’ veins has been given a front row seat at the London Olympics. However, back home, where are all those nice, polite people who appear in advertisements branded Mkenya Daima? How come we do not meet any such charm as we ‘navigate’ along Nairobi’s roads?
A Palaver reader (inaccurately) says he is proud to be Kenyan because Kenyans took 40 years to freely elect a president under the umbrella of democracy. Egyptians on the other hand endured several pharaohs, took time off to conquer the world, kicked some slaves around and only recently (centuries later) got to join the rest of the world in queuing through a decent poll. Really?
It is Friday the 13th (again) and the roasting you hear and smell in the air is the juicy Steak of Politics, served daily with generous helpings of Graft Salad and Scandal Sauce (proudly made in Kenya). Even as we think we have finally nailed some PS, minister, bureaucrat for some or other rip-off, a fresh serving is made. This week has been Miguna Miguna’s book that has been revealing the goings-on in PM Raila Odinga’s private and official life. In the Court of Public Opinion, the scandal-laced tidbits are priceless fodder for bar gossip. Political opponents are circling and are talking. More will join in as the vulturine instict leads them to the rot below. If even half of the tales are true, then we have a nation of 40 million fools whistling gladly to another ballot box, but if not, Miguna could need a World Bank loan to settle the potential litigation for the numerous people who star in his veritable bestseller.
And finally...
Reading about 97-year-old Australian Allan Stewart setting another world record for being the oldest university graduate in the world when he graduated with a Master of Clinical Science from Southern Cross University brought memories of the indefatigable Kimani Maruge. Okay, this is Dr Stewart’s fourth university degree, but still, kudos daktari.
editorial@standardmedia.co.ke
