PETER KIMANI

Sally Kosgei is a beautiful woman with a soul to match, if you were to deduct the purity of the soul from the pronouncements of her tongue.

Well, let’s refrain from her tongue for the time being because Tinga, her party leader and boss at Cabinet, has a better analysis of it.

I am more interested in her looks, not to demean her intelligence (she has a doctorate in history, after all), but because this is the Valentine weekend, so men are allowed to admire women.

Well, this should in no way be interpreted as a faint-hearted attempt at propositioning the Minister for Agriculture. I just wanted to say the scowl on her face would appear less scary if she smiled more often, as she did when she hugged Eldoret North MP William Ruto who, incidentally, occupied her docket a few months ago.

Then they got dancing, slow and well syncopated. I think that’s what inspired Sally to speak so movingly as she did, talking about her people and their march into the future.

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I only understood one word, ugali, from her lengthy speech to her people in their language, and I switched stations when I lost track of her narrative.

When I switched back to the news channel, a livid Tinga was on the screen, speaking with such fury, he was foaming at the mouth.

I was wondering what the fuss was all about, or even the person on the receiving end.

Tinga was saying, in that roundabout way of his, this time without the cheerfulness that he renders his vitendawili (riddles) that some people allow their tongues to sprint out of their mouths, then their brains play catch-up.

It is then that I learned that in-between my station swapping, Sally had said something that sullied her reputation as a thoughtful politician that she is.

Sally herself confirmed, with the veneer of a sneer that could have scared a rat, that she had received death threats from some characters who took offence over her remarks after that remarkable jig in Aldai.

Reason? During my TV-switching, Sally had remarked her Cabinet position was a desultory reward for someone who had known more power and glory, and whose singular purpose at Cabinet was joyriding.

Why, her bendera, the pennant that denotes her ministerial position, "ni kitambaa ya kunipitisha kwa magari (just a piece of cloth to wave and weave through traffic).

I wouldn’t be surprised if Sally decides to cast her Sh1 million salary to the four directions of the wind as she is chauffeured around, so that the motions of the otherwise useless flag are matched with the fluttering of wads of money that she obviously hasn’t earned.

The vultures are waiting ...in still silence

TA national TV network, which shall remain nameless for the sake of peace in the region, reported interviewing a famine-ravaged woman somewhere in East Pokot, and who died within 24 hours of their bulletin.

The woman’s identity was not revealed (she was too insignificant), but the news of her tragedy was confirmed by the area councillor, Peter Lokoromoi, who was quoted extensively in the report, explaining that the woman had not eaten for one month.

In media studies, such respondents are called privileged interviewees, the sort that hover around disaster zones like vultures.

Actually, the story reminded one of the vulture captured in Kevin Carter’s iconic picture of the predator that he photographed in 1993 stalking a starving Sudanese child. The vulture was waiting for the child to die and eat it.

The picture won the South African photojournalist the Pulitzer for Feature Photography in 1994. But Carter was unable to live with the guilt of abandoning the needy child, and committed suicide three months after receiving the Pulitzer.

So, who interviewed a dying woman and left without offering a helping hand, and now has the temerity to narrate the story? I think some fellows are so hungry, it shows in their eyes.

Muzzling Tinga’s Press in Addis

I think things are getting a bit clearer why Tinga was not available when Prezzo placed his call to Addis. As Veep Wiper had suggested, Tinga was presenting his report on the mediation efforts in Cote d’Ivoire, not to the African Union Security Council, but to scribes.

Procedurally, Tinga was supposed to brief his superiors in the Peace and Security Council first, after which they would then deliberate on his report and any other reports pertinent to the Cote d’Ivoire crisis before holding a Press conference.

To be fair, such protocol can be excruciatingly slow, which is why Tinga prefers to think on his feet. He decided there and then the message to the media was more important.

Security men were then called in to disperse Tinga’s press conference.

"There was some shouting, pushing and shoving with the clearly discomfited Kenyan premier attempting to rush through his statement before handing out copies to journalists who were being dispersed, after which he left the scene in a huff," the report went on.

Poor Tinga. That probably explains why he was in such foul mood when he arrived home. See, it’s not just in Kenya where they want to muzzle the Press!