Joluo’s Weblog

A Sub-Site of Jaluo.com

1. Becky Owiti 1.18.08 / 11pm

   Uwinjo jowete and friends of Kisumu,

   As soon as President Raila sits in his rightful position, let us all come together and rebuild our city… this is my cry. Let us make better roads throughout Nyanza, better schools, better shops, better hospitals, better residential homes and better airports. Let us call our professionals from wherever they are to help rebuild the city. Let us seek every graduate, engineers, doctors, nurses, teachers, to come home. Let us seek financial aid from our MPs, our Church leaders, our friends abroad and within and let us a shame them that were poised to reduce our city to ashes. Let us forget the past and join hands together and rebuild our city. I have read with dismay how we have been laughed at but remember, he who laughs last, laughs longest. Call one, call all and let us give Kisumu a new face!
2. Joseph R Alila 1.19.08 / 1pm

   “We only have stones!”

   This cry from young man amidst a battle with GSU paramilitary police in Kisumu captures the current tragedy in Nyanza in the current electoral crisis. In the Rift Valley we have read of the dreaded GSU personnel being detained by locals at roadblocks; in Kisumu unarmed kids are practice targets of some police officers, as a recent TV footage doing the rounds on the Web taught us. What makes Rift Valley different than Nyanza?

   The answer is that unlike Rift Valley, Luo Nyanza is irrelevant to the nation of Kenya: it is farflung and landlocked; Anyuongi has killed navigation and fishing on Lake Victoria; Kisumu is in ruins, sugar can be imported; no other ethnicities live there; only her electoral vote matters to any politician after evry five years. The Govt forces will continue to operate in Luo Nyanza with impunity to teach the locals to “vote otherwise” next time.

   Which way Luo Nyanza?

   Would this election be the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back?

   I believe so.

   If Hon. Raila Odinga fails to sit on the covetted seat (the Presidency), or fails to agitate for and get the Premiership before 2012, most Luo Nyanza voters will sit out the 2012 elections, and it will not matter who runs in ODM, which will have died anyway.

   I’d rather watch Gor Mahia FC matches, comiserate with fellow elders than vote again in a fatally-cursed process that only generates anguish and gnashing of teeth among the people.

   We were there before in the ’60s and ’70s, and may survive it, again. But if not managed well, this elctoral mess may be the last straw that broke the camel’s back in Luo Nyanza because pride to the point of apathy is a virtue, at least in a Luo psyche.

   Ask yourself this: why are there no Luo names in Kibaki’s National Dialogue and Reconciliation Committee? The answer is that Luo Nyanza is irrelevant to his political schemes; he never campaigned there anyway.

   Joseph R. Alila

   (Author: “The Wise One of Ramogiland,” ISBN 978-14303-2554-3)
3. enock odwor 1.19.08 / 4pm

   When will we stop destroying our cities.

   Matiba did not burn Muranga after Moi stole the 1992 elections neither did Kibaki do it in 1997.

   The problem is our leaders who have lost direction.

   Losing does not mean you burn your house and food?

   Why are kalenjins not looting Eldoret, Baringo, Nakuru and Kericho and all are ODM zones?

   Let us ditch Raila and his family come 2012 elections and see whether that time we will win.
4. joluo 1.19.08 / 4pm

   Hello again. We keep wondering, Enock, why you think we should listen to you when, as you stated in the post about the EU parliament’s sanctions, you think that “Kenyans are fools.” Any reason?
5. janam 1.19.08 / 5pm

   Kisumu was burned by Mungiki and Uganda GSU. We have had strikes and demonstration in kisumu almost every year. People have allways looted but never burnt any shop.

   The looted shops were petrol bombed by the Mungiki and Uganda GSU.

   Thanks
6. Annah 1.19.08 / 5pm

   Mr. Alila,

   I mostly agree with you, but I think it is dangerous to say that we have a “Luo psyche.” I am sure that you did not mean this the way many people will take it, but the truth is that there are elements that have always tried to stereotype black people everywhere. We have to fight this at every turn. We are not a monolith but a people with a broad range of influences and opinions.

   Sincere regards,
   Annah
7. Joseph R Alila 1.19.08 / 9pm

   Annah,
   Thank you. I do not mean bad. The Luo are a proud people, otherwise their rich culture could have been swallowed by the sea of Bantu nations around them. A United States midwesterner will treat a stranger with studied aloofness until he or she proves that he or she is friendly. New Yorkers will greet a stranger with open arms the first day he she enters their church. A Luo will share his food with any stranger–friend or foe. These are trends most people will observe if they cared to look.
   I am talking as a fairly old Luo who has been in the political limbo long enough to have worshiped a football team to remain sane. A Luo is not a tribalist; in his office he will address you in English or Kiswahili even though he or she is a Luo.
   A Luo is a good civil servant and hates mediocrity in whatever role he or she finds himself. In this sence a Luo expects the bests in his or her Leader (and not King). If the current Leader fails them or should he be prevented from offering political deliverance, the collective apathy will set in. That is what I mean.
   Lastly, a Luo is proud to be a Luo; it is part of his or her DNA. But this does not preclude him or her from being a Kenyan Nationalist because the latter builds on the former.

   Let us keep hoping.

   J. Alila

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