Soma Nights | Benefit Party at the Lounge tonight

A few years ago a group of Kenyan friends in Minnesotan universities got together to start an education fund for children in Kenya. They would raise money every month amongst themselves, and over time formalized the association and formed the Kenya Society for Academic Advancement.

A long feature will follow. For now, read more about them on their website, become a fan on Facebook and party with them at the Lounge tonight! (flyer above) Proceeds from Soma Nights will go towards the KSAA education fund. (Soma is Swahili for Study/Read)

On their website you can meet the children who have received scholarships from them. You can also read about their work with women groups in different parts of Kenya.  It was not until 2003 that education became free to all Kenyan children only at the primary school level. KSAA seeks to serve kids who have benefited from free primary school education, have done well academically, but cannot afford to go to high school.

The founders of KSAA realized that ensuring the education of these underprivileged children through high school would vastly improve their chances of success in life. The success of such an individual would greatly help in advancing not only personal growth, but the growth and development of [Kenya].

Disclaimer: I am friends with most of the founders and board members of KSAA so I have attended a couple of their benefits (thus explaining my photo on the slide show on their homepage)

Event details: The Lounge, 411 Second Ave North, Minneapolis. Time: 10pm to 2am.

The Globalization of African Cities: The Case of Nairobi Kenya

by Nelima

Dr. Kefa M. Otiso of Bowling Green State University will be here April 24th giving a talk on Globalization of African Cities using Nairobi, Kenya as a case study.

When: April 25th, noon-1pm

Where: Macalester, Olin Rice 250

The globalization of African cities has grown significantly in the past two decades in responsto domestic and global economic, social, cultural and political forces. In particular, the World Bank-IMF’s Structural Adjustment Programs of the 1980s and 1990s played an important role in liberalizing the economies of many African countries to the benefit of domestic and global capital. As one of Africa’s most global cities, Nairobi has witnessed significant development and reinforcement of its global trade, transport, communications, financial, and investment linkages since the 1980s due to greater tourist flows to Kenya and the ongoing concentration of multinational corporations, international NGOs, and UN agencies in the city.

Because of President Obama, I am a new Kenyan Man

by Ogullo

In my first week of high school, my physical ed. teacher invited me to try out for the track and field. My long lean frame, which is similar to that of the runners from my country of birth, Kenya, had him fooled. The first training put any notions of stardom to rest. During classes on world history and world geography my classmates looked at me like they were expecting me to tell tales of  The Lion King and yes I indulged them.

Gone are the days that Kenya was synonymous with Maasai herdsmen and Kalenjin runners. When I tell people (Americans and Africans alike) that I am a native of Kenya, they ask me whether I am Luo. Of course I tell everyone I am Luo and more importantly, a not-so-distant relative to Obama. I got into election parties using that line and I almost landed a girlfriend with the phrase. Maybe she wanted a me to help her produce a future president or at least a neurosurgeon …. as the Luos would remark….. But Do I Say?

Thank you President Obama, once the romanticised herdsman and the astute marathoner I am now an eligible intellectual bachelor; accepting applications.

Was the African Continent Really Ready for Independence?

by Nana

This may sound like a simple question to some, but when looked at seriously a pattern of thought starts to emerge. Trust me, if you walked on any street in any major or small city in Africa majority of the answers to this question would range from “doubt” on one hand to a simple “maybe” for a few others. In the late 1950s and early 60s when majority of the continents’ countries passed the threshold of the colonial yoke to the promised land there was an air of optimism. I recall every man, woman and child in Kenya was happy and sang patriotic songs and for a moment one would think Jesus’ second coming had arrived. Little did they know that forty years down the aisle, only a few would be still singing while majority would have resigned to their fate; for them Jesus’ second coming is yet to appear.

Back to the simple or is it complex question above, “Was Africa Truly Ready for Independence?”

Is Ghana’s peaceful transfer of power a sign of political transformation in Africa?

by Nelima

The African in me looks at Ghana with pride while the Kenyan in me looks at Ghana with envy. Out of political maturity Ghana escaped what Kenya went through and has now come on stage as the political model for Africa. 

Now a year after the post-election violence that rocked Kenya, many people are still homeless and ethnic tensions are still high in some parts of the country. What’s troublesome is that thoughtful reflections have been few in the Kenyan media and practically non-existent amongst Kenyans in the diaspora. Instead there has been finger pointing as to who was responsible and the recommendations of the ” Waki Report” , which analyzed the underlying causes of the violence as well as named the key individuals suspected of orchestrating the violence, are yet to be implemented. Consequently, 2009 brings many political and socio-economic challenges for Kenyans which need to be addressed decisively.

The Kenya Communications (Amendment) Bill, 2008: Media Is To Blame Too.

by Capt. (Rtd) COLLINS WANDERI

On 10th December, 2008, Parliament dealt a blow to the freedom of press and expression in Kenya by passing The Communications (Amendment) Bill, 2008. MPs were mainly driven by vengeance over the media’s sustained coverage of the taxation of their hefty salaries and allowances.

But is the media fraternity entirely blameless? The media celebrated in September 2007 when Hon. Mutahi Kagwe, then Minister for Information and Communications withdrew the same bill from Parliament citing the need for further consultations and introduction of clauses to deal with cyber crime and protect the optical fibre cable. My commentary on this Bill was published in the Business Daily on 4th September, 2007. Read here. Instead of using the window created by the withdrawal of the bill to highlight its weaknesses and lobby for the removal of the offending clauses, the media concentrated on political sideshows.

Jamhuri Day Celebrations Are Meaningless: Kenyans Are Yet To Be Free!

by Capt. (Rtd) COLLINS WANDERI

In 1888 the Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEA) was granted the royal charter to administer and commercially exploit the British territory in East Africa on behalf the British monarch. The company was responsible for managing the production and exportation of raw materials and the construction of the Kenya-Uganda Railway to facilitate international trade. The company’s sphere of influence was renamed the Kenya Protectorate in 1895 and finally Kenya Colony in 1920. The declaration of the protectorate over Kenya was followed by a systematic legal process of alienating large tracts of land and dispossessing the indigenous people of the same.

Holiday Reflections

by Linda Obel

I will be the first to admit I hate the holiday season because right after Thanksgiving, before in some cases, the Christmas carols start playing everywhere I go… all these people excited about what they want for Christmas and then… all those Christmas decorations and all this fake “Holiday Cheer!”… Everything here is so commercialized! “Someone shoot me please!” is what I think to myself sometimes…

Kenya at 45; So far from where we began, yet so far from where we should be.

Jomo Kenyatta (right) as first Prime Minister of Kenya in 1963. Courtesy of Britannica Student Encyclopedia

by Nelima

Happy Jamhuri (Independence) Day to all my fellow Kenyans!

What a great day this is as Kenyans all over are celebrating their freedom from the clutches of British colonial rule 45 years ago.

A sketch of my family’s colonial background goes something like this; my mom was seven at the time of Kenya’s Independence, but she remembers that during the colonial times my grandfather worked as a farm manager on “Major’s” farm in Entebbes. He was an ’Omwikisi‘  (teacher) back at the reserve .

Kenya: Creating Expatriate Presidents Place Your Order.

by Nelima

I found this in today’s Madd Madd World I think its funny that they would export a Kikuyu to Sicily. Would that be to errrr deal with the Mafia?

 

Expatriate Presidents