RESCUE HER, PLEASE

courtesy of: mgafrica.com

 The recent revelation of child mums down at Kisumu reduced me to tears. Poverty and persistent backward traditions are impeding teenage girls from pursuing their future. Early marriages tops the list of challenges facing the girl child in this area; 43% to be precise. As a consequence of extreme poverty,some parents subject their teenage daughters (aged between 15-18 years) to early marriages.

These marriages are imposed on the girls as a means of reducing the number of dependents, or by proscribing her the role of a bread winner and compelled to sacrifice her dreams of completing her education. With early marriages comes early pregnancies, where the young wives are expected to bare children in exchange for monetary support for their families back home. Children end up raising children.

courtesy of: afrikanheritage.com

Some girls are lured by men, as old as their fathers, who use goodies as bait. Shame became too heavy to bear for a certain girl, aged fifteen, who admits to having a boyfriend primarily to help meet her financial needs. She became fed up of the state of poverty that rocked her homestead as her mother could not afford to buy her essentials such as sanitary towels.

A headteacher at a public school in this troubled county expresses his distress at the escalating rate of early pregnancies witnessed at the institute. He reveals that during the recent teachers' strike period, 10 teenage girls fell victim to early marriages and pregnancies. Teachers took to the streets expressing their woes with unsatisfying wages. This left the girls wandering away from the school compound, some being forcefully married off, even as second wives.

Physical abuse in child marriages is growing, where the young wife is forced to labor hard by engaging in manual as a prescribed role of a wife. Once again, a girl's dream is tossed aside, her hues reduced to nothing but a nagging whine. Sadly, some child mums end up raising their children as single parents after fleeing from battering husbands who mark their bodies with bruises.

When poverty coerces a girl child into trading her dreams for pennies, it reflects a decaying society that has failed to protect her and her hopes of leading a life equal to that of the opposite gender. If she dares to reject this role, she is labelled a deviant and faces stigmatization from family and the community at large.

Rescue her, please!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q4lHpao4VE

LET'S TALK DEVOLUTION

At the risk of being labelled naive, I admit that it was not until recently that I got a clear understand of the ongoing devolution process.(like every youth in Kenya is well conversant with the term-do no judge me!) The irony of all this is that the media played no part in contributing to my new pool of knowledge. It took my friend five minutes to interpret . The government fish for such complicated words when relaying simple information to the public; they should really think of looking into that if the information is intended for every common mwananchi. 

 courtesy of https://evertb.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/corruption_664345.jpg

The devolution process is intended to spread out power to the local government; housing a decentralized power system. It explains the 47 county governments. This appears to be quite beneficial seeing that it provides enhanced checks and balances. For one, it encourages public participation which ensure leaders are held accountable for service delivery. With active participation from the citizens in the governance process, quality of leadership is expected to improve (at least that's what we are hoping for, though at this point I have more hope in seeing a  rabbit dancing to the yoga song  than that happening).

Secondly, with a decentralized government, funds will be distributed according to county needs. This saves the country sums of money lost in ghost projects since the local goverments will be held accountable for expenditure of respective counties.(I long to see that happening, but oh well,dreams are valid). And have we forgotten the growing public debt and the pending wage bill??

 Now I tried interpreting the Devolution Working Paper Series but Yawa! The media should chambua that document for us! But who am I to tell the media what to do? I hate on the media too much yet they are my prime source of information. Pardon me oh people who earn salary through the brown-envelope journalism system. Najua tu Mpesa (pun intended). 

courtesy of cartoonstock.com

I have to commend the government for the developed agricultural sector and the roads rehabilitation process; even though the floods dealt thoroughly with some roads-potholes. (This is why Lamborghinies cannot be driven in Kenya- that and plus our red hot economy most times seems to highly favor the elite). 

Devolution does have it's downside. It is quite expensive to initiate. Seeing how we have to maintain the leaders' lifestyles off our pockets in the name of tax, I wonder to what extent the devolved governance can be actualised before the funds disappear into some rabbit hole. I need to travel a bit, being in Kenya all your life sometimes numbs your dreams of ever seeing a corrupt free government. (going off topic, again!)

Moreover, Kenya falls short of capable governors and sufficient support from the central government. Case in point is the recent internal wrangle involving county governments and the national government to attain national revenue. Sometimes I watch news while munching on popcorn- it is an unfolding telenovela. The popular impeachments which set the agendas aback are becoming too much! (Just remembered the Hii Ni Drama Video- suits the situation).

Now you know what I know.

MIRROR MIRROR CRACKING MY WALL

 

I pray to live long enough to impart iron age wisdom to my daughter. To engrave in her palms the value of recognizing ones self worth. I wish to extricate her from the grasp of an insecure society that chooses to stamp the label, 'imperfection'  on whomever dares to deviate in an attempt to defend their individuality. the silence that was once mistaken for submission will reflect dignified consent from the other sex.

When she sees a slim lady on TV, she won't develop a blank stare of pain, deeming herself as flabby but rather curvy. She will grow to learn that hazel eyes don't draw attention fastest but rather the mastery of ideals that add on to the pool of knowledge. Blond silk hair will not raise the value of a woman or the shape of her butt. Light skinned women will not be fetching higher ranking on the 'she's hot' radar! Looks will no longer be equated to asset value.

 Meaningless talk will be intolerable to her ear because she will learn the value of time.

Once she comes into this world, I'll teach her that it is not about beating a man but playing fair in the same field. She will never experience discrimination based on her gender because the word marginalised gender will not be existing.

I will not get engulfed in paper chasing and neglect my duty as a mum, not if I can help it anyway.

LESSONS WE CHOOSE NOT TO LEARN!

The thirst that MPs now depict is harsh! Following the scandalous ruling by the High court that CDF mullah would be handled by the Governors is driving these mafisi cray! Quite frankly, their defence which is clearly comes out as plain-white greediness, is that the funds can be entrusted to the MCAs since they have handled past county projects with a squeaky clean credible record of completing projects. Let's illuminate the fact that ever since CDF scheme started, more illiterate wanna-Be's aspirants have popped up, caressed our dry throats with empty promises of development, only to leave us high and dry. 

The once hopeless Dagoretti market has taken a plunge into a new low. The once pothole- infested road was a nightmare for most motorists. However, the unruly matatus still dominate the roads, utterly frustrating other motorists. The mathree drivers' arguments backing their unruliness holds water. The MP who vowed to designate bus stops during the construction of the road clearly had amnesia as he was carrying out his kifunga macho development project. By failing to provide an alternative location for the market traders has forced them to trade on the roadside causing traffic of people and cars. 

Don't get me started on the current cholera outbreak threatening to cripple the Kenyan population. My worry with this whole setting is the toxic fumes clouding the market air posing a serious heath risk to the neighboring residents and the pedestrians who stop to buy some greens on the way home. I wonder if the MP ever cruises by and rolls down his dungeon dark tinted windows to observe the state of affairs of the place he once considered home before upgrading to the good life!

But then again, that is not his problem anymore, is it? Oh no, our dear waheshimiwa are caught in a political affair of musical chairs as everyone tries to prove to be the Alpha in their respective political parties. Why do we make the same mistake and contract selective amnesia when the time to vote approaches? 

It's about time Kenyans start making wise decisions on who they hand their vote too or tears and whining will be our tune until the ends of days.

THE ROOT CAUSE...

A story recently broke out that a 47 year old man enticed two young girls with a Ksh 5 biscuit and defiled them in Mororo, Tanariver county. My oh my! This raised so many questions. First, few details have been provided surrounding the incident. For example, did the girls know this man who defiled them? And if not, then what were the children doing unsupervised long enough to be lured and abused?

These cases of child abuse are becoming as rampant as the DickSON-Nyeri incidents.  It's a reflection of a decaying society. The economy may be making an attempt to improve, but ethically, we are a diseased globe.The perverts are popping up now more than ever while parents seem to be neglecting their role of first protecting their children before providing. What happened to the days when every elder was considered a parent figure? Now they are potential sexual predators!

What angers me the most is how the media still prioritizes politics over social injustice. The story barely receives coverage in the daily newspaper, leading me to question the extent to which the media gives a care about it's audience! Honestly, as the gate keepers, the media is privileged to set the agenda for Kenya depending on how they frame a story. Yet, these sexual assault cases are merely stated but the hard news comprises of detailed political battles every now and then. Due to the M-Pesa and brown envelope journalism, the journalists have abandoned relevant news values and find themselves bound to unethical practices where political headlines dominate mainstream media.

What happened to the professional mantra of objective reporting and prioritising issues that impede positive nation building? Who is now playing the advocacy role by bringing to light stories often swept under the rag?

LIGHTS, CAMERA, SKIRTS!

I am one enthusiastic woman, heavily supporting the two-thirds gender rule being pushed for in parliament. For a change we are not focusing on blows being handed down by opposing political figures to their playmates. 

However, I frown when I look at how misrepresented women are in the media houses. The Kenyan media sector has been in existence for over 100 years yet the voice of women is still being stifled to date. The international sphere is run by men and so the agendas of the other gender are rarely addressed with the seriousness they deserve. Out of the 110 media owners, how many are women? Do we ever wonder how many women are even at top-media management levels in Kenya or do we just join the bandwagon and scrutinise the female news anchors searching for flaws to belittle them?

It saddens me to read statistics stating that only 19% of views read or heard in the media are by women. To what extent will the women continue being marginalised? Forgive me for pulling my feminism hat on but if only men’s views matter then how is gender empowerment ever to thrive? Are we fighting a lost cause? Sadly, the views often perceived to be important are those of men yet they claim to be at the forefront championing for gender equality. At the education level, only one out of every five journalism graduates is a man. Paradoxically, the creme De la creme of media are men!  

This fungus is widespread across all media houses. Only a handful of female news anchors, reporting prime time news, still have hairline; constantly adorning weaves and thick makeup to bring to lure an audience. Media houses thrive on high ratings. What does this mean for the female journalists that stand in front of the camera? Do they have to continue being plastic to remain relevant to the media houses? Whatever happened to Catherine Kasavuli? Grew too old to captivate audience? How many female writers have their stories taking the lead in the newspaper hard news section? 

Women are not to be viewed as objects of desire.  I long to see more women take charge, not just host shows or write feature stories or fashion columns, but rather be more involved in development and policy-making within the top level in the media. Moreover, the media houses have a mandate to educate their personnel on equal treatment of female and male news makers. More airtime should be dedicated to informative shows that advocate for social change to enable the girl child rise in society without being discriminated.

My rant for the week!

SERIKALI TAFADHALI...

  VENT WITH ME, PLEASE!

UNCOVER WHAT'S BENEATH. I WANT TO SEE YOU FOR WHO YOU REALLY ARE.

Great, now that I have your attention, why don’t we talk about our esteemed leaders for a minute?

Don’t you think that if Kenyan leaders would carry out awareness campaigns as they do their election bids, Kenyans would have a clear picture of how they are being governed? The opposite is what is happening in reality however, fundamental issues hovering over Kenya always seem to be waved away easily by our so called caring leaders. In real sense, only a hand-full actually care enough and actively vouch for change. The trust between the citizens and their leaders is almost nonexistent. We live in an era where the voter is inclined to vote based on ethnic affiliations and not bothering to know much about the person been elevated to power. Why? This can be attributed to the fact that once the leaders win the seat, the proletariat’s hues are tossed aside and the greedy dogs join the hunger game.

Land grabbing is not the only cancer eating through our economy. When the floods hit various parts of Kenya, the inept leaders cast blame on harsh weather conditions. How can heavy rains bare blame for the overflow of sewage water that grappled motorists for almost two weeks along Ngong road's tedious traffic as the county governor comfortably evaded traffic with an escort car clearing the way for his convoy? Only Makini school students can narrate the horror of having to spend the night in traffic. They had to watch in awe as the water levels caused by floods kept rising and almost drowning their bus on a highway! Still choose to point fingers at the rains, Mheshimiwa?

Every time I see my MP post a picture of a wonderful luncheon I feel the need to reply the post with the question, ‘When will you develop an interest in transforming my neighborhood's insecurity that causes me shivers as I hastily walk home at 7pm from school, in fear of being mugged or gang raped by jobless youth? Speaking of idle minds, can you address the fact that unemployment is still pricking our society with the number sky rocketing over the past decade?’

We can’t possibly blame it all on the leaders though as that would be irresponsible. We are the ones who vote them in over and over again after all. Our reasons for our choices are more senseless every time and perhaps, we should take ALL the blame.

Before we delve deeper into leadership however, it is about time we all sat down and did some good for our communities. We need more entrepreneurs which would inevitably create jobs, we need to engage in community projects such as garbage collection, we need to tembea Kenya and not depend on foreign tourists solely on that tip, there are so many things we could do. This is because I think that if we are responsible at home, right from the grassroots, there is no way we could be irresponsible when it comes to bigger things such as choosing the leaders. Charity begins at home after all.

I could vent all day, but i have a day time job, kujenga nchi nini nini. Please do join me as I lay out my frustrations on my blog though, for it is by finding the thing around our necks that we can find the solution to remedy the situation. Isn’t that right Adichie? 

My hope is to see this blog invite views from you on the direction you wish to see this country take during the development process. With each post, i desire to invoke a spirit of change in my readers' hearts and sharing different perspective on ways to combat social injustice in this great land and nation!

Cheers!