And The Monkeys Return to the Forest

So Martha Karua threw her weight behind the son of Jomo, big deal. Did you really expect her to part the heavens, climbs the hills and cross the seas for Tinga? You’s crazy fam. In case you have made your residence in some obscure cave somewhere on the border of Kenya and Uganda, our politics are kind of tribal. It would be an impossible task to make headway politically without endorsing and supporting the perceived political kingpin of the region you see to run, and just in case you are wondering, that is the son of Jomo for you in Central Kenya. Political calculations being made left right and center and certain people are not very happy with the upset those calculations are causing, but hey, there is no loyalty in Kenyan politics, absolutely none, and if some quarters were banking of the loyalty of Karua just because she’d blurted her eyes at them then they only have themselves to blame for the colossal disappointment they now wade in.
Let’s not pretend like this is shocking and unbelievable, it’s really not. Just the other day some guy poached from ODM by Jubilee wailed and cried and rend his garments to get baba’s forgiveness and be welcomed back into his fold, he was eventually. Let’s also not forget the lesson Orengo and baba Lupita learnt when they crossed baba. I mean, talk of a lesson learnt. Politicians are heartless things that writhe and move in certain ways that add up to their own selfish satisfaction. If you haven’t figured that out yet then you are living in your own alternate existence where Raila and the son of Jomo play hide and seek in fields of lilies, drinking from springs of milk sweetened with honey.
Loyalty in our political systems is something that we grapple with. Loyalty in our country is to individuals rather than political parties. Imagine vying for a seat in Luo Nyanza on a Jubilee ticket, I mean, how absurd do you have to be. Before getting a vote or two you’ll have gone through such a tumult that you’ll denounce even your wife if that’s what it takes. The perfect should not be enemies of the good.  Politics in our country is very lopsided. What works for Karua may not work for Kajwang or Joho. That is the nature of our politics and those who say otherwise are not being true to themselves and to us quite frankly. So there is nothing new in what Karua has done, there is nothing shocking, to warrant outcry, its monkeys returning to the forest they had left, temporarily though.
Mwangi Dennis

The FLOTUS Flop

Michelle Obama, who doesn’t love Michelle Obama? A friend intimated that there could be strangers whose love for Michelle Obama could rival that of Barrack. That is of course debatable but somehow believable. She has for the last eight years been able to command respect and inspire confidence in people from the entire globe. Some quarters suggest that she is loved and liked more than Obama himself. Michelle is a Harvard trained lawyer, who has risen through the ranks in the legal profession to the position of Associate Dean at the University of Chicago. She has held quite a number of public posts that have squarely put her in the path of helping people and service to the community. She is arguably the most notable first lady in the history of the US. There are those calling her to run for president come 2020 and my honest opinion is that she would floor her opponent, whoever that may be. On the other hand, Melania Trump, the incoming first lady of the United States, is a far cry from Michelle Obama. She has given quite a few speeches since her husband announced his decision to run and two of them were plagiarized.
How do you reconcile these two figures, how do you go from Michelle to Melania? I have tried to rationalize this but after a few attempts at this my head actually hurts. She is a former model who has graced the cover of popular magazines albeit bikini clad others, in almost complete nudity and now she will be tasked with inspiring confidence in little girls and boys out there to make sound careers choices, as Michelle did with her quest to have girls get educated all over the world. If her actions in the recent past are anything to go by, I wager shell follow in the steps of Michelle Obama, and literally so to a fault. Perhaps she’ll even pose with a placard written #BringBackOurGirls ignorant of the fact that the girls are home with their families. But judging a book by its cover, or in this instance, by the magazine cover may be in bad faith.
 To throw the spanner in the works, how will the Whitehouse dinners be like? I have been pondering on this since Trump was declared president elect and I tell you, it not pretty, or is, depending on tastes. America now will have a first lady whose profession involved stripping down to her undergarments and posing for pictures in rather obscene ways and now she will be tasked with planning Whitehouse dinners. I suppose the likes of Amber Rose and the Kardashian clan will be helping her plan the dinners, you know, what goes where, which tattooed goliath of a man sits where, which see through dress to wear and which Russian oligarch to entertain for the night, the perfect Whitehouse dinner. How exciting.
Mwangi Dennis.