vooko

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Of Jubilee, NASA and the 'Informed Voter'

Of Jubilee, NASA and the ‘Informed Voter’

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto of Jubilee Party

With the political party nominations coming to a close, the countdown begins towards the August 8th deadline. These elections have seen a surge in the number of youth seeking elective seats whether as Members of the County Assemblies, Members of the National Assembly, Governors as well as Senators. The general youthful argument…

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Kenyans Are Not Angry Enough: A Call to Action

Kenyans Are Not Angry Enough: A Call to Action

By Ooko Victor

Something is wrong with Kenya. Many of us think that it is entirely with the leadership. Others like me see the leaders as the disease, not the cause. We are the cause, me and you. The leaders we elect are a reflection of who we are. The impunity we see is what we choose every 5 years. Of course it is packaged in glittering campaign slogans, and accompanied with enticing ethnic…

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This man Boniface Mwangi: Celebrating a Real Kenyan Shujaa.

This man Boniface Mwangi: Celebrating a Real Kenyan Shujaa.

Boniface Mwangi heckles COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli during 2013 Labor Day Celebrations

By Ooko Victor

When Boniface Mwangi first made the decision at civil disobedience, his friends, with whom he had planned to heckle the then President Mwai Kibaki failed him. They simply did not show up at Nyayo Stadium, the venue for the 1st June 2009 Labour Day Celebrations. Boniface stayed on course…

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Of thieving State Officials, Failing War on Terror and a Clueless President

Of thieving State Officials, Failing War on Terror and a Clueless President

By Ooko Victor

Any concerned citizen waking up in Kenya today would cast a dejected soul at the disturbing goings-on envisaged in our country with every dawning day. In the middle of all political rhetoric and faction loyalty, three things stand out clearly for anyone, caring and objective enough to see.

The thieving by State Officials is rising with every minute this administration spends at the…

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Graft Theater: Contextualizing Kenya’s Fight Against Corruption

Graft Theater: Contextualizing Kenya’s Fight Against Corruption

By Ooko Victor

Kenya was ranked position 139 out of a total 168states in the 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International. The CPI tool has been used to rank countries based on perceived levels of corruption elicited by opinion surveys and expert assessments.The latest rankings put Kenya 29 places above, Somalia, perceived to be the most corrupt nation in the world. A…

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Substituting the 'cut': A Look into Alternative Rites of Passage

Substituting the ‘cut’: A Look into Alternative Rites of Passage

By Ooko Victor

One Palestinian woman when asked what she thought about some of the retrogressive cultural practices that women and girls have to live up to said this, ‘When we are born, we are controlled by our fathers, we grow up and we are controlled by our brothers. We are married and controlled by our husbands; then we give birth and are controlled by our sons.” This statement, though…

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Why Kenya is Ill-Equipped to Contain Fires

Why Kenya is Ill-Equipped to Contain Fires

By Ooko Victor

Just how prepared are you in case of a fire outbreak? What safety measures do you have in place in your area of residence?

Whereas emergencies require immediate response, foresight comes in handy in predicting the exact habits necessary to guarantee safety. Yet I can bet that the Nairobi County Government and by extension the entire country has this vital component all wrong. I…

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Decision 2017 Not all about the Money

Decision 2017 Not all about the Money

By Ooko Victor

15 Billion: the legally sanctioned upper limit for campaign funds for a single political party in Kenya which translates to about 0.24% of our GDP (as at 2015). Never mind that there are 2 leading rival political factions with the mathematical capacity to land the top seat, campaign funds notwithstanding. This is proof of just how expensive the price of ‘democracy’ in Kenya could…

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The Political Combination that could topple Jubilee

The Political Combination that could topple Jubilee

Every supporter of Raila Odinga seems to believe he is the only candidate able to wrestle the reins of power from incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta and thereby topple the Jubilee administration. That may be true as long as the perception is from a solitary point of view. Yet political strategy cannot just have a single stand point.  At least, not if the saying ‘there are many ways to kill a rat’…

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MY HEAD AND I

MY HEAD AND I

I have been meaning to write something here for almost two months now. Mine is the worst case of writer’s block ever. That being said though, I have promised myself to find a way to make your time here worthwhile or just bore us both to death, fingers crossed. I came across something recently that really caught my attention. My head and I were trying to find ‘meaning’ in our life so we decided to…

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This thing called Death

This thing called Death

No one alive is immortal,

The ticking clock never stops,

Though at times we do forget,

Tick-tock is always loyal.

  Big or small we are all level,

When the chiming comes along,

You and me once hardly equal,

In death we are all gone.

  Unity gathers strength,

Yet not enough to trample death,

Solitude fosters reason,

But death will hardly listen.

  When your time is up,

Death is punctual,

No second…

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Odinga knows his numbers won’t add up

Odinga knows his numbers won’t add up

Elections are about garnering the highest number of votes and the opposition, under the leadership of Mr. Odinga is aware of this. My article seeks to substantiate what we all know; CORD cannot marshal enough votes to beat the Jubilee coalition as currently constituted. At least not without a miracle!

Article 88 of the Constitution mandates the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission…

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The Little Yellow Dress (Part 1)

The Little Yellow Dress (Part 1)

The day was dull. Dusk approached fast. Time decided to engage the high gear. Friday was fast wearing away, ushering in a cold and wet Saturday morning embodying all the characteristics of the day before. Affysir had just left the the comfort of Links Place. The depth of his pockets that night would not allow him to stray beyond the Cabanas bypass to the right or the Donholm roundabout for that…

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Is Africa really ready for African Solutions to African Problems?

Is Africa really ready for African Solutions to African Problems?

Children are among the key victims of the strife in Burundi

It is Christmas today, yet Africa has very little to celebrate. As the leadership clings to power, African nations continue to burn, and with them, the hope of ever benefiting from what we all thought was a break from colonial subjugation. Countries are held ransom, and all in the guise of advancing national interests.

Today especially,…

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#WeAreOne: Celebrating the Mandera Heroes

The security threat posed by the Alshabaab on Kenya has refused to go away. Every other day, we live with the fear of a new report about an explosive device recovered here or a hijacked passenger bus elsewhere. In each of these instances, the real test has been on whether we as Kenyans would allow ourselves to be divided alongside radical religious lines.

The selfless move by the Muslim…

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The Shades of Love

The Shades of Love

Love The potent 4 lettered word Yet still attractive to the attentive Enough to get heads rolling And minds boggling

When sincere, it is a joy When shared it nurtures hope Belief that we are valued We are appreciated And that someone understands

When feigned, love hurts It is exploitative and manipulative It shatters dreams and disrupts futures It is a double-edged sword That just won’t stop…

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You Would Rather Be Alone

You would rather be alone, It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company. Show me your friends & i will tell you who you are. If you learn how to run with wolves, you will learn how to hold. If you fly with eagles, you will learn how to fly to greater heights.

A mirror reflects a man’s face, but the kind of friends he chooses reflects who he truly is. Be confident and bold, be positive and…