Monthly Archives: April 2020

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I am here thinking

That maybe we here in Africa & especially here in Kenya have got our priorities around this pandemic wrong.

Think of it this way. Since the first case was announced almost a month ago, 14 people are said to have died of the virus. In that time more people have been killed by police enforcing the curfew, mudslides, malaria & starvation among other deaths we deal with on a daily basis.

In the meantime, we have brought some businesses to a halt & I am sure as is common to this regime, we have created a few millionaires through no hard work on their part but sleaze.

By closing schools and colleges, we have cost school going children to lose time, endangered many others for whom school provides a safe haven, even if just for a brief moment.

Well, I guess social distancing measures work. I have seen vids about the Spanish flu of years past & how different cities faired. Maybe medics are right that this disease is different from the viruses we already know & we should stay at home for the time being, at least.

I want to know how some places have only 1 case since they announced their first case. Was that the only testing kit they had? Or did they find this patient zero before they came into contact with any other person?

I guess I am tired of these restrictions. It’s not really that I want to go anywhere specific. No. If you have watched the movie Sarafina, there is this scene Ms Masombuga says all she wants is freedom. That’s all I want. To move when I want to. I hate masks.

I just want all this to end. That’s all.

Click on the file above to see data for any country you have in mind.

 

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Because of the lock down

I have nothing interesting to tell you. In fact, I have nothing at all to tell you. Well, I think by closing schools too early when the country just had one case, the president erred and now millions of students countrywide are doing nothing with themselves but eating. Online classes is not possible for the majority. They just do not have the equipment to make it possible.

Our parliament is just a house for busy bodies. Our MPs are clueless. These two are not news. This pandemic has just made it more clear.

But the Americans for the first time in history have a president who knows everything. No wonder he is making America great again!

I hate this staying at home business! My couch will need new cushions because of the beating they have received in the last many days.

Happy Sunday everyone. Keep well. Eat well. And exercise a bit, if you can. And if you can help it, drink some.

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thoughts in season

In a previous posting, the words of Engels came to life in describing the current state of affairs in Kenya. And in this, in giving life to the words of Karl Marx, I noted that Muigai is the recurrence/ reincarnation of the first Ngegi only this time as farce. The first Kenyatta borrowed money from Int’l partners to buy back land from settlers, land that had been stolen from the natives in the first place. The money ended up in the pockets of his powerful friends and a few well placed individuals. That was tragedy. The 2nd Kenyatta went on a borrowing spree unparalleled in the country’s history and large chunks of this many is said to have ended up in powerful people’s pockets. Because of his greed for loans, the country is now in a perilous state, no tax revenues to run government programs as most businesses have shut down and a broke treasury that is incapable of rising to the challenge of meeting economic slowdown occasioned by the pandemic.

Having said that, one would hope that it is finally apparent that governments ought to invest in healthcare facilities, personnel, research and development etc. The executive and parliament need to wake up to the realization that building capacity in our local hospitals is critical not just for the poor people but even for them. The current pandemic has made it clear to all those that can see that this government  lock-downs means they would depend on local institutions for their healthcare. Institutions they have de-funded through the years by low budget allocations and stealing with their relatives whatever is left. County governments should invest in health institutions but even our governors are busy competing in how much of public money they can steal.

I am ashamed to say that most of our universities have come out embarrassingly inadequately prepared for the 21st century.  I am not even sure they have developed procedures to continue to offer lessons online to their students. In terms of response to covid19, all I have seen is university departments producing sanitizers. I do hope that our biochemistry departments are at the forefront in developing reagents that can be used locally to increase the capacity of the country to test the cases. There is need to increase funding for research and development.

In the same vain, those of us in the construction industry should be at the forefront, together with the universities in developing innovative building materials and building our capacity to produce most of the inputs required in buildings. We must take advantage of the pandemic to rethink our relationship with the rest of the world.

this is a w-i-p

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Various approaches to covid19 disease

So far, in many countries, there are strict lockdown measures and social distancing requirements that seem to be working for some and not in other areas. Why this is the case is a question for researchers to answer. In Tanzania, our neighbour to the south, the president has declared a 3 day period for prayer to ask for healing and protection. I hope it works so their cases don’t spike. I might just start praying to the gods of my ancestors.

I am hoping the few cases being recorded in Africa, and war torn places like Yemen is not really because they don’t have testing capacity but that they have no cases.

It appears the debate of where the virus arose will not be resolved soon. And how this will play between China and the rest of the world will be hard to tell.

There has been push back after Trump said he has total authority, that American presidents do what they what want. Part of the argument is he doesn’t have such powers but from where I sit, Trump is partially right. They do whatever the fuck they want, generally, except on US soil bit even this seems to diminish by the day. They send drones they way Santa sends gifts- all in the name of keeping us safe from extremists-, they can order the taking out of any target they want. The rule of law exists for lesser mortals. And when Trump says the US is withdrawing from UNESCO, the US does. When Trump wants the Israel embassy to be in Jerusalem, the fucking embassy moves!

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the world was to end on 12th April

but the mighty profit Owuor of the lord begged her majesty not to end the world. I didn’t know this and probably you too didn’t know it.

How thousands of people take this charlatan seriously is still beyond me. It seems his followers believe every nonsense that comes off his mouth.

In other non related news, I think to ask a prospective employee to present a clearance form from financial institutions, corruption and cover up commission, certificate of good conduct from the CID and such is discriminatory and uncalled for and probably unjust.

Working from home is difficult. By the end of it, my landlord may need to enlarge the door because all i do is eat, then sit on the couch and find something boring to watch. I am not even reading as much as i would like to. On a positive note, I think by the time we resume work, I will be well rested.

Trump halts US payments to World Health Organizat…: https://youtu.be/6JIA8iBw1-w  but I think he forgot about this

https://st5.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/4426744796?profile=RESIZE_710x

Keep safe friends and thank the gods that the almighty profit stopped the world from ending.

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It is Easter

And it would be a disservice if we didn’t have something to read during the lockdown. To ensure we are intellectualy engaged, I encourage you to read this short play by Mangasarian. I first posted in 2013 and I don’t think it’s beauty has diminished.

The second is an Easter Homily on the empty tomb. I hope you find both worth your while.

Happy Easter and Happy Holidays everyone. Stay safe.

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Racism in the times of Covid19

There are reports coming out of China that there is xenophobia against Africans in many of its cities. The Chinese ambassador to Kenya claims those who were discriminated against were not observing social distancing rules & no Kenyan was involved. I am wondering if these racist officials were walking around determining who were Kenyans so they could treat them differently.

It’s not like the virus originated from our shores! With so many Chinese nationals everywhere in Africa, I think it is really stupid for states or provinces to allow racial profiling to go on, especially now.

The AU must demand that the Chinese government addresses this matter. African nations should also evacuate their nationals from China.

Such a strange world we live in!

In more interesting news, I have seen an article about a zonkey being birthed somewhere in Kenya. I think a zebra and a donkey decided to try it out.