Monday, September 19, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
THE NATO COUP
THE NATO COUP
Libya has now another new Ethiopian image—the sad face of the Ethiopian born nanny burnt by boiling water by the wife of Kaddafi’s son (Hannibal), the same one who was accused in Genève of beating his servants and in London of punching his wife (alas, she being the same one who never paid her Ethiopian nanny but burnt her whole body with boiling water). Libya was previously distinguished by its racist and brutal treatment of refugees and foreign workers (Ethiopians included), the rape of foreign worker women (and men) too. An unsavory place, a grotesque regime.
And yet, we also remember the tyrant in Tripoli was a close ally of Tony Blair (the British premier who had a penchant for brutal dictators like Meles Zenawi), of Berlusconi, of Washington too. Times change and some are now alleging that the revolt by the people in Benghazi was itself concocted by the secret services of these Western countries. Be that as it may, it was time for the dictator to go (though he is still resisting proving at least he is not an isolated tyrant like some others in Africa) and the big media machine was unleashed against him, his decadent family and his brutal regime. There were even hints of Khadafy being of Jewish origin! His regime was blamed for atrocities against foreigners, especially African workers, though the so called rebels did not spare the lives of the same. In a country that is one third black the declaration that blacks are Khadafy’s mercenaries has led to violent killings in yet another expression of Arab racism against black Africans. Remember the brutal pogrom type attack by Libyans against black Africans in 2000?
The Libyan situation has highlighted many points that will continue to be of relevance for the whole of Africa. The first one is the affirmed marginalization of the so called African Union. The marginalization and irrelevance was so total as to make every African who had ever imagined a role for the AU to weep in shame. Instead of a role for the AU, Libya’s fate, as in Cote d’Ivoire, was decided by the West, by NATO specifically. NATO bombed and attacked Libya with a vengeance that brought to mind not any concern for democracy but colonial wrath. The rag tag force generally presented as “rebels” was assisted by French Foreign Legionnaires, British SAS and American SEAL special troops. The rebels complained of shortage of ammunition but spent thousands of rounds shooting into the air as they shouted Allah Akbar. The NTC was set up with urgency and disparate personalities, quite a few of them late hour turncoats, became its ministers or leaders. What exactly is this rebel force, this NATO patchwork? Coming weeks will reveal the inherent weakness of this body and the very possibility of an imploding Libya. For the moment, the whole focus is on getting the nemesis of the West ( the North African Saddam, to be hanged or shot to death), assuring as it is now declared that the NATO countries get the lion’s share of the Libyan oil and reconstruction contracts.
The whole event can also be taken as the new version of the perennial African coup except that this time it is a NATO coup. The sovereignty of an African country is trampled upon as the West arms its own rebels or puppets to overthrow a regime in the name of democracy. Sure enough, some perpetually naïve African souls living in Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea and other countries under brutal dictatorships may hope for a NATO coup. Alas they will be waiting for Godot. The pro West dictators like Meles Zenawi do not get bombed but financed and supported by the West. Those who get accused of crimes against humanity by the poodle of the West, Ocampo by name, will not be the masters of genocide and massacres like Meles and Nguema (or Kissinger and Dick Cheney) but the unfortunate ones who have fallen out of favor vis a vis the West. American war mongering in Iraq did not bring democracy. The situation in Afghanistan is worse and the search for a negotiation with the Taliban augurs bad days to come for the Afghan people as a whole and especially women. In Libya, it is not the democrats who head the rebellion but those who are already clamoring for a Constitution based on the Sharia. Egyptians and Tunisians, who had their own revolutions, are still struggling not to be deprived of their full victory by the military (as in 1974 in Ethiopia) or by pseudo democrats with little concern for sovereignty and dignity of their people.
It is safe to conclude that not many Libyans, who had to endure 42 years of dictatorship, or peoples of the world will cry for the misfortune of the Khadafy regime. Not now anyway. Khadafy had irked the West by advocating measures that would have affected the West’s desire for hegemony over our continent. Mineral and oil rich countries are now openly at the mercy of NATO. No one will come to the rescue of the Congolese that are being murdered for their minerals. Omar Beshir and Robert Mugabe can shake in their boots. Meles Zenawi, Nguema and others within the Western hegemonic embrace can sigh contented. Even Bashir Assad has been tolerated to no end. The message is clear. The NATO coup is not for democracy but for western hegemony. Is the scramble for Africa back?
Monday, August 22, 2011
LAMENT TIDBITS BY HAMA TUMA
On the window sill
The butterfly, colours-ablaze
The dirty glass has no sparkle
Jealous
of the dazzling wings
It cracks and breaks up
As the butterfly flies away
Undisturbed.
A soul among thousands,nay,
amidst millions
hovering over crumpled bodies,
High above the vultures
sharp beaks ready to pierce
no evil in their hearts, just
the natural law,
the desire to feed on a victim
ordianed by God.
The decomposing flesh is soft, rotten,
and a treat for the hungry,
as always. The rotten is a feast.
The lonely soul, sad, glides away
from the heat and crimes of today,
of Adwa and her sons.
HT
The song in the air
by autumn leaves tuned
falling softly, sad.
The song on the ground
lying quiet, mute
The sun shines above
the prairie is afire
Times have changed.
HT
The empty vase holds my hopes
Brimming, full, overflowing even
The weight breaks the vase
and my hopes mix with the dirt
perhaps, that was when I died
and left the human world.
HT
The eyes of my daughter, innocent,
scan my withered face
Maybe the crevices hide the love
and the wrinkles cover it too, for
she looks away abrupt
with confusion in her heart
facing my cold bottomless eyes.
HT
Over the hills the barren slopes
Up ran the monkey
As the Serpent slithered down
They pass without a greeting
not even a glance
And only the monkey laughs.
HT
Eating an apple is easy
we have strong teeth, African,
No fluoride bath, no,
Nature has favoured us
We can bite.
Cut by gossip and hate
into entrails and names
history and dreams,
Into apples and flesh, cutting sharp.
The panga can rest, the machette too,
we are blessed.
Nature has endowed us
with a strong teeth
and we do the rest.
HT
Every year singes us with pain
the sorrow soaks our soul
drowning our hopes.
The bile of bitterness
forever on our tongues
Our tomorrows stolen
we are robbed of the past
the change is a mirage
and the future a corpse
we celebrate
Every new year that comes.
HT
Demons dance in the red night
amid the fire lit
By sinners roasting on the grill
of their crimes
(of their daring to ask?)
frying like pork on Life's barbecue.
The smile on their faces
belying the pain
the opaque faces covering up
the truth
now buried underground.
HT
Words fly out, soaring
to touch the clouds, far,
The heavens are unreachable
When legs are chained, by hopes
and visions withered, narrow,
In each kilil/bantustan
prisons line the streets, full,
the sewers are clogged in the Palace
and the whole country stinks.
HT
The scorching sun has no pity
it has burnt its heart eons ago.
The soft moon has no warmth
fed up of selfish lovers
using it to suck and lick
their pleasure-ways to hell.
Dawn holds no surprises
it had run out of promises ages ago.
Day and night are all the same
the rainbow has aborted in our brain.
HT
The naked child
on the hot tarmac
asleep, dazed by the sniffed glue
Forgetting hunger, and
oblivious to pain
The policeman's boot strikes
The blow makes a noise
the naked child whimpers
refusing to wake
and acknowledge the pain,
the Nation's shame.
HT
Th sufi man twirled
a thousand times, nay
a million rounds
the dust covered all
The Sufi man was in a trance,
luckily
he did not see his sins exposed.
HT
Decompose,oh yes
Perish.
What thought sublime,
magnanimous,
ever saved a lost black soul.
Wither away, disappear
like prisoners in Africa's dungeons.
Who needs to know,
to remember
the victims silenced by arrogant power?
Out out brief candle,
how do you put off the sun
end the Drought,
the Famine,
The Hopelessness in our souls?
The dark lonely night
wanted an eternal embrace
I was the only one ready,
And I obliged.
Simmer, simmer, simmer low
the bile is gushing forth
Bitter. Life is an elephant
sitting on your face
Crushing, final.
The Man, stamped by fate
wears his destiny in his tears
as an albatross.
Forever weighed by sorrow
and travails
By the sins of the dead
Eternally condemned.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
OF CRIMINAL WALKS—UGANDA STYLE
Back in 2006, I wrote a short story called The Case of the Criminal Walk in which I lampooned the Meles Zenawi regime’s ridiculous ethnic bantustanization of Ethiopia. In the story, a man who had walked outside of “his region” was accused of being a criminal and a saboteur. And the prosecutor was interested in the type of walk the man had engaged in. Here is how that prosecutor in the story asked his question:
“Was he strolling arrogantly? Walking briskly? Were his lips curled in disgust as he walked? Were his eyes narrow like a chauvinist? Was he pounding at the pavement or moving surreptitiously like a spy? Did he dodder, falter, lumber, stagger, totter, trudge, hobble or plod? When you saw him walk did you see an innocent man like say someone rushing to church not to miss Mass? Or did you see a suspicious man with a saintly smile like all criminals, puffed up with arrogance, happy at the mere thought of having trampled on yet another sacred law, angrily pounding on our poor road? Did he prowl, tiptoe, slink away or stalk? Was he shuffling, slouching off or creeping? Did he march, surge or meander? A lot depends on that walk…Was it leisurely like a stroll, the pastime of a lazy man propagating unemployment? Was he moving briskly like a criminal trying to distance himself from the scene of his foul crime? Was he lifting his legs up like the parading soldiers of the former regime and pounding hard on our pavement to dig potholes? Or was he trying to be smaller than his shadow and walking stealthily?”
In the end the prosecutor in the story gives his own definition of the criminal walk:
“The criminal walk as we all know combines the rush and the prowl with the swoop and stomp, the trudge and the swagger, and all this accompanied by a maniacal chuckle.”
Did Ugandan opposition leader Dr. Kizza Beisgye wear a maniacal chuckle as he walked to work in opposition to the Museveni regime? Did he just walk or did he trudge and swoop on downtown Kampala? How did the authorities determine his walk was criminal and then resort to arresting and beating him up? By the way did the good doctor, who was Museveni’s personal physician in the past, get the idea of turning a walk into a political protest action from my short story? Seriously though, the intriguing question to most Africans, who are fortunate enough to have a job in the first place, is how come walking to work becomes a protest as more often than not they all walk to work? Early morning Nairobi, a stream of humanity trudges out of the notorious Kibera slum to go to or to search for work. With price of petrol skyrocketing and the price of transport too expensive to ponder many have been forced to walk not as a protest (heaven forbid) but as a necessity. Have Ugandans turned as rich as Museveni claims and are driving to work or take public transport in their thousands every day? Who cares if Besigye walks to work? For all we know, as a doctor, he may be doing it for health reasons? If walk to work is a protest Ethiopians have been protesting for decades without even knowing it.
But Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is a frightened man, haunted by the specter of a popular revolt against his dictatorial rule and his tearing up of the Constitution to be “elected” as fourth time president of Uganda. An Ethiopian proverb says no one dies looking as good as he was. Alas, things and human beings change and in most cases in Africa for the worst. Yoweri Museveni was a progressive militant, a better and promising breed than the Obotes and Amins that Uganda had to bear. In the first years, his rule was not also that bad (in Africa we do not easily say good knowing what we know) despite creeping corruption, ethnic favoritism and alarming demagogy on his part. Museveni’s declared “modernization” drive and his penchant for power clashed with tradition and customs (the place of kings in Uganda for example) and the call for a better deal by Ugandans suffering from economic hardships. Museveni wrote a book in which he identified one of the major malaise of governance in Africa as being the tendency of the rulers to stay in power for long and went on right away to cling to power for 25 years now even by changing the Constitution to run as a presidential candidate for the fourth time. Over the years, Museveni turned into a run of the mill African dictator, relying on his control of the repression apparatus and family circles and engaging in repression of any dissent. Besigye’s call for walk to work as a protest could have been taken as a patriotic gesture to save on fuel but Museveni had to rile and rant against it and turn it into a big cause and thus spurred the opposition leader to come up with walk to prayer calls.
The Museveni clan, much like the Meles Zenawi clan in Ethiopia, is controlling Uganda like their private property. None of them walks to work by the way. Museveni holds absolute power and is involved big time in the economic sector. His wife Janet Museveni, admired for not wearing western wigs ever, is a minister for Karamoja region and the owner of the Gemtel mobile telephone service that has extended its activities into Juba too. His half brother General Caleb Akandwanaho (also known as Salim Saleh) is presidential advisor on defence and a man accused of gross corruption including the plunder of gold and minerals from Eastern Congo. His brother in law, Sam Kutea, is Foreign Affairs Minister while his daughter Natasha Karugire is his private secretary. Janet’s nephew Justus Karuhanga is Museveni’s secretary for legal affairs while his son Lt. Colonel Kainerugaba Muhoozi is commander of the Special Forces guarding the newly discovered oil fields. The colonel also leads the elite presidential guard. As one Kenyan journalist recently commented-- Ugandans are not all amused by the “familiarization of the State” as much as Museveni says he is not pleased with walking to work as a sign of protest.
Museveni is bound to be history, the past—perhaps sooner than he may expect. Yet, he owes his ongoing survival, as much as Meles Zenawi in Ethiopia, to the fact that he has slavishly bowed to the superpower and became cannon fodder in the so called war against terror. His regime is a minority one and his claim to be a messiah from the Munyankole/Bahima unconvincing to the majority of Bagandans. The LRA still roams murderously uncontrolled filling the pockets of the general who are the real beneficiaries of the ongoing war. Museveni has opened up Uganda for American special troops, has rushed into Somalia to fulfill America’s order (much like Meles Zenawi before him) and proved an ally of the West. That has assured him financial help and security protection and overall backing and support against a Revolution that may turn nationalist/Ugandan and throw out the foreign agenda and diktat. After all, Idi Amin was also an Israeli and British baby before he grew a shark’s teeth and became a nuisance. But will Washington’s backing save Museveni from impending doom? Judging from Egypt and what is happening elsewhere it does not seem likely and Museveni, who has outlived four US presidents, may not outlive Obama. Still, his rule and his ministers have given other tyrants very many valuable lessons. For those tyrants who kill their people and suffer their blame Museveni’s Internal Affairs State Minister, Kirunda Kivejinja, has come out with a gem of a self defense. Admitting that people were killed and hundreds wounded or arrested in the protest demonstrations he, however, said the government is not taking responsibility for those killed and he advised Ugandans to blame the deaths “ on the British and the Americans who manufacture bullets”.
Now we know the real culprits!
Back in 2006, I wrote a short story called The Case of the Criminal Walk in which I lampooned the Meles Zenawi regime’s ridiculous ethnic bantustanization of Ethiopia. In the story, a man who had walked outside of “his region” was accused of being a criminal and a saboteur. And the prosecutor was interested in the type of walk the man had engaged in. Here is how that prosecutor in the story asked his question:
“Was he strolling arrogantly? Walking briskly? Were his lips curled in disgust as he walked? Were his eyes narrow like a chauvinist? Was he pounding at the pavement or moving surreptitiously like a spy? Did he dodder, falter, lumber, stagger, totter, trudge, hobble or plod? When you saw him walk did you see an innocent man like say someone rushing to church not to miss Mass? Or did you see a suspicious man with a saintly smile like all criminals, puffed up with arrogance, happy at the mere thought of having trampled on yet another sacred law, angrily pounding on our poor road? Did he prowl, tiptoe, slink away or stalk? Was he shuffling, slouching off or creeping? Did he march, surge or meander? A lot depends on that walk…Was it leisurely like a stroll, the pastime of a lazy man propagating unemployment? Was he moving briskly like a criminal trying to distance himself from the scene of his foul crime? Was he lifting his legs up like the parading soldiers of the former regime and pounding hard on our pavement to dig potholes? Or was he trying to be smaller than his shadow and walking stealthily?”
In the end the prosecutor in the story gives his own definition of the criminal walk:
“The criminal walk as we all know combines the rush and the prowl with the swoop and stomp, the trudge and the swagger, and all this accompanied by a maniacal chuckle.”
Did Ugandan opposition leader Dr. Kizza Beisgye wear a maniacal chuckle as he walked to work in opposition to the Museveni regime? Did he just walk or did he trudge and swoop on downtown Kampala? How did the authorities determine his walk was criminal and then resort to arresting and beating him up? By the way did the good doctor, who was Museveni’s personal physician in the past, get the idea of turning a walk into a political protest action from my short story? Seriously though, the intriguing question to most Africans, who are fortunate enough to have a job in the first place, is how come walking to work becomes a protest as more often than not they all walk to work? Early morning Nairobi, a stream of humanity trudges out of the notorious Kibera slum to go to or to search for work. With price of petrol skyrocketing and the price of transport too expensive to ponder many have been forced to walk not as a protest (heaven forbid) but as a necessity. Have Ugandans turned as rich as Museveni claims and are driving to work or take public transport in their thousands every day? Who cares if Besigye walks to work? For all we know, as a doctor, he may be doing it for health reasons? If walk to work is a protest Ethiopians have been protesting for decades without even knowing it.
But Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is a frightened man, haunted by the specter of a popular revolt against his dictatorial rule and his tearing up of the Constitution to be “elected” as fourth time president of Uganda. An Ethiopian proverb says no one dies looking as good as he was. Alas, things and human beings change and in most cases in Africa for the worst. Yoweri Museveni was a progressive militant, a better and promising breed than the Obotes and Amins that Uganda had to bear. In the first years, his rule was not also that bad (in Africa we do not easily say good knowing what we know) despite creeping corruption, ethnic favoritism and alarming demagogy on his part. Museveni’s declared “modernization” drive and his penchant for power clashed with tradition and customs (the place of kings in Uganda for example) and the call for a better deal by Ugandans suffering from economic hardships. Museveni wrote a book in which he identified one of the major malaise of governance in Africa as being the tendency of the rulers to stay in power for long and went on right away to cling to power for 25 years now even by changing the Constitution to run as a presidential candidate for the fourth time. Over the years, Museveni turned into a run of the mill African dictator, relying on his control of the repression apparatus and family circles and engaging in repression of any dissent. Besigye’s call for walk to work as a protest could have been taken as a patriotic gesture to save on fuel but Museveni had to rile and rant against it and turn it into a big cause and thus spurred the opposition leader to come up with walk to prayer calls.
The Museveni clan, much like the Meles Zenawi clan in Ethiopia, is controlling Uganda like their private property. None of them walks to work by the way. Museveni holds absolute power and is involved big time in the economic sector. His wife Janet Museveni, admired for not wearing western wigs ever, is a minister for Karamoja region and the owner of the Gemtel mobile telephone service that has extended its activities into Juba too. His half brother General Caleb Akandwanaho (also known as Salim Saleh) is presidential advisor on defence and a man accused of gross corruption including the plunder of gold and minerals from Eastern Congo. His brother in law, Sam Kutea, is Foreign Affairs Minister while his daughter Natasha Karugire is his private secretary. Janet’s nephew Justus Karuhanga is Museveni’s secretary for legal affairs while his son Lt. Colonel Kainerugaba Muhoozi is commander of the Special Forces guarding the newly discovered oil fields. The colonel also leads the elite presidential guard. As one Kenyan journalist recently commented-- Ugandans are not all amused by the “familiarization of the State” as much as Museveni says he is not pleased with walking to work as a sign of protest.
Museveni is bound to be history, the past—perhaps sooner than he may expect. Yet, he owes his ongoing survival, as much as Meles Zenawi in Ethiopia, to the fact that he has slavishly bowed to the superpower and became cannon fodder in the so called war against terror. His regime is a minority one and his claim to be a messiah from the Munyankole/Bahima unconvincing to the majority of Bagandans. The LRA still roams murderously uncontrolled filling the pockets of the general who are the real beneficiaries of the ongoing war. Museveni has opened up Uganda for American special troops, has rushed into Somalia to fulfill America’s order (much like Meles Zenawi before him) and proved an ally of the West. That has assured him financial help and security protection and overall backing and support against a Revolution that may turn nationalist/Ugandan and throw out the foreign agenda and diktat. After all, Idi Amin was also an Israeli and British baby before he grew a shark’s teeth and became a nuisance. But will Washington’s backing save Museveni from impending doom? Judging from Egypt and what is happening elsewhere it does not seem likely and Museveni, who has outlived four US presidents, may not outlive Obama. Still, his rule and his ministers have given other tyrants very many valuable lessons. For those tyrants who kill their people and suffer their blame Museveni’s Internal Affairs State Minister, Kirunda Kivejinja, has come out with a gem of a self defense. Admitting that people were killed and hundreds wounded or arrested in the protest demonstrations he, however, said the government is not taking responsibility for those killed and he advised Ugandans to blame the deaths “ on the British and the Americans who manufacture bullets”.
Now we know the real culprits!
OUR DOG OF A LIFE
Dogs and cats as pets live much better than most Africans—this is no news really. And yet, the depravity and cruelty of it all continues to amaze. Consider one newspaper report below:
“The air kisses were flying, the Italian sparkling wine was flowing, and white hyacinths perfumed the air. Marilyn Riseman, society doyenne, was in attendance, and by 7 p.m. the South End’s beautiful people were packed so thick it was hard to reach the cheese-and-olive platters. What else would you expect at the grand opening of a boutique hotel and day-care center for dogs? Boston may or may not have achieved its dream of being a world class city for humans, but from a canine perspective we have arrived.
The Urban Hound is but one of three new luxury pet hotels, complete with spa services and flat-screen televisions usually tuned to Animal Planet, that have opened in the past few months. Boston Red Dog Pet Resort and Spa, on Southampton Street near the Southeast Expressway, charges as much as $85 a night for a room, and at Fenway Bark in South Boston, the room rates go up to $150. Pricey? Perhaps, but because it is considered a service, at least there is no room tax.
Trade spending figures are hard to come by, but Bob Vetere, president of the American Pet Products Association, said these businesses represent one of the fastest-growing segments of the $48 billion pet industry. He credits baby boomers for much of the increasing humanization of pets and everything that has followed: designer leashes, five-figure doghouses, dogs staying in human hotels, and pet hotels that serve Starbucks (to the pets’ owners).
“Their children are growing up and moving out,’’ Vetere said, “and as helicopter parents, they need to find something else to hover over.’’
With 91 percent of owners calling their pet a member of the family and with the economic downturn easing, there is increasing demand for luxury pet lodging, according to a report by Packaged Facts, a Maryland research firm. Many facilities have added upscale amenities, such as customized suites with individualized decor or advanced air purification systems, according to the company’s most recent report.”
A $ 48 billion pet industry! Talk of being a spoilt dog: consider the following report from Japan.
“Merumo, a 10-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, is a top model for dog magazines in Japan. Since she is a model, she is given special treatment such as two expensive haircuts a month, but the pampering doesn’t end there. A reporter visits the apartment where Merumo lives to discover the following luxuries:
• The apartment has a special security system that won’t allow visitors to take the elevator to that floor without an invitation.
• Merumo doesn’t like being hot, so her owner bought marble flooring for the living room. (estimated cost: 3,000,000 yen)
• She drinks out of a silver Gucci dog bowl.
• When leaving the house, she can ride in a Louis Vuitton carry bag (236,250 yen).
• When going for a walk, she can wear one of several brand name dog collars and leashes: Hermès (65,000 yen + 85,000 yen) or Gucci (69,300).
• Merumo’s owner rents another room in the apartment building just to store all of Merumo’s special clothing. Merumo has a fancy kimono (80,000 yen), 10 fur coats (one costs 180,000 yen), and a whole bunch of other stuff. (Total cost: about 3,000,000 yen)
Since Merumo is pretty old in dog years, her owner is determined to give her the finest foods. A typical meal consists of premium vegetables special ordered from a department store prepared alongside some expensive Matsusaka beef (2,500 yen for 100 grams). The humans of the house eat cheap vegetables and chicken from the local grocery store.
Merumo’s owner justifies the money she spends by comparing Merumo to a child. Many parents spend large sums of money to send their children to college, so why can’t she spend a similar amount buying dresses and fancy food for Merumo?”
Is there no responsibility at all? No urge to have a balance in one’s outlook towards other human beings. Consider the following report:
“According to a conservative estimate the pet owning citizens of the European Union spend about 150 million USD daily or 45 billion USD per annum on pet food. This staggering amount that the citizens of the European Union spent to keep their cats and dogs alive is nearly three times as much as the total amount that Sub-Saharan Africa annually gets from the industrialized countries in terms of official development assistance”.
This is no war on dogs but on the humans who own these dogs. Let us not generalize either. The pampered dog in Africa is way down the dog class ladder even if it lives better off than the majority of Africans. It is common knowledge that the status of pampered dogs in the USA and Europe is much higher than that of the pampered dogs in Africa just as the rich in America and Europe are many in number and more wealthy than those in Africa. In Ethiopia, anyone with more than US$200,000 becomes a millionaire Birr wise. The Mobutus, Bongos, Meles and Muabaraks are not really that many—too greedy and restrictive may best explain the situation. And yet, pampered African dogs are now accompanying their masters to Joburg and Bangkok for specialized medical care. Some apologists of the African tyrants proclaim loud and high that the health system has improved (for example in Ethiopia) while no one with real money would be found dreaming of entering an Ethiopian hospital. Why should the dogs trust hospitals their masters have no confidence in? The answer is clear. Dogs have been “humanized” and Africans “dehumanized”—go check the capsized boats and black corpses of Lampadusa for one. The African children in the arms of Madonna, Jolie and others could very well be pets of a sort.
Here is another report:
April 8/ 2011 at 11:34am
________________________________________
REUTERS
A British dog owner has splashed out an incredible £20 000 on giving her pampered pooch the perfect wedding day, says a report.
According to orange news, Louise Harris, 32, invited 80 guests to the lavish ceremony to watch her Yorkshire terrier Lola tie the knot with Mugly, a Chinese Crested.
The bash was reportedly held in an outdoor marquee in the grounds of a mansion in Essex, costing £2 500 for the venue alone.
Lola wore a £1 000 wedding dress, customized with 1 800 Swarovski crystals.
Her outfit was finished off with a £400 pearl necklace, Swarovski crystal leg cuffs costing £250, and finally a Swarovski crystal lead costing £350.
Harris also spent £1 000 on flowers, £3 000 on designers to decorate the marquee, £400 on a personal wedding planner, and even £400 for security guards, the report said.
Harris, who owns two other Yorkshire Terriers, Lulu, four, and two-year-old Larry, who acted as bridesmaid and page boy, was quoted as saying: “I wanted Lola to have the perfect day.
“My dogs are my pride and joy so nothing is too good for them. I enjoy spoiling them because it makes me happy.”
Harris, who runs a dog boutique and grooming parlour, ran an online competition on her website and Facebook to find the perfect husband for Lola.
She said she had received hundreds of entries but whittled it down to a final six potential partners and was surprised when Lola's obvious favourite was Mugly, voted Britain's ugliest dog.
According to the report, Harris said: “I must admit when I went to meet Bev and Mugly I really didn’t think Lola would like him. She is a bit of a diva and loves her clothes and jewellery so I did think she would go for a dog more like her.
“But they do say opposites attract and they happily played together all day. They seemed to really enjoy being together and had a lot of fun so I thought he was the perfect future husband for Lola.”
No need to mention that most Africans survive on US$ 2 per day. Some do not feel guilty on such spending on their pets as they claim that $26.53 billion is spent on cafes, restaurants and takeaways while dogs ( and to a certain extent even cats) at least greet you with joy and act as good and long lasting companions. Moreover, pampering dogs is not as costly or as bad for example as pampering George W. Bush who said recently “I miss being pampered” and Bush was no pet at all. We now have quite a few millionaire dogs and cats thanks to inheritance and laws allowing it. But, I still have no report if these dog or cat millionaires have given some money to charities officially claiming to help African children even though quite a few of such bodies or organizations are known to be merciless swindlers-- cruel dogs in the bad sense of the word.
In the end it is obvious that some dogs are more equal than others and possibly much better than some robbers and despots who call themselves human. It’s a sad, sad world we live in and our continent has gone to the dogs.
Dogs and cats as pets live much better than most Africans—this is no news really. And yet, the depravity and cruelty of it all continues to amaze. Consider one newspaper report below:
“The air kisses were flying, the Italian sparkling wine was flowing, and white hyacinths perfumed the air. Marilyn Riseman, society doyenne, was in attendance, and by 7 p.m. the South End’s beautiful people were packed so thick it was hard to reach the cheese-and-olive platters. What else would you expect at the grand opening of a boutique hotel and day-care center for dogs? Boston may or may not have achieved its dream of being a world class city for humans, but from a canine perspective we have arrived.
The Urban Hound is but one of three new luxury pet hotels, complete with spa services and flat-screen televisions usually tuned to Animal Planet, that have opened in the past few months. Boston Red Dog Pet Resort and Spa, on Southampton Street near the Southeast Expressway, charges as much as $85 a night for a room, and at Fenway Bark in South Boston, the room rates go up to $150. Pricey? Perhaps, but because it is considered a service, at least there is no room tax.
Trade spending figures are hard to come by, but Bob Vetere, president of the American Pet Products Association, said these businesses represent one of the fastest-growing segments of the $48 billion pet industry. He credits baby boomers for much of the increasing humanization of pets and everything that has followed: designer leashes, five-figure doghouses, dogs staying in human hotels, and pet hotels that serve Starbucks (to the pets’ owners).
“Their children are growing up and moving out,’’ Vetere said, “and as helicopter parents, they need to find something else to hover over.’’
With 91 percent of owners calling their pet a member of the family and with the economic downturn easing, there is increasing demand for luxury pet lodging, according to a report by Packaged Facts, a Maryland research firm. Many facilities have added upscale amenities, such as customized suites with individualized decor or advanced air purification systems, according to the company’s most recent report.”
A $ 48 billion pet industry! Talk of being a spoilt dog: consider the following report from Japan.
“Merumo, a 10-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, is a top model for dog magazines in Japan. Since she is a model, she is given special treatment such as two expensive haircuts a month, but the pampering doesn’t end there. A reporter visits the apartment where Merumo lives to discover the following luxuries:
• The apartment has a special security system that won’t allow visitors to take the elevator to that floor without an invitation.
• Merumo doesn’t like being hot, so her owner bought marble flooring for the living room. (estimated cost: 3,000,000 yen)
• She drinks out of a silver Gucci dog bowl.
• When leaving the house, she can ride in a Louis Vuitton carry bag (236,250 yen).
• When going for a walk, she can wear one of several brand name dog collars and leashes: Hermès (65,000 yen + 85,000 yen) or Gucci (69,300).
• Merumo’s owner rents another room in the apartment building just to store all of Merumo’s special clothing. Merumo has a fancy kimono (80,000 yen), 10 fur coats (one costs 180,000 yen), and a whole bunch of other stuff. (Total cost: about 3,000,000 yen)
Since Merumo is pretty old in dog years, her owner is determined to give her the finest foods. A typical meal consists of premium vegetables special ordered from a department store prepared alongside some expensive Matsusaka beef (2,500 yen for 100 grams). The humans of the house eat cheap vegetables and chicken from the local grocery store.
Merumo’s owner justifies the money she spends by comparing Merumo to a child. Many parents spend large sums of money to send their children to college, so why can’t she spend a similar amount buying dresses and fancy food for Merumo?”
Is there no responsibility at all? No urge to have a balance in one’s outlook towards other human beings. Consider the following report:
“According to a conservative estimate the pet owning citizens of the European Union spend about 150 million USD daily or 45 billion USD per annum on pet food. This staggering amount that the citizens of the European Union spent to keep their cats and dogs alive is nearly three times as much as the total amount that Sub-Saharan Africa annually gets from the industrialized countries in terms of official development assistance”.
This is no war on dogs but on the humans who own these dogs. Let us not generalize either. The pampered dog in Africa is way down the dog class ladder even if it lives better off than the majority of Africans. It is common knowledge that the status of pampered dogs in the USA and Europe is much higher than that of the pampered dogs in Africa just as the rich in America and Europe are many in number and more wealthy than those in Africa. In Ethiopia, anyone with more than US$200,000 becomes a millionaire Birr wise. The Mobutus, Bongos, Meles and Muabaraks are not really that many—too greedy and restrictive may best explain the situation. And yet, pampered African dogs are now accompanying their masters to Joburg and Bangkok for specialized medical care. Some apologists of the African tyrants proclaim loud and high that the health system has improved (for example in Ethiopia) while no one with real money would be found dreaming of entering an Ethiopian hospital. Why should the dogs trust hospitals their masters have no confidence in? The answer is clear. Dogs have been “humanized” and Africans “dehumanized”—go check the capsized boats and black corpses of Lampadusa for one. The African children in the arms of Madonna, Jolie and others could very well be pets of a sort.
Here is another report:
April 8/ 2011 at 11:34am
________________________________________
REUTERS
A British dog owner has splashed out an incredible £20 000 on giving her pampered pooch the perfect wedding day, says a report.
According to orange news, Louise Harris, 32, invited 80 guests to the lavish ceremony to watch her Yorkshire terrier Lola tie the knot with Mugly, a Chinese Crested.
The bash was reportedly held in an outdoor marquee in the grounds of a mansion in Essex, costing £2 500 for the venue alone.
Lola wore a £1 000 wedding dress, customized with 1 800 Swarovski crystals.
Her outfit was finished off with a £400 pearl necklace, Swarovski crystal leg cuffs costing £250, and finally a Swarovski crystal lead costing £350.
Harris also spent £1 000 on flowers, £3 000 on designers to decorate the marquee, £400 on a personal wedding planner, and even £400 for security guards, the report said.
Harris, who owns two other Yorkshire Terriers, Lulu, four, and two-year-old Larry, who acted as bridesmaid and page boy, was quoted as saying: “I wanted Lola to have the perfect day.
“My dogs are my pride and joy so nothing is too good for them. I enjoy spoiling them because it makes me happy.”
Harris, who runs a dog boutique and grooming parlour, ran an online competition on her website and Facebook to find the perfect husband for Lola.
She said she had received hundreds of entries but whittled it down to a final six potential partners and was surprised when Lola's obvious favourite was Mugly, voted Britain's ugliest dog.
According to the report, Harris said: “I must admit when I went to meet Bev and Mugly I really didn’t think Lola would like him. She is a bit of a diva and loves her clothes and jewellery so I did think she would go for a dog more like her.
“But they do say opposites attract and they happily played together all day. They seemed to really enjoy being together and had a lot of fun so I thought he was the perfect future husband for Lola.”
No need to mention that most Africans survive on US$ 2 per day. Some do not feel guilty on such spending on their pets as they claim that $26.53 billion is spent on cafes, restaurants and takeaways while dogs ( and to a certain extent even cats) at least greet you with joy and act as good and long lasting companions. Moreover, pampering dogs is not as costly or as bad for example as pampering George W. Bush who said recently “I miss being pampered” and Bush was no pet at all. We now have quite a few millionaire dogs and cats thanks to inheritance and laws allowing it. But, I still have no report if these dog or cat millionaires have given some money to charities officially claiming to help African children even though quite a few of such bodies or organizations are known to be merciless swindlers-- cruel dogs in the bad sense of the word.
In the end it is obvious that some dogs are more equal than others and possibly much better than some robbers and despots who call themselves human. It’s a sad, sad world we live in and our continent has gone to the dogs.
BIN LADEN IS DEAD AND LIFE IS STILL DEPRESSING
The much trumpeted death of Osama Bin Laden brings many questions to the fore : where is the body? How come he got buried in the sea? Since when has it become burying people in the sea in accordance with Islamic rituals? Who killed him? Americans or Pakistanis? Did he die in the firefight or was he captured and riddled with bullets making a presentable photo of his corpse impossible? And so and on. The jubilation of Americans in New York and Washington DC could also be understood within the confines of revenge and closure or nationalism of the kind Bin Laden would have understood. However, the fact remains that at the end of the day the vast political hype to benefit Barack Obama can hardly cover the reality of a continuing condition of terror, war and devastation in many parts of the world. Bin Laden is dead but Bin Ladenism continues with a vengeance.
Osama Bin Laden was first and foremost an American baby, nurtured by the CIA against what Washington called the Evil Empire. The snake eventually turned against its charmer much as the American pampered anti Iran Sadam became the enemy of the superpower. Pakistani intelligence worked with Osama and other fundamentalists to spread radicalism far and wide and not only to harass the Soviets—after all the Talibans are the creation of Pakistani intelligence and if Bin Laden lived in clandestinity so near Islamabad it is sure it was done with the connivance of high level Pakistani officials. Of course these are details that do not interest much the ordinary Joe and Jane in America who function under the assumption that there is a clash of civilization and that brown and black persons and/or Moslems are jealous of America and want to destroy it. If Hizbollah is the party of God Jean d’ Arc was a “ fou de dieu” and there are many American Christian fundamentalists out there in fanatic cuckoo land burning the Quran and insulting other religions and beliefs. But we all know we live in a confused and troubled world where justice and fairness and balance are not to be found that easily. Bin laden is the one that got away, the failed experiment, “our own monster” as the Americans should have said. American ties to Saudi Arabia (Wahabism) and Pakistan (fundamentalism of the Madrasa type) and the urge to be the victor of the cold war gave birth to Osama and all the other anti Soviet mujahedeen praised by Washington but who later against America itself. No one is really jealous of America and there is no clash of civilizations as such—just American spawned vermin trying to attack their womb.
The victims of Al Qaeda are understandably happy to hear their enemy is dead but it is clear that rral closure does not really come from crude vendetta. The execution of Bin Laden (Obama’s order was “kill him!”) does not also say much about someone who had received the noble peace prize. Obama disappoints big time and the death of Osama is not going to salvage him. The sad part of this entire charade is that whether Bin Laden dies or not the Al Qaeda curse is upon us all. From the Maghreb to Yemen and beyond autonomous Al Qaeda groups have flourished with their own leaders and strategies. The death of Bin Laden will only strengthen their resolve and fanatic determination. The Taliban are alive, well and rasing hell. Obama is now forced to face the question of whether America will withdraw from Afghanistan or not? If so much hype is made on the mere fact of the death of Bin Laden (historic, great turning point, the end of Al Qaeda, etc) the next logical strp would be to ask America to withdraw from Afghanistan. Forget Mollah Omar and the Taliban, the devil is dead. Alas, life is complicated. The death of Bin Laden is not the end of Al Qaeda. The problem or danger is still out there, the hydra has many heads. This is why misplaced euphoria is a mistake not to mention that gloating over the death of one person is copying Bin Laden himself and reveling in death in a medieval way. If Obama had ordered the killing and not the capture and trial of Bin Laden the burden is heavy on him and giving him the thumb down will be in order.
Bin Laden’s tactic was to kill innocent civilians under the assumption so long as America bombs innocent people their innocent people have to suffer the consequences. It is not a rationale that can easily be dismissed if one is the victim of the constant outrage and trampling of human rights by arrogant Western powers. Africans subjected to watch America, Britian and France sustain tyrants and then find the opportunity to invade and cause havoc upon our heads are not very sympathetic to an America playing the “I am the victim” tune. Few people said bravo to Al Qaeda for killing all those people in the Twin Towers or killing innopcent Africans in Kenya and Tanzania but then again if truth be told few people sympathized with America’s so called war on terror, its intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan. The hypocrisy of it all was plain to see and one had to be a True Believer American to swallow the propaganda hook, line and sinker. Those who kill are not always punished. America and the west shelter many assassins and murderers. The list is long.Baby Doc Duvalier of Haiti and many African tyrants call France home. Many Red Terror criminal from Ethiopia live safely in the USA and it was Washington that organized the exile of butcher Mengistu Haile Mariam to Harare (where he still lives).Just a few examples. Osama killed 3000 in New York while Mengistu killed more than 250,000 in Ethiopia but of course all lives and souls do not weigh the same in Washington’s scale.
For those who had to suffer from Osama Bin Laden’s criminal action proper closure should have come through due process of law and not following Bin Laden in his path of murder and revenge. Moreover, it is proper to point out amidst the euphoria and crude boasting (“an American bullet killed Bin Laden”!) that the demise of Bin Laden may augur worse than was before. The man sought the martyr’s death and he has achieved it. Throwing him into the sea so as to deny him and his followers a shrine is nonsense too as he is now engraved in the hearts of his followers more than ever before. Most people do want to see their enemy dead—this is base and primary feeling. History does teach, however, that death of one man will not be the end of evil. The source of the evil must be sought and America, as it celebrates the death of Bin Laden, should very well look into itself and examine if, surprise surprise, its policies are not one of the mothers of the hatred that send people to such drastic measures and choices.
The much trumpeted death of Osama Bin Laden brings many questions to the fore : where is the body? How come he got buried in the sea? Since when has it become burying people in the sea in accordance with Islamic rituals? Who killed him? Americans or Pakistanis? Did he die in the firefight or was he captured and riddled with bullets making a presentable photo of his corpse impossible? And so and on. The jubilation of Americans in New York and Washington DC could also be understood within the confines of revenge and closure or nationalism of the kind Bin Laden would have understood. However, the fact remains that at the end of the day the vast political hype to benefit Barack Obama can hardly cover the reality of a continuing condition of terror, war and devastation in many parts of the world. Bin Laden is dead but Bin Ladenism continues with a vengeance.
Osama Bin Laden was first and foremost an American baby, nurtured by the CIA against what Washington called the Evil Empire. The snake eventually turned against its charmer much as the American pampered anti Iran Sadam became the enemy of the superpower. Pakistani intelligence worked with Osama and other fundamentalists to spread radicalism far and wide and not only to harass the Soviets—after all the Talibans are the creation of Pakistani intelligence and if Bin Laden lived in clandestinity so near Islamabad it is sure it was done with the connivance of high level Pakistani officials. Of course these are details that do not interest much the ordinary Joe and Jane in America who function under the assumption that there is a clash of civilization and that brown and black persons and/or Moslems are jealous of America and want to destroy it. If Hizbollah is the party of God Jean d’ Arc was a “ fou de dieu” and there are many American Christian fundamentalists out there in fanatic cuckoo land burning the Quran and insulting other religions and beliefs. But we all know we live in a confused and troubled world where justice and fairness and balance are not to be found that easily. Bin laden is the one that got away, the failed experiment, “our own monster” as the Americans should have said. American ties to Saudi Arabia (Wahabism) and Pakistan (fundamentalism of the Madrasa type) and the urge to be the victor of the cold war gave birth to Osama and all the other anti Soviet mujahedeen praised by Washington but who later against America itself. No one is really jealous of America and there is no clash of civilizations as such—just American spawned vermin trying to attack their womb.
The victims of Al Qaeda are understandably happy to hear their enemy is dead but it is clear that rral closure does not really come from crude vendetta. The execution of Bin Laden (Obama’s order was “kill him!”) does not also say much about someone who had received the noble peace prize. Obama disappoints big time and the death of Osama is not going to salvage him. The sad part of this entire charade is that whether Bin Laden dies or not the Al Qaeda curse is upon us all. From the Maghreb to Yemen and beyond autonomous Al Qaeda groups have flourished with their own leaders and strategies. The death of Bin Laden will only strengthen their resolve and fanatic determination. The Taliban are alive, well and rasing hell. Obama is now forced to face the question of whether America will withdraw from Afghanistan or not? If so much hype is made on the mere fact of the death of Bin Laden (historic, great turning point, the end of Al Qaeda, etc) the next logical strp would be to ask America to withdraw from Afghanistan. Forget Mollah Omar and the Taliban, the devil is dead. Alas, life is complicated. The death of Bin Laden is not the end of Al Qaeda. The problem or danger is still out there, the hydra has many heads. This is why misplaced euphoria is a mistake not to mention that gloating over the death of one person is copying Bin Laden himself and reveling in death in a medieval way. If Obama had ordered the killing and not the capture and trial of Bin Laden the burden is heavy on him and giving him the thumb down will be in order.
Bin Laden’s tactic was to kill innocent civilians under the assumption so long as America bombs innocent people their innocent people have to suffer the consequences. It is not a rationale that can easily be dismissed if one is the victim of the constant outrage and trampling of human rights by arrogant Western powers. Africans subjected to watch America, Britian and France sustain tyrants and then find the opportunity to invade and cause havoc upon our heads are not very sympathetic to an America playing the “I am the victim” tune. Few people said bravo to Al Qaeda for killing all those people in the Twin Towers or killing innopcent Africans in Kenya and Tanzania but then again if truth be told few people sympathized with America’s so called war on terror, its intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan. The hypocrisy of it all was plain to see and one had to be a True Believer American to swallow the propaganda hook, line and sinker. Those who kill are not always punished. America and the west shelter many assassins and murderers. The list is long.Baby Doc Duvalier of Haiti and many African tyrants call France home. Many Red Terror criminal from Ethiopia live safely in the USA and it was Washington that organized the exile of butcher Mengistu Haile Mariam to Harare (where he still lives).Just a few examples. Osama killed 3000 in New York while Mengistu killed more than 250,000 in Ethiopia but of course all lives and souls do not weigh the same in Washington’s scale.
For those who had to suffer from Osama Bin Laden’s criminal action proper closure should have come through due process of law and not following Bin Laden in his path of murder and revenge. Moreover, it is proper to point out amidst the euphoria and crude boasting (“an American bullet killed Bin Laden”!) that the demise of Bin Laden may augur worse than was before. The man sought the martyr’s death and he has achieved it. Throwing him into the sea so as to deny him and his followers a shrine is nonsense too as he is now engraved in the hearts of his followers more than ever before. Most people do want to see their enemy dead—this is base and primary feeling. History does teach, however, that death of one man will not be the end of evil. The source of the evil must be sought and America, as it celebrates the death of Bin Laden, should very well look into itself and examine if, surprise surprise, its policies are not one of the mothers of the hatred that send people to such drastic measures and choices.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
IS DISRESPECT FUNNY?
IS DISRESPECT FUNNY?
Hama Tuma
The situation in other continents may be different but I know for certain that dictators in Africa disrespect the people. The very fact of their tyranny is contempt towards the people but to add, as the saying goes, a crossed eye over goiter the dictators also go out of their way to treat us as dim-witted and dense. Didn’t one ZANU PF official declare “ if we tell the people to vote for a donkey, they will” thereby not only insulting the people but also talking a jab at dear old Robert, the master of the Zimbabwe domain, the self declared elect of the people. African elites also disrespect the people more than often and they strut and proclaim themselves men of wisdom flashing their PhDs (“call me doctor, professor please!”) like feudal elements with their titles (Sire, Emir, Prince, Dejazmatch, Ras etc).
One time lay Pastor Jacob Juma has joined the fray. With some 20 children credited to the equipment he calls his machine gun (thereby exposing the people to mockery) he has now returned to his priestly roots and shown his contempt for the people he rules over. Last February, he warned people at an ANC rally that if they vote for the ANC “"you are choosing to go to heaven. When you don't vote for the ANC, you should know' that you are choosing that man who carries a fork ... who cooks people." Vote for me and go to heaven is a political sale or an election slogan as ridiculous as any since everyone knows that at the end of the day people will return inevitable to their hell of a life. The aides of Juma tried to calm the hue and cry surrounding his declaration but pastor Juma did not relent: "When you are carrying an ANC membership card, you are blessed. When you get up there, there are different cards used, but when you have an ANC card, you will be let through to go to heaven." Admittedly no dead ANC member has come back to confirm Juma’s declaration but the whole idea of a party card opening the gates of heaven does show Juma considering his people as unintelligent dupes and, in addition, raises very many interesting questions. What if?
Africans are used to disrespect. The Westerners who back African dictators who have no respect for the rule of law show their naked contempt for the people. They are declaring in effect that the people do not deserve any better—Mobutu was good and Kabila is fine for the Congolese, Meles is ok for Ethiopians, Nguema is God sent for Equatorial Guineans. And on and on, throughout history. The disrespect goes on to whiten democracy itself—the often repeated declaration being “you are not yet developed enough for Western democracy!” The prescription for Africans is at best a benevolent despot, take it or leave it. When people refuse and in their turn they disrespect the tyrants, or in other words stop fearing them, the Revolution happens. Ask Mubarak, Ben Ali or Assad and Saleh. After all this and more is said can we consider the notion of a funny disrespect? Does it exist? ANC members getting buried with their ANC membership card (how is it going to be preserved?) and showing the same to the angels for admission to heaven is funny enough. Opposition parties do not only suffer hell on earth but also up there in God’s domain. With such threats who is the devout Christian who would opt to join an opposition party to go straight to that ugly fellow with a horrible tail who carries a fork and cooks and eats people? Better to vote for a donkey and stay with the ruling party to assure a place in heaven. On another level, lay Pastor Juma is taking himself as a Moses or an Isaiah bringing the wrath of God on all those who may disrespect him by doubting his words though no one has yet called him baldy to his face.
The idea of joining a ruling political party to go to heaven makes priests and churches quite irrelevant. I am sure some would exult and say about time! No wonder the South African church hierarchy is livid. In Ethiopia, this means no less than six million forced members of the ruling party would go straight to heaven. As will Zanu PF adherents and all other members of ruling parties elsewhere. With tyrants assured permanent tenure in heaven, would this not mean now heaven would be turning into hell? In other words, hell could be a better place than heaven. The whole thing could turn official religion and the whole concept of hell and heaven upside down. What will the Pope say? Are all the churches and mosques to close down as they are being declared not the best conduits to heaven? All the atheists out there are going to have a feast day. No need to pray once or five times a day. No need to go on Hajj or pilgrimage. Forget Holy water or all kinds of benediction-- if you want to go to heaven just join the ruling party. A party membership card to open the gate of heaven--- the revelation of the new millennium is upon us.
Back in the days of the one party rule, a party membership card could get you ration cards and some perks that were in reality crumbs. The same was the case in the new millennium until President Juma came to the rescue. No benefit beats heaven even if the allure of the place would be reduced by the alleged preponderant presence of those whom we called dictators here on earth. Jacob Juma is encouragingly continuing the frank speak of the late Tubman of Liberia who never sought to hide the truth: “I know Tubman is not the president you want or deserve but face it Tubman is the president you got”. Such direct and honest talk sometimes made the burden seem lighter. To borrow a word from the dumbest wordsmith (aka Bush junior) it would not do to “misundersetimate” the importance of honest, direct and even brutal talk. Robert Mugabe calling Carson an idiot was not an insult per se but just, no offense, a value judgment. The hue and cry about multi partism notwithstanding, most African countries are actually one party states. Your vote hardly matters—the ruling party would win by over 95% or else would kill and maim to stay in power. Yet, membership card matters. The ruling party in Ethiopia has now six million members as a graduate needs to flash not his degree but the party membership card to get a job. During the previous totalitarian regime, the party card got you the ration card and your place in the long queue for scarce commodities.
Juma’s vote for the ANC and go to heaven call has introduced new factors into the complicated reality of African politics. If voting for the ANC assures automatic entry into heaven does this mean Juma’s party is God’s favorite? Has God started to take political stands? Where does all this leave the parties of God (Hizballah and others)? Are African opposition Satanists just because they bedevil the ruling parties? Africans hardly need new and difficult questions—life is already too burdensome as it is. And to come back to the main issue: is this total disrespect for our intelligence as African citizens funny? When they tell us vote for us and you shall go heaven and expect us to believe it are we expected to smile or to scream in anger? Juma has disrespected the wise people of South Africa just like other African presidents have done with theirs. The latest report that I have suggests not many South Africans are amused by Juma’s latest gimmick. Africans do not find disrespect funny but try telling this to Juma and African tyrants who think we are babes ready to swallow any lie. It is time we tell Juma and all African tyrants that we believe they are devils on earth and following them will never be a guarantee to go to heaven unless heaven is the dwelling palace of Satan and his followers. A mischievous question raises its head here: what if?
Hama Tuma
The situation in other continents may be different but I know for certain that dictators in Africa disrespect the people. The very fact of their tyranny is contempt towards the people but to add, as the saying goes, a crossed eye over goiter the dictators also go out of their way to treat us as dim-witted and dense. Didn’t one ZANU PF official declare “ if we tell the people to vote for a donkey, they will” thereby not only insulting the people but also talking a jab at dear old Robert, the master of the Zimbabwe domain, the self declared elect of the people. African elites also disrespect the people more than often and they strut and proclaim themselves men of wisdom flashing their PhDs (“call me doctor, professor please!”) like feudal elements with their titles (Sire, Emir, Prince, Dejazmatch, Ras etc).
One time lay Pastor Jacob Juma has joined the fray. With some 20 children credited to the equipment he calls his machine gun (thereby exposing the people to mockery) he has now returned to his priestly roots and shown his contempt for the people he rules over. Last February, he warned people at an ANC rally that if they vote for the ANC “"you are choosing to go to heaven. When you don't vote for the ANC, you should know' that you are choosing that man who carries a fork ... who cooks people." Vote for me and go to heaven is a political sale or an election slogan as ridiculous as any since everyone knows that at the end of the day people will return inevitable to their hell of a life. The aides of Juma tried to calm the hue and cry surrounding his declaration but pastor Juma did not relent: "When you are carrying an ANC membership card, you are blessed. When you get up there, there are different cards used, but when you have an ANC card, you will be let through to go to heaven." Admittedly no dead ANC member has come back to confirm Juma’s declaration but the whole idea of a party card opening the gates of heaven does show Juma considering his people as unintelligent dupes and, in addition, raises very many interesting questions. What if?
Africans are used to disrespect. The Westerners who back African dictators who have no respect for the rule of law show their naked contempt for the people. They are declaring in effect that the people do not deserve any better—Mobutu was good and Kabila is fine for the Congolese, Meles is ok for Ethiopians, Nguema is God sent for Equatorial Guineans. And on and on, throughout history. The disrespect goes on to whiten democracy itself—the often repeated declaration being “you are not yet developed enough for Western democracy!” The prescription for Africans is at best a benevolent despot, take it or leave it. When people refuse and in their turn they disrespect the tyrants, or in other words stop fearing them, the Revolution happens. Ask Mubarak, Ben Ali or Assad and Saleh. After all this and more is said can we consider the notion of a funny disrespect? Does it exist? ANC members getting buried with their ANC membership card (how is it going to be preserved?) and showing the same to the angels for admission to heaven is funny enough. Opposition parties do not only suffer hell on earth but also up there in God’s domain. With such threats who is the devout Christian who would opt to join an opposition party to go straight to that ugly fellow with a horrible tail who carries a fork and cooks and eats people? Better to vote for a donkey and stay with the ruling party to assure a place in heaven. On another level, lay Pastor Juma is taking himself as a Moses or an Isaiah bringing the wrath of God on all those who may disrespect him by doubting his words though no one has yet called him baldy to his face.
The idea of joining a ruling political party to go to heaven makes priests and churches quite irrelevant. I am sure some would exult and say about time! No wonder the South African church hierarchy is livid. In Ethiopia, this means no less than six million forced members of the ruling party would go straight to heaven. As will Zanu PF adherents and all other members of ruling parties elsewhere. With tyrants assured permanent tenure in heaven, would this not mean now heaven would be turning into hell? In other words, hell could be a better place than heaven. The whole thing could turn official religion and the whole concept of hell and heaven upside down. What will the Pope say? Are all the churches and mosques to close down as they are being declared not the best conduits to heaven? All the atheists out there are going to have a feast day. No need to pray once or five times a day. No need to go on Hajj or pilgrimage. Forget Holy water or all kinds of benediction-- if you want to go to heaven just join the ruling party. A party membership card to open the gate of heaven--- the revelation of the new millennium is upon us.
Back in the days of the one party rule, a party membership card could get you ration cards and some perks that were in reality crumbs. The same was the case in the new millennium until President Juma came to the rescue. No benefit beats heaven even if the allure of the place would be reduced by the alleged preponderant presence of those whom we called dictators here on earth. Jacob Juma is encouragingly continuing the frank speak of the late Tubman of Liberia who never sought to hide the truth: “I know Tubman is not the president you want or deserve but face it Tubman is the president you got”. Such direct and honest talk sometimes made the burden seem lighter. To borrow a word from the dumbest wordsmith (aka Bush junior) it would not do to “misundersetimate” the importance of honest, direct and even brutal talk. Robert Mugabe calling Carson an idiot was not an insult per se but just, no offense, a value judgment. The hue and cry about multi partism notwithstanding, most African countries are actually one party states. Your vote hardly matters—the ruling party would win by over 95% or else would kill and maim to stay in power. Yet, membership card matters. The ruling party in Ethiopia has now six million members as a graduate needs to flash not his degree but the party membership card to get a job. During the previous totalitarian regime, the party card got you the ration card and your place in the long queue for scarce commodities.
Juma’s vote for the ANC and go to heaven call has introduced new factors into the complicated reality of African politics. If voting for the ANC assures automatic entry into heaven does this mean Juma’s party is God’s favorite? Has God started to take political stands? Where does all this leave the parties of God (Hizballah and others)? Are African opposition Satanists just because they bedevil the ruling parties? Africans hardly need new and difficult questions—life is already too burdensome as it is. And to come back to the main issue: is this total disrespect for our intelligence as African citizens funny? When they tell us vote for us and you shall go heaven and expect us to believe it are we expected to smile or to scream in anger? Juma has disrespected the wise people of South Africa just like other African presidents have done with theirs. The latest report that I have suggests not many South Africans are amused by Juma’s latest gimmick. Africans do not find disrespect funny but try telling this to Juma and African tyrants who think we are babes ready to swallow any lie. It is time we tell Juma and all African tyrants that we believe they are devils on earth and following them will never be a guarantee to go to heaven unless heaven is the dwelling palace of Satan and his followers. A mischievous question raises its head here: what if?
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