Commissioned lawlessness

Apparently, Mungiki and the Taleban have run amock in Mathare killing with wanton abandon. It looks like lawlessness has taken a new dimension in Nairobi. The lumpens do not matter. This massacre was most unfortunate and the government should bear some blame. If a government cannot get rid of a group of thugs, can the same government be competent enough to defend this country? There has never been any political will to destroy these two groups, precisely because they are especially useful during elections. They intimidate, kill and run riot not because they are senseless but because quite often, they are paid to do so. It is possible that such cases will increase in the run-up to next year's elections. This is commissioned lawlessness.

Betrayed? Think Again

Agwambo has been on the receiving end once again. Apparently he 'betrayed' his country by criticising Kenya while on tour in the US. How will be convince the West that we aren't corrupt or that we dont perch on trees when we criticise our country every time we leave our borders? Numerous letters and commentaries have taken to making this sorry position. This is certainly a debate whose merits I don't quite understand. What's with this obsession about pleasing the West? Would the 'najivunia kuwa mkenya' stickers make any difference on what the West thinks about Africa. Praising Africa in western metropoles for the sake of our image is an arguement based on a very false assumption-that this will actually change perceptions. It won't. As a matter of fact, it need not.

Prejudiced Freedom

A twit from the LSE is at it again. For some reason Dr. Satoshi Kanazawa finds eugenics and the bell curve theory very appealing. He claims Africans are poor and diseased because of their low IQs. He alleges that Ethiopians are the dumbest people on earth with an IQ of only 63. Kenyans dont fair any better with IQs of 72. The LSE, not surprisingly has refused to comment. But silence in such cases quite often means 'we really dont care'. As a matter of fact, they do. Eugenics and the bell curve theory have all been discredited by a number of researchers and why Dr. Kanazawa would want to rescusitate this debate only he knows. There have been arguements that universities are sanctuaries of free thinking that should allow discussions from both the extreme left and right. Fair enough, but such freedom also allows for all types of demagougery such as Kanazawa's. The debate on racial intelligence is not simply a theoretical issue, it is very much a political issue and must be treated as such. Hiding behind university walls cant be right. This is prejudiced freedom.