Written on the 9th of April on my way to Washington DC for the IMF spring meetings
Im writing this at the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa while waiting to board my flight to Washington DC for the IMF annual springs Meeting. Im excited. Its my first visit to the US and it does feel good that im not going as a student or one in search of the American dream. Im going for work, in times like this, Im glad i am a journalist.
In 2010, while still at CNBC, over a media lunch with the IMF team that was in town from Washington, I managed to squeeze an interview with IMF Chief Dominic Strauss Khan, one that happened too fast for my own good. I had been scheduled to Interview Africa's head of the IMF, who was in and out of tight meetings that afternoon, but when I was seated next to the man himself, I spoke to him, and his media people, and a few minutes later,the Interview was arranged at his Serena Hotel suite.
That's how im part of the group of 35 journalists from across the world invited to DC for a joirnalism fellowship as well as covering this event. Im humbled, my sisters think i' am m very lucky, and the lady who gave me a visa says God must love me very much( a few miracles happened ). All in all, I am excited.
But that's not what this blog is about.
On the plane i had the standard newspaper that kept me busy, from stories of the last 3 of the Ocampo six, with the highlight of Uhuru's Queens Counsel defence team, Joseph Kony's atrocities as told through the child soldiers who are now students in Gulu secondary school.
But it was the editorial pages that had me glued. Specifically Barak Muluka's article on the high powered events that Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto held weeks before their appearances at the International Criminal Court, for Crimes against humanity following the 2007 post election violence that saw over 1000 people dead and over 500,000 people displaced.
Muluka spoke with the voice of a Kenyan who has not forgotten what this really is all about. As thousands prayed and showed support for Ruto and Uhuru, the church played a key role in praying for the Ocampo six, but not one preacher mentioned the IDP's. No one did, even once pray for the IDP's who, 3 years later still live in tented camps around the country.
Has the Church really read the bible? Is the Question Barak Muluka asks.
This article made me angry, at the misplaced priorities of our government.
Hundreds of millions have been spent to try and get deferral from the ICC, and more millions to take 40 MP's to support the Ocampo six.
Support is a good thing, especially when, as the lawmakers say, everyone is innocent until proven otherwise.
But now, more than ever, is when we should turn our attention to the very people that bore the brunt of what has taken the six to the hague.
Is our memory so short?
I will never forget the TV scrolls that 29th of December, when the chaos started and TV stations began reporting on the chaos as they began. I cried, we all cried as we saw our country get ripped apart by ethnicity, and innocent people who probably did not even vote lost their lives or their family members, property and confidence in the institutions that are supposed to protect them.
Tomorrow is the homecoming party. i will not be there to see it, but I would like to know what Ruto and Uhuru would say about the IDP's.
2012 is an election year, and if i had anything to do with it, I would not hold an election until the IDP's are resettled.
Im writing this at the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa while waiting to board my flight to Washington DC for the IMF annual springs Meeting. Im excited. Its my first visit to the US and it does feel good that im not going as a student or one in search of the American dream. Im going for work, in times like this, Im glad i am a journalist.
In 2010, while still at CNBC, over a media lunch with the IMF team that was in town from Washington, I managed to squeeze an interview with IMF Chief Dominic Strauss Khan, one that happened too fast for my own good. I had been scheduled to Interview Africa's head of the IMF, who was in and out of tight meetings that afternoon, but when I was seated next to the man himself, I spoke to him, and his media people, and a few minutes later,the Interview was arranged at his Serena Hotel suite.
That's how im part of the group of 35 journalists from across the world invited to DC for a joirnalism fellowship as well as covering this event. Im humbled, my sisters think i' am m very lucky, and the lady who gave me a visa says God must love me very much( a few miracles happened ). All in all, I am excited.
But that's not what this blog is about.
On the plane i had the standard newspaper that kept me busy, from stories of the last 3 of the Ocampo six, with the highlight of Uhuru's Queens Counsel defence team, Joseph Kony's atrocities as told through the child soldiers who are now students in Gulu secondary school.
But it was the editorial pages that had me glued. Specifically Barak Muluka's article on the high powered events that Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto held weeks before their appearances at the International Criminal Court, for Crimes against humanity following the 2007 post election violence that saw over 1000 people dead and over 500,000 people displaced.
Muluka spoke with the voice of a Kenyan who has not forgotten what this really is all about. As thousands prayed and showed support for Ruto and Uhuru, the church played a key role in praying for the Ocampo six, but not one preacher mentioned the IDP's. No one did, even once pray for the IDP's who, 3 years later still live in tented camps around the country.
Has the Church really read the bible? Is the Question Barak Muluka asks.
This article made me angry, at the misplaced priorities of our government.
Hundreds of millions have been spent to try and get deferral from the ICC, and more millions to take 40 MP's to support the Ocampo six.
Support is a good thing, especially when, as the lawmakers say, everyone is innocent until proven otherwise.
But now, more than ever, is when we should turn our attention to the very people that bore the brunt of what has taken the six to the hague.
Is our memory so short?
I will never forget the TV scrolls that 29th of December, when the chaos started and TV stations began reporting on the chaos as they began. I cried, we all cried as we saw our country get ripped apart by ethnicity, and innocent people who probably did not even vote lost their lives or their family members, property and confidence in the institutions that are supposed to protect them.
Tomorrow is the homecoming party. i will not be there to see it, but I would like to know what Ruto and Uhuru would say about the IDP's.
2012 is an election year, and if i had anything to do with it, I would not hold an election until the IDP's are resettled.
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
ReplyDeleteIt does feel good to go to the USA knowing that you are not 'running away'. In as much as i understand the promise of a better job, more opportunities in USA, the desperate conditions that many young Africans (and other developing nations) go with are heartbreaking. Feels very accomplished when i board that plane knowing that i have a choice, and not necessarily dying to get out of Kenya.
Enjoy DC!