Dark days

If I were to squeeze
Just one to be at ease
I would just say hi
To keep my spirit high

Though distance intervene
Almost to bear pain
Closer to my heart
To ease the hurt

Mary, though on your heart heavy
Wana make it easy
Just anything
To ease the pain

Just say a word
Before its dark
To heal a wound
Out of your lack

The Return Of Street Families

The Return Of Street Families
On the morning of the NARC government days, Kenyans came to forget street children (chokoras) and families. They were gathered in social halls, taken care of, fed and others forced to go back to their homes. Roads and lanes that had been rendered impassible were once again open and passable with the exit of these families. One could walk freely around the towns and cities without the fearful presence of the threatening glue sniffing gangs.
Walk around today and like any other time in the past this picture looks more threatening and cruel. Every corner and lane boasts of a handful of them in oily and dirty clothing and more likely than not, sniffing on a can of glue. Tagging on their back is a sack only God knows what it carries. On city roundabouts like the Globe Cinema and down Racecourse Road that boasted of a changed face, what remains of the then picture of a clean and green city are only memories. In fact, the Globe Cinema roundabout has tunnels that are slowly being reclaimed as new homes for the street families. Getting in to the tunnel is another hair raising experience.
What one would ask is what become of the then beautiful project by the able Karisa Maitha? Is it that those who came after him did not share the vision he had. Another theory might be the African Slum Curse. Since so many NGOs and individuals gain from the mare existence of the slums, is this being replicated by the street families’ phenomenon?
As we work to plant trees, to clear drainage, to expand the roads, let not our efforts be diluted by the easy to solve and prevent occurrence of street families.

Julius Wango
Kiambu.

Meet Her

She's lovely
She makes me Lovely
She smiles
She makes me smile
She is shy
I don't know why
She has dimples
In my heart are ripples
.... is her name
For my own i want to tame

Its Choice!

Even as I post this I feel guilty that I have to do it during working hours. Today there was nothing much for me to do in the office. I had nothing planned for me.
However I have been facebooking all day.
I have written a story on humour so I will not beat myself too much for that. tomorrow I hope to do a great deal of work rather than spend all my time facebooking. It is a commitment I make to myself because my life is my choice. I have to be profitable every day of my life!

Anger trigerred by other peoples anger

I was lining up at Stima Plaza to pay a bill when this man started a complain. I did not get what had angered him but within no time the complain turned in to a commotion that almost brought the place to still.
I was not on the line he was but of course while in the same hall I would be affected. Little had that been settled than the guy in front of me on the line raised a complain this time to me. "The lady serving us on this line is being too slow!", He said.
I never thought that was the case. The person who had come in at the same time as I on the other line, had the same number of people as I to go before being served. Then it hit me. This guy in front had his anger ignited by the previous commotion. The lady was in no way slower than the rest. That is my lesson today. Be ware of people with 'almost there' tendencies. They can be ignited any time.

You could be down but not for ever

If you watch a tennis ball playing, it makes movements up and down. There are times for it to head south. but this does not last long. It hits the bottom and within no time it is on its way up.
Today you may be headed south, but it is not your destiny. You are headed up. What you are doing is gathering the momentum to push you up. Thou shall not give up or feel as though you are on a free fall. It is the consequent force that will take you high and high up.

Little ‘Sacks Of Maize And Cans Of Petrol’

Little ‘Sacks Of Maize And Cans Of Petrol’
I was just thinking about the latest scandals to rock our nation in the latest months. First there was the maize scam. The nation lost integrity in the face of the international community. Even help that would have been forth coming in a genuine situation was laced with doubt and lack of goodwill.
Parliament took up the acclaim and debated though it did not pass the motion of no confidence against the Minister for Agriculture, one Hon. William Ruto. Bitter words were exchanged and the nation divided once again. Trust faded and much more than we may not have an idea about.
We forgot that and the nation awoke to yet another scandal; The Triton oil scandal. Yet again, the prices of fuel went up. People were bitter right left and centre. The nation was grinding to a halt at the festive season when they should have been going for holidays.
Rage met the mention of a politician and the media splashed images of a man who should have been behind bars in lavish parties.
Yet again, trust faded, bitter words flew from lips to ears and bounced back equally distasteful and in the confusion the storm died down and we picked up another subject to drive us on.
Evidently these two scandals caught our eye because they involved the ‘Big Fish.’ The other similarity about these scandals is the fact that the said culprits were caught in their areas of operation. Hon. Ruto was caught in agriculture- maize, while Hon. Kiraitu was caught in energy- Oil. Should I draw your attention to other scandals in the past this has been the trend. Amos Kimunya was implicated in a finance related scandal. So was Mwiraria and the list is endless.
Is this then, a common feature where people are involved in areas where it is within their reach? Can we trace the same infection beyond the net of the big fish? Is it possible that there is a cleaner who has a brush or a broom at home because this is the much he or she can access. Is there a cook who takes home some salt or half a bowl of Unga? Or a teacher who has a book or a biro pen that he should not be having at home. A driver who carries unauthorized passengers to make an extra cent because this is the much he can access. Personnel who take a few hours from his work and does not account for it. Or even a photocopy administrator who has two or three photocopy papers unaccounted for. Funny yet unfortunate enough, every one is pinching where he can reach.
One can then say that in more than the two ‘homes’ of one Ruto and Kiraitu lies other smaller ‘sacks of maize and cans of oil’ that we have no idea of. What then would we call that pen on your desk that you are not entitled to, or that photocopy you made using company machine, or that trip you made with the company vehicle, or the few hours away from work not recorded? Simply ‘small sacks of maize and cans of oil’
Let us put you in charge of a nation that produces and consumes millions of tones of maize and oil. Will a few thousand of them matter? When you will have access bigger things, won’t you enlarge the photocopy, company hour, broom, pen etc to become a few billions worth of oil or a few hundred million worth of maize?
For us to be genuine and authentic to admonishing our leaders and pushing them to accountability with the nation’s resources we have to reflect the same in our own small ways. We have to be irreproachable with the little that is in our hands. This will give us the moral push and irreprehensible command and power to hold others accountable. Corruption and other vices will be a demon gone with the wind never to return.
Julius Wango