Gems from Naivasha

“There are three categories of politicians. The headline chasers, the policy makers and the statesmen. Some when they stand in Parliament, you see a member rising, saying the consultations are too loud. Others, when they stand to speak, even the chair sits alert. You take your pick.”

~Mr Patrick Gichohi, Clerk of the National Assembly

“The public is entitled to know what MPs do, that’s why they pay taxes. Parliamentary reporters do more than report events and debates. They analyse and criticize.”

~Mr Patrick Gichohi, Clerk of the National Assembly

“Who has the legitimate claim to be the people’s watchdog? Is it Parliament or the media?

~Mr Patrick Gichohi, Clerk of the National Assembly

“Is this (journalism) a profession or a trade? My take is that it’s none of the two. It is a calling. It’s almost like being a priest. You have to know upfront that you are sacrificing a lot. The industry has been infiltrated by many jobseekers.”

~Linus Kaikai, ME, NBD.

“Editorial judgment is not taught in schools… I think partly, the reason the media was seen as a reason in the post-election violence, it’s because stories were twisted…. It is very very sad when you bring a story as a journalist and it is altered [twisted] by an editor…that’s very very wrong.”

~Linus Kaikai, ME, NBD.

“There’s a culture in this country and it is passed from one journalist to the next, that news is politics and politics is news.”

~Linus Kaikai, ME, NBD.

“The British Parliament is currently largely run like a club.”

~PC Omollo, Senior Deputy Clerk, Kenya National Assembly

“What makes our politics boring? It is boring sometimes, because in this country we have decided to legislate on politics…this idea is dangerous. There are so many things that are done by tradition.”

~PC Omollo, Senior Deputy Clerk, Kenya National Assembly

“People who are dictators are not different from rapists (with all due respect to the ladies).”

~PC Omollo, Senior Deputy Clerk, Kenya National Assembly

“You can’t criticize an institution which you don’t understand. Criticising an MP is not the same as criticizing Parliament.”

~PC Omollo, Senior Deputy Clerk, Kenya National Assembly

“Being a politician is not an easy thing. I have seen people coming to Parliament with a lot of enthusiasm, but the earth doesn’t stop moving because they are there.”

~PC Omollo, Senior Deputy Clerk, Kenya National Assembly

“There’s no need to have a Parliament if you don’t respect the culture of debate. In Kenya, people go into politics to win seats. You know what they say in America? People go into politics to raise issues. Here, when you lose, you lose everything, I think, even, including your manhood”

~PC Omollo, Senior Deputy Clerk, Kenya National Assembly

“So many cattle rustlers are not aware that they are committing an offence.”

~PC Omollo, Senior Deputy Clerk, Kenya National Assembly

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This is Louis --that interview with artists was tight!

Louis Otieno is one of the few broadcasters I do enjoy watching. Of course (I like that word alot), there is Rama Nyang' and Jeff Koinange. So, I am not talking about broadcasters today, so I will not list all my favourites. That's a story for another day. So, when he moved to K24 from Citizen TV, Louis moved with his name which is already a brand in media circles. He hosts a weekly talkshow, really a discussion like that of CNN's Larry King, that is not only informative, but truly resonates with the people of Kenya. So here he was this Wednesday night with leading artists in Kenya, the cream of the entertainers of this country. There was Nameless and Juacali (all musicians), the talented Arthur K. (a TV music producer), Larry Asego and Kajairo (influential radio personalities in their own right) and one Ben Njiru, a man in a smart suit, I don't know who he is. The chitchat focused on the constitution. But then there was the usual bibble-babble about being left out of t...
Read more

LONG READ: The YALI Experience in 3,200 Words

Image
There are lessons you are inadvertently taught when you are a 35-year-old being forced to sit in the same class with an 18-year-old. Imagine someone who is half your age, with less of life experiences sitting by your side, being taught the things you should have learned eighteen years ago. You feel a little jealous that you were not told these things early enough; that some people are just lucky. But you also feel hopeful that a young generation is being made to learn about better ideals of leadership, and what a good society should look like. It is also somewhat shameful that you haven’t really done a lot to ‘change lives’, and in a country with a life expectancy of 61 years such as Kenya, you take a silent vow – the things you tell your heart and your mind and your conscience— to use the remaining part of your life to change the world. Your world. But when you sit in that class with an open mind, to learn not just from the lecturers but also from your colleagues, both the one...
Read more

Order! You two principals!

I am not a prophet. But I know two things about the President and his men: they believe they are the law, and if not, they believe they are above the law. I spend most of my time in Parliament and that is not something to smile about. A friend of mine, George, joked that I spend my time “surrounded by 222 idiots”. “How do you survive?” he asked. Being a journalist, I looked at him. Is this guy trying the ‘show-me-your-friend-and-I-will-tell-you-who –you-are’ thing on me? But then I laughed it off. But, kindly indulge me. The President submits names to Parliament. The Prime Minister makes a lot of noise about being left out of the loop and asks the Speaker not to accept the President’s nominees. So, the Speaker is harassed for sometime to make crucial decisions. He ponders about it; buys time “hoping” the President and the PM will sit and agree. The duo fail to agree and say, “On the Issue of the nominations to fill State offices currently under consideration by Parliament, the two ...
Read more