sv dude

Posted @ 06:06 AM on April 27, 2007

this is one my favorite articles. i've always kept my secrets to myself which explains why those ideas have never seen the light of day.

i guess other people knowing your ideas is actually a good thing afterall. sheesh. what an article.

Senia Positive Psychology Coaching

Posted @ 08:53 AM on April 27, 2007

That's super fun to appear in your post. Thanks! :)

some startup guy

Posted @ 09:55 PM on April 28, 2007

Can't agree more.

Even thou people know about your idea, whether they are going to devote 999 hrs working on it is really another question. But if you tell other people and people give you more angles of looking at it, it will only help you when you are executing them.

The Trizle Team

Posted @ 02:38 AM on May 03, 2007

Really awesome input! Thanks sv dude, Senia, some startup guy, and Tomas.

I couldn't agree more with throwing your ideas out there to people who could help you, and seeing what you gain. Much, much more often than not, you'll see a major benefit.

Great link, Tomas! :)

-Andrew

Blogonomics Part 2: Your Best Competitors are your Best Friends - Zoomstart

Posted @ 08:19 PM on August 01, 2007

[...] First, Trizle teaches us that there are no secrets worth keeping. A marketer once told me a brilliant idea for a new beer. Bikini Beer. Catchy, viral, you could have a lot of fun with the packaging. I’ve told quite a few people in the bottling industry about it … haven’t seen it yet. Your secrets are safe. [...]

rakish_paul@hotmail.com

Posted @ 04:09 AM on January 08, 2008

Great Post.

Oscar Lawrence

Posted @ 02:35 AM on January 21, 2008

I beg to dissagree!!

I dont know whether you are talking about ideas or secrets or privacy or what.

If its about secrets and privacy, I 100000000000000000% dissagree with you Madam or Sir! For ideas thats alright.

Why do I dissagree?
What is Privacy? It is the condition under which an individual has the power to choose what information to disclose to whom, without pressure or duress.

What is Secrecy? On the other hand, this is the condition in which someone refuses to disclose certain information to certain parties. It is usually because they are preying.

I will provide as I have candidly, practical and effective guidelines & techniques for keeping your personal life private. The techniques and guidelines in this article cover many aspects of keeping information secret, keeping physical objects secret (hidden and secure), and keeping your activities private.

Protect Your Privacy
Actively protecting your Personal Privacy by keeping portions of your life "secret", can be a lot like learning Martial Arts for self-defense. In both cases you learn and practice skills that are normally not considered polite, moral, or appropriate for general use.

For example, in Martial Arts you learn to gouge eyes, break limbs, hit, kick, punch, and otherwise perform physical mayhem on your opponent. None of these actions are considered appropriate to perform just anywhere/anytime...BUT...if you (or if someone in your care) is attacked and your physical well-being threatened, the use of these skills is justified.

Depending on the circumstances, you might well use skills in self-defense that you may not use at any other time. The knowledge of physical self-defense skills does not automatically make you evil or immoral. Only the use to which you put them can cause that distinction. This same concept holds true for skills (Example: lying, deception) used to protect your Personal Privacy by "Keeping Your Secrets".

In a more perfect world we would rarely (if ever) need to keep secrets. People would respect our privacy and mind their own business. Unfortunately this is NOT a perfect world. People tend to prey and probe into your lives much more than we want, forcing us to take steps to protect our privacy...and sometimes take alternatives that we would otherwise not take.

Keeping a Secret is only one of several strategies that you can use to maintain your personal privacy. Depending on the circumstances, keeping secrets may not be your first (or best) choice.

Oscar Lawrence

Posted @ 02:42 AM on January 21, 2008

Continuation.........

For example; in any given circumstance you always have 3 choices.

1. Do Nothing.
You can choose to do nothing. You can let your privacy be invaded...or reveal the pertinent data yourself. You may choose this option because the incident at hand is not important enough to be worth much effort protecting it...or...you may decide that you can't prevail regardless of your effort and that your privacy will be invaded regardless of what you do...or...you may simply not care if anyone knows.

2. Stand up and Fight for your Privacy:
You may choose this option out of principle...or...the issue may be one that calls for such a stand. In many cases of Governmental and Medical Privacy issues, standing up and fighting for your privacy may be the only viable option (other than doing nothing).

In the case of Governmental and Medical privacy, it is virtually impossible to keep your information and activities secret. (Example: It is extremely difficult to go to the doctor and somehow keep that secret).

3. Keep your information, activity, or personal property a secret.
In this scenario you choose to selectively keep your secrets from one (or many) people, whom would otherwise invade your privacy.

If you are serious about keeping something private, if having it discovered will cause you significant problems, significant embarrassment...or...you simply don't think that your life is anybody else's business, then you need to get serious about keeping your secret and spend time ensuring that it STAYS a secret.

If a secret isn't important enough to spend time on...or...if you are not prepared to take the steps necessary to keep your secret, then you're better off not trying to keep it in the first place.

If you are not committed to keeping your secret then save yourself the trouble and embarrassment of having it found out and don't try to keep it secret in the first place.

If on the other hand, you want to keep something secret/private, just how do you DO that? How do you successfully keep parts of your life private? How do you keep physical objects private? How do you keep activities private? How do you maintain your desired level of personal privacy?

This web site will help you find answers to those questions. We will take a look at the implications and consequences of keeping secrets, and provide suggestions on how to make an informed judgment of whether or not to keep secrets...and how to determine your odds of successfully keeping your secret.

In the "All about Secrets" section, we go over the basic issues surrounding the most common secrecy problems. This is the launching pad for the more complex and advanced concepts & tactics that come later. In subsequent pages, we review detailed Tactics of keeping information secret, along with ideas and tactics for keeping personal property secret, as well as tactics for keeping activities secret.

We will spend time learning how to evaluate the Risks involved in keeping different kinds of secrets...and how to evaluate your chances of success in keeping your secret. We will also look at a few of the most common mistakes people make in trying to keep secrets, that generally doom them to failure.

In subsequent sections, we will look at methods of Lie Detection and examine how experts (and amateurs) go about making their determinations of whether or not you are telling the truth. We will also take a look at the decision processes required to create an effective overall approach to keeping secrets.

Now, I would like you to read these words and see if there is anything familiar.

LOST IN YOUR DARK
I SEE YOU THERE
WHAT DO YOU SEE BEYOND YOUR STARE
AND YOU BELIEVE THAT NO ONE ELSE CAN KNOW

WHAT IS THIS THING YOU KEEP INSIDE
OUT OF THE LIGHT AND WRAPPED IN PRIDE
ALWAYS AFRAID THAT ONE DAY IT WILL SHOW

I'LL KEEP YOUR SECRETS
I'LL HOLD YOUR GROUND
AND WHEN THE DARKNESS STARTS TO FALL
I'LL BE AROUND THERE WAITING
WHEN DREAMS ARE FADING
AND FRIENDS ARE DISTANT AND FEW

KNOW AT THAT MOMENT I'LL BE THERE WITH YOU
WHAT ARE THESE VOICES THAT YOU HEAR
ARE THEY TOO FAR OR FAR TOO NEAR
WHAT ARE THESE THINGS THAT ECHO FROM THE PAST

WHO ARE THESE GHOSTS YOU SEE AT NIGHT
THERE IN THE SHADOWS OF YOUR LIFE
THEY ONLY LIVE BY THE LIGHT YOU CAST

I'LL KEEP YOUR SECRETS
I'LL HOLD YOUR GROUND
AND WHEN THE DARKNESS STARTS TO FALL
I'LL BE AROUND THERE WAITING
WHEN DREAMS ARE FADING
AND FRIENDS ARE DISTANT AND FEW

KNOW AT THAT MOMENT I'LL BE THERE WITH YOU

I'LL BE AROUND
WHEN THERE'S NO REASON LEFT TO CARRY ON
AND EVERY DREAM YOU'VE EVER HAD IS GONE
AND THE DARK IS DEEP AND BLACK WITHOUT A SOUND
AND EVERY STAR HAS BEEN DRAGGED TO THE GROUND
KNOW AT THAT MOMENT I WILL BE AROUND
KNOW AT THAT MOMENT I WILL BE AROUND

Beethoven, a German composer and pianist who became deaf in his early 20's says to Fate that it is now clear to him that it was his deafness that was the cause of all his unhappiness. "Remove this infirmity and my whole life will turn out right. If I had not gone deaf I would still have been able to perform live and Theresa (his former wife) and I would have had a life together."

Fate assures him that it can be done but once again feels she must warn him of the consequences. She (fate) points out that before his deafness his career was more concentrated on live performance than on composing. The Muses of music had always been speaking to him but it was only after he became deaf that he could clearly hear their voices. "Your live performances were brilliant but they lasted but a moment, while your compositions will echo forever."

Fate then shows Beethoven himself slipping deeper and deeper into his pit of total silence, but all the while the Muses continue to whisper in his ear. Privacy and Secrets!

...........to be continued

Oscar Lawrence

Posted @ 03:11 AM on January 21, 2008

IT IS YOUR DUTY!

Keeping your secrets is your duty! Sharing your ideas is also your duty!

We all have ideas worth sharing with others, and this is the place to do it. I am particularly interested in those ideas which, if enacted, might make a significant difference in the world in which we live.

I'll start with a few of my own ideas which I've mulled over and nurtured for years. letd welcome every constructive feedback and post ideas from others that fit our criteria. Enjoy!

Can somebody tell me what can help a country like Kenya? It is one of the most stable African countries but now, the Problem is that it is at war with itself.

After the Dec 27th General Elections, when the Presidential "results" were announced, hell broke loose and the truth on the ground is worse than what can be expected. The fear is that the worse can still happen.

If you look at say CNN/BBC/France24/Al Jazeera etc, you will agree with me that Kenya needs help, bright ideas that can save the innocent being butchered like goats.

Read this:

About two kilometres of Kenya-Uganda Railway line was uprooted in Nairobi’s Kibera’s slums on the final day of mass action as more deaths and violent confrontations took place.

The feeder line into landlocked Uganda was yanked off the ground as police said 82 of 510 so far killed in the post-election violence died in the hands of the police.

The figure given by the police, whose spokesman said has been using live bullets because of a shortage of rubber ones, excluded the seven killed on Friday.

It was another day of gunshots and teargas in Eldoret, Kisumu, Homa Bay, Mombasa, Narok, Busia and Nairobi as President Kibaki named a reconciliation team, which Vice- President Mr Kalonzo Musyoka, leads.

This guy called Kalonzo is the same man who initially told Kenya that he has got no business dealing with some oldman named Kibaki. He betrayed the whole country by accepting the post of a VP. He now wants to woo Raila and his team to accept Ministerial Positions NOT remembering that the issue is not about the posts but about the "stolen" Presidency. It is about the people who voted and their desire being thwarted.

The confrontation between police and Muslim faithful in Mombasa and Nairobi ensued as formal communication came the African Union mediators Mr Kofi Annan and Mrs Graca Machel arrive on Tuesday.

Caught by the police bullet in Kibera was a primary school girl, 13. Demonstrations disrupted business in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu as death toll from post-election violence soared.

Rioters in Kibera vent their anger on the main railway line that cuts across the slum to western Kenya and pulled it off the tracks. Police shot dead four people in the slums, one in Mombasa and two in Narok as they suppressed peaceful demonstrations.

Four other people died in Narok in clashes involving members of two communities, while youths in Molo ambushed a police van and shot one officer dead, with an arrow.

Mayhem was most intense in Kibera where police shot dead the 13-year-old from Lwanga Primary School, as she sat in her house on Laini Saba. She was cowering from the chaos outside.

A boy, Brian Oluoch, 12, was also shot and injured. He was undergoing treatment last night at Masaba Hospital.

ODM leader Mr Raila Odinga whose Lang’ata constituency, Kibera falls visited the hospital last evening. He saw four bodies and condemned the police shootings of demonstrators, saying it was brutal and oppressive.

Annan, whose trip last week was postponed after he went down with flu, is to team up with Graca Machel and former Tanzanian president Mr Benjamin Mkapa, who is in the country.

Raila, who met Mkapa, said later his party would negotiate with Kibaki’s team through an international mediator.

Kalonzo also held talks with members of Africa Forum for Peace Mission.

Led by former Mozambican president Joachim Chissano the peace mission members included Mkapa and former Botswana president, Sir Ketumile Masire.

The Vice-Presidential Press Service reported that Kalonzo briefed them on the efforts the Government is making to restore peace and disclosed plans to establish a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission. Eighty Party of National Unity MPs met and also proposed such a commission to help re-unite the country after the post-election falling out.

Gunfire and tear gas pervaded the alleys of Kibera slum as contingents of anti-riot police moved in and charged into crowds that had gathered since morning protesting along the railway line, and destroying tracks.

Narok also soaked the brunt of the violence as members of one community turned on another and killed three people. Police who moved in to quell the fighting at Majengo area shot dead two people.

Running battles

In Nairobi, the streets around the centre of town were scenes of running battles for the third day running as police dispersed ODM leaders who tried to march to Uhuru Park.

Ugenya MP, Mr James Orengo and Likoni MP Mahsud Mwahima were tear gassed as they tried to lead a crowd to Uhuru Park.

Veteran politician Martin Shikuku was arrested, but later released, as he joined the demonstrators.

In Mombasa, police shot dead one demonstrator as chaos rocked the town shortly after the lunchtime prayers.

ODM Pentagon member, Mr Najib Balala, who led the demonstrators, complained to police that they were shooting wananchi, who were peaceful.

In Kisumu supporters of ODM engaged anti-riot police officers in running battles during the third day of mass action in the town. But for the first time, since the protests began, no killings were reported in the town, as police only shot in the air to scare demonstrators.

Police headquarters termed as ‘unfortunate’ an incident in which an anti-riot officer was captured on camera shooting two unarmed protestors in Kisumu, killing one.

The officer, according to police spokesman Eric Kiraithe, has reportedly been "temporarily interdicted" pending the outcome of investigation.

In Eldoret, tension reigned after wananchi suspected a GK vehicle was carrying Ugandan Security personnel.

Angry residents who claim some Ugandan soldiers were in the country blocked the Eldoret–Nakuru highway and with assistance from a senior GSU officer from Nairobi, established the vehicle had no Ugandans.

In Molo armed youths ambushed a contingent of security personnel in Molo and killed an officer, as post-polls violence escalated.

At the same time, police in Nakuru town arrested ODM leader Pastor Mike Brawan for allegedly inciting the public to violence. Heads of diplomatic missions from nine countries protested the police killings and use of excessive force.

The United Kingdom (UK), Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland urged the Government to investigate and bring charges on those concerned.

"We have seen clear and disturbing footage of the use of lethal force on unarmed demonstrators. Where Kenyan authorities or other agents have evidence of violence being instigated and carried out by whatever party, we urge that efforts be made to investigate and to bring charges against those concerned," they said in statement.

The Kenya Red Cross called for continued support in donations, saying the crisis of displaced people continued to soar.

So, CAN I HEAR FROM YOU FOLKS?

Oscar Lawrence

Posted @ 03:20 AM on January 21, 2008

ABOUT KENYA:

Schools are on the verge of shutting down as the post-election violence takes its toll on education in Nyanza province.

Parents were preparing for the worst after it emerged that schools would not re-open today.

Instead, the few secondary boarding schools that had remained open started sending students home for fear of fresh violence.

Education officials in the province told The Standard that schooling appeared to have collapsed in the province.

The situation was worsened by reports that villagers were warning head teachers against re-opening.

One of Nyanza’s top schools — Maranda High — sent its students home after villagers threatened teachers.

The villagers claim that by continuing to have lessons, the teachers were not in solidarity with those protesting President Kibaki’s re-election.

But a parent whose son was among those sent away from Maranda, Mr Gideon Ogolla, expressed shock at the turn of events.

"We could have spared our schools for heavens sake. We are closing our schools when students from other parts of the country are learning as usual. The Government will not postpone the national exams just because schools in Nyanza were closed," said Ogolla.

He added: "We are bitter because President Kibaki stole our votes, but we must tread carefully on the education of our children. Keeping them at home will only ruin their future."

He said the hostility against teachers was unjustified.

Last week, the Nyanza Provincial Education officer, Mr Geoffrey Cherongis, confirmed that many head teachers had received threats from villagers.

The warnings were extended to both teachers and non-teaching staff, some of whom have since vacated the institutions.

The villagers want institutions to support their course of mass action, arguing their democratic rights were breached following the flawed poll results.

Cherongis said he had consequently instructed District Education Officers to report the threats to police stations

BLOG IN YOUR IDEAS ON HOW TO SAVE THE CHILDREN OF THIS COUNTRY

Oscar Lawrence

Posted @ 03:23 AM on January 21, 2008

KENYA IS BURNING UP!!!!! HELP!

About 15 people were killed in Kipkelion and Londiani, bringing to 22 the people who have died in the past two days.

Police shot some of the victims on Saturday night, while others died in gang attacks.

More than 2,000 residents have sought refuge in schools and churches following the burning of 969 houses.

Local DC, Mr Aden Halake, confirmed 11 deaths, but area MP, Mr Magerer Langat, differed.

"The figure of the deaths might be higher since I witnessed 16 bodies being collected from various spots," Langat told The Standard.

A local chief said he saw 22 bodies.

Police shot dead four people in Nyairobi village and another three at Londiani. They claimed the victims were arsonists.

But Langat accused the police of using excessive force to quell violence, saying the officers were partisan.

Earlier, seven people died after they were shot with arrows or hacked to death as three communities fought.

" Some 266 houses were torched at Mutarakwa, 298 in villages surrounding the monastery, 237 at Lelu and at Kipkelion trading centre they burnt 168 houses," said the DC.

The fighting spread to Kashin, Nyairobi, Londiani and Mutaragon.

The displaced have fled to Lelu and Mutaragon trading centres, Tinga Farm Monastery, and Liloch, Nyagacho and Kamasian secondary schools.

Others are camping at the chief’s office.

On Sunday, armed police officers patrolled the affected areas as fighting and arson subsided.

More security personnel were deployed at the Kipkelion Catholic Monastery after raiders threatened 600 people camping there.

Despite police assurance of security, more residents continued to flee their homes to Nakuru, Kericho and Kisumu.

Mr Elijah Ndirangu of Lelu said he did not know where his family was after raiders burnt their home.

"I lost all my valuables and household goods and I do not know where my wife and two children fled to," said Ndirangu.

And Mr Andrew Kibet said he had lost six cows and two goats.

"My wife and children fled when youths armed with pangas attacked us as we had lunch on Saturday," he said.

Oscar Lawrence

Posted @ 03:26 AM on January 21, 2008

POLICE STATE OR WHAT? KENYA

The Kenya Government plucked more than 5,000 police recruits from class to reinforce a force overwhelmed by spiralling post-election violence.

Some of the 1,600 recruits were drawn from Kiganjo Police Training College that trains regular police officers and General Service Unit, while more than 3,500 were drafted from the Administration Police Training College, Embakasi.

By the time they were deployed on the streets, the recruits were still learning the basics of gun handling and how to deal with protesters, The Standard learnt.

They had no police force number to identify them and were only armed with truncheons.

A senior Government officer who, however, sought anonymity said the recruits had been adequately briefed on handling protesting crowds.

"The officers were also under senior police officers with experience in handling crowds," the source added, and exonerated the recruits from claims of extra judicial killings saying, "They were armed with no more than batons."

The officers will graduate in April when they will also acquire their force numbers.

One of the recruits described the post-election violence they were deployed to deal with as a baptism of fire. "We did not anticipate this very early in our career," the trainee said.

He added: "What started as a two-week attachment during the polling week to bolster peace has turned out to be a month and a nightmare."

Meanwhile, the Eldoret Police Commander and his CID counterpart have been transferred in changes announced by the Commissioner of Police, Maj-Gen Hussein Ali.

The OCPD, Mr Anjelas Karuru, has been moved to Keiyo in the same capacity while the local CID boss, Mr Shem Nyamboki, has been posted to Marsabit.

The new police commander is Mr Bernard Kioko Muindi while the CID chief is Mr Munga Nyale. Muindi has been the Mbeere OCPD while Nyale has been serving at the UN peacekeeping missions. The new Mbeere OCPD, is Mr Patrick Lumumba, who has also been in Darfur for peacekeeping missions. The changes have also affected officers.

Former Coast PCIO, Mr Patrick Obimo, is the new Commandant of the Kenya Airports Police Unit to replace Ms Beatrice Nduta, who proceeds for further studies. Obimo had been studying at the Kenya Army Defence College in Karen.

And Police Spokesman, Mr Eric Kiraithe, has denied claims that members of the police force from certain communities were targeted in the changes. He said police officers were under instructions as per the force standing orders to serve in any part of the country.

"They took oath to be deployed anywhere in the country and the claims of some people being targeted are unfounded," he said.

Oscar Lawrence

Posted @ 03:28 AM on January 21, 2008

EVEN JOURNALIST ARE TARGETED!

Journalists faced the wrath of police last evening when they were forced out of Kibera where GSU officers were conducting an operation.

Angry GSU officers cordoned off the entrance to the slums to bar journalists from witnessing the operation, which left four people killed.

The officers, armed with batons, guns and teargas canisters had earlier engaged the demonstrators, who were armed with slings and stones, in fierce running battles.

The police at one point targeted a teenager in a red T-shirt who had earlier smashed the windscreen of a lorry carrying the officers with a stone from a sling.

Officers inside the lorry were angered by the boy’s action and pursued him inside the slums.

Journalists who were following the officers were shocked when the police turned on them and blocked the way to prevent them from covering the operation.

From a distance, journalists witnessed how the officers threw teargas canisters inside the shacks where the residents had taken refuge.

But when the officers realised that photojournalists were filming them, they threw a teargas canister to scare them away.

However, journalists were determined to carry on with their job and continued to film as the GSU officers sprayed the shacks with live ammunition.

In addition, they ensured that they dropped teargas canisters in areas they suspected that the demonstrators had taken refuge.

On Wednesday, police had lobbed teargas canisters to journalists covering the ODM demonstrations.

Oscar Lawrence

Posted @ 04:04 AM on January 21, 2008

KENYA UPDATE: Where are they going?

Religious leaders in Kenya have now dismissed a 10-member team Mr Kibaki has appointed for talks over the political stalemate.

They denounced Vice-President, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka’s position as head of the team, saying Kibaki should meet ODM’s Raila Odinga "face-to-face" in the presence of mediators.

Bishop Titus Khamala of Cornerstone Ministries said: "Kalonzo is viewed as a traitor and it would be terrible for him to spearhead such a committee."

Bishop Johnston Wandera of Ushindi Ministries said appointing reconciliatory teams would not solve the political impasse if the two leaders did not meet.

Others who shared the sentiments were Bishop Nicholas Olumasai of Kakamega Fellowship Centre, Bishop Japheth Omuchei of Overcoming Faith Churches and the Rev Samuel Weche of Hems Ministries.

He said Kibaki should meet Raila in the presence of former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Annan.

The religious leaders said power-sharing deal between Kibaki and Raila was not practical.

They were speaking separately during yesterday’s church services.

Omuchei said veteran politicians should be included in the team. Kibaki appointed the team last week. It includes Cabinet ministers and Attorney-General, Mr Amos Wako.

Meanwhile, two Kisumu bishops have dismissed the Kalonzo-led committee appointed to broker peace with ODM.

Head of ACK Maseno South Diocese, Bishop Mwai Abiero, and Bishop Ngonyo Ngede of the Power of Jesus Around the World Church, said ODM would not negotiate with the Kalonzo team because they were bitter rivals.

Speaking separately, the clergymen said the move would not bear fruit.

Addressing a congregation at the St Stephen’s ACK Cathedral in Kisumu Town, Abiero suggested the setting up of an interim government to organise for a presidential repeat election.

Ngede said President Kibaki was wrong for appointing their rivals to start negotiations.

Three ODM MPs, Mr Olago Aluoch, Mr Shakeel Shabir and Mr Fred Outa, who said Kalonzo did not have the moral authority to spearhead the committee, echoed the same sentiments.

They said the country was facing a political crisis and wondered why Kibaki was not taking the issue seriously.

And as Kibaki continue dilly dallying, people's lives are at stake and Schools are not open. Businesses continue to remain closed and the economy is at the rumbles.

Where are those ideas now? Tell Kenyans, especially Kibaki what he needs to do because, Kibaki now holds the ultimate power card.

Why do I say that its Kibaki holding the country at ransom? Because when President John Kufuor left and former UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, Graca Machel and former President of Tanzania Mr Benjamin Mkapa are expected toseek further mediation. How should we then, as a country, achieve convergence?

Firstly, Members of Parliament were sworn in they must reflect that the Tenth Parliament is smudged with post-election violence unseen in the history of this country.

The violence has seen enormous collateral damage to human capital and property, besides undermining the social fabric of our nation.

The disputed presidential election results have resulted in unwarranted national divergence and polarisation with unquantifiable human suffering.

It will take years of sustained healing efforts to bring our people to a semblance of normalcy. The scar of violence shall, unfortunately, forever remind us of an election that regenerated tribalism at the core of our nation.

Secondly, the hard facts of the hour, which we must remind the leaders in this country, is the need for change of tack to achieve a quicker healing process through a collaborative approach of all our leaders — repeat all the leaders.

It is only a collaborative action that can redeem this country from the current malaise. It must not continue as a blame game of who won or lost or is responsible for inflicting our country with the malaise.

There cannot be a winner and loser in a situation where Kenyans continue to suffer. Let us chart the way forward, now and urgently before it is too late.

As indicated recently, a winner-take-it-all preposition would be unworkable.

The Public Watchdog’s opinion is that any audit will only be for charting the way forward and cannot be to reverse course as yesterday is already in the past, a damaged cause, while tomorrow depends on our today’s actions.

Thirdly, the accommodation of the Orange Democratic Movement of Kenya (ODM-Kenya) in the Party of National unity (PNU) Government represents an original building block as well as a possible opportunity for an expanded grand coalition with the Orange Democratic Party (ODM).

The winner in the current scenario appears to be Mr Kalonzo Musyoka as Vice-President. Kalonzo, however, has reaffirmed the need for unity and reconciliation as more important than the position, which he considers to serve no purpose in a chaotic national situation.

It is further pertinent to note that President Kibaki by playing the Kalonzo card in the political chess game has dramatically altered the political landscape, as the V-P now becomes the presidential heir apparent.

Love him or hate him but in political terms Kalonzo has charted an indispensable role and is more needed — with his 16 Members of Parliament — today than ever before.

The Kalonzo card is much more valuable and could potentially even serve as the ultimate card. Strategists would agree that political alignment and re-alignment is a permanent game plan. It is further an established fact that in politics there are no permanent enemies.

The political power lifeline is more important than any perceived differences of opinion.

President Kibaki — who must seek to nurture peace, save and protect the country, as only a peaceful resolution will endure — now holds the power card.

The choices are his. He also holds the ultimate card, which is to dissolve Parliament and call fresh elections. In the event a nightmare scenario emerges, the President may choose this ultimate card even though he would be deemed to have served a second term.

If history repeats itself, then more than 60 per cent of the current Members of Parliament would not make it to the Eleventh Parliament and there would be power structure changes again in a Kalonzo versus Raila Odinga face off.

Fourthly, the institution of the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) has done Kenya a serious disservice and must be held accountable in its entirety.

The ECK Chairman, Mr Samuel Kivuitu, cannot get away with his outbursts as he holds a very important position. His love for drama is contemptuous of his role in the current quagmire.

His continued dramatics and condescending attitude are unhelpful and only serve to fuel polarisation in the country. It is crystal clear that the ECK’s conduct and the outbursts of its chairman can at best be characterised as willingly incompetent - repeat willingly incompetent - and captive of vested interests.

As part of the healing process, Parliament must immediately facilitate a legal framework to disband and establish an Election Authority of Kenya (EAK) as a competent authority for conducting elections.

The qualification, competence and integrity of commissioners must also be beyond reproach and such appointees need to be vetted and approved by Parliament.

The Public Watchdog encourages all our leaders to find a common unifying resolution to the current impasse and, through Parliament, create a legal framework to facilitate the prospect of a power-sharing grand coalition.

Our leaders must certainly be aware that the current desire of Kenyans is to explore reconciliatory possibilities to promote national harmony so that our people can once again live together as a united people.

Finally, today Parliament will seek to elect a Speaker to guide and oversee the Tenth Parliament’s business, a critical role in our democratic pillars as a nation.

It is absolutely important that the person elected to hold the position is independent of — and free from — vested interests.

The Speaker must demonstrate good judgement, influence and capacity to withstand pressure and tack to execute delicate balancing acts as necessary traits to uphold the honour of Parliament.

All parliamentarians must exercise sobriety and seek to build national consensus in pursuance of public interests without being characterised as political hirelings.

This is a matter of great public & International interests!

Jeremy

Posted @ 06:37 PM on February 01, 2008

I totally agree with the original post. That's why I started Nousify.com, to have a place where people can talk intelligently about their business ideas and problems they encounter. You need the fresh and honest community perspective to make your ideas the best they can possibly be. Great article, keep up the good work.