A Mzungu who loves Kenya

• Getting Used to Kenyanese - part II

  Posted: July 31, 2008, 10:25 pm by Dad Mzungu

  I am not even going to try to explain the nuances of Kenyan English - sorry. There are other blogs out there, written by Kenyans that can explain this. A good example is:

  [howdidigethere-kenyanchick.blogspot.com]

  However, there are certain idiosyncrasies that I could point out. I have already touched on the "Yes" meaning "No" and the constant use of the word "Sorry" in a previous blog,

  [www.blogger.com]

  But now I want to touch on more general differences. Firstly, it has to be said that to a Brit, Kenyans can seem to be very rude. They are not. In my experience, they are very warm, polite people. But they can be a little abrupt. Do not be surprised if, when giving someone something such as a cigarette (or stick as it is known in Kenya), you will not necessarily receive a "Thank you". It is implied, though. Accept it as said.

  The same goes for "Please". This seems to be used as a plea, a last resort. I child may say please when asking for sweets, for example, but only after several attempts to ask for sweets without using the word. This is not rude. Again, the please is implied, not spoken.

  "Oh pleeease buy me some sweets," is accompanied by a cute (girl) or cheeky (boy) smile, a fluttering of those beautiful brown eyes (girls only, though).

  Be warned: If you like Kenya and Kenyans, you will not resist the pleas of the children. They are masters of the plea. They are not begging, well most aren't, they just want you to be friendly and buy them sweets. Simple.

  Even when travelling by train between Nairobi and Mombasa, you will not escape the children asking for sweets. They line the track-side, calling out how much they like you ("Mzungu, I love you. Pleeeease give me sweet!"). The trains only runs every other day and are slow, I mean like you will be overtaken by tuk-tuks.

  The kids living in the villages next to the line know when the trains are due, and will even break from school classes to ask for sweets. Many a time I have seen an open-air classroom with only an exasperated teacher standing by his chalkboard, his charges running next to the train, carrying plastic bags in which they put their spoils.

• It is a Government thing ...

  Posted: July 31, 2008, 3:03 pm by Dad Mzungu

  The buck stops here ... But these days, we have to ask ourselves where "here" is. Because, once upon a time, it was at the desk of the President of the United States, Harry Truman.

  These days, it seems, when there is a problem, the minister in charge of the relevant department takes a quick look around, and tosses it to whoever is nearest.

  In the latest cited case in Kenya, secondary schools are complaining about funding. President Kibaki announced in January that secondary education was to be free. Hurray!

  But had he given a thought about where the money was coming from? Obviously not, because he and Raila then went on to create a 42-minister government, just to make sure that all their friends had jobs.

  Did they wonder where the money was coming from to finance the extra "ministries"? Obviously not.

  Now the Ministry of Education, which is strapped for cash as all ministries have had to rein in on their budgets, are blaming school administrators for the delay in payment of government funding to the schools.

  During the school riots, is was the fault of the parents, mobile phones and buses with music systems installed.

  When will they wake up and face their responsibilities?

  I would guess that, because they are just like most other governments in the world, yes including ours, never.

  While they earn their inflated salaries for doing little more than bickering among themselves, or selling of Kenya's "family silver" for a song, and making sure that they don't have to pay income tax like real Kenyans, they don't have time to look at real issues, and find a real solution.

• Clarity at Last

  Posted: July 27, 2008, 1:33 pm by Dad Mzungu

  My business partner in Kenya and I (still in the UK) have been battling with emails from an important potential client because the English used by said client is not as precise as I would like. We have been going round in circles for the past week, trying to understand each other.

  Finally, the veil has been drawn away from my eyes

  Apparently,there is a trade agreement between Kenya and the country of origin of our potential client and our contract has to be notarised, at our cost. That's not really a problem, so, with a bit of luck, we are ready to advance to the next stage.

• Nerve-racking ...

  Posted: July 26, 2008, 10:13 pm by Dad Mzungu

  As well as opening a cyber café in Kisii, I have found that I am a partner in an export business. This came about quite by accident when we offered a foreign trading company photographic samples of the ware we have on offer.

  To our surprise, they wanted to place an order, not the usual 15,000/- but lots of zeros after the US$ sign.

  Now, we are not an export company, which is not to say we don't have some experience in the field of international commerce, gleaned from a previous life. But that was in Europe, where there are rules to be obeyed, guidelines to follow, etc. Yes, I know we moan about all the red tape, but believe me, when it's not there ...

  So, here we are, in a backwoods town, off the beaten track, receiving an order for umpty-tump thousands of dollars-worth of goods.

  Now the next problem is that English is not the first language of the buyer. Nor is it the first language of my partner. The problem arises because their first languages are not the same! So, there are issues raised, and we have to guess what they are by deciphering the "English" emails sent to us.

  It has taken a week @ three emails a day to get this far and I think (hope ... pray) that we are approaching the final straight ... that is, the straight that hands us the contract.

  That's the easy part. Then we have to ensure that the products are of the correct quality, are produced within the right time frame, and are packed to withstand international shipping, not least of which include the Kenyan roads!

  Of course, in a rural town anywhere in the world, you are not going to find a bubble-wrap manufacturer or supplier. That has to come in from somewhere bigger. Then there is the need for a fork-lift truck. "What is one of those?" OK, maybe a tractor with a lifting attachment on the front? Maybe.

  Then there is Health & Safety. In gB (that's great[?] Britain, not Gordon Brown), you have to be qualified to drive a fork lift. Try explaining that in a country where many car drivers have never passed a test!

  So, it looks like I will be going out rather sooner than I had anticipated, to make sure that all things are safe, and that the quality control system, insisted upon in the contract, is in place.

  It's a tough life, but someone has to do it. ;)

  Look out kenya, here I come - again!

• The bell tolls for Gordon?

  Posted: July 25, 2008, 10:52 pm by Dad Mzungu

  The last few months must have been a nightmare for Prime Minister Gordon Brown. His Labour party lost the Henley election (not surprising) coming in after the Conservatives, Lib Dems, the Green Party and the BNP.

  They lost at Crewe and Nantwich, they lost the mayoral election in London, and now, they have lost one of their safest seats, Glasgow East.

  This morning (Friday), Gordon Brown stated that he realises that he has to listen to the people. This afternoon, he stated that he had a job to do and he was going to get on and do it.

  Excuse me, Mr Prime Minister, but, what do you think the people want you to listen to, taking the last four elections into consideration? Are they saying, "Please, Mr brown, we are voting your party out, but we want you to carry on?"

  Or, are they saying, "Mr Brown, you are not what we want, please leave - now!"

  Personally, I think the people, to whom Gordon insists he is listening are stating the latter.

  Parliament is now in recess for their elongated Summer break (for which they still get paid), so absolutely nothing is going to happen until September.

  But what then? Will there be a coup? Will he call an election (fat chance)?

  Or will he try to muddle on as he has been for the past 13 months?

  Mr Brown, practice what you preach. You criticised Mr Kibaki for hanging on to power. You criticised Bob Mugabe for hanging on to power, so ...

• Guilty as charged ...

  Posted: July 23, 2008, 3:17 pm by Dad Mzungu

  I plead guilty, as charged. I have been wasting my time, not only writing a blog, but also reading others' blogs.

  And it struck me. Why are all the best blogs [in my humble opinion] written by the females of the species?

  There are a few good blogs written by males, but the majority tend to be rather dry. Have we men lost our sense of humour? I look at my past efforts and shudder.

  I look at the blogs written by Mzungu Chick, Mom de Plume, Nutty Cow, Reluctant Memsahib, etc., and in every case, there is humour, usually about little things that happen in life, or just life in general.

  Conclusion? I need to get a life.
  

• I will always be white ...

  Posted: July 22, 2008, 1:44 pm by Dad Mzungu

  During my stay in Kisii, Josephat frequently asked (through an interpreter) why I was so pale. As he is a Luuya, his skin is very dark, and I was particularly pale, having just escaped from a British winter.

  So Josephat took it upon himself to make me dark. After I had bathed him and Vaselined him, he decided that if he greased me, I would become dark like him.

  [Note: The character that resembles a European Buddha is, unfortunately, me. However, I was happy to find that after a month in Kenya, I lost about a stone - no biscuits or cake, no chocolate, a lot of walking, only fresh food!]

  [Note 2: Josephat was abandoned at 6 months and deposited with Mercy Gate Children's Home, Kisii. On my first visit in September 2007, Jojo adopted me, calling me his Baba Mzungu. Whenever I am in Kisii now, Jojo is an almost permanent attachment to my hand, shoulders, neck or lap.]

• Riots in Schools

  Posted: July 21, 2008, 12:57 am by Dad Mzungu

  I read an article today in the Daily Nation about students in several schools going on strike.

  The answer from the powers that be? A suggestion that the ban on caning should be abolished.

  And whose fault is it? Why, that parents, of course.

  It obviously isn't the fault of the education system, but no one in the system thought to ask why the students were rioting. So, why were they?

  They say that the food is atrocious and the hygiene facilities were terrible - and they had heard that, after the debacle of the KCSE results last year, the mock results were going to be used this year. It is well known that the mocks are much more difficult than the real thing. Also, they are set and marked internally, so there would be no national standard. That doesn't sound very fair.

  Of course, the education system [?] in England and Wales is not without its problems. The SATS test results were late.

  Why? Because the government had sub-contracted the marking to a US company - a company in a country that does not even speak the same "English" as the British.

  There was a case of one kid's work, using correct punctuation and no spelling errors was marked below another's where there was no punctuation and a plethora of spelling mistakes.

  When are politicians - in any country - going to realise that they are playing with the future of children? These kids are the future of their countries. Let's get our respective governments to stop playing around and take education seriously!

• Why has China bought Mugabe a mansion?

  Posted: July 20, 2008, 8:39 pm by Dad Mzungu

  IT MAY not be surprising that, as befits any mad dictator, President Mugabe is now the proud owner of a palatial £4.5 million mansion in Harare and a similarly lavish country hideaway, each fitted with the latest electronic security systems, including anti-aircraft missiles. But why should all this have'been provided for him by the People's Republic of China?

  The explanation lies in a deal struck in 2005 whereby Mr Mugabe handed over to China his country's mineral rights, including the world's second largest reserves of platinum, worth £250 billion. In return for allowing the Chinese to cart away more than half a billion pounds' worth of minerals a year, Mr Mugabe not only makes a vast personal fortune for himself and his henchmen, but is given all the arms he needs to keep his criminal regime in power, including guns, jet fighters and military vehicles. (For further details, see my colleague Richard North's EU Referendum website.)

  Contrast this with our own Government's response to Mugabe's tyranny. Since Zimbabwe is included in the 28 areas of "common foreign policy" we have ceded to the EU, we can do nothing except in conjunction with our EU colleagues.

  On Monday we saw the humiliating spectacle of Gordon Brown pleading with the EU's President, Nicolas Sarkozy, to add 36 more names to the list of Zimbabweans on whom the EU has imposed pathetically ineffectual "personal sanctions". Otherwise, the EU's only contribution is to give Zimbabwe €25 million a year in aid, which Mr Mugabe welcomes as a way to give food to his supporters while the rest of his people starve.

  All this provides a remarkable parallel to what is happening elsewhere in Africa. In Sudan the tyrannical government is given full support by China in return for a monopoly on its large reserves of oil. Meanwhile, EU politicians wring their hands over the tragedy unfolding in Darfur, while a pitiful EU military force in Chad notably fails to protect a million helpless refugees from the genocide waged on them by China's friends in Khartoum.

  In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as we learned from an excellent report in The Daily Telegraph last week, China last January signed a "minerals for infrastructure" deal, worth £2.25 billion, under which it bought the rights to some of the world's richest copper and cobalt reserves, in return for building roads, railways, hospitals, dams and airports. This is the country where, five years ago, the EU proudly sent its first military force bearing the ring of stars insignia - to achieve precisely nothing.

  All over Africa, the Chinese dictatorship props up ruthless and corrupt regimes We now learn that the Congolese government had first proposed such a minerals deal to the EU but, according to the country's deputy minister for mines, the EU replied that it "did not have the muscle that was needed".

  All over Africa we see a similar story. The ruthless but canny Chinese dictatorship props up equally ruthless and corrupt governments, as in Angola, in return for that continent's fabulous mineral reserves. Britain, which once ruled much of Africa, has handed over its policy-making to the EU, which does little but make sanctimonious and irrelevant gestures. Yet this is the continent which, in 2005, both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown proclaimed was "at the top" of their international agenda. It was in the same year that, as the EU's acting president, Tony Blair flew to Beijing to sign an agreement making the EU and China "strategic partners". It is only too obvious which "partner's" strategy is proving the more successful.

  I cannot guarantee all the statements in this blog. They were complied from a vatiety of articles

• Remote Business

  Posted: July 17, 2008, 9:28 pm by Dad Mzungu

  Things have suddenly taken a turn for the better (or at least, busier) in Kenya - as far as my business partner and I are concerned, anyway.

  But he won't do anything without my agreement, and vice versa, so to get anything done at either end involves a lot of emails, SMS and faxes! It is a wonder that we get anything done.

  At this moment, it would be so much easier if I were there and we could talk to each other face to face and make quick decisions, especially just at the moment, when we are negotiating a deal with a client.

  And, just as we are getting busy in Kenya, work here is coming in - and I also have to write a proposal regarding another project that only really got started yesterday - the proposal is for the Ukraine! It's not a million miles from Kenya, but it might as well be.

  Still, anything that gets picked up in Ukraine will surely be replicated in Kenya eventually, so I suppose it is worth the effort.

  I will just have to get a few more candles that I can burn at both ends.

• PC in Britain

  Posted: July 12, 2008, 6:18 pm by Dad Mzungu

  Police Constable? - No
  Personal Computer, then? - Nope

  Political Correctness, that's what it is. The mindset that lets white Christian people decide that we should not have Christmas decorations in the towns because it may offend non-Christians (who make up 4% of the population. I believe) - these same non-Christians who join us Christians in the festivities!

  And now for the latest.

  A mother of a severely epileptic child has to take him to school every day. If she were using her own car, there would not be a problem. But she doesn't. She uses a taxi provided by the authorities - so she has to undergo a Police check to make sure she has no criminal record of child abuse. She only accompanies her own child, no other children are in the taxi. So now, until the checks have been carried out, she is not allowed to accompany her son to school.

  The child needs constant supervision. She and her husband are the only people trained to administer drugs should the need arise.

  Is it just me, or is this situation really - REALLY - crazy?

  I agree that children need to be protected and a mechanism has to be in place. But checking out the parents? Come on, that is a bit stupid.

• Time to call - Heads or Hearts?

  Posted: July 11, 2008, 1:50 pm by Dad Mzungu

  It is now more than a quarter year since I was last in Kenya. And I am getting withdrawal symptoms ... cold turkey.

  So, having planned out what I must do with regards business and the River Cottage Kenya project, I am now looking at my personal plans, aspirations and whatever else I should be looking at in my circumstance.

  I suppose the question is 'where, when I make the final plunge, should I be based?'

  I only know three little bits of Kenya, all poles apart - location, ethnicity - different in every way!Firstly, the Nairobi area. When in Kenya, I work in the Business district, where we have an office, and I stay with a colleague and friend in the eastern suburbs. I have an important client in the Lang'ata area, who I would like to visit from time to time.

  Then there is Malindi, or a village close thereto. I rent a house there and my girlfriend and children are installed. One of the schools/orphanages that we support is situated here.

  Lastly, but not leastly (if there is such a word), Kisii. My business is located here. I have some very good friends, and, of course, the other orphanage.

  In the best case scenario, I will have to make a decision as to where to set up "home".

  So, toss a coin! Heads or Hearts?

  Nairobi.

  • The centre of everything business.
  • The centre of opportunity in Kenya. [?]
  • The altitude keeps me breathless for days. Still, I would acclimatise if I stayed long enough.
  • Getting into town from the eastern suburbs is a nightmare, but how about from the Lang'ata, Ngong, Karen area?
  • Close to the airport, so I can get home easily (the UK one, that is).

  Kisii.

  • My business is here, but Vincent is perfectly able to run it without me. Still, it would be nice to have an active part in it.
  • The larger orphanage is there. But I don't need to be there to work for it.
  • The altitude keeps me breathless for days, but I would acclimatise if I stayed long enough.
  • Housing is cheaper than on the Coast or Nairobi.
  • Kisii does not rely on tourism.
  • River Cottage Kenya is to be based in Kisii.

  Coast

  • No altitude problems here, but the heat ... I can't bear it. As for working in it!
  • My girlfriend and children live here. But would she be willing to move? Yes, if it meant a better life and prospects, especially for the children.
  • We support a school/orphanage in the village, but I don't have to be there to support it.

  So I have pretty well ruled out Coast, unless of course better half digs in her heels. Here we have an ethnic problem. Although she was born and raised near Malindi, she is, in fact a Luuya, from near Lake Victoria (for those who are not familiar with tribal homelands). Apparently, the Luuya and Kisii historically were not the best of friends and she is a little reticent about living in Kisii.

  The Nairobi/Narok/Bomet/Sotik/Kisii roads are being repaired and the journey will eventually be acceptable, even by matatu.

  I am talking myself into setting up base in Kisii, aren't I? So, for those of you who don't know the town or the area, what is it like?

  Firstly, it is off the tourist map. It is a largely agricultural area and the economy of the area is strong in its own right. The land is fertile, not too hot, (average daytime temp is 26°C) and humid. The town itself is typically African, bustling, chaotic and big enough to boast two supermarkets.

  It is cosmopolitan. I have met Kisii, Luo, Kikuyu, Maasai, Luuya, an Afrikaner and probably many others. They seem to be able to live together for the common good.

  It is in the mountains, there are a lot of trees, it is very green, although the earth is a rich red.

  Yep! My heart says Kisii! My head though, still whispers Nairobi.

  But I think my heart will win.

• I've been what?!!?

  Posted: July 11, 2008, 11:47 am by Dad Mzungu

  The other day, my favourite blogger, Lost White Kenyan Chick, AKA Mzungu Chick (no relation) was tagged with a UU by another famous blogger, Bell of 'Diary of a Housewife'.

  What is a UU? Well, to quote Mzungu Chick, this is how it goes:-

  The UU must list the three things their husband (or wife) (or significant other!) (could be a pet, in lieu of all of the above.) (no pet? got a plant?) (if you have none of the above, you should go get one.) knows about them. The rules of this UU are that at the end of the post, the player then tags a randomly chosen number of people and posts their blog names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged. The comment must end with the word 'pthththth'.

  Huh?

  Now, I have a problem. The nearest I have to a significant other is my girlfriend. She lives in Malindi - and I live in the UK, about 4,500 miles apart, and we communicate by SMS or email only, and not regularly at that.

  Unlike MC, I don't have an 8-year-old to interrogate and the dog looked at me as if I was mad (no change there, then!).

  So, I asked my mother. It took a while to explain what a UU was, but then, she is 86 years old, and doesn't really understand, or want to understand computers, let alone blogging.

  Anyway, Mum thought for a couple of moments and then rattled off a list of things. This is a precis:

  1. I love Kenya
  2. I want to help any waif or stray that crosses my path
  3. I am too soft for my own good.

  The list could have gone on for another page, but basically, Mum thinks that my life revolves around Kenya ...

  Hmmm! Can't argue with that.

  Well, that wasn't too painful. I am sure that Mum could have found other, less favourable things to say about me - she has known me for 58 years.

  As for tagging other bloggers, looking at my list of blogs that I read, and looking at Mzungu Chick's 'FAB LINKS' I see that I don't have any links that MC hasn't already UU'd.

  So ... pthththth to nobody in particular.

  I reserve the right to tag someone in the future if I find a blog that deserves it.

• More lies from the UK Govt.

  Posted: July 10, 2008, 1:09 pm by Dad Mzungu

  Our esteemed leader, Gordon Brown, who reckons that he is rather like Heathcliffe from Wuthering Heights (a drinking, violent, womanising killer? - oh well, Gordon, whatever trips your trigger) wanted to change the rates for vehicle excise licences. When he proposed it, he stated that most people would be better off.

  Fine, so far.

  But now, the Treasury has admitted that 9 million people will be worse off, mainly poorer people with older cars.

  As it stands, it will not affect me, as these changes will only be enforced for vehicles first registered after 2001 and I cannot see myself ever driving such a new one (my present vehicle was first registered in 1996).

  What annoys me is the blatant lie - it seems that the Govt. thinks that it can say whatever it likes and we will believe them.

• Expanding? Already?

  Posted: July 9, 2008, 12:37 pm by Dad Mzungu

  The cyber café is open. We are getting clients in - not enough of them, but it is a start, and I am confident that the numbers will build up.

  But, as Vincent is known in the town as the local IT guru as well as the director of the children's home and the manager of the new cyber café, many clients are asking if he can obtain bits and pieces that are either not available in Kenya, or are very expensive.

  So, we are now looking at the possibility of diversifying our services and are looking for a supplier of the bits and bobs that we are being asked for.

  Other than the major computer manufacturers, very few companies are represented in East Africa. So, that's the way we are looking to go, as long as we can find a supplier willing to deal with Kenya, of course.
  

• So, why DO we pay more for diesel?

  Posted: July 8, 2008, 6:55 pm by Dad Mzungu

  Well, it is easy really. Not too long ago, the government encouraged people to buy the more expensive diesel cars, citing the fact that they are more fuel efficient and greener.

  When diesel cars became really popular, the government slapped more tax on it so that a litre of diesel is now £1.33 (and climbing), whereas petrol is £1.20. Clever government!

  Now, it is estimated that you have to do at least 40,000 miles a year to make owning a diesel car worthwhile.

  But it doesn't end there. The government offered free parking spaces to people who bought an electric car to commute to London. What happened? Commuters bought electric cars, and now the government has scrapped the scheme because it is costing them too much - and they have run out of parking spaces!

  Our government may not be corrupt (although nothing would surprise me), but they are totally unscrupulous - and inept.

• Recession looming for UK firms

  Posted: July 8, 2008, 1:36 pm by Dad Mzungu

  The "Experts"* have announced that the UK is heading for a recession! WOW! Like you need a degree to work that one out.

  With petrol and diesel (why do we pay more for diesel than petrol in the UK?) prices rising by about 1p a day, food prices are going up in proportion.

  Our fuel is heavily taxed - by percentage. So if the price at the refinery goes up, the taxes at the pump go up and the government rubs its collective hands as it trots off to the bank to deposit the increase. But a government spokesman tried to tell us that the government was actually losing money with the fuel price rise - I bet he didn't pass his maths GCSE.

  People don't have the money to spend, so high street shops, especially the independent ones are closing.

  Walk down any high street in any town, and you will see empty shops. It is depressing.

  The bottom has fallen out of the housing market and mortgages are very difficult to get since the debacle in the USA.

  And what does our esteemed Prime Minister suggest? Don't waste food. Don't throw food away! According to the government, we are throwing away £460 worth of food per household per year!

  Why? Because all food is date-stamped and people (some people) will no eat anything that is past its use-by date. It has been stated by many people, the food manufacturers for example, that these dates are artificial, to protect themselves, just in case someone is poisoned by their products.

  The UK Government has run out of ideas. Gordon Brown is trying to stay afloat in a tsunami. I wish him luck.

  Well no, actually I don't. In my personal opinion, the sooner he resigns or is forced out by his allies, the better.

  I am not saying that all the ills of the UK are a direct result of his management, but at least we in Britain would regain some of that 'feel-good' factor if he went.

  It will be interesting to see the outcome of the impending election in Glasgow. This is considered a Labour safe seat, but they are having difficulty getting anyone to represent them.

  Looking at their performance at recent elections, they will lose, probably to the SNP.

  But Gordon clings on to power like a demented despot, the only difference is that he doesn't have a Fifth Brigade to bully people into voting for him.

  And we have to wait two years before we can force him out - the Prime Minister we didn't elect.

  * Definition of Expert: Ex=has-been; spurt=drip under pressure

• Now for the website

  Posted: July 4, 2008, 12:59 pm by Dad Mzungu

  We opened on Wednesday, the cyber café, that is.

  Now DABIVAM Technologies has a website. - not fabulous, but it is a start. We needed something on the web just to give ourselves a presence.

  So we are on the way!

• Today IS the day - Official!

  Posted: July 2, 2008, 1:23 pm by Dad Mzungu

  The cyber café is open!! Vincent, the manager has contacted me from the café, where he is supervising two clients - not bad for the first hours of the first day.

  
  Once word gets about that we are open, we are hoping that things will really take off.

• Happy Birthday to ...

  Posted: July 1, 2008, 5:13 pm by Dad Mzungu

  So our esteemed Prime Minister, Gordon Brown MP has completed a year in office as leader of [Great?] Britain.

  In the last year he has aged about 10 years, but he insists that his way is the best way (Hmm ... didn't Robert Mugabe say something similar not so long ago?)

  We in GB are lurching from one crisis to another, lost sensitive data on CDs, laptops, in briefcases ... the great and good who fund the Labour Party are pulling back ... abolition of the 10p income tax belt - there is another revolt looming over this one ... fuel prices soaring (GB - that's a world problem, not mine!, despite the fact that we are the most heavily taxed country in the world when it comes to petrol and diesel) ... inflation is climbing above the Government's own targets ... house prices are falling ... mortgages are almost impossible to get ... it goes on ... and on ...
  

  Local and by-elections have been a disaster for the Labour Party as well. But Gordon is insisting that he is running the country, not a popularity contest.

  He could have fooled me on the former and he wouldn't have a snowball's chance in Hell on the latter!

• Yesterday WAS the Day - or not!

  Posted: July 1, 2008, 12:38 pm by Dad Mzungu

  OK, so I was wrong. Yesterday was not the grand opening of our new Internet café in the bottom left-hand corner of Kenya.

  It should have been, but apparently, Internet connection was not available yesterday - not just for us, but for a large swathe of Kenya!

  I got a text from Vincent last night explaining all this, and also to tell me that we now have all the necessary equipment, printer, scanner, fax machine, etc.
  

  So ... Today's the day ... or not.
  

• Inside Mugabe's World

  Posted: July 1, 2008, 11:40 am by Dad Mzungu

  I have just read excerpts of an interview with President Robert Mugabe, by Heidi Holland, which took place last December.

  When the Ms Holland suggested that his policies had caused the economy to collapse, he sat up straight, his eyes flashing.

  "Our economy is a hundred times better, than the average African economy. Outside South Africa, what country is [as good as] Zimbabwe? ... What is lacking now are goods on the shelves - that is all."

  On his reasoning behind the land invasions, he said: "We had hoped that the British would take notice of it and that they would say: 'Let's meet and discuss this'"

  It became clear that Mr Mugabe has arranged himself in a bubble of denial to avoid facing what he has done in Zimbabwe.

  What a sad old man he must be ... a despotic, sad old man.

  Excerpt from "A glimpse inside Mugabe's world" by South African writer Heidi Holland.

  -oOo-

  On another tack, I see that Kenyan PM Raila Odinga is urging the African Union to suspend Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe until he allows free and fair elections.

  As to the other members:

  South Africa's Thabo Mbeki is the key mediator. He has not criticised Robert Mugabe, despite pressure from the ruling ANC.

  Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has taken the toughest line. He's called Zimbabwe a "regional embarrassment". But he has just been rushed to hospital in Egypt.

  Angola's President Jose Eduardo dos Santos is one of Robert Mugabe's closest allies. He has urged Mr Mugabe to end the violence.

  Botswana has summoned a Zimbabwean envoy to complain about the violence. It has supported Zimbabwe's opposition.

  Namibia is an ally of Robert Mugabe. It wants to re-distribute white-owned farms to black villagers. It has not criticised the violence.

  Mozambique has hosted some white farmers forced out of Zimbabwe when their land was seized. It is seen as sympathetic to the opposition.

  Tanzania's ruling party has a history of backing Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party. Its foreign minister has condemned the violence.

  DR Congo's President Joseph Kabila is an ally of Robert Mugabe who sent troops to help his father, Laurent Kabila, fight rebels.

  Malawi is seen as neutral. But 3m people from Malawi are in Zimbabwe and many were badly hit by the farm invasions.

  As for the EU, Italy has recalled its envoy to Zimbabwe, and called for other members to do likewise.

  And the British? Oh, I expect we are making a nice cup of tea to calm the situation.

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes