There have been numerous complaints, accusations and in some instances, outright battle of words simmering between the blogger community and the mainstream media with cases of plagiarism, copyright infringement and a general lack of appreciation by the mainstream media on the impact that blogging has had in generation and delivery of news and information content in Kenya. This standoff has been aptly covered in a recent blogpost by Jacque Ndinda titled, WriteThinking: Plagiarism-masters of copy paste.

Kenyan Bloggers at a previous Barcamp. Photo source: Njeri Wangari

This, among other issues, as well as opportunities for bloggers were some of the items in the agenda at the Friday meeting.

The turnout was quite impressive with more than 20 bloggers in attendance. Most were attending for the first time as the original members had been caught up in other matters.

A blog post by Kachwanya, one of Kenya’s most prolific bloggers, laid out the full agenda as well as the aim and objectives of the association.

Our aims will be primarily
1.Create and promote high quality online local contents and innovations
2.Create viable online Marketing channel for the Kenyan companies
3. Have fun online

One of the things that received a lot of emphasis was the need to build a community where bloggers supported each other and worked closer together to achieve a common objective which is to provide relevant and useful local content online.

During the discussion on revenue generation which most bloggers didn’t view as an incentive to their blogging quest, most admitted that despite signing up with international online advertising companies, there was very little to show for it with most eventually withdrawing from the service. Thus the association will among other things, come up with a more realistic and relevant ad platform that will involve local advertisers.
This, it was noted, would be more effective and would earn bloggers that extra penny which though not sought desperately, would afford bloggers some stipend.

Wanjiku, one of Kenya’s veteran bloggers, announced that she had registered the domains www.bake.co.ke and www.bake.com for use by the BAKE community.
Some of the activities that BAKE is organizing are:-

Activities
• Bloggers expo after every three months.
• Bloggers meet up or happy hour every month.
• Blog competition on topical topics with huge rewards at the end for the winners
• Blog Awards at the end of the year

Bloggers in attendance were informed that Collins Mbalo who runs the blog ‘A Nairobian’s Perspective’ and a fellow Global Voices author, would offer his advice on legal matters like plagiarism and copyright infringement among others.

Many agreed that this is a great initiative and that it was about time that Kenyans bloggers started speaking in one voice.

We thus look forward to see a lot of good things coming forth in the days to come. There was already some rumors that a large corporation is in negotiations with BAKE for the sponsorship of the first Bloggers Expo. Let us hope that this will spur growth in not just blogging but also in the relevance of the content.

Written by Njeri Wangari · comments (3)
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The beginning of the year saw the announcement of a new technology hub for all techies, hackers, investors and tech companies. The announcement was made by Erik Hersman (Hash) who runs the blog Whiteafrican, which focuses a lot more on technological advancements in IT though he terms it as a white African's view of the world.

This is what brought about the idea of the iHub,
A number of us in the Nairobi tech community have been discussing the need for a physical nexus for the tech community here for a couple years, so it’s great to finally be so close to uncorking the bottles and celebrating a big step forward for all of us.

That announcement was made on January 25th via his post, iHub: Nairobi’s Tech Innovation Hub is Here!

February 3rd marked day one of the Mobile East Africa Conference (MWEA10) held at the KICC in Nairobi. The 2 day event was aimed at harnessing the potential of the internet and applications on mobile devices. It was attended by various mobile developers,mobile company CEOs as well as other stakeholders in mobile telephony.

Bankelele one of the bloggers who was in attendance gave this detailed recap of the 2 days here .

Kahenya Kamunyu had this to say about the event

“The best conference I’ve attended so far. Very well organised.”
Kahenya Kamunyru, CEO, ViRN Instruments

Hash did a stream post of the conference while attending.

Wilfred Mworia of Afrinnovator blog also attended the conference and was one of the speakers

“Very enlightening”
Will Mworia, Founder, African Pixel & Afrinnovator

Kachwanya also covered the the conference in his Ten Conclusions blog post.

The iHub - Nairobi's technology hub - was launched on 3rd March bringing together over 200 tech lovers from Nairobi.Ndesanjo has given a review of the even with views from the various bloggers who attended.

Tandaa an initiative by the Kenya ICT Board with the sponsorship of Google Kenya office held a one day symposium on 8th March, the first in a bid to spur the interest in generation of local digital content.

ICANN, the body that governs the assignment of domain names is currently in Nairobi for a 6 day annual meeting - ICANN no.37.

The meetings which started on 8th will end on the 12th March. The choice of Nairobi over other African cities has largely been due to the high speed internet fiber links that are now available to Kenyans. This is a factor that many other IT event organizers have considered in their choice of venue.

However, the presence of too many heads of state has caused concern with the organising committee with the fear that it was causing major disruptions to the community members

Rebecca Wanjiku a technology journalist and blogger based in Kenya atended the annual ICANN meeting. Her posts on the 2 days can be read here and here

White African and Mworia have also written posts on this ongoing event.

Just 2 days after the ICANN 37 meeting is the AfriCamp - a forum that allows the participating youth to showcase their work in their respective regions. In addition, the camp includes training segments that will allow youth to acquire skills in creative social messaging techniques that they can apply to their work. The Youth Initiative sees added value in convening the AfriCamp to not only act as facilitator and sponsor, but most importantly, to raise the profile of the work young people are doing under challenging conditions.

The AfriCamp will bring young activists together so that they can learn from one another while we learn from them. It is integral for the YI to identify these local actors and collect this information to inform the OSI network. It will allow young activists to gain hands-on training in new media that could be translated to their advocacy efforts in their given fields. The participants will be recruited across the sub-Sahara Africa with ages ranging from 18-29 years.

The camp will take place at Lukenya, a camping site in the outskirts of Nairobi from the 14th to the 20th of March.
The camp is based in the barcamp principle of Unconference and will have the input of various youth from all over Africa

Some of Kenya’s well known bloggers like Mental Acrobatics and Mark Kaigwa will among participants

Pan Africa Media Conference 2010 an event being organized by one of Kenya’s biggest media houses, the Nation Media Group is set to take place in Nairobi on the 18th and 19th of March.

The aim of the event is to reflect on the past, present as well as look for any future prospects for Media in Africa. New Media is one of the things that will be discussed.

Ory Okolloh, a blogger and one of the forces behind Ushahidi – a crisis crowd sourcing project, will be the moderator.

Various other Kenyan bloggers like Rafiki Kenya , Rebecca Wanjiku, Intelligensia, Cold Tusker, Paula Kahumbu, Bankelele, Hash and myself(KenyanPoet) have been invited to participate in this conference.

I have written a post on this significant step for Kenyan bloggers in giving the future of media in Africa.

Barcamp Nairobi 2008 ( photo courtesy of White African)

Having been gone on a 1 year hiatus, there are suggestions to make the event a proper 2 day camp outside of Nairobi. Some of the topics that attendees would like to hear are: using GPS enabled cell phones to avoid traffic, cloud computing applications in Kenya, hardware hacking among others.

Lastly, Maker Faire Africa is coming to Kenya on the 6th & 7th of August this year.

The event is a celebration of African ingenuity, innovation and invention. It was first held in Accra Ghana, as a brain child of Emeka Okafor of Timbuktu Chronicles Blog.

All these technology events happening and only 3 months into the year is an indication that there will be an immense growth of the ICT space not just in Kenya but across many countries in Africa. We can only say ‘Watch this Space – the cyber space’

Written by Njeri Wangari · comments (4)
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A Valentines day heart

The story was no different online.

Njeri who also calls herself La Femme reveals how she got flowers from her man, a surprise which she didn’t expect.

Valentine's Day is today. Happy Valentine's Day. It was a good day. I got flowers yesterday from Mr. Man. They were gorgeous and the message on the card was sweet. I absolutely loved them. Funny (or not so funny) thing is that Mr. Man had convinced me that he wasn't going to get me anything for Valentne's Day. I was straight up bummed. But later he said that he had to tell me that so that I wouldn't ruin the surprise. Yesterday was a happy day, I was animatedly excited. Thanks babe for the flowers:)
I got him a book. I hope he'll like it. I think he will, and a Valentine's Day card.

Reading her post, one can clearly tell that she is the reason why the day has never failed to disappoint.

P.K.W- Proud Kikuyu Woman’s valentine day was not such a joyful one, the man that sent her a card, wine and chocolate and who wants to marry her is not the man that she sees herself spending the rest of her life with.

The thing is that I’m already thinking of how to end it with the Man, because I don’t see his clan bringing goats and cows (actually these days it’s their equivalent in Kenya Shillings) to mine in exchange of me. We had agreed that the walk down the aisle can be done several years down the line, or even never, as long as the legal thing had been done so he’s not left free to ‘buy’ as many wives as he can afford. We had even set dates for the initial unofficial Meet the Family visits last December, before I suggested that we postpone for a later, unspecified date.

The day leaves her wondering if she will ever get married, turning 32 this August and the chances getting slimmer.

Inari Media chose the day to encourage the single ladies not to rush to ‘put a ring on it’.

Her article that lists all the privileges that a woman will lose if/when she agrees to a man’s proposal can easily make one change their mind. But as she warns at the beginning of the article, she herself might just be tripping up the isle of a registry office at some point in future.

No matter how much lip service either party pays to equality between the sexes, studies have shown that women will still do the bulk of the housework amongst co-habitating heterosexual couples. Not only that, but where health and earnings are concerned, marriage will actually be of greater benefit to a husband than to a wife. Should a woman have the temerity to breed, she will be the parent expected to manage the bulk of the childcare too. Even if they return to work after maternity leave, they will find themselves on the “Mummy Track,” possibly demoted, but definitely sidelined from greater career progression. Some unfortunate women even find themselves dismissed, and consequently find it difficult to find an employer willing to take on a woman with responsibilities outside the office.

Daniel Ngari choose to focus on polygamy by using King Solomon, South Africa’s president Jacob Zuma and our individual goals as his reference points.
His is an interesting exploration of our faults in marrying and sticking to our goals to the end yet we are all quick to judge those in polygamous marriages.

Tamaku who runs the Diary of a Gay Kenyan chose to celebrate his on 13th with his love George preferring not to risk being admonished on Sunday 14th.

A South African Blogger, pessimist Incarnate observed that there was a lot of vibrations on Valentines day according to Seismologists all around the world.

“I definitely felt the Earth move last night,” said Dawn Jarvis of The American Seismological Institute. “The mattress was bouncing and the springs were squeaking and it rocked my world……..”

While none of the affected could offer any explanation for the increased seismic activity, it should be noted that there was a definite correlation in the intensity of movement to the amount of chocolates, flowers, and Lacey red lingerie which were found in each home of those interviewed,

It is still on this lovers day that the Malawian president Bingu Wa Mutharika engaged his newly found love, former Minister of Tourism and Wildlife, Callista Chapola Chimombo at a colourful ceremony in the country's Capital City, Lilongwe.

Written by Njeri Wangari · comments (2)
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Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal a Jamaican Born Muslim Cleric

Born Trevor William Forest to a evangelical family in 1964, al-Faisal left Jaimaica for the UK in the 1980s.
According to Wikipedia, he is a radical Muslim cleric who preached in the United Kingdom until he was convicted of stirring up racial hatred and urging his followers to murder Jews, Hindus, Christians, and Americans.

El-Faisal was sentenced to nine years in prison while in Britain, of which he served four years before being deported to Jamaica in 2007.

On the New Years Eve to the year 2010 al-Faisal was arrested by the Kenya Police at a mosque in the Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa for preaching contrary to his tourist visa.

It is due to his “unjustified’ arrest that Muslims in Nairobi held violent demonstrations last week, Friday 15th January just outside the Jamia Mosque at the heart of the capital city. The demonstrations led to a bloody confrontation between the Muslims, the police and civilians who were opposed to al-Faisal’s presence in Kenya. A policeman and a protester were both shot. They both later succumbed to injuries while in hospital.

The news of the bloody protest first appeared online via twitter with many twitters in the Central Business District(CBD) giving updates and warnings on the chaos that had taken over the CBD as well as the amount of tear gas that had covered the city like a cloud of smoke.

A screenshot of tweets by http://twitter.com/Mwanikih. The tweets start from the bottom up giving a chronology of how the protests unfolded.

RT @robertalai: Checking out “Its Kenyans against Terror and fundamentalists” on Bidii Afrika: http://ning.it/5hIsIB ~ nice n truthful read!
10:24 PM Jan 15th from Snaptu

RT @hilum: AL Shabaab is in control of Nairobi now ama? ~ not for long i can assure u!
6:18 PM Jan 15th from Snaptu

RT @robertalai: @mwanikih a policeman was shot from the mosque. We were there. Its religious bigotry helped by akina Al Amin Kimathi #fb
6:16 PM Jan 15th from Snaptu

@soleaddict1 Trust me. And they are not a day older than 18 from what i can see. Radicalisation at its worst my friend!
5:55 PM Jan 15th from Snaptu in reply to soleaddict1

Guys chanting ”Kenya yetu”.
5:53 PM Jan 15th from Snaptu

Police are just standing by watching with their guns n dogs as 10 kids bring city to a standstill! Shameful!
5:47 PM Jan 15th from Snaptu

I see a start of Somali intolerance by Kenyans. Kimathi Street looks like Mogadishu!
5:30 PM Jan 15th from Snaptu

This is getting serious, a hooded guy just stabbed some guy n ran into the mosque. This madness needs to stop!
5:16 PM Jan 15th from Snaptu

Methinks the muslims protesting are Al Shabab. Teargas is doing nothing for them! Looks like they've been thru some training…#scary!
4:15 PM Jan 15th from web
4

How can my nose be running faster than my legs?
2:49 PM Jan 15th from Snaptu

With all due respect, u dont migrate from Somalia to come n start messing with my life. Just saying!
2:23 PM Jan 15th from Snaptu

Kwani where's the GSU?
2:16 PM Jan 15th from Snaptu

All this for the illegal Jamaican cleric? Surely!
2:11 PM Jan 15th from Snaptu

City Market traders have now joined the cops and fighting the demonstrating muslims!
2:05 PM Jan 15th from Snaptu

Stay away from CBD, muslims n police in runnin battles. Tear gas in plenty
1:51 PM Jan 15th from Snaptu

The BBC website first broke the story of al-Faisal deportation from Kenya on the 7th of January with information that he(al-Faisal) was being deported to Gambia upon request after his arrest.

Since then, it has been a diplomatic charade that has left the Kenyan Immigration Minister, Otieno Kajwang’ between a rock and a hard surface.

Demonstrations by Muslim demanding the release of al_Faisal in Nairobi,Kenya

Some of the responses that he received regarding the Kenyan Muslims protest for al-Faisal’s release were:-

Munir on January 9, 2010 at 7:19 pm | ReplyMunir
50Rate This
Sheikh Abdullah Al-Fasal is a convicted terrorist. Why would peace loving Muslims protest his expulsion from Kenya?

on January 21, 2010 at 12:58 pm | ReplyAlmanurar
00Rate This
That proves that Muslims are not peace loving. They need to change their mindsets so that we can have a peaceful world

on January 11, 2010 at 12:24 am | ReplyTruth Detector
40Rate This
A person who incites others to murder should be locked up. Deportation is too good of punishment for a murderer.

Potash, a Kenyan writer and blogger wrote an open letter to Kenyan Muslims on Monday 18th January in his blog ‘A Kenyan Urban Narrative’

On Friday last, a section of you took to the streets of Nairobi to protest against the deportation of a fellow Muslim, the Jamaican born cleric Abdullah al-Faisal. The Kenyan media, which many of you have accused of fuelling Islamophobia and I am with you on that one, informs me that six police men were wounded in that protest. One of them has since succumbed to his injuries. That policeman was shot, isn’t that strange?
Read the rest of his letter here.

The TERROR FREE SOMALIA FOUNDATION in its blog, revealed
that Somalia released a song whose lyrics said it would march to Nairobi to make the calculation for what cops do to the Muslims in Kenya there.

“We will cross the border and into Kenya, Insha Allah we are able to be in Nairobi,” said the six-minute duration of the song backed by a gunshot weapons. “When we've got there, we will kill, we have the guns, just guns. Army of God was in the street, slowly but surely, Insha Allah we will soon be there,” the lyrics go.

This is on their latest post Al-Shabaab Terrorist Threatens Attack on Nairobi.

Alex Thurston in his blog Sahelblog gave a rundown of the personalities that shaped the week with the story of al-Faisal and the Kenyan Muslim protest being among them.

A nairobian’s perspective gave his personal take on the protest in his post Muslims Protest the detention of Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal in Kenya on 16th January

Other blogs that broke the story were, Musoma Tanzania, BrandKemistry and Tea and politics

Onyango Oloo gives a personal account of the his experience during the protests, in the blog San Oo Aung’s Blog
As at 6pm yesterday (21st) a Kenyan tweeter broke the news that al-Faisal had just been deported out of the country.

http://twitter.com/TerryanneC

Ok..Abdulah Al Faizal has finally been deported
about 1 hour ago from web

apparently he left abroad a gulf stream jet according to govt reports..council of Imams have called off planned demo's for tomorrow
about 1 hour ago from web

Kenyan newspapers confirmed that today(Friday 22nd ) in their various headlines although details of his flight ticket, as well as plane he took, are yet to be revealed.

It is also yet to be confirmed that he did indeed, leave the country.

Written by Njeri Wangari · comments (2)
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Their guilt
is not so very different from ours:
— who has not joyed in the arbitrary exercise of
power
or grasped for himself what might have been
another’s
and who has not used superior force in the
moment when he could,
(and who of us has not been tempted to these
things?) —
so, in their guilt,
the bared ferocity of teeth,
chest-thumping challenge and defiance,
the deafening clamour of their prayers
to a deity made in the image of their prejudice
which drowns the voice of conscience,
is mirrored our predicament
but on a social, massive, organised scale
which magnifies enormously
as the private deshabille of love
becomes obscene in orgies.
©Dennis Brutus

“Their Behavior” is one of the many poems that Dennis Brutus wrote on Blood River Day in 1965, in reference to the Blood River Massacre on the banks of Ncome River on 16 December 1838, in what is in present day, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

The News of the death of Dennis Brutus came as a rude shock to many, not just in South Africa but to the world at large who knew him for his poetry and activism against the Apartheid Government of South Africa in the 1960s and his fight for social justice throughout his life.

Brutus succumbed to prostate cancer at his home in Cape Town, South Africa on the 26th of December 2009. He died at the age of 85.

Born in Born in Harare, Zimbabwe (then Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia) to South African parents in 1924, Brutus was of African, French and Italian ancestry.

Brutus is reknown for having started the South African Sports Association (SASA) as the founding secretary motivated by the unfairness of selections for athletic teams. The Association began by lobbying all-white sports organizations to change voluntarily, but made no progress.

In 1962, Brutus helped form a new group to challenge South Africa’s official Olympic Committee. The organization, the South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee, of which he was president, persuaded Olympic committees from other countries to vote to suspend South Africa from the 1964 and 1968 Olympics.
Brutus was in prison serving an 18 month sentence when news of the country's suspension from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, for which he had campaigned, broke. His Cell was next to Nelson Mandela’s at Robben Island.

It is while in prison that Brutus wrote his first collection of political poems titled Sirens, Knuckles and Boots. This collection was later awarded the Mbari Poetry Prize which is presented to an exceptional black poet every year. Brutus turned the offer down because of its racial exclusivity.

Until the time of his death, Brutus had published over 12 poetry books.

He returned to South Africa after having worked as a Professor Emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh and was based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal where he often contributed to the annual Poetry Festival Poetry Africa hosted by the University.

He died supporting activism against neo-liberal policies in contemporary South Africa including struggles against the management of that University.

News of his death and tributes have appeared on various mainstream news websites as well as from bloggers throughout the African Continent.

The New York Times had the headline, Dennis Brutus, South African Poet, Dies at 85 on 27th Dec, 09

Black Looks a Nigerian blogger gave a tribute by quoting Dennis Brutus’ call to action

We are in serious difficulty all over the planet. We are going to say to the world: There’s too much of profit, too much of greed, too much of suffering by the poor… The people of the planet must be in action.” …Dennis Brutus

Annie commented on the news by saying

Hi Sokari, I haven’t been on BL in such a long time, I almost didn’t recognize it. Congratulations on all your amazing work. I sent you a message on facebook. Let’s email and reconnect.
RIP Dennis Brutus. An important generation is passing on and I am not entirely sure who is stepping up and into their shoes.

KasieKulture, a South African Blogger wrote an Ode to a beloved, as his tribute in the poem,

the road to Havana
if only the travel agent told me
my heart will be tainted on the way to valhalla
my soul will be hijacked @ the gates of gehenna
that sinning will be standard as i make for pearly's
i'll feel nothing when i hurt people closest to me
innocent hearts lacerated for my failure to commit
i'm sorry sistas my one heart was torn into two
i had love for coitus but i fucked with banknotes
love letters that were written never mailed to me
still stacked in your bedroom with my physical address
i'm here baby still around my knuckles bruised in a bout
my spirit defiled my conscience shiver sending echoes of guilt
Read the rest of the poem here

oficinadesociologia, a blogger from Mozambique wrote this on their blog

Morreu Dennis Brutus

Sou um rebelde e a liberdade é a minha causa - Dennis Brutus (1924-2009), activista anti-apartheid, um dos maiores activistas e poetas africanos, falecido de cancro na próstata na sua residência na África do Sul. Foi uma vez detido em Moçambique na era colonial. Obrigado ao Ricardo, meu correspondente em Paris, por me ter recordado o desenlace. Paz à sua alma.

The Cricket South Africa (CSA) sent their condolences to the family and colleagues of Dennis Brutus through the South African blog, Terrobyte.za

Other tributes and news of Brutus’ death were featured on Poéfrika in Lesotho, Khanya and Empty Sky both in South Africa, Bagucci in Nigeria and Myself, KenyanPoet in Kenya.

Rasta People 100 has put a photo slide tribute on Youtube, with Lucky Dube's song on Apartheid.

MediaGrr19, shares a video from a news clip that featured Brutus' 2005 interview on Democracy Now

As Poets worldwide moan his death and wonder who will be fit to fill the shoes that Brutus has left, I leave you with a comment by Rethabile of Poéfrika

I think, as Barack Obama said, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” We need to step into such shoes today, or else…

Written by Njeri Wangari · comments (2)
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positive…
the status of my H.I.V
negative…
your attitude towards me
nonchalant…
is how I choose to be
pretenders…
you allegedly sympathize with me
true colors…
you show them when I turn my back
pity…
I surely do not need it right now
life…
I am full of it and I am living
understanding…
I have a condition like anyone else
positive…
the status of my attitude
determination…
is filled inside of me
oh yes..
I have the will to live
I am positive…
in every aspect
of the word!

All Rights Reserved.
Mike Kwambo

This is a poem that was written by Mike Kwambo a poet member of Mstari Wa Nne poetry group based in Nairobi, Kenya and a sports blogger. The poem was written and posted on the Mstari Wa Nne facebook page on 1st December 2009 in marking World AIDS Day, a day that was celebrated everywhere in the world with a renewed message of hope to the infected and the affected as well.

Ashlee’s South African Blog too wrote a poem on HIV and AIDS. This is what she says about the poem, which follows below:

“This poem is about HIV an AIDS. I wrote this poem to make people realise that life is not all about sex and all that. But to acknowledge that many people have died of HIV and AIDS and that it many children have been left alone to sometimes take care of their families, teenagers and brothers. HIV is a very out in the open disease that people have to protect themselves from. They say abstinence is a better way to increase a better future of a HIV free generation. All I am saying is, don’t let things that are being said about you offend you. Just take it and put it into a better understanding and let go of it. And don’t let your past determine what you are bound to be in the future.”

And the Nation Shall Die
As I fall to the night
I hear a cry
A cry of a nation
She’s gone
What has become of our nation?
For an orphan has been left
Left to fend for itself
Too many promises
More talk
Less work
We were friends
You know my status
You run away
You tell the nation
They say ‘a friend in need is a friend indeed.’
I saw a future, a bright future
But it never came
I saw a great success; success that disappeared
I saw a nation, a beautiful nation
Which turned me into a slave
A beautiful nation that became so cruel
It turned me into a victim
And the nation shall die
It shall die in the night
For a disease that eats you alive has risen
And the nation shall die
All Rights Reserved

A young girl living in the Sihawukelwe Lauren Children's Home for AIDS Orphans in South Africa performs a poem on HIV/AIDS filmed in the Umzinyahi Village near Durban, South Africa.

Young children from Kenya performed the poem ‘Aids is My name’ in the video below shot for the Global Health Council

On my own blog Kenyan Poet, a poem gives the initials A.I.D.S. a whole new meaning, “Africa's Ignorance of A Dying Society” (AIDS)

I have always thought that scientists are the most bright people
Most learned, most elite, most Einstein
Staining our bleached minds with the power foam
Performing studies, research and forming powerful opinions
About matters of matter, anti matter, apples and samples

My thoughts on History’s Invented Views (HIV) have been molded by them
But no matter how much I want to agree with them on the cause
Like Newton's scoffers, I vehemently ridicule this theory.

Once upon a time, there was a man
The man was walking in the forest one day
When he came upon a monkey
When the man saw the monkey,
He thought to himself,
“Now that monkey looks sexy”
“I bet its female”
And so he went closer,
And sure enough, the monkey was a she
A smirk cut right across his face
A bright bulb light his dark black brain
His black thoughts went on over drive
“Hey monkey, what do u say, me and you…………….”
The rest as they say is HIVstory, the HIV story

Read the rest of the poem here

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An artwork of her Nyota Ndogo's Cover Album - Mpenzi

Born in 1981 in the Kenyan Coastal province of Mombasa, Nyota Ndogo has come from a very humble background. She dropped out of school at a young age and for quite some time, worked as a house help until she was discovered by Andrew Burchell as a talented singer.

Now she has 3 cd's released under her name, CHEREKO, NATOKA MBALI NA WEWE and MPENZI. She has also featured on 3 international compilations WORLD 2003, THE ROUGH GUIDE TO KENYA and OFF THE BEATEN TRACK. She is also holder of two Kenya Kisima Music Awards: Best Taraab Singer 2003 and Best Female Singer 2005.

Her songs which are mostly in Kiswahili with a few in English are sang in the Taarab genre heard mostly in the East African Coast as well as in Kapuka and Genge, music genres heard mainly within the Kenyan mainland.

So how does one with such a background learn to harness the internet to her advantage as a growing Kenyan based Artist? This is the question that comes to mind when you visit her blog.

In it, she shares everything about herself as an artist from a personal perspective as opposed to the edited media stories and information that one will find in the entertainment section of a newspaper or magazine.

From music videos of her songs to lyrics to photos of her performing with fellow artists and fans, one can feel a more intimate connection with Nyota Ndogo through her blog.

Blogging has not been an easy experience for her as she confessed in her blog post on 27th July, 2006 at 1.43pm

wow I’d nearly given up with the blog as it was proving difficult to get a new post up .it turned out to be me using an incompatible browser. So am back with good old internet explorer. If this works expect some pix up soon so much has happend.x

Looking at her current blog posts, one can indeed see that Nyota has known quite well how to use the blogging tool. This unfortunately cannot be said of many other East African Artists as I could not find any other artist blog.

It seems, one need not be learned to know how to blog, it is after all, a tool.

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It is not often that you hear that one is an art predator, an enthusiast or aficionado maybe but not predator and this is what made me become very curious about Alley’s blog where she confesses her love for art.

This is what she says of herself:

Coleridge defines the aesthetic as that which engages the whole soul. Art Predator prowls for that which engages her soul and yours too, covering literary, visual, performing and culinary arts, environmental and social activism, outdoor pursuits including camping, hiking, biking, skiing, and climbing, and festivals including Coachella, Lightening in a Bottle, and Burning Man.

In her blog, one will find her poems, information on upcoming art activities as well as many other things that are of interest to her. Perhaps one might find the title of her blog a bit prudent as the artsy stuff gets lost in most of the other posts but this is her diary to write all her experiences whether arty or otherwise.

Her poem on a professor quite interesting.

The Professor had all the
Big Words on his side
of the plate.

And he was pushing
pushing pushing her words
around with his fork.

It remains to be seen
what it was they were
really arguing about it

It always starts with the words
and goes downhill from there.

Read the full poem here

Injete Chesoni is a multitalented artist with an entrepreneurial edge to cap it all. She has 2 blogs, one of them is Poetry and Art by Injete Chesoni. It features her creative expressions i.e her poetry, stories and art.

Injete also runs poetry Gifts, a blog for gifts ideas, gifts and poetry gifts. In this blog, she offers advice on how one can create poetry gifts as well as an introduction to Ekphrastic poetry.

She also features a range of products like poetry posters, books, magnets and even scary poems for Halloween

We sample one of her scary poems, Mystery in Old Town Mombasa

She had an air of mystery about her
as she sat in the window and stared
I was walking in Old Town Mombasa
and I remembered what they said
That ghosts haunt this town
and things are not always what they seem
There are genies dressed up as cats
and men in women’s bui-buis
So I stared in her eyes and scurried
Even as my mind paused to think
Was she really a woman in clothing
Or a supernatural being

Hon. Mwangi S. Muthiora has quite a lengthy title for someone his age, he is the Junior M.P, Githunguri National Youth Parliament in Kenya.
Born in 1982 in a family of nine, Simon Mwangi Muthiora is a member of Kenya National Youth Parliament and is the Junior M.P. for Githunguri Constituency.

Muthiora is also a writer and has written several Short stories, tenths of poems a full length Play among others. He writes for pleasure and his blog is a true testimony to this bold claim.
Two Hours Before is the name of his blog and this is how he arrived at the befitting blog name;

IMAGINE TWO HOURS FROM NOW HOW THE WORLD WILL HAVE CHANGED, OR WORSE STILL IMAGINE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN OR THE EVENTS THAT WOULD FOLLOW YOUR DEATH “TWO HOURS FROM NOW.” WELL, DON'T POSE AGAIN, “TWO HOURS BEFORE” WILL KEEP YOU ENTERTAINED. KENYA'S NEWEST POET IN THE HOUSE.

His kind of poetry is bereft of the emotional torrents that most poets venture into when writing love poetry. He speaks out on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Wife battery, death, wife inheritance, war among many other vices that are in Kenya, Africa and the world in general.
Sample his poem on FGM, A Woman's Meat

A WOMAN’S MEAT

Early in the morning
Before the birth of the sunlight
And the death of the moonlight
The old gypsy woman appeared
Her motive open
Clad in the humor of guilt
For a woman’s meat
Was all her target
In the name of cleanliness

Grinning, she closed in
Ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha……..
“It is not painful granddaughter”

Read the rest of the poem here

Kojo Bafoe is a man, a father, a son, a brother, a husband, a friend, a poet, a writer, on a quest to make sense of this reality, with words. He lives in Johannesburg South Africa.

Kojo runs two blogs, Imperfectpoetry which is purely dedicated to his poetry and kojobaffoe a wordpress blog where he writes his ‘ramblings’ as he calls them. The latter features anything from sports, to technology to poets who inspire him and encounters with Neo soul music.

His Imperfectpoetry blog gives one an insight to Kojo who renders himself as an imperfect poet who writes imperfect poems, quite a humbling self assessment which prods one to read his poems more keenly to see the imperfections.

When one reads his poem ‘Just words’ one feels that he had understated his poetry abilities. The brevity and precision in his poem has not hint of imperfection.

He has been running the blog for 3 years now and though his last post was in February this year, one need not ask what has been keeping him distracted when they read his other blog. Every once in a while, one does need to ramble.

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A self titled Cartoon book by Gathara

One can safely say that Kenyan cartoons are as old as the Kenyan newspapers if not older. The older Kenyan generation can vividly remember characters like Bogi Benda,Juha Kalulu and many others who premiered in newspapers and later became book publications.

But times are changing and the internet is changing almost everything including the media that cartoonists are using to share their thoughts.

I first came to know Patrick Gathara through his powerful depiction of ‘Will draw for food’ a cartoon drawing that seems to tell you the poor state that most artists are in with most still in the survival stage. One can also instantly note the satire in the drawing - that Africans are always poor and that he(Gathara) does not mind drawing if only to get a plate of food.
This particular cartoon also happens to be the title image of his self titled book which received good reviews and is available for sale in most leading Kenyan bookshops.

Gathara is a self-taught cartoonist. His cartoons regularly cover local and international politics and current affairs, and distills pointed dissent into scathing images and commentary. His cartoons have been published in leading Kenyan newspapers, exhibited in Europe and Asia. In 2004, he received a Special Award for Caricature during the 6th World Cartoon Conference held in Beijing, China and was also recognized for his contribution to Kenyan cartooning during the National Youth Convention in 2008.

A caricature of Tom Cruise by Gathara

Gathara is currently the General Secretary of the Association of East African Cartoonists.
The one thing that makes Gathara stand out from many other Kenyan Cartoonists is his presence online and his use of blogs in showcasing his work.
Gathara’s World - Freshly Squeezed brain Juice is quite a befitting title for one of his many blogs. This particular one which was started in the year 2006 features all his cartoons on different subjects and themes. He also includes narrations, not of the cartoon drawing, but the situation/subject matter. The cartoon drawing only serves to further emphasize his written thoughts.

Foot in mouth is another of Gathara’s blogs and one need not ask what is it about after reading the blogs subheader.

Kenyan Politicians (and others) Speak from the Heart of their Bottoms (Disengage Brain, Open Mouth, Insert Foot)

A Cartoon of Kenyan Politicians by Mwaura Kirore

ScaryCature is another of Gathara’s blogs(talk of a dedicated blogger!). This particular one features random lines from his pen most of which are cartoon drawings unlike Gathara’s world. It was also started in the year 2006 and features various characters ranging from Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama,Michael Schumacher, Oprah Winfrey, and even Rupert Murdoch.

From his caricature of famous local and international faces, one can clearly tell that Gathara is undoubtedly one of Africa’s best cartoonists. And his blogs have definitely put him in the global scene.

A Caricature of Oprah Winfrey by Gathara

KenyaToons is a blog that is has been setup and is used in disseminating News from The Association of East African Cartoonists (KATUNI) on the Kenyan Cartooning Scene.
In it you will find posts on call for submissions to various international cartoonist competitions and festivals, Cartoon book launches, announcements on winners, upcoming exhibitions and any other information that is relevant to Kenyan cartoonists. The blog also provides links to many other Kenyan cartoonist bloggers like Kenny Toonz

Kennedy Kaburu aka Kenny is a cartoonist with the Kenyan Spectator weekly. He also gets his cartoons published in the local dailies every once in a while.

His blog, Kenny Toonz is a personal online diary in cartoon form. It however seems like Kenny had taken a 2 year hiatus with his last post being on 14th Dec 2006.
Kennedy also runs African Cartoonists League, a blog on Cartooning News of Continental Concern.

Kenny's cartoon on ODM(Orange Democratic Movement)

The shikwekwes is a blog by Litu who has been running it from March 2008.
The blog’s name is taken from a famous comic strip that he started in early 2002. This how he describes his entry into cartoon drawing

I grew up in Nairobi, Kenya, and I have been drawing cartoons ever since I can remember. After consulting my local witchdoctor, I was told that I could not live unless I consistently drew cartoons. Hence, ‘The Shikwekwes’.

His short comic ‘The Watchdog’ was featured in Africa e Mediterraneo’s Award for best unpublished comic strip by an African author. A PDF version of the comic can be found here
Litu is one of many African cartoonists who are venturing in animation after years of drawing cartoons.

It is the hope of many cartoon lovers that Kenyan and African cartoonists will be able to embrace the digital age and breathe life into their drawings to give us superb African Animations.

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Digital Art most commonly refers to art created on a computer in digital form. In an expanded sense, “digital art” is a term applied to contemporary art that uses the methods of mass production or digital media. Digital technology has transformed traditional activities such as painting, drawing and sculpture, while new forms, such as net art, digital installation art, and virtual reality, have been recognized artistic practices.

East Africa Collective is a wordpress design feed, a side project of Barbara Muriungi Kenyan born designer, currently based in Boston, MA.
This is what he states as the idea behind EA Collective:

As an African living abroad I fan my passion for art, music and bits of fashion by staying culturally astute on happenings in and out of the African continent

EA Collective is about seeking fine content from humorous local designers.

Some of the interesting highlights on the blog are on Tinga Tinga – African Folk Tales that are soon to find a wider audience through animation, a project by artists in Kenya and Tanzania.

African Digital Art an online platform designed for digital artists, enthusiasts and professional to seek inspiration as well as showcase their artistry and connect with other artists.

The blog was created and developed by Jepchumba, a Kenyan digital artist living in Chicago Illionis. Jepchumba confesses that she dreams in digital in her personal blog. Her amazing Africa collection of digital art is enchanting to say the least.

Tears - by Jepchumba

Jimmi Chuchu is a photographer extraordinaire`, film maker and the third member of Just a band.
He still hesitates to call photography his profession as he confessed to African Digital Art – but one only needs to sample his works from his website that also links to his blog.

Though his website features, his photo exhibits, music videos, recent projects and contacts, one has to go to his blog for news and other links about him. There one gets more intimate details of what he is currently working on, what he just finished and what his upcoming projects are.
Some of the videos featured on his blog might be a repeat of what is in the band’s blog but he does also give insights into his solo projects like song video editing
.

An Animation from Kenneth Coker's blog

In an interview with African Digital Arts, Coker speaks about his love of animation, what inspired him to venture into Digital Art as well as how being an African has influenced the kind of animations that he does. Read the interview here.

Wikipedia describes Animation as the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. It is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in a number of ways. The most common method of presenting animation is as a motion picture or video program, although several other forms of presenting animation also exist.

Just a Bandwidth or simply Just a Band is a ‘an experimental’ Kenyan house/funk/disco band whose career was launched with their debut album, Scratch To Reveal, in 2008. Their music has explored various musical directions such as, but not limited to jazz, hip-hop, disco and electronica. Their blog has been running from March 2008. Their first posting was:

Greetings, Earthlings!
Hello everyone,
Welcome to our little space on the Net. We’ll use this particular section to keep you updated with what’s going on in our little world, and we’ll probably use this space to rant about random things.
Bear with us.
We’re always happy to hear from all of you, so feel free to send us a […]

And this is the avenue that they have been using for every new video, event, information or rants that they have – their blog. Recently they posted their first single from their coming soon second album “82” for their fans to sample. All their videos can be found on their Youtube Page

Look out for their album

What one will find quite unique about the videos produced by Just a band is their use of animations. This has set them apart from other music videos and has seen their videos receive a lot of airplay on local TV stations as well as on their page on youtube

African Painters on the other hand is a blog that hosts art collections from a host of African painters and a review of photography books on Africa. It was started in the year 2006. This is how they describe their blog:

Here is a blog about contemporary art on and off the continent of Africa. To push forward the concept of African cultural development I have created this blog but more importantly than that it's a place where we can blow-off steam and discuss the impossible task of defining a continent.

To show the art collections by artist, they have incorporated slide, an application that enables one slide through different images without leaving the blog and has a feature where one can also review the images and even rate them individually.

The blog also contains a list of other contemporary art websites and makes an interesting read for anyone interested in knowing more about African Art.

With all these emerging African Digital Artist, it is undeniable that technology is redefining African Art in a way we never imagined possible.

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In that number of growing blogs, a lot of African artists have also joined in with a huge increase noted in poetry blogs as well as emerging photography and visual arts blogs.

We review some of them.

Poéfrika is a weblog of creative, Africa-inspired writing. The blog features poetry by various African poets, interviews with poets, writers as well news and information on world renowned poets and writers alike.

The blog also has a lot of resource material for would be poet as it lists links to various poetry publishing magazines, writers who have been featured in the blog and other links of interest to writers including their potrait photos.

Poéfrika is run by Rethabile Masilo a Lesotho citizen but currently based in France. He also runs Canopic Jar and Basotho which also feature written and visual art.

Fikira Zangu (Swahili for My Thoughts) is a Kenyan blog ran by Bonyo Buogha Anthony who is based in Nairobi, Kenya. The slogan for his blog is

“Intense thoughts like active beings, come and go Haunt us then flee, leaving ajar the door.”

This is what he says about himself

….I my words forgot, and thoughts my wrote; I'm weeping laughter, Humming thoughts and writing beats, Walking thoughts and thinking walks….

I would say that is a poetic piece right there.

Hi poetry is short and precise with most not exceeding 10 lines. The themes range from love to politics to his challenges as a poet.
An excerpt from his poem – Will you still be mine

Will you still be mine in the morning
After the evening passion fades
After all the pleasures of last night
have all been swept away

Will you still be mine
After the bitter arguments and fighting
After harsh words have been exchanged
will you open your arms and let me back in

Marten’s Blog is a purely photography blog run by Marten Schoonman who is based in Nairobi Kenya but one who travels a lot through the East African region and beyond.
The blog is an online diary captured in image form featuring a lot of breathtaking sceneries and immaculately taken photos of different people and items.
He also features some photos and photo sites that have fascinated him.

Africa Rock - Photo courtesy of Marten Schoonman

Merlin is a Campus student born in 87. He describes himself on his blog, iceboxmerlin.

got a swag to walk the talk, talk the walk sometimes, but always a down to earth and sensational individual to be around!’

You can tell from the image header that he is a great fan of animations. He labels his blog, ‘The Phanton Thought……..'
His disclaimer,

“Here are my thoughts on the world, life and the unraveling of the universe. The symptom of an involved mind with the features of life, is the intelligence and later a harnessed genius. It is the achieved Phantom thought of thick air!

His blog features a lot of poetry and prose in which he explores different issues and themes.

An excerpt of his poem, ‘The air is thick!…

Where the air is thick!
I have gone to a place,
like what a journey would be…
and had sweet thick mango juice,
A Kayamba playing in the back ground,
like that group of men call themselves Kayamba Africa
there was a man though,
a Rasta Man chewing at Muguka
green gobbler and something he's mumbling
between stuffing his mouth.
and puffing a cigarette,
the air here is unmistakably thick
so he says with a thick baritone voice,
“young man!”,
“write us some of that scribble you call poetry…”
“am in a mood for anything”
and a thick air came about me,
to put some sense into him!

Boyd Oyier is a 4th year student at a university in Kenya. He is also a self taught artist who loves to experiment and is currently working with charcoal and pastels.

A potrait of Malcom X as drawn by Boyd Oyier

His depictions of influential world faces on are superbly done with emotions that one can almost touch.

His blog is not more than a month old, something he started after attending a workshop on blogging and social networks in Nairobi.

He is currently putting together his first ever official collection that is titled “Politics in Black and White”

This is what he states as the purpose of art:

“The main function of art should be to connect to people. Each of us appreciates art in one form or another, but we are turned off by the ‘elite' who decided to complicate art by using labels such as 'surreal', ‘new age' and ‘contemporary'. The best art is the art that you love!”

We look forward to seeing the collection online.

Tafsiri Hii is a Kenyan poet blogger who runs afropoem, a blog about a Black Woman’s Poem.

This is how she describes herself:

”Black; from the curl of my hair to the toe on my foot…. African; it's in the blood flowing in my veins, the music in my voice, the dance in my walk…. Lover of words; written, drawn, sketched, scratched… Appreciative of the power of said words; be they written, spoken, hidden or displayed”.

Her blog which is barely one year old confronts issues of trafficking of African Women for prostitution, love, culture and celebration of African Men among other themes,

These blogs are proof that there is more to Africa than politics as has been depicted by many African bloggers. We can be sure of seeing more such blogs.

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Bantu Mwaura, an award winning Kenyan performing artist, director, playwright, storyteller, poet and university lecturer is dead.

Bantu Mwaura at the Poetry Africa Festival in South Africa

He was found dead outside his gate at the Sunlight estate in Nairobi’s Lang’ata area, on Monday (today) morning. His family had reported him missing on Friday evening. Police are currently investigating the cause of his death.

Bantu was also a very vocal political and human rights activist and a cultural theorist who worked mostly with civil society using theatre and performance in human rights and developmental work.
The news was first broken publicly online on a news website by one of the leading Kenyan media companies.

However, a Kenyan Writers group on Google were the first to inform writers, critics and Bantu’s comrades of this tragedy.

Renee Mboya, an artist working with Dreamaker Africa in providing Economic solutions for the arts posted this on the forum.

Just to say Rest in Peace Bantu Mwaura. Anyone got details…something
about a car jacking on Langata Road. :-(

Other renown Kenyan writers and poets who have worked with Bantu on numerous occasions such as Rasna Warah, Muthoni Garland, Shailja Patel, Al Kags, Binyavanga Wainanina, Phillo Ikonya, Neema Mawiyo and Simiyu Barasa were equally dumbfounded by the news as scanty details of his death tickled in.

It is still not yet clear, what or who killed him.

Yet another young promising Kenyan male has died today. Bantu Mwaura, a
friend, an academic, a brilliant mind passed away today. No news of how or
whether it was murder. More on this when I get more information. I, for one,
will miss him deeply.
Rasna

Although the news of Bantu’s death did not receive any slot on any of the Local TV station’s prime time news, many bloggers, online forums and groups are conveying their condolences as they reminiscence their past encounters with him.

KenyanPoet says this on her blog:

I got to know Bantu through the monthly Kwani open Mic nights in its early days where he never failed to read one or two of his poetry. Most of his poetic work was in criticism of the Kenyan Political scene through sarcasm.
A fellow thespian and activist, Phillo Ikonya who is also the President of PEN International Kenya conveyed her deep shock as she wrote the news to a Google forum for poets of which I am a member.

My heart goes out to his Family at this time. I will post more information as I receive it.

Gukira, a blog ran by Keguro Macharia posted this:

The Tragedy of Bantu Mwaura

I have yet to confirm the circumstances of his death. Assassination and suicide are the two competing narratives.
There are many tragedies here, and I choose an idiosyncratic one: human rights defenders have been assassinated in the past few months, allegedly by government forces. As a result, every single suspicious death of a human rights activist is clouded, and the tag cloud is dominated by government-funded figures.

Peter Kimani, a journalist with the Standard group, says this about Bantu’s death

Bantu Mwaura, who has died at the young age of 40, was a leading light in the Kenyan arts whose star dimmed when the skies were starting to brighten.
I recall the bleakness that engulfed the land at our first meeting 15 years ago. Artistic freedoms were very limited, and those who had dared speak out were either in detention or exiled.

Reclining on a pillar supporting the Rahimtullah Memorial Library in downtown Nairobi, and where Bantu was a star performer, I asked what his dreadlocks meant to him

The Nairobi Chronicle, an on-line journal based in the city of Nairobi, Kenya posted this:

It is still not clear how he died but there are several theories doing the rounds in Nairobi. Speculation ranges from assassination by a government hit squad to suicide. Police are already investigating the death.
The news comes amidst revelations that the dreaded KweKwe squad has been renamed as “Eagle” squad. The mission of Eagle Squad is to kill anyone it suspects of having links to Mungiki.

CapitalFM, a Kenyan radio station has also posted the news of Bantu’s Death in a story written by Bernard Momanyi:

Dr Mwaura died on Sunday night but many of his friends and former students at the University of Nairobi said they learnt of the death on Monday afternoon.

“I cannot believe Dr Mwaura is dead, he was such a good lecturer. He taught me two years ago,” a former student at the University of Nairobi said.

It is clear from the comments posted in the various online spaces that many have not yet come to terms with this tragedy.

Incognito posted this comment on the Capital News website(April 28th, 2009, 8:57 AM)

I still cant believe that Bantu is really dead…it so breaks my heart for Bantu was the rarest of species, a free spirit that roamed the world freely and he touched a number of hearts. I hope the truth shall be known. Bantu may the Good Lord rest your soul in eternal peace. You will be greatly missed and you will forever remain in my heart.

St. Lawrence University where Bantu Mwaura was an adjunct faculty member have created a Memorial Web Page for all those wishing to send in their condolences

Indeed, Kenya has been robbed of one of the greatest minds to ever grace our literary scene, human rights platform and lecture halls.
Below is one of Bantu’s poems:

The Politician

This donkey is a politician
It don't care
It kicks it owner
Who voted for it!
Toils hard to get kickbacks
From every deal
At the expense of its owner
The voter
This politician is a donkey
It don't care

…

This politician is a praying mantis
It prays and teases
To mate with the male!
But soon as it sucks life's juices
It snaps off the life of its lover
This praying mantis is a politician

(*All poems' rights remain with the author)

Bantu leaves behind his wife, Susan Bantu and 2 daughters, Makeba in honor the late South African diva, Miriam Makeba and Mekatilili, in memory of the Kenyan heroine who led the Giriama in resisting the British invasion at the turn of the 20th century.

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His choice, like his style, can make or break him in the art and entertainment industry, as it is more often than not used to determine his authenticity (or lack of it), his target audience and also his genre. This will most likely affect a performing artist more than a poet as it is easier for a poet to switch between languages depending on their theme.

Kenyan poets, unlike artists, find it easier to write and perform in English as opposed to any other language. This would be closely attributed to what language enables them express themselves better, and most definitely their command of that language.

After a few interactions with a cross section of poets and by visiting their blogs, I realized that virtually none write in their mother tongue as much and very few have written in Kiswahili or Sheng.

This is with the exception of several bloggers of note who experiment not only with Kiswahili but also with Sheng and their Mother Tongues.

Ushairi Mamboleo which is Kiswahili for ‘Contemporary Poetry’, is a blog run by James Adolwa. As his blog disclaims—it is for those with a short memory span and so he does not indulge in a lot of lengthy articles—poetry for that matter.

His blog is more of a personal diary (as blogs were initially set out to be) with commentary on daily occurrences of note. However, it does also feature his poetry as well as poetry by others that have fascinated him. A sample of his poetry is Jibu Kwako ( An answer to you).

Jibu kwako
mimi sina
mpaka unipe
swali unalouliza
funga macho
alafu fikiria
Labda maono
yatakutafsiria
James Adolwa, 2004

Mshairi (A Poet in Kiswahili) is a Kenyan blogger living in the UK dreaming of a time when the cultural, legal and political obstacles that prevent African women attaining economic independence and equality are eradicated. She hopes to see the development of gender-sensitive ICT policies leading to more African women accessing and using these technologies. Her interests are world music, poetry, books, art, love, movies, life, Africa, gender activism.

Her blog, Mshairi features her interests as well as her poetry which she writes mainly in English. A cross check of her archived posts did not reveal any shairi, Kiswahili for poetry, as I was hoping, judging by her choice of blog name. However, she is one blogger who has been using the blogosphere since 2004 to share poetry with the world.

Serina who goes by the blog name Serinaserina is also a Kenyan blogger whose writing of Kiswahili poetry is more prolific. Her tag line; “Upande Mwingine - Kila simulizi lina pande mbili.. hili ni langu” (Another side - every story has two versions… this is my version) gives one a peak into the nature of her blog's content. Hers is quite a unique blog as the different sections are defined in Kiswahili as well.

In a poem called ‘Nimetosheka‘ (I am fed up) she says,

Shughuli hapa na pale zaniita…
Kuzitimiza bila malalamiko desturi,
Ulegevu huu umetoka wapi?
Maungo kwa machofu nimevunjika,
kama mganga anayepunga pepo kilingeni…
Mwisho wa simba umeletwa na nzi!

Hapa nasema, pale nakimya…
Jogoo la shamba haliwiki mjini…
Ongeza kasi, jua latua…
Huu ni uvivu wa kike au ni balaa?
Maliza ya leo, leo… ya kesho mageni
Hivi kumbuka walipwa masaa
Lakini tena…
Sheria hazitii wasiwasi aliyetosheka!

Nimetosheka.

Cindy Ogana- a Kenyan blogger, poet, TV producer and thespian shared with me some of her thoughts on choice of language in poetry in this brief interview:

Q. What language do you specialize in when writing/performing your poetry?
A. English
Q. Why?
A. It is my register, the language that my brain deciphers as communication
Q. Do you use any other languages?
A. Nope
Q. With Kiswahili as Kenya's National language, why do you think Mashairi (Kiswahili for poetry) are not very popular for performing poets?
A. Because most Kenyans don’t speak fluent Kiswahili
Q. Have you ever explored writing in Sheng?
A. Yes
Q. Why?
A. To give my writing a more social feel
Q. Have you ever writing a poem in your mother tongue?
A. Nope
Q. Why not?
A. I cant speak it very well
Q. Do you think poems in mother tongue have a future on the internet and on performing stages?
A. Yes

The video below features Ukoo Flani Mau Mau, Kenyan renown Hip Hop group, as they celebrate Kenyan writers in a song called Mashairi (Kiswahili for poems).

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This was shortly after the start of poetry evenings by the Kwani Trust, a Ford Foundation funded literary publishing firm. The evenings dubbed ‘Kwani Open mic Nights’ brought together poets from Nairobi and different parts of the country as well as from other countries in Africa and beyond.

The need to start blogs, as most poet bloggers shared with me, was mainly due to the fact that most, if not all, could not get any publishing house willing to publishing their works. This frustration and the demand by the now growing number of fans, led these poets to venture into blogging as a way of publishing their poetry. For artist bloggers the need to start blogs was driven by the cold shoulder given by mainstream local radio stations.

However, unlike poets who have fully discovered the potential of blogs and are using them to their advantage, Kenyan artists are yet to venture into this. Again, even fewer have discovered and fully exploited music marketing forums/applications on the internet such as myspace or Youtube or social websites like Facebook in a bid to build a fan base or let online visitors sample their music.

Mike Kwambo is a poet as well as a recording artists, he has always had a passion for both forms of art despite not getting a venue to share his talent. In August 2006, his campus lecturer encouraged to persue his talent in music and poetry. Soon after, during a seminar organized by Martin Keino for Sportsmen, he got to learn about blogging. He had attended the seminar as he is also a Rugby player. He soon started his blog that features his poetry and the occasional human interest topics. As a sample, here are the first few verses of a recent poem he posted, titled “My struggles as a man“:

my struggles as a man…
they keep me from self actualization and wholeness
I have an inability to communicate my emotions
I have been socialized to suppress them
the only form of communication I know is aggression
I feel silenced when frustrated, disappointed, sad or lonely
because I cannot identify what it is I am feeling
I do not know how to express it constructively
probably this is the reason I speak in sheng’
because without an emotional outlet I feel like a mute person
a mute person trying to speak a foreign language

According to Kwambo, the blog has had a great impact on his pursuit of music and poetry.

Muki Garang is a hip hop artist and poet who blogs about urban culture, music, poetry, occasionally politics… and in general social commentary. Here's a video of one of his spoken poems titled “A poem for Africa“, that he posted on Ghetto Radio:

The impact Muki Garang's blogging has had has been mainly to newbie bloggers, his fans and rivals as he quips. He tells me:

I consider myself a pioneer…. on a tone down note… what critics post makes a whole load of difference from what the average fan says… it creates checks and balances hence… tightening your laces.

Muki hopes to revamp his current blog to a full blown website by the end of the year as he hopes to introduce new insights into urban culture and loosen it up to just ‘CULTURE'… whose growth is often hindered severely by foreign gatekeeping.

Naliaka Wafula is a lady poet who also ventures into prose, music and art. She is a journalist by profession and, with her partner, she started a monthly poetry and live music evenings dubbed Rhythm & Spoken under the group ‘Project Heshima’. Her blog - which is actually a blog for the Rhythm & Spoken evenings, is quite young as it was started a few months ago. As she confides in me, the main reason she started it was to provide accurate reliable information to the shows fan base.

Her blog mostly features information about the upcoming Rhythm and Spoken events, as well as reviews and pictures of the performances such as the one on the left of Mike Kwambo. It also features poets, neo soul and afro soul music as well as featured bands that get to play during the poetry evenings. The blog has had a great impact on the artists who perform during the evenings as they get featured on the blog artistes and are able to showcase their talents. Naliaka Wafula says:

What's the point of art if nobody can see it right? I will most likely start another blog featuring my work in the near future.

And she adds that blogging is no easy task especially with poor internet speeds as is the experience in Kenya.

Dennis Dancan Mosiere - who goes by the stage name Grandmaster Masese - is a musician, poet, writer, dance and an actor. He is more known in various art venues for his signature Obokano – an 8 stringed musical instrument from the Kisii community in Kenya.

He started blogging in 2006 as a way of reaching out to more people to read his works and to be able gather feedback. It was a way for him to publish his works as he had, for a long time pursed local publishers, magazines and other mainstream media without luck. His blog is mainly about his writing although he occasionally puts up information that is of interest to his readers. Here is the latest poem that he posted on his blog:

Africa,
Oh Africa,My father,
Your agonizing wailing and weeping
Keeps our next neighbours peeping
Their heads shaking in dismay
As your disease gets its way

Why,Why,oh why
Why hurt your heart and wail
hate your fall and fail
Your punch punches but your heart
And your torch torches but your hut
Oh why?

Masese says his blog has helped him know his fan base, collect criticism, advice, admiration, even outright negative commentary. But as he admits, it has helped mould him into a better performer. He also appreciates the fact that his poetry is able to reach readers and poetry lovers globally and that encourages his even more:

I want to be able to make it a place where you can get enough stuff from visual to audio. I need to get videos and audio files for the blog on various issues and forms.

These are just some of the many Kenyan artists and poets who have discovered the power of blogging and what it can do, not only to market themselves but also a way of keeping direct contact with their fans.

Other bloggers of note in the Kenyan art scene are Kenyanpoet, Neema Ngwatilo, June Wambui, Cindy Ogana and Eudiah Kamonjo, among others.

By visiting their blogs, one can attest to the sheer talent and energy. One can only look forward to the proliferation of Kenyan artist and poetry bloggers and a spectacular show of talent online.

Written by Njeri Wangari · comments (2)
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