Oh my God! That is straight plagiarism (of course Nation and Standard have been increasing lifting stuff from the net without any qualms). He should have at least linked to your blog. Have you written to him/them. I would and I would suggest that he mentions the link in his next column. Hey, this might be the first blogs vs. mainstream journalism war in Kenya!

I hate to bring back the Tom Mshindi issue here but the editors, in their right minds should not let anyone just generalize references to originality (the original unedited version can be found on the internet?) I mean what is this a plagiarizers heaven? No second thoughts..this is why these dudes are always getting clobbered. Clay Muganda will be receiving a very interesting email this weekend. And seconding the fellas..Thinker you should really follow up with these guys.

Hey Thiker, pole sana. I’ve always had issues with our local press. These guys do not use their brains at all. That was outright plagiarism. Shame on him.Follow it up. You have my support. By the way check me out on http://alpha-rwath.blogspot.com. Just started yesterday (Friday 25th ’05).

I can not believe this. Yani they lifted your stuff bila shame. The article can not be access online anymore aati “There is a problem with the page you are trying to view. Please check later.” I hope they took it down in shame.

If you can sue them, do so

This was the arrogant man’s reply!!

“thanks for reading and keep reading. there was a disclaimer at the end of the article that it was sourced form an internet site.

probably you do not know what plagiarism is and that is why you are saying this is that.

if you knew what it is, you could not have used the word ambiguous if it was plagiarism as you claim i could not even have bothered to say that it is not originally mine.

don’t you think it is ignorance to be so annoyed over a site that is not even yours and play miss know all, yet, i have been communicating
with the person who hosts that site.
if you know so much about the website, then redo the article and specifically refer to the website at the end of the article.

and i am not apologising to you.

c h e e r s

Muganda Clay”

The NERVE of the shameless thief. I’m beginning to think Tuju and his ilk have a point

my boss tells me plagiarism is copying word for word. if you still think that is what i did, then all of you are plagiarists because at some point or the other the words and expressions you have used have been used by some people else.

Hey Muganda Clay,

Just because your boss says it doesn’t mean it’s true:

Take a look at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism
especially this section:

‘For instance, it is legal for a student to copy several paragraphs (or even pages) of text from a public domain book, such as Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and then directly add these quotations to his or her own paper. However if these quotations were not clearly identified as to his or her source, then the student would be guilty of plagiarism, using another writer’s work as if it were his or her own. ‘ [Wikipedia entry on Plagarism]

You have stolen:
1. The Idea
2. The information
3. The language (in some cases WHOLE SENTENCES HAVE BEEN LIFTED CLEAN)

YOU HAVE NOT GIVEN DUE CREDIT — i.e. you passed off WHOLE SENTENCES AS YOUR OWN.
Saying ‘it’s available on the web’ is not due credit — I write academic papers and I would not get away with ‘it’s in such and such journal’ — I need to give title, page, paragraph and line.

It is OBVIOUS that you lifted the idea and to cover your backside decided to make a vague reference. It sucks that you had to stoop so low. What sucks even more is that you have been caught and instead of fessing up like a MAN you try and play a ‘fair use’ game. What you did WAS NOT FAIR USE — YOU COPIED WHOLE SENTENCES AND YOU DID NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE SOURCE TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY.

I wonder how much more of your stuff is stolen from other people?

you can call it anything you like, but i think clay’s response is good enough. he has not denied that the thing was taken from another site. he just did not mention that particular site and he has said so. after all, even the words and sentences you are using, you did not create them and if anything, everyone is then a PLAGIARIST. i think you people are looking for war where there is none, one, and two, you are arguing for the sake of keeping a conversation going and it is of no use.

hi thinker’s…
ive noticed u have not commented once since u posted this issue… am sure alot of people are curious to hear ur view on how this argument has developed. u did not mention plagarism in ur post and this actually started in the comments posted later. is this ur view as well, that u were plagarised?
also, clay mugunda’s reply to truphena was that he has been in contact with u… ‘i have been communicating with the person who hosts that site.’ has he actually been in contact with u?

“Lesser journalists copy. Great journalists credit.”~ Aly Colon

1. Shame on Clay Muganda.I wonder what else from his feature actually aint his but “its original unedited version is found on the internet”. Thats as vague as saying “Mt. Kenya can be found in the world!”
2. If that was the editors reply at some point on the comments,its pitiful.This is coz it just shows the level pf professionalism in Kenyan journalism.If the editors can allow such things to happen,the Nation might as well become one of those useless tabloids with “reliable sources” stories.As if the KUJ fiasco wasnt bad enough to taint Kenyan journalism’s image!!
3. If it aint yours it aint yours. Stop hidding behind the fact that we dont know what ‘plagiarism’ means!! kama uliiba sema uliiba.simle logic!!
4. M Take heart.Keep on entertaining us.Your stuff is too good for the ‘tabloids’ anyway. i doubt that they can handle original stuff like yours ! They prefer the COPY-PASTE function.

hell no