What is more ridiculous than powdered water? A Kenyan Tourism Minister who thinks Mt. Kilimanjaro is in Kenya
Amazed and bewildered travel agents listened in disbelief as the geography of East Africa was altered on the fly with fleeting regard to pesky international conventions like cartography and the United Nations.
While someone scrabbled for an atlas and surreptitious text messages were sent under tables to reassure the doubtful, Tourism Minister Morris Dzoro soldiered on like a Christian Soldier. Did I mention that he is the Tourism Minister, in charge of tourism?
AOB
Apparently I’m Kenya’s Hillaire Belloc, or so thinks the BBC. I also have a “natty line in political satire”.
{Award yourself 10 marks if you know who Hillaire Belloc is}
Run D.M.C & Jason Nevins – It’s Like That
I know who Hilaire Belloc is (was) but the comparison is ridiculous. He a)is dead b)was a rigidly conservative and reactionary thinker c)wasn’t actually that funny and d)was a failed politician. About the only similarity is that he wrote about politics. Why not compare you to contemporary political satirists,if they must,and if they must be British? The Guardian is full of them.
congratulations my brother on the recognition by BBC. Is it afair assessment to say that you have now recieved international recognition??
once again congratulations.
congrats on the review from BBC.
to answer karoki’s question; yes, i think we can say you have recieved international recognition. “internationally acclaimed blogger thinker yesterday said …”
wakilisha bwana!
hey bratha that’s cool.
Are we allowed to clap “by association”.
Hongera bwana Thinker… we are so proud.
(An WTYS(we told you so): Now that the mighty BBC has spoken, are you going to think about….. ok, I’ll stop pushing, its up to you bro… *walks away from Thinker’s Room thinking that Thinker should think about*
Congrats Mr thinker, kenyan pundit and bullets & honey you actually got mentioned by the BBC. Hongera tena!
I will have to be the voice of dissent here, I am sorry. Being noticed by the BBC is nice, but this is not why the Thinker is a big deal. The Thinker is a big deal because Kenyans trust his vision, his take on issues and his integrity. To imply that the BBC somehow confers the stamp of approval seems to be a teensy weensy bit, um, well, inappropriate. Can’t we confer our own stamps of approval on our own special people? Why do we need British confirmation? Liberate the mind, folks. Also, I say again, beware the comparisons. There are lots of contemporary satirists available for comparison, British and otherwise, and for the BBC to choose a dead loser-politician satirist is not as complimentary as it first looks, in my book. I think the Thinker is magnificent, and I consider the comparison demaning to the vastness of his talent and his success. On someone’s blog which I cannot remember, they’ve put up a quote that says “for women to aspire to equality to men shows a lack of ambition”. The blogger, who I will find again and report back, says that there is no need to be Kenya’s (Western person). We can just be our own success. So I don’t need the Thinker to be Kenya’s Belloc, or even Kenya’s Steve Martin, who has the advantage of being intelligent. I would prefer the Thinker to be Kenya’s Thinker, and the rest of the world can compare itself to him. For my part, I think John Stewart is North America’s Thinker. That’s all. Maoni yangu. Sorry. I felt a bit strongly about this.
- 10 marks I do not know who Hilaire Belloc was and he does not know who I am so 0-0 draw.
Congratulations thinker even the BBC is thinking thanks to you NA HIYO NI MAENDELEO clap clap!
Do not tell me you are surprised that the guy does not know the location of Kilimanjaro.
hear, hear@ WM.
@WM – I started it, so I will fight my corner. That comment about the BBC wasnt meant to be “ABOUT” the Corporation in particular as an ENTITY, but as a way of saying that people who read the BBC (this being a whole lot) would have curiosed their way into Thinker’s room and as such, his audience has multiplied. Bearing this in mind, would he think of incorporating his work where people can read it (thinking of those without blogs who would actually enjoy it)outside of his blog. And there is a remuneration aspect to it.
Of course it was my opinion. And I agree with your views too by the way.
Where the hell is Thinker’s opinion on this ‘war’?
Rather eat my pop corn and watch with interest …. :)
So I don’t need the Thinker to be Kenya’s Belloc, or even Kenya’s Steve Martin, who has the advantage of being intelligent. I would prefer the Thinker to be Kenya’s Thinker, and the rest of the world can compare itself to him.
I can’t disagree with that. To explain the comparison: it being the BBC, I was writing for a British audience, hence my choice of a European writer, and what I had in mind was not his politics but his style of humour, which I personally like.
All the best!
@Alan Connor,
Welcome to the discussion, and I take your point. On the other hand, it must be evident to all who write for the BBC that people other than the British read the BBC Online. In fact, I would warrant a guess and say that the BBC’s audience is greater outside the U.K. than in Britain itself, as for quite a few people it is the only source of decent news about their own countries and etc.
Still, thank you for the courtesy of your interest and response.
going back to your post on the dumb comment by the minister of toursim brings me to ask theis wiuestion; is there a criteria in which ministers in Kenya are chosen for their ministries or is it simply by who has supplied the largest beer kegs over the years??
@WM & Alan
Oddly enough I see both sides of the argument.
@WM: Like a preacher in his own town, recognition in Kenya is negligible so it was a pleasant surprise to be mentioned on the BBC which in my opinion has pretty good standards
@Alan: However I’ve always been wary of comparisons because they tend to lead to some sort of pigeon-holing. If anyone now expects me to write exclusively like Hillaire Belloc they shall promptly be disappointed.
@Karoki: Apparently childhood games played with incumbent presidents is a key criteria
congratulations, old chap!
rip
To add my two shillings, albeit very late in the game, I agree wholeheartedly with WM. There is no comparison! None! And even taking the argument at its highest, that the article was addressed to a British audience, no disrespect AC, I am sure that most people in Britain have absolutely no clue who HB was. The analogy was therefore totally lost, except to possibly sound somewhat intellectually elitist. Like WM I think other contemporary and more “audience” friendly satirists are available and arguably more comparable.