66

Heads Up!

Posted June 26th, 2006 in News by M

The NARC Government, which apparently I am supposed to thank for its benevolence in granting me freedom of expression, went out of its way on Sunday and one of its chief rattlesnakes pillars, Internal Security Minister John Njoroge Michuki put a full page ad in the Sunday Standard where he not so subtly dishes out warnings to radio talk shows, newspapers and Internet bloggers.

The Internet bloggers bit without a doubt did not come from him. I have for a long time been of the opinion that Michuki and his ilk are of the opinion that the Internet is a new fangled fishing device. But one never knows.

Bottom line — bloggers are now on the government radar.

With all of the — ah — colourful post I’ve written, I’m not sure as to the wisdom of availing myself at the next blogger meet up. You never know if the Kanga Squad is gleefully reading the date and venue and is looking for balaclavas, Berettas and Bata Bullets. My friends if you know me — you don’t. Really. It was all in your imagination.

Personally, keeping from dropping soap in showers is not a pastime I’m entirely looking forward to …

I won’t be cowed online but I jolly well will keep a very low profile physically!!!


Click To Read The Full Ad (130Kb)

QUOTE OF THE DAY

He he! I wish I could have said this on air after the Brazil match!

“They say it’s not over until the fat lady sings. And with two goals, Ronaldo just did.”

Koffi Olomide – Si Si Si
  • http://potashke.blogspot.com POTASH

    Actually, they have been on blogs for a while. You can actually see track backs- okay I forget what the technical word is – but it has been whispered to me, especially since the Githongo fiasco that they are watching.

    I’m not surprised. With so much to do this is how they occypy their time?
  • http://kenyananalyst.wordpress.com/ Kenyan Analyst

    Having been hacked before, and being under surveilance , I can only but read your post with a knowing amusement :-)

    We cheka tu. Just know the top bunk in cells is mine!
  • kenyangal

    Third!!!!
    All i can say is BE VERY CAREFULL

    Oh don’t you worry! Clean pair of heels will acquire a new meaning when I’m done with it!
  • http://www.ak-daughterofthelake.blogspot.com AK

    don’t be cowed if u believe in what u write! Just what will they do? reopen Nyayo basement?

    What can they do? Plenty!

    Face down

    Boot to head

    Again!

  • http://askforprayers.blogspot.com/ Farmgal

    mmmh am sure they were thinking of you when they put that ad up. Watch ur back coz though am clueless dropping soap can’t be fun huko.
    Now we have to start praying for you. Lazima watu wa blog….
    eeeh those pics above….very scary!

    When i told mama one day i’d be famous, this is not what I meant :(
  • http://chrenyan.wordpress.com Chrenyan

    “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

    –George Orwell, Animal Farm–

    Alas, the pigs have become (or we have just realised that they are) the men.

    And pigs have been heard to loudly object at the comparison
  • Wazz-the unknown

    we have the best Government money can buy…

    =))
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  • http://mywordsonly.blogspot.com acolyte

    I’ve made the top 10!Wooo hoooo!Now to comment before the rest of the blog hos show up!

  • http://mywordsonly.blogspot.com acolyte

    First of all I can without a shadow of a doubt say that Michuki did not write that ad at all (let alone read it!).It is far too erudite and eloquent for a person like him to have written (I’m sorry to say but those words do not match the statements he has made in the mass media ever since he came to power!). This statement cracked me up

    I doubt it as well. Many of those words have more than two syllables!

    we expected that FM radio would play a major part in accelerating our economic development through, for instance coverage of agriculture, education, and research for audiences in every corner of the Republic, some of the stations instead specialize in a 24 hour out pouring of vulgarity, obscenity and material dangerous to the moral development of our younger generations.

    Firstly one would think that it is straight up incitement on radio as oppossed to radio presenters with cheesy accents playing the latest hits ad nauseum with the “inflamatory” political talk shows being only on a few stations usually early morning or late night.

    There’s no way Michuki can say cheesy without including sandwichy somewhere

    Plus if people wanted to hear the latest on agricultre and education they would simply tune in to the KBC channels on general service (plus that statement is just soooooo Kanu era!).

    So let’s prepare to tune into Wakulima FM!

    As for them meet ups methinks that they should be organised cloak and dagger style with codewords, secret locations, cut outs with bloggers interchanging cars and meeting in disguise!Remember Big Brother is watching!Mwahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!

    And how do we know that peeps in gava don’t blog? Some of the yahoos on KBW could be state officers!

    ps:Here’s a great saying for Michuki, you can cheat some people some of the time but you can’t cheat all people all the time!

  • http://askforprayers.blogspot.com/ Farmgal

    Are you sure that’s not what you meant?
    you got to love Kenyan pundit’s pan lol!

    wewe…….its of how by the way. You know what I mean?

    =)) He he! Who? Me? :-\
  • http://prousette.blogspot.com prousette

    Why am I not surprised?

    Why indeed …
  • Quickdraw

    Well its about time those ancient cretins woke up to the power of the viral, grassroot network that is the Internet.

    BTW: That line on Ro’s really cruel. Funny, yes, but cruel. So why can’t I stop smiling?

    He He >:)
  • http://chrenyan.wordpress.com Chrenyan

    Wazz-the-Unknown, that there is one of the top 3 wittiest and funniest statements this year.

    So true! Dude, start blogging!
  • http://udi-m.blogspot.com Udi

    M, I was planning on booking a ticket to come visit Lucy and Emilio. But I doubt whether I will be allowed past the airport. I dont think Kibaki will appreciate me telling the world who his family members are.

    :)) What about me boss? With all the things i’ve said I’m screwed!
  • http://chrenyan.wordpress.com Chrenyan

    Reading this again, I just came across “…looking for balaclavas, Berettas and Bata Bullets.” LOOOL!

  • Jean

    @Chrenyan LOL! You’ve discovered the secret. Most people think the laughs are in the posts. They should also check the comment responses!

    There’s no way Michuki can say cheesy without including sandwichy somewhere

    LMBAO!!!! =))

  • http://www.thegreatkenya.blogspot.com Kibet

    I can’t begin imagining how the advert author began explaining to Michuki what internet blogging forums are! Hard nut to crack, i say!

  • http://askforprayers.blogspot.com/ Farmgal

    you dnt know?
    You know that favour I asked for….kuna update?

  • msaniixl

    Lol. at michuki even logging in any PC…slithering all over the keyboard

    too much time on their hands.

    Lmao@wazz-the-unknown

  • donworry

    Thank you for the Press statement. I readthru it in deep excitement Looking for phrases like deeply regret, failed to live up to expectation, bear full responsibility, the buck stops here, honourable, tender my resignation. Lakini wapi? ziltch.

    Where I thought that pengine the person in charge of internal security would appear contrite after such a mess at the airport, (especially as he had personally claimed that the magari yananis were cool) we have a bullish and arrogant son-of-a-chief turning up the heat.

    It is interesting to note that the rattlesnake’s statement heaps all the blame for the woes of this government on the media. Why am I not surprised?

    Duuude! You really should start your own blog!! Well said!
  • http://mywordsonly.blogspot.com acolyte

    @ kibet
    I so feel you on that, I can feel the pain of the dude trying to tell Michuki and co what a RSS feed is!

    =)) I can just imagine! Syndication? Syndication? Have they been arrested?

    @ Donworry
    I was just as disappointed as you were.I was looking for words like transparency and accountability too!But you must know by now that our politicians rule when it comes to passing the buck.I remember the good old inquests where everyone who was asked why they did what they did talked about orders from above and when the person above was reached, they said they didn’t recall saying anything like that!What a wonderful country we live in!

  • http://www.ciikuandhermess.blogspot.com Ciiku

    “Unmistakably hate-oriented”…. I like that. Who came up with that one…….????

    And do they want to talk about an increase in abuse of lets say…. POWER?!?!?!

    That ad was just replete with irony from start to finish. I’m sure Michuki saw it for the first time in the paper with the rest of us
  • Anonymous

    LOL.

    I can’t believe they had the nuts to include blogs. But in that story animal farm there is a part where the bee bites the elephant in the ear sending him into an all-out tirade in which the elephant rolls, yells, curses and is frustrated by the fact that he cant flag down the bee and eventually through his own folly accidentally tosses himself off a cliff lol. Good riddance.

    He he! That’s a very good parallel indeed!
  • http://chondima.blogspot.com Sarah

    M, I am all for you staying undercover and blogging diligently. They can’t stop you if they can’t catch you (they could, but I doubt they are smart enough to LOL). So all meetings should be virtual, should take longer to track you down, otherwise if they do prosecute you unjustly as they surely will then we’ll get you a ‘good’ lawyer before you drop the soap!

    He he! I have no plans to get anywhere near them communal showers

    The power of the blog acknowleged wow!

    Have an awesome week M & all you bloggers & mafans.

    And an awesome week to you too!
  • Irena

    Ati bloggers are being threatened , LOL I should be so scared !! At least now we know bloggers are a group to be reckoned with !! M, continue posting for we shall continue supporting you and all the other bloggers as well.. Haiya maybe I should be put anonimity in my response hence they freeze me in JKIA..

    :)) Deny deny deny!
  • http://www.nmjoe.blogspot.com joe

    Brovado wont help anything .responsible blogging will go much further only those who promote distabalization and hate have somthing to fear .those who you who thought blogging was not something serious now know this is not a game .the capacity of blogs to influence and shape public opinion should not be taken lightly.Responsible blogging never hurts anyone .

    My son, it is futile to try and bait me into some sort of argument. I have really thick skin. If you think my blogging is irresponsible then so be it. If you think there is anything promoting destablilization and hate, rock on! I am not going to convince you otherwise.

    Pontificate away from you comfortable digs in Maryland, United States about how bloggers have nothing to fear. Really. Go on.

  • http://blog.uhuru.de JKE

    The Kenyan blogoshphere without any political comments is like having lunch without meat.

    Or salt for that matter
  • http://blog.uhuru.de JKE

    Ati? Joe? LOLOLOL….welcome back, hehe =))

  • Anon

    Can it be true? Another Ngethu star beat down in the pipeline? Oh please please Joe continue with the upumbavu!! Please. I’m begging!

  • http://www.spicebear.blogspot.com spicebear

    ” … only those who promote distabalization and hate have somthing to fear …”

    goodness, kwani KBW was planning a coup or something? let it be known that posts like “anatomy of an MP” and “enter kibaki: court jester” go a very long way to threaten national security. (er, how do you do that emoticon with rolling eyes?)

    that said, now that there are slitherings in blog land maybe one of them will start up a blog. since they say nothing of substance most of the time it will probably be full of posts on how … oh hell, i shudder to think of the possiblities or lack thereof.

    Official: Go to blogger.com…
    Chuki: Driver! Let’s go
  • http://www.randomgirlnextdoor.blogspot.com Girl Next Door

    They call this the information age for a good reason. Radio, newspapers, and the internet are all so powerful. This ‘honorable’ minister is deluding himself into thinking his not-so-subtle threats will prevent people from seeing his true colors. Ideas are so much bigger than individuals and they will prevail.

    Tell ‘em!
  • http://www.kenyanmusings.blogspot.com KM

    Woiiiii, Me? Can you spell Judas Iscariot.

    No sir I do not know any M.

    No sir, I do not know any M.

    Sir, I told you twice before that I do not know any M.

    **cocks shall crow, KM will walk with her asss unscathed…..that sabuni you will okota peke yako**

    That’s what you think. Y’all are my accomplices!

    But on the real my dear, you know I be riding and dying with you……

    Halafu, tebu hit me that article to my office mail. The scna is too small and *sigh*, do not ask why I did not read the paper.

    Ni monitor yako ndiyo ndogo!

    Stay away from the road side M. Remember……looool

    - If you wake up in the morning, it’s because Jack Bauer spared your life.

    - Guns dont kill people, Jack Bauer kills people.

    - When Jack Bauer was a child, he made his mother finish his vegetables.

  • http://www.nmjoe.blogspot.com joe

    Lunch without meat ..that comment is too funny,but on a serious note people should not be taking the warning given so lightly.you think that budget of 5 billion cant find you

  • I

    HA HA.. Thats too funny!!

    If MP’s can disappear from their constituents, you can be invisible…

    True. They can actually disappear for 5 years!
  • http://blog.uhuru.de JKE

    I think the father of the Son of Kimendero has not yet bubudiud the meaning of Bubudiu the difference between KBW & Mashada & Co….

    A guy who can defend mercenaries in parliament is one you must run as fast as possible away from
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  • Mitzy

    I picture Michuki using the mouse on the floor as a pedal, wondering why the screen doesn’t scroll as he “steps on the accelerator”…haiya! Then he sips his tea from his cup convieniently placed on the open CD/disk holder on the CPU…wapi mandathi!

    =))

    This cracked me up and I know they are not his words:

    “Neither I nor the government I serve can claim to have the cure for incorrigibly arrogant attitudes…”

    Now, can he pronounce, let alone know the meaning of “incorrigibly”

    Exactly! I doubt he did anything but sign his name down there
  • http://www.magaidi.com/diary Magaidi

    Err..M, just incase you get arrested, how will we know so we can start the “Free ‘M’” campaign? U never know when them balaclava clad gents decide to visit upon yourself?

    Has “money been poured” already?

    You will see a lot of “Narc ni baba, mama, watoto ma mboch” posts…
  • Ms K

    LOL I go away for a few days and there’s a fatwa on your head M? Mambo gani hii? I knew we couldn’t let you out on your own =))

    He he! Kwani where have you been? Ebu details!!!

    Ebu I read that statement. Ati incorribly??

    LOL@Wazz!!

  • http://www.nmjoe.blogspot.com joe

    Should i or shouldnt i remove a list of suspects and targets as well as list of crimes . its funny how i always get this lists of things . only days after i had warned that things will not be going well for government critics. i suggest that you and ori suspend your visits to parliament for a few weeks untill things cool down .

  • http://www.vituvingisana.blogspot.com VituVingiSana

    Is this the same joe who was praising the government’s irresponsible financial behaviour?

    “A thief by any other name remains a thief”…

    The Kenyan (NARC) government has little to be proud of. Please don’t compare NARC to KANU. This is like fighting to see who is the best of the worst! We want to LEAP ahead of ALL countries not the poorest of the poor!

    In the 1960s Kenyans looked down upon the “poor” Chinese & now we can’t get enough of them!
    In the 1980s Kenyans looked down on sending their kids to India for further studies but now the USA is wary of India’s IT prowess. Some US grads go to India for their internships!

    Kenyan politicians like comparing us to our neighbours but even TZ & Uganda have higher growth rates than Kenya!

    Blogging reminds me of a classic Simpsons episode where Monty Burns buys out all the media outlets in Springfield except Lisa’s “home” newsletter. In spite of Burns’ efforts to “buy” her out & shut her down, she prevails. Soon many more citizens start their own newsletters including Lenny, Homer & even Barney!

    So keep on blogging!

  • edwin

    I agree with you M-be on the look out
    but continue hitting em hard as usual.
    and this irritant called joe,ana something
    between his lateral flaps? eish!

  • jogoo wa shamba

    Incorrigbly?? someone must have been comparing notes with one Ali Mwakwere – he of “must have taken one too many” infamy.let him rest assured that we will not be cowed by his “big vocabularly. we are here to stay.

    p.s: Monsieur le Rattle, next time please put the statement on the blogs.it wont cost you nothing

  • jogoo wa shamba

    Ati Artur is a phony? big deal.am not moved an inch

  • arab

    @ M &
    @ (those conversant with stuff like IP address, HTTP, GPS etc)
    assuming rattlesnakelets are unlished on bloggers and ‘bloggees’ (thats what readers of blogs are called, no?), can they trace the likes of us to our dingy cyber cafes or offices? am terrified of dungeons so adviise in time so i can take a powder

  • http://www.nmjoe.blogspot.com joe

    Just playing folks i dont have a list . we are all getting too serious but i must say the reaction of bloggers has indeed been telling . It seems most bloggers dont believe in what they say or stand for. Trust me if the government ever went against the things i write and believe in .There would be fire and brimestone to pay. anyway to be honest what is important is the truth ,it would be foolish to expect all of us to subcribe to the same ideals and political leanings and i am sure that is not what the government is calling for .we have enough democratic space in kenya for us all to have different views ,but expression of these different views has to be done in a mature manner that promotes the stability of the nation . so thinker please continue blogging and criticking the government democratic space allows contructive criticism. there is no list we are all kenyans and i am sure we all love our country

  • http://www.vituvingisana.blogspot.com VituVingiSana

    @joe – Nice one… and point taken. The reason most bloggers seem anti-government is coz there is little good we see BUT I have to say that the roads have improved since the moi days.

    If kibs had taken a hardball approach to corruption regardless of friendship or party affiliation it would have led to him being re-elected because people liked what they saw!

    If kibs had done the right thing by appointing smart folks to plum positions on merit, we would be clamouring for him to have a 2nd term. Now not many outside his “sphere of influence” want him or his ilk back!

    I supported michuki when he cracked down on Ma3s coz that was a good thing. In spite of the numerous hardships faced by Wananchi, they supported michuki & walked to work daily!

    BUT he lost all that goodwil by endorsing the Standard raid, subsequent threats to the media & supporting the arturs. His recent “letter” was meant to intimidate the alternate news sources like blogs.

    THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD.

  • http://www.vituvingisana.blogspot.com VituVingiSana

    The Artur commission led by Kiruki seems to be a JOKE. I am glad Kaparo did the RIGHT thing by letting parliament investigate. We need an ombudsman whose post is created by the constitution thus protected from the Executive & Parliament (in case he investigates MPs) but can be removed for failing/corruption.

    Remember CASINO where there are eyes watching the eyes!

  • http://www.nmjoe.blogspot.com joe

    point also taken . i may not agree with your views but i hear what you are saying now isnt that much better when you put your point across like that instead of using insults . As for the artur matter i really dont know that much about it and frankly i dont care its a trivial matter in the big picture. the facination with trivial issues only goes to show the kind of political climate that exsits in kenya . the economy is growing by almost 8 pc. tourism is up ,privatization is well underway dont you think people should be talking of how these gains should be trickling down to the common man . the pros and cons of trickle down economics instead of who or what those thugs are. Is finding out the true identity of two men for example more important than finding looted funds stashed abroad.My point being there are more pressing ,urgent social ecomomic matters that we need to adressed .(i hope you are reading this mr michuki i am campaigning for a seat on that youth council that will be formed). yes the government has made mistakes indeed that is nothing new governments will always make mistakes let us remember that the damage we are currently doing by not addressing serious issues,allowing foreign governments to meddle in our internal affairs will have damaging effects not only on this government but on all kenyans .