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Saturday, November 11, 2006

Intimidation or what?

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Today I received 24 spam comments (which I promptly deleted) highlighting the purported achievements of the Kibaki goverment accompanied by the following warning:

DRAW CARTOONS WACHA SIASA

Now is this an attempt to stop me expressing my contempt for the NARC government? Is there a campaign underfoot to silence bloggers who might be critical of the Kibaki government? Keep in mind that as Chris recently reported "Internal Security Minister John “Standard Raid” Michuki ... booked a full page advertisement in the East African Standard to warn all those who are reporting “sensationally and arrogantly on the country and the government to tone down."

I for one will not give in to Gestapo tactics. Kenya is my country and this is my blog. I will not allow anyone to curtail my right to freely express myself. I totally agree with the American writer Edward Abbey's sentiment: “A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.”

So Mr. Anonymous, you know who I am, what I do and probably where I live. I am sure we can continue this conversation in the privacy of your torture chambers. Till then, I would be happy if you performed an unnatural sexual act on yourself and stayed away from my universe.

7 comments:

jm said...

Gathara ... ur persistent grumbling of this government is a constant source of consternation to a lot of people... in spite of your declared (and legit) first amendment rights ...
If you acknowledged the good with the bad, maybe readers of ur blog would cut u a lil more slack...
Otherwise, ur failure 2 accept criticism is a classic sign of the same hypocrisy that u accuse the current administration of practicing ...unless of course u write ur blog for your own gratification ... in which case u might consider adjusting your privacy settings ...
And no i have no problems with ur blog entries, just your "i know what am saying and y'all do not" attitude ...

Gathara said...

Josh,
My persistent grumbling, as you put it, is occasioned by the fact that (you and) I pay these people to perform a service for me and the do it exceedingly poorly. They are not doing me (or you for that matter) any favours. They get paid handsomely for the privilege of doing nothing. To boot, they rob me (and you) blind and then have the temerity to suggest that we should try and see the brighter side of things.

It wouldn't be so bad if this monumentally incompetent government were actually trying to solve some of our problems. But the unfortunate truth is that they are more interested in the contents of their wallets than in my (and your) welfare.

And if "draw cartoons, wacha siasa" is your idea of constructive criticism, then I have no problem being labelled a hypocrite by the likes of you.

jm said...

"draw cartoons, wacha siasa"

i think i respect peoples' opinions well enough not 2 descend 2 such uncouth personal attacks ...

but i dare suggest that ur discontent with kibaki's gova. merely serves to validate its normalcy ... coz we can neither expect everyone 2 be 4 it, nor can we hope all 2 be against it ... that is what being normal means.

Thus u and I are merely agents, diametrically opposed, yet serving 2 fulfill a natural balance ...

And no, its not escapism on my part, I have come 2 realize that people r just wired differently. Otherwise why would 2 different people, governed by the same authority, neither subject 2 special favours from the gova. interprete the gova's performance differently???

Either:
1}both are wrong
2}one is ignoring reality

i really would like 2 know why the latter case does not apply 2 u in lieu of:

a}6% growth
b}free education
c}soon 2 be affordable health
d}free press
e}healthy stock market
etc....


lemme guess:
***corruption***
whatever else ODM peeps preach in their daily efforts 2 convince kenyans that nothing is going on ... a falsehood ....

Acolyte said...

I think as long as you are making legitimate complaints you are entitled to express yourself. I think what you should do is install the code for one of the many free services online that traces visitors i.p numbers.
If the harassment continues post their i.p numbers so we can all know who these enemies to free speech are!

Gathara said...

Josh,
a) 6% growth is less than Kibaki promised and not nearly enough to lift us out of our poverty. Anyway, I would never support a government that steals a fifth of our GDP, spends more on luxury cars than on Malaria control, fails to prosecute people for economic crimes (and pardons those it does) and then suggests we should be grateful with 6% growth. In my opinion, such a government is a impediment to rather than an enabler of economic activity. If it were doing its job properly, then we would have had much higher growth rates. Kenya is already a working nation; we work much harder than most. What we need is a working government and Kibaki is asleep on that one.

However, I accept that it is better than what the Moi regime achieved but I fail to see how that can be termed a credible measure of success.

b) A good initiative but horrid implementation. Aside from the crowded classrooms and few teachers which raise the issue of the quality of education, why do I keep seeing school-age kids roaming the streets of Nairobi, begging, stealing and sniffing glue?

c) Didn't Charity Ngilu suggest much the same thing a few years back and got shot down by her cabinet colleagues? Where is the cash coming from this time? With a general election looming I am skeptical about pie-in-the-sky promises. I think it would be "ignoring reality" not to be.

d) Just ask the snake-rattling Standard Group or the 11 Weekly citizen journalists arrested for publishing "an alarming report" whether there is Press freedom in Kenya. Ask Nation cartoonist GADO and Kiss FM about the Justice Minister's commitment to free expression. She has filed an unprecedented number of suits against various media houses for allegedly defaming her.

e) See a).

You also seem to be labouring under the false impression that I'm an ODM supporter. Nothing could be further from the truth.

And I agree with you, Josh, that something is going on. My problem is that that "something" is either too little, too late or that it is something totally undesirable. Take your pick.

Aco,
Where do I get the code?

Anonymous said...

@ Gathara
I'm using webstat but it isnt that good, let me upgrade and I will get back to you.

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