On 12/3/08, Wainaina Mungai <wainaina@madeinkenya.org> wrote:

Thanks for your kind words...

May I request that we also agree not to call others "attack dogs" and
similar terms? It may be more helpful if we all use polite
language...and more preferable if we substantiate claims.

I have known Brian for long and have worked closely with him. I would
appreciate if we would all be courteous enough to accord him the
benefit of doubt for now since the jury is still out on his
nationality?

Thanks again.
WM

On 12/3/08, Robert Alai <alai.robert@gmail.com> wrote:
> Ndugu Wainaina
>
> Well argued. I think that your argument is very good. You know what makes
> people hate the foreigners, its when they are being used wrongly to attack
> the nationals. We love all foreigners including and not exclusive to Bill
> Lay, Michael Joseph, Rene Meza, Jean of Telkom Kenya, and many others. What
> makes people hate the likes of Longwe, and the other attack dogs used in
> this forum to attack people who question suspicious deals is how tehy
> behave. They think that people dont know whom they are. We respect all and I
> hhave benefited alot from foreigners and more so Malawians, Congolese,
> Burundians, Tanzanians and Ugandans and many others. But when I am in the
> respective countries, I tend to respect them and support the locals in every
> aspect and not be used as an attack Dog when people question the corrupt.
>
> And if Brian Longwe wants to be Kenyan, due process of the law must be
> followed and not short cuts to serve interest of people. The interest we
> serve is Kenyan interest.
>
> But I agree ndugu Wainaina that its true that if a foreigner is doing fine
> and helping in making a better place then he must be given all support and
> just the way wakina Janet Feldman in KCA are fighting for dual citizenship
> for Kenyans, I support it
>
> Alai
>
> On 12/3/08, Wainaina Mungai <wainaina@madeinkenya.org> wrote:
>>
>> Only a month ago, Kenyans gladly accepted OBAMA's victory as a
>> "Kenyan" President of the USA. That was still the theme at the Ramogi
>> Night at Carnivore restaurant last Friday.
>>
>> Should we not accord Brian Munyao Longwe (if he's not Kenyan) similar
>> treatment as we expected Obama to receive in the USA? Attempts were
>> made by conservatives during the campaigns to present Obama as
>> "muslim" or "Kenyan"...or simply, non-american. The lessons we should
>> have learnt from the post-election crisis and the US elections is what
>> Martin Luther King Jr. died trying to teach us. Do not judge a person
>> by their heritage...colour of their skin...etc etc...
>>
>> Stretching the argument further, should Kenyans now reject "foreign
>> aid" that finances alot of our ICT issues (including KICTANet)...and
>> we may just be asking for some more now that we have a food crisis...
>>
>> Should judge Kriegler have been Kenyan? Should we have kicked out Kofi
>> Annan?...a Ghanaian? Are we telling the world that it was okay for
>> Kenyans who were in strategic positions in RSA to be kicked during the
>> xenophobic attacks?  It started with M.L. King Jr....and Obama brought
>> the message home to the unconverted...let us not sprint backwards.
>>
>> That said, we should instead learn to adopt Brian Longwe's of this
>> world (the non-kenyan ones) and giving them full Kenyans status. ;-)
>>
>> All Kenyan, All the time ;-)
>> WM
>>
>>
>> On 12/3/08, Binaifer Nowrojee <bnowrojee@osiea.org> wrote:
>>
>> > As a non-ICT person-just a KICTANET donor--I am compelled to add my two
>> bits
>> > to the debate.
>> >
>> > To my mind, Brian Longwe's nationality is not so much an issue of
>> entryism,
>> > but rather one of xenophobia, a phenomenon that we Kenyans appear have a
>> > high affinity to given our propensity to ethnic hatred and even
>> > violence.
>> >
>> > Xenophobia: an intense dislike and/or fear of people from other
>> > nationalities. It comes from the Greek
>>
>> > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language>  words ξένος (xenos),
>> meaning
>>
>> > "foreigner," "stranger," and φόβος (phobos), meaning "fear." The term is
>> > typically used to describe a fear or dislike of foreigners
>>
>> > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(law)>  or of people significantly
>>
>> > different from oneself.
>> >
>> > To my mind, Brian Longwe's intelligent and valuable contributions to the
>> ICT
>> > sector in Kenya far supercede the issue of his nationality as the key
>> > determinant of his contributions.
>> >
>> > I am a bit puzzled as to how the possession of Kenyan nationality is
>> being
>> > automatically equated with positive contributions to the nation-as
>> somehow
>> > if we have a Kenyan in the post that things will be done better.  This
>> > is
>> > particularly the case when I look around me and see a Kenyan
>> > Commissioner
>> of
>> > Police who is happy to kill unarmed pro-democracy advocates; a greedy
>> > parliament (all Kenyan) that is happy to award themselves exhorbitantly
>> high
>> > salaries without paying tax; and a Kenyan government that is renown
>> > worldwide for some of the highest levels of corruption.  Is their
>> > contribution to our nation calibrated solely on their possession of a
>> piece
>> > of paper that labels them Kenyan?
>> >
>> > I believe we should judge a person's contributions to bettering of the
>> > nation by their actions, regardless of their nationality.
>> >
>> > As the debate for constitutional reform moves forward, I also wonder
>> where
>> > this leaves the xenophobes.  We may soon have a provision for dual
>> > nationality.
>> >
>> > Best
>> >
>> > Binaifer Nowrojee
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > ________________________________
>> >
>> > From: kictanet-bounces+bnowrojee=osiea.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke

>> > [mailto:kictanet-bounces+bnowrojee <kictanet-bounces%2Bbnowrojee>=

>> osiea.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf
>> > Of aki
>> > Sent: 2008-12-03 13:27
>> > To: Binaifer Nowrojee
>> > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
>> > Subject: [kictanet] Entryism according to some dictionaries
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > The net has some interesting views on this, something that came to mind
>> > while reading world politics a while back..
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Entryism is a political tactic in which an organisation or group enters
>> > a
>> > larger organisation in an attempt to gain recruits, gain influence or to
>> > take control of the larger organisations' structure. This technique is
>> > commonly used by groups from the far left or right of the political
>> spectrum
>> > to enter more centrist institutions. This is experienced more frequently
>> in
>> > arenas where opportunities for political activity at the fringes is
>> limited,
>> > such as two party/majoritarian systems rather than in
>> > multiparty/proportional systems where the cost of entry into the
>> political
>> > system is lower. Organisations which are the subject of entryism often
>> react
>> > by attempting either to marginalise or expel the pratagonists.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>> --
>> Sent from my mobile device
>>
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