— On Sun, 7/20/08, BOB-K BOB-K wrote:

From: BOB-K BOB-K
Subject: Kisumu experiences love for Hummer
Date: Sunday, July 20, 2008, 5:02 PM

Kisumu experiences renewed Railamania
Published on 21/07/2008

BY Harold Ayodo

A butcher who wrapped a quarter kilogramme of meat in a newspaper with the picture of Prime Minister Raila Odinga narrowly escaped death by lynching in Kisumu recently.

Irate residents of Manyatta bayed for the blood of the seasoned butcher who was only rescued by police.

“How could he wrap a quarter kilo of meat with bones using a newspaper with a colour picture of a national leader like Raila? It¢s unheard of,” says Oloo Otieno, a resident of Kondele.

Ouma¢s harrowing experience has made butchers cautious when serving clients after he closed shop.

“Now we usually confirm that the old newspapers we use do not have pictures that may offend our customers,” says a butcher.

Vendors of groundnuts at the Central Business District (CBD) also say they vet newspaper pages before using them to wrap the delicacy.

Matatus in Kisumu have pictures of Prime Minister in order to attract passengers . PHOTO BY James KeyieSmall-scale businessmen and women say the same applies to pictures of Illinois Senator and Democratic Party candidate Barack Obama.

It is for reasons such as this that the late Vice President Kijana Wamalwa coined the term Raila mania.

Residents say elevation of Raila to the second Premier of the country is no mean achievement considering the hardships he underwent fighting for expanded democratic space.

Bar patrons who have mastered the politics of Premiership usually get free rounds of beer from the people who listen to the tales.

Dwellers of the lakeside town even dismiss mainstream newspapers that do not bear his picture or story on the cover.

Vendors concur that selling a newspaper without either a front-page coloured picture of or a story about Raila in the region is similar to marketing pork in Saudi Arabia.

“Kuuza gazeti hapa bila maneno ya mzee ni ngumu,” a vendor says. (Selling newspapers here that is not about the old man is difficult.)

Newspaper vendors reveal that they sold the highest number of copies ever when Raila and Obama toured Kisumu together on August 26, 2006.

A vendor says the front-page picture of Raila and Obama in the Sunday Standard waving to crowds in Kisumu sold out before 8am on August 27.

Some residents keep copies of newspapers that carried banner headlines when Raila made ¡landmark¢ political statements like warning of a ¡political tsunami¢ four years ago.

Mama Milka Akoth has newspapers with stories of Raila since he was arrested over the 1982 coup, upon his release, his election as Lang¢ata MP in 1992 to elevation as Premier.

Weighty speeches

Akoth says she has kept the papers because there are times Raila speaks in parables and it requires time to unravel his speeches.

“Many did not understand what Raila meant when he warned of a political tsunami four years ago until the Government side lost the referendum,” recalls Akoth.

The philosophical grandmother of six says the tsunami was not spent until it swept several Cabinet ministers and Vice President Moody Awori from office last year.

“Agwambo ndio mchuzi ya magazeti. Kama hayuko kumekauka,” says Akoth. (Raila is the spice of newspapers and without his stories the papers are dry.)

Akoth is among many Kisumu residents who still have on the walls of their sitting rooms the posters Raila used to campaign for President in the last polls.

Many matatus have posted huge photos of Raila inset on a US dollar bill on the back windows of their vehicles to attract passengers.

Matatus and boats on Lake Victoria have pictures of Raila, Obama and former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Witty cab operators have miniature flags of the United States to attract the many foreign journalists who troop to the ancestral home of the Illinois Senator in Siaya.

Mothers have named their babies after the Premier in the belief that they would follow in his footsteps.

It is the same reason why the Executive Prime Minister Hotel attracts several clients at the lakeside town.

Bob-K

Enquiring mind wants to know

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— On Mon, 7/21/08, Fred Osewe wrote:

From: Fred Osewe
Subject: Fw: Kisumu experiences love for Hummer
Date: Monday, July 21, 2008, 4:45 PM

In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man- if you want anything done ask a woman.

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— On Tue, 7/22/08, nimmos waweru wrote:
From: nimmos waweru
Subject: Re: Fw: Kisumu experiences love for Hummer
Date: Tuesday, July 22, 2008, 2:36 PM

Dont you see this as a nonsense? Raila is just a politician but not God. Politicians are tricky and they deceive a lot expecially when citizens becomes very poor they possess a demonic low esteem, they forgot when they vote politicians its their right to demand services, but not promote Kingdomship. Development cautious leaders are the hero to the poor not empty rhetoric leaders who win by hypotinizing the unfortunate. Well it takes time for people to realise that this politicians all they do is to steal from the country for them to acquire the power to control.This is exactly all politicians im not singling anyone .

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Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:09:39 -0700 (PDT)
From: nimmos waweru
Subject: Fw: Re: Fw: Kisumu experiences love for Hummer