[kictanet] Vitriol in cyberspace

Wed Dec 10 09:08:06 EAT 2008

Brian

I also beg to differ with you. Neither you nor Githongo has the capacity to
determine inanity of anybody. We should have a committee which has that
capacity but it can not rest on an individual. Otherwise I will say that
your submission in india was inane? Would you agree. Its an abuse as long as
you use the word wrongly.

*Abuse
**tr.v.* *a·bused*, *a·bus·ing*, *a·bus·es* *1. * To use wrongly or
improperly; misuse: abuse alcohol; abuse a privilege.
*2. * To hurt or injure by maltreatment; ill-use.
*3. * To force sexual activity on; rape or molest.
*4. * To assail with contemptuous, coarse, or insulting words; revile.
*5. * *Obsolete* To deceive or trick.

Alai

On Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 9:01 AM, Brian Longwe <blongwe at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Walu,
>
> I'm sorry but I beg to differ. Githongo's comment was perfectly in order.
> The tirade witnessed last week was definitely "inane" i.e. having little
> sense or importance - refer below. Kwani what dictionary do you use?
>
> in·ane adj
> 1.    having little sense or importance
> 2.    empty, insubstantial, or void
>
> n
> great emptiness, especially the perceived emptiness of outer space
> (archaic)
>
> Encarta(R) World English Dictionary (c) 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights
> reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
>
> On Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 6:26 PM, John Walubengo <jwalu at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> JM,
>>
>> I  agree. I just checked the dictionary and the word 'inane' is indeed
>>  quite abusive. Githongo therefore becomes the 1st victim to go onto
>> "moderated-mode" as we speak.
>>
>> As for the so called 'corrupt' (whoever they maybe), the position remains
>> that the list is really neither equipped nor designed to burst corrupt
>> agents.  But that said, it all depends on the angle one decides to take
>> concerning (ICT) corruption. Specifically, general guidelines regarding
>> libel or character assassination must prevail otherwise things get reduced
>> very fast to shouting marches - at the expense of progressive ICT
>> development.
>>
>> walu.
>> --- On Mon, 12/8/08, John Maina <j.maina at ymail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > From: John Maina <j.maina at ymail.com>
>> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Vitriol in cyberspace
>> > To: "P Gitau Githongo" <pgitau at githongo.com>, "John Walubengo" <
>> jwalu at yahoo.com>, odhiambo at gmail.com
>> > Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>> > Date: Monday, December 8, 2008, 4:27 PM
>> > Walu
>> >
>> > Is inane chatter not an abuse? Or are there some who are
>> > allowed to abuse the people on this mailing list?
>> >
>> > What do people gain in defending the corrupt? Why do we
>> > fear to hear the people who are incorrigibly corrupt being
>> > rebuked?
>> >
>> > JM
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > ________________________________
>> > From: P Gitau Githongo <pgitau at githongo.com>
>> > To: j.maina at ymail.com
>> > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
>> > <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>> > Sent: Monday, December 8, 2008 3:14:06 PM
>> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Vitriol in cyberspace
>> >
>> >
>> > Alice,
>> >
>> > Might I suggest that you add a guiding principle to the
>> > mailing list rules,
>> > along the lines of..
>> >
>> > 'Contributors should seek to improve or benefit the
>> > understanding and
>> > knowledge of others as well as their own.'
>> >
>> > You could then urge contributors to gauge their own
>> > statements according to
>> > such a principle before forwarding to the group.
>> >
>> > Hopefully that way, the rest of us seeking to practice the
>> > above principle
>> > are not subject to the kind of deluge of inane chatter seen
>> > last week.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From:
>> > kictanet-bounces+pgitau=githongo.com at lists.kictanet.or.ke
>> > [mailto:kictanet-bounces+pgitau <kictanet-bounces%2Bpgitau>=
>> githongo.com at lists.kictanet.or.ke]
>> > On Behalf
>> > Of alice at apc.org
>> > Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2008 8:45 AM
>> > To: pgitau at githongo.com
>> > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
>> > Subject: [kictanet] Vitriol in cyberspace
>> >
>> > Dear All,
>> >
>> > Could we comment on the presentation that Brian (a Kenyan)
>> > made at the IGF
>> > currently taking place in Hyderabad. It was an excellent
>> > presentation on
>> > access befitting the theme of the forum: "Internet for
>> > all" and he has
>> > done us proud.
>> >
>> > It is also great to have quite a large Kenyan delegation at
>> > this India IGF
>> > contributing Kenyan specific IG issues.  The IGF is a
>> > process/event/forum
>> > that  had not received enough attention both at the
>> > national and regional
>> > level.
>> > ---------
>> >
>> > I will also take this opportunity to remind listers of some
>> > of the
>> > KICTAnet mailing list rules:
>> >
>> >     * Please mind your manners:
>> >     *  Be polite - virtual members are real not a
>> > cyberspace borg with no
>> > feelings.
>> >     *  Watch your words. Kick the bad language - People are
>> > listening.
>> >     *  Laws are laws - What's real in the real world
>> > are the same in
>> > cyberspace.
>> >     *  Don't send rude or offensive  e-mails or
>> > postings.
>> >     *  Be ethical in your posting. Don't lie,
>> > plagiarize, defame, or
>> > deliberately do harm to another KICTANet forum user.
>> >
>> >
>> > If you are not able to respect these simple rules...the
>> > KICTANet
>> > administrator will have no choice but to suspend you!
>> >
>> > best
>> > alice
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Binaifer Nowrojee wrote:
>> > >
>> > > For those who have not read this opinion piece, I
>> > would urge you to do
>> > so and reflect on it.  Why do we need to bring down Brian
>> > Longwe on the
>> > basis of his nationality?  Why not celebrate his success?
>> > Why assume
>> > that a non-Kenyan will not positively contribute to Kenya?
>> > >
>> > > Best
>> > >
>> > > Binaifer Nowrojee
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Barack Obama and the graveyard of hope
>> > >
>> > > Wambui Mwangi (2008-08-11)
>> > >
>> > > http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/50078
>> > >
>> > > Printer friendly version
>> > >
>> > > There are 2 comments on this article.
>> > >
>> > > I am finding it very difficult to join in the
>> > jubilation about Senator
>> > Barack Obama. Not that I want to deny the man his victory,
>> > but my
>> > impulse to celebrate keeps deflating on the idea that the
>> > best thing
>> > that happened to little Barack was not growing up in Kenya.
>> > >
>> > > I have been imagining alternative trajectories for him
>> > if he had come to
>> > know the world through the eyes of a Kenyan citizen, if his
>> > mother and
>> > grandparents had not rescued him from our chaos and
>> > contradictions and
>> > brought him up somewhere his intellect and talent could
>> > grow.
>> > >
>> > > If he had grown up here, and had he somehow managed to
>> > retain most
>> > elements of his current self, he would have been another
>> > outstanding,
>> > intelligent and competent Luo man in our midst: and he
>> > would have been
>> > killed.
>> > >
>> > > Yes, we would have assassinated a Barack Obama if he
>> > had remained ours,
>> > with us, one of us here in this schizophrenic cauldron we
>> > call home.
>> > This is not going to stretch the imagination of any Kenyan
>> > - after all,
>> > when we had that incredibly good-looking and charismatic
>> > home-grown
>> > hero, Tom Mboya, we shot him to death.
>> > >
>> > > And when that austerely intellectual and elegant
>> > leader, Robert Ouko,
>> > threatened to look overly intelligent to the world, we
>> > killed him too.
>> > We killed Pio Gama Pinto and we killed JM Kariuki. There is
>> > no reason to
>> > suppose that Barack Obama, whose integrity of purpose and
>> > stringent
>> > sense of ethics even his enemies concede, would have
>> > survived his Kenyan
>> > roots.
>> > >
>> > > He is much too intelligent, too charged with the
>> > promise of history, too
>> > bold in his claim to a shining destiny, too full of the
>> > audacity of
>> > hope, for us to have let him survive. Kenya would have
>> > killed Barack
>> > Obama, or at least his dream, as we inevitably destroy, in
>> > one way or
>> > another, the best and the boldest of us. Goldenberg whistle
>> > blower David
>> > Munyakei's challenge to his country to be bigger than
>> > our greed was met
>> > with a whimper, and then with rapid abandonment. We did not
>> > deserve him,
>> > either.
>> > >
>> > > As for John Githongo, he should have known better than
>> > to take the idea
>> > of public ethics seriously - this is Kenya, after all. Let
>> > him enlighten
>> > people at Oxford instead; such considerations are too
>> > virtuous for us,
>> > too sensible, too conducive to a promising future. We do
>> > not even remark
>> > on the haunting wastage of all this shining accomplishment
>> > - Micere Mugo
>> > sings her lyrical poetry for Americans, and we do not even
>> > know enough
>> > to mourn the loss.
>> > >
>> > > And yet we are all enchanted with the power of the
>> > idea of Barack Obama,
>> > the hope of him, the beauty of his life's trajectory,
>> > the universe of
>> > possibilities and probabilities that it conjures for the
>> > least of the
>> > rest of us. If someone's cousin's friend's
>> > neighbour makes it to the
>> > United States... then we all have a chance. We have a
>> > strange
>> > predilection for schizophrenic loves and loyalties; we let
>> > geography
>> > dictate our alliances and imaginary lines decide our
>> > friends. It is as
>> > if our social contract states that here, at home, we are
>> > obliged to
>> > behave like fighting rats to each other but when abroad,
>> > when released
>> > from the shackles of kin and clan and conclave, we can fly
>> > and soar and
>> > master the sky.
>> > >
>> > > When Wangari Maathai is abroad, we feel that her Nobel
>> > Prize is partly
>> > represented in each of our Kenyan living rooms; when she
>> > comes home, she
>> > is just another Kikuyu politico. We preen about our
>> > athletes winning yet
>> > another international competition to anybody who will give
>> > us half a
>> > chance, but when they are at home we turn them into more
>> > fodder for
>> > militias.
>> > >
>> > > Caine Prize winners are Kenyan by automatic assent,
>> > but Binyavanga
>> > Wainaina is a Kikuyu writer when at home and Yvonne Owuor
>> > is indelibly a
>> > Luo - we shrink them to fit the midget-sized visions we
>> > have of
>> > ourselves.
>> > >
>> > > It is clear to all of us, and the evidence continues
>> > to accrue, that we
>> > have, collectively, a certain global competence, as
>> > Kenyans, that we
>> > produce individuals of substance and historical purpose.
>> > >
>> > > Being Kenyan, however, we prefer to drown in the
>> > pettiness of our
>> > parochial quarrels when at home, and if one of us threatens
>> > to be too
>> > hopeful, too ambitious, too intelligent, too creative or
>> > too
>> > inspirational to fit into our trivial little categories of
>> > hatred and
>> > suspicion, we kill them, or exile them from our societies,
>> > or we just
>> > cause them to run away inside, hiding from us and from
>> > themselves the
>> > grandeur of their souls, the splendid landscapes of their
>> > imagined
>> > tomorrows.
>> > >
>> > > Nothing but the worst for us, at home. We recognise
>> > each other by our
>> > most rancid rhetoric. We insist upon it, we cultivate it,
>> > we elevate it
>> > to an art form: Kenyan, and quarrelsome.
>> > >
>> > > Kenyan, and clannish. Kenyan, and counter-productive.
>> > Kenyan, and
>> > self-destructive. Kenyan, and consistently heart-breaking.
>> > Genius
>> > everywhere, and not a thought to be had. Promise and
>> > potential
>> > everywhere, and not an opportunity to be had. Money
>> > everywhere, and not
>> > an honest penny to be earned. Helicopters aplenty, but no
>> > help for the
>> > needy. A land awash in Cabinet ministers and poverty.
>> > >
>> > > I have been watching Kenyans getting high on
>> > Obamamania, and I am
>> > wondering what we are so happy about? It is perhaps that we
>> > are
>> > beginning to acknowledge what we should always have known -
>> > given a half
>> > a chance, an ever so slightly conducive context, Kenyans
>> > are more likely
>> > to over-achieve than not. At the faintest provocation,
>> > Kenyans will leap
>> > past expectations without breaking their stride or breaking
>> > a sweat,
>> > especially if they happen to have escaped the imprisoning
>> > edifice we
>> > call home and found foreign contexts to flourish in, no
>> > matter how
>> > alien.
>> > >
>> > > I went to a town in the Canadian Arctic once, in the
>> > far north, where in
>> > summer the sun shines even at midnight and in the winter
>> > the world is an
>> > endless landscape of ice and snow. Here, far, far away from
>> > home, where
>> > nothing was familiar except the gentleness of elderly Inuit
>> > women and
>> > the comforting weirdness of the white residents, I was told
>> > that the
>> > local dentist had, for many years, been a Kenyan. Everybody
>> > said he had
>> > been an excellent dentist, out there in the desert of the
>> > cold. I was
>> > unsurprised.
>> > >
>> > > We are an adventurous people, we Kenyans, and we take
>> > to the world
>> > outside our home as if born to a conquistador culture - we
>> > are brave and
>> > brash and bold, out there. We buy and sell things, and make
>> > money at it,
>> > out there. We go to school and excel and cover ourselves
>> > with
>> > accreditations, out there. We win things, out there. We get
>> > prizes, out
>> > there. We are at our best, out there.
>> > >
>> > > However, at home, for some reason we refuse to either
>> > acknowledge or
>> > examine - we have chosen simply to set aside this capacity.
>> > Here, at
>> > home, nothing but the very lowest common denominator will
>> > do; nothing
>> > but the basest and most brutal aspects of our selves are to
>> > be presented
>> > to each other; nothing but the most cynical manipulation is
>> > the basis of
>> > our political space. We prefer to be ruled by individuals
>> > whose
>> > mediocrity is matched only by their mendacity, here at
>> > home.
>> > >
>> > > We prefer to abdicate our adult responsibilities and
>> > capacity for reason
>> > to "leaders" whose lack of virtue is as legendary
>> > as our attractively
>> > exotic pastoralists. We do not only waste talent, here at
>> > home - we go
>> > out of our way to suppress and repress it. We do not only
>> > deny dreams,
>> > here in Kenya - we devour them, and ask each other,
>> > "Who do you think
>> > you are?" As if the success of another is an affront.
>> > >
>> > > In Kenya, grand vision and soaring imagination is
>> > illegitimate; here,
>> > they just call you naive. Out there, you stand a chance of
>> > becoming a
>> > hero; at home, you will have nothing but the taste of ashes
>> > in your
>> > mouth. Mothers, take your children abroad.
>> > >
>> > > Barack Obama has written two books, in which he
>> > discusses ideas. Ideas.
>> > This is a man with vision and conviction, and enough good
>> > ideas that
>> > even those who do not like the pigmentally-advantaged are
>> > listening, and
>> > changing their minds.
>> > >
>> > > Even those who think that his name sounds suspiciously
>> > like a
>> > terrorist's are reading his books and listening to his
>> > speeches, and
>> > changing their minds. This is a man with interesting and
>> > inspiring
>> > things to say - which disqualifies him from any Kenyan-ness
>> > we would
>> > have liked to claim.
>> > >
>> > > Americans like the image of them that Barack Obama has
>> > painted in words;
>> > which Kenyan leader would dare to build dreams bigger than
>> > his roots?
>> > Which Kenyan leader would ever be so foolish as to attempt
>> > inspiration
>> > instead of instigation?
>> > >
>> > > Barack Obama has seduced the world by the power of his
>> > persuasiveness,
>> > and while Kenyans raise another glass to the
>> > accomplishments of "one of
>> > our own," it seems clear to me that we gave up our
>> > rights to him when we
>> > gave up our hopes for ourselves. When we settled for
>> > incompetence, and
>> > corruption, and callousness, we defined ourselves out of
>> > his universe,
>> > and out of his dreams.
>> > >
>> > > We rejected Barack Obama-ness when we allowed those
>> > pangas to slash our
>> > dreams, when we watched our hopes spiral away in smoke. We
>> > allowed the
>> > ones who had done this to become the only mirrors of
>> > ourselves, and then
>> > squelched our disgraced selves back to the mire of our
>> > despondency.
>> > >
>> > > Barack Obama cannot be a Kenyan, and Kenyans cannot
>> > grasp Barack Obama's
>> > dream. We have already despaired of it, and of ourselves.
>> > His dream
>> > would have died with ours, here at home, here in the
>> > graveyard of hope.
>> > >
>> > > But oh, how we yearn to see ourselves reflected in his
>> > eyes...
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > *Wambui Mwangi is an assitant professor of Political
>> > Science at the
>> > University of Toronto, Canada. This article first appeared
>> > inThe East
>> > African, June 15 2008.
>> > >
>> > > *Please send comments to editor at pambazuka.org or
>> > comment online at
>> > http://www.pambazuka.org/
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > _______________________________________________
>> > > kictanet mailing list
>> > > kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
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>> > >
>> > > This message was sent to: alice at apc.org
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>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
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>> >
>> >
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>
>
>
> --
> Brian Munyao Longwe
> e-mail: blongwe at gmail.com
> cell:  + 254 722 518 744
> blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com
> meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com
>
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