Tuesday 24 September 2013

A Long Way To Go!

When i got a chance to study tax justice in the global change 2013, all my comrades and friends were against me. They did not understand what i will be doing with the knowledge on tax justice. Their faces were full of doubts every time i introduced the subject on tax justice; my family too was a bit doubtful. I am pretty sure if it was not for my political aspiration i would have listened and drop the chance. Some of my comrades even dared to say i was losing focus. It was not easy, i had to sacrifice a lot.

Even after spending three weeks in the training i have met people with negative minds on the course and i sometimes get convinced that i did not make the right decision. It is a long way to go and sometimes i feel there is so much work to be done. I am not trying to regret being here because i still hope things will change for the better and i will meet some of my expectations. I am also very different when it comes to knowledge; i believe the knowledge i am getting will one day be essential to me. I think the only problem i have is i was not taught to leave anyone behind.

Ok! Let's leave the expectations and feelings and look at what i am learning. Tax justice! These are just two words, tax and justice; but we know hard it is to get justice in this word. Tax justice is a very controversial issue. Two days ago a prominent lawyer came to my class and tried to show some of the loop holes which companies are using in tax avoidance and tax evasion; i truly did not understand how does the authorities allow loop hole for tax avoidance and tax evasion. 

There might be few of us who are benefiting by betraying the majority, that's absolutely selfishness. I know the issue of tax is very complicated but i think it's time for those few to stop their selfishness and act for national interests. Wananchi also should be told what is happening. It is not fair for a local Mwananchi to pay tax while a multinational company enjoys a ten years tax holiday. Do we have to do all this to attract investors? Do we have to give tax exemptions to attract investors? Is there no other way of attracting investment. 

I am sure there are other ways but we are so selfish to put person interests we have in those multinational companies at stake. I know it is a very hard fight, a fight where personal interests are questioned. 



Sunday 22 September 2013

Love Is My Religion!

I have had several friends from western countries who are atheists, not believing in God at all. The first time i met such a friend it was very hard for me to accept that one can not be a believer and still be good. I did not want to believe that atheists were good especially after learning the impact of religion in a human life at a very young age. But as long as i stayed with him i realised that he was more human than i was, than most of those who believe in God.

I am not trying to justify atheism but i believe one has a right to be an atheist. Freedom of choice is a fundamental right of all human beings. I have used an example of atheist to try to explain the attack at Westgate Mall in Nairobi Kenya; were attackers seem to use religion to justify their selfish, cowardly and brutal attack of innocent people. They have killed so many innocent people and they have kept many as hostage. The hostage are suffering not knowing what will be their fate while the death roll increases as time moves.

This act is not religious if one could judge it in terms of religion. I have never heard of a religion which encourages killings. Never! If there is such religion then that religion has lost focus. I do not want to mention the name of the terrorist group because by doing that i will be giving them credit but what they have done is not fine at all. There are no reasons to justify such an incident, an incident of mass killing.

I am deeply touched by the water gate attack and i pray for Kenyans and the continent at large. I just hope one day all humanity will understand that the only true religion we have is love. One should do to others what he or she would like others to to him or her.

Saturday 21 September 2013

The slopes Experience!

With just one week on earth Boi had to travel hundreds of kilometres in a very rough road. It was a rain seasons, few days before Christmas of 1989. His mother had to take the burden of carrying him and make sure that he survives to see another day. According to his mother the journey was tiresome but the baby did not cry at all, he had a happy mood all the way. At that time the baby had no name and he was supposed to be named two weeks after his birth on Christmas day, Monday 1989.

Every time i reflect on the story of Boi whose first Christmas was on the road, i get a feeling that he was born an adventurer. From the first days of his life travelling has been a part of his passion. He knew that travelling was not bad and embraced travelling throughout his life. He did not cry during the tiresome journey because he knew his destiny is on the roads. Even after passing through the life expectancy of children in his country, on his birthday, he told his mother that he wanted to be a driver; not a doctor or a priest as his mother wished.

Days have gone and Boi is now a grown up person who has ended pursuing a career in diplomacy, believing that one he will be an ambassador and travel far away from his motherland. Last week, Boi went to the slopes, a place similar to the place he went on his first journey. This was a unique journey for him, Boi had never gone to the slopes without a reason despite his frequent visits. The slopes meant funeral, the slopes meant ancestors, the slopes meant baptism but this time it was different; the slopes meant learning.

The experience on the slopes was different. It was his first time there but he still felt at home. The two peaks Boi always see in his slopes visit were not there, neither the family cemetery nor his grandpas. It was a moment of learning, talking with strangers, gathering information. 

A Week in The Platform!

Life is strange. You meet people, you leave people. Some of them you even forget everything about them. Some you meet and become friends but destiny interrupts. Some you live with them, help each other in life but at end go separate ways and never meet again. That's life!

Two weeks ago i got an email inviting me for a global change course. As a change agent i was very happy to receive the good news and i had a lot of expectations. I call myself a selfless person even though not to that extent but i believe in the judgement of my own. After receiving the mail i knew it was another chance not only of learning but also meeting new people and living with them for another fifty eight days. 

The day came and it was that Sunday evening with a lot of excitement. Despite being sad to leave the hood and the land lady who had started bringing trouble every night, not because i had not paid her but because i had not offered her free beers for two months. She kinda got tired of me, an altruist who used to help her solve her every day problems. 

The journey was not that long but i was escorted by the new friends i had made in the hood. They all thought i was going Mbele kimya kimya (Abroad). These friends whom most of them were weed smokers. I had to make friendship with them for security reasons. They say keep your friend close but your enemies closer. I wanted them  to be their friends so as to avoid trouble every time i go to my room late. 

Arriving at platform was not that hard. As a trump i approached the get and meet this security officer whose face i don't remember. As i entered the room i meet a Gambian friend whom we had a short chat about the football match. I made more and more friends as times go on. I think it was a first time to make such friend in just a second.

Wednesday 19 June 2013

The Man in the Glass

When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself
And see what that man has to say.

For it isn’t your father, or mother, or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.

He’s the fellow to please – never mind all the rest
For he’s with you, clear to the end
And you’ve passed your most difficult, dangerous test
If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.

By Dale Wimbrow, published in 1934.