The Things That Drive Me To Despair: Africa's New "Friend"

[MOON Ki]

• Tweet

the title continued: "Meets Local Greed and Stupidity".

This sort of thing has now become routine, and hardly anyone in Africa who is in a position to do anything really cares. (Kenya, as an "important gateway to East Africa" is doing its bit in the self-destruction business.):

http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Kenyan-ivory-seized-in-Singapore/-/1056/2721932/-/wsrfmrz/-/index.html

While Africa sleeps, Chinese are banking on the fact that as soon as elephants and rhino become extinct, ivory and rhino-horn will be incredibly expensive; that is driving a lot of the greed that is finishing our wildlife while we cheer Kung Fu for loaning us (at high rates) money to build this and that, money to buy the latest quickly manufactured crap, ...   Here's an interesting article:

http://www.takepart.com/feature/2015/03/24/china-endangered-species-banking-extinction-poaching-elephants-tigers-rhinos

Another one:

https://networks.h-net.org/node/22055/discussions/51309/chinese-elephant-massacre-africa-extinction-looms

And the reaction in Africa?   Slumber.  Snore.   Assist.

Incredibly astonishing. It's like standing on two feet away from rail-tracks, watching a train-wreck happen in slow motion, and seeing  comfortable looks on all the faces around ... the passengers happily playing Draughts with the shiny, new, pieces of cheap plastic they just got from new friends.

Still, on the other things, some are showing signs of waking up:

http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/-We-should-be-careful-not-to-be-tied-to-corrupt/-/440808/2722724/-/k9vlu1z/-/index.html

One day people will cry "foul!". But on what reasonable basis does one claim rape after years of bending over saying, "I don't care! Stick that tarimbo right in the butt---I'll always bend over for it---just make sure the cheap junk and the chicken keep coming".

Tarmac on roads, bits of steel forming rail lines, cheaply-manufactured junk. These are easy to replace. In fact, as a direct result of industrial progress,  they get easier to replace as time goes by. Extinct species are a different matter.

[RV Pundit]

How is China to blame for corruption and collapse of wildlife mgt in kenya. Kenya should admit they can't stop poachers and call for help. In the meantime Kenya should support countries with excess elephants to sell them.

Botswana, TZ and many southern africa countries have excess elephants and some of them are being culled.Sell them to china. That ease the pressure on illegal ivory in Kenya.

 Allow private farms to breed and sell elephants for ivory.

[gout]

As much as these evil things- corruption, drugs, poaching, smugling, gun running, cattle rustling, counterfeit, terrorism, pornography, land grabbing ... are detestable and have debilitating effect on individuals and society at large the African who are able to get a share of the proceeds of these evils must be applauded .....
Africa needs more and more wealthy people...out of these wealthy people we will have 1 or 10 who can change the society for good ..... look at likes of ruto and sonko ...if ruto was not there we would have bcome a monarchy of kenyatta, moi, odinga........ look at sonko .....even kenyatta is concerned ......who knows sonko can unsettle the cart for ruto in 2022..... even if africans don't want none of it it will still go on .....evil is here to stay .....

[Omollo]

There is some old woman in Central who is killing elephants. The day she dies ( I pray to God it be sooner) is the day elephants and Rhinos would be redeemed. The Chinese etc are just the "market" (Marikiti as we call it). The Vietnamese etc are experienced smugglers and couriers - all working for her.

They say of some Nigeria god: "He has water enough but bathes in blood". This woman - The one who cannot not be named -  has enough money. Were she carrying a gun to kill for fun perhaps one could understand. She just kills them to make money she does not need!

[vooke]

There is some old woman in Central who is killing elephants. The day she dies ( I pray to God it be sooner) is the day elephants and Rhinos would be redeemed. The Chinese etc are just the "market" (Marikiti as we call it). The Vietnamese etc are experienced smugglers and couriers - all working for her.

They say of some Nigeria god: "He has water enough but bathes in blood". This woman - The one who cannot not be named -  has enough money. Were she carrying a gun to kill for fun perhaps one could understand. She just kills them to make money she does not need!

Boniface Mwangi fingered her way back.
What I can't understand, of all the relatively humane means of making money, and here I include drug trafficking, illegal logging, land grabbing, why would you settle for such a bloody venture?

But am starting to doubt they are Kenian.  Looks like we are  a conduit. They are way too much and the remaining elephants are a tad too few not to notice such a massacre.

[Omollo]

I believe part of it is addiction to impunity with a concentrated dose of hubris.

Too bad for her because the animals have some very hard cooked supporters- some more moneyed than her - by far! Once they get her on their agenda, she will wish she was never born. The trick is getting her fingered and then the rest is easy. There is no PR firm - whether run by Tony Blair, Dick Morris, David Axelrod or James Carville - that will rescue her and anybody trying to support her. I am afraid "the banana owner" has discovered (Achebe - The Trouble with Nigeria).

Boniface Mwangi fingered her way back.
What I can't understand, of all the relatively humane means of making money, and here I include drug trafficking, illegal logging, land grabbing, why would you settle for such a bloody venture?

But am starting to doubt they are Kenian.  Looks like we are  a conduit. They are way too much and the remaining elephants are a tad too few not to notice such a massacre.

[MOON Ki]

The "Queen Mother" has been at it since the late 1960s.  (Her initial specialization then was skins: cheetah, lions, etc.)   I doubt that she can readily give up what for her now must be "in the blood".   And who's going to tell her to knock it off?  The Lad?

[Omollo]

That is the reply I got when I asked why she is doing it. Apparently she know no other business. To her "business" is killing elephants and other wildlife and selling the tusks and trophies! Hio tu!

As for the lad: If The Queen is called upon regularly to get him to wake up, take a shower and dress up to go to work, when exactly do you think she can be stopped? There is a hopeless drunk with lots of power and nobody can dare wake him up when he has said he wants to rest. Nobody can take that risk incase he mumbles something like "shoot him".

We have an African Stalin.

The "Queen Mother" has been at it since the late 1960s.  (Her initial specialization then was skins: cheetah, lions, etc.)   I doubt that she can readily give up what for her now must be "in the blood".   And who's going to tell her to knock it off?  The Lad?

[RV Pundit]

I hope more and more of our politician can emulate Mama Ngina and stop looting our money and loot our elephants or do drugs. Cost-Benefit analysis. This kind of looting is better than looting treasury.

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

I hope more and more of our politician can emulate Mama Ngina and stop looting our money and loot our elephants or do drugs. Cost-Benefit analysis. This kind of looting is better than looting treasury.

Doesn't that kind of plunder still affect treasury at the end of the day? 

While it can't be completely stopped, looting can be made unrewarding and painful. 

A career ending stain much like sexual offenders and corrupt governors in Illinois.

We know it will not happen. Under Jubilee or CORD.

[RV Pundit]

The effect is tenuous at best..it probabaly going to affect wild life safaris in long term..but in the short term..it a small crisis.
This is not the same with someone literally looting the treasury or cbk.

There is no stain in corruption in kenya because most folks are busy stealing..whatever their position..right from nearest primary school.

Doesn't that kind of plunder still affect treasury at the end of the day? 

While it can't be completely stopped, looting can be made unrewarding and painful. 

A career ending stain much like sexual offenders and corrupt governors in Illinois.

We know it will not happen. Under Jubilee or CORD.