The youth have a political opinion too

[Kichwambaya]

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In most countries the youth play a very major role in bringing about change, because they are usually the most idealistic, brave and they sacrifice the most. Whether we are talking about wars, demonstrations, riots, sit-ins, etc, the youth are a force to recone with.  This is why I get frustrated that in Kenya, whenever the youth expresses themselves politically they are ignored and someone else is paid for inciting them as if they do not have their own minds. It is true that they are sometimes paid but that does not mean they are forced to do the things they do. For example, ouru paid Mungiki to carryout the naivasha massacre and most of the Mungiki soldiers were probably young, however, that does not mean that the Mungiki adherants were forced to do what they did, ouru only facilitated it and that is what he was charged for.  I watched some video clips from migori and saw the youth chanting and dancing ODM. Those did not seem to me like people bought but people expressing their political opinions freely. Why would ouru and the other politicians be the only person who is allowed to express his political opinion in a rally and everybody else relegated to gather, sit quietly and listen to the same BS again and again. I am glad the youth are getting impatient and I hope they boycott these rallies if they are denied the opportunity to express themselves. When they cheer the politicians they are good but when they heckle then they are bad. Why don't they ban all kinds of responses then.

[RV Pundit]

Kichwa,
What would you say if a rival politician pays some drunkard youths to DISRUPT a rival political rally. And if that disruption involved the use of violence. This is a common occurrence in kenya right from ward elections. It derived from the fear of free thinking. I think the civilized way to go about this is simple. Let Uhuru talk to an empty stadia. Boycott his rallies. The same for Raila in central province.

Democracy can only thrive when everyone has the right to say whatever he thinks like we do here in Nipate. That right to say includes heckling, demos,picketing and civil disobedience no doubt..but we need to think about other people who want to live their lives peacefully and quietly.

It akin to spamming nipate...you have the right to do that..but what about others?

As a compromise if you need to heckle and shout down speakers (really a demonstration)....just notify the police..so they can make prior arrangement and warn others...as per the law.

[Kichwambaya]

RV pundi.  Certainly one way to express yourself politically is to boycott a political rally of your opponent.  However, attending the politically rally and heckling the speaker is also another way of political expression. While it is a crime to use violence the actual heckling is not a crime.  I think what caused more chaos is the police pointing at the people with guns and then the people remembered the Kisumu massacre of 1969 and took off.  I would also recommend boycott as the much more sanitized and risk free way of expressing ones self politically but  I would not want to take peoples constitutional rights to confront a politician, through heckling.  Most demonstrations starts out peacefully until the police start throwing teargas, pointing guns at people and beating up the demonstrators.  I saw some youth there just singing ODM ODM and not throwing anything as the media is alleging. 

[RV Pundit]

We are in agreement..as long as there is no violence that is okay..our police need retraining on democracy..maybe they can log in to nipate once in a while..and they will understand heckling is just part of democracy.

Yes we should never take away the right to heckle, demostrate, picket, engage in civil disobedience and all the many uncomfortable things citizen should do to make those in powers realize their job is serious.

I think we just need guild-lines from police and gov on how that can be done without compromising security and of course the agenda of the hecklers..which is to get heard.

RV pundi.  Certainly one way to express yourself politically is to boycott a political rally of your opponent.  However, attending the politically rally and heckling the speaker is also another way of political expression. While it is a crime to use violence the actual heckling is not a crime.  I think what caused more chaos is the police pointing at the people with guns and then the people remembered the Kisumu massacre of 1969 and took off.  I would also recommend boycott as the much more sanitized and risk free way of expressing ones self politically but  I would not want to take peoples constitutional rights to confront a politician, through heckling.  Most demonstrations starts out peacefully until the police start throwing teargas, pointing guns at people and beating up the demonstrators.  I saw some youth there just singing ODM ODM and not throwing anything as the media is alleging. 

[Omollo]

Cognisant of the agreement between the two of you that the freedom of expression is inalienable, negotiable or otherwise subject to curtailment, I venture to suggest that legislation is lagging behind our development.

Most countries legislate a perimeter beyond which picketing becomes illegal and actionable. Protesters can also negotiate with the police beforehand or on site about their rights. They can not be so far that their protest is meaningless and they cannot be too close to cause disruption or reprisals from the "other side". Thus a middle ground is found whereby the police facilitate the demo and may even be a buffer between the anti and pro demos.

On the subject of lazy MPs:

1. Not only have they not completed the bills to effectuate the constitution, they have given themselves 9 months which will elapse before the bills are passed;

2. Legislation on mobile phones and Mpesa is still to see the light of day. Where other countries have quickly moved to expand the wire and mail fraud and other laws to cover the innovation, Mpesa remains a free high way for conmen and robbers. If a man is forced to reveal his pin code and thus cause money to be withdrawn from an ATM, the perpetrator should face direct charges; If Pundit, intending to send pocket money to his daughter and makes a mistake and the money ends up with Kichwa, Kichwa should immediately refund the money unchallenged and make sure he does not spend it. Any spending, effort to avoid refund or  deception should be heavily punished.

[Kichwambaya]

We are only hearing one side of the story from a media that complains about government sensorship but decided to sensor itself during saba saba day opposition rally.  The media is now covering only those who want to condemn the incident and refuses to interview the people and find out exactly what happened. The Kenyan media is so concentrated in Nairobi, owned by people from the same tribe and basically speaks the same language. Since the media is a very important component of democracy, we do not only need a freedom of press but also diversity of press culturally and politically.  We need Kisumu based Media, Mombasa based Media Nakuru based media and Garrisa based media just for starters.  The government can do a lot through licensing and tax incentives to diversify the media.  This was so apparent after the last presidential elections when the media received orders from their owners to blackout the opposition because of this false notion that opposition was responsible for the 2007 PEV. There are certain things that the government cannot leave for the free market to own. The government should stop giving any more TV station licences in Nairobi and start giving encouragement incentives elsewhere just like it does with farming subsidies and other gender diversity programs.