Jamhuri day Leaves Kenyans more divided,Leaders rush to heal the Divide

Kenyan Ambassaador to the US, His Excellency Elkanah Odembo and his wife, Mrs. Aoko Midiwo-Odembo (with folder) watch as a fan hugs the reigning Miss Kenya USA Angela Muiruri during the 47th Jamhuri day celebrations held at Umass Boston.Looking on is Ben Mbugua (far left), a member of the Ambassador's council that organized the event.Pic by H.Maina/Ajabu Media

Guests of honor at the Kenyan Jamhuri day celebrations at the CCF church in Lowell last sunday during the singing of the Kenyan and American national anthems. From left to right, pastor Joseph Kamau, visting from Kenya, Kenyan Ambassador to the UN, Her Excelency Dr. Julia Ojiambo, Lowell Mayor, His Excellency James L. Millinazo, US Senator from Massachusetts,Steven Panagoitakos, CCF church pastors, Rev. Rafu Najem and Rev. Elvira Whitecomb

by Harrison Maina, Ajabu Africa News, posted December 7, 2010
BOSTON & LOWELL, Mass._Just like the dew that comes in the morning and goes by daytime, the much awaited and talked about Jamhuri day celebrations in New England came and went last Sunday, leaving in its wake a more divided Kenyan community in Boston than ever before.

However, days following the event, previously differing church leaders who were at the forefront of organizing the parallel celebrations have issued statements at various community meetings denying any divisions among them and pledging to work together to unite Kenyans more.

The 47th Jamhuri day celebration, that signify the day that Kenya attained full independence from the British colonial masters, had caused passions and strained relationships between organizers of the two main events, providing Kenyans with a difficult choice on which event to attend and which to skip.

During a burial fund raising meeting for the late Teresiah Wambui Nguyaii that took place last Saturday, on the Jamhuri day eve, several Kenyan pastors who were at the forefront of organizing the celebrations made contradicting statements in an effort to show that it is a good thing to have two major Jamhuri day celebrations in the same state, and a 40 minutes drive apart.

"Prayers for Jamhuri day will be at the CCF church but the Government will be in Boston", said Bishop Joshua Wambua of Rapture Harvest Mission International , the key figure organizing the Boston event, to more than 400 Kenyans assembled for the fund raiser.

"This year, Kenyans will have Jamhuri day celebrations brought to their backyards.We have Jamhuri day events in cities near your home so no one has a reason not to celebrate", said Rev. Samuel Kimohu of Saint Stephens church. "Those who want to go to the CCF church can go there, and those who want to go to the Boston event can go there", he added. Rev. Kimohu and the majority of the members of his church attended the Boston event, a shift from their tradition of attending the other rival parallel event organized by the Kenya Pastors' Fellowship(KPF).

The chairman of the Kenyan Pastors' Fellowship, who were holding their 3rd Annual Jamhuri Day celebrations, Bishop David Karaya, was not categorical about the venue issue but talked more about the planned launching of a cheap term life insurance program intended to reduce the frequent burial fund raisings in the Kenyan community.

In Lowell, the celebrations put together by the KPF, which is a conglomeration of about 28 pastors of various Kenyan community churches failed to attract the usual sizeable crowd witnessed at previous events, estimated at about 500 Kenyans.
 
About 200 Kenyans attended the Lowell event while about 300 more attended the celebrations held at Umass Boston.

The development clearly took the organizers of the Lowell event by surprise, as it was evident that the Boston event had attracted a good number of the same people who used to attend previous Jamhuri day events organized by the Kenya Pastors' Fellowship.

However, put together, both events failed to attract anywhere close to the estimated 15,000 or more Kenyan citizens living in the New England region.

In Boston many who of the Kenyans who packed an auditorium at the UMASS Boston campus called it “a lively Jamhuri day celebration”.

The event  started very late at around 5.00 pm instead of the planned  time of 2.30pm, making organizers cut and slice their way through the original program  while trying to accommodate as much as practically possible.

 A wide range of entertainment including nostalgic Kenyan patriotic songs by the Jamhuri live band from the Saint Stephens church in Lowell was in the offing.

Popular Djs also took turns to entertain guests .They included DJ fresh, a local gospel DJ, DJ Sam, DJ Tony Montana, DJ Sture and Dj On Point, who are all local secular music entertainers.

Kenyan Ambassaador to the US, His Excellency Elkanah Odembo speaking to Kenyans in Boston during the 47th Jamhuri day celebrations

Speeches by local Kenyans imitating the independence era Kenyan leaders like Jomo Kenyatta, Tom Mboya, Oginga Odinga and Dedan Kimathi were presented to the delight of   those present.

David Mambo 'Jomo', a Kenyan community organizer who is well known for mimicking the first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta fitted naturally at his role that, sounding like the popular late president, word for word.

It is this mimicking that earned Mambo the popular nickname 'Jomo' as most people call him.

Gitau, a drummer with the Jamhuri Live Band, mimicked former president Daniel arap Moi’s  sound bites  to precision, stirring nostalgic memories of humorous speeches by Kenya's second president.

Other local Kenyans who mimicked independence era leaders included Mzee Joseph Mithiga for Oginga Odinga .

Several dozens of Kenyan-American youths held banners representing each of the 42 Kenyan tribes, mentioning their names and the tribe they were representing, exciting the Ambassador and Kenyans present a lot.
 
Organized by the newly formed Ambassador’s Council, an organization of Kenyans that was tapped to advise the new Kenyan Ambassador on issues and needs of the Kenyan community in New England, the Boston event attracted many Kenyans from different backgrounds and cities from al over New England, especially due to the allure of the presence of the senior most Kenyan diplomat in the US and the expected presence of the first ever African American Governor of Massachusetts.

 The Ambassador’s council was led  by Bishop Joshua Wambua  of the Rapture Harvest Mission International and comprised of  about a dozen other Kenyans form different cites of the state.

The members of the Ambassador’s council each gave a brief speech extolling the gains that Kenyans would stand to gain if they came together in unity.

During the keynote speech, Amb.Odembo told Kenyans that the every Kenyan in America needs to focus and achieve on the goal they came to achieve in this country.He said that Kenyan immigrants who arrived here with the 'Airlift Project' right before and around the independence time in 1963 came in search of education, and they excelled at it.

The 'Airlift' refers to a wave of dozens of Kenyan students who got scholarships to study in the US after one Kenyan leader, Tom Mboya, initiatedin 1960 after Mboya visited Senator Jack Kennedy to ask for assistance. 81 Kenyan students, including president Barack Obama's father, Barack Obama Sr. who went to Hawaii for his studies, came thogut the Airlift Project.(wikipedia)

"These form the crop of many of the current leaders in Kenya".

But these days, Odembo added, there are many many Kenyans coming to America for various reasons including about 7,000 students annually, and many other kenyans who come for economic and other reasons.

 He said that he is ready and willing to listen to Kenyans in the US on how to maximize their gains in this country.

He said that he has been going round different states to meet Kenyans and familiarize with them since he took the mantle as the newly appointed envoy. Amb.Odembo succeeded the previous Ambassador, Peter N.R.O Ogengo who also went to great lengths at meeting face to face with Kenyans in different cities and states.

Amb. Odembo and his wife, Mrs. Aoko Midiwo-Odembo (far right) take picures with young Kenyan Americans. Pic by Eric Githire, Ajabu Images

Amb. Odembo however cautioned Kenyans who want to invite him to different functions to  realize that he  does not like to attend community events  because  he is a was an  ambassador for all  Kenyans and so attending a few selected  community events here and there many not be the best idea.

 “Do not invite me for community events. Invite me only Kenyan events. I am an ambassador for all Kenyans”, said the envoy.

 He castigated Kenyans in the Diaspora for displaying more negative tribal dispensations during the last general elections that ended in tribal based violence and chaos that left 1113 people dead and over half a million displaced in their own country.

 “Kenyans in the Diaspora behaved worse than Kenyans back home along tribal lines”, said the Ambassador.

  He asked Kenyans to shun tribalism and come together in unity which would open up many opportunities to improve their lives here in America and those of their brothers and sisters back in Kenya.

 The thanked the ambassador’s council for the good job they did at organizing the Jamhuri day celebrations and inviting him to attend.

 It was Odembo’s second Jamhuri day celebration for the weekend after a national celebration took place last Friday in Washington DC where several hundred Kenyans from all over the country attended.

 While answering questions from various Kenyans in the audience he Ambassador aid that there are many trade and business opportunities that are opening up in Kenya and that Kenyans should take advantage of them.

He promised that the embassy will do all it can to provide necessary information and support to those aspiring to do business in Kenya.

The Ambassador reminded all Kenyans that the embassy was not renewing passports anymore but issuing brand new passports processed online through the Embassy website.

"This information has been on the embassy website since last year but some Kenyans never read it", he said while encouraging Kenyans to try and stay more informed by visiting the website regulary and actually reading the content.

 He sympathized with many Kenyan who have reported to have lost their investments through shoddy land deals after sending large sums of money to   land purchasing companies and attorney in Kenya, only for them to be told that the plots they purchased were illegal and non existent.

 He told   those who have lost money through such deals that the embassy can help follow up on their behalf to a rightful conclusion. However, this would require production of all the paper trail that was used to enter into the contracts.

 “I am capable of following up these matters with the lands ministry anytime. Get us the information of such deals. Give us the documentation used and we will take care of it”, said Odembo.

 However, he said that those who have lost investments   after sending money to their relatives who them went ahead and skimmed it may have a challenge from getting any legal redress.

 “If you lost your money through your relative, then such a case may be a little bit more challenging to resolve”, he said, causing laughter in the hall.

  Odembo also said that Kenyans in the Diaspora should come up together and start different funds where money can be invested for the benefit of the community or for business interests.

 He said that Kenyans should strive to adapt to the new methods of investments available especially in the growing stock markets in Kenya and elsewhere where returns are massive if well managed.

“We should not always be thinking on buying plots as the only way of investment”, he said.

  He also supported the idea of Kenyans in New England coming together to start funds to help when members of the community die before they are insured to avoid the frequent burial fund raisings.

George Mungai, left, asks Ambassador Odembo why Kenyans are having too many burial fund raisings in New England at the expense of other community develpoment needs . Looking on is Bishop Joshua Wambua

 He also suggested the starting of fund to purchase desks where people can contribute a small amount of money on a monthly basis for a project to buy desks for the many children in different rural school in Kenya who study with no desks.

 The ambassador assured that the money contributed to such community funds would be safe and secure in this era of information technology and great awareness.

  “Kenyans now are very vigilant with their money. You can not eat their money just like that anymore”, he said.

He wished all Kenyans a happy Jamhuri day before the event ended with prayers by Rev. Samuel Kimohu.

As he left the hall, many Kenyans jostled for position to take pictures of a life time with their Ambassador who is a direct representation of their president in the USA.

The event ended with an after party entertainment at the greatest bar in Downtown mass where DJ Sam and DJ Sture entertained guests.

Jamhuri Day in Lowell, click here

A section of Kenyans filling a hall at the University of Massachusetts Boston to mark the the 47th Jamhuri day celebrations. The Kenyan Ambassador to the US, His Excellency Elkanah Odembo attended the event. Pic by H.Maina/Ajabu Media

Ajabu Pictorial coming soon!


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