"Luos are too proud", people say, "They're so full of themselves". Unlike those who propagate this stereotype, I have the benefit of being a Luo and I'm not full of myself. I know that this doesn't prove anything but I'm only trying to show how silly it is to imagine that all Luos are the same. Most Luos would admit that they are almost ashamed to be Luos.  Let me explain; Luos are associated with so many negative stereotypes that some of them go to the extent of trying to hide or camoflage their ethnic identities. They take English names, drive German cars, drink Italian whiskeys and marry Kikuyu women. As if that wast enough, they detest their homeland to the point of slowly turning it into an empty wasteland. Any Luo worth his weight in gold will never build a decent house at his "ancestral home". What for? For bats to live in? To create an impression of wealth and attract the envy of the village folks? No. A Luo would buy land somewher...

 Having tried so hard to avoid playing against each other all season, Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards both booked their places in the FKF Betway Cup Final via post-match penalties against lowly opposition. Should this game go through, it will be the first time these two sides meet this season, after their league game was postponed. Watching their body language, Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards don't seem to want to play each other at all. But they now have to. Going by the results of the past few seasons where Gor Mahia has not lost to Leopards in seven meetings, this should be an easy game for Gor Mahia. But football doesn't quite work that way, does it? Both teams have changed coaches five times between them since their last meeting. The lineup which Gor Mahia will put out in the fixture will probably feature more than seven players making their debut in the so-called Nairobi Derby. The same can also be said of AFC Leopards too, who seem to have a complete set of squad players every yea...

 The late Ochieng' Kabaselleh wrote many songs but few are as intriguing as his dedication to his departed dad, titled "Wuora Ogolla Adoyo" .  Recorded in the 90s, the song is emotional yet soothing, almost exploitatively poignant. I must have first listened to the song in the early 2000s soon after losing my own dad and personally identified with the agony, grief and the outpouring of emotion in the song. Sung in a mournful tone, with passion and raw emotion all over the lyrics, it's hard to listen to the song without being moved. One thing that stands out the most is the phrase, "awuoro Asembo Kokise" (I'm astonished at or I detest Asembo Kokise) which evokes a deep feeling of anger and resentment over the small village in Siaya County from which his late father ailed. He wonders why - even how - they dared to bury his dead father in his absence. Ochieng' Kabaselleh never got to meet his father. The story goes that he had been raised by his mother....

In this third post in the series, I'll focus mainly on verbs. In Lingala verbs in their infinitive form take the prefix "ko-" instead of "ku-" which is common in swahili for example "to walk" in Lingala becomes "kotambola". Another important note is that verbs in their future form take the affix "-ko-" instead of "-ta-" in swahili for example "I will walk" becomes "na ko tambola". Again in Lingala most verbs take the suffix  "- aki" for example I walked is natambolaki With all that in mind, let's look at some selected Lingala verbs, that I think are quite useful. 1. Koyemba - to sing. When I think of this word the song that comes to my mind is Madilu System's song tittled "Ya Jean" where he sings, " Nayemba na Luambo Makiadi Franco ayembisaki ngai makambo ezali minene.." roughly translating t o " I sang with Luambo Makiadi Franco made to sing 'problems ar...

 It's not long ago when a hitherto little-known artiste, Pitson released his single "Lingala ya Yesu" which was more of a parody on Congolese soukous than a gospel song. It was a hilarious and entertaining song but also quite misleading firstly because Lingala is a Language, not a genre of music and secondly, soukous as a genre is not defined by artistes' dressing and mannerisms but the style of music. But don't get me wrong, the song is quite well composed and entertaining. Is that not what we look for in a song? In the song we find the following words sung by Pitson, " Waliniambia lingala poa nifunge mshipi juu ya tumbo. Na nijue kilingala eti “petit Lingala eza moke” (They told me in a good Lingala song, I have to tie the belt over the stomach. And I have to speak Lingala like, "Little, lingala is Little."). These words while obviously not true are a loose depiction of Congolese stereotype. Opulent dressing and extravagant lifestyle has character...

 Ohangla genre of music is probably the most popular genre of music in the entire Nyanza region in Kenya right now, but not everyone has been impressed by this meteoric rise. A decade ago, the genre was underground, mainly heard in exclusive late night parties, bars or members' only events. It was disdained, even abhorred and left to the detritus of the human civilization. Ohangla was even banned in some areas in rural Nyanza where the local chiefs saw it as morally disparaging. How Ohangla shook off those shackles of abhorrence to rise to the envied helm of popular music is a mystery of miraculous proportions. It did not take many years. It reached a point when some artistes who had made a name for themselves in other genres had to jump ship. Those who hitherto eschewed the genre started paying attention - in hard cash. The money started to flow in and where there is money, there's, well, everything else. The genre has somehow shaken off the aura of depravity, but it is still ...

I've been around for sometime, but I have never before in my life witnessed  mass programming and brainwashing carried out to such a scale as it is currently. Over the past two years or so the "social engineering", brainwashing and manipulation of the public opinion in our television programming is simply appalling. Propaganda is promoted as news, fear mongering as science and superstition and opinions are propagated as facts. Journalism is dead. The cooperate media and the global news companies are no longer involved in reporting news and events but in brainwashing the masses, and the promotion of globalist agenda. The cooperate media is under a stranglehold. They only report what the elite global "special interest" wants reported in a way they want it done. Anybody who doesn't go along with the narrative is labeled a homophone,  a racist, sexist, religious fundamentalist, xenophobe, an islamophobe, conspiracy theorist or  a hate monger. The agenda is to cr...