First and foremost, I send my condolences to the Maggeros on the passing away of Mr. Wuod Maggero. Secondly, I take this opportunity to respond to the so-called “Liberated Young Kenyans in Stockholm” who have signed a strongly-worded “e-petition” on the African Press in Norway (APN) website, challenging matters published on the Kenya Stockholm Blog (KSB), pertaining to the late Mr. Wuod Maggero.
I am pertubed that the liberated Kenyans chose to pen their thoughts on a website hosted in Norway and not on KSB, given that the events in question are based in Stockholm. I have decided to respond here and not in the “Norwegian cyberspace”, with my full names and not just as a “concerned Kenyan”. To Mr. Okoth Osewe who owns KSB, I say “kudos for keeping a large section of Kenyans updated on occurrences within Stockholm”.
The news of Mr. Wuod Maggero’s passing was first broken to the public through Mr. Osewe’s text message and an article on KSB. His passing has triggered a public debate that now pits the once “muted and shackled” yet now ardent liberated Kenyans, against the “conservatives”, who still believe that an African beholds his/her identity from birth unto death, depending upon how many generations have passed in the Diaspora.
I am glad that these liberals show that the Kenyan Stockholm community has writers willing to engage their “intellectual” prowess on matters pertaining to Luo traditions, gender and race, which have vexed them with regard to this funeral.
Being a contributor and a loyal reader of KSB, I have been keenly following the debate surrounding Mr. Maggero’s funeral. I was part of the crowd that met at the Continental Hotel on January 10th, 2007, and wish that these so-called liberated Kenyans were present then, to challenge, in this case, the conservative Kenyans. As usual, despite a mass SMS inviting all, they did not show up. Instead, they are now shouting in the virtual world, accusing Mr. Osewe of biased reporting about this funeral and so forth.
In my opinion, Mr. Maggero represented the first generation of Kenyans in Sweden, so events surrounding his funeral are unique. His case might have been different in the UK or the USA, where Kenyans have lived for many years, and some have severed traditional ties with their roots. As Mr. Osewe clearly put it in an earlier article, this might be the beginning of a radical shift in our perception of death abroad.
I wish to remind these liberals that according to Mr. Osewe, KSB is “… dedicated to News and events happening around Kenyans in Stockholm”. I have cited some Internet definitions of the term blog, to explain its meaning:
• A short form for weblog, a frequent and chronological publication of comments and thoughts on the web. They usually include philosophical reflections, opinions on the Internet and social or political issues.
www.epolitix.com/NR/exeres/0CE8163A-7446-43D7-A038-91C95E078E97,frameless.htm
• A public website where users post informal journals of their thoughts, comments, and philosophies, updated frequently and normally reflecting the views of the blog’s creator.
www.worldwidelearn.com/elearning-essentials/elearning-glossary.htm
• A weblog or internet diary. Weblogs enable users to publish short comments and ideas instantly for other people to read. Blogging can be an effective communications tool for small groups of people to keep in touch with each other.
www.z2z.com/site01/itglos01.html
• A “web log” or online diary. Blogs have been identified as an increasingly popular source of online publication, especially regarding political information, opinion publication and alternative news coverage.
www.parliament.vic.gov.au/sarc/E-Democracy/Final_Report/Glossary.htm
These varied definitions of the blog, clarify that it is a Web space for opinions on socio-political or other matters, either from the blogger or other contributors. It is continuosly updated: a key aspect about the blog. The liberated Kenyans accuse Mr. Osewe of not getting certain facts correctly, but do not acknowledge that those so-called falsified facts have been systematically corrected by KSB, and elsewhere in the cyberspace by the late Mr. Maggero’s wife, Mrs. Dagmar Wuod Maggero.
Since these liberated Kenyans want to keep things “intellectual”, I would like to ask them to cite word for word, all the fabricated stories on KSB, instead of blowing hot air with their e-petition which has so far attracted their mates only, yet it is posted on a website concerned with African matters. Have they asked themselves why their so-claimed a large section of Kenyans who are against KSB are not responding?
Randa, a contributor to the e-petition, claims that KSB should cease its unprofessional reporting. I challenge this group to open its own blog that can independently bash KSB by fully citing its mistakes, then market it to all Kenyans and the rest of the world. As a matter of fact, the credibility of KSB has been upheld through the citation of its news, by reknowned journalists on the websites of The Kenya Times and the Kenya London News.
I believe that a blanket condemnation of KSB without any proof is enough show of malice and twisted thinking, and only perpetuates what I often brand as “cheap feminist attacks”. I know my words will ruffle feathers and get labelled a “sexist”, but I am ready for an intellectual critique on this, as long as it remains civil and not personal.
I will refer the young liberals to a case that shocked Africans in Sweden and elsewhere, in 1995. This was the cremation of a young asylum seeker from Ivory Coast, named Gérard Gbeyo, who had been brutally murdered in Klippan, a small town in Sweden. Due to claims of delays in transporting the body and high costs incurred to preserve it, he was cremated in Sweden by the State, without the consent of his Ivorian family.
I urge the liberals to fetch a television documentary featured in one of the Swedish channels, and see how shocked Gérard’s family was, when their son’s ashes were transported to Ivory Coast in a box. As most Africans expect, burying a body and not its ashes is the norm. The liberals claim that since cremation is not a part of the Luo burial customs, then it is not a taboo. That is neither here nor there, because certain habits do not have to be explicit. KSB confirmed in an interview with Mrs. Dagmar Wuod Maggero, that Mr. Maggero did not write in his Will that he should be cremated.
To cite the liberal Kenyans, “the cremation decision was in fact Maggero’s as is captured in his WILL and not his wife’s and daughters”. If they have read the Will, how come Ms. Hellen Wuod Maggero (Wuod Maggero’s daughter) had not seen it by last Wednesday, when she met Kenyans at the Continental Hotel? In this case, the young liberals are merely rumour-mongering and biased. Can they publicly cite words from that WILL confirming the cremation of Wuod Maggero? Hell NO!
I recall very well that the following were the pleas from Kenyans to Ms. Hellen Wuod Maggero, on January 10, 2007 as cited on KSB:
1. That the funeral process of the late Maggero be delayed until his family can arrive from Kenya to attend the burial.
2. That the cremation of Mr. Maggero be delayed so that Kenyans can have the opportunity to view his body and pay their last respects.
3. That the family allow for Kenyans who knew Maggero to mourn the late Mzee in accordance with Luo culture.
The Continental Hotel discussions were also recorded on video and there is not a moment when anybody disrespected the issue of cremation. I personally asked Ms. Hellen Wuod Maggero whether it was her father’s wish to be cremated and the instant answer was “Yes”.
I therefore wonder what these young liberated Kenyans are whining about. I will not use this platform to comment on their perception of a woman’s role in decision-making and their counter-claims on interracial marriages. They are free to discuss these issues in whichever way they deem right, just as Mr. Osewe equally presented his opinion and that of the public he interviewed.
Jared Odero
KSB Note:
Let’s hope that the “Liberated Young Kenyans” will show their faces on Friday meeting at Continental Hotel to face Wakenya instead of engaging in peurile and empty attacks on KSB under anonymous tags in cyberspace.
