A PEEK INTO THE BIG BREAK FROM THE PITCH TO THE BUSH BY THE NUC MORANS,WHAT A DAY!!

Normally, Saturday mornings find me basking behind  Serengeti hostel with other professional idlers led by Chacha,Mogire and the number one “basker!”Obadiah,I swear this guy loves to bask so much that he will be found lying down like a giant monitor lizard even when its raining. as usual, we discuss politics of the week,football,campus politics, complain about the little HELB money  and concessionary who is getting laid by who or who is laying who  in campus or watch those taking what is known the walk of shame,ie those from sleep-overs. It was during our usual hang at the jobless corner that I got a call from my one good friend Dansoh the most cheeky computer  geek asking if I could urgently go to a new joint called THE GREENLAND CONSERVANCY, just a few hundred meters from campus and could I please go with my camera?

I thought its some news he wanted me to cover and with the lecturers strike on and fellas so idle, we are never short of news. Unfortunately, my camera was away taking photos of bikini clad bi*ches at Mombasa beaches with the tourism class so I informed him it was not possible until I heard him mention something like the rugby team bash! It was not a chance to be wasted on a Sarto that seemed to have been determined to take 34hrs to reach evening. On a record breaking 20 minutes I was good to go. Kenyan men and goat-roasting bashes! On my way to the place, there was this kind of excitement on the road from Runda to Total and I could see the skinniest of fellas(I can swear they don’t know the shape of a rugby ball) walking towards the party area pocketing and whistling happily to tunes that  they themselves couldn’t recognize! And I can swear that I’m not by any means trying to imply that my joker friend Colloh was among them!

The situation on the ground was equally interesting. As usual,rugde players are huge wild guys who if they bend down and goes on fours could easily be mistaken for rogue rhinos and I’m not referring to Jude, pronounced as “Chut” or Bensoh.So u can imagine a group of huge guys lying low on the wooden benches inside the park talking in deep baritone voices on the bush that Greenland Conservancy is.For once I though im embedded deep in Somalian Puntland with the Kenya army guys out to beat the Shabaab into a pulp. The one factor that kept reminding me that I was amongst some of the most intelligent brains in the country was that unlike the army who they resembled save the uniforms, they talked about things academia.see?the army talk about wars of conquest, their travels around the globe and of course their different encounters with various women of the world.So,it was during one such talk that Johnnie the rugby captain got to give us a lecture on the reason why boys tend to love their mothers more than their dads who they see as competitors and also how a guy named Odipus killed his father just to have his mother all to himself! And to prove Johnnie right Colloh,not the skinny one,colloh wa drama,said that such a though once crossed his (silly!)mind.

All the while, the natural law of the beauty and the beast was applying. You know how it goes between rudge guys and beautiful girls, they are like magnets! Darwin in his evolution theory claimed that male animals fight and the strongest ones survive to mate with the healthiest females for the continuity of the species and the law seems no exception to human beings!Alas,were it not for the side factors like money and social status, some fellas would sadly leave the world without passing their genes! Beauties were in plenty and the best thing is that campus guys go for galz with not only good stuff between their but also between their ears! So that is how I found myself into a debate on various cameras and scene setting mode in photojournalism with one cute Esther, a Nairobi based journalist who I can only contact through  colloh as he hindered all the efforts our exchanging the number saying that if we need to consult in anything we do it through him, but never mind, like in investigative journalism, we exchanged numbers right under his very(nosy)nose!Brayoh Omondi my very good friend and fellow blogger was in company of his queen Laurie and Epho was  accompanied by his sweetheart too and Jude and his coastal beauty.Danso the rogue bachelor seemed to have a new sweet catch but I’m not in a mode to make quick conclusion on the guy who is married to his number one love, Computers!!

Nico of the eating competition fame was in attendance as noisy and hungry as usual. On a casual chat  with Dansoh Ito while away time as we waited for the meal, I got to find out a short history of this group of great young men.

      INSIDE LIFE OF THE NUC RUGBY PLAYERS(THE MORANS),LIFE IN AND OUT OF THE PITCH.

The team was founded by Danson Gichui,John mugi and Alexie mwangi on their first week in campus as freshmen in 2009.They encouraged the rest to join. They had several challenges as it was the first time that majority of the players were playing the game and only about 3 knew about the game. Rugby is not a game of the weak minded or weak bodied and so they had to embark on a military-style of training to harden and toughen up the players. Stuff that turns mamas boys into commandos in the pitch. Due to the hard and tough training procedure that saw them running for around 10kms on daily basis, majority dropped out and the tough got going on.

The fist ever game they were beaten a shameful 43 to 0 by a local team of some idlers from Narok town so u can see the distance they had to go before being men in terms of rugby players.Sadly,they had no coach or a field and they had to contribute their own money to buy balls. A trend that goes on up to today as the school only provided  them with two very old balls which saw them contributing money almost on daily basis to have them sewn due to puntures.But on their persistence they have really moved on to the point of almost beating the national champions in the Maseno open tournament.

Life in the pitch is run with military precision with the captain calling the shots backed up by the disciplinian.Rugby being a very emotional game due to  the numerous push and shoves involved, requires strict code of discipline else the pitch would turn into  another battle field. Its not uncommon to see players exchange blows. The unwritten rule that everyone has to follow irrespective of their position in the team is that whatever time that one arrives later than the said time on the pitch either by 30 or one second, you have to take 5laps around the field.

The players, due to the hardships involved or what they undergo together has made them to stick together as brothers and even out of the pitch you will find that they are drinking buddies and often you find them passing time together and woe unto you if you decide to fight any one of them outside in the  clubs for you will never know where the rest will come from.

They are also a generous lot with not only big bodies but also big hearts take for instance yesterdays bash were the number of those that were invited and are not rugby players was almost double the team members.They contributed all the money and invited people just to feast on the goat.

Here is the list of the players in detail.

NAME	DESIGNATION	POSITION
John mugi(jonie)	captain	Winger/center
Danson gichuhi (dansoh/head)	Organizing sec	fly half
Brian kiprop(brayo)		prop
Cyrus rotich(cyroh)	Ass captain	Scrum half
Paul nthiwa(kamuma)		hooker
Kelvin kipruto(small)		Winger/center
Alex mwangi(alekie)	Team manager	Winger/center
Benson githui(head.master)		second rows
Livingstone lugaka(kuku)		fullback
Kevin magiri(big)	disciplinarian	Eighth man
Collins kamau(head.gear)		prop
Nickodemus matara(niko)		winger
Kennedy kibata(kennie)		hooker
Jude barasa(chut)		center
Wallela tulienge		Winger/center
Brian omari(omar)		scrumhalf
Augustine mukhwana		center
Kevin akoko(bush)		secondrows
Brian omondi(maGUYZ)		flanker
Emmanuel ochieng(unfit)		flanker
Robert wafula(chonjo)		Flanker/winger
Michael kidiori(mike)		Flanker/secondrows

Many are the times one’s life has been changed by their participation in what they love doing. Take for example many national players who are making fortune in the game and they are already enrolled in the universities and it’s not the degrees that is giving them millions.

Back to the bash, meal time saw a mountain of ugali and copious amounts of various flavor of juice served by Johnie the capie and meal time saw Sailoh,Brian Kiprop Johnie and Esther take to the serving box and overfill our plates with sembe,mbuzi fry,veges and kachumbari.There was plenty in store with the bold and shameless going for the second helping like kina Chacha  and Kelvo big going for several helpings which is not a crime anyway.

Lugaka,Kennie and Mwas proved to have diplomas and higher diplomas in roasting goat legs and heads to create soup out of them and just like in the traditional dowry negotiations ceremonies where one never got to finally know the destination of such parts of meat, nobody got to know the exact final destination of the head meat meant for the elders.

All along, Morris mwenda,my companion got everything  covered in video and I promise you that everything from those quick pecks and kisses in the bush were also captured and the video will soon be  available in this court and the newly created rugby players fan page in the Facebook.

Until the next issue I remain yours faithful,

“Team editor”

GOVERNMENT LETTING STUDENTS DOWN.

Following the shocking revelation of the underground drug deals by a ruthless group of individuals named “untouchables”, by two dedicated Kenyan investigative journalists Mohamed Ali  and Dennis Onsarigo,everyone has been left questioning the integrity of Kenyan politicians and the meaning of the police slogan “utumishi kwa wote”.

We all watched in awe and even greater  shock  as the events that followed the intercepting of the largest haul of cocaine in Africa unfolded. There was well orchestrated serial killings to the  police officers and individuals who seemed to oppose the move to enrich themselves  from the drug money. The greatest shame was that those murdering them was their colleagues who they worked with on daily basis .Its a shame that love for money and wealth has superseded the respect and dignity with which we should always hold human life with as it is priceless.

The most disturbing part was the execution of an innocent man in front of his young family and worse still ask his neighbor to eat his brains. The man is up tp now mentally disturbed and I believe he will die with that horrifying picture in his mind. It hurt so much to see a seven year old boy crying on the national television passing a message to the killers of his father and saying he was sure they were enjoying life with their children. Is it possible for such a child to easily say what Alfred Mutua coined for us all to be saying, that “najivunia kuwa mkenya”?i believe no, not until justice has been served and the killers of his dad brought to book.

Being a journalism student I watched with great admiration for the two Kenyan journalists. I hoped and still hope to do the same kind of citizen journalism once im through with my studies.To expose the rot in the society, I hoped the government would soon be announcing a top reward and state security to the two journalists until I saw the police commissioner, Mathew  Iteere  announcing it that the two were to  were to be sued together with their media house. What a shame! They were to be sued for proving that the politicians were into drugs trade and did not really care about the future of the youth. They were to be sued for using almost a full year of their time doing what the government together with the police failed to do; to name and shame those that think they are above the law and that Kenya is just their playing field. I felt discouraged to be pursuing journalism because I felt that the government views them as their enemies and not their extra eyes.

Many students who work hard to get  earn a good and modest  and responsible life after  school felt that  at the end of the day, what mattered is not your hard work but the money, no matter how dirty you will have acquired it that mattered. For example, I wonder whether the young boys narrating how their fathers were killed by the police would ever think of joining the police force if they had earlier decided to follow in their dads footsteps bearing in mind a child always want to be like their fathers. If they sue the two journalists or execute them in cold blooded murders which have almost become a ritual in our society, how many journalism students ambition will thy have killed?

I urge the two principles to say something on this case and to protect journalists in the course of their work and to provide justice to the aggrieved parties so that they can bring back confidence and ambition to Kenyan students who are following this sad case with a lot of interest.

MORRIS MUNENE MUGO,

NAROK UNIVERSITY COLLEGE,

SECOND YEAR JOURNALISM STUDENT.

ON OUR MEN IN SOMALI FIGHTING AL-SHAABAB

It is almost two weeks into Kenya’s invasion of Somalia. If you don’t watch the news or read the papers you could almost forget that Kenya is at war. There is so much new information streaming in daily. It is getting harder to decipher hype from fact.  Feelings of uncertainty are rising in the city because we fighting an amorphous enemy. Two grenade attacks in Nairobi, allegedly a copy cat terrorist pledging allegiance to Al Shabaab has brought the war on Somalia onto our doorsteps. It is no longer over there. The next man in the streets could be the enemy within. Given the amount of aggrieved jobless youth in our midst, it does not paint a pretty picture.  The government has some great advice though, be vigilant and patriotic.  We desperately need a man in Somalia to tell us what’s going on?

The news is not too racy as yet because the war has been ‘good’ so far. TV stations are groping for fresh angles. KTN had a clip on a captured Al Shabaab soldier, some smiling teenage in a loose T-shirt. I might be mistaken but think I saw a Kenyan soldier’s arm resting lazily on the boys shoulder. We clearly treat our prisoners-of-war amicably. Our military looks like the Salvation Army on a meet and greet tour. You almost half expect them to start handing out Brand Kenya flyers. NTV chose a depressing causality of war story and had me wondering how many body bags were making it across the border. Jeff Koinange on the bench at K24 had better pulse on situation on a recent interview with Dr. David Matsanga of the Africa World Media. Even as the outspoken Matsanga took a pro war stance in between the furious banter, a proxy war was alluded to that had all the markings of a NATO conspiracy. But our man in Somalia Michael Njenga of Citizen TV took the prize. His transition from business suits to combat fatigues was progressing well. By day 10 on the frontline he had bullets strapped across his shoulders, clutching a gun and grimacing like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the flick Commando.  He was cautious as he delivered military intelligence to the captive audience at home something along the lines of, “The army will be moving to the town but we cannot tell you when because of security reasons but all we can say is it that is very soon”. Indeed.

War time reportage is clearly new territory. It is lucrative as it guarantees a wide captive audience and crucial eyeballs for advertisers. Audiences are hooked to the daily dose of depressing news and wars sell like hot cake. Worryingly though, primetime news casters are starting to look like spectators, seemingly uninformed as the rest, heavy on innuendos and speculation all delivered in a manner that is already starting to disrupt peoples’ lives. Between the opinion polls, controlled images and footage, objectivity has lost ground to patriotic duty. Our men in Somalia have the heavy responsibility of helping us understand the premise of this war. We do not need them to be part of a press junket facilitated the military’s PR machine.

The war on terror was a ‘surprise’ turn of events especially this close to Christmas and a General election. Kenya’s foreign policy though viewed as cowardly had always taken pragmatic decisions in regional conflicts. The drum beats of war against Al Shabaab and the sketchy detail around the cause for retaliation are not holding up too well to scrutiny.

Somalia is not a single country in the conventional use of the word and the political issues behind the perennial conflicts are complex. Ever since Said Barre was deposed in 1991, every foreign invasion has been expelled with heavy consequences and left the situation worse than they found it. Daniella Kroslak of the International Crisis Group in an All Africa article dated 26 June 2009, suggested that militant Islamists were trying to draw Kenya into a trap and argued strongly against getting drawn into the Somalia conflict. We are now in the early stages of an occupation with no clearly stated exit strategy. We are fighting an unorthodox enemy and guerilla units throughout history have been underestimated to everyone’s detriment.

This war has gained legitimacy over a very narrow range of discussion. There has not been sufficient public information and serious discussion on the repercussions of this engagement. The constitutional mandate has not been sought. The Commander in Chief and the Prime Minister have been very economical with the official position. The usually cackling Parliamentarians seem more pre-occupied with their succession witch-hunting. When the minister for Internal Security George Saitoti invoked UN article 51 proclaiming a country’s right to self defense, the constricted reason provided was the economy in this case protecting precious dollars attached to tourism and aid business revenue from rogue militia. Nonetheless, the social economic consequences at hand and geo political interests hinted publicly by military sources such as ‘logistical support’ from NATO lords US and France cannot be ignored. It should not be long before we hear the words ‘freedom and democracy’ followed by aerial bombardments and drone attacks. The retaliation is likely to be disproportionate and portends open season for war crimes against a civilian Somali population condemned to a never ending humanitarian crisis.

Religious propaganda will likely form the ideological basis on both sides. Soon we will be all killing each other in the name of God. Especially worrying is the xenophobic wave that will tar the Kenyan Somali population weary from successive government ‘screening’ operations. The discriminatory treatment could be justified in the name of public good. Al Shabaab has becomes our bogey man, lurking in every corner making innocent civilians collateral damage in a war they do not understand.

The Somalia affair is an unlikely to be a 7 day raid. It has the potential to be long drawn out war that could involve the entire East African region lending Al Shabaab, a new lease of life as the underdog and rallying jihadists against the invaders. Alternatively, the assault might smother Al Shahaab, only to bring rise to a new resistance inspired by their predecessors. The world is not a safer place after the death of Sadaam, Osama or Gadaffi. As late American comedian George Carlin said, “Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity”. Therefore, can my man in Somalia drop the showbiz and tell us what’s going on?

...
Confucius says

Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.

NUC STUDENTS GOVERNING COUNCIL LIKELY TO BE DISSOLVE ON 31st OF OCT 2011

On 25^th of this month, the dean of students placed an urgent letter on the students notice board addressing the matter of students elections. The students election was not to take place as it is normally scheduled to because a first year student, a Kennedy Langat had put up a petition pointing out that the elections should not take place without the freshmen and ladies of 2011/2012 being there.Currently, they are all home for a long a holiday after a single semester at the campus, probably due to accommodation problems as it has never been it that  a public university breaks for a long holiday after a period of one semester.

So, the letter addressed to the dean of students has 135 signatures from fresher’s who feel that no elections should take place without their being in campus but  THE BIG QUESTION IS WHAT DOES THE CONSTITUTION OF NUC SAY ABOUT SUCH A SITUATION?, The dean of students Mr Ambrose Koech says that they are consulting with the university’s legal advisers on what course to take on the matter. Many feel that he should be able to communicate to the students the university’s position on the matter soonest possible to avoid unnecessary rumors from spreading around.

The NESH-COURT speaking exclusively  this afternoon to the current chairman of  NUC,Mr  Kassaine Partoip,in his characteristic soft but firm words  declared that as far as the SGC is concerned, they have not received any official communication from the office of the dean or the administration on matters concerning the elections. “As you can see, the letter on the notice board has no carbon copy addressed to SGC or the Chairman, therefore we are on the dark as you are on the matter “declared the chairman pointing to the fading memo  on Serengetis  notice board. He was with his secretary general Thomas Kimtai.He was categorical that the board will be dissolved on 31^st of this month as far as he is concerned unless there is some official communication to him from administration.

On the issue of the SECOND YEARS GOING FOR LONG HOLIDAY, the chairman seemed to  differ with the secretary general  who said that  the second years will not go for long holiday, while the chairman said that as per his stand, the issue is subject to confirmation on a later date and he will keep everyone informed. Questioning the SEC GEN on the issue of whether the campus was ready to accommodate almost double the current population who already are competing for the scarce resources in term of library, the students mess, and the  lecture halls, he said that there was a plan to complete the new men’s hostel by  next year and complete the down wing of the academics complex being built but the big question was whether the contractor could allow the building to be occupied while the construction is going on because it is contrary to the laws of Kenya bearing in mind the accidents that have been happening through the  country on buildings collapsing. ON the mess he said he is not sure but he has information that it might be extended.

So, everyone in NUC is waiting with baited breath to see the unfolding drama and what is to be done but it is clear that there is very poor communication between the students leaders and the administration and thus there is general  misunderstanding  between the 3 parties including the students who are the employers of the later and have also chosen students leaders to act as their  bridge  but it seems they are being ignored or left out of decision makings in the campus. Speaking to various other students leaders, they expressed their displeasure with the admin due to poor communication while some students tried to accuse the students leaders of trying to  sabotage power and hold on up to next year because they we worried the second years might be going for long holidays hence elections would still not take place. But one student leader who is not named here for obvious reasons was overheard saying “we actually want to quit this job because it’s been long since we got our salaries “we however couldn’t immediately establish the truth of the statement.meanwhile,the students ask the current

SGC OFFICIALS TO CALL AMEETING AND INFORM EVERYONE ON THEIR STAND ON THE MATTERS ABOVE AND ALBERT ONYANGO TO DO IS WORK AS THE CUURENT CHIEF EDITOR OF THE COUNCIL,AND THAT IS TO INFORM THE STUDENTS AS HE IS THE MOUTH OF BOTH THE STUDENTS AND THE SGC.

Editors Foot note.

NEXT ON NESH COURT,ONE ON ONE WITH THE CURRENT CHAIRMAN OF NUC AS HE TELLS NESH COURT ON HIS LIFE AND TIMES AS THE MOST SENIOR COMRADE OF NUC,HIS NEXT PLAN OF ACTION,HIS CHILDHOOD,HIS FEARS AND HIS LOVE LIFE!!!WATCH THIS SPACE!!