CAMPUS ROOMATES PART 2 of 3

 
Continued

Bottomline: They will always lament of how people from the village are ‘following’ them at      

                      Campus.

The Gambler; they always aware of all the games that will be going down that day from the Japanese J-League where Gamba Osaka will be taking on Kashima Antlers at 12:15 pm Kenyan time to The  Brasileiro Serie B  where Vasco Da Gama would be away to battle it out with Bragantino, a game that they will follow via Livescore at 3:00 am . Their discussions revolve around betting sites such as Betway, Sportpesa and Betin with sports analysis and prediction applications such as Flashscore and 2+Betting taking the place of Opera Mini on the phone.

The Clean One; ensuring everything is at the right place seem to be their calling. They always clean up your mess ensuring the room is not only clean and orderly. They always go for the upper case, the top bed in a decker since they feel the pinch when someone sits on their beds leaving it messed up. Their colour of choice is usually white or any other bright colour.

Mr I don’t care; they never attend any lectures throughout the semester they are always in or less than 100 metres from the room. They spend most of their time engaging in non-academic activities such as playing computer games and keeping up with the latest movies and series to the extent that you are kept wondering  if they are even enrolled in lectures, since they always seem to be in a holiday camp.

The Traditionalist; this kind of roommate believes that every time misfortunes come their  way,even simple 

headaches it is the work of jealous neighbours back in the village who are unhappy with his successful endeavours at campus being the only one who has made it that high in the academic ladder. They will always lament of how people from the village are ‘following’ them.

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The Chef; they always practice what I simply call industrial cooking. The probability that their coil is on flight mode is close to zero, let’s just say zero. They are always cooking everything they can lay their hands on as long as it can be cooked and eaten making your room temperature to be somewhere close to what the Tuaregs experience at the Sahara Desert.

The Aggressive One; they are the proverbial Mr No Fear No Favour you are not allowed to use any of their utensils, even a tea spoon before giving a formal explanation probably using diagrams why you have to. They are always bossy to the extent that they order you around yet you might either be age mates or you are slightly older than them.  They pull a Hammurabi the Lawgiver on you,crafting a list of the do’s and don’ts which usually favour them expecting everyone to follow with minimum or no objection.

To Be Continued…………

GRADUATE UNEMPLOYMENT- WHO IS TO BLAME?

Bottomline: When graduates start moving around holding placards along major roads requesting for employment opportunities instead of curriculum vitae, definitely things are not well.

The economy is growing but is it growing fast enough to absorb the ever rising number of graduates churned out yearly by institutions of higher learning? They leave fresh from college, where they are cushioned from the harsh reality of life. Living in comfort zones courtesy of monthly upkeeps from parents and government subsidy through the Higher Education Loans Board, life seems comfortable until they graduate to the outside world where the scramble for formal employment becomes an eye opener of how tough life. There are limited employment opportunities compared to the number of graduates in individual sectors of the economy.

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The government is reportedly freezing employment across various departments in the public sector courtesy of the bulging public wage expenditure. This is giving the Sarah Serem led Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) sleepless nightmares as they seek to control public expenditure. When graduates start moving around holding placards along major roads requesting for job opportunities instead of curriculum vitae, it sets a clear indication of how things are, definitely not well.

According to Steve Biko Wafula, Chief Executive Officer of Soko Directory Investments, the business environment is tough but the government says the numbers are good and our economy is doing well. With the closure of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the last four years an estimated 12.5 million people were left jobless, assuming that each SME had an average of five employees.

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The economy seems to be on recession as manifested by the massive layoffs as companies downsize their staff in an aim of maintaining profitability and reducing losses. Local companies that have laid off workers since 2014 include; Kenya Flourspar Company, Nation Media Group,Tata Chemicals Magadi, Royal Media Services, Family Bank, East African Breweries, Tuskys Supermarket, Telkom Kenya and Kenya Airways all citing that high operation costs necessitated the action. Other companies such as Eveready East Africa closed shop completely. Multinationals such as Cadbury Kenya, Hong Kong Banking Corporation, Bridgestone, Procter & Gamble, Coca Cola , Barclays Africa, Ericsson Kenya, Stanchart Kenya. Sidian Bank, Sameer Africa have laid off employees and relocated most of their operations to South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt in their bid to stay afloat in the African market.

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The list of companies closing down, relocating or laying off employees continues to grow daily as the economy ‘grows’. Accessing funds for entrepreneurship is another hurdle with numerous bureaucratic provisions that make the youth give up in pursuit of seed capital thus remaining with their business ideas in idea form, no conceptualization nor actualization. Times are tough; they might be tougher in days to come.

ARE KENYAN STUDENTS TURNING TO TERRORISM......

Bottomline: when terrorists start attacking more complex establishments such as military installations, police stations, uptown malls and universities, it’s not the work of ordinary simple brains.

Home-grown terrorism has been on the ascendancy five years after Kenyan troops invaded Southern

Somali as part of operation Linda Nchi on October 16^th 2011. With an aim of taming Al Shabab militants who had perfected the art of kidnapping tourists and foreign aid workers inside Kenya then demand for ransom from parent countries something that made western countries such as Britain issue travel advisories to their citizens against visiting Kenya. This had economic ramifications as it affected the tourism sector which is amongst the leading foreign exchange earner.

The fight against terrorism is however far from over, the Al-Shabab seem to have changed their mode of operation from their pool of recruits which was traditionally from the ethnic Kenyans of Somali origin who are Muslims by religion staying in urban informal settlements to other non-Muslim recruits who are radicalised then later adopting Islamic names.

Going for the best brains seem to be a priority amongst Al-Shabab recruiters this is manifested when the terrorists start attacking more complex establishments such as military installations, police stations, uptown malls and universities, it’s not the work of ordinary simple brains. The precision by which these operations are carried clearly shows the militant group has a pool of intelligent, well-educated and brilliant minds within their ranks, most of whom are former or current Kenyan students. 

According to BBC News, close to a quarter of Al-Shabaab’s 7,000-9,000 forces are Kenyan. Many of them attracted to the high salaries for new recruits, which are reportedly more than $1,000. While the average monthly wage in Kenya is $76 ($912 annual). The biting unemployment rate making every unemployed graduate a potential terrorist, with indications that out of ten youths seven are unemployed in a country where the value system is defunct as everyone is busy looking for money nobody cares how he or she amasses wealth.

Inset : Elgiva Bwire  alias Mohamed Seif  Photo courtesy of  Philip Kamakya

Elgiva Bwire Oliacha also known as Mohamed Seif is amongst the first recruit of the ‘Golden Generation’ of intelligent terrorist. The young man who hailed from Budalangi in Busia county was an electrical engineer by trainning from Technical University of Kenya. He Pleaded guilty to 9 counts of serious crime including possession of arms cache. Being a member of Al Shabaab, possession of firearms without a certificate, causing grievous harm and engaging in an outlawed criminal activity.Bwire was responsible for a series of grenade attacks that took place in Nairobi in the months of September and October including the Kampala bus attack that left scores injured. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on 27^th  October 2011.

 Abdul Hajira

The architect of the Pangani Police station car explosion that left four people dead, including himself and two police officer in 2014. Hajira was a son of a Kenya Defence Force (KDF) Officer based at Kahawa barracks in Nairobi. He also played for a top team at the Kenya Premier League (KPL) before starting his football club in Majengo slums .He went missing from his Nairobi home in 2010 joining the Alshaabab before resurfacing a year later to finish his Bachelor of Commerce degree at University of Nairobi. Blocking all his social media networks during the period of his disappearance to avoid being traced. 

Car wreck at Pangani police station Photo courtesy of Standard Media Group 

Abdirahim Mohamed Abdullahi

Described by peers as a brilliant upcoming lawyer, he later abandoned a promising profession in favour of the blinkered world of international terrorism. The brain behind the Garissa university college massacre in 2015 that left 148 dead. A privileged son of a Kenya Government administrative Chief Abdullahi Daqara of Bulla Jamhuri in Mandera County. A University of Nairobi Law graduate he went missing a year before the attack only for his name to hit national headlines after the attack.

Abdirahim Mohamed Abdullahi Photo courtesy of CBS News

Sheikh Ahmad Iman Ali
An engineer by training, an alumni of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture (JKUAT) and the current head the video production and propaganda according to Wardheernews, Dec 2015 report.He was declared the supreme leader of al-Shabaab's Kenyan branch and is believed to be the leader of student recruits within the ranks of the terror. Based in Somalia since 2009, Ali's recruitment efforts are believed to target Kenyan students according to security forces.

Sheikh Ahmad Iman Ali Photo Courtesy of The Daily Nation

Samuel Wanjala Wabwire

Also known as Salim Mohamed a name he took up after his conversion to Islam was expelled from Maseno University in 2011 for allegedly stabbing a student. Before his expulsion, he was pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. He is said to have been admitted to the university in 2011, the same year that he was expelled. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison after he was found guilty of recruiting and radicalising children Gotani primary school in Kilifi as a Madrassa teacher in Mombasa Law Courts in January 2016 after his arrest in April 2015.His intention was to conscript them into the Al Shabaab.

Samuel Wanjala Wabwire alias Salim Mohamed Image-Nation.

The number of students being arrested on suspicion of joining the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is alarming. The latest being Hassan Kassim Kizingo a second year Moi University student who was arrested at Kilindini, Mombasa last week for being in constant communication with the terror group. Other students who have been arrested on similar suspicion include Mohamed Shukri and Abdulrazak Abdinuur of Saratov State Medical University in Russia who were interns at Malindi Hospital, Maryam Said,Khadija Abdulkadir, Ummul Khayr, Hassanaen Ahmed a University of Nairobi biochemistry student, Kenyatta University Microbiology student Gloria Kavaya, Mohamed Abdi a student at Kampala International University who was an intern at Wote Hospital, Nuseiba Mohammed and fatuma Hanshi both of Kampala International University.

According to the Commission of University Education close to 44 students have abandoned their studies to join terror groups including ISIS in Libya and the Al Shabaab in Somalia. The number of current or former university students within the ranks of terror organizations largely remains unknown. According to the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Kenyan youth are said to be spending an average of eight hours a day on terror-related websites contacting extremists, majority of them are in the universities. NCTC director Isaac Ochieng said NTTC has names of students who have been radicalised and are enjoying salaries from Al-Shabaab and other militia groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda. “There is increased recruitment, training and indoctrination of the youth into terrorism cells. These terror groups are now targeting brilliant youths to recruit,” he said.

Al-Shabaab has infiltrated Kenya's institutions of higher learning, recruiting and radicalizing students. The poor monitoring systems in these institutions makes it easy for them to recruit with minimum detection making the country to lose highly trained, intelligent, informed and educated students to terror establishments. We might be winning the fight but we are losing the war against terrorism since our own intelligent students will be used to carry out more complex attacks with precision thus higher casualties on our populace.