Thunder steals the lightning show

Thunder steals the lightning show

Credit:Internet Sources

By MUSYOKA NGUI

For most of those just starting out, work is a necessary evil. They have to get to work early and leave late.

For an economy like Kenya’s where there is so much wages disparities one must learn to work smart and not hard. There will be nights when the only sound of the night vibrating the eardrums is that of a keyboard and not crickets.

There are mornings that will not make you toss and turn in bliss oblivious of the hard day ahead. Because the earlier you hit the road the less the work load.

All assignments without a due date will last for perpetuity. Prioritizing work makes sure one submits the most urgent assignments and still remains with enough time to work on the others.

I know colleagues who imagine the grass is greener on the other side therefore envying a slaving donkey who is also exploring the options of the latest landing opportunity. Others bestow imaginary powers in the faith that things will be done somehow when they ask. Like there was machine dedicated to such seamless production.

People forget that after all it is not their life they are putting on the palm. They should learn to manage the lifetime occupation that is their own business. Caveat: only journalists can’t survive on their own business full-time unless they are career masturbators.

Which brings me to taking things in your own hands. There will be times that a bend will appear on the road and if you don’t stick to your lane you will fly off the tangent.

It is good to leave a legacy that whoever who will sit on your chair will not swing it around like it is their hips but safely keep it for the generations to come. Trust is only five letters but very demanding to keep up.

Just random musings of a slow evening wearing cold and reaching for the enter key.

Suffer in silence no longer

Suffer in silence no longer

Credit:Internet Sources

By Kevin Kang’ethe and Musyoka Ngui

According to the latest statistics from the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (2014) it is clear that the war against gender based violence is far from being won. Over half or 53% of women suffer from sexual violence in silence.

The above rise in domestic violence can be attributed to religious believes, low levels of education, age and occupation, says the report.

    Women without religious affiliations were the most likely to speak out against GBV at 75%, the Roman Catholics followed closely at 61% likelihood to report the vice to authorities. Muslims, Protestants and other Christian denominations came closely third at 59%. This shows that the clergy have their work cut out as they should use their positions to fight the gender based violence. In a related case in August last year, Jackline Mwende who was physically assaulted by her husband grabbed the headlines when she shocked the world by revealing that her pastor advised her stick to her marriage despite the abuse.

    Safety and recovery centres would enable women to escape the wrath of their aggressors. Already there are laws and policies against GBV but their implementation remain ineffective.

    Male partners, brothers, fathers and other male relatives should also be involved in the GBV campaign. Empowering the women alone without commensurate empowerment to men will be detrimental in the fight against GBV.

    In the long term, women should be allowed equal chances to access quality education just as men. KDHS survey indicates that better educated women were less likely to experience sexual violence than their uneducated counterparts. It says that 10% of women with secondary level education suffered sexual violence compared to 18 % of women who had only completed primary school.

   Equally, women need to be afforded affirmative action at the work places as it was revealed that the more money women have the less likely they were to encounter sexual violence. 11% of rich women were taken advantage of sexually by people close to them compared to 16 % of poor women.

There is a vague notion of what constitutes rape. Rape isn’t just sexual assault along the dark alleys of the streets. An expanded definition of rape should cover having sex with a partner without their consent. Even married partners should obtain consent from their spouses. Friends who spike drinks of their peers only to drug them and leave them without “knowing what hit them” should also have spotlight shone on them. 

    Parents should be watchful when they delegate childcare responsibilities to guardians, house helps or even close relatives as they more often than not turn to be the sex pests gnawing at the dignity of the child.