Kenya Insights

Tag: Miraa

  • Meru Billionaire Mike Makarina Speaks About A Near Death Accident That Left Him Disabled

    Meru Billionaire Mike Makarina Speaks About A Near Death Accident That Left Him Disabled

    Vocal Meru Billionaire Mike Mutembei Makarina has opened up on how he survived a near death accident which left him disabled.

    Makarina who is also a human rights and persons living with disability activist, is known for addressing social and political issues particularly in Mount Kenya.

    Running a multibillion empire, the businessman never shy off from bragging about his wealth in social media as a motivation for his followers to work harder and not be held back by their shortcomings like his physical state.

    He shared the story below about his journey.

    ACCIDENT THAT NEARLY TOOK MY LIFE BUT GRACE OF GOD SAVED ME.

    The dawn of April 10th 2010 still remains fresh in my mind like it happened yesterday. This is the day I was involved in a grisly road accident which took away the life of my friend & his wife (May their souls continue resting in Peace).

    This time I was addicted to alcohol & I couldn’t partake any activity especially driving without taking a number of bottles of Tusker. On this fateful day I was rushing my friends to prepare for work after their car got a mechanical issue.

    I had to hurry up taking my bottles & even carry extra take away bottles kwa gari and the aftermath of drinking and driving costed lives of my two friends & left me in a wheelchair which I have eventually come to terms with and accepted the fact that God gave me another chance to live and be a testimony to the living.

    The car he was involved in an accident in.

    To a person who has gone through a near death experience, you know well that being able to live each day is nothing short of a miracle. Same case as someone on a wheelchair even when people creates jokes around my disability eti Makarina anatembea Usiku, I just ask God to forgive them since I accepted my situation & better.

    Today am talking to you my friends, the increased road accidents in Kenya today is something that should worry everyone. Most of the accidents however we’ll not be told, are caused by careless driving out by drunk drivers.

    If you’re drunk and you don’t have a driver, It costs nothing parking your vehicle, sleeping even in a lodging and wake up sober & continue with your journey. It’s cheaper than costing your life.

    If you know you’re drunk, don’t assume that (nkishika steering nakuwanga sober) , nooo…pombe sio chai. It’s better putting your job at risk than risking your life and the lives of other people kama abiria kwa matatu.Kazi unaweza tafuta ingine lakini maisha Haina reversal.

    Makarina exercising during his recovery.

    To our young people wale wa sharehe, please avoid alcohol ukiwa na gari. Don’t drive for long distances without taking a rest. Don’t drive with total drunkards in your vehicle even if you’re sober, they might distract you and cause accidents especially women and drama while drunk.

    To PSV & long distance drivers, rest is important. Pumzika, avoid alcohol. Don’t strain to overwork alalfu ulale ukiwa unaendesha gari and cause accidents. If it’s a must ukunywe, kunywa pombe baada ya kazi upumzike kesho uamke ukiwa sober.

    And having experience God’s saving experience, God giving me another chance to live, I must utilize it to give hope, inspire.

    TUKOMESHE AJALI ZA BARABARANI!
    DON’T DRINK & DRIVE!

     

  • The Kenya-Somalia Miraa Ban Politics, The Untold

    The Kenya-Somalia Miraa Ban Politics, The Untold

    Meru Governor Peter Munya when he visited Somaliland to negotiate miraa trade deal
    Meru Governor Peter Munya when he visited Somaliland to negotiate miraa trade deal

    Cries that Kenya is being isolated in East African region is no longer news. Uganda, a close ally and business partner changed its mind and routed its oil pipeline via Tanzania; Rwanda gave up the standard gauge railway and chose the Tanzanian route too. After so many years as the regions giant economy Kenya is expected to be more confident than its beginning to sound.

    Certain quarters claim there has been a radical change since the entrance of President John Magufuli, a dictator who is bullying beyond his area of administration.

    Though it must also be noted that some development projects are driven by national ego and patriotic vanity like medical infrastructures it’s not business as usual for Kenya and its neighbours. The country has suffered yet another blow when it’s would be desperate neighbour Somalia banned Kenyan flights carrying herbal stimulant khat (miraa) without any warning, explanation or indication of how long it will be in place.

    Khat is grown in Kenya and Ethiopia but very popular in Somalia. Over 15 commercial cargo flights arrive in Mogadishu daily from Kenya with khat valued at over 400, 000 dollars retail price. So many Kenyans, mostly farmers will be affected if this ban is not lifted. Sellers in Somalia also claim that their families’ livelihoods will be in jeopardy. Civil Aviation minister Ali Ahmed who made the announcement did not give the reason for the temporary ban but he said it was not because Somalia is hosting a regional body meeting on Saturday, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

    Though the Kenyan government promised to support the growers of the crop, mainly from Meru region, miraa as its popularly known in Kenya is under serious threat after it was banned in Europe. It’s also banned in United States and Canada. Arguments by a former addict turned anti-khat campaigner Abukar Awale alone cannot be the reason for the ban, that khat contributes a lot to domestic violence.

    There is something the authorities are not telling miraa farmers and consumers. Kenyan businesses in or Somalia have been under scathing criticism since the beginning of Operation Linda Nchi. Scrupulous Kenyan businessmen or ‘cartels’ have over the time been accused of running illegal charcoal business, shipping to Oman through Somali. How the charcoal gets to Somalia remains a mystery and so is the reason for miraa ban?

    Somali-Somaliland bad blood seems to have caught the governor in the heat. Somali Ambassador to Kenya Gamal Hassan said Mr Munya’s earlier visit to Hargeisa in July had led to political pressure which prompted his government to act.

    The ambassador reportedly say Munya linked the territorial integrity of the country to the miraa trade and interfered in the internal affairs of the country. This he say has created a lot of unbearable pressure on the government leading to the ban.

    While in Somalia, the Meru governor met with Somaliland Deputy President Abdurrahman Ishmael, the Foreign Affairs minister and his Finance counterpart.

    But Mogadishu said Mr Munya’s reported comments on the probable independence of Somaliland angered officials and politicians who are keen to have one united Somalia.

    Munya who’s life is now I’m danger following his own alarm, reads a political malice into it coming at a time when traders across his county, largest miraa producers have been staging demos and counting losses from the ban.

    The governor claimed that former prominent Meru politician Ntai wa Nkuraru was killed over the miraa issue, and he would not want the same to happen to him.

    Calculated move He claimed there was a calculated move by his opponents to malign his name by claiming he was a hindrance in the marketing of the stimulant in the export market. Claims have been rife that the miraa ban came as a result of Munya’s visit to Somaliland early in the year.