About OP | Oyunga Pala

Posted on May 28, 2018May 30, 2018 by OP Posted in About OP

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Children Of A Revolution That Never Was

Ask any child of the 80s what, “Polisi wa kae kama raia” means or why August is called the “ Black month” and the question evokes a chain of memories buried deep in our psyches. The children of the 80s try to forget but we remember.

I started my remembering again after I took my 26-year-old nephew on a trip down my memory road. Didi is the firstborn of my eldest brother John. He is a true blood millennial, born in 1991, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Falklands War, the failed assassination of Ronald Reagan and the assassination of Indira Gandhi.

Posted on February 26, 2018February 28, 2018 by OP Posted in About OP

Guest Post: Losing My Identity In A State Of Angst

Words: Arkanuddin Yasin

Who am I? Am I “Catholic”? Am I “Christian”? Am I Kikuyu? Or am I “Kenyan”? Or am I all of them at once? Or the other way around?

Am I “African”? Or am I “Bantu”? Or does it depend on time of day? On place? Or on who’s asking? What is an African?

Who are you? Somali? Kenyan-Somali? Somalian-Somali? Somaliland-Somali? Cushite? Who decides?

Luo? Ugandan? Ugandan-Luo? Kenyan-Luo? Tanzanian-Luo? Nilote? Who decides?

Who are we? Blacks? Africans? Kenyans? Somalis? Arabs? African-Arabs? Who decides?

Who are they? British? Kenyan-British? Foreigners? Kikuyu? Immigrants? JoLuo? French? Italian? Ndorobo? Europeans? Whites? Who decides?

What should we be? Can we decide? Does it matter?

What makes us connect? What connects us?

Posted on August 16, 2017August 24, 2017 by OP Posted in About OP, Insight

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The Announcement

Friday, August 11 2017

The axe forgets what the tree remembers. African proverb

The tension was palpable 3 days after voting. Media had prepped Kenyans for a big announcement. Serious discrepancies had emerged over the vote tallying and opinion was sharply divided and emotive. The kind that could trigger off a big reaction.

People who had shown up for work on that Friday reported the lack of transport and the light traffic in Nairobi. Employers and business owners with good sense had to ensure the premises were shut by 2pm. We received reports of heavy police presence in the hotspots, in our case the poor ghettos in the opposition chiefs stronghold that were primed to react in protest after the announcement.

Why Kenyan Men Need Anger Management Therapy

Posted on March 14, 2017March 15, 2017 by OP Posted in About OP

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Why Kenyan Men Need Anger Management Therapy

There are too many angry men in this country. I won’t mention names but President Uhuru has been throwing tirades in public and the heat generated by the spurts of anger has had a ripple effect across the land. Anything said in anger will be remembered. In the movies the warning line is, “What did you just say?” and then things get really ugly. A quote attributed to American humorist Evan Esar might be apt for the moment, “Anger is the feeling that makes your mouth move faster than your mind”. But this isn’t about the President. It is about the watus.

Posted on January 31, 2017January 31, 2017 by OP Posted in About OP

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Askari! Your Wife Needs Surgery!

It was 5 o clock. Daniel was walking from the busy and dusty roads of Kawangare, through the serene and shaded roads of Lavington and then on to Westlands. He had to report to work by 6pm. He had walked this route for the last 3 years and could walk it blindfolded.

His favourite part of his daily trek, was a stretch through Riverside drive, where he got to cross the Nairobi river or is it the Chiromo river? He was never too sure. The narrow rocky path snaked between the high stone walls of two private compounds that opened to a small patch of green, apparently no man’s land on the banks of the river. It reminded him of shags. How long would it be before someone grabbed it?