Kenyan Pundit

Gabi_8.5 months

Originally uploaded by ateka.

She’s just turned nine months and is such a joy. She can wave goodbye and hello…it’s the cutest thing. FINALLY sleeping through the night…yes I endured 8.5 months of not having more than 4 hours of straight sleep. What did it in the end? Not sure. I increased her protein intake quite a bit (both lunch and dinner), she’s a lot more active during the day, and maybe she just decided it was time to give Mama a break (confession, I kind of missed her at night the first few nights she slept through). Kinda crawling. Well, it’s more like the caterpillar move thingy. She’s very fast especially when a forbidden object is in sight. But given her issues with tummy time, any movement on her stomach is an accomplishment in my view. She’s really eager to walk, though I think that’s a couple of months away.

(That’s jelly in the pic, we do a mums and babies playgroup once a week).

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Lots of goodies today:

- Mama Mikes keep up the innovation by launching their blog. Already lots of interesting stories about what it takes to make MamaMikes tick.

- Speaking of Mama Mikes, you HAVE to read this post by Mental.

- Hash’s neat Africa Web 2.0 collage has been updated.

- Safaricom partner with Google to offer access to email and Google Maps (though free is not really free).

- Nobel Prize Winner and Grameen founder Iqbal Qadir partners with Legatum to set up a Center for Entrepreneurship at MIT.

- StoryMoja - an initiative by 5 writers to promote contemporary writing in East Africa.

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Bankelele’s post on the third anniversary of his blog (congrats!) reminded me that I need to make note of Kenyan Pundit’s fourth anniversary.

That’s right, I’ve been at this for FOUR years! I’m surprised I’ve managed to keep at it for this long (well maybe not because I tend to be disciplined about certain things). It is becoming harder and harder to keep the blog fresh and relevant, especially with all the things I’m juggling (read: Baby KP), but I think I’m getting my groove back slowly.

Thanks to all my readers / lurkers (especially the long-time ones). I increasingly run into people in random places who tell me that they enjoy my blog once they find out who I am…and their encouragement keeps me going, especially when I feel that I really have nothing more to say.

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The nominations process for the December elections were predictably chaotic. I think the guys who’ve been force out by the bigwigs, like Dan Shikanda, will fare well in December if they were able to jump on the defection merry-go-round in good time. No three-piece voting this time around…if you are unpopular you will go home.

I found it interesting that a number of MPs who were unpopular with Mzalendo users failed to win nominations. I hope this means that we are starting to become a more and more reliable source just not of hard facts, but also of sentiment on the ground. Some examples…please take time to read the comments left by Mzalendo readers if you can…quite informative - PK Muiruri [Mzalendo profile]; Moses Sirma [Mzalendo Profile]; Patrick Ivuti [Mzalendo Profile]; Macharia Mukiri [Mzalendo Profile]; George Khaniri [Mzalendo Profile; Murungaru; Francis Kagwima; and Eric Nyamunga.

Man, I wish I was in Nairobi to cover all the hot action. The pundit in me is feeling very left out. I can only console myself with the fact that I will be there for the elections.

AOB: Hasta la Vista Dick Morris? He should have consulted the Armenians on how to avoid immigration woes.

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…is slowly creeping up on KP will almost certainly be in full swing by December. Here’s a link to an interview I did this week with Joshua Wanyama of African path.

AOB: Former Clinton strategist Dick Morris is now working for ODM. Supposedly pro bono (hhmm). Seeing the words integrity and Dick Morris in one article is very oxymoronish. You can watch the announcement on Youtube.

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