Anonymous

Ukrainian population, army and government as well as their benevolent allies in the west have been tremendously buoyed up by their large gains in the battlefield in Donbass. Battlefield morale is running very high and even the very pessimistic lot are positive though to a lesser degree. Since the onset of the Russian Military operations,it is the first time Ukraine have gained something worthwhile the entire struggle. Russian troops have consistently pushed them back all through. But since the staging of a referendum vote in Eastern Ukraine regions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia Lugansk and Donetsk, Ukraine have achieved considerable gains. The mood in the Ukrainian camp has dramatically changed from pensive to exhilaration in a short span of time while that of the Russian has taken a turn for the worse. The turn of events in the battlefield has been disconcerting if not demoralizing for the general Russian population and their government. The military might of Russia and the weak military establishment of Ukraine has been compared to that of biblical story of Goliath and David. Expectations were that Russia would take a short time to vanquish the Ukrainian army and take control of Ukraine. That has not come to pass. On the contrary, Russia is being pushed back. The superior weapons from western allies might have been significant in turning the tide and balancing the military power but other factors might have also contribute sufficiently. However, it’s doubtful whether this state of euphoria in the Ukrainian army ranks will last.

Credit was given to the Russian military power when they began to rapidly conquer Ukrainian territory immediately after the battle tanks started rolling nto Ukrainian territory. Town after town and one village after another fell to the Russians. Many thought that after a short while all of Ukraine will be fall, however, that’s not the case. Predictions were even made that Kiev will fall in three days. Ukrainian army through their much publicized counteroffensive,have been taking back large swathes of land,one village after another. Towns like Lyman are also falling. Can this be because of superior western weapons? They arrived late after Russia had started taking portions of Ukrainian territory. They might be the magic trick but not only them. Another important factor is the terrain. I’m simply baffled by how most of the pro-Russian and pro-Ukraine factions have forgotten this factor. It is one of the main reasons why Putin invaded Ukraine in the first place. The terrain is flat and defending it is very difficult. There is no natural landscape to fall back to,no hills or mountains. When Russian troops first invaded Eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian army had to pull back because of the vulnerable state of the land. The same thing is happening currently. Russian troops have to fall back or face massive losses in the battlefield. Vocabulary like encirclement are coming up thanks to the terrain. Troops have to leave in fear of being encircled. Defending eastern Ukraine is proving virtually impossible. It depends on supplies, superior military power and maybe morale of the troops.

Military analysts are hellbent on spewing propaganda on television without taking into account the real issues taking place in the battlefield. Terrain is very important and should be not be ignored. Terrain influences almost all battles. It is one of the reasons why the fight against terrorists in the Sahel is dragging out for so long. The terrain is ragged and they have mastered it exceptionally well. A good example of terrain dictating the course of a war is the Afghanistan invasion by both the Soviet Union and the United States. Soviet Union spent ten years in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989 spending trillions of dollars and achieving practically nothing. At last,they had to shamefully withdraw defeated. The failure of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan is one of the factors that led to it’s fall. The US followed in 2001 and finally orchestrating a chaotic withdrawal criticized far and wide after two decades. Afghanistan people with no superior weapons defeated two world powers thanks to the support of the terrain. This is what is happening in Ukraine. The terrain supports whoever is attacking making it difficult to those defending.

The course of the war is pretty much predictable. It will be a tag-of-war like battle until one party gives up,is defeated or peace is reached through diplomatic means. The stock of weapons available for both parties will also be important. Any army running out of weapons will be disadvantaged and might lose. The Ukrainian people and their allies should celebrate courteously lest they be disappointed in the end. Winning a battle is not the same as winning a war. One might win a single battle but still loose the war.

To understand Russia’s reason for their military operations currently ongoing in Ukraine,it is crucial to go back to the history of the Soviet Union and the cold war. Trying to attach meaning to it using current events only without the past will render it insignificant. When the Soviet Union fell completely on 25 December 1991,the once mighty bear disintegrated into twelve small states with minority Russian speaking community except Russia which is majorly inhabited by ethnic Russians. Agreements were made between Russia and North Atlantic Treaty organization (NATO) that the organization will not move “an inch”to the east. This was to ensure that Russia’s security is guaranteed. However promises were broken and NATO gobbled up most of the Slavic nations like Poland and ended up on Russia’s doorstep. Soviet leaders after the fall of Soviet Union have always considered this NATO expansion as an existential threat to the Russian population and the Russian nation. However, the west, European union and NATO didn’t not take in consideration these complaints. Many diplomats and political scholar have insisted that Ukraine was being led towards an armed conflict with Russia by the west. At last in 2014 hostilities flared in Ukraine as Russian tanks rolled in.

The 2014 war and the consequent annexation of Crimea was mainly influenced by the increased sway of Ukraine towards the west and the increased presence of America footprint in the country. Russia has blamed the US of building biolabs in Ukraine and training Ukrainian armed forces. After the coup,a more pro-western leader,Petro Poroshenko was elected to replace the ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych. Russian was alarmed at the prevailing events at that time which they promptly accused the west of staging. Other countries bordering Russia moving towards NATO was to some extent allowed but Ukraine was strategic. Ukraine could not be allowed to go towards that direction. First,let it be known that USA and Russia have always been sworn enemies since the days of the cold war 1.0 since another one,2.0 has just began. Ukraine taking a hard stance on Russia and embracing the west could definitely deny Russia access to the only warm water port in the Black Sea which is Sevastopol. Most of Russia’s ports freeze most parts of the year and this is always a disadvantage to their naval ambitions. A little agitation of the majority ethnic Russians in Eastern Ukraine did the trick for the Kremlin. They had to intervene in the guise of protecting the Russian population in Donbass. Their main goal was to take control of Crimea and hence the crucial Sevastopol port. At the end of the operation, Crimea was annexed and access to Sevastopol was guaranteed. The Russian naval presence in Sevastopol has steadily increased since 2014. It now belongs to the Russian Black Sea fleet. Sevastopol port is very important for Russia for various reasons and they are not willing to let it be accessed by the west. To Putin who is a staunch nationalist, security of Russia must be guaranteed and the west especially USA must be kept at bay. It is worthy of attention when he promises to use any means possible to protect Russia from existential threat including nuclear weapons. He means it. Putin’s nationalist leanings is one of reasons why he blames Gorbachev for the fall of the Soviet Union. He didn’t even attend his funeral.

Nonetheless,the west didn’t get the message which was all the while transparent. Russia didn’t fancy their presence in Ukraine. The arrogant style of western countries continued unperturbed by the looming danger. The last mistake was trying to admit Ukraine to NATO and saying it in public. Russia had had enough. Their patience simply ran out and all the red lines had been crossed. They had to act and thus on February Putin announced a special military in Ukraine much to the consternation of European nations and the USA. Or maybe they feigned annoyance since they had it coming. Tanks rolled through the border and artillery fire rented the air for months on end. So if you ask me, the west knew this was coming a long time ago. Any major power on the world stage will act violently to anything it considers existential threat. The definition of existential threat will however vary from country to country. An example is the USA during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 when the world was at the brink of a nuclear war. To Russia, this was an existential threat. The collective West knew exactly what was happening and what they were doing. They provoked Russia for their selfish reasons which nobody knows. This war might be benefiting them while it is deleterious to rest of humanity. The world is now close to a nuclear war than any time else in history.

Many would say that my opinions are baseless and Russia is the aggressor. Yes, Russia is the aggressor but it is also important to know their way of thinking. The west has been rash and made emotional decisions which have had a blowback effect on their countries. The numerous sanctions placed without thorough and logical thinking have been harmful to the entire world. Prices of energy and grains mainly skyrocketed due to sanctions. The executive director of United Nations world food program,David Beasley,recently said during an interview that he doesn’t care what the world leaders think about Russia,all he wants is Russian fertilizer to move on the market. He further warned that if not the world will face chaos. Anyway,why does Russia want Ukraine so bad? The answer is simple -geographical location. Ukraine forms part of the great northern Europe plains. Russia is always exposed and vulnerable to attacks through this region. It’s a flat land with no barriers like mountains,hills or deserts. Throughout history, Russia has been attacked multiple times from this direction. It is indefensible. With the threat of NATO encroachment, Russia is exposed now more than ever. Actions had to be taken. The main aim of the special military operations is push Ukraine back to the buffer zone surrounded by mountains. This buffer zone may be able to help Moscow during external attacks. This is not the same with other NATO members like Poland and Lithuania or members about to join the organization like Sweden and Finland. It is pretty clear that Russia will in the long run annex the eastern part of Ukraine but what is not clear is whether Ukraine will exist after the war. The Kremlin will want to have the buffer zone in Ukraine to protect them against attacks from the west.

What is quite baffling is the United States reaction to all these. Sanctions after sanctions are being rolled in consistently. It is either they are playing a much larger game here or they are openly admitting that they know nothing about political history of both Russia and the US. Of course they know. They are just playing a bigger economic and political game here. Trying to kill two birds with one stone. Ukraine as a nation is just a pawn caught between two aggressive superpowers. All these events are part of the wrong choices their leaders made and they are paying for it. Not even the Russian population in Ukraine is important. They are part of the pawn game. All Russian populations in other former Soviet nations are pawns in a game to used when need arises. The main question however remains to be answered, what will happen after the war? Will Ukraine still exist?or will the world be turned into smithereens by nuclear weapons? No one knows the future.

Over the decades after attaining independence from their colonial masters, African countries have been widely known for coups and counter-coups. Out of 214 attempted coups,106 have been successful. This is a huge percentage of the global total of 486 coups since 1950s. This data was collected by Powell and Thyne’s data. However, it’s charming to know that in the past decades such cases have been on the decline and Africa has been experiencing less and less coups. This enticing trajectory might come to a premature end. The number of coups is on the rise again on the continent over the past few years. Countries like Chad,Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso have recently experienced coups in the last three to two years. Burkina Faso and Mali have even experienced multiple coups in a short span of time. Experts have been left to ponder what the cause of the increased number of coups might be. With each passing day fears are increasing that majority of African nations might return to the past years of extreme anarchy characterised by instability,chaos,lack of democracy and economic as well as social degradation. Some factors are however certain. The economic situation of these countries experiencing coups is dire and they are mostly concentrated in West Africa and Central Africa. They coups can however spread to other parts as time progresses. These might give the experts a hint of what really happening or a place to begin with.

The last one in close succession of coups is a counter coup in Burkina Faso. The junta leader,Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba who ousted the elected president Roch Kaboré back in January has been consequently removed from power by the thirty four year old Ibrahim Traore. The coup took place on 30th September in the capital Ouagadougou. Damiba is a lieutenant colonel in the army while Traore is a captain. It might seem like some sort of karma since Lt col Damiba has been accused of the same issues he accused the ousted former president Kaboré-the security issue which has been an Achilles heel for the stability and development of the Central Africa country. The country has been battling the Islamic jihadist of Al-Qaeda and ISIS since late nineties. The situation has only deteriorated and the army has lost approximately fifty percent of the country to the insurgents. The new junta leader Traore will be taking over as the new leader of the transition government. He is young and might be inexperienced in matters politics and running of the country. However,the army and civilian support him and the direction the country will take only waits to be seen. He takes charge at a time when the nascent nation is faced by multifaceted crises compounded by the continuous conflict. Humanitarian crisis due to hunger and the ongoing conflict being at the top of the otherwise long list.

Surprisingly, during the riots in the aftermath of the coup,the protesters were seen to be carrying both the Burkinabe flags and the Russian flags. This has opened a very big Pandora box and triggered outpouring of conflicting opinions. During the riots,the French embassy was also vandalized and there are unconfirmed reports on social media that it might have been burned to the ground. The protesters welcomed Russia to come to their rescue. It’s not clear whether Russia got the message. Most of the former colonies of France are moving away from it’s control in west Africa. They blame the colonial power for years of mismanagement of their country and supporting the insurgents. Anti-French sentiments have been spreading rapidly across borders from Mali, to Chad,to Niger and Burkina Faso. Intermittent demonstrations against the French have been witnessed in most of these countries and is spreading to others too. My opinion is that it will continue to spread until all the former colonies of France get rid of France. It’s taking the same approach as the infamous Arab spring in 2011. French policies to it’s former colonies which might be termed as “colonies”still because nothing much has changed are repressive and leaves these countries almost destitute. It’s akin to a yoke. This is why almost all the former french colonies are poor and embroiled in neverending conflicts. I can name a few like Haiti, Syria,Mali and even Burkina Faso. The new junta leaders now have the luxury of choosing who their partners will be. The citizens have spoken and will be keen on the steps the new leaders will take. Will they continue to cooperate with France and move towards Russia? The ball is now in their court.

Curtains come down on the controversial referendum organized by the pro-Russian separatists in Kherson, Zaporizhzhia Lugansk and Donetsk today. The divisive referendum was slated for the period from 23-27 September and supported by the Kremlin. What actually remains is the strenuous counting of ballot which is also expected to end soon. The controversy of the referendum is reinforced by the ambiguity of both democracy and the international law under United Nations charter. While democracy asserts that a people of any nation are free to make the crucial decisions of where to belong, international law stipulates that no nation can arbitrarily annex another member’s territory. The lucid confusion here is which decree to use in the case of a conflict like this conflict. However,it should be made clear that the Moscow through its leader, Vladimir Putin has time and again outrightly rejected the mandate of the united nations terming it as poorly constituted and held prisoner by the Western powers. He has vocally called for the reconstitution of the global body to encompass every nation and to give them same treatment. This would certainly clear the air of the fundamental edict Russia employs. It’s definitely democracy. One chooses what fits for him. This is why referendum was organized in a region where a quarter of it’s population are ethnic Russians. There have been claims that the ethnic Russians living in Donbass have been subjected to violence and oppression since the coup in 2014.

The west, however,has completely rejected such referendum and termed it all sorts of obscenities. They have referred to it as a sham and a fake process by a dictator trying to subjugate another country. Funnily, while these accusations rendered virtually on all the western media airwaves, the separatists regions continued with their referendum unperturbed except by a few intermittent shelling. With the end of the five day voting period and the beginning of tallying taking place,the world now waits with baited breath to know what direction this will go. Some say the results are already obvious and Russia will annex the region further leading to escalation. This has caused widespread fear, uncertainty and anxiety among people in Europe. The anxiety is even felt greatly by the regions where the voting just ended and the entire Europe considering that Putin recently threatened to use nuclear weapons if Russia is provoked. Europeans are afraid that another war-a new kind of war -might break out in the middle of the continent,a nuclear war. Nuclear war can cause a lot of distraction both to physical environment and different aspects of the entire world. The last time nuclear weapons were used was in 1945 towards the end of the second world war when the USA bombed two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The devastation and destruction left behind is still vivid in people’s memory and no one would want such a thing to repeat. The next time the world came close but fortunately the worst was averted. This was during the Cuban missile crisis. What the future holds only time will tell.

Taking significant lessons from the annexation of Crimea back in 2014,it should be the same playbook only that this time round it will be on a massive scale. Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Lugansk and Donetsk consist of around eighteen percent of Ukraine and constitute a massive amount of it’s GDP. Because of the fear of launching a nuclear war in Europe,the allies of Ukraine will take cautious steps on how to handle the already frightening situation. The appeasement policy used before the second world war might come in handy again. The west and the United States might let Russia to take what it has to avert any chance of escalating the situation further. In this war, Russia cannot lose and will not accept defeat so it is only right that careful steps are put in place early on to avoid the disconcerting situation. Putin seems to be an egomaniac who will do everything in his power to protect his bloated ego. So far as it is, Ukraine should just forget about the annexed regions and move on. More war will only cause the entire Ukrainian nation to be rubbed off the face of the earth. I know most people won’t agree with me but I’ll urge them to think logically and stop being influenced by emotions. There’s no way that either Europe, facing financial crisis or America, where Biden’s rating are dramatically going down is going to come to the rescue of Ukraine at this point. It’s a point of no return for Putin. Furthermore, Europe is already facing a lot domestically and with the unprecedented situation during this coming winter,it might prudent to say that Putin has outfoxed them. The best they can do is back without biting.

The paradox of our time is the division in a united entity. As world leaders gather in New York for the seventy seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly, one thing is apparent,there are cracks in the assembly of nations. The united nations is no longer united. Notwithstanding,the cracks have been gradually appearing but since no satisfactory efforts were put in place,the gap has become extremely large and almost irreparable. A divided house will definitely fall. Some of the divisions include global north and global south divide,war in Ukraine and the issues between Russia, China and the United States of America.

The first major split is that of Russia and the collective West including the United States of America. This disconcerting rift has been widening significantly since the Russian special military in Ukraine which began in February. The west not only condemned the Russian Federation for what they referred to as unprovoked war but also imposed punitive sanctions against the Putin regime. As expected Russia followed swiftly with counter measures like sanctions and considerably reducing energy exports to the European union. This war will be one of the main topics of discussion at UNGA which the Russian Federation president Vlamir Putin has boycotted. Putin has been calling persistently for the creation of a new body to rival the west controlled United Nations.

Speaking at the assembly,the chairman of the African Union, Senegalese president Macky Sall, reiterated the need to solve the conflict amicably and come to a speedy end. He intoned about the rift between the global north and global south stating that the north had neglected their counterparts in the south. Lack of a seat in security council,lack of funding for climate change measures,lack of food aid to African states are some of the issues widening the gap between the two. Most African nations decided not to support either of the conflicting parties,on the contrary,they advocated for peaceful negotiations,this even after being cajoled to take a side by both parties. How these splits are going to unravel in the future waits to be seen.Macky Sall further added that Africans were tired of being the playing field of the notorious cold war between the West and the East.

Two more strategic world leaders missing from the global assembly are Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and China’s Xi Jinping. China,India and Russia only sent a delegation at a time when their leaders presence would have been sentimental. It’s a time when the world is faced by a myriad of problems which require collective effort such as climate crisis, high cost of fuel and global inflation. All the three countries are among the top countries with high population and colossal economies and they are also members of the BRICS organization. Shock waves and fears across the political world as the future seems gloomy. There maybe some unrelated and coincidental reasons for their missing but just last week all three were bundled up together in Samarkand for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. It seems far-fetched but pessimists will insist that a new power is being formed to challenge the hegemony of the west.

Climate change has been the focal point of major big political organization conferences such as the united nations and infinite summits. It will obviously take center stage at the United Nations General Assembly this week following extreme weather patterns currently battering different parts of the world simultaneously. Monsoon floods in Pakistan, drought in the Horn of Africa, hurricanes in the Caribbean and Japan as well as wildfires all over Europe are just a few examples of the dreaded wrath of climate. However, much has been said consistently in various high level meetings but little has actually been achieved. It’s high time we sit down and be honest with ourselves and know where we are getting it wrong.

Adam Smith,a great economist and author of The Wealth of Nations says in his book that greed is good and that by becoming richer one benefits everyone while supporting capitalism and free markets. This kind of greed Adam talked about has been a double edged sword for the human race. In the rat race to outdo everyone else,man has invented some harmful commodities such as plastics which actually have a severe impact on the environment. This is just one example of fly in the ointment for free markets. Most governments banned the use of plastics while factories are still operational. How will it ever end? With plastic around and fossil fuels being used on a large scale more harm is being done even as the alarm bells ring. The need to save our planet is there but the urge to profit overpowers it. The fight to save our planet is just a mirage since our commitment to it is below par. People always want to be seen as doing something while in the real sense doing absolutely nothing. Leaders go to summits discuss for weeks but come up with no viable solutions while the problem persists and worsens.

When I say that the spirit is willing but the body is weak I mean it. The Kenyan government banned the use of plastics but in the markets they are in abundance. Every shopping center has them in large quantities,in fact the banning was on paper. The united nations and the European union stopped African countries from exploiting their fossil fuels in a step towards curbing the fossil fuel emissions into the atmosphere while buying the same from Russia. When Russia at last cut off most of it’s supply of gas and oil to the European countries, their leaders came tumbling over each other in a race to acquire African resources for their own countries. What sort of hypocrisy is that. It feels like all the measures were put in place for African nations to stop them from using the abundant resources for their development. This simply shows that the self appointed”moral” leaders of the west are much more concerned about their profits and development than the real issues of climate change. African countries have been pressured time and again to cut their own emissions and invest more in climate change measures while it is interesting to note that African emissions only amount to 1.5% of the total global emissions. John Kerry was the last leader in a long line of leaders to remind Africans to cut down their emissions. The hypocrisy is top notch. Trying to do something which you actually don’t believe in in virtually impossible.

World leaders should have less and less conferences and summits and more and more real interventions. Too much talk and no actions while climate tragedies continue to wreak havoc. It’s time to do what you say lest climate change will be like the long well-intentioned but badly implemented vision for a utopian Africa.

The world has always been the playing field for empires and emperors who yearn for control of large swathes of land and their numerous inhabitants since time immemorial. Every continent has seen it’s plethora of distinct empires built by different leaders with a knack for power and control rise and fall. No empire that exists actually last forever, each one falls at its own preordained time. These empires vary in time and size according to different time periods. Some tend to be extensively large and prosperous such as the Roman empire, British empire and others smaller like the Aztecs or Incas in South America. The size is affected by the urge to conquer new large lands and increase boundaries. While some emperors had large appetite for conquering new territories like the Romans others were contented with their tiny kingdoms.

A great number of people are abhor imperialism and shun even the slightest thought of it. apparently,it has escaped them that imperialism is part of their political life. Its meaning might be changed with time but it is always there with us like a shadow. It has come to the limelight the degree to which imperialism is considered evil and attacked to every corner. During the death of queen Elizabeth II,many black, Irish and indigenous people took to twitter to protest the role of the monarch in the forceful subjugation of the local populations and the atrocious treatment of their ancestors spanning across two centuries. Their arguments included the fact that the British empire was among the worst in the history of empires. Some of the hashtags trending included the call to end the monarchy. They wanted the longstanding monarchy to be abolished. The logic here is that the empires are bad should be dealt with ruthlessly. It is always the habit of human beings to consider their era as peaceful and better than the centuries before. Modern day imperialism will only be thoroughly studied by the future generations and maybe found worse than the victorian age.

If the empires are so much bad and cruel,then what does make us, humanity,who are a product of empires? Empires existed as early as the Sassanid dynasty and continue to flourish and are moving at a frantic pace towards a global empire. Actually,the global empire arrived sometimes back and we have just not realized it. Leaders of individual countries don’t have the power to work independently for the benefit of their people. Uganda and Tanzania cannot build a pipeline to help their own people since some other leaders think it’s not good, Ethiopian government had to persuade other powers to allow them to build the Grand Renaissance Dam. It’s true that that empires history are marked with atrocities like murder, genocide, looting and slavery but one thing is certain it’s almost impossible to do away with it. It was created centuries ago and it is here to stay. Countries like Russia and China are trying to wrest the global power out of the hands of the USA and stop their imperialism but everyone already knows the end result. If they were to succeed then another empire will be created and continue the unending legacy of empires. The indigenous people especially the black race have to stop complaining about their position in the world but unite and form an empire which will give them power over their own fate and that of others. Racism, financial aid conditionality and oppression of black will only end when they have secured their position in the global arena. Daylight murder of Africans like that which happened at Melilla can be stopped and others in European nations will also be stopped.The world economy and politics is shaped in such a way that it only benefits those people with power. The powerless are left to languish in their pitiful state. When will this state of lamenting end so that Africans can work for their own dignity? The unity of the black people is needed for economic growth otherwise when the status quo continues to remain as it is then the black man will be a subjugated people eternally. The past and the future of imperialism is the same. The more it changes the more it remains the same. Names and meanings might change though.

The eternal dream of a utopian society has been hampered at every step by a myriad of obstacles. The dream has always been there but achieving it has proven to be an uphill task. Some of the stumbling blocks it has met include incurable diseases such as cancer,poverty,war,crime and violence. Achieving general utopia in the entire world has always been a long shot but one cannot stop humanity from dreaming. Some of the top advocates for a utopia society have given up on that dream out of sheer despondency. Apparently,it might be one of those dreams man will never achieve no matter how hard he strives. Today we will delve deeper into one of the impediments of the utopian dream which is violence or we can christen it as war. Apparently,wars have been around from time immemorial and stories of wars have been extensively recorded in historical books. The old testament of the bible is awash with stories of battle won and lost. It is imperative to vanquish war to achieve even an iota of the dreamt world. On the contrary, however,war and state of pandemonium has increased considerably and almost virtually engulfed the whole world. Our efforts have achieved exactly what was not required. My focus will be directed towards violence in specific areas. In large cities and towns in almost all countries there is occasional violence or insecurity certain areas not particularly all around the towns. These places are always characterised as backward, middle and low income areas with poor infrastructure and facilities such as hospitals,schools,roads and sometimes lack of electricity. Open stinking sewers snake around the areas filling them with a terrible stench and diseases. These areas are always designated to the poor, the Wretched of the earth. It’s quite interesting that every big city in the world has such areas with similar qualities, maybe under different names as some are referred to as slums while others are honourable called ghettos. The only different thing is the names all the other things are similar. Perhaps,the poor people are same everywhere. Another notorious aspect of these areas is crime and violence. The governments all over the world have failed to solve these issues. Everytime there is an outbreak of violence,all they do is send security reinforcements which only worsen the already tense situation. It’s like pouring petrol on a burning fire,all one gets is a bigger fire. It becomes mutually destructive. It’s clear that the governments don’t know the real issues at work here. If only they knew violence would be avoided. According to Frantz Fanon in his book The Wretched of the Earth, violence is as a result of age long neglect by those in power and creation of a state of hopelessness and desperation in these settlements. Fanon explains that this state of pandemonium first manifests as internecine chaos between members of the same community possible neighbors in response to trivial issues. A neighbour might kill another neighbour’s child for just making noise. Considering they lived together and have been friends ever since this is considered a psychological problem of neglect. The psychological breakdown increases the frequency of death, crime and overreaction to petty issues. However,after a while this anger is directed towards the direction of those in power and things will certainly get pretty out hand. It might eventually lead to overthrow of the government. Fanon’s main example is the colonial era and the fight for independence in Algeria. It can be argued that Fanon lived and died long ago and this conditions do not work in the modern world. However,let it be known that Fanon was a psychiatrist and his study was from firsthand experience, furthermore these things continue to happen because time and time again we have continued disregard his findings and blind to history. Most terrorists operate from bases deep in the jungle and wilderness which have been perennially neglected by the governments. People majorly involved in crime do so because they have no other option to survive since they are not provided with all the requirements to be nurtured in the upright manner. Its a reaction to the pathetic living conditions they have been subjected to all along. Nobody is born a criminal, criminals are made just as racist and terrorists. The best reaction from authorities is to provide these people with the appropriate resources for efficient self development. In Kenya for instance, it’s awfully absurd to compare children from Kibera to those from Runda or Karen. They can never be the same. The chance of children from Kibera are slim. A big majority of them never make it. In European nations, black people and Muslims are treated with contempt even with quality education. They can’t get good jobs just because of their religion or skin colour. Just try to imagine their frustration. That’s why majority of terrorists are graduates from top schools. Mandela once said that when a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in,he has no choice but to become an outlaw. Treason is a crime of the state.

The new president has been confronted with the issue of subsidy immediately he assumed office. He made the tough decision to abolish subsidies on different commodities leaving only the fertilizer subsidy aiming to subsidize production rather than consumption. The government of former president Uhuru Kenyatta used subsidy to cushion Kenyans from the high cost of unga and fuel, however,the whole subsidy program was purported to be marred with massive corruption all the better reason to abolish it. The price of unga, which is a staple food, has remained steadily above two hundred Kenya shillings while that of fuel has risen to 180 Kenyan shillings from 150 Kenyan shillings. As one would have imagine in a country of about fifty million people,most people are surprised. These are not the campaign promises issued just a few weeks back. The new president had frequently blamed the old government of the high cost of living and promise to make things better immediately after ascending to power. He said that unga would retail at seventy shillings while fuel at one hundred shillings. However,the tune has changed.

The abolition of the subsidy program has already received backlash from a section of the population. The government has been on the receiving end of the high cost of living further driven up by the abolition of the subsidy program. While abolishing the subsidy program,the head of state stated that the program has been distorting markets and was full of corruption. From his statements it is evident that the plan of the government is to leave it to the forces of the market to bring the prices such as that of fuel down. Only time will tell if that will happen. Some people in the higher echelons of power are purporting that government is hoping for the upcoming harvesting seasons mostly in the North Rift to flood the market with maize and consequently lower the prices of unga. It remains to be seen whether that will happen but most people are not optimistic the situation will turn around. The argument is that the prices of fuel might not come down anytime soon since the global prices are above the roof. The prices have been skyrocketing since the Russian invasion of Ukraine back in February. The war and the subsequent sanctions that followed further pushed the prices up. The lack of optimism is reinforced by the fact that the country depends on imported fuel which is affected by geopolitical turbulence. It might not come down until the geopolitical turbulence is calmed and no one knows when this might be. The government might have to rethink it’s stance on the whole subsidy issue.

The International Monetary Fund has been for the past few months pilling pressure on the government to abolish the subsidy program so as to be given another loan to prop it up. Apparently,the government is broke and the economic situation is dire ana financial bailout is urgently needed. The constant pressure from the IMF might have been the main reason why the government abolished it’s subsidy program. The debt crisis is already choking the country and it will be harmful to the economy if more loans are to be taken. However,the quandary here is where the government will get funds for day to day operations. The government is already between a rock and a hard place. It will be seen how the political and economic think tanks will come up with viable programs to help move the country forward economically.