FROM THE RING LEADER Happy New Year everybody! Yes, we know it’s already been a
week since the event, and that it’s already getting kind of stale. But we figured we’d give you all a chance to shake off the feeling of anti-climax and back-to-work blues that have had many of you in a chokehold all week. The KWELI Nerve Center was a hive of activity during the holidays: people were frantically opening presents, furiously barbecuing choice cuts, desperately trying to get a hold of the latest movie etc. Somehow, against all odds, we managed to cover a couple of events and agree on some new ways to keep you informed, entertained and inspired in 2010. So please take a couple of minutes to check out Sniper’s shots from “A Village Christmas “ which had our ribs aching from laughter. We’d also love to share a special selection of Sharp Shooter’s awesome photos from the various “New Year” gigs that rocked Nairobi.
Okwi NERVE CENTER
Okoh
Mwangi Kirubi
Ciku Mugwe
Vikki
Keingati
Mark
Muchura
Wycliffe Augustine
Ndanu Wambua
Elsie
Mwongeli
Wanjiru Ndegwa
KWELI is published and distributed by Under the Baobab Productions Limited. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. If you copy us or any of our ideas we’ll come for you. www.kwelimag.com
And then sports guru Kenyatta Otieno will give you why he’s got beef with the Harambee Stars who are conspicuously absent from the line-up of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, which kicks off in Angola on Sunday, January 10. For the ladies who feel nothing for football, at least you’ll know where your men are, and next month is Valentine’s! As mentioned, we’ve made some changes to serve you better this year. KWELI, in print, will now be on a quarterly basis, which gives us the breathing room to flex our creative muscles and pack in even more content. Our techies are working under the whip and at gunpoint to get kwelimag.com up and running so we can start giving you the daily doses of information that ‘will help to build you up, not tear you down’. In the meantime, please check out KWELI Magazine on Facebook for regular pictures and updates. God Bless.
Happy New Year! find us on
www.kwelimag.com
A VILLAGE C
Joseph recounting his ordeal
The Inn Band Dr. Theo in a deep monologue
Kanjii as Angel Gabriel
Bethel and Hem consulting
CHRISTMAS
The singing cast
A play by Sling & Stone, Mavuno
The 3 wise men in discussion
Rachel weeping
Shepherds chanting their mantra
Mavuno Worship Team at the Totally Souled Out Concert
Juliani at the Totally Souled Out Concert
Emmy Kosgei and her troop at the Totally Souled Out Concert
NEW YEAR’S EVE
E
M.O.G at the Groove Party
DJ Johni Celeb at the Totally Souled Out Concert
Hyped crowd at the Groove Party
Teenz Connect
THE
Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial African football showcase, is on from the 10th of January in Angola. Sadly Kenya will once again be watching from the sidelines, still writhing in pain from the bites of Mozambique’s Mambas. To put it more candidly, we will watch from long stools in pubs that our folks used to call ‘sina tabu’ yet our football ‘iko na tabu’. This tournament is also a headache for many European football clubs and Chelsea FC is already feeling the pinch of losing four players for one month. It was at this tournament that Dennis Oliech impressed the scouts from League 1 of France and in the same vein, most emerging African talents dream of playing in the competition. If you want to know how African teams will perform in the World Cup this year, make a date to watch the five teams that have qualified for South Africa play in Angola.
Anyway back to the issue of how many football followers are looking down in shame after a country like ‘Msumbiji’ made fools of us. What did they do that our boys failed to do? It’s simple: they didn’t lose any of their three matches at home, they drew with Nigeria while there, then they beat Kenya and Tunisia, which made all the difference between going to Angola and “gossiping over drinks” as Nicholas Musonye puts it. He was very upset when the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup was played in Nairobi last December in empty stadia. When the Super Eagles of Nigeria came calling, I put my money on Nigeria. My friend Sam called me names for it. I had backed the right horse though I must say the local boys put up a good show but gave it away as usual. The loss to Nigeria showed the technical depth of Nigeria because we matched them in talent. If you watch the local league you
begins home at
it
WORDS BY KENYATTA OTIENO
will have a candid view of the technical level of our football, things look promising though lots of work needs to be done. I have been following African football for some time and there is one factor the teams that stand out on the continent; they have a youth development program, and therefore the local clubs and leagues are run relatively well. We always go out with a nyama tayari mentality even in football! But you have to sit and wait for it to grill properly, and you have to do the spadework. You cannot compare Enyimba and Kano Pillars of Nigeria to any of our local clubs, although Sofapaka with its Christian backing has shown us what a difference good management can make. Our league is getting organized but our clubs are not well run, if we can transfer the money we spend on
beer watching FA matches to support our local league we can end up supplying good and fit footballers to Harambee Stars. Until our players start playing good football locally, they will never make it to Europe and our national team will lack a good supply of talent. Another thing is that when you know you lack the depth to take on big teams, keep it simple like Mozambique and make sure you do not lose at home. The wrangles between KFF (Kenya Football Federation) and FKL (Football Kenya League) not withstanding, any coach worth a stint with a national team can make sure he doesn’t lose, we can win later. Except for their captain Tico Tico, the other players either play
in Mozambique or South Africa. We can boast of more international professionals and yet they sneaked between our legs to end up in Angola. But even for the Mambas, it will be a different ball game in Angola though; they have to win every match if they are to leave a mark. What does this mean for our lives in general? Well, sometimes you don’t need to win, just make sure you don’t lose so that you can live to prepare to win in the next stage. It is always good to keep a clean slate at home, because that is where charity begins. This can be capsulated by the words of the North Korea goalkeeper during their last World Cup qualifier match when he said, “it was like defending the gateway to his mother land”. Until we get to the level where everything we do is like defending the gateway to our mother land (soul)
we will continue blaming the devil, peer pressure, the economic crunch, our busy schedules and the government for our failure to make it in relationships, spiritually, economically and in our careers. This probably applies more to those who are young in Christ. In the beginning, focus on defending your soul as you seek God and grow in faith. One day, you also will go on the offensive and also fight battles for the Kingdom.
vs SATURDAY AT 4:00 PM KASARANI STADIUM
DON’T MISS YOUR COPY! NEXT ISSUE OUT MARCH 1st 2010
leadership profile
ROAD TO 2012
KWELI RE church in focus
walking on water
fashion music review book re venus vs mars
e
boys to movie men review
monthly ka-kweli
lifestyle
ELOADED new.quarterly.issue
events
eviews
lifestyle
Fireworks Display at KICC