THE DAY I MADE PRESIDENT MOI LAUGH

Kenya has been mourning the passing of the country's second president. Granted, the rule of the late Daniel arap Moi, was associated with a lot of political repression, brutality and suppressed civil liberties. Still, there are those who harbour memories of pleasant encounters. I cannot  forget the day I made the then president Moi laugh.

It was customary for educational institutions to be drafted into entertainment programs for the former Head of State.

Towards the end of my first university days, I happened to be part of a very  dynamic drama team, which specialised in delivering often unscripted,yet powerful, hilarious and poignant performances.

Such was the popularity of our group of 'legendary' thespians, that we easily landed an invite to perform for the president at his Kabarak home chapel, during one of the Christmas festivities.

Normally, it was the choir that would be chosen to belt out Christmas carols that were always a favourite with president Moi, but like I've said, it was hard to ignore the then thriving stage creatives.

Having us on board was obviously a big risk for our minders, but since the theme was going to be a Christian one,  there was some comfort that we wouldn't easily stray into dangerous territory.

And so for many evenings, we rehearsed the Christmas play, supervised by very senior university administrators,  including vice chancellors.

The 'notorious' drama team worked hard to perfect a skit based on an imaginary baby Jesus, being born in the streets of Nairobi, with all the attendant chaos of the late 1990s.

And on the day of the big performance, I was ready to deliver my role as a  tout for a public service mini-bus, popularly known as matatu in Kenya.

On spotting the couple cast as Joseph and a pregnant Mary, I loudly beckoned to them:

"Hamza...Buruburu...Kayole...Komarock....na Bethlehem!!!

I then grabbed their luggage as I ushered them into the improvised matatu prop. It was no more than a group of students strategically standing/bending in such a way as to represent a vehicular contraption.

Once Joseph and Mary were in, I took their luggage to the rear end of the makeshift matatu, lifted the hands of two actors outwards, to simulate the opening of the boot or trunk, then placed the bags inside, then simultaneously brought the two outstretched hands downwards, to close the boot.

It was then that our eyes met.

I panicked.

The dreaded president Moi was laughing at something that I had done!

I froze and couldn't recall what I was to do or say next.

Luckily, my scene naturally blended into the encounter between Joseph, Mary and the innkeeper.

But wait...Daniel  Toroitich arap Moi laughed...based entirely on something that I did?

Such was the power that he wielded, that even managing to elicit a direct reaction from him...counts as a big achievement for me.

Please allow me to hold onto this memory, as Kenya lays to rest its longest-serving president.

OF SOURCING RESOURCES AND SOURCES OF SAUCY STORIES

Sources can either be direct providers of news, or indirect providers of information that can lead to big news, or even misleading news. And yet this is a gamble, almost all news organisations have to continue taking. The end result can be embarrassment, or even legal suits, arising out of publishing inaccurate information. So, sourcing resources, should not just lead to saucy stories.

Confirmation of key facts has never stopped being an important pillar of journalism.

However, the decision to publish or broadcast a story is often not determined by the availability of conclusive facts.

The juicy details of a story, (well aligned with driving up newspaper sales perhaps?), at times can't wait for comprehensive due diligence, given the fickle nature of news.

That's why a right of reply must always be accorded to those adversely mentioned.

But one could rightly expect that a person mentioned in a story, should be contacted, before the story is published, to either confirm the details or give their own side.

The only problem then is that, a whole complement of obstacles could arise, ranging from court injunctions, non-cooperative news sources, decoys, to even the killing of stories.

This is often after the intervention of internal higher forces in the managerial or editorial chain of command, acting on pressure/inducement from external 'sources' with vested interests

So you either choose to publish and be damned, or hold the damnation and have no news for your target audience.

There is though, a small time-tested principle advocating for the use of multiple sources, to corroborate details of a story, before going to press.

To go ahead and publish the fact that a story was based on a single 'reliable' source... is self-incriminating, and counter-indicative of the credibility of a news organisation.

Now that is a 'source' of concern!.

DANIEL ARAP MOI, REPORTING FOR PRESS TV

It's not unusual for people to be named after famous personalities. And parents often bequeath their children with not one, but the full name of someone they fancy. But as a Kenyan, coming across a foreign TV reporter named, 'Daniel Arap Moi,' more than amazes.

I don't know the exact circumstances that led to the Press TV reporter, now filing stories from Mali, to acquire the full name of Kenya's former president. But I bet that story would be of interest to many people in the East African country.

Already, there obviously appears to be a twist in that untold story. Normally, parents give their child the name of a person associated with positive attributes or a doer of great deeds. And if of age, a person can also independently choose to adopt the name of somebody they regard highly.

So how is it that one would want to be referred to, using the full name of Kenya's former President Moi, whose leadership is widely believed to have been a dictatorial one? I will definitely be surprised if presently,  I hear a person answering to the name Idi Amin Dada, Pol Pot, Jean Bedel Bokassa or Caligula.

The reverse would be true on coming across somebody named Gandhi, Lumumba, Mandela, Booker T. Washington, or Florence Nightingale. And as for the Jamaican dancehall artiste called Kibaki, (Kenya's current President), that is just amusing, if not hilarious.

It is a bit ironic then, to hear the Press TV reporter signing off with pride, as if fully convinced former president Moi's 24-year 'misrule' was admirable and worth immortalising.

What's in a name you ask? Well, it depends on the 'excess baggage' on that particular name.