All posts by Brainerr No

The Maasai culture

By Marvel Ochieng

Maasai’s are easily recognizable thanks to their famous traditional robe the shuka. Mostly it is a red clothe that is wrapped around their lean and slender frames. In the maasai community red is a symbol of bravery and that they can scare away lions even from a far distance. In the past maasai clothes were obtained from animal hide that were dyed using vegetable pigments, while their jewels were made of seeds and stones found in their surroundings. When the first colonizers came, maasai’s started replacing calf or sheep hide with wool. Their clothing style and colours depended on age and social position. They used to wear sandals made from bovine hide but today these materials have been replaced with old pneumatic tires and plastic strips.

Maasai’s standing outside their houses
Photo by: Lyne Wasong

The different colours of maasai garments and jewellery are important because they reflect several aspects of their culture. Red being the most important colour it represents blood, courage strength and unity. They eat milk and blood which is harvested by puncturing the loose flesh on the cows’ neck with an arrow. They live in manyattas that are made of mud, sticks, grass, cow dung and cow’s urine. Livestock such as cattle, goat and sheep are their source of income and they serve as a social utility.

NTV exposes chemical ridden supermarket meats

By HEZRON KUTE

Picture showing how preserved meet with chemical is fresh
Photo: COURTESY

An investigative report compiled by Dennis Okari of NTV exposed supermarkets for using sulphite chemical preservatives dawa ya nyama  that might  be harmful to human beings. While holding interviews with a supermarket attendant, Okari unearthed the unspeakable act done to make meat appear fresh and juicy in the eyes of an unsuspecting customer.

“Every morning before the doors open for customers, we take packaged meat that stayed overnight, remove the cling film and change the date labels to reflect the current date. If the packaging is stained with blood, we change it and put a new wrapping,” said the attendant.

Seeing as it might be a huge loss, the supermarkets have adopted this practice to make sure their meat have a longer shelf life. In the course of his exposé, Okari conducted his own experiment on two cuts of meat to find out whether the food sulphites really worked. He easily purchased the dawa at Nairobi’s Industrial area and mixed it with one cut and left the other cut untouched. After a couple of day the meat mixed in with the dawa stayed fresh and juicy while the other cut begun to rot and smell.

Dennis Okari interviewing the supermarket manager
Photo: COURTESY

Supermarket managers expect a sale on meats even after they have exceeded the recommended two to three day shelf life. “Meat, including beef, chicken, fish and mutton, that negative side effects like nasal congestion, itchy throat, runny nose and skin rash.

Although this practice was revealed to be done by supermarkets alone there is no telling whether butcheries in town use sulphites presevatives or not.

Fatherly love

By SHANNON WENANI

Diamond  Platnum  has  finally  seen  his  children  after  Zari  Hassan  bowed and unlock him


The singer Diamond Platnum with his two children Tiffer and Nalia
PHOTO: COURTESY

The  singer  Diamond  Platnum  has  mentioned  several   times  that  he  has  been  denied  access to communicate  and  even  see  his  own  children  Tiffer  and  Nillan  because  they   are  not  in  Tanzania  with  him

Diamond  Platnum  even  decided  to  sing the  song  Inama  to  explain  and  express  his  feeling  of  how  he  cant  see  his  children  because  of  love  and  hate  between  him  and  Zari  Hassan.


          Tiffer and his brother  Nallia having fun together.
PHOTO: COURTESY   

Mapenzi  imeleta  kwa  wanangu  vita,  siku  hizi  siwaoni,  naishia  kuwa  like  insta.  (Love  has  brought  beef   between  me  and  my  childrens  these  days  ,  I  can  only  like  their  pictures  in  instagram  but   I cant  see  them  face  to  face)  He sing  this  on  the  song  Inama.

Mouth watering AFCON final

by Antony Gitonga

Liverpool and Senegal international Sadio Mane vies for the ball with Manchester City and Algeria international Riyad Mahrez during their group stage match.

Africa and the world you better be ready for this clash of the titans, The African Cup Of Nations Final between Senegal (lions of Terange) and Algeria(Desert Foxes).The game is widely viewed as a showdown between two premier league superstars and rivals with Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez and Liverpool’s Sadio Mane both of which have three goals to their name.This will be a repeat of their group stage clash in which Algeria won 1-0 but will it be business as usual? Algeria has gone all the way unbeaten in the tournament while Senegal’s only defeat came in the hands of their next opponents.Both teams will be appearing for their third and second final respectively with The Terange lions appearing for their first final back in 2002 where they finished runners up after Cameroon.The desert foxes will be looking to add to their trophy cabinet a cup they last won in 1990.With Sadio Mane’s European success with his club Liverpool, he will be looking to match that with his country. Riyad Mahrez on the hand also had a very successful season with his club Manchester City winning a treble(community shield, callabao cup and the premier league).Senegal have been almost solid winning three consecutive matches 1-0, beating Kenya and Tanzania 3-0 and 2-0 respectively with their only conceded goal of the tournament coming against Algeria. The Desert Foxes on the other hand didn’t concede in the group stages but had to rely on penalties to beat Ivory Coast at the quarters. So who will it be? I guess only after the 90 minutes on Friday we can answer that, but whichever way it goes it will be a classical AFCON final.

The maasai cricket warriors from Laikipia

By Marvel Ochieng

Maasai in kenya are using their love for games to raise awareness of social injustices in their community. They are actively campaigning against practices like female genital mutilation and early childhood marriages. Though some Maasai communities still believe that FGM should be continued because some see it as cultural rite of passage marking when a girl become a woman and can marry. Maasai cricket warriors captain Sonyanga Ole Ngais spoke to KTN News and told them how he and his team mates are trying to discourage the custom by refusing to marry girls who have undergone the brutal procedure.

Captain: Ole Sonyanga Ole speaks to his team mates during a practice session.  Photo by: Jane Wasong

They relate the sport to their traditional hunting techniques where the ball is the spear, the bat is the shield and their flowing red robes in full flight are an awesome sight. Even though maasai are male dominated women have fewer rights even to their bodies and so the cricket team are using their new found unity on the field as an inspiration to those off it, attempting to educate and give young people a sense of belonging support and hope. However, they face resistance from the elders of their community who hold maasai traditions practices dear. But then can cricket really bring change to the region?

Shannon Wenani

FATHERLY  LOVE

By Shannon Wenani

Diamond Platnum has finally seen his two kids after Zari Hassan bowed to pressure and unlocked him


The singer Diamond Platnum with his two children Tiffer and Nalia
Photo by: COURTESY

The  singer  Diamond  Platnum  has  mentioned  several   times  that  he  has  been  denied  access to communicate  and  even  see  his  own  children  Tiffer  and  Nillan  because  they   are  not  in  Tanzania  with  him

Diamond  Platnum  even  decided  to  sing the  song  Inama  to  explain  and  express  his  feeling  of  how  he  cant  see  his  children  because  of  love  and  hate  between  him  and  Zari  Hassan.

Mapenzi  imeleta  kwa  wanangu  vita,  siku  hizi  siwaoni,  naishia  kuwa  like  insta.  (Love  has  brought  beef   between  me  and  my  childrens  these  days  ,  I  can  only  like  their  pictures  in  instagram  but   I cant  see  them  face  to  face)  He sing  this  on  the  song  Inama.

He is seen so happy having fun with his chidren.

Hezron Kute

NTV exposes chemical ridden supermarket meats

By HEZRON KUTE

The meet that appears fresh after being preserved for days with chemicals
Photo: COURTESY

An investigative report compiled by Dennis Okari of NTV exposed supermarkets for using sulphite chemical preservatives dawa ya nyama  that might  be harmful to human beings. While holding interviews with a supermarket attendant, Okari unearthed the unspeakable act done to make meat appear fresh and juicy in the eyes of an unsuspecting customer.

“Every morning before the doors open for customers, we take packaged meat that stayed overnight, remove the cling film and change the date labels to reflect the current date. If the packaging is stained with blood, we change it and put a new wrapping,” said the attendant.

Seeing as it might be a huge loss, the supermarkets have adopted this practice to make sure their meat have a longer shelf life. In the course of his exposé, Okari conducted his own experiment on two cuts of meat to find out whether the food sulphites really worked. He easily purchased the dawa at Nairobi’s Industrial area and mixed it with one cut and left the other cut untouched. After a couple of day the meat mixed in with the dawa stayed fresh and juicy while the other cut begun to rot and smell.

Dennis Okari from NTV with the supermarket manager
Photo: COURTESY

Supermarket managers expect a sale on meats even after they have exceeded the recommended two to three day shelf life. “Meat, including beef, chicken, fish and mutton, that is not sold after a week, is cooked and served to unsuspecting customers in in-store cafeterias,” the source revealed.

Food experts advise that sulphites are generally safe if used within recommended limits, but they can cause negative side effects like nasal congestion, itchy throat, runny nose and skin rash.

Although this practice was revealed to be done by supermarkets alone there is no telling whether butcheries in town use sulphites preservatives or not.