THE war with winter has just begun. After all these years of being here, I earned myself a fair bruise on the left side of my back. I fell with a fast, heavy thud, but as far as passers-by were concerned it was like nothing really happened. 

Every word matters and so no more analysing what happened while I was out buying a top-up to heat the house. Thank you,  Vladimir Putin, for trying our patience with these ridiculous, extortionate gas prices. You and the Western powers that you are facing off with have a thing in common: an exaggerated sense of importance in fighting a New Cold War that is very stupid. I can’t believe you are still in power in the same way as I can’t believe the Western powers have continued to mismanage their economies and are blaming the Covid virus lockdown for this mess.

I want to know, Mr Putin, when you will leave Ukraine, or are you staying put and therefore starting the reunification of the former Soviet Union? Good luck, boy, because you just might need it. I think your reunification idea might confuse the Irish Question, so stay off! The reunification or not of Ireland is not the same as the rebuilding of the sisterhood of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. 

BIRTHDAY WASN'T ENTIRELY CELEBRATORY

AT the weekend I attended a function held in Lisburn for the commemoration of Kenya’s Independence Day. December 12, 1963, Kenya bade goodbye to Britain as the freedom fighters were finally accepted by the British colonial government – the war was over. 

What West Belfast MLA Gerry Carroll forgot to mention in his speech was that not all the freedom fighters of Kenya stood by what they promised about a better post-independence nation. Some of them, like Kenya’s first President Jomo Kenyatta, did unimaginable things, basically reinforcing the old ideologies of imperialism. Politically motivated assassinations were the order of the day in a country that was unwilling to do away with all the vestiges of colonialism. 

So, as in the case of new citizens who have come to Ireland North and South sometimes misunderstanding the competing histories here, Gerry must have room to digest these contested histories of other countries. We are not all tied by the same history, particularly if we concentrate on what happens post-colonialism. 

The Kenyan bottom-up economic model is crafted by Dr David Ndii, an economist who sings the tune of those in power there at the moment. In this system, it is hoped that the poor will suddenly experience upward mobility and feel better and do better economically because the state will invest in them first.  The Kenyan government has instituted a loan facility, but the poverty-stricken borrower must pay back the money within 14 days. 

The deputy Kenyan High Commissioner in London attended the Lisburn event and couldn’t stop himself from waxing lyrical about how free and fair the August  2022 election was. What he meant was that there was no war – but he managed to offend many in the room. When it comes to the political landscape of countries there is so much that is shared. I wonder now if the proportional representation system of voting in the North of Ireland can be a lesson for all divided countries of the world.