It is sobering to find that people of your own age or era are attaining major positions of power. It does rather make you wonder what you, yourself have been doing all these years, while Cameron, Obama and Clegg have been plotting their way feverishly to the top.
We now have 'easy on the eye' David Cameron 43 and Nick Clegg 43 (a friend of a friend actually remembers the latter from university - how scary is that!). There's Obama 46 and also Nicholas Sarkosy not far behind at 54. I love the way he jumps about in official photographs in his high heels - young at heart I guess.
I imagine that State visits will be all sorts of fun in future. Obama smokes, plays golf and slips off endlessly to be with his yummy wife and two young daughters, Cameron has been spotted in high street 'utility' clothes (Gap, Uniqlo) and to top it all, his fashion career wife has recently announced she is pregnant. Clegg's spunky wife said in the run up to the UK election that she doesn't have the sort of job that she can simply 'drop' for 6 weeks during the campaign period - so she didn't. Sarkosy is married to Carla Bruni - enough said.
I read in the Nation newspaper today (apparently news derived from the UK Times) that like Obama, David Cameron is kicking up a stink about handing over his BlackBerry and is struggling to come to terms with his beefed up security detail. He hasn't moved into No. 10 Downing Street yet and prefers to walk to work....sans minders. He's already causing all sorts of trouble.
The idea of the Western world being ruled by 'young guns' is quite fun and such a far cry from the old dinosaurs who dominate Kenyan politics. Out with the old and in with the new I say!
In fact, in Kenya, some of the wizened old faces on our front pages have been clinging on to power for decades, while others have handed the reins to their offspring, thus forming political dynasties that run and run. Let's face it, the Attorney General, Amos Wako has been in his post for 20 years!! And 86 year old former president Moi is making political speeches that we still actually have to listen to - in spite of all the shocking scandals that have come to light since he left power! Oh well.
In the meantime, there has been an interesting article in the Telegraph recently on the Dfid debate:
And - it hasn't really rained much in Nairobi since Thursday. In fact we've had some very nice sunny days recently - though not a patch on the glorious weather I hear that England has been enjoying. There are still rain clouds lurking and I gather in Kenya we are in for El Nino rain until at least June - plus it's been raining cats and dogs in Mombasa this weekend - so certainly not dry everywhere.
