Laboso

[Ricardo @Ric_RTP]

This man stole a country from his own father and spent the next 18 years buying the West with gas money.

- He deposed his own dad in a palace coup and left him in exile for nearly a decade
- He founded the news network that aired Osama bin Laden's tapes
- He built America's largest military base in the Middle East and charges no rent for it
- He bought Harrods, the Shard, Canary Wharf, Paris Saint-Germain and 17% of Volkswagen
- He won the 2022 World Cup for a country with no football history

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani died this morning at 74.

Here's how bought the world:

In June 1995, he waited for his father to leave the country, then took the throne. The coup was bloodless. His father spent nearly a decade in exile.

Qatar is about one third the size of Belgium, and its population was barely two million, most of them foreign workers.

But it was sitting on one of the LARGEST natural gas reserves on Earth.

He bet everything on liquefied natural gas. Qatar became the world's biggest LNG exporter and one of the richest countries alive per person.

Then he hit the problem every commodity business hits:

Gas is gas, anyone with a tanker can sell it, and a tiny country with no army and that much money is a snack for its neighbours.

So he bought two things nobody else in the Gulf thought to buy...

The first was the world's attention.

In 1996 he issued a decree and Al Jazeera was born. Within a few years it was the most influential news network in the Arab world.

He owned the loudest microphone in the region and never had to speak into it himself.

The second was the American military.

In 1996, Qatar spent over a billion dollars building an air base at Al Udeid, outside Doha. It got the longest runway in the Gulf and shelters for nearly a hundred aircraft.

Qatar's air force only had about a dozen fighter jets.

In 1999 he reportedly told US officials he wanted 10,000 American servicemen stationed there permanently.

Then 9/11 happened, and they came.

The genius part:

Al Udeid is now the forward headquarters of US Central Command and the largest American base in the Middle East, with roughly 10,000 troops.

Qatar charges no rent.

He built the asset before the customer existed, handed it over free, and bought the one thing cash cannot: The US military parked permanently between his gas and everyone who wanted it.

The network broadcasting bin Laden and the runway flying America's war sat in the same tiny country, paid for by the same man.

Then he went shopping...

He set up the Qatar Investment Authority in 2005:

- Harrods
- The Shard
- Canary Wharf, London's largest property owner, bought with Brookfield for 2.6 billion pounds
- 17% of Volkswagen
- Paris Saint-Germain

All his.

In 2017 the Telegraph ran the headline "Qataris own more of London than the Queen."

Then 2008 arrived. Barclays needed billions or the British government was going to own it. Qatar wrote the cheque and its stake climbed to 12.7%. Barclays was later charged over how it disclosed that Qatari money.

In 2010, FIFA handed the 2022 World Cup to a desert country with NO football history. Corruption allegations shadowed the bid for over a decade, and the treatment of the migrant workers who built it drew brutal criticism.

Yet he walked into the opening match in 2022 and the stadium gave him a standing ovation.

Every other Gulf state was selling the same molecule at the same price. Hamad spent his money on a newsroom, a runway, a football club and half of London.

A country of two million now brokers hostage deals and hosts American presidents.

He built all of it in 18 years, and he took the throne from his own father to start.

Truly an unmatched legacy.

[Kipsambu Tigentiony @KipsambuT]

A rare photo of a man trying to tame the libido of a woman from Kericho.

[Eşref G @blackpage_g]

@mypat_ Senin gibiler için anlam ifade etmesini beklediğim herhangi bir tweetim yok. 5-9 yaş arası için bir şeyler yazarsam haber veririm.

[ba sing slay 💅🏽 @kigutasheilaa]

Japanese student, Rio Nakagawa, visited Nairobi and fell in love with Congolese music. He decided to travel to Kinshasa and later on started a band named Yoko Choc Nippon in Japan.

[Victor Kiprop @VictorKiprop_]

UPDATE 😂

[Laboso @labmos]

@vinguard254 Jamaa hapo mbele karibu analia.

[declasiq_esmi @declasiqstudio_]

Omo, serious boyfriend dey suffer o.

She dey with side guy, dey collect doggy, but she is on phone telling serious boyfriend say she dey church.

Pls drop some piece of advice for the serious boyfriend.

[Timothy Turunga @timothyturunga]

Continuation..
At 9:00 AM on Wednesday, six young men gathered at a playing field near Kingdom Seekers Church to coordinate their arrival at work. They had two motorbikes and an understanding. Evans, Kevin, and Joseph shared one bike, while Julius, Dennis, and Isaac took the other. By 9:30 AM, they rolled into Mawanga.

Twenty-one-year-old Grace Kariuki was alone in her mother’s shop, managing the day's responsibilities. When two men Joseph and Dennis approached her, they claimed to be carpenters sent by her mother. Grace immediately called her mother to verify.
On the other end of the line, Esther answered. With absolute clarity, she said, “I sent no one.”

The moment the lie collapsed, Joseph grabbed her. From a distance, the other four watched as Grace was dragged into the main house. Kevin produced a knife and a bottle of petrol. Inside the bedroom, Kevin and Isaac committed the act and killed her. Outside, the operation continued. Isaac stepped out and instructed Evans and Julius to empty the shop’s till. They counted out 2,500 Kenyan shillings and scratch cards worth 1,150.

As they prepared to leave, Kevin poured petrol over the furniture and struck a match. When Esther arrived, there was nothing left to save. Her daughter lay on the bed, reduced to something unrecognizable. However, the autopsy later corrected the fire’s lie: the cause of death was asphyxia due to pressure applied to the mouth and nose.

She had been awake when the flames came.
At 5:00 PM, the six men met again at the same playing field as if nothing of consequence had happened. They divided the money; Evans received 2,000 shillings payment for his participation. For his presence.

Five days later they struck again. This time it was Susan Wamboi Nginge, 26 years old, running a small shop attached to her home. Inside, her three-year-old son slept on the sofa unaware that proximity to adults offers no protection when the adults in question have abandoned whatever makes a person human.
.
Kevin sent Dennis ahead to distract her pretending to buy something. While Susan focused on the transaction, the others moved like shadows behind the structure, climbing over the iron fences.Joseph led, carrying a machete. They forced Susan into the bedroom. Kevin dragged her inside and called Julius to join him. The door closed, and time stretched as something irreversible took place.Minutes later, Julius stepped out. Kevin, the supervisor of ruin, asked

“Is she dead?”
Julius nodded.

They placed her body on the bed, Then Kevin began the ritual again.Petrol in the bedroom. Petrol in the sitting room.And there, beside the sleeping child.Kevin turned to Evans and issued an order.

"Kill the boy."

Evans refused.They grabbed the television, As they fled, Kevin lit a match and threw it behind him, But fire, as always, betrayed https://t.co/QRXFsdhCAL drew attention and Neighbors came running. Windows were broken. Someone screamed the child’s name into the smoke-filled room,
He woke up crying. And then Strong, desperate, human hands pulled him out of the smoke A small, stubborn defiance boy lived but his mother did not.The autopsy would later reconstruct what the flames tried to obscure. Strangulation.

Three days later at 3:00 AM One of them moved through Mawanga alone watching. He studied a house the way a hunter studies a watering hole, waiting for absence. When the homeowners finally left for work, By 9:00 AM, the others gathered at Nakuru South Cemetery.

At 10:00 AM, they arrived, inside the house was Diana Opicho, 25 years old. Alone. Which, in their calculus, was the only qualification that mattered.The back door was open and they slipped in quietly. 1/2

For best Kenyan history and Investigative stories follow @timothyturunga.

(continuation in comments)

[Thandekile Moyo @Mamoxn]

Disclaimers:
1. This is long and self centered (typically 😅).
2. I don't get paid by X

I cannot imagine a life devoid of stories by:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)
Ngugi Wathiongo (Kenya)
Khaled Hosseini (Afghanistan)
Claire Hajaj (Palestine et al)

And even though I've intentionally chosen to focus less on western literature,
I can't imagine a life without stories by:
Charles Dickens,
Danielle Steele,
George Orwell

Guys,
Please read as diversely as possible.
It will open your mind.
Growing up Zimbabwean libraries were packed with literature from all over the world.
I read pacesetters from Nigeria,
Followed dramas from Sweet valley High in the USA,
Followed the Hardy boys,
Nancy Drew,
And read about British summers as told by Enid Blyton.
I was born and raised in semi-rural Gwanda - Zimbabwe,
But as a child,
Just from reading and films- I had the worldview of someone who was extensively well traveled.

South African films like "Asinamali" and "Sarafina" conscientised me about the evil that was apartheid just across the border,
We would sing about Nelson Mandela,
When SA got Independence,
My friends and I were ecstatic at only 10 years old.

I'm currently reading "The Arsonist's city by Hala Alyan,
Through it I'm understanding more about life in Lebanon and Syria,
Which gives me context about the current crisis in the middle East.
Now,
When I hear Israel has bombed Beirut yet again,
I understand that at a deeper level than before I read novels written by survivors of that violence and their descendants.

Just last week I reviewed "The poisonwood bible by Barbara Kingsolver,
It's just a story about a couple and their 4 daughters,
But it's set in Congo and talks about the assassination of Patrice Lumumba,
And the hand of Belgium, France and the USA in the destabilization of Congo.
From reading it I can clearly see the third hand in the current crisis in the DRC.
And from reading it,
I now understand why we have so many Congolese immigrants in Zimbabwe,
And I empathise with them.

Please read.
In a world where traveling isn't always feasible,
Reading books set in different countries
Is the next best thing.

[Laboso @labmos]

@Kushmapesa 🤣🤣 msee 9 yrs later ndio unaiona

[Laboso @labmos]

@TrevyLord Rada?

[Joyline Chebet @JoylineChebet1]

Kipsigis people are a wonder. Isaac Ruto took the mantle, placed himself ahead to fight for the community .

He sacrificed his position, dared the government for our benefit, we fought him , we called him names. We demanded that he disbands the very shelter he made for us ( CCM).

Isaac Ruto came to Nakuru advised us to support our candidate Koros of CCM, he told us Nakuru was ours and we needed to protect it - What did we do? We threw him words and supported you know who because that is what William Ruto wanted.

It is appalling to now question his depletion of energy, his wavy stands, his decision to put cash ahead . It is surprising that we are demanding him to "Fight for us" when we are the same people who left him in the den of rats and snakes.

He crawled out by luck and is now fighting to be up. Instead of us demanding that he be given CS Agriculture where he knows best, we settled for a colorful position with no resources. William Ruto ensured that he loses in 2022 , then gave him a bone to play with.... we laughed at him.

Infact Isaac Ruto should stop fighting for the Kipsigis people, they are ungrateful, selfish, mogosto, ... Fight for your survival sir, be selfish about yourself, Even Ngong tried playing the hero the same Kipsigis warned him of fighting "Our own".

Maybe after you get back the position , or if that selfish Kingpin goes home, for now Stay toxic

[Laboso @labmos]

@Dr_AustinOmondi Manipulation. Kinda fixed exchange rate by cbk

[CHOQUEI @choquei]

🚨MUNDO: Conhecido como ‘Spider-Man do Iêmen’, aventureiro morre após queda em cratera vulcânica.

[Laboso @labmos]

@3Star_GOD @kipmurkomen is this your brother?

[Laboso @labmos]

@KenyaAirports @Asmali77 Hehe

[Just_Axe  @Profesor_Axe]

@SelbyNhlek When the hacker meets the developer