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Saturday, October 29, 2011

wonderful dog who lives with the child of monkeys

MAGIC DOG AND MAGIC MONKEY.

 One day I was in walking me in various villages I met with the occurrence of striking, which today has made me to write about. I met a dog who was living with a child of monkeys and every dog he was going to let the child, the monkeys had to climb up the back and neither the dog was no objections and it seems that the dog he had no betrayal at all and monkeys that although I understand that dogs and monkeys always do reconciled with the monkeys and dogs are enemies.
  good only now I get tired more when I see this charm that she suck the milk of a dog he nor the dog not have to worry at all I tried to beat the picture and was not terrified, but amazingly no one who was wondering more of us foreigners who have been there for the remote and iaoneka they were quite accustomed to see those creatures as well.
dog and monkey
  I have a question there is no harm he can get the monkeys if the dog will use the veil in her life? and if so, what and why as there is for monkeys and dogs are creatures who have no close ties. monkeys the best man I know would have milk bit compatible ... in the next article as I have a good chance that I will try to meet / communicate with doctors to see if there is any proble mya occur to those aminal. and so I may go as no harm can I find these creatures
another dog follow monkey and dog
waswahili wansema ukistaajabu ya musa utayaona ya firauni . haka ka dognimekamind ningekuwa na uwezo ningemchukua niishi nae nione mwisho wamaisha yao yangefikia wapi.....

by Steven Mruma..................

Saturday, October 22, 2011

REST IN PEACE MUAMMAR GADDAFI. THE IRON LEADER IN AFRICA.





NO ONE LIKE YOU GADDAFI

rest in peace muammar gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi[1] (Arabic: مُعَمَّر القَذَّافِيMuʿammar al-Qaḏḏāfī About this sound audio ;[variations] (7 June 1942[2] – 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi play /ˈm.əmɑr ɡəˈdɑːfi/ or Colonel Gaddafi, was the autocratic ruler[3][4] of Libya from 1969, when he seized power in a bloodless military coup, until 2011 when his government was overthrown in a civil war which consisted of a popular uprising aided by a foreign intervention. His 42-year rule prior to the uprising made him the fourth longest-ruling non-royal leader since 1900, as well as the longest-ruling Arab leader.[5] He variously styled himself as "the Brother Leader" and "Guide of the Revolution"; in 2008 a meeting of traditional African rulers bestowed on him the title "King of Kings".[6]
After seizing power in 1969, he abolished the Libyan Constitution of 1951 and civil liberties enshrined in it. He imposed laws based on the political ideology[7] he had formulated, called the Third International Theory and published in The Green Book.[8][9] Rising oil prices and extraction in Libya led to increasing revenues. By exporting as much oil per capita as Saudi Arabia, Libya achieved the highest living standards in Africa. However, at the same time similarly oil-rich Gulf countries improved their living standards much further, and this fact was visible to ordinary Libyans.[10][11] Early during his regime, Gaddafi and his relatives took over much of the economy. Gaddafi started several wars and acquired chemical weapons.[12] The United Nations called Libya under Gaddafi a pariah state.[13][14] In the 1980s, countries around the world imposed sanctions against Gaddafi.[15] Six days after the capture of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2006 by United States troops,[16] Gaddafi renounced Tripoli's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs and welcomed international inspections to verify that he would follow through on the commitment.[17] A leading advocate for a United States of Africa, he served as Chairperson of the African Union (AU) from 2 February 2009 to 31 January 2010.
In February 2011, following revolutions in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia, protests against Gaddafi's rule began. These escalated into an uprising that spread across the country, with the forces opposing Gaddafi establishing a government based in Benghazi named the National Transitional Council (NTC). This led to the 2011 Libyan Civil War, which included a military intervention by a NATO-led coalition to enforce a UN Security Council Resolution 1973 calling for a no-fly zone and protection of civilians in Libya. The assets of Gaddafi and his family were frozen, and both Interpol and the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on 27 June for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam, and his brother-in-law Abdullah al-Senussi, concerning crimes against humanity.[1][18][19][20] Gaddafi and his forces lost the Battle of Tripoli in August, and on 16 September 2011 the NTC took Libya's seat at the UN, replacing Gaddafi.[21] He retained control over parts of Libya, most notably the city of Sirte, to which it was presumed that he had fled.[22] Although Gaddafi's forces initially held out against the NTC's advances, Gaddafi was captured as Sirte fell to the rebel forces on 20 October 2011, and shot dead soon after.
Muammar al-Gaddafi was raised in a bedouin tent in the desert near Sirte (Sidra). According to many biographies, his family belongs to a small tribe of Arabs, the Qadhadhfa. They are mostly herders that live in the Hun Oasis. According to Gaddafi, his paternal grandfather, Abdessalam Bouminyar, fought against the Italian occupation of Libya and died as the "first martyr in Khoms, in the first battle of 1911".[24] Gaddafi attended a Muslim elementary school far from home in Sabha, during which time he was profoundly influenced by major events in the Arab world. He was passionate about the success of the Palestinians and was deeply disappointed by their defeat by Israeli forces in 1948. He admired Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and looked to him as a hero during his rise to power in 1952. In 1956 Gaddafi took part in anti-Israeli protests during the Suez Crisis.[25] In Sabha he was briefly a member of Scouting.[26] He finished his secondary school studies under a private tutor in Misrata, concentrating on the study of history.
Gaddafi entered the Libyan military academy at Benghazi in 1961, and graduated in 1966. Both towards the end of his course and after graduation, Gaddafi pursued further studies in Europe. False rumours have been propagated with regards to this part of his life, for example, that he attended the United Kingdom's Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.[27] He did in fact receive four months' further military training in the United Kingdom, and spent some time in London.[28][29] After this, as a commissioned officer he joined the Signal Corps.[30] Although often referred to as "Colonel Gaddafi", he was in fact only a Lieutenant when he seized power in 1969.[31] He was, nonetheless, a holder of the honorary rank of Major General, conferred upon him in 1976 by the Arab Socialist Union's National Congress. Gaddafi accepted the honorary rank, but stated that he would continue to be known as "Colonel" and to wear the rank insignia of a Colonel when in uniform.[32]

Libyan revolution of 1969

In Libya, as in a number of other Arab countries, admission to a military academy and a career as an army officer only became available to members of the lower economic strata after independence. A military career offered an opportunity for higher education, for upward economic and social mobility, and was for many the only available means of political action. For Gaddafi and many of his fellow officers, who were inspired by Nasser's brand of Arab nationalism, a military career was a revolutionary vocation.
As a cadet, Gaddafi associated with the Free Officers Movement. Most of his future colleagues on the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) were fellow members of his graduating class at the military academy. The frustration and shame felt by Libyan officers by Israel's massive defeat of the Arab armies on three fronts in 1967 fuelled their determination to contribute to Arab unity by overthrowing the Libyan monarchy. An early conspirator, Gaddafi first started planning the overthrow of the monarchy while a cadet.
On 1 September 1969 a small group of junior military officers led by Gaddafi staged a bloodless coup d'état against King Idris of Libya while the king was in Turkey for medical treatment. Idris's nephew, Crown Prince Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida al-Mahdi as-Sanussi, was formally deposed by the revolutionary army officers and put under house arrest; they abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the Libyan Arab Republic.[33]

Internal affair.


Gaddafi (left) with Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1969
On gaining power he immediately ordered the shutdown of American and British military bases, including Wheelus Air Base. He told Western officials that he would expel their companies from Libya's oil fields unless they shared more revenue. In his warning, he alluded to consultation with Nasser. The oil companies complied with the demand, increasing Libya's share from 50 to 79 percent.[34] In December 1969, Egyptian intelligence thwarted a planned coup against Gaddafi from high-ranking members of his leadership. Many of the dissenters had grown uneasy with his growing relationship to Egypt.[35] In response to the failed coup, Gaddafi criminalized all political dissent and shared power only with his family and closest associates.[citation needed]
Gaddafi committed ethnic cleansing, expelling Italian settlers in Libya in 1970.[36] Despising the Christian calendar, he replaced it as the country's official with an Islamic calendar.[37] He renamed the months of the calendar. August, named for Augustus Caesar, was renamed Hannibal, and July, after Julius Caesar, was renamed Nasser, for Gamal Abdel Nasser. From 1971 to 1977, Gaddafi approved the Arab Socialist Union, modeled on Egypt's Arab Socialist Union (Egypt), to function as a political party in Libya.[38]
Gaddafi increasingly devoted himself to "contemplative exile" over the next months,[7] caught up in apocalyptic visions of revolutionary pan-Arabism and Islam locked in a mortal struggle with what he termed the encircling, demonic forces of reaction, imperialism, and Zionism. As a result, routine administrative tasks fell to Major Jallud who became prime minister in place of Gaddafi in 1972. Two years later Jallud assumed Gaddafi's remaining administrative and protocol duties to allow Gaddafi to devote his time to revolutionary theorizing. Gaddafi remained the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the effective head of state. The foreign press speculated about an eclipse of his authority within the RCC, but Gaddafi soon dispelled such theories by imposing measures to restructure Libyan society.

Elimination of dissent

In 1969, Gaddafi created Revolutionary committees to keep tight control over internal dissent. Ten to twenty percent of Libyans worked as informants for these committees. Surveillance took place in the government, in factories, and in the education sector.[39] People who formed a political party were executed, and talking about politics with foreigners was punishable by up to 3 years in jail.[citation needed] Arbitrary arrests were common and Libyans were hesitant to speak with foreigners.[40] The government conducted executions and mutilations of political opponents in public and broadcast recordings of the proceedings on state television. Dissent was illegal under Law 75 of 1973, which denied freedom of expression.[39][41] In 2010, Libya's press was rated as 160th out of 178 nations in the Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders.[42]
During the 1970s, Libya executed members of the Islamist fundamentalist Hizb-ut Tahrir faction, and Gaddafi often personally presided over the executions.[43][44] Libya faced internal opposition during the 1980s because of its highly unpopular war with Chad. Numerous young men cut off a fingertip to avoid conscription at the time.[45] A mutiny by the Libyan Army in Tobruk was violently suppressed in August 1980.[46]
From time to time Gaddafi responded to external opposition with violence. Between 1980 and 1987, Gaddafi employed his network of diplomats and recruits to assassinate at least 25 critics living abroad.[39][47] His revolutionary committees called for the assassination of Libyan dissidents living abroad in April 1980, sending Libyan hit squads abroad to murder them. On 26 April 1980 Gaddafi set a deadline of 11 June 1980 for dissidents to return home or be "in the hands of the revolutionary committees".[48] Gaddafi stated explicitly in 1982 that "It is the Libyan people's responsibility to liquidate such scums who are distorting Libya's image abroad."[49] Libyan agents have assassinated dissidents in the United States,[50] Europe,[51] and the Middle East.[39][49][52] As of 2004 Libya still provided bounties on critics, including $1 million for one journalist.[53] During the 2005 civil unrest in France, Gaddafi called Chirac and offered him his help in quelling the resistors, who were largely North African.[54] There are growing indications that Libya's Gaddafi-era intelligence service had a cozy relationship with western spy organizations including the CIA, who voluntarily provided information on Libyan dissidents to the regime in exchange for using Libya as a base for extraordinary renditions.[55][56][57]
Following an abortive 1986 attempt to replace English with Russian as the primary foreign language in education,[58] English has been taught in recent years in Libyan schools from primary level, and students have access to English-language media.[59]

Campaign against Berber culture

Gaddafi often expressed an overt contempt for the Berbers, a non-Arab people of North Africa, and for their language, maintaining that the very existence of Berbers in North Africa is a myth created by colonialists. He adopted new names for Berber towns, and on official Libyan maps, referred to the Nafusa Mountains as the "Western mountains".[60] In a 1985 speech, he said of the Berber language, "If your mother transmits you this language, she nourishes you with the milk of the colonialist, she feeds you their poison" (1985).[61] The Berber language was banned from schools and up until 2009, it was illegal for parents to name their children with Berber names.[62] Berbers living in ancient mud-brick caravan towns such as Ghadames were forced out and moved into modern government-constructed apartments in the 1980s.[7] During the 2011 civil war, Berber towns rebelled against Gaddafi's rule and sought to reaffirm their ancient identity as Berbers.[63][64][65] Gaddafi's government strengthened anti-Berber sentiment among Libyan Arabs, weakening their opposition.[66]

Economy

Libya enjoys large natural resources, but the high gross domestic product was concentrated on Gaddafi's family and his elites, who amassed vast fortunes.[67] Most of the business enterprises were controlled by Gaddafi and his family.[68] Meanwhile, a large section of the population lives in poverty. One of the worst situations is in the eastern parts of the country.[69][70]
When the rising international oil prices began to raise Gaddafi's revenues in the 1970s, Gaddafi spent much of the revenues on arms purchases and on sponsoring his political projects abroad.[71] Gaddafi's relatives adopted lavish lifestyles, including luxurious homes, Hollywood film investments and private parties with American pop stars.[72][73]
The Economy of Libya was centrally planned and followed Gaddafi's socialist ideals. It benefited greatly from revenues from the petroleum sector, which contributed practically all export earnings and 30% of its GDP. These oil revenues, combined with a small population and by far Africa's highest Education Index gave Libya the highest nominal GDP per capita in Africa. Between 2000 and 2011, Libya recorded favourable growth rates with an estimated 10.6 percent growth of GDP in 2010, the highest of any state in Africa. Gaddafi had promised "a home for all Libyans" and during his rule, new residential areas rose in empty Saharan regions. Entire populations living in mud-brick caravan towns were moved into modern homes with running water, electricity, and satellite TV.[7] A leaked diplomatic cable describes Libyan economy as "a kleptocracy in which the government — either the al-Gaddafi family itself or its close political allies — has a direct stake in anything worth buying, selling or owning".[20]


At the time Gaddafi died, some of the worst economic conditions were in the eastern parts of the state.[69][70] The sewage facilities in Banghazi were over 40 years old, and untreated sewage flowed into ground and coast.[11] 97% of urban dwellers have access to "improved sanitation facilities" in Libya, this was 2% points lower than the OECD average, or 21% points above the world average.[74] In the first 15 years of Gaddafi rule, the number of doctors per 1000/citizens increased by seven times, with the number of hospital beds increasing by three times.[75] During Gaddafi's rule, infant mortality rates went from 125/1000 live births, about average for Africa at the time, to 15.04/1000, the best rate in Africa.[76] Libyans who could afford it often had to seek medical care in neighboring countries such as Tunisia and Egypt because of lack of decent medical care in Libya.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

HISTORY OF JULIUS KAMBARAGE NYERERE ( FATHER OF TANZANIA)


Julius Kambarage Nyerere (13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian politician who served as the first President of Tanzania and previously Tanganyika, from the country's founding in 1961 until his retirement in 1985.
Born in Tanganyika to Nyerere Burito (1860–1942), Chief of the Zanaki, Nyerere was known by the Swahili name Mwalimu or 'teacher', his profession prior to politics.He was also referred to as Baba wa Taifa (Father of the Nation). Nyerere received his higher education at Makerere University in Kampala and the University of Edinburgh. After he returned to Tanganyika, he worked as a teacher. In 1954, he helped form the Tanganyika African National Union.
In 1961, Nyerere was elected Tanganyika's first Prime Minister, and following independence, in 1962, the country's first President. In 1964, Tanganyika became politically united with Zanzibar and was renamed to Tanzania. In 1965, a one-party election returned Nyerere to power. Two years later, he issued the Arusha Declaration, which outlined his socialist vision of ujamaa that came to dominate his policies.
Nyerere retired in 1985, while remaining the In 1985 Nyerere gave up the Presidency but remained as chair of the Party - Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). He gradually withdrew from active politics, retiring to his farm in Butiama. In 1990 he relinquished his chairmanship of CCM but remained active on the world stage as Chair of the Intergovernmental South Centre. One of his last high profile actions was as the chief mediator in the Burundi conflict (in 1996). He died in a London hospital of leukaemia on October 14, 1999.chairman of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi. He died of leukemia in London in 1999. In 2009, Nyerere was named "World Hero of Social Justice" by the president of the United Nations General Assembly.
Kambarage Nyerere was born on 13 April 1922 in the town of Butiama in Tanganyika's Mara Region. He was one of 26 children of Nyerere Burito (1860–1942), Chief of the Zanaki. He began attending Government Primary School in Musoma at the age of 12 where he completed the four year programme in three years and went on to Tabora Government School in 1937. He later described Tabora School as being "as close to Eton as you can get in Africa." In 1943 he was baptised as a Catholic, taking the baptismal name of Julius. He received a scholarship to attend Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. Here he founded the Tanganyika Welfare Association, which eventually merged with the Tanganyika African Association (TAA), which had been formed in 1929. Nyerere received his teaching Diploma in 1947. He returned to Tanganyika and worked for 3 years at St. Mary's Secondary School in Tabora, where he taught Biology and English. In 1949 he got a government scholarship to attend the University of Edinburgh and was the first Tanganyikan to study at a British university. He obtained an undergraduate Master of Arts degree in Economics and History in 1952. In Edinburgh he encountered Fabian thinking and began to develop his particular vision of connecting socialism with African communal living.

Post-presidential activity

After the Presidency, Nyerere remained the Chairman of CCM until 1990 when Ali Hassan Mwinyi took over. Nyerere remained vocal about the extent of corruption and corrupt officials during the Mwinyi administration. He also blocked Jakaya Kikwete's nomination for the presidency, citing that he was too young to run a country. Nyerere was instrumental in getting Benjamin Mkapa elected (Mkapa had been Minister of Foreign Affairs for a time during Nyerere's administration). Kikwete later became president in 2005.
Nyerere's portrait on the Tanzanian 1000 shilling note
In one of his famous speeches during the CCM general assembly, Nyerere said in Swahili "Ninang'atuka", meaning that he was pulling out of politics for good. He kept to his word that Tanzania would be a democratic country. He moved back to his childhood home village of Butiama in northern Tanzania. During his retirement, he continued to travel the world meeting various heads of government as an advocate for poor countries and especially the South Centre institution. Nyerere travelled more widely after retiring than he did when he was president of Tanzania. One of his last high-profile actions was as the chief mediator in the Burundi conflict in 1996. He died in a London hospital of leukaemia on 14 October 1999.
Positions Held after Presidency: Chairman of Chama Cha Mapinduzi (1985–1990), Chairman of the independent International South Commission (1987–1990), and Chairman of the South Centre in the Geneva & Dar es Salaam Offices (1990–1999).

Sunday, October 9, 2011

REST IN PEACE PROF. WAANGARI MAATHAI CHIEF OF ENVIRONMENT IN THE WORLD.


History of Professor Wangari MaathaiA Brief Introduction  

30 Sep, 2011 "Wangari Muta Mary Jo Maathai (1 April 1940 – 25 September 2011) was a Kenyan environmental and political activist. She was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya. In the 1970s, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women's rights. In 1986, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, and in 2004, she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for “her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.” Maathai was an elected member of Parliament and served as Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources in the government of President Mwai Kibaki between January 2003 and November 2005. In 2011, she died of complications from ovarian cancer. 

At the age of eleven, Maathai moved to St. Cecilia's Intermediate Primary School, a boarding school at the Mathari Catholic Mission in Nyeri. Maathai studied at St. Cecilia's for four years. During this time, she became fluent in English and converted to Catholicism, taking the Christian name Mary Josephine. She also was involved with the Christian society known as the Legion of Mary, whose members attempted "to serve God by serving fellow human beings Studying at St. Cecilia's, Maathai was sheltered from the ongoing Mau Mau Uprising, which forced her mother to move from their homestead to an emergency village in Ihithe.When she completed her studies there in 1956 she was rated first in her class, and was granted admission to the only Catholic high school for girls in Kenya, Loreto High School Limuru in Limuru
After graduating from Loreto-Limuru in 1959, she planned to attend the University of East Africa in Kampala, Uganda. However, the end of the colonial period of East Africa was nearing, and Kenyan politicians, such as Tom Mboya, were proposing ways to make education in Western nations available to promising students. John F. Kennedy, then a United States Senator, agreed to fund such a program through the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, initiating what became known as the Kennedy Airlift or Airlift Africa. Maathai became one of about three hundred Kenyans chosen to study at American universities in September 1960

Studies in America and Germany

Maathai received a scholarship to study at Mount St. Scholastica College (now Benedictine College), in Atchison, Kansas. At Mount St. Scholastica, she majored in biology, with minors in chemistry and German.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

UNFORGOTTEN STORY OF ROBERT NESTA MARLEY ( BOB MARLEY)

                         Bob Marley History
Robert "Bob" Nesta Marley being born on 6th February 1945 in the a small village known as Nine Mile in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica.
His father, Norval Sinclair Marley, was born in 1895 and was a white Jamaican of English descent. His own parents originated from Sussex. Norval Marley was a Marine officer and captain as well as being a plantation overseer when he fell in love with and married Cedella Booker. She was a black Jamaican woman who was then just 18 years old. Although Norval Marley provided financial support for his beloved wife and son, he seldom saw them due to his being often away on naval trips.
The young Bob Marley was only 10 years old when his father died of a heart attack at the age of 60 in 1955.
As a youth, Bob Marley suffered much racial prejudice due to his mixed racial origins. He often faced questions about his own racial identity throughout his short life.
He was once quoted as saying:
"I don't have prejudice against myself. My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me don't dip on nobody's side. Me don't dip on the black man's side nor the white man's side. Me dip on God's side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white."
ROBERT NESTA MARLEY.
Young Robert (Bob) Marley and his mother were forced to move to the slums of Kingston's Trenchtown after Norval's death. This was a very tough neighbourhood and Bob marley was forced to learn self-defense becauee of his being the target of bullying, mainly due to his racial makeup as well as his small stature of only 5'4". As he grew older, he earned himself a reputation for his physical strength which earned him the nickname "Tuff Gong".
Bob Marley made friends with Neville "Bunny" Livingston (who was later known as Bunny Wailer). They soon started playing music together as a natural progression of their friendship. Bob Marley left school at 14 to work as an apprentice at a local welder's workshop. In his free time Bob Marley and Bunny Livingston made music with another friend, Joe Higgs who was a local singer as well as being a devout Rastafari. Joe Higgs is regarded by many as being Bob Marley's mentor. It was at one of their frequent jam sessions with Higgs and Livingston that Bob Marley met Peter McIntosh (who was better known as Peter Tosh) who had similar musical ambitions.
In 1962 Bob Marley recorded and released his first two singles. "Judge Not" and "One Cup of Coffee" were produced by Leslie Kong, a local music producer. Both songs were released on the Beverley's label under the pseudonym of Bobby Martell. Unfortunately, they attracted almost no media attention and were complete flops.

Bob Marley's funeral, 21 May 1981: a day of Jamaican history

Richard Williams was at Bob Marley's funeral 30 years ago in Jamaica. He recalls an extraordinary carnival of music, prayer and full Rasta pageantry
Bob Marley in 1975, two years before he was diagnosed with the malignant melanoma that would lead to his death in May 1981. Photograph: Jonathan Player/ Rex Features
They buried Bob Marley on 21 May 1981 at Nine Mile, the village where, 36 years earlier, he had been born. His heavy bronze coffin was carried to the top of the highest hill in the village and placed in a temporary mausoleum painted in the colours of red, green and gold. Alongside Marley's embalmed corpse, the casket contained his red Gibson Les Paul guitar, a Bible opened at Psalm 23, and a stalk of ganja placed there by his widow, Rita, at the end of the funeral ceremony earlier in the day.
On the night of his death, on 11 May, I had gone to the Island Records studios in an old church in Notting Hill, west London, where Aswad had been cutting tracks in the very basement studio where Bob had completed Catch A Fire, his breakthrough album, nine years earlier. But it was long after midnight, and the musicians had gone home after watching the tributes to the dead man hurriedly assembled by the British TV networks. The only people left were a caretaker and one of Aswad's roadcrew, both Jamaicans.
"A sad day," I said, unable to think of anything more profound or perceptive.
They raised their eyes, and the roadie paused in the middle of rolling his spliff.
"Jah give," he replied, "and Jah take away."
That was the mood in Kingston when Marley's body arrived on a flight from Miami a few days later. There was no reason to grieve, the Rastas told anyone who expressed sorrow. Death meant nothing. Bob hadn't gone anywhere. He was still among us.
The announcement of the country's national budget was postponed by several days to accommodate Marley's state funeral. Invitations had to be sent out, the mausoleum had to be constructed, and security had to be organised at the National Arena, where the main ceremony would be held. And the prime minister, Edward Seaga, had to prepare his eulogy.