Pulse Writer Smitta Smitten Tears Into Alai And Itumbi

I didn’t believe it when my colleagues brought the article to my attention until i read it and when i read it, i was left laughing like a mad hatter!

The article in question is “Bothersome Bloggers” and was done by Tony Mochama a.k.a Smitta Smitten on the 21st of September. He tore into Itumbi and Alai with so much venom and vitriol one couldn’t help but be both amused and outraged in equal measure.

Thing is though, after the initial chuckles died down, what i read alarmed me. It wasn’t shock at the fact that Pulse has gone in H.A.M on the blogoshpere in general and the two individuals in particular but rather that it became more and more personal.

Tony Mochama found the time during his rant to comment about Robert Alai’s aesthetic appeal or lack thereof. He actually begun his rant as follows: “In real life he is a cross-eyed chap with cacti-like tufts of hair, a broad forehead and pudgy cheek jowls that suggest the imbibition of too much porridge.” A paragraph into the article he described Alai thus, “…it is not the techo-babble but the social babbles that have made Alai a household name -in the same way one may get used to a housefly in a nyama choma joint.” Ouch!

But therein is where i find the first bone of contention, why would you turn this discourse into a personal attack at the man? And how could Pulse allow such drivel to go to print? I have immense respect for Tony Mochama but this is not his finest moment. If anything this has just become petty. He raises alot of valid points in the article but reading it to discern the points becomes like trying to mix volatile chemicals in Chem class with the incessant buzzing of a swarm of mosquitoes above your head- a near impossibility.

Mochama toasted to Alai’s humiliation earlier in the year when he was manhandled by security at iHub during the Nokia CEO’s (Stephen Elop) visit which was just crass! To laugh at a man when a man is down is in a word, pitiful. Irrespective of the circumstances that the humiliation occurred and whether or not you feel it justified, a better man empathizes.

Then Pulse sets it’s guns on Itembi. He describes Itumbi as “persistent as a mosquito”. but he doesn’t go in on him as much as he did to Alai.

One thing is clear though, this was a personal vendetta being settled in the most public of arenas where Tony Mochama was able to play judge, jury and executioner. Pulse must be privy to some information that i am not because in my humble opinion, letting this article go to press was a bad idea.