Friday, November 27, 2009

MAU FOREST OFFERS IDEAL COVER FOR SETTLING POLITICAL SCORES.

THE STANDARD NEWSPAPER, Saturday, 28th November 2009
By Otuma Ongalo

If it was ever in doubt the real motive of ministers and MPs who gathered this week to ostensibly raise funds for Mau forest complex evictees, the doubt was no more at the end of their meeting.
Mau evictees were mere smokescreens and their woes provided invaluable ammunitions in a battle for political supremacy ahead of the 2012 elections. Assistant Minister Kareke Mbiuki let the cat out of the bag when he said those in the gathering were destined for bigger things and would be in Government in 2013 while minister Najib Balala declared it was the team to watch.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga will be the man to beat for the top seat come 2012 elections and Mau saga is merely a proxy war between him and other equally ambitious leaders such as Kalonzo Musyoka, Uhuru Kenyatta, and William Ruto.
The three, who are believed to be nurturing KKK (Kikuyu, Kalenjin and Kamba) alliance, have little, if any, sympathies over the tribulations of the Mau evictees. They are Cabinet members and they are not on record having voiced concerns when the Mau conservation issue was discussed in their meeting. Anything that is likely to be credited to Raila is bound to raise discomfort among the triumvirate.
The Mau preservation is one such issue. Although it was endorsed by MPs, the Cabinet and even President Kibaki, Raila is the face of the initiative. There being no saints in Kenya’s politics, he too could be using the Mau as a political trump card. The difference, however, is that he is pursuing an initiative that portrays him as a nationalist and visionary while his critics emerge as shortsighted populists.
It is not lost to a discerning mind that Ruto, Kalonzo, and Uhuru are among Raila’s greatest political opponents and Balala has joined the bandwagon. For Ruto, the battle for Rift Valley supremacy remains unsettled despite enjoying a sizeable loyal following. If there is anyone between him and Rift Valley kingship, it is Raila and the sooner his political fortunes crumble the merrier for Ruto.
Whether real or farfetched, Ruto has always claimed credit for Raila’s impressive performance in the region during the 2007 presidential elections. This is a fact Raila has refused to acknowledge. The PM’s apparent soft spot for Musalia Mudavadi — who critics think has not made major contributions in ODM’s fortunes — further rubs Ruto the wrong way.
Although it might be rightly so, Ruto must be a bitter man that his fervent support for Raila during the presidential elections has come to haunt him alone as the latter enjoys trappings of power. Raila has never strongly supported Ruto against claims that he played a role in post election violence. He has been fighting a lone battle, including the ongoing bid to have his name expunged from a KNCHR report mentioning him adversely.
Uhuru, on paper, is Raila’s deputy but there has never been political chemistry between the two since Raila shattered his brightest chance ever for presidency when he declared "Kibaki Tosha". That Uhuru was one of the ministers in an explicitly anti-Raila forum was not a coincidence. The recently found warm relationship between Kibaki and Raila could be sending shivers down Uhuru’s spine in his quest to inherit the president’s political mantle in
Central Province.
Perhaps the greatest high profile rivalry, if not animosity, lies between Raila and Kalonzo. Although he did not attend the fundraising — after allegedly being prevailed upon by the President — his lieutenants did and conveyed his blessings. It is not that Kalonzo is a threat to Raila. The PM considers the VP a betrayer — first when he bolted from ODM and for joining Kibaki to form government at a time he was involved with Raila in a bitter election dispute.

Otunga Ongalo is a collumnist with the Standard Newspaper.

MAU CRISIS MAY HAVE CEMENTED RAILA`S PLACE AHEAD OF THE PACK.

The Standard Newspaper
Saturday, 28th November 2009

Most Kenyans agree that evacuation from the Mau should be done humanely. The solution will, however, not come from politically charged harambee drives which are more about political alignments for 2012 than they are about struggling squatters. Note that the big Harambee raised a mere five million shillings. Could the nine Cabinet ministers not raise this amount and even more from the Government if they were that serious? The Special Programmes ministry alone is spending many times that amount, not to mention well-wishers such as the Red Cross.
And why did the objecting politicians not take similar stands on other water tower related evictions or the murderous deportation of some communities from the Rift Valley in 1992, 1997 and 2008? Why did those who are now revealing to us that Raila did not win in 2007 not intervene against revenge murders of innocent Kenyans?
By painting him as the bad guy, Raila’s opponents have only made him stronger. Many Kenyans now know that you can count on him to take a decision that could derail his political ambitions for the sake of country. This side of his character is not new. When he was Roads minister he ruffled the rich who had grabbed road reserves by demolishing their big bungalows. By now one hopes that Kenyans can no longer be easily swayed by political fence-sitters and extremists. They will no longer just follow what politicians tell them blindly; not after a chain of poor advice.
Raila’s political history has clearly demonstrated that among his competitors he has been the most consistent and has paid the highest price for his beliefs. I doubt that anyone of them has done more to liberate Kenya from an oppressive state. In addition to years of detention, Raila was a key member of the team that stuck their necks out for change in 1991. His "Kibaki Tosha" declaration at Uhuru Park in 2002 was crucial in sending Kanu packing. Just think of what would have been left of this country if Kanu continued its reign or if some of these Kanu characters bounce back to the top job.
Unlike Raila, his opponents and the fence-sitters have demonstrated a different kind of consistency; the kind that almost led this country to the dogs in an undemocratic Kanu regime they served rather faithfully. Some of them made a kill from the excesses of the time through corrupt business and land deals. If some had their way, they would have preferred continuation of that plundering regime.
There are those who have argued that virtually all our top leaders, Raila included, have at one time or the other been Kanu strongmen. I however believe that Raila joined Kanu out of frustration with an opposition too divided along ethnic lines and a section that sold the propaganda to the effect that a Luo was unfit for the presidency. Changing a system from within is an acceptable political strategy; Raila used insider privilege to destroy Kanu for the national good. In fact, most of those who dumped Kanu in 2001 would not have done so were it not for the power and organisational ability of Raila after Moi overlooked them for the top seat.
The Mau has presented us with an ideal opportunity to separate the wheat from the chaff as we head to 2012. We should ask some simple questions: Who among the presidential aspirants has a demonstrated history of fearlessly standing up for what is right irrespective of the possible negative consequences for self and family? Who has been the more national in outlook?
It is time we ashamed agents of tribal politics aware that tribal alignments can only lead us back to the Banana and Orange fights of 2005 and 2007. Let’s be mindful of political rolling stones who detest permanent homes because they are a real danger to national stability.

Kilemi Mwiria is an Assistant Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology and MP for Tigania West.
kilemimwiria@gmail.com
www.twitter.com/kilemi

VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE AGAINST PM PREMISED ON WRONG POLITICAL JUDGEMENT.

Dear Sir/Madam,

A fortnight ago, honorable Joshua Kuttuny reminded all and sundry that Rift Valley legislators have numerical strength in the tenth Parliament and could therefore “do something.” It now emerges that “the something” he was referring to was a vote of no confidence against the Prime Minister. This is the standard practice in many democracies around the globe. Parliament uses this arsenal with a view to checking on executive misconduct, or its effect, especially if the official`s unbecoming behavior subverts the structure of government or undermines the integrity of the office or the Constitution itself. So if there is sufficient proof that a government official is behaving in a manner grossly incompatible with the proper function and purpose of the office or that he employs the power of his office for an improper purpose or for personal gain, then a vote of no confidence comes in handy.

In Kenya such a threshold is seemingly non-existent. It may well be that a section of the political divide may invoke this power simply because they do not like one`s nose. This lacuna may seriously undermine the integrity of the office of the PM. For instance, a look at section 4b of the National Accord and Reconciliation Act, 2008, states that “the office of the Prime Minister shall become vacant if the National Assembly passes a resolution which is supported by a majority of all the members of the National Assembly, excluding the ex-officio members, and of which not less than seven days notice has been given, declaring that the National Assembly has no confidence in the Prime Minister.” From the foregoing it is apparent that the grounds for the vote of no confidence are conspicuously missing hence leaving this crude weapon to become a matter of political judgment. I bet this is akin to a demented old sucker monkey holding a loaded gun.

But how honest are the politicians behind this vote of no confidence? You see, the Prime Minister is simply supervising the implementation of that which the cabinet and parliament agreed to. I thought that it would have been the failure on his part to implement the government`s decision that would have engendered a vote of no confidence against him and not the other way round. Moving a vote of no confidence against the PM based on a reality constructed on pure lies will most certainly prove counter-productive. Those bent on exploiting this provision must know that since the Mau eviction exercise has the blessings of the entire Parliament and Cabinet, then the vote of no confidence must be against the Parliament and the Cabinet. In other words, they must move a motion that seeks the entire Government to resign, or seek a parliamentary dissolution and request a general election. Which Member of Parliament is ready to shoot himself in the foot now? Yep, you guessed it right. Not one among them will dare do that.

Our legislators must re-examine their conscience. They must know that the reason why the eviction process is going against the United Nation`s conventions on human rights, is because of sabotage by the line ministries and not as a result of the gross incompetence of the PM. We are aware of the fact that the PM does not have the powers to dismiss the ministers responsible and the president has not shown any indication that he is about to do that. The vote of no confidence must be moved against the saboteurs of Government`s noble plan.

TOME FRANCIS,

BUMULA CONSTITUENCY.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

NEO-KU KLUX KLAN ARCHITECTS FIND A SAFE HAVEN IN THE MAU EVICTIONS.

Dear Sir/Madam,

In the words of John Adams, “facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, or our inclination or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” I cannot agree more with these words of wisdom. For sometime the country has expressed outrage at the idea of some self seeking politicians crafting ethnic alliances to propel them to the helm of the country`s political leadership. Every other time the said political leaders vehemently denied it. But if one cared to scratch up on their rhetoric one would surely see the blatant insult of betrayal of our common good as a country. If you ever had doubted this then the Mau evictions saga lends credence to these banality.

It behooves the intelligence of many that despite the Government, the civil society and the mainstream media explaining with intermittent patience the catastrophic effect of not conserving the country`s largest water tower there are those who are playing politics with the country`s lifeline. This continued malfeasance and dishonesty is a stark testament of politicians bereft of any iota of morality. That is why they have ganged up to construct a reality based on lies. In fact, tale tellers have it that they are even ferrying people from elsewhere to camp on the fringes of the Mau to give an impression to the whole world of the worst form of a government sponsored humanitarian crisis. And from the look of things they are really riding high on a carefully orchestrated political rollercoaster.

Even though they have constantly had their snouts bashed by the right thinking public they are not just ready to give up their deceit. They are the men and women of “great common sense and good taste.” They are not so much interested in being on the right side of history but would rather let opportunism drive them to boring ordinariness in their quest to ascend to the helm of the country`s political leadership in 2012. You have witnessed them snuggle in the guise of a fundraiser. And I also hear that that there are a series of rallies lined up just to denounce the evictions and to slander and vilify their perceived political nemesis. Going back to the fundraiser, I must not hesitate to point out that there is nothing wrong in organizing for a fundraiser to help genuine evictees. However, there is everything wrong in using the fundraiser as a perfect smokescreen for the launching of a neo Ku Klux Klan (commonly referred to as triple K alliance).

Much as I am encouraged by their sudden bout of philanthropy, I am still struggling very hard to understand why majority of the organizers of this fundraiser never shed a single tear for the victims of the Post Election Violence who are to date landless and homeless. Didn`t they not have children, women and the octogenarians sleeping in the biting cold? Did the organizers of this fundraiser demand for humane treatment of the IDPs as they are now doing for the Mau Complex illegal settlers? The Mau evictees and the IDPs aside, do these politicians give a hoot to the startling statistics of the landless and homeless in all the four corners of Kenya? Not even a cent has ever been extended to them. Did I hear someone shout subterfuge?

It is the duty of the mainstream media to make these facts stubborn. The media must continually air drop these facts in the current stream of the public`s conscience. Never must the public be oblivious to the history of the degazetment and systematic excision of the Mau complex and the political machination behind the importation of a human shield to protect the politically correct land lords of the Mau complex. If anything it is the yesterday`s oligarchy that must be prosecuted and forced to compensate the illegal settlers of the Mau. It is time they stopped politicking and faced the reality.

Most importantly, the intensifying rhetoric on the Mau eviction exercise must cease. This is because it does not bode well with the post election violence (PEV) conciliatory climate especially in the expansive Rift Valley region. In this rhetoric is a veneer of retaliatory attacks aimed at purging of the Rift Valley off “other ethnic communities.” They want to once more rouse the dreaded monster of negative ethnicity. Political leaders must understand that fear mongering in the guise of political supremacy battles is far from being patriotic.

If they really want the public to believe that parliament and cabinet had agreed on compensating or giving alternative land to the illegal settlers, then, why not urgently convene a cabinet meeting and thrush out misunderstandings on the eviction exercise rather than engage in the protracted poisonous rhetoric? As for the MPs, isn`t the floor of the August House where they are supposed to put the government to task for reneging on such a substantive agreement? Or are they permanently incapable of making sense on the floor of the House? I suspect that the reason why these politicians do not want to engage in reasonable discourses on the floor of the August House is because they know that they are simply politicisizing that which they themselves participated in legislating. Kenyans are increasingly dismayed especially by the preposterous behavior of Cabinet ministers who overstep acknowledged protocol of collective responsibility to criticize the policies and decisions ratified in cabinet meetings. This only lends credence to their sinister motives. The two principals must crack the whip now before it is too late. Now than ever before, the country desires President Kibaki`s silence to be broken, at least on the Mau issue.

TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA CONSTITUENCY.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

THE MAU ULTIMATUM: THE CITIZENRY MUST DENOUNCE ETHNO-POLITICAL SHENANIGANS.

Dear Sir/Madam,
“Conscience ought to be a mirror before which one pinches himself.” Today, this aphorism would mesh well in any other society but Kenya. Majority of our politicians are made of a different mettle. To them “conscience” at the very least, must be expunged from the Kenyan political dictionary. This is what Taban Lo Liyong would term as “lexicographicide”. Our politicians are very comfortable purveying untruths; they seek to obfuscate Kenya`s legitimate rights to a conducive socio-economic and political environment. I keep on hoping that there will be a small secret voice that will just whisper in their conscience, “You are a fraud”. How they spin lies ad infinitum without butting their eyelids is just amazing! But that is not all. Any conscientious person seen to be an obstacle in their quest to advance their selfish interests must also be thoroughly slandered.

In the words of Lillian Hellman “truth made you a traitor as it often does in a time of scoundrels.” Her words lend a sharp poignancy and insight in the Kenyan political landscape. Admittedly, our politicians have robbed off politics any decency. Deceit is the new buzzword. For instance, after the KTN expose’, no one can believe the claptrap being bandied around about the Prime Minister having issued a directive to purge the evictees off the fringes of the Mau Complex in the ungodly hours of the night. This is another of the so many and not so well crafted lies that keep on flying- apart before the right thinking public. The unfortunate thing about lying is that you have to tenaciously, viscerally and perhaps unflinchingly, manufacture in quick succession, three times the lies you spewed yesterday to give them some semblance of truth today.
In their desperation to lie they pay no attention to the rules of logic that would otherwise guard them against pitfalls. It is precisely at this unguarded moment that the “liar” in them shines as bright as the equatorial midday. Political corruption, patronage and impunity are instruments that perfect their political con game. That is why even with the melodrama that ranged from the sublime of the legislators` crocodile tears to the ridiculous personality-slandering, the public has finally learnt to spot their shenanigans.
The bitter truth is that the illegal Mau settlers are only but mere pawns for the peers of the realm in the Mau Complex saga. This is because after annexing huge chunks of land in the Mau complex, they came up with ethnic mischief which sought to literally “import” gullible Kenyans from Kericho, Bomet and Baringo and put them in the Mau to act as an ethnic shield against any future threats of evictions from successive regimes. Anytime eviction talk is rife, the “Real landlords” of the Mau Complex troop en masse to their ethnic enclave. We must, as a peace loving nation, denounce these political shenanigans. They have brought nothing but dishonor and disrepute to our country. There must be no room for this political perfidy.
It is not lost to all that the combined acreage of the illegal settlers is a trifling compared to the over 50,000 acres of land in the hands of the “real encroachers” whose names are in the” who is who” list of Kenyan politics. With this fact in mind you can then begin to appreciate the real fear behind the façade of the Mau aristocrats if perchance this human shield was to be removed.

It is time that these plunderers faced the consequences of their sins of commission and omission. That is why I find their “Two Weeks Ultimatum Talk” quite unpalatable. This melodrama is a stark testament to political irrationality. The country can no longer afford to expose Kenyans to this inanity and ethno-political overtones. Unless they issued this ultimatum against themselves then they have no moral authority to purport to speak for a people they themselves have subjected to deceit for decades.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA CONSTITUENCY.

Monday, November 16, 2009

IS THERE SABOTAGE IN THE MAU COMPLEX EVICTIONS?

Dear Sir/Madam,
Apparently no one can compute the “unestimated sum of human suffering that the Mau complex evictees are undergoing. It looks as if the Government is cold hearted and callous towards its own people or that it seriously underestimated the humanitarian crisis that was likely to emerge. Still it may be that some politicians are out to create the impression that the Government never cared to plan for the evictions at all. I find it difficult to believe that the Government can become a savage to its own people. Going by the sentiments of the chairperson of The Mau Task Force, the Ministries of water, security and special programmes ought to have been on the ground complimenting the eviction exercise. But they are conspicuously missing in action.
So to me the only plausible reason would that the exercise has been reduced to a political ping pong with a view to using the illegal settlers as a smokescreen. Any Tom, Dick and Harry knows that this exercise bears all the hallmarks of political sabotage. But is this sabotage is likely to affect the country more than the individual(s) targeted? Social and economic prospects are more at risk than an individual`s political ambitions. A section of Rift Valley legislators, believe that the PM is out to create a humanitarian crisis to gain a global platform in Copenhagen climate talks. At the moment there is a barrage of condemnation and vitriol most foul leveled against the person of the PM. In fact it has now belatedly dawned on a section of the Rift Valley MPs that the PM is a pretender to the throne! This reaction was not unexpected since the issue was bound to bring about the shifting political alliances. You see, politicians like love and hatred, are two sides of the same coin.
I do not think the PM is so naïve as to connive to drive illegal settlers from the forest and to become mince meat to his political archenemies. He cannot be so naïve as to loose such a huge and vital voting block in the Rift Valley! That is why I smell a rat. Could it be that there is sabotage? Taletellers allege that a section of the Rift valley legislators are out to deride the eviction exercise and make it appear the worst form of a humanitarian crisis ever witnessed in Kenya. In fact, in their own words, the 2007 post election IDP crisis will be pale a shadow compared to it! That is why they have gone ahead to tell “their” people not to move an inch from the perimeter fence of the Mau complex in order to proclaim to the whole world how wicked the government is to their people!
Is it not pretentious for the MPs to raise the issue of compensation for a people who acquired the forest land illegally? Illegal settlers have over time been evicted in Mt. Kenya, Mt.Elgon and Embobut in Marakwet without compensation. The thinking seems to be that since the government is buying land for the internally displaced victims of post election violence so must it buy land for the illegal settlers evicted from the Mau forest. But what these politicians are not telling us is that they are the very ones who allowed these people into the forest to act as a shield against themselves and those who bought illegal land from their dubious companies. Alluding to compensation will be akin to legitimizing a wrong. We must not allow politicians to institutionalize this problem because in the words of Nikki Giovanni (1943), a US activist, writer and educationist “once you institutionalize a problem, then you do not intent to solve it.”
However, it is the melodrama surrounding the MPs that has pundits pondering. To some it is first aimed sanitizing the cyclic post election violence in the region and secondly to force the Government to abandon the noble rehabilitation of the country`s forest cover. If indeed this is the reality then it is quite repulsive and unacceptable. The country must not give into this mind numbing political gimmicks. It is unimaginable, obnoxious, cold and callous for the” real Land Lords” of the Mau complex to use the hapless illegal settlers as a smokescreen to perpetuate their selfish interests.
This noble eviction exercise must continue for to sabotage it, or to fritter will bring upon us all the reproaches of the after time.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA CONSTITUENCY.

Friday, November 13, 2009

SIMPLIFIED CURRICULA: CONTRADICTORY DIRECTIVES ARE A TESTAMENT TO LACK OF CONSULTATION.

Dear Sir/Madam,
Recent reports from sections of the media that KNEC and KIE have issued contradictory directives with regard to the implementation of the simplified mathematics and science curricula, is a testament to the deep seated problems ailing the education system in Kenya: lack of both a solid research base and consultation. Whereas KIE insists that the package is optional for students, KNEC has made it mandatory for schools to only take one of the packages. This confusion paints a very bad picture of the two organs that are supposed to compliment each other. They seem not to realize that the problem associated with the development, operation and improvement of any educational system must be based on extensive and systematic applications of knowledge. Moreover it must be an all inclusive and participatory process. But in Kenya this seems to be far from the truth. The left hand hardly knows what the right hand is up to.
Much as we hope that the confusion will be done away with, I still have a problem with this general science “thing”. It is ostensibly formulated for students whose interest and aptitude is not in pursuing courses that require high competence in pure sciences. Prima facie, this sounds a great policy directive. However, the devil lies in the details. A good curriculum ought not to be discriminative and must play a significant role in human resource development and placement. But looking at it from all angles, this curriculum bears the hallmarks of the Government`s discrimination against the less fortunate members in the country. Why do I say so?
This is because it is a known fact that performance in examinations differ in such a way that students from the higher socio-economic schools demonstrate a higher performance. Obviously the educational production process in such schools enjoys sufficient resources. Since the dregs (and who constitute the majority) of the society do not have access to such schools, they have to pursue their education in ill equipped village schools that can only offer general science curricula.
In my opinion it appears as if the Government is admitting its failure in addressing issues relating to access, equity and quality of education across the social divide as was promised in the Sessional paper no.1 of 2005. Under a targeted programme the Government was supposed to rehabilitate and provide laboratory equipment in schools in the rural and marginalized areas in a bid to address regional disparities. Admittedly, the programme is a cropper. Consequently, the Government seems to be suggesting that students from disadvantaged schools will never become engineers and doctors, and by all indications, it will be sending a strong message to the public that students from disadvantaged schools are lesser citizens than their counterparts. It is precisely because of the threat to validity and equity that saw the Government phase out such a similar curriculum in the nineties. Then we used to have pure and biological sciences.
Much as we all agree that the acute inequalities in schools in the country have over the years made it impossible for the construction of a consistent, reliable and valid performance measurement, but should that be a ground for the entrenching of a discriminatory and retrogressive curriculum change? Certainly not. Two wrongs do not make a right. I am extremely afraid that the complacency now setting in is both foolish and dangerous.
What good will it do to a learner/teacher whose interest is in learning/teaching pure sciences or pure mathematics but who is forced by the school management due to unavailability of resources to only learn/teach the general sciences or simplified mathematics? From the foregoing, the question shouldn’t be whether the Government can afford to do more to promote social mobility. It should be whether Government can afford not to. And the answer is no.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

PARTY STALWARTS AGAINST REAL DEVOLUTION BESMIRCH PUBLIC INTELLECT.

Dear Sir/Madam,
The makers of our constitution at the time of our country`s independence did not intend to preserve an unchanging society, but instead meant the constitution to invariably adapt to the needs of our dynamic society. Even though the independence constitution gave the president a carte blanche to run the nation as he deemed fit, experience has shown that such unfettered powers are often misused. The president like a deity became omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. There are many among us today who bear the scars of this tyranny. In fact the protracted fight for the second liberation was informed by the dictatorial tendencies that the right thinking public saw in the leadership of president Moi and his predecessor. Devolvement of the powers vested in the presidency and its usual appurtenances was then the buzz word. Apparently when president Kibaki came to the helm of leadership, those close to the pedestal of power changed tact. They wanted to maintain the status quo. Even after the post election violence, they do not want to hear anything about a constitutional dispensation that cuts a swath through the imperial presidency.
They prophetically harp on the existence of a constitutional crisis if executive power is shared between the presidency and the Prime Minister (Parliament). This pretence besmirches the intellect of Kenyans. Our reaction to these inanities is not amusement but bafflement, verging on rage. These can only be politicians who are out to have Kenya stop being a democracy in any meaningful sense. That is why they are too busy furthering their selfish interests at the country`s expense. In the words of Barry Goldwater, a 1964 Republican Party candidate, “Those who seek absolute power even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth. And let me remind you, they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyrannies. Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed.”
Rather than think of that which is best suited for the country they are busy throwing spanners in the works of the constitutional making process. And their best arsenal is of course to impiously force the country in to a horrendous political ping pong. It is this execrable behavior that engendered the hostilities that plunged this country in to a near holocaust. Yet the same politicians unashamedly elect to deliberately ignore this fact. Mao Tse Tung (1893-1976) said that “Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.” There is a very thin line between the two so much so that it only requires the snafus and preposterous verboten to trigger an unprecedented bloodletting. Of course you and I know that our politicians have plenty of these in stock. Sad as it is, they have already set the tempo. And our hopes of having a new constitutional dispensation can only dissipate.
Should we stand aside helplessly, gnashing our teeth, as a section of our politicians line up to deride the efforts of the Committee of Experts (CoE) just as they did with Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (CKRC) in 2005? We cannot allow this to happen again. It is first and foremost our peace as a country that is at stake. Secondly it is our tax billions that will yet again go to waste. My exhortation is to patriotic Kenyans is this: We must stand up and say no to these political machinations. So don't just sit there moaning about how the country's going to the dogs. Sign up and let's kick some ass.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA CONSTITUENCY.

PARTY STALWARTS AGAINST REAL DEVOLUTION BESMIRCH PUBLIC INTELLECT.

Dear Sir/Madam,
The makers of our constitution at the time of our country`s independence did not intend to preserve an unchanging society, but instead meant the constitution to invariably adapt to the needs of our dynamic society. Even though the independence constitution gave the president a carte blanche to run the nation as he deemed fit, experience has shown that such unfettered powers are often misused. The president like a deity became omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. There are many among us today who bear the scars of this tyranny. In fact the protracted fight for the second liberation was informed by the dictatorial tendencies that the right thinking public saw in the leadership of president Moi and his predecessor. Devolvement of the powers vested in the presidency and its usual appurtenances was then the buzz word. Apparently when president Kibaki came to the helm of leadership, those close to the pedestal of power changed tact. They wanted to maintain the status quo. Even after the post election violence, they do not even want to hear anything about a constitutional dispensation that cuts a swath through the imperial presidency.
They prophetically harp on the existence of a constitutional crisis if executive power is shared between the presidency and the Prime Minister (Parliament). This pretence besmirches the intellect of Kenyans. Our reaction to these inanities is not amusement but bafflement, verging on rage. These can only be politicians who are out to have Kenya stop being a democracy in any meaningful sense. That is why they are too busy furthering their selfish interests at the country`s expense. In the words of Barry Goldwater, a 1964 Republican Party candidate, “Those who seek absolute power even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth. And let me remind you, they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyrannies. Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed.”
Rather than think of that which is best suited for the country some they are busy throwing spanners in the works in the constitutional making process. And their best arsenal is of course to impiously force the country in to a horrendous political ping pong. It is this execrable behavior that engendered the hostilities that plunged this country in to a near holocaust. Yet the same politicians unashamedly elect to deliberately ignore this fact. Mao Tse Tung (1893-1976) said that “Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.” There is a very thin line between the two so much so that it only requires the snafus and preposterous verboten to trigger an unprecedented bloodletting. Of course you and I know that our politicians have plenty of this in stock. Sad as it is, they have already set the tempo. And our hopes of having a new constitutional dispensation can only dissipate.
Should we stand aside helplessly, gnashing our teeth, as a section of our politicians line up to deride the efforts of the Committee of Experts (CoE) just as they did with Constitution of Kenya Review Committee (CKRC) in 2005? We cannot allow this to happen again. It is first and foremost our peace as a country that is at stake. Secondly it is our tax billions that will yet again go to waste. My exhortation is to patriotic Kenyans. We must stand up and say no to these political machinations. So don't just sit there moaning about how the country's going to the dogs. Sign up and let's kick some ass.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA CONSTITUENCY.

THE QUEST FOR A LOCAL TRIBUNAL RUINED BY THE EXECUTIVE`S HOCUS POCUS.

Dear Sir/Madam,
What is this much hyped Ministers` and Assistant Ministers` Grand Retreat? Could it be that it is the Grand Coalition`s way of retreating from tackling the sizzling Imanyara Bill? Honorable Imanyara believes it is sabotage. So do I. This is because this government had plenty of time to organize for bonding sessions during the just concluded recess. Now that parliament has reconvened and with its in tray full with extremely urgent legislation, the executive sees this as a perfect opportunity for “them” to gobble chicken and chicanery in Mombasa.
Weirdly unfamiliar it may be, but certainly not entirely unexpected. Eugene McCarthy (1916-2005), once a US senator said that “politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to understand the game and dumb enough to think that it is important”. I cannot agree more with him. This is because after many days of indecision, discussion and procrastination, there seems to be no glimmer of hope that Kenya`s Parliament will be sufficiently philanthropic as to establish a local tribunal to complement the ICC. With their eyes ravenously focused on 2012 it is hardly surprising that political machinations have yet again started overriding the national interests. They have no doubt adopted the “see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil” stance. Using this lenses, it becomes crystal clear to all and sundry that the executive`s bonding session is all about its collective desire to evenly cover its muck.
In their quest to ascend to the helm of the country`s leadership they conveniently forget that the price of greatness is responsibility and not irresponsibility. Their body language is reminiscent of the then US president Ronald Reagan who unable to deal with the biting deficit quipped “I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself.” Like Reagan our politicians scamper at the sight of impunity while fervently hoping that it (impunity) is big enough to take care of itself! And with this kind of obnoxious attitude I have no iota of doubt that Kenya shall continue to greatly suffer the consequences of the criminalization of politics in the successive electioneering periods courtesy of the verbal snafus and preposterous sound bytes of the high and mighty.
They care less whether their mumbo-jumbo can engender a holocaust. That is why at one time they blubber “Don`t be vague, go to Hague.” And in quick succession, they mumble about the establishment of a “local tribunal” then to “Reconciliation without Truth and Justice.” Putting their foot in their mouth or goofing as is commonly known is ostensibly our politicians` way of life. Admittedly many of them just bungle up to gain publicity. (But this not to say that there are those among them who are permanently incapable of speaking sense). They unashamedly engage in hocus-pocus while fervently hoping that the resultant avalanche of confusion will snuff out the nation`s quest for justice. They have conveniently forgotten that it is their unrepentant mood that has over the years resulted in the institutionalization of impunity.
However, for the victims of post election violence, know thee that all is not lost. The wheels of justice may appear to be slow but they shall surely catch up with these Lords of impunity. They may desperately attempt to cover their nakedness with “sovereignty” but not for long. This is because the will of the over 40 million Kenyans shall ultimately triumph.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA CONSTITUENCY.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

WHO WILL SAVE KENYA FROM THE NAPOLEONS OF CORRUPTION?

Dear Sir/Madam,
T S Elliot, a 1948 Nobel Prize winner in Literature wrote a poem titled “Macavity –The Mystery cat.” Macavity was described as having a hidden paw, having the movement of a snake and a criminal who used his intellect to defy the law. He was bafflement to Scotland Yard and caused constant despair to the Flying Squad; for when they reached the scene of the crime, Macavity was simply not there. This was suavity and deceitfulness par excellence. He always had an alibi and spared one or two more alibis just in case they came in handy. He was outwardly respectable in spite of being a Napoleon of corruption, the crème de la crème. It was therefore not surprising that his footsteps could not be found in any file of the Scotland Yard.
Today, the fictitious Macavity has acquired life. He is alive and kicking in Kenya. He is not one. There are many. The edacious Macavity are more emboldened in the perpetuation of noxious graft as they are equipped with impunity. They are often surrounded with the exquisite Harvard legalese. They are not in the same league with the pusillanimous. They are true master minds of crime, the fat cats who supervise the pillaging of public coffers on grand scales.
You have heard the ravenous Macavity spin legal webs in defense of the well executed schemes that led to loss of billions of shillings in the Golden Berg, Anglo leasing, Grand Regency and the porous Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC). You recently heard of him in the ministry of Youth Affairs, Ministry of water, you have seen him in the Ministry of basic Education (remember the 109 million in a mysterious account?) And now he has surfaced in the Ministry of finance; in the infamous Passat deal. And the list goes on ad infinitum.
It is rumored that all the voracious cats whose wicked deeds are widely known are nothing more than agents of these Napoleons of crime. Are we not almost certain that when the pilferage has taken place blame for the scandal is always heaped on junior officers? When the subordinates are nabbed, which isn't often, there is no evidence linking the crimes to the masters. The master mind of crime is the mysterious "Macavity” who plans the crimes that lesser criminals execute.
With alacrity unmatched, these master minds in cahoots with senior officers have methodically sealed all the possible avenues for the unraveling of the scandals. Their rendition always almost made us believe that there was no iota of evidence to warrant prosecutions. Of course you and I were so sure that the Ministerial statements read in parliament in the wake of the scandals were as clear as mud.
Just who will save Kenya from the litany of grand scams; from the avaricious clutches of these Napoleons of corruption?

COOPERATION WITH ICC: THIS MUMBO-JUMBO SOVEREIGNTY BALDERDASH MUST CEASE.

Dear Sir/Madam,
Perhaps the missile code named Grand Coalition Government (GCG) auto –destructed itself after its much hyped failed launch. It set out to navigate the judicial path of Post Election Violence (PEV) and implement essential reforms commonly referred to as “agenda four” with more bravado than common sense. Now everything is at a stand still yet the clock is fast ticking. All indications are that we are heading into a Cimmerian darkness. Even though the Grand Coalition Government keeps on reassuring Kenyans that it is committed to fighting impunity, one cannot fail to see impunity`s usual appurtenances. Kenyans are now dog tired of this ridiculous jiggery- pokery going behind their backs. Everyone right from the government functionaries seems to have been given a carte blanche to speak as he or she desires to. And the result is there for everyone to see. An avalanche of confusion seems to be suffocating the GCG`s operations.
That is why Kenya`s foreign affairs Permanent Secretary; Thuita Mwangi easily adopted a very blinkered attitude of the conscientious public and then belligerently arrogated himself the power to pen down balderdash in one of the leading local dailies on the eve of the ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo`s visit in the country. In fact, Thuita only stopped short of declaring Ocampo a persona non grata in this country. This is obviously a case of engaging in a two penny theatrics on issues touching on the heartbeat of the nation.
The two principals on reading the mood of the public ostensibly castigated Thuita for the impermissible conduct. Yet, a day later when the two met the ICC prosecutor, their body language was no different from Thuita`s. Beneath their well coded diplomatic verbiage was a tacit message to Ocampo and by extension the international community that Kenya was a sovereign state able to deal with its own internal problems without external interference. Now this is ad hominem par excellence. Like Thuita the two principals must be told that anybody perceived to be standing in the way of justice is an enemy of public conscience.
Thinking of using a special wing of the high court that reeks with impunity to try suspected perpetrators of PEV is ad nauseum. It will be chimerical. This will be chicanery most foul. It will no doubt be interpreted by the post election victims as an attempt to defenestrate justice and pamper the afreet of impunity. The time for bread and circuses is out. The two principals seem to be working at cross purposes with the conscientious public.
We must stop behaving as though we are a people suffering from borderline personality disorder. Parliament made a resounding decision. “Let us not be vague, let us go to Hague”. So be it. This genie of impunity that keeps on rearing its ugly head ad infinitum must be put back in the bottle once and for all. Why backpedal and embellish incendiarism? It will be in our best interest as a country if we ceased beguiling ourselves with abrogation talk. Such talks will amount to nothing because ICC has no abandonment option. Kenya is now ICC`s captive customer. My exhortation to his Excellency the President and the right honorable Prime Minister is not to allow our beloved country to be held captive by the mumbo-jumbo sovereignty balderdash.

ETHNIC IDIOSYNCRACY THE BANE OF OUR NATIONHOOD.

Dear Sir/Madam,
In 1941, Jesse Jackson in appreciating the diversity of the American society said that “America is not a blanket woven from one thread, one color, and one cloth”. He opined that it was the conscious harnessing of unity in its diversity that ought to be the pillar of its strength. This conscious effort bore fruit. And the results are there for all to see today. In Kenya the thought of harnessing this diversity is akin to planting hybrid seeds in unhealthy soils. And the odious reality is that ethnicity and nationhood have become archenemies. Ethnic interests are always in dissonance with nationhood. Kenya like a nuclear tinder box only requires a splint from self seeking politicians for the unimaginable holocaust to happen.
And we have such politicians in plenty judging from their irresponsible utterances. They cling to the most fallacious conviction that what is sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander. Their socialization is greatly influenced by the thinking that no other person other than that from their ethnic group is fit to take the mantle of leadership in this country because they imagine that the “other” ethnic group poses a threat in their scramble for the valuable but limited resources available in this country. For them the Golden Rule, or ethic of reciprocity is twaddle. In the public limelight such politicians will pass for our average nationalists but in the comforts of their ethnic conclaves they are shockingly different.
That is why I thought that my mind was playing on me some dirty trick when sections of the media reported that the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for finance honorable Uhuru Kenyatta had ostensibly appealed to his central Kenya counterparts to unite and support one of their own if their dream of ascending to the helm of leadership of this country was to materialize. In my view, this rhetoric is admittedly the most consequential of honorable Uhuru Kenyatta`s ephemeral ambition. Many have always thought of him as a transformational leader. It therefore behooves many conscientious Kenyans that he can talk about national healing and reconciliation and in the same breath embellish the hydra of negative ethnicity.
As for the people, we have failed to wipe of those foolish grins off our faces. Why for instance should we decry the negative effects of ethnicity but dance ourselves lame when our so called leaders invoke the hydra of negative ethnicity? In any case, it is doubtable that such leaders want to use this ethnic platform to advance the interest of “their people”. It can only be that they want to ride on the back of negative ethnicity to access raw power so that they can advance their own selfish interests.
We must come to the realization that we have a Hobson`s choice if we are to built a nation that all of us are to be proud of. And that is to rid this country of this hydra of negative ethnicity. One such effort has began with a facebook group known as “You don`t have to be from my tribe to be my President”. The founder members found it necessary to use this forum to bridge the ethnic gap in order to foster a tolerant and a more cohesive nation. It is upon us to extend our unequivocal welcome to everyone interested in the struggle to kill this hydra of negative ethnicity. Like Jesse Jackson, I dare say that Kenya is not woven from one thread, one color, and one cloth. But with a wee bit of understanding and a little more patience and tenderness towards each other, this blanket can afford all of us some warmth. The time to act is now.