Security Minister Comes Under Fire For Misusing The Provincial Administration: Is It Michuki Or Me-Chuki?

It seems that internal security and provincial administration minister John Michuki will always be in the limelight as long as he keeps up his outrageous and outdated utterances that have greatly dented the image of the Kibaki administration.

The former colonial district officer recently fell short of telling chiefs and their assistants that they had an obligation to campaign for the ruling coalition during the forthcoming general elections.

This was shortly after the government increased the salaries of the chiefs and improved their terms of service to the extent where a chief can rise to be a district commissioner, something that was not only unthinkable in the past but also impossible.

Michuki and his energy counterpart Kiraitu Murungi are on record during their days in the opposition as saying that the provincial administration should be scrapped as it simply drained public resources and was not necessary.

Now that the two have undergone a mysterious overnight transformation, read power, they are now saying the provincial administration is here to stay and they should be in the forefront in spreading the 'governments' gospel'

It is obvious that those in power now have realized how an important tool of campaign the provincial administration can be. Look at it this way, here is an established network right from the grass root to the top and fully maintained by the tax payer yet at the whims of the ruling elite. What better form of an effective grassroots campaign tool can one get?

Moi managed to use the provincial administration effectively, which assured him victories in the 1992 and 1997 multi party polls and one major reason why Kanu lost the 2002 polls was the fact that the provincial administration abandoned Kanu at the moment of need, mainly due to the urging of the many major personalities who left the party after Moi declared Uhuru the party's presidential candidate.

Michuki, Murungi and their likes know very well what the provincial administration is capable of doing for them in a campaign but what they should also note is that, if Kenyans feel that they have had enough of the Kibaki administration, they will be voted out with or without the support of the provincial administration.