Thank God for giving us Cardinal-designate Njue (a prince of the church) whose voice and appeal made President Kibaki listen in reappointing Samuel Mutua Kivuitu as the ECK chair. As they say a nation that doesn't listen to the Almighty is lost. At long last the Emilio heard a voice he couldn't ignore lest....
And the characteristic big Sam did not disappoint in accepting his reappointment in his own style. Speak of pride and latent knowledge that the appointing authority was coaxed into doing what was right against his will.
Smart Sam
Kivuitu made it clear before that he won't beg for the job neither will he accept anything less than the law's prescription. Now that he has it in the bag, CHEEKY Kivuitu has made clear he won't last the 5 years with a warning that his seat is no bed of roses. In fact he mouthed the thinly-veiled threat of meeting your maker faster before you enjoy the goodies.
Give it to Kivuitu. We owe him alot as a nation and his clear message is that he is no push over. His position is so sensitive and he has served distinguishably. The lacklustre performance of his predecessor makes him look a saint. And the battle begins in earnest. May the best candidate win and God save Kenya.
Hi Chris,
ReplyDeleteI Just hope and pray a day will come when we Kenyans won't have to celebrate the term extension of ECK boss or even give a damn who he is just like in many developed nations. That will be the day when democracy will really have roosted home. Again, I hope and pray to see that in my lifetime!
An anti climax if you ask me Taabu. Hope you now believe, people very close to the powers that be read this blog. So does the mainstream media.
ReplyDeleteKibaki, having already apoointed a host of other commissioners, including the vice chair, should have allowed a joint opposition candidate to be nominated for this sensitive docket. He would have killed two or three birds with one stone. Evened the playing field, silenced opposition leaders and avoided any controversies when election results are announced sometime on 29/Dec/2007. Perhaps he had to consult the other powers that be first, I dont know.
It is all in what we understand by leadership. I could see Kivuitu being reappointed.I believe the message the president was trying to pass is that he doesnt need to be told what to do by the opposition. Let them play their role as opposition which is to question when laws are broken, abuse of power, failure to contain insecurity, filure by the government to offer esssential services to mwananchi and stuff like that. Giving little lectures to the president on how to exercise his constitutional powers is certainly not their job.
ReplyDeleteThat said, how mature are we as Kenyans? Big Sam is jolly, very likeable, but why in this world should we tie the aspirations of a country to a man? Another question, when he said that he would take nothing shorter than five years, did anyone of you see the circus we are caught up in? His five years would have ended on December 2 2012, just before the elections. Would we still keep making the same noise about the retention of a 73 year old chairman who doesnt sign contracts whose lengths are 'unconstitutionally short"? Let us look past December guys. I mean we are just lucky Big Sam is itching to commence his Theology and Writing classes next year, otherwise we would be in this stupidly spiral saga for decades.
Now that some section of Kenyans believed that Kivuitu's retention is a sure catalyst for a free and fair poll, can they please educate me on what it is that he is going to put in place to ensure that happens. The euphoric mentality that people posess has to be gotten rid of. We are going to have elections that are very hard to rig. If vote counting is done at the polling station (Many thanks to Peter Castro Oloo Aringo, how is the government of Mwai Kibaki going to rig elections? I honestly dont get it because before the commencement of voting, we first inspect the ballot boxes to ensure that they are empty. So can those hysterical Kenyans in this blog who believe the government has evil intentions tell me how they think the government is going to do it. And please dont tell me you believe so because some politician said it. You obviously have your own brain, dont you?
Well spoken Bro Vikii. But you shoot yourself fatally in the foot by asking Kenyans how mature we are. There lies the answer: CONSTITUTION. We have a revered dinosaur for one and just like exams being the worst form of evaluation for lack of a viable alternative we are STUCK with this beast lest we join the jungle.
ReplyDeleteGive it to big Sam. He said as much and you can see in his warning that ECK is bigger than an individual. His was both a snipe and challenge to our scoundrels that we need effective institutions and not personalities. We rever the latter because of a dearth in the former.
You don't need any ''independent' brain to see that rigging can take forms other than vote counting. Infact that is the cheapest form. Disenfrachisement of votes in one form or the other is the BIGGEST form of rigging. No need to name any of this acts, ama?
The message from Kivuitu is we can run with anny trophy we set our eyes on as a nation and not merely crawl (read TOKENISM). Kenya is ripe for a LEAP except there is no captain to steer the willing ship. Appreciate the forest while accepting the truth that trees make it happen.
I agree Taabu. If we take rigging by what it really is then we dont need to go to all these polls. Even Kalonzo and raila have defranchised voters and if you have the slightest honesty in you, you will back me in this. Issuing baseless and unfounded statements to the effect that there are ghost clerks at Anniversary Towers is the worst form of rigging. It's called Rigging by intimidation.
ReplyDeleteCan we then endorse Muiru and the other thirteen 'invisible' and 'unknown' candidates as the only candidates? Mwai Kibaki, Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka should be disqualified for engaging in election irregularities.
My poimt here is that hata kama Kibaki alikula mbuzi yenu, lazima ahukumiwe kutumia mbinu zitumiwazo kuhukumia wengine. Selective judgement only serves to make Kibaki a haunted and persecuted candidate and that is why we always rush to his defence.
Wajaama, This is one of those rare win win situations for both sides. PNU can claim its renewed commitment to a free election whereas ODM can claim the results of putting Kibaki under pressure.
ReplyDeleteWhereas this does not absolve the Kibaki-Moi alliance from vote rigging allegations, it has the capabilities of hoodwinking the Kenyan voter to thinking all is well. You see, the unintended results of shouting and making this a big issue has been the creation of a small god in the name of Big Sam (as we now call him). It is for this very reason that the jamaa can throw the cake back at the peoples faces by sharing with us his need to write thrilling mystery novels and studying the life of Jesus right after the elections.
The way I see it, we who tirelessly called for the reappointment of Big Sam, may just have involuntarily propagated the biggest cog wheel in Kibakis rigging machine. In strategically appointing fresh commissioners with specific instructions from Othaya, letting us scream for weeks and then pacifying us with prolonging Big Sam's contract, Obaks may have pulled one of the most fastest ones in history. While I will not worship him, I'm in awe of his prowess.
Take above with tongue in cheek. I try very hard to say something good about Kibaki….not that there's anything wrong with that.
For once I like kalamari's comment, but he messes it up by calling Mwai 'Obaks'! Certainly not fitting!
ReplyDeleteRaila should listen to Njue and drop the Majimbo debate right away!
ReplyDelete