Wednesday, February 27, 2008

My Dream About The Next President Of Kenya

By Wanjiku of Mombasa

In these days when the 1.00 pm news bulletin can change your travel plans, it seems some main characters have still not yet grasped the magnitude of the problems that may come about if the talks fail. Or maybe they just don’t care. Just last week it was almost clear we were going the power sharing way. For the sake of sanity I want to believe that is the way things will end up despite a snag here and a deadlock there. Did we expect power sharing negotiations to be smooth? I want to be optimistic that a solution will come out of the house of peace. For me what remains to be seen is whether the deal, when officially sealed, will appease ODM and PNU supporters. More so the ODM since they’re the aggrieved party. And by supporters I mean voters, not the so called hardliners and million shillings per plate dinner buyers.

For the sake of much needed hope and optimism, let us assume that Kenya shall get over this recent snag in the negotiations. But first let us acknowledge that if indeed we go the coalition way, neither Kibaki nor Raila will be what his supporters expected. After all we voted for our favorite candidate to be in full control of government. Let us also acknowledge the obvious possibility of incessant bickering in government for as long as the said coalition lasts. Even in the absence of bickering, settling into the new arrangement would be quite a distraction from the day to day running of the country. Don’t be surprised if neither half of the government delivers much for this whole term.

ODM for example will most probably be opposing the other half of government left right and center from day one. Just as well since if the power sharing deal works, Kenya will not have much of an opposition anyway. I had a domo session with a certain Kumekucha fence sitter and we agreed that Raila is a natural born oppositionist. That is not necessarily a bad thing because his opposing traits have helped expose scandals which Kenyans might never have got wind of. Some may argue that if Raila had lost the elections fairly and duly conceded, Kenya would have had the best opposition ever.

Sometimes I allow myself the luxury of dreaming a little on the wild side. Ok, a lot. Supposing we had a different president other than the two for some time as we put our act together? Go on, feel free to dream. Our strange dreams will not be signed into law any time soon. John Githongo for example? PLO Lumumba? Wycliffe Musalia Mudavadi? All worthy leaders but unfortunately, this being Kenya in February 2008, anyone born within our borders will elicit the tribal debate afresh. We’re therefore looking for a tribeless president people and that can only mean one from without. I told you it was wild!

I can feel the daggers but we’re dreaming remember? Look at it this way. We cannot expect a thief to be a fair jury in his own case. Even if Kibaki tried really hard to share power, he has to cover his interests. We know for a fact that he will not step down for Raila. In short Raila will not be president and Kibaki will not be a fair president. So we need this neutral person for a short time while we put our house in order. Before he/she learns the ropes of corruption, tribalism, land grabbing and other vices that seem to be necessary qualifications for our politicians, Kenya will be mended and it will be time for him/her to go. After which we can elect a whole new bunch of leaders – preferably people who have never held public office before. And Kenya can boast another first.

16 comments:

  1. Wanjiku of Mombasa, i like your article.

    Kenya needs a President that has not been involved in corruption, tribalism and a younger generation.

    These old Kanu crooks are the worst dictators, tribalist of the world.

    They have never suffered in life and have no interest of the common people at heart.

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  2. Wanjiku

    your hopes for next president can only be determined by looking at 3 men, actually 2 men, since kibaski won't run again.

    Raila and kalonzo...

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  3. ANNON @ 2:02

    Good points, however I'll disagree with you on one point:

    I don't think we necessarily need "YOUNGER" presidents. I know it sounds catchy but after RUTO's performance, young is not the answer.

    Granted you could be younga nd effective just as you could be ilder and effective. Agood leader is a good leader, Period.

    But for us to look outside the current players may be naive on our part. ask me why ?

    Coz the next president will come from the current players right now, yaani one of the MP's and no one really strikes me as being differnt.

    The only time we'll get a fresh leader is when a generational change occurs.

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  4. nice article wanjiku of mombasa....thank goodness that it is only 'your' dream.

    sadly am not as optimistic as you are and even my dreams dont allow me to see great things for our country in the near future especially not in the form of a great president-all those guys are the same(power corrupts).

    i note your dream is premised on the notion of power-sharing and a coalition government. as you have so aptly put it, power sharing will most probably not work and there's gonna be a lot of bickering in parliament-true. call me a pessimist or whatever but power sharing does not look like a viable solution to me for the simple reason that those protagonists are never going to peacefully work together...unless of course kalonzo's miracles befall them!! can you imagine a cabinet meeting chaired by raila the pm directing karua and michuki to do ABCD?!! open your eyes, it will never happen sweetie!! never!! ama in this government kibaki will be incharge of some ministers and raila in-charge of others? i don’t get it!!

    let me indulge your fantasy…. your choices of ‘alternative presidents’ are fine with me but maybe you should have thrown in maina kiai instead of mr. FBI-‘record other peoples conversations’!!
    please don’t get me wrong I love the guy for what he did…. frying kiraitu(raping a woman who is already too willing) and murungaru…..but is he trustworthy? I know he was just doing his job…but I’d rather prefer talking to my ‘friends’ when i know i can confidently say whatever i want without any fear of being bugged!!

    all i can say is that maybe mr.annan and his team should seriously consider the formation of a transitional government that would last no more than two years headed by mr. marende to give kenyans the constitutional reforms they want, then we go for elections and that way wanjiku my dear…you would not have time to engage in such dreams!!

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  5. Wanjiku, Kibaki can drown in his "duly elected" presidency for all we care, and Shrek's mom Karua along with him.

    What ODM and the right-thinking world are demanding, on our behalf, are tools to clear the path leading to the new constitution of Kibaki's mischief. The least of those tools is a PM office that is secure from Kibaki's whims (i.e. rooted in the constitution).

    Over the last 40-something years, the presidency has been the preserve of some pretty vile Kenyans, including Moi and Kibaki. So its heartwarming to know that the thief from Othaya will be last. When the new constitution is done, your grandma will have more teeth than the presidency.

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  6. Greetings my fellow countrymen.

    Can you believe that the crisis in Kenya is being seen as an opportunity by other countries, namely Turkey! http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=96182


    Please, let the voice of reason prevail, I believe we have reached the bottom, gaweni hio mamlaka so that we can move on.

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  7. Anon@2:06 PM
    Stop the Ruto propaganda, I Ruto Killed people in Eld, then the Naivasha and Nakuru MPs killed people in their constituencies.
    PNU is anti- Ruto because he is a tough leader. Just the same way Kalenjin athletes are being accused of funding warriors. It is propaganda to kill our heroes.

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  8. ati RUTO is a tough leader ?

    He's a warlord alright and everyone holds him accountable for that church burning.

    but his day will come, malipo ni hapa hapa

    and what's going on in turkey ?

    even our neighbors TZ have been gleeful when receiving the tourists who were destined for kenya, they've been very quiet , not our friends ..

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  9. So everyone is evidence? and what do you mean everyone? Provision of evidence is important. I still he is a tough leader and all people in Western Kenya will vote for him when he runs for president.

    I have noticed you have evaded who is responsible for the Nakuru and Naivasha deaths, and also propaganda against our athletes.

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  10. Anon 3:24 really sad

    think of a competition where two competitors are to pick fruit from a tree in 20 minutes, drop in basket and present to a judge who then ascertains the one with most edible fruit in the basket as the winner. simple proces but one competitor instantly realises that he may not beat his rival, so colludes with the judge and before anyone can object, fraudulently awards the trophy and a winner's certificate to this competitor.

    almost everyone is shortchanged, the competitor, the spectators, the beneficiary of the fruit basket, the trophy/certificate makers, future judges, future athletes, the program sponsors and planners.

    the only happy folks are of course the home camp of the fraud, even some of his supporters who would have liked fair competition may not necessarily be amused and probably would feel cheated of a worthy victory.

    so if the two camps cannot settle on a repeat competition, the only logical answer is to take the competition elsewhere, or how?

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  11. anyone that supports kibaki and his cronies- supports corruption- Anglo leasing- police brutality- executions without any hearings in the Kenyan courts of law(the law of the jungle) and lastly they support the murderous mungiki gangs to rule the streets!!

    DO ANY TRUE KENYANS SUPPORT THIS?? EVEN THE ONES THAT VOTED FOR KIBAKI?? I SINCERELY DOUBT IT

    SO THEN KIBAKI MUST STEP DOWN TO PAVE WAY FOR WHO THE PEOPLE OF KENYA VOTED WITH MAJORITY VOTES TO LEAD KENYA!!THEY DID THIS BECAUSE THEY DID NOT WANT TO KEEP THE STATUS QUO!!

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  12. Wanjiku, since we are only dreaming, allow me to suggest Obama, if he does not win the US Presidency. We can give him a 2 year contract to put Kenya back on the right track. Think / dream about it...

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  13. "After which we can elect a whole new bunch of leaders – preferably people who have never held public office before. And Kenya can boast another first"

    Allow me to question...Where are these new leaders expected to emerge from? If the so called new leaders have never been visible by holding public office how then do we vet them? Assure ourselves that they are credible leaders? Our new crop of leaders cannot emerge from dreams, no pun wanjiku, but never before have I heard a no of kenyans & foreigners included, beg for our current leaders to step aside for a fresh lot to take over. How do you take over if they are not tried & tested?

    And may I qeustion please, sobber answers only...
    Hasn't Raila Odinga proved himself over & over again? Who else I ask in the current crop of leaders has stood out over time as fighting for the peoples rights? Who I ask? I grew up learning about patriotic Kenyans like Raila Odinga & when I voted for His excelency Raila Amolo Odinga, no amount of propaganda was going to sway me, I knew he was tried & true. I was a first time voter by the way. And come elections, I will vote for him again.
    Isn't he "leader" enough, let's not put a blanket over all the current leaders & label them "power hungry, oportunistic, selfish etc".
    We have leaders who have proved themselves overtime & others will come up after them to carry on long after they are gone.
    They should be seen working towards that not attempting to emerge overnight;)

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  14. Ruto is a strong leader.

    Yes it hurts to read that for some of you and whats more is that u dont have a shred of evidence against him. It is all just mere speculation.

    Whereas the evidence of those who are funding and organising mungiki throughout the country is in the public domain.Mungiki have been burning and beheading other pples children;if they are allowed to get away with it why shouldnt evry1else? Has any1 even arrested in Naivasha?

    Are the lives of other Kenyans who were killed and displaced throughout the country not of equal value?The answer is the reason why few sympathise with kyuks in their current situation.

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  15. Wanjiku I have a dream too and it has the people you mentioned in a line-up of ministries for the transitional gava. My list would read
    President: PLO or Mudavadi
    VP: Wangari Maathai
    PM: PLO if Mudavadi is President.
    Min Justice const affairs: Maina Kiai.
    etc etc.
    I know RAO has done alot for Kenyans I do not beleive he is a good opposition leader, I beleive if we miss out on a RAO presidency we will have missed out on one of Kenya's best Prezo's that never was.I'm studying his strategies since after the elections and one thing I beleive for sure is tribalism would be a thing of the past and some form of equity would have been practised.
    Ah well.. let me keep dreaming of the beautiful infrastructure, the change in constitution etc etc and hope we get out of this hell hole we are in with as little damage as we can manage.

    I also dream of locking the negotiating teams and their principals in a house on a deserted island and their children in another where they can view- preferably a leaking house or tent like with minimum food rations- maybe only then maybe we can see white smoke???
    Only a dream.....

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  16. Since its a dream lemmi indulge for a while ... i will there after go back to my usual place- on top of the fence.

    I also like the thought of a different president who will be tribeless. Then obviously this tribeless president will have the interest of kenyans at heart and will ensure that in the 3-4yrs he will be president he will work to having a constitution that kenyans need. As the process of the constitution making and civic education goes on ... in the corridors of power, all systems that allow corruption will be destroyed and replaced with a system where it will be almost impossible to be corrupt. In that context, all the people involved in corrupt deals should be removed from office and grown up kenyans with integrity replace them. In all these the assumption is that the tribeless president will surround himself with smart kenyans whose interests are to have a better kenya not individuals with selfish & petty political interests. Then all institutions in the country from the judicially to the police to the parastatals should be allowed to work independently ... and the people in the management of these institutions should be answerable to a committee under the office of the president. The work of this committee will be to check the performance of the management ... if they don't perform, they have no business in been in the management ... they will have and keep their jobs as long as they are performing (to the better of coz).In this period that this tribeless president will the boss ... the focus will not be in politicking but on working to have a strong kenya. By his/her 4th yr as boss ... there should already be a new constitution and many of the issues affecting kenyans have gone almost half way in completion and a few others will have been completed.

    So when kenyans go for the 2012 general elections ... not only will the electoral process be a trusted one, but we will start 2013 with a constitution that makes sense and will allow us to be a smilling people from there on.

    Now back to reality- and for me back to on top of the fence ...

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