Kofi Annan appear to have his hands on Kenya's pulse by aptly recommending a truth and reconciliation commission. That is an idea which is long overdue given our history of MISRULE. But to spoil the party comes the honest and brutal question: can Kibaki walk the talk given this history? Only time will tell but I must hasten to add that you don't have to be a genius nor a sooth sayer to see where we are headed -deadlock.
Annan may be through with the easy part. His cleverly crafted his peace agenda by prioritizing on less controversial issues first. Coming to agreement on sorting out the violence and finding a satisfactory humanitarian response to tens of thousands of maimed and displaced Kenyans is the easy part.
The crux of the matter lies in the next tackling the POLITICAL DIMENSION to the crisis. And that will definitely mark the point of departures among the hitherto agreeing negotiators from both camps. The naked and unpleasant truth is that Kibaki is simply buying time and fooling the world with motions bereft of no meaningful movement politically or otherwise.
Let us be REAL for once and accept the bitter truth that nobody risks his/her reputation by sacrificing hundreds of lives only to STEAL an election and give the voters back their rights. More so if the thief holds the monopoly of force. Add this to the tribal cabal waiting in the wings for any trace of opportunity to strike Kenya
dead so as to scavenge on the resulting carcass disguised as INDUSTRY.
Well planned electoral theft
Make no mistake, the ELECTORAL THEFT didn't just happen. Kibaki knew what was awaiting him by close of polling stations on December 27, 2007. He had all the time since referendum to plan with the help of supremacists and old hands from previous regimes. The NSIS had all the facts and the campaigns were just decoys like the 6% economic growth to pull wool over our eyes as the RAPISTS schemed for the ultimate attack on our rights.
The non verbal language and the speeches from Kibaki give him away. His colonial model of RULERSHIP can fly but he has his fingers on both the trigger and extinguisher. You know as well as I do which option he prefers to hold dear. ti Kibaki's government is open to anything that FALLS WITHIN KENYA'S CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK. What a refreshing and innovative yet obstructive conditions? Lies and deception have never come so beutifully painted.
Kibaki is doing very well by exporting his brand of deception. He must have felt sweet telling other leaders in Ethiopia that he believes he won the election fairly and all the trouble since the election has been stirred up by the opposition. Nobody has ever collectively abused his audience with such balderdash knowing who wields the guns and power.
Poor Annan
I don't envy Bw Annan any inch. He may be having all his heart in the process but I am also very certain he cannot reconcile his efforts to the reality staring him in the eye. Heavy international pressure yes, but not for how long with Chad smouldering already up north. Already Annan has ruled election re-run out of the equation. Kofi fears conducting a re-election will results in more violence. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that either side would accept the outcome of a second presidential poll. The former UN boss is already neck-deep in this murk.
There is no manual to contain a national uprising. Kibaki never saw it coming and he will resort to any CRUDE TOOLS (including Mungiki of course) he can lay his hands on to maintain the status quo. Call me a pessimist if you please but Kenya's problem lie squarely on her weak deep-seated institutional foundation. Kibaki and his cronies don't have what it takes to shape Kenya.
Either way Kibaki is not baking his cake and feasting on it. The die is cast and Kenyans are out in both flesh and blood to reclaim their birth right. Kibaki's apologists can fly their sectarian kite all the much they want oblivious of the fact that the leash has snapped and the phantom remains rudderless in the sky. We value our backs too, no more ridding on them. Politico-economic justice no less.
Taabu, opinionated as it is, this is a much more relevant post than the previous two.
ReplyDeleteI think your readers are looking for information about what is actually going on on the ground i.e. information (and opinions) that is not readily available in the MSM. The less partisan the post, the more credibility it will provide your blog.
Steve @11.58, What is the relevance of your questioning of the relevance or irrelevance of anything that does not appear relevant to you.
ReplyDeleteTaabu, No doubt Annan’s shoes have sharp pins. No re-run must also mean propagating Kibaki into a likeable fellow. Imagining the transformation of Kibaki into the darling of Kenyans; precisely, the loveable Kenyan teddy-bear is intriguing. In this world of limited resources, his propulsion to pre-2002 status seems unachievable. I'm not saying he’s the most hated man alive, rather, I'm emphasizing that he is not the most beloved.
As things stand today, must Kibaki detain the ODM Pentagon? Must he resign and order a re-run? Must he share power? Must he show Annan, like Ramaphosa the door? Must he use military force to stamp his authority? Must he totally ignore ODM? Is Kibaki redeemable?
I don't care whether you respond as a tribalist, Kenyan or both provided your answer is well thought out. The time has come for Kenyans to provide Kibaki with serious ideas. From what I've been hearing from the cooks at State House, Kibaki has been caught walking around the plush lawns talking to himself……at night.
To my Kikuyu brothers; in light of what Tabbu is reporting today, will you accept a truth and reconciliation with 'justice' commission? Your people have been displaced from virtually all corners of Kenya. In the Rift Valley, we think it's more about land than election results. In other regions, it appears more about election results followed by jealousy of your prosperity. In the meantime, anti-non-Kikuyu attacks are on the rise in Central. This sad state of affairs demands that you involve yourselves in deep soul searching.
ReplyDeleteA good place to start is by sincerely answering the question of how you find yourselves in the current predicament. I will not portend to provide answers, however, I will urge you to examine how the elections were carried out; all the way from the selection of new eck commissioners to the vote tallying process and consequently the installation of Kibaki as president. Kikuyus who see the entire process as devoid of any serious irregularities must continue to encourage Kibaki to firmly hold onto the presidency. Anything less would be an affront to democracy. If Kibaki was truly democratically elected president then it is the duty of not just the Kikuyu but the entire nation to make sure that he in fact remains president for another five years. If Kibaki won fair and square, then it is necessary to sentence the ODM pentagon to lengthy prison terms for causing us perpetual anxiety up to today.
However, if the opposite of above is true i.e. Kibaki actually stole the election in broad daylight, then I urge the Kikuyu to join the rest of the Kenyan people in denouncing his illegitimate regime. Join us in fighting for justice. The Kikuyu are not obligated to straighten out their wayward vote stealing son, however, it is this lack of outrage emanating from Central province that further isolates Kikuyus. Would you frog match your son to jail if you found him stealing? Actually, many Kikuyu believe that Kibaki was not caught stealing the vote and that these allegations of impropriety are simply some Raila propaganda entwined with the subversion adventures of Dick Morris. If Kibaki stole the vote, where is the evidence? In fact, the government has been asking for evidence via news outlets for over two weeks. Didn't Martha Karua provide all answers to rigging allegations on BBC hard talk? Whatever the case, why wont Raila go to court? The issue of Raila's mistrust of the judiciary does not arise because he after all is defending his seat from Livondo within the same law courts. In my estimation, these are creative approaches to solving the crisis. As far as the impartiality of the judiciary, I can only wait to see how far Gitobu Imanyara goes with his case against Lucy Kibaki. I mean, how does some old barefoot woman in pajamas and unkempt hair slap you silly as you attempt to handle government business. The way I see it, it is this upcoming landmark case that has the potential of redeeming our judicial system.
Any critical thinker sees the most serious crisis as, not the displacement of people, but the upcoming resettlement attempts. There is no indication that Kibaki and PNU are in the early stages of finding solutions to the land problem. In fact, there have been attempts to closing some settlement camps and ordering the displaced back to their homes. How do you tell that to the Kikuyu family that lived next door to the church in which over 35 fellow tribesmen were burnt to death?
I want peace BUT NOT "PLACEBO PEACE."
ReplyDeleteIf Annan's talks do not result in a new constitution and land reforms, I fear for Kenya in the short and long term.
anon@1.14.
ReplyDeleteRelax, only fear for Kenya in short term. In the long term there is no Kenya. Can't you see it? can't smell it? The breaking up of the nation? Only short term dear, long term... no Kenya
US ambassador to Kenya said they don't know Kalonzo, neither did they invite him. But that's not big deal. Look at how Britain sniffed at him so much so that he consoled himself with meeting ex-MPs.
ReplyDeletehttp://wanjuguna.blogspot.com/2008/02/vp-kalonzo-in-town.html
Thanks Kimeli, the Brit snub went under the radar.
ReplyDeleteAnon @ 1.14 and 1.28; According to the latest from the peace talks, some of those displaced are to be resettled under arms.
That is "placebo peace". How long will it last?
There has been no mention of constitutional changes thus far; just something vague called HISTORICAL INJUSTICES.
I said earlier on that Mr. Anan took the wrong job this time. I might be on my own world but wasn’t the immediate problem being the rigging of elections? Didn’t the fighting start immediately after Kibaki steal? This Anan guy is becoming anonymous. I’m thinking he is loosing the battle. I thought he was going head on with the rigging problem. Surely, how do you return folks to places full house ashes where the warriors are still in the forest waiting eagerly for the return of the beast? Again and again, Kenyans needs to find another way out of this. President Raila and Mr. Kibaki are never going to agree on this one. That said, there is no way a goddamn truth and reconciliation will work whilst the man the people were retaliating against is still sitting in State house and nursing his sick son and doing psychiatric work to the wife.
ReplyDelete@Kenyan son you can't blame Bw Annan. Maybe he has caught the Kenyan deceptive and calculative bug - it is infectious you know. All the hogwash about historical injustice is nothing but semantics. The solution is CONSTITUTION, period. Hiding under that cleverly crafted 'OWN PROPERTY ANYWHERE' won't wash. Kenyans know their warth and they have the determination to succeed individually and collectively. All they are asking for is the freedom and opportunity to exhale from the saffocation. Is that aking for a pie in the moon?
ReplyDeleteDoes going back to pre colonial times mean the rise of another colonial power? Probably not, because the colonialists left as further investment was not seen as rentable (don't kid yourself, it was an economic decision, nothing else). The problem we face is that none of the tribes of Kenya are viable as states on their own, but this will not be a stumbling block. Somalia is a fully functioning tribal landmass; it is run by tribal leaders or war lords if you want, who have no interest in re-creating a larger country. In any case, they will not be allowed to do so by their neighbors. You kind of wonder what kind of failed state Kenya will develop into. Well, probably one where no kenyans realise their full potential.
ReplyDeleteAnon@1.39. Resettling under arms is akin to colonialism. That will really foster peace in our nation. Yes Kibaki said he was going to spend 700 m on police stations. Shows how he plans to rule.
ReplyDeleteCall me a pessimist but the fighting has only stopped for each side to calculate how to stick on their gains and then vanquish each other. I see Kenya broken up in a few years. No amount of talking is going to make some combatants live side by side. For example are you going to persecute felons in Eldoret without persecuting those in Naivasha. How will evidence be collected and collaborated without it seeming tribal. Kumekucha bloggers, the genie is out of the bottle. It don't look good, atleast from where I am looking from. All the scenarios I look at promise chaos and more chaos. I see rule of the gun and opposition by similar means
The first thing to discuss should be the elections. If some people are not satisfied then no peace. Historical injustices is such a huge blanket of so much unrelated crap that where do you start.
If any one the bloggers sees peace coming in the next few years please tell me how.
i find opinions on this matter that don't address the super high turnouts in NYANZA (over 95% in many places) and the voilence metered out on inocent Kenyans TRIIBAL.
ReplyDeleteNo matter how mature the analysis sounds, and how mature the words used are people live up to the Simon and Garfunkel lyrics "A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest .."
SAD
In the following article, here below, details of interesting meeting between the US and UK concerning the Kenyan situation before the election have emerged. Ugandas Museveni features prominently and is playing according to script. Read more
ReplyDeletehttp://dinahicious.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html
I think Annan should pack his luggage and head back to Ghana. It's clear he's here punditing on behalf of Kibaki and Co.(Panua)
ReplyDeleteAnon 12:24 - it is presumptions of you to assume the discussion is not relevant to me. I thought only x-rated comments were unwelcome in the blog. It will be a sad day when ODM stalwarts start sounding like Kibaki's henchmen.
ReplyDeleteBTW Taabu, any thinking person of goodwill in Kenya will agree with you that that unless Annan is able to integrate the constitutional framework in the mediation, it is likely fail.
This article from a sister of the Daily Nation. Can shed some light on the rigging that went on. After all NMG is pro PNU and its sister publication might know something. This is a foreign paper writing so no vested interests.
ReplyDeleteI hope it explains the reason why Raila got a high turnout in some places. It was a simple PNU plan but really ingenious.
http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/muniini/What_a_deceptive_world_where_a_spade_is_called_a_big_spoon.shtml
Chris what do kumekucha readers have to say about this article. Source acknowledged at the end.
ReplyDeleteLeft position on Kenya a problem
03.02.2008 17:47
It’s not that a Left analysis is devoid of merit, which is not the case, but... But the Left is being utilised as a force to achieve elite Western goals in Kenya. Black people should be wary of support a Left position. The Western elite wants to stop Africa’s economic alliance with China because it would make Africa too independent from the West.
The Left is likely to support notions of some international force or agency that will control the imperialist tendency of the US. They don't realise that this is is a trap. This force or agency will be controlled by the Anglo-American Establishment. The apparently ‘stupid’ actions of the US is part of a deliberate plan to bring about such a force or agency – i.e. world government. The Neo-Cons are ‘responsible’ for these stupid actions and that’s why they are known as the ‘Crazies’. That is, the Anglo-American Establishment covertly creates global chaos and overtly offers us world government as the solution. (Read Brezizinski’s ‘The Choice’, where he expresses hostility to a world dominated by a one-world government rather than the US.)
The Left position on Kenya is a rouse. They are likely to support more radical Odinga and be against the ‘US-supported’ Kibaki. Yet, the problem with this position is that it is Odinga’s people who are instigating the ethnic or ‘tribal’ violence. The media has admitted this because they portray the violence as anti-Kikuyu, who support.
The Left are also likely to go for the rouse that China is operating as a new imperialist. China is operating in its interest but to say they are currently the new imperialists is bollocks. Chinese investment is going into South America. This is allowing South American countries to become more independent of the West.
The Anglo-American Establishment (particularly the Council on Foreign Relations and the Royal Institute for International Affairs) knows that many white people won’t go for the backward tribes in Africa argument to explain the Kenyan violence. This is so they come up with a more ‘Left’ argument about poverty. This explanation hides their role and supports attacks against the pro-Chinese economics of Kibaki.
Brezizinski, ‘The Choice’, p218:
'A global community of shared interest should not be confused with world government. A world government is not a practical goal at this stage of history. America certainly would not yield its sovereignty - nor should it - to a supranational authority in a world that lacks even the minimum of consensus needed for a common government. The only "world government" currently even remotely possible would be an American global dictatorship - and that would be an unstable and ultimately self-defeating enterprise. World government is either a pipe dream of a nightmare, but not a serious prospect for some generations to come.’
insidejob
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/02/390537.html?c=on#c188729
@K. Karis marvelous pitch that one but pure academics. Kenyans problems need no N?obel laurete to decipher. It is manupulated CONSTITUTION giving rise to inequality. academics can yarn any theory they so wish and trust our politicians to fall head over heels provided that serves their narrow and selfish interests.
ReplyDeleteChina is only doing what any country in her position would do. But China never initiated Anglo Leasing, or did she? To rape Kenya and when questioned fall back to hollow excuses won't wash. African citizens are far ahead of their independence leaders. Justice now and all bliss is ours, no excuses please.
SAD @ 3.01
ReplyDeleteA) I find it interesting that while you are pointing out the over 95% voting in some parts of Nyanza, you are conveniently leaving out the allegations that ECK crooks worked the votes upwards in a desparate bid to cover their central prov. rigging.
KENYANS ARE NOT IDIOTS; take note before you give partial evidence.
b)The violence is not ethnic; it is about decades of political and economic injustices. The sad thing is that some of the PANUA's in the negotiating team are still thinking as narrow-mindedly as you are.
"Dialogue does not mean only talking, but also means listening, not only to the words being spoken, but to the undercurrent of rage, anger, fear and frustration underneath. It means being willing to change rather than just bludgeoning your opponent."
ReplyDeleteKaren Armstrong
Karen Armstrong; take your message to PNU.
ReplyDeleteKibaki needs Raila once again, whether he likes it or not. Raila is the force to be reckoned with, because he won the election, but anan seems to be pushing raila to the periphery.If Anan has ruled out fresh elections, it means he is doing kibaki's bidding. He has convinced kibaki to remove the media blanket, and so we are inching closer to some type of solution. Regarding visa travel bans by usa, I hope lucy kibaki and mwai kibaki are banned from traveliong to usa and europe.
ReplyDeleteDo yu guys live in this country?
ReplyDeleteWas there an MOU in 2002?...What happened when Kibaki got Executive power...What happened to bomas draft? Now you act surprised at the election outcome when the you knew the composition of the ECK.
OH I KNOW!! SOME Guys WOKE UP COZ THERE NOT GOING TO GICHERU'S COURTS!!! Good but it may be too late,The rulling was typed before elections,I mean Mutula and Martha must have practised their Alibi infront of a camera and you all saw that in parliament
Now Why would anyone sane enough to know kenyan history wait on Coffee YaNani? When the leaders discussed bomas draft and came up with 'Naivasha Accord' in 2005,I had hope for Kenya but what happened there after convinced me to conclude that unless the conflict persists long enough just like in Sudan and Somalia we shall never as Kenyans Differenciate national from Secterian Intrests.
So for the benefit of the bloggers I offer Free Annual forecast
-When the crytical issues arrise the PNU side will come out blazzing and will not surrender the presidency
-when a negotiated solution is aggreed upon they will throw constitutional and legal barriers
-Then odm as a party strategically create a new battle front and the political war cycle continues.
-Meanwhile the ODM,PNU strongholds will continue to expirience ethnic cleansing.
-The economy will go Zimbabwe way
***UNTILL ONE SIDE IS STRONG ENOUGH TO SURPRESS THE OTHER***
Western Kenya is the backnone of the Kenyan economy bcoz of the cosnumption styles of pple living in this part of the xtry.
ReplyDeleteWith this region down you can see Kenya is down !
So yes Economic boycotts after all they have fired almost all workers coming from these regions.
When the issue of diligence and industry was addressed by Ritch last Sunday, many responses were outright hostile terming the topic irrelevant. The kinder responses said that it was a good piece of writing but untimely. I thought otherwise.
ReplyDeleteAt a time when the self-annoited preachers of "economic justice" are beating war drums, I thought it was not only timely but also unavoidable that we examine the interrelationship between the ideology of industry and true economic justice. Among these crusaders there is a concerted effort to try to belittle the virtues of being industrous. They have gone to the extent of demonising wholesale those who have achieved some material success terming them economic thieves especially if they happen to come from the now famous "wrong" community.
They have a well thought out plan. The question is whether it will continue to work as well as it worked during the last General Election. It appears that their objective has been and continues to be to systematically decouple industry from economic justice. By divorcing the two concepts, their unsuspecting followers do not have to examine whether some of the economic injustice bedevilling their lives is due to their laziness or all of it can be blamed upon economic victimisation by other communities. That approach makes it easier for the audience to legimimise their psychological sense of victimhood. They don't have to struggle with a sense of failure since their failure is not due to their fault. Even if they loot and burn other peoples property they are just reacting spontaneously to deception and exhiling their victimhood. Even if they have to invite Domino (the American company) to come and till their land, it is okay after all they are suffering from historical injustices. You have seen lately these incited masses swear not to work or go to school until there is a new constitution or until their man ascends to state house. While in the euphoric mode, and in return for a promise of liberation these masses give their votes without question to these shameless sel-promoting deceivers.
What these crusaders of "economic justice" are doing to their followers is cruel and uunusual manipulation, and is simply unforgivable. By separating the cry for true economic justice fron the concept of diligence and hard work, they are robbing their followers of their sense of self worth and the joys of a purposeful life. Further, by giving the discourse a tribal angle, they have locked these poor fellows into a prison of anger and frustration.
True, like in other capitalist societies, there have been free riders and free loaders in Kenya whose place ought to be in a maximum security jail. But nobody should lie their followers that these suckers are restricted to a particular tribe. If you have heard of the Transcentury sharks, the Kisumu Molasses conmen, and the Mobitelea man-eaters, then you know that national thievery is a class issue and not a tribal issue.
Therefore, I plead with these deceivers and robbers of the peoples' spirit of enterprise to free their captives. Getting to state house or any other destination does not justify riding on the bare backs of these people under the guise of third or fourth liberation. It does not matter whether that liberation is political or economic, just let them think for themselves without shamelessly appealing to their raw tribal instincts. Freeing them from this crippling sense of tribal victimhood is the beginning of the long journey to an egalitarian Kenya.
Anon@3.03 thanks for Enterprise 100 lecture. But no thanks for your insinuations that only confirms the evil within. Did you say ....
ReplyDelete'Further, by giving the discourse a tribal angle, they have locked these poor fellows into a prison of anger and frustration.....
Look who is trabalistic here. Yours is an eloquent exposition of the rot underneath. You cannot sanitize nor justify injustice with industry=DECEPTION. True there are honest enterpreneurs everywhere and in each community but not in Kenya and the lot you are referring to. Think beyond your anatomy and dental appearence and smell the equity coffee, won't you? The quest for JUSTICE is one thing you can't wish away. No more backs to ride on nor break, I am sorry. Domino makes the whole difference if you doubt compare and contract Mwea Rice scheme and its origin. Chanuka na facts, will u?
Let us stop beating about the bush. True development and prosperity in our much loved nation can only come when we are governed by a fair and just constitution.
ReplyDeleteTaabu,
ReplyDeleteIndustry can never ever equal deception no matter how much we intellectualise and deceive ourselves. There are people who have deceived others to get ahead and those who have worked hard to get to where they are - and both types can be found in every community across the republic. Period!
With regard to Domino, what I don't understand is whether rice growing is still rocket science such that we still need an American company to come and do it in Kenya in this day and age. Or is Domino the Dick Morris of agriculture?
Finally, people are not evil or rotten just because their opinions differ from ours. Let us not impose herd-mentality on others - some Kenyans were not fed the milk of group-thinking while growing up. That is why I call upon the enforcers of group-thought to free their captives so that as free citizens we can enact a new constitution that will serve the interests of the masses and not the interests of the economic and political warlords of the various communities. I believe strongly that justice and freedom begins with the equity of thought. Tolerance of and celebration of diversity of opinions are the hallmarks of a free and enlightened society.
Anon @ 1.03; Asante sana. I agree that:
ReplyDelete"We can enact a new constitution that will serve the interests of the masses and not the interests of the economic and political warlords of the various communities."
Fortunately for us, such a constituion already exists courtesy of Ghai and his team (2002).
THERE WILL NEVER BE ECONOMIC PROGRESS IN THIS COUNTRY WITHOUT THE GHAI CONSTITUTION.