Sunday, January 25, 2009

This Is A Quagmire

We are stuck!

Tell me, what in the world happened to Prime Minister Raila Odinga? Is this the same man we thought was a democrat and voted for in droves? Is this the man the Diaspora Kenyans welcomed to cities across the globe, hailing as the man to bring needed change to Kenya? How can it now turn out that he is railing against the media, threatening to deal with "...a certain media house?" And how did it happen that his party was not in Parliament to stop the passage of a bill that was to gag the media? Incidentally, have you heard the PM or any of his brigades talk about reversing that dreadful signature the President scribbled somewhere to bring the law to life? In my opinion, all these incidents amount to this: Raila Amollo Odinga is no democrat, and neither is he a reformer. This man may well be a dangerous dictator hiding his true colors from us until we make the big mistake of electing him president.

Let us rehearse for a moment the Raila we've come to know since he became Prime Minister. He started off by trying to betray his friend and erstwhile fighter, William Ruto. It took the threat of a serious rift in the ODM for him to change his mind. Next came the issue of unga. He went out of his way to assure us that prices would immediately go down. Tell me if they have. Then came the gas/petrol mess. Apparently we should be reassured by the fact that he didn't know what was going on there, so he is clean. And the corruption that's now roiling the Kibaki-Raila administration? The two principals have found a way to deal with it: Collective responsibility. If this is not a quagmire, what is?

In fact, what should we make of Raila's son's alleged involvement in shifting of corn/maize from its intended point of delivery to Southern Sudan? And what should we make of his younger son's involvement in crashing a government BMW when the rest of us were asleep? What, I ask, should we make of the Prime Minister's increasing agitation and his wish to shut us up? Is it because he doesn't want his increasing goofs to hit the headlines? Or is this just a man who being in the government has finally exposed his true character?

We have four more years to go with this painful load we're carrying called the Coalition Government. In that time, the full character of all the key players in this Kenyan version of a Russian Roulette will be revealed. But if what we have seen in all of them, especially my brother Raila, is anything to go by, we're in deep trouble. As we have called for in this and other forums, the time to seek new leadership has come. We must be prepared to lock horns with Kibaki's man, Uhuru Kenyatta, or we will watch as Kenya goes to the dogs in the year of our Lord 2012.

And just like Mutahi Ngunyi yesterday, let me pledge my support and admiration for the teachers who are fighting for "Haki Yetu." Teach us how to deal with and defeat the insensitivity of this cartel that has its grip tightly on Kenya's throat.

We shall overcome!

17 comments:

  1. Sam, welcome to the world of Kenyans! I have since stopped watching the news, coz I can't take this grand theft government nonsense anymore! You know why ODM was NOT in parliament to pass the media bill? Coz they wanted it to be passed for sure then take that high hypocritical tone of blaming PNU.

    Moreover Sam, last week Raila told the media to stop concentrating on trivialities (read scandals) like MAIZE and FUEL and instead to highlight the developments of the thieving government! What developments you wonder? What developments are there in Kenya (initiated by the government)? According to him....starving Kenyans (read maize scandal) is a trivial matter. Raila lost it a long time ago the minute security and escort vehicles were provided! That is the bitter truth.

    And to imagine people fought tooth and nail post 2007 for that Raila 'demo(n)crat' character myself included unfortunately. Thank goodness someone up there did not see it if for this man to rule Kenya regardless of his winning. His character in the past 3 months at least, has made me see the light.....NEVER AGAIN!

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  2. Sam you will not win luo land when you ataack raila

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  3. Sam,

    I sympathize with you. We told you so!

    Politics in Kenya has never been about the people, the voters. It has always been about power and more power and accumulation of money and property. That is why once they get 'there', everything revolves around how to get more money and more power. It has always been about keeping your friends and relatives happy with lush appointments so that they continue to sing your praises, check upcoming opponents, deal with real and perceived political and business rivals etc and not to serve the people. So what has changed since Kenyatta and Moi? Nothing.

    PS. Chris, please enlighten us on the Kenya We Want Conference. What is it all about? Is it yet another empty talk shop? Is it a 'business oportunity' for a few? Haven't we been there before? Was it Steve Mwangi with Nairobi We Want?

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  4. None of our current crop of leaders has what it takes to get us out of this quagmire... Can the civil society give us the options we have to oust this regime from power? I am a luo who voted for Raila and I am utterly ashamed at his utterances. What happened to the people's president? We surely need divine intervention!

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  5. Sam,
    Sorry buddy, that is what we get when we put too much faith in other human beings. Remember you told us that Raila cry at night so that we can sleep in peace? This is what Kenya Times quoted him as saying in Kibera this Sunday:

    "... the PM cautioned the media against blowing issues out of proportion on the pretext of unearthing corrupt dealings in the country. Said he: "Although we are committed to press freedom, the media should exhibit responsibility and stop misleading Kenyans by propagating propaganda on graft deals."

    The media is getting to cloose to his family scandals for his comfort. Forget the story of his son and maize going to Southern Sudan - that is just an appetizer. The Triton Oil scandal is where the Odinga's family main course is. The people are just focussing on those who released the oil to Triton from storage irregularly. The main story is where the pressure to release came from and who were the main retailers who benefitted from the released oil, and whether those retailers paid even a single penny to Triton. The son of Oburu is one of them; the other is Raila's son, and Raila himself. And this is not to mention that Raila's sister had brokered three months ealier the same oil to Triton in the high seas - 200 miles off Mombasa.

    Na mambo bado!!!! The template is to create, like Moi sons, a team of monied sons called Luo Princes (LPs my friend calls them). And these LPs must be minted in a hurry while the Coalition stands.

    So Okello, if you are not one of the annoited LPs, tafadhali kaa chonjo, for the rape has just began.

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  6. You honestly "believed he was a democrat"? In your heart of herats?

    It just occured to me you do not know what democracy means. It sure means different things but losing fair and democratic Ford kenya elections to Michael Wamalwa in Thika and sponsoring terror against those who win is not one of them.

    Demonising, organizing the stonning and police-clobbering of opponents like Jimmy Orengo and the late Dr. Oki Ooko Ombaka (a blind man for heavens sake) after tasting the trapppings of ministterial power is not democracy. It is totalitarianism.

    If you honestly thought Mr. Raila was a democrat, then I am sure you believe many any other fallacious claims. Come on Sam, even fanatics like Taabu do not go that far. They shy away from public statetements of support. Stonning and vituperative descriptions of Raila's opponents is an easier option.

    But this is part of the same democracy we are talking about. I fault you not, my brother.

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  7. Okello,

    Its unfortunate that it has taken this long for you to realize who Rao is. This is the man at his best. In his government corruption is a triviality, when the press highlights it - it is intrusion in the otherwise development conscious government.

    Meanwhile, i have no respect for KTN - which Raila pointed out as the problem in the news. They need to realsie a burning Kenya is not good for them too. They have oiled ethnicity and political turmoil in the name of independence and media freedom. They need to tone down their propaganda. Its unfortunate their main backer (raila) is departing them at this hour. Watch out for the changing political landscape via the media in Kenya.


    Mzee wa Kijiji

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  8. While voteless diasporan Okello is busy hallucinating about what his friend Chris calls 'the sins of Raila', the rest of us in Kenya remain contented that our party Captain still enjoys a 65%(ie nearly 7.1million clean votes of) approval rating among Kenyan voters....and this is despite the problems coming up because we are in a coalition government with thieves and corruption warlords.

    BTW - this latest approval rating give Raila a headstart of nearly 20% (equivalent of 2.2 million votes) over and above the incumbent whom also trails him in Central province by 2%.

    This poll is authentic and bankable. It is not made-up data by a group of misguided and jealous bloggers who have been unsuccessfully fighting Raila and ODM for the last five years.

    We are waiting for elections where we shall, once again, show the Okellos of this world what it means to play in the premier league of politics. And the referendum next year will provide an apt example of things to come.

    PS. Gideon Moi (though his KTN) is now also fighting Raila and ODM because when they thought ODM was dead in Rift Valley, we actually proved to them that ODM support is not dependent's on Ruto or like minded individuals. The grand coalition was just but a mere stopover to the third and final liberalisation of this country from the yokes of neocolonialism.

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  9. Phil you sound like you went to school but never got educated.You are a sycophant per excellence in the mould of the illiterates of past,shariff nassir,mulu mutisya,kariuki chotara et al.Can you pliz go back whence you came from.This blog is always a better place when you have nothing to say.

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  10. phil, why are you worshipping RAILA? Are you gonna follow him to the bottomless pit?
    While he's enjoying all the cream, you're left to fight for crumbs...shame on you Phil...this is bigger than one man RAILA...this is about our beloved REPUBLIC..that's all Okello is saying...

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  11. TO ODMers...

    Four years jamaa!!! It is only one year and the NEW CONSTITUTION in ONE YEAR MIRAGE still lives, PNU are consolidating POWER (anyway they are the rightful occupiers).
    The atom that epitomises dictatorship is about to go burst and still...unfortunate squatters are occupying public land in the name of displaced Kenyans.
    Sam, three days have turned to one year, Kibaki's resignation has turned to permanent and the brigade that rubbished others for wax lyrical are now smelling the coffee.
    Bitter still, the 'most powerful' man is fighting for posts with a civil servant, Wetangula is appointing his chief campaigner an amabssador; ODM are not sharing the ambasadorial posts on a 50-50 basis and neither are the public jobs.
    Sam, it is not that people are blind, it is that things have just changed and wishful thinking, the terminology that confirms to this blog that Martha Wangari Karua has the balls to stand against a Kibaki/Uhuru tsunami is unreal as it is dreamt.
    On the flip side of it, the most embarassing name-calling of 2008 in the shape of Amos Muhinga Kimunya has come out to be typical of ODM witch-hunt that has seen Harun Mwau, a PICK turned ODM man fail to airlift councillors from Kalonzo Musyoka backyard to a desert to study matters that can be learned across the road in the Kibwezi horticultural belt.
    At the coast, LOL Balala kawa BALAA, Chirau Ali Makwere turned to singer and above all, Mungatana lost in the soup!
    To all those who danced from a rostrum of platitudes thumping their chests about POWERFUL PRIME MINISTER, remember my words last year...
    You cannot pass a document that shapes a country's destiny without reading, discussing, debating and even disgareeing from the floor of parliament. Mark the words jamaa, and even a fool will know as I said, you cannot change a country's constitution in one year. Least three years...
    Enjoy 2009.

    -Derek-

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  12. Phil wrote:

    "...liberalisation of this country from the yokes of neocolonialis..."

    He obviously never went to school. This is not to deny that the might have been there physically.

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  13. yes indeed raila is a very dangerous man a real dictator moi saw something in this man and i simpathize with all those who voted for him, once more he is also an inciter and is among those people who are destroying kenya!!!

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  14. we should all be careful with this good for nothing men;one minute men; leaders whose main aim is to see us pushed to the wall, am thankful that people are getting to know the difference between appearance and reality.we can no longer be controlled like puppets and suit to their own needs as they feed their pockets from our endless taxes.eeeeeiiiihh!shame on you!what do you take us for?a piece of trash! which you discard anywhere and anyhow?you are wrong!have some dignity for us.just a little bit.the best thing is that we are not"trash"we can think straight without you incorporating your "glutonious thoughts to us,. we have a long journey before us and the earlier we open our eyes and accept the reality that's when we shall realize that he is not a saint and never will he ever be. saint.

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  15. If you want to know the true colors of our political leaders just look at the political party "Nominations" of last year-that is the kind of "Democracy" these guys believe in

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  16. People who thought Raila was a god and a democrat make me laugh. I hate to say " we told you so". Kenyans are blinded by tribal love so much that they fail to see sins committed by their tribes men. Kenyans are not nationalists. They are tribalists. Maybe we dont need a nation called Kenya, maybe we should break up the republic and go back to being tribes.
    Raila is no turncoat either. He has always been corrupt.He has looted from the Luo people for ages.His corruption will catch up withhim. Trust me, 2012, Raila will not have the same following as he did in 2007.Its game over. And the likes of Ruto should be in the Hague with kina Balala. We elect devil worshippers like Harun Mwau and Raila and Moi and others into office and wonder why our nation has gone bad.All this people have their place in hell, and they will be there for eternity because they have chosen to rebel against Gods word.They will weep and mourn there in agony all their lives.
    Sam Okello, welcome to the real world ndugu. Wakina Kibaki wote wakora.No good politician in Kenya. We need change and change will come. But when it comes people must stop tribal following.

    Rono - Australia

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  17. Okello,

    As has been set straight by one of the Anon...fellas...I cant fail to observe how fast ur driving nails into your own coffin by attacking Raila for his take..Politically that is, as I can see you lack good grasp of the local politics.

    That aside, I tend to have a view of a Raila who has always learnt what to do both politically and professionally..

    With the current outbursts, I see a Raila playing servant to his Boss..Kibaki and Kenyans as a whole for which he has to protect our interests..even if it means saving it from Negative talk which in a way is becoming rampant with the local media. Who wants everyone to get negative talk about them anyway?....Did someone confess after several screams that the Maiza Scandal was rather hyped a lot? Isnt it true that we need a means to administrate upon our media...How many of us have had the free time or had their rests disturbed in public spots by the likes of Waweru Mburu aka The Citizen Radio...rumour mill. The issue is, we lack good governance than can responsibly overlook the media, but we honestly need some force to regulate the current tabloid industry!

    Raila being a PM has a duty to be - LOYAL to both his government and the Republic of Kenya.

    Like Ngunyi said, he can throw stones to the glass house but unfortunately just found himself in it!

    All the best though in ur hopes to provide better leadership..I ll keenly wait yee!...

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