Is It Possible To Rule Without Killing?

Many young Kenyans have no idea what it was like living in the country in the 70s and 80s. The days when political dissenters were dealt with ruthlessly and decisively quick. If you did not disappear or your body was not found in some forest with some vital organs missing, then you would definitely have ended up in the notorious detention without trial.

In those days when you could sense the fear in the air, it must have been much easier to be president of Kenya.

Now one Mwai Kibaki who has seen it all took over as president in December 2002 and one of the first things that his administration did was to shut down the Nyayo house torture chambers. It seemed to everybody that it was the beginning of a brand new era of good governance. But alas, it was not to be because some silly document called an MOU (memorandum of Understanding) was allegedly not honoured by Kibaki and one thing led to another as the Kibaki administration staggered from one crisis to another like a drunk man trying to walk home in the dark. You will remember that things stabilized somewhat with the appearance of one Daniel arap Moi as one of President Kibaki’s key advisors.

In actual fact history was replaying itself before our very eyes because Daniel arap Moi himself went through a very similar metamorphosis shortly after he took over as president in August 1978. Moi released all detainees and dramatically increased democratic space and free speech in the late 70s and early 80s. However he was rudely shaken out of his good-guy image by the abortive 1982 coup attempt. Shortly after a shaken Moi appeared on national TV tears visibly in his eyes and thanking the security forces for crashing the coup, Kenyans started seeing a very different Moi. Detention without trial came back with a vengeance and a few assassinations followed, most notably that of former foreign affairs minister Dr Robert Ouko. Dozens of Kenyans vanished without trace.

Coming back to the present, it seems that Kibaki’s big transformation happened after he lost the 2005 referendum on a proposed new constitution. But detention without trial was NOT re-introduced. Instead something that send shivers down the spines of those in the know emerged. That thing answers to the name, the Kwekwe squad. Humndreds of young Kenyans have also disappeared without trace.

Political emotions aside, the question Kenyans must now ask themselves is a simple one but one whose answer will be very difficult in coming by. And the question is, is it possible to govern a country like Kenya without “tools’ like detention without trial or the terror of Kwekwe? If your quick answer is YES, then my next question is how come the Kibaki administration became much more stable after the introduction of terror instruments like the Kwekwe?

Kindly note that I do not support terror or human rights abuses in any form. However I am just asking a question to get Kenyans thinking. After all even developed democracies like the United States have the CIA and other national security spooks who get involved in all kinds of dirty things. Even the civil Brits have their spooks and shadowy projects in the name of national security.

Read about Kumekucha's terrifying ordeal in the hands of the then dreaded Special Branch

Kenya's Slimy Mess!

Kenya is the only country in the world whose people care so much about ethnicity that it is seen as one of the qualifications during electioneering. It is indeed strange to see politicians who attended the most prestigious universities in the world retreating to their tribal cocoons to preach tribal hatred and politics of disharmony in order to win sympathy votes from their ethnic communities. But if the leaders are bad, then the people are worse! For, why do we take whatever balderdash that comes out of politicians’ foul mouths as the gospel truth? And by the way, who elects the leaders?

We don’t need rocket science to know that ethnicity and graft are twin problems that have prevented Kenya from achieving progress. We all know the problem but we prefer sitting back and complaining about bad governance while in fact we happen to be the very architects of the problems bedeviling our country. We must wake up from our deep slumber and stand up for our rights. We need to understand that politicians play the tribal card to their advantage. Their object is to keep the citizenry busy fighting over petty issues as they (politicians) milk the public coffers dry!

People who believe that people from certain parts of our republic can not lead just because, in their stupid opinion, they ‘belong to the wrong tribe’(kabila adui) are simply not worth living in this modern world. I assert this because I strongly believe that ‘belonging to tribe X or tribe Y is nothing but a biological accident!’ I also call attention to the fact that a person’s character and not the language he speaks is what matters most. For that reason, the question of one’s tribe is irrelevant not only in matters political but in everything.

Fellow country men and women, it is an open secret that ethnicity will take us nowhere and the sooner we stop it the sooner our country will start achieving progress. The choice is ours; the future of our country is in our hands. Away with tribalism!.

Martha, oh Martha! Tell me Martha

Also published less than an hour ago: Plot 10 has been cancelled

Guest Post by Mwalimu Peter Ngugi

What is your take on the resignation of Martha Wangari Karua from The Grand Confusion that masquarades as the government of the Republic Of Kenya?

I think the truth is, as always, somewhere in-between. It is hard not to admire her in the context of Kenyan politics. She is one of the few cabinet ministers who has actually not used her position for self aggrandizement. The cabal around Kibaki and the elites in Kirinyaga describe her as the Peasant from Gichugu because she has completely refused to use her position to enrich herself. This, in itself, would not be remarkable elsewhere – but it is almost extraordinary in Kenya.

She has my respect.

Do you know Karua appointed 4 true reformers (young people between 28 and 34 years old) as undersecretaries in her ministry, and by last month they had all resigned because of frustration from the office of the president?

But she has, of course, taken some stances that have been quite questionable. Her unwavering support for the thieving Kibaki between 2002 and mid-2008 was frightening in the most meaningful sense. But her fierce independence shone through even then. Even when I disagreed with her, I knew she was not merely positioning herself to “eat.” My attitudes towards her mirror my attitudes toward Raila. There is much to admire about him; but there are many things that he does that makes me go: what the %$#@$%!

I don’t think Martha’s resignation will achieve much unless Raila joins forces with her. In fact, that is the one and only opportunity Kenya has to rise from the ashes like a phoenix.
She will likely lose her parliamentary seat in 2012 as Kikuyus myopically support Uhuru (read Mungiki) for the presidency (God forbid!). It will be ugly! Of course, unless the young Turks re-group: Raila, Muite, Orengo, Anyang, Karua and Imanyara. Abdikadir (of PSC), Makau wa Mutua and Willy Mutunga are trying to broker this. Ruto and Kiraitu will have to be left out for this to work out, though. And nobody seems to know how to do that.

God bless Kenya, God save us from the MOUNT KENYA MAFIA!

Guys, Let's speak up for the Albinos in Tanzania.

Alert: 'Plot 10' Has Been Cancelled!!

This may come as a surprise to those who grew up in leafy suburbs or sprawling red roofed estates. You see, deep in the low class Eastland residential areas, there was once a fantastic living arrangement that could be best described as 'maisha ya ploti'. For those unfamiliar with the term 'plot' in the ghetto context, it is a small residential 'complex' complete with mostly ten or less small roomed apartments (really studios) sharing a common bathroom, usually with one mabati gate. Those still feigning ignorance can at least remember the KBC program 'Plot 10'. That's what I'm talking about. Here folks recognized neighbors as 'majirani'.

While the living in 'Plot 10' was mostly squalor and lacked any form of privacy, it had very many positives. For one, it allowed the peaceful co-existence of people from all Kenyan cultures bound together by the need for affordable housing and a specter of security. At the height of this residential phenomena, one plot would house families from the Kikuyu, Luo, Luhya, Somali, Swahili, Kisii, Kalenjin etc. It is the interesting cross-cultural social interactions that led to the development of comedies like 'Plot 10', Vitimbi etc. Those were the times when majirani would huddle around the only black and white TV in the plot and laugh with each other at the generalization of cultural characters and traits. These 'plots' produced the most tribe-less Kenyans on earth.

Today, Mzee Ojwang's copyrighted squeal, yaani 'Mama Kayai, fwanya haraka aaiiiiiiiiii!!!'…. could be considered a war cry in some 'plots'.

Folks, welcome to the New Kenya. A sincere assessment confirms that strict tribal enclaves are mushrooming all over Nairobi today. The search for peace of mind requires that you be very aware of where you rent or buy any type of property....based on nothing but your tribe or ethnicity. You need not waste your time or risk your security by putting in your rental application in areas where your ethnicity is not considered favorable. Slums like Kibera, Mathare etc already have clearly demarcated boundaries; you cross, you die. The same divisions are slowly creeping into middleclass areas like Umoja and Buruburu. Before too long, primary schools within these areas will have no choice but to follow suit. What type of patriotic Kenyans will we produce from the upcoming one-tribe primary school in the middle of Nairobi? Can you imagine the fiasco that will be the inter-school games/debate etc?

Ok, for those still thinking that this is primarily a low class tenancy issue, how many successful Luos/Kalenjins are confidently moving into the affluent Runda Estate? Does the decision to instead move to Langata or elsewhere have anything to do with the fact that Runda is pretty much in the Kikuyu Kiambu district?

What about the Ogiek like me? Should I therefore live on top of KICC because no Nairobi estate recognizes my existence?

Hii mambo gani bwana?