The Deadly Amnesty Debate

Who will forget that professor Kimya confrontation at the Moi Sports Centre Kasarani during a crucial Kanu delegates conference in 2002?

Then Vice president Prof George Saitoti threw a tantrum on discovering that his name was missing on the list of contestants for party chairman to take over from President Moi. And that was after spending a fortune campaigning amongst party delegates to ensure his victory. President Moi in full view of the rolling TV cameras stood up and angrily shouted; "Professor Kimya." And he had to do it several times before a still-shaking Saitoti quietly sat down in humiliation.

It was probably the most embarassing moment for current internal security minister Prof George Saitoti.

Still it must have given the Mathematics professor great satisfaction that the aftermath of that fiasco at Kasarani was a death knell on the Kanu coffin from which the oldest political party in the country has yet to recover from. In fact despite spirited ongoing efforts currently, most analysts believe that Kanu is truly dead and buried and will never come anywhere near recapturing its' old glory.

Still it is the new political realities on the ground that are of great concern to many Kenyans.

For instance Prof George Saitoti has suddenly found himself on the opposing corner of the ring with Prime Minister Raila Odinga over the issue of amnesty for post election violence perpetrators. In fact it must greatly irk the professor that anybody would want to call the hooligans and arsonists who caused such mayhem early this year, freedom fighters.

If truth be told even the Prime Minister himself has taken his current position under intense political preassure. ODM diehards will hate me for saying this, but the truth of the matter is that those who hold real power and sway within Kenya's largest political party are the ones in control and they are indeed the ones who have put Raila Odinga between a rock and a very hard place. That is the political reality. But as I have already said in previous posts, the deadliest probable outcome of this so-called amnesty debate is the very survival of the infant grand coalition government. Actually the question analysts are now busy pondering over, is what are the likely consequences of the collapse of the coalition government? I have a friend who would just shut their eyes and quickly get away just at the mere mention of that question. And with good reason.

Fellow Kenyans and friends of Kenya, I hate to bring bad news to you on a Sunday, but that is precisely the question we must all begin to address as soon as possible.

Everybody knows that the grand coalition government is a marriage of convenience that is held together too losely by factors that are already being overwhelmed by the emerging Kibaki succession war. But to have a Prime Minister and a minister incharge of internal security of the same government reading from different scripts is a sign that is impossible to miss and one that clearly tells us all that maybe divorce will come much sooner than expected.

Personally I do not want to begin to even contemplate the possible consquences and yet I must.

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That GEMA Get-Together is Not Sawa

It was with great disgust that I learned that the GEMA community 'leaders' recently got together to discuss 'our' political future. We aren't even done mourning those who died, nay, were brutally murdered during the tribally charged post-election violence, or tried the perpetrators, and these people are already at it, including (former) Church leaders?

Much as I respect people's freedom to associate with whomever they choose, I think in this context it does our country more harm than good. I long for that day when we shall be united and divided by our ideologies and opinions as Kenyans, not loyalty to our tribes. I understand it's gonna be a while before we totally divorce ourselves from our history, but my humble opinion is that tribal alliances for political mileage should be disbanded kabisa. As in illegalized. Down to making tribal chiefdoms illegal political tools. Yaani if you are a tribal chief, be one huko kijijini but do not represent your tribe politically huko mbele. The business of tribes voting as blocs stinks and should be done away with. This does not apply to GEMA pekee, as we all know. Remember the way we were mostly in agreement that there should be no special Muslim interests in a political party, or in the constitution? How about making these leaders ashamed of the tribal interests they represent? Where are the Christians that took to the streets then?

Full Disclosure: I'm still proudly Kikuyu, probably will always be. There is precious little I can do about that- just don't ask me to vote as GEMA, or Kikuyu. We are a country of 42 or so micro-nations with diverse backgrounds but we can peacefully, happily and proudly co-exist as one. It can be done people. But most certainly, not by killing all Kikuyus :-)

Disclaimer: This piece shall not be taken as proof of defection or an endorsement of 'other' politicians. My political perspective, if ever I had one, still holds.

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