Perils of Managing Own Succession

Times have changed but not our politicians. Kibaki is finding it hard mould PNU into an outfit for his political schemes. Beholden to his club of moneyed and greying buddies it is payback time and he has to deliver before he quits State House. With Jomo Jr. salivating in the wings for coronation, Iron Lady and Prof Kiarie cannot sit down and watch.

With economic deals on Kenya at high stakes Kibaki cannot afford the luxury of experimenting with less endowed chaps around him. But true to character he is trying to keep all relevant lest they leave the king exposed for what he is – SPINELESS MARIONETTE. It appears the next four years are very short to accomplish the national looting and auction hence the early political positioning of pretenders to the throne. While the bank behind Kibaki’s politics and presidency are demanding quick results, the route is proving unpredictably bumpy.

The new wineskins have vehemently rejected the old wine. We are in new age and Kibaki’s time tested fraudulent tricks are being overtly and covertly resisted by people who would otherwise be playing ball. Ford-K and Narc-K have proved good and fast students of history and have vowed never to provide their backs for a piggy political ride for the heir apparent.

Curse of last term
Outright dissent is a known byword for last term presidents and Kibaki is no exception. His authority and spinelessness will be tested to the core and the dissenters are determined to go all the way. Already Karua and her gang have scored a significant victory in having the proposal to dissolve affiliate parties and merge them into one shelved. Forming a committee to study such a viability is just diplospeak to but time in the face of a determined opposition.

DECEPTION and FRAUD are very costly vices. Kibaki is finally paying the ultimate price of cheating his way into his second term. The truth be told, PNU was a gimmick for a party formed under the wrong premise and with the wrong purpose. Passengers boarded the vehicle for selfish reasons as evident in the present rudderlessness.

That the more things change the more they remain the same has never been an apt phrase as applied to Kenyan politics. Now the Wekesa-led PNU committee are back to the trouble laced twin proposal of individual and corporate membership. Boy, don’t we love repeating the same mistakes that previously refused to work. So Kibaki has finally discovered in his sunset political life that he needs to be the chairman of a party called PNU and for good measure have a trusted lieutenant as a deputy. Whether that will work is anybody’s guess. But the scheming betrays IMPUNITY as a defining label for the players. In their minds damn the consequences and what Kenyans think provided their wicked plans are laid no matter the human price.

Death Of Democracy In Africa

Welcome Coalition Governments

I suppose some will presume that anyone opposed to the current trend in African elections (formation of GNUs) is a person who would rather see blood spilt. Morgan Tsvangirai has termed his agreement to begin peace talks with Mugabe as historic. This is a great opportunity for peace and possible continuance of governance in Zimbabwe. All Kenyans acting prudently must by now know what is just about to happen; Morgan will become prime minister and commandeer half of the cabinet.

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In Kumekucha today Tuesday July 22nd: Will those awful stretch marks mess up your relationship?
Small business tips: Technique to grow your money quickly
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While it is true that GNUs did not originate in Kenya, we must still decorate Kibaki for being the father of all modern day African coalitions. His reluctance to change and ability to silence democracy has greatly energized this new phenomena. It is indeed his playbook that will be studied and repeated throughout the continent. Going forward, the order of the day is precisely coalition governments.

Yes folks, the short-lived African political democracy experiments are over and dead. Oh how industrious we are; we have taken democracy with all it's time tested facets of fairness and liberty, added our own greed and thievery and consequently creating our very own political system i.e. coalition governance. In this type of governance, the people vote and all opposing sides win. It does not matter if one gets 10%, you can still be Vice President. While, as Mugabe aptly puts it, the incumbent must always remain President, the actual winner becomes Prime Minister.

Outside of the impending SA elections and under the current developments, I do not foresee any other African incumbent president accepting genuine defeat at the ballot. It's over folks.

That said, there's not much wrong with our new system. In the case of Zimbabwe, loss of life has been greatly reduced and peace will indeed prevail. In the Kenyan version, the citizens are appeased for the most part. We still have a long way to go but most of the displaced are back in their homes while the assaulters are in jail and will face the law. We have set up commissions to investigate the election, violence etc. So it's all good.. right? Peace has returned and as we have seen with the Grand Regency, business is back to normal. We will wait until the next election to perpetuate thorny issues like constitutions, majimbo, land reforms etc. What do we care right now when we can sleep at night without the fear of the arsonists.

Really folks, there's a lot of things wrong with western democracy. I mean, the vote count, even in the USA, is not usually accurate. Trying to instill such, possibly flawed, principles into the African way of life is prone to disaster. So why not change the constitution to condone coalition governments going forward.