I am baffled.
I want to speak in very raw terms here because I think something has gone gravely wrong. I watched the Prime Minister speak at the Safari Park Hotel yesterday, literally fortifying his stance that the Waki Report be implemented to a T. As I watched, I had to scratch my head in amazement at what the man's strategy is. Where is he going with this fervent call to implement a report that his support base in the Rift Valley is vociferously opposed to? And when that full implementation takes place, where will he find new allies to help him realize his lifelong dream of being president of Kenya? Does he intend to revert to the painful old alliances that have been fraught with jealousy, treachery and outright betrayal?
The way I see it, there are two sides to the Waki Report. There's the political side. And there's the legal side. Prime Minister Odinga is obviously winning the legal side handsomely, and in the process he is driving his supporters away. Because he is driving his supporters away in the Rift Valley and elsewhere, he is losing the political side of this equation in a spectacular way. For a politician of his stature, that is an astounding failure. Many ardent followers of this man have been with him because they saw in him someone who had his ear on the ground, who detected the direction of the political winds, who knew when to make tactical retreats. What has gone wrong? Is it the men and women around him who have insulated him from the groundswell of opposition to his leadership style? Has the power of his office suddenly blinded him?
I'm disturbed that it turns out to be President Kibaki who now calls for forgiveness and reconciliation. This was a matter the Prime Minister would have had more moral authority to call for than the president. But since this is something I've championed in the past, I salute President Kibaki for going in that direction. Indeed, I maintain that it's the only viable way to deal with the disunity occasioned by the failed elections of 2007.
But it's never too late.
The Prime Minister is an intelligent man who understands the power of perception. Our Rift Valley brothers and sisters are not defending one of their own because they think anybody is guilty, they are reacting to the perception that since becoming Prime Minister Raila has not seemed very attentive to their issues. Incidentally, vast swathes of Luo Nyanza voters feel the exact same way as their Rift Valley counterparts. If this trend crosses over to Western Province and the Coast, tell me where the Prime Minister will get his votes from in 2012. An alliance with Martha Karua? Maybe Uhuru? My God! Maybe it's because of the possibility of this scenario playing out that the Luo Council of Elders called on the PM to rethink his strategy. I concur.
I'm aware that I'll be called a tribalist for addressing this issue as I have. But I go off on the premise that six out of eight provinces voted for the Prime Minister. What that means is that more than half the nation is looking up to him for direction, inspiration and an understanding of where this nation is going. Advocating that we turn over our sons to the Hague is not how to play this game. A local tribunal is the way to go. It strengthens our faith in our nascent institutions and affirms our hard-won independence. The kind of blackmail the European Union wants to subject our country to is unacceptable. They need to be told in no uncertain terms that we're no longer a colony. We have to come to a point where we say no to the monies they give us, because they are using those funds to blackmail us. How low can they sink?
Mr. Prime Minister, the time to hit a U-turn is now. I've spoken candidly because this is a time for a brother to whisper to a brother that the zipper of his pants are down. I hope you pull that zipper up before the children come storming into the living room and chuckling at the peeping sight of your red undergarments.
------------------------------------
Kumekucha has obtained the full list of names in the secret envelope handed over to Kofi Anan. The list is described in detail in Kumekucha Confidential our FREE weekly email newsletter.
If you are not a subscriber yet, subscribe now by sending an email to:-
kumekucha-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
N.B. Due to unavoidable circumstances to do with the gravity of the matter we regret to inform our readers that the Waki list is NOT available in Kumekucha Confidential. However the latest Confidential issue gives you clear instructions on how you can still obtain the list directly sent to your email in-box. ENJOY.
Swahili Fashion Week Ends as East African Women Go Nude
Miriam Makeba- A Tribute to Mama Africa
Order now online, Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi
Monday, November 17, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The Value Of A Headstrong, Stubborn Opinionated President
Headstrong, stubborn, opinionated.
Are those the qualities you would want in your president? Are there benefits in having such a man sitting in State house or is it a recipe for disaster and the possible shut down of a nation? Well, think about it as you read on.
Former United States ambassador to Kenya Smith Hempstone (now deceased) worked tirelessly to help Kenyans get rid of the dictatorial Moi regime in the 1980s. It is no secret that the lovable “nyama choma ambassadeur” overstepped his mark as a diplomat in this country many times. I mean how does a peaceful protest march in the city against the Moi regime end up at the US embassy, with wananchi demanding that the ambassador address them?
Still in my book extreme times call for extreme measures and may history never forget to record the contributions of this white bearded burly man in the long road Kenyans have walked towards freedom and justice.
My apologies for getting emotionally carried away with Hempstone, but what I wanted to say was that one of Hempstone’s noble initiatives was to unite the then opposition to field a single candidate against President Moi in the initial multi-party elections of the 1990s. His efforts were always frustrated by headstrong politicians who believed that they would go it alone and beat Moi and his well oiled machinery single-handedly. One name in particular kept on popping up in Hempstone’s lips as a major stumbling block to any semblance of opposition unity. That name was Mwai Kibaki.
Fast forward to 2005 and the historic referendum. After years in the dark, many Kenyans were beginning to get a glimpse into the character of this Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki. Numerous people advised him to save the country from chaos and call off the referendum. He stubbornly refused insisting that he was winning and the Yes, banana vote would carry the day.
Fast forward to 2008 and somebody suggested that Barack Obama may have an outside chance of winning the US presidency. Insiders say that the president almost had a fit. He who had started going to the United States in the 1950s surely knew that country very well and there was no chance, even if every American fell dead of a black man being elected president. Of course the careful damage control that has been played out recently including those silly stories of how Kibaki gave Obama’s dad a job may fool some Kenyans as it is designed to do.
By the way one of the favourite means by which the president dismisses views and opinions that do not go down well with him is by calling people “young man.” You will remember in the run up to the 2007 elections Lucy Kibaki talked about a young man causing the president sleepless nights. She was simply echoing what was being discussed in private. In my view both Kalonzo Musyoka and Raila Odinga are NOT young men. If they are then Jimmy Kibaki must be a toddler.
Indeed through out the long political career of Mwai Kibaki he has been a lone ranger in the way he plays his politics. Lone rangers are impossible to advice and are set in their ways (whether they work or not). That character in the president is about to earn him yet another place in the history books for the wrong reasons. Legal experts say that there is more that enough evidence to prosecute Mwai Kibaki when he leaves office for various crimes. In sharp contrast Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, that perfected Machiavellian master of the political game was a listener and listened to everybody. That is the secret behind his long survival. And what is more he covered his legal backside admirably. The man must have read Mario Puzo’s classic, The Godfather, several times. I mean he was very careful whom he gave orders to and of course he signed nothing. The result is that nobody can pin him down for any of his many sins against the Kenyan people let alone prosecute him successfully.
Mwai Kibaki is a whole different kettle of fish. The when-I-was-lecturing-in-Makerere President has been way too careless. So careless that his handlers are having sleepless nights now wondering how they can scheme a peaceful retirement for the man under whose watch the country sunk into tribal chaos and its’ deepest crisis ever.
Take it from me, if that man lives long enough, prepare yourself to see him in images transmitted all over the world, surrounded by a battery of lawyers facing serious charges but still as headstrong as ever as to how his legal defence should be handled. And he may just be right once again. The way he was right about Obama, the referendum and how Kenyans can never elect a “Jaruo young man” as president... even if the incumbent fell asleep in State House and forgot there was an election until the last 3 months or so.
------------------------------------
Kumekucha has obtained the full list of names in the secret envelope handed over to Kofi Anan. The list is described in detail in Kumekucha Confidential our FREE weekly email newsletter.
If you are not a subscriber yet, subscribe now by sending an email to:-
kumekucha-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
N.B. Due to unavoidable circumstances to do with the gravity of the matter we regret to inform our readers that the Waki list is NOT available in Kumekucha Confidential. However the latest Confidential issue gives you clear instructions on how you can still obtain the list directly sent to your email in-box. ENJOY.
Swahili Fashion Week Ends as East African Women Go Nude
Miriam Makeba- A Tribute to Mama Africa
Order now online, Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi
Are those the qualities you would want in your president? Are there benefits in having such a man sitting in State house or is it a recipe for disaster and the possible shut down of a nation? Well, think about it as you read on.
Former United States ambassador to Kenya Smith Hempstone (now deceased) worked tirelessly to help Kenyans get rid of the dictatorial Moi regime in the 1980s. It is no secret that the lovable “nyama choma ambassadeur” overstepped his mark as a diplomat in this country many times. I mean how does a peaceful protest march in the city against the Moi regime end up at the US embassy, with wananchi demanding that the ambassador address them?
Still in my book extreme times call for extreme measures and may history never forget to record the contributions of this white bearded burly man in the long road Kenyans have walked towards freedom and justice.
My apologies for getting emotionally carried away with Hempstone, but what I wanted to say was that one of Hempstone’s noble initiatives was to unite the then opposition to field a single candidate against President Moi in the initial multi-party elections of the 1990s. His efforts were always frustrated by headstrong politicians who believed that they would go it alone and beat Moi and his well oiled machinery single-handedly. One name in particular kept on popping up in Hempstone’s lips as a major stumbling block to any semblance of opposition unity. That name was Mwai Kibaki.
Fast forward to 2005 and the historic referendum. After years in the dark, many Kenyans were beginning to get a glimpse into the character of this Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki. Numerous people advised him to save the country from chaos and call off the referendum. He stubbornly refused insisting that he was winning and the Yes, banana vote would carry the day.
Fast forward to 2008 and somebody suggested that Barack Obama may have an outside chance of winning the US presidency. Insiders say that the president almost had a fit. He who had started going to the United States in the 1950s surely knew that country very well and there was no chance, even if every American fell dead of a black man being elected president. Of course the careful damage control that has been played out recently including those silly stories of how Kibaki gave Obama’s dad a job may fool some Kenyans as it is designed to do.
By the way one of the favourite means by which the president dismisses views and opinions that do not go down well with him is by calling people “young man.” You will remember in the run up to the 2007 elections Lucy Kibaki talked about a young man causing the president sleepless nights. She was simply echoing what was being discussed in private. In my view both Kalonzo Musyoka and Raila Odinga are NOT young men. If they are then Jimmy Kibaki must be a toddler.
Indeed through out the long political career of Mwai Kibaki he has been a lone ranger in the way he plays his politics. Lone rangers are impossible to advice and are set in their ways (whether they work or not). That character in the president is about to earn him yet another place in the history books for the wrong reasons. Legal experts say that there is more that enough evidence to prosecute Mwai Kibaki when he leaves office for various crimes. In sharp contrast Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, that perfected Machiavellian master of the political game was a listener and listened to everybody. That is the secret behind his long survival. And what is more he covered his legal backside admirably. The man must have read Mario Puzo’s classic, The Godfather, several times. I mean he was very careful whom he gave orders to and of course he signed nothing. The result is that nobody can pin him down for any of his many sins against the Kenyan people let alone prosecute him successfully.
Mwai Kibaki is a whole different kettle of fish. The when-I-was-lecturing-in-Makerere President has been way too careless. So careless that his handlers are having sleepless nights now wondering how they can scheme a peaceful retirement for the man under whose watch the country sunk into tribal chaos and its’ deepest crisis ever.
Take it from me, if that man lives long enough, prepare yourself to see him in images transmitted all over the world, surrounded by a battery of lawyers facing serious charges but still as headstrong as ever as to how his legal defence should be handled. And he may just be right once again. The way he was right about Obama, the referendum and how Kenyans can never elect a “Jaruo young man” as president... even if the incumbent fell asleep in State House and forgot there was an election until the last 3 months or so.
------------------------------------
Kumekucha has obtained the full list of names in the secret envelope handed over to Kofi Anan. The list is described in detail in Kumekucha Confidential our FREE weekly email newsletter.
If you are not a subscriber yet, subscribe now by sending an email to:-
kumekucha-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
N.B. Due to unavoidable circumstances to do with the gravity of the matter we regret to inform our readers that the Waki list is NOT available in Kumekucha Confidential. However the latest Confidential issue gives you clear instructions on how you can still obtain the list directly sent to your email in-box. ENJOY.
Swahili Fashion Week Ends as East African Women Go Nude
Miriam Makeba- A Tribute to Mama Africa
Order now online, Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)