Media Bill Controversy: Oh Boy, It Was A Blunder After All!

In the days of retired president Daniel arap Moi, every move he made was analyzed and re-analyzed to try and figure out what he was up to. And true enough a few weeks later or even a few months later it suddenly became clear what Moi's game plan was.

It is emerging (and has just dawned on yours truly) that the biggest mistake political analysts in Kenya are making these days, including this blogger is to attempt to analyze the political moves of one Emilio Stanley. How do you analyze blunders?

Take the signing of the recent controversial bill aimed at clipping the wings of the media ahead of the post election violence trials. Why would Alfred Mutua suddenly wake up one morning and start distributing anti-media leaflets on the streets of Nairobi? (Nairobians just glanced at them and threw them down, littering the clean streets of Nairobi.) Is this not a clearly an attempt at damage control after the blunder has already happened?

If truth be told, Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki will go down in history as the most blundering president Africa has ever had. Can you think of another one? (Even Idi Amin with his broken English was decisive and made very few mistakes). If you review the Kibaki administration right from the day one, it is a long, boring, repetitive chronicle of political mistakes and blunders.

So what is the big deal? After all human is to err one would say. Sadly it is not as simple as that in this case. The problem we have here is that the Kenyan presidency is so powerful that the consequences of a single blunder can be catastrophic, let alone several in a row. Take the big mistake made to go ahead with the referendum in 2005? That mistake led to the fiasco of December 2007 than left thousands of Kenyans dead (the official figure is still sic hundred and something. Huh!!!) and hundreds of thousands homeless. I have asked several times in this blog what the cost of stealing an election is and nobody has dared to venture to give a figure. Actually it runs into billions and the bills are still piling up even as you read this.

The tragedy of Kenya today is that the country is stuck with a weak, indecisive blundering leader who has got powers in his hands that young King Mswati (of Swaziland) and King Charles (before Cromwell) would envy. The kind of powers that have made his predecessors often confuse themselves with God. Now giving that power to a blundering politicin who has made a career out of NOT making decisions is more than tragic. It is almost like leaving a child with a loaded revolver.

The bottom line, my sources assure me, is that the president did not expect the kind of troubles that he now has in his hands when he signed the Kenya Communications act last Friday afternoon. Just like he did not expect the troubles we saw in January when he made the decision to steal the election.

What will he do next without fully appreciating the consequences?

Kazi iendelee wacha wale wanataka kuropoka waropoke

Could this story about the sacking of journalists over the media bill be true? I was not able to verify from my sources at the time of making this post. But I am still digging around and will get back to you guys.

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Kibaki And Raila: Two Jokers Who Want To Sink The Country Back Into The Abyss

This past weekend has been the most eventful politically for a very long time. In a way we have opened 2009 in much the same way we opened 2008 with a lot of fear and anxiety flying around—amongst those who can read politics pretty fast. Although this time there is no bloodshed (at least not yet).

Those who think that this is just about the Kenya Communications bill signed by the president last Friday need to think again.

Fascinating whispers are emerging and as the saying goes that there is no smoke without fire, Kenyans cannot dare to afford to ignore what is being whispered. There is too much at stake for us to simply sit back and ignore “the rumours.”

Interim Military Government Will Be PNU’s Bargaining Chip - Shocking Whispers From Insiders Claim

Firstly it is emerging that the signing of the said controversial bill, that the media is up in arms against and which has triggered off the heat with the coalition government unity now quivering and threatening to collapse, was timed perfectly. It is no accident that the bill was signed late Friday. Meaning that those holding the carefully choreographed plan in their hands have had time through the weekend to take in all the reactions and intent of all those they are watching carefully who could not take any real action until today (Monday) and were therefore doing a lot of talking instead. ODM have brought forward their crisis meeting over their future in the coalition to today.

Secondly the provocative act of signing the bill has been done at a time when no electoral commission exists. According to the national accord in the event that the coalition collapses it can only be replaced by an interim government pending elections. The fact that we do not have an election body in place and the major players are already squabbling over the composition of an interim one means that no elections can be held in a hurry. Then we have the President’s men who insist in private that the Kenyan constitution is supreme and in the event that the coalition government was to collapse, then the president can re-constitute a new government on his own because he is the “duly elected president.” Let us stop before you start getting dizzy because as a commentator pointed out in the last post, this is a legal minefield where lawyers from both sides can argue until the chickens come home without coming anywhere near a consensus.

In short the intention behind the signing of the media bill was to re-assert the president’s authority as the sole executive power in the land and to bring an end to the coalition government, having carefully laid plans already in place. As you read this reports are filtering in to me that the government is circulating anti-media leaflets on the streets of Nairobi.

Further whispers that may sound far-fetched insist that the PNU side of government will propose the compromise of having a military government as an interim government until elections are to be held. This will be done knowing fully well how Kenyans fear and loath a military administration which the country has managed to avoid thus far, save for the 30 minute administration of air force Senior Private Hezekiah Ochuka on 1st August 1982. The idea is to have Kenyans surrender themselves to the grand PNU plan.

Now the most dangerous thing in all this circus are the two principals. If Kenyans were to be honest with themselves, there is very little difference between the two (Kibaki and Raila) and 2 selfish, spoilt kindergarten kids refusing to give an inch as they punch each others noses bloody in a nursery school yard. None of the two are interested in the greater good of the country because if they were, both would resign and pave way for more neutral Kenyans to take over the reigns of power. As it is Kibaki is determined to rule until 2012 and Raila is determined to be the next president. If Kenyans die as they play their war games who cares?

“Wacha wale wanataka kupigana wapigane.”

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I Announce My Intent To Form An Exploratory Committee

I trust we've all rested and are ready for hard work this new year.

As the year begins, we must all be on notice that there is no time to waste. We must now move with deliberate speed and put in place a formula for measuring our progress on a periodic basis. Obviously many within the Diaspora and within our beloved nation will want to know how we proceed. To this end, I announce today my intent to form an exploratory committee. Like usually happens in the States, this committee, which must start its work on the 10th and report back its findings by January 25th, will be tasked to study the logistical and all other issues we will face in our quest to win Kenya back from the oligarchies and the power cartels that have stagnated the progress and cohesion of our nation.

If anybody still doubted the intransigence of this government, all you have to do is look at the signing of the media bill. I was assured by an authoritative source that it wouldn't be signed. Raila was assured by an even higher authority that it wouldn't be assented to. Kalonzo was given the assurance that it would be returned to Parliamnet for further deliberation. How good is these people's word? Right from Kibaki down to the last scoundrel in his State House, their word is worth crap. In fact, I was so infuriated by the assent that when I was woken up by my frantic wife Hellen about the breaking news in Mombasa, where the President was on vacation, I picked up the phone and called my authoritative source. Can you imagine my disgust when he told me that a KTN programme that catalogued Kibaki's Coup was the reason some strategists around him used to box him into assenting to the bill?

The question now is not what this bill means. The question is what is the intention of the folks who so desperately wanted to see it signed. I must warn that what is going on is the beginning of another round of rigging. The power barons around Kibaki have set in motion an elaborate plan to deny the nation a president the people will have elected in 2012. Under this scenario, what these folks hope to do is rig, then beat and terrorize us into submission, under the guise of state security...which will force the minister in charge of internal security to invoke this very law Kibaki has now signed. The effect will be a total blackout as Kibaki's preferred heir is installed as President of Kenya. By the time the ban is lifted, we will have a new President.

No, folks. We must defeat this plan. The exploratory committee will give us a detailed report on the range of scenarios our opponents might throw at us. I will bring them to you here at Kumekucha, leaving out what will constitute the classified strategic plan.

The folks around President Kibaki have a knack for making Kenya look very bleak indeed. Just when you thought a new year might make things better, that common sense might prevail, they make things even worse. Did they have to coax Kibaki into opening a new year with a big fight? What's his assent to this bill a signal of? Dramatic impunity? And suddenly Raila and the ODM want to fight for the media? These guys should all go to the caves where they belong and let us build a Kenya that will work for all of us, not just for them. By the way, if he was so pissed at Kibaki, why was he in Mombasa eating a pumpkin pie with him? Or was he called to hoodwink Kenyans one more time like he did with unga? This man is reaching a point where he's beginning to look pitiful.

It's a lot I've had to say, but the big deal here is that an exploratory committee is in place in the next few days. We are going to work with speed, but we shall not rush anything. You never beat a dug in power structure like the one we have in Kenya by screaming out your plans.

When they see what we do, they'll know they are finally facing a worthy opponent. A fight they shall have.

Let's get ready!