Why I Am So Grateful For The Post Elections Violence

Things have never been worse in Kenya. That is something most Kenyans agree with whatever side of the political divide they come from. What has actually happened is that Mwai Kibaki has made the terrible Moi years look like the golden age for this long suffering nation called Kenya.

But despite everything, I will, like that great English writer called Charles Dickens, say that although this is the worst of times, it is also the best of times. In fact I would even go further and say that I am delighted that the post election violence happened. Oh yes I am painfully aware that people died (official figures are still at 600—which would be laughable if we were not talking about deaths. Actually that was about the figure that the police managed at Kisumu within the first 48 hours when the violence broke out. But that is a story for another day). I am also keenly aware of the horrible scars that were left on the minds and bodies of the survivors, indeed I have re-published some of the most gruesome parts of the Waki report in this blog.

So why am I glad that all that horror happened?

Simply because it set in motion a chain of events that can only have one conclusion and one conclusion alone. And that is the end of impunity in Kenya and the birth of a brand new nation that we can all be proud of. In other words our dear fellow Kenyans did not die in vain (bless their soul and memory).

If you take the time to read the posts in this blog before the 2007 elections, you will realize one very interesting and yet shocking thing. There were strong arguments here telling me off for bringing up a non-existent crisis in Kenya. Commentators here sometimes very convincingly told us that there was no impunity in Kenya and that the record economic growth during Mwai Kibaki’s first term was a mere Kionjo of great things still to come. Reading some of those old posts today it is easy to get pretty angry.

BUT after the chaos of 2007 and early 2008, Kenyans are much wiser. I noticed a fascinating trend where Kenyans in the Diaspora are much more informed about what is happening back at home. Gone are the days when gullible Diasporans left everything to their relatives back home including managing their properties. I met this guy managing property for numerous Kenyans in the diaspora and he told me some very interesting things. My point is that this new wave of alertness is not limited to politics.

We are also much less tribalistic in our political thinking (ignore the false impression created in this blog by a small group of notorious commentators). What really makes me happy now is that gone are the days when folks needed a post from me to see through politicians and their real motives. Let me illustrate exactly what I am talking about here. The other day Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka made a few remarks about his plans for 2012. Considering the deadly poison that this man is capable of spewing out of his mouth (even as he continuously licks his lips in glee) what he said was extremely mild. But what reaction did he get? All hell broke loose. Kenyans were mighty angry. Even some folks who had supported him during those fateful 2007 elections were very upset. So why were the good folks of Kenya so annoyed at those few seemingly harmless remarks made by the learned friend from Mwingi? It was simply because it was crystal clear to everybody that Mr Musyoka in his bid for the presidency has his eyes fixed firmly on the office and has totally ignored the task ahead. The man must be getting orgasms just thinking of himself in a presidential motorcade with those numerous motorcycle outriders and being called Mutukufu rais (your Excellency). It will not matter that the people lining up the road by then will be very frustrated hopeless and poverty stricken Kenyans. Actually there is already plenty of that in his own constituency and the man still looks at his so-called handsome self in the mirror every day.

But Mr Musyoka is not alone in his approach to politics. He is in fact a typical Kenyan politician in a typical Kenyan government (grand coalitition government means nothing). A government where urgently doing a national census is much more important than re-settling IDPs. And more specifically in that “urgent” census taking the latest counts of tribes (in readiness for the grand scheme in the elections of 2012 to ensure that Mwai Kibaki stays safe and out of prison).

So my dear friends that is why despite all the despair all around Kenya, I am happy. Yes, it is still business as usual but I can see that there is a dead end ahead for all the old politics and politicians of the land. And that is what I want to focus my eyes and mind on even as chaos prevail all round.