The drama at the Yes and No rallies yesterday

Why is Kumekucha a new fan of Caroline Mutoko?

They say that in politics anything is possible. And this was proved yesterday when the likes of William Ruto enthusiastically shared the very same platform with church folks like the respected Pastor Mark Kariuki of Redeemed Gospel church Nakuru.

Even the extremely unlikely alliance in the UK after the recent general elections, between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats does not compare. By the way for those unfamiliar with UK politics, this would be like Daniel arap Moi returning to politics and forming an alliance with Martha Karua’s Narc Kenya. Or Moi forming a government with the likes of Mwalimu Mati.
Meanwhile at Uhuru park an equally unlikely alliance of PNU hardliners mixed freely with ODM diehards selling exactly the same message. Admittedly the gathering at Uhuru park evoked poignant memories of the epic National Rainbow coalition (Narc) rally at the same venue in 2002 where Raila Odinga uttered the two words that decided the presidency; “Kibaki Tosha.” So in a way it was not so strange. At least not as strange as the gathering at Mulu Mutisya grounds in Machakos.

In my view the church would have done a lot better campaigning on its’ own rather than having respected church leaders freely brushing shoulders with some of the characters that have caused our beloved Kenya just too much grief in the past. William Ruto and Cyrus Jirongo’s Youth for Kanu 92 (YK92) was responsible for dishing out tons of Kshs 500 notes unleashing unprecedented inflationary pressures which will still affect your great grand children 100 years from now. I think the church has completely lost it this time. For instance in Machakos yesterday a few speakers told blatant lies about the new constitution and the respected church leaders did not stand up to correct the lies or tell their flock the truth. One speaker (A Kamba politician) told the Akamba people that if they voted YES to the constitution all the numerous Kamba people living at the Coast and elsewhere would have to pack their bags and come back home to Machakos.

Church leaders are also putting themselves in a very tricky position bearing in mind the dodgy sources of financing being used in the NO campaign. I am reliably informed that the money proper is yet to come. Hii ni kionjo tuu, mambo bado. Kenyans (including those who are going to vote NO on principal) need to understand a couple of things about those leading the No campaign. They need to be informed even as they vote NO. Without boring you with too much detail, you need to ask yourself when is the last time that Cyrus Jirongo teamed up with William Ruto and what the results were for the Kenyan people. It was in 1992 and I have already told you what happened (and continues to happen). I have a feeling that our fragile economy which is just starting to recover from the post election troubles is going to be hit very hard in the next two months or so as money is literally poured to deny Kenyans the best chance they have had to make good since independence in 1963. Although all the money in the world will not dent the resolve of the Kenyan people, it will certainly affect the economy.

Incidentally something else that I found very interesting happened at Uhuru Park yesterday. The crowd got bored with Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka’s speech and urged him to finish pronto and take his seat. It is easy to start making accusations and suggestions that somebody organized this or somebody’s supporters wanted to embarrass the VP. But the truth is that the Kenyan public on the ground are a lot wiser than they used to be. Don’t forget that we have been fooled too many times and have these days gotten a lot wiser with the hypocrisy that has been the trade mark of Kenyan politicians. Remember the words of that young Rookie who became president in 1960 called J.F. Kennedy. He said you can fool some people all the time and you can fool others most of the time but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

It is clear that the general mood on the ground is that Kalonzo Musyoka is NOT really settled and comfortable in the YES camp. Indeed William Ruto started his speech in Machakos yesterday by telling the people that he was bringing them greetings from “wiper”. Wiper was the slogan Kalonzo Musyoka used in his presidential campaign of 2007. Ruto then added that there were many in the YES camp who were really in the NO camp. Wow!!!

This brings me to yet another interesting development I have recently noted. My antennae is still very much on the ground and unbelievingly the so-called second draft has had the unexpected reaction of causing a number of “NO” voters to switch camp to the YES side. It is as if they were waiting for a signal that the rich and powerful are truly against the draft constitution to hurl all their doubts out of the window and shift camps to the YES side. In a way this is should not be surprising because the level of poverty in the country is such that there are way too many Kenyans who always wait to see where the sentiments of the rich and powerful really lie for them to take the opposite position. As I have said many times here, if this situation is not checked, the next trouble we will have in Kenya will be the poor looting the homes of the rich.

By the way I still don’t buy Phil’s explanation in his post in this blog alleging that Daniel arap Moi and those in the No camp like William Ruto were responsible for the alterations in some copies of the draft constitution. He finishes his long-winded claim by saying that the culprits cannot be arrested at this time for political reasons. Sorry but I don’t buy that. I believe I am fairly familiar with the operations of the NSIS and have been familiar with those of its’ predecessor the Special branch for many years. I don’t believe that Moi or anybody else other than the president is capable of giving the NSIS orders. And if they are, then we have an even more serious crisis in our hands because my next question would be who is running Kenya? Do we have a defacto president operating from behind the shadows? Quite unlikely. I still stick to my story that the alterations were ordered from the highest authority in the land. As to the motives, only time will tell but if you have read my landmark book Dark secrets of the presidency, you will know of many other bizarre actions ordered by past presidents of the republic of Kenya and executed by the intelligence community that have impacted Kenyans tremendously. So it is nothing really new.

I will end this post by paying glowing tribute to Kiss FM’s Caroline Mutoko. I have not been listening to this radio station for years, but these days I am an avid listener of Mutoko’s breakfast show where she has been regularly digesting the draft constitution for Kenyans. And she does it in an ingenious way. By comparing the current constitution to the draft. For example a recent show compared the current constitution where all executive powers are vested in the presidency with the draft where executive powers are with the people to be exercised by the president (with limitations and checks by parliament).

The point we must all bear in mind is that if you vote NO in the referendum on August 4th you will be saying that the current constitution is better than the draft. Mutoko’s show is clearly giving plenty of evidence that that is not the case. Whatever you do don’t forget that.

In a way I wish we could record the names of all those who will vote NO so that our great grandchildren can be shown one day many years from now those who hindered change. I believe that 200 years from now people will have access to this blog and its’ posts and it will be recorded that Kumekucha and Caroline Mutoko amongst many others not only voted YES but campaigned vigorously for the YES camp and for change in our beloved motherland.

P.S. I have been looking everywhere for a statement from the VP distancing himself from Ruto's remarks in Machakos yesterday that implied he was secretly in the NO camp. By the time I posted this I had yet to find one. Take careful note my brothers and sisters and don't be fooled by what you hear politicians say. Not even Kibaki or Raila. Politics is the art of lying convincingly in broad daylight.