Why was Mboya’s assassination so significant? Simply because the two
bullets that were fired that Saturday lunch time July 5th 1969 changed
the course of Kenya forever. Today we
are suffering the consequences of that new course that was clearly
charted out that day. Impunity won that day. Years later the rhetorical
questions were to be asked over and over again by those who own Kenya;
Mboya was killed and nothing happened, who is so and so? We survived the
Mboya assassination what crisis can we not survive?
Tribal
politics won that day. In killing Mboya the assassins killed
nationalism. To date we are yet to see another Kenyan attracting
national popularity in their own right enough to win a presidential poll
with votes from every corner of the republic. Every single prominent
politician now has their political base in their ancestral village and
those who don’t have imported their fellow tribesmates in large numbers
into the constituency they represent away from their village. Mboya's
political base was Eastlands Nairobi and the non-tribal culture that
rules the place today owes much of it's foundation to TJ, as his friends
called him. Tom Mboya was a Luo (Suba) who was time and again voted in
by mostly Kikuyus even when other prominent Kikuyus from very prominent
families stood against him. To a young Kenyan who understands Kenyan
politics today, this statement may sound like pure fiction.
Again Ben Gethi was deeply involved in that assassination that shook the world.
http://kumekucha.blogspot.com/2009/07/why-was-mboyas-assassination-so.html?m=0
The shadowy Alfred "Anglo Leasing" Gitonga pictured here in London with President Mwai Kibaki (is that a Tusker he is drinking?) shortly before the 2002 general elections that brought Kibaki to power. Gitonga who went to St Mary's with President Uhuru Kenyatta is believed to be a key member of the current president's kitchen cabinet.
The
very suggestion of Jomo Kenyatta being Prime Minister appalled the
knowledgeable Kenyan middle class and high society in 1960. After all a
court of law had confirmed his links to Mau mau, those terrorists who
thrived on chopping off the heads of innocent white settlers and natives
as well.
The very suggestion of Uhuru Kenyatta being
president appalled the knowledgeable Kenyan middle class and many others
in 2013. After all he was linked to serious human rights abuses and was
facing charges at the ICC.
For the very reasons that people
were terrified of a Jomo Kenyatta premiership KANU won the 1963
elections emphatically and formed the government.
For the very
reasons that some Kenyans were terrified of a Uhuru Kenyatta government,
JUBILEE won the 2013 elections getting majority seats in both the
senate and house of representatives and formed the government.
There are uncanny similarities between the situation in 1963 and 2013
(50 years apart). Little wonder that the good book says there is nothing
new under the sun. Still, there are a few rather huge differences.
About 2 weeks ago I predicted here that the ICC issue which had been
getting pretty boring was going to suddenly come alive and get very
interesting. That has now come to pass (na bado) but
what most Kenyans are not aware of is that there is a master plan for
the ICC where the Kenyan cases at the Hague court are going to be
attacked from all fronts. Those ICC cases MUST go away. They MUST!!!! Details of this master plan are jaw dropping to say the least and will involve considerable taxpayer's resources. Sorry folks security in the country has to take a back seat for now because this is way too important. Even if it was you would you ignore self-preservation to serve the people?? Think about it.
But what are the political
implications of the AU signatories to the Rome statute protesting the
work of the court in one voice (53 states out of 54) and even pulling
out enmasse from the ICC (if what they want done does not happen)? What
will it do to the authority of the court now desperately struggling for
credibility when many in Africa had seen as a light at the end of a long
dark tunnel of bad governance and impunity amongst African leaders? The
sad truth is that the political realities in the West have changed
dramatically amid unprecedented economic chaos and financial
uncertainties. They now need Africa more than ever before. Not to
mention the fact that East
Africa is suddenly oil rich with significant deposits of the precious
and very political resource having recently been found in Uganda and
Kenya.
Meanwhile a quite battle simmers deep inside the JUBILEE government where powerful sources are bent on clipping the wings of deputy president William Ruto. Those who believe that the president is strong enough to keep powerful forces watching his back at bay are naive. Indeed the composition of the president's inner cabinet which includes his mother and one Alfred Gitonga amongst others should enable anybody to make a fairly accurate prediction on what is going to inevitably come.
See also; Why has Mrs
Pauline Musyoka wife of former vice president Kalonzo Musyoka
always kept a low profile and done her best to keep a very safe distance
from the limelight that her husband’s political
career has attracted? The answer to that question is mighty interesting to say the least.
This twitter message from former Prime Minister Raila Odinga is to all readers, contributors and posters of Kumekucha Blog.
When a king uses a chariot to get to his palace, he normally leaves it outside when he gets to his destination.
That
is the gist of what Kalenjin voters told William Ruto when he started
appealing to them to vote for the JUBILEE coalition. Ruto's convincing
response (as was earlier reported in an earlier issue of these raw notes) was that he had the king's clothes and all his shameful secrets and would expose him
if anything went wrong. In other words Ruto told his people in their
Kalenjin dialect that he had the King by the balls and he would
therefore be the real power behind the throne throughout the next 5
years.
This Ruto influence and power came out very
clearly in the line up of cabinet secretaries and cynical Kalenjins must
have breathed a lot easier. However it seems that their relief was
premature and short-lived and it now looks like the prophets of doom
will finally be proved right.
There are a number of clear signs that all is now well for Ruto and that powerful forces surrounding the throne have targeted him and are working very hard to ensure that the power he enjoys is greatly diminished. If you are rubbing your hands in glee thinking that he will be forced to resign then I have to disappoint you. It is extremely unlikely that it will come to that. However what Kenyans should expect is a return to the Kibaki days where the centre of power will only be the president and his close advisors. All signs are that Ruto will go through the kind of frustrations that Raila Odinga went through as PM and end up with a nusu mkate that in actual fact is a single slice or even less. I have given details of the numerous setbacks that Ruto has suffered in recent times plus the surprising composition of Uhuru's inner circle and kitchen cabinet in my latest raw notes.
Happy Birthday Kumekucha brand
It is with great joy that I celebrate the 8th birthday of the Kumekucha brand. The Kumekucha blog was stated on May 12th 2005. These raw notes were launched in April 2008 and so this is the 5th birthday for the raw notes.
As I look back I do so with pride at how far we have come as a country. Kumekucha
was launched with a strong emphasis on political assassinations and
historical injustices (see all our old posts for verification of this)
indeed when we started strongly suggesting in 2005 that a truth and reconciliation commission be set up to address these historical injustices there was great skepticism over whether it would ever happen in our lifetimes. Not only did it happen but you will also be aware that the TJRC explosive report has just been released and is now in the public domain. You can see the full report HERE.
Indeed if I was to shut down Kumekucha now, I would already have plenty to be so proud of, the stuff that you tell your grandchildren with pride. But don't worry I have no such intentions, if anything today as I celebrate I re-dedicate myself to get even better at what I have been doing for decades and already for 8 years here.
To celebrate this auspicious occasion we are giving away the raw notes and other products almost for FREE. See the details NOW!!
Kibaki's 500 million Mweiga home built with taxpayers funds: Will he ever occupy it?
These days Kenyans are virtually shock-proof. No news no matter how
big will shock them. But one particular story is about to break that
will shatter the shock-proof glass.
I stumbled onto this information while following up on what appeared
to be an insignificant development. Indeed one of my readers highlighted
the fact that I was barking up the wrong tree and indulging in
"speculative dishonesty".
Before I tell you what they said let me make it clear that I really
treasure emails from my dear readers. Even the abusive ones (thank God I
have a thick skin for criticism more so because my record speaks for
itself and always vindicates me. Weeks and sometimes months later haters
are always forced to eat their words as the "rubbish" I wrote comes to
pass). What would any writer treasure more than the feedback they get
from the very people who read what they have to say? More so in today's
world where there is so much choice as far as reading is concerned and
so if somebody makes the time to read what I have to say it is a great
honour that I will always deeply appreciate and treasure. I thank you
most sincerely that you are reading this.
The reader wrote the following email to me recently in response to an article I wrote here;
"Why would you expect KIBAKI, who has lived in Nairobi
since 1958 and in his home in Muthaiga for more than 30 years' to retire
to a different location (to do what in OTHAYA?).
Is that investigative reporting or speculative dishonesty?"
Well my response is that people are creatures of habit and become
fairly predictable when you have been following their actions for a long
time.
Moi and Kibaki are as different as night and day. Moi is a workaholic
who still gets up before 4am every morning. And yet when he left the
presidency he was flown to his Kabarak home where he spent some time
relaxing before he was ever seen in Nairobi again.
Kibaki never gets out of bed before 11am (although he is younger than
Moi) and during his presidency key government officials were forced to
learn to operate around his limited time work day. The government worked
slower and decisions took much longer to be made. The former president
also loves to go to Mombasa to relax and will always be found at the
Coastal town every Christmas without fail. So what you would have
expected to happen is that he would have at least spent a few days in
Mombasa after his retirement. He did NOT. Kibaki has never left Nairobi
or seen the need to relax after a presidency that took a terrible toll
on his health.
Secondly the Kshs 500 million palatial home built for him with taxpayers funds in Mweiga was not done in
secret. Clearly that is the place he plans to spend most of his
retirement relaxing in. Yet he hasn't gotten there yet.
The truth is that Mwai Kibaki is facing the biggest crisis of his
entire life. This is what has kept him from taking even a brief break.
He cannot afford to just now. In my latest raw notes I investigate
deeply what this problem is and using the latest shocking report
(received late last night), I analyze his chances of weathering this
storm and getting out of the crisis which are very slim indeed, hence
the big screaming headline you must expect at any time.
You read here weeks ago that there was immense pressure from certain
quarters to ensure that the CORD nominee for the Makueni senatorial seat
would be Kethi Kilonzo. So you were hardly surprised when that news
broke yesterday. Now you are about to read something that will break in
the mainstream media maybe weeks from today and it will send shock waves
right across the entire continent of Africa and beyond. Do ensure that
you get my raw notes today.
What's going on at the Daily Nation?
The same reader who wrote me the email I have quoted above also said in the same message;
"Investigative journalism died with the Weekly Review of HILARY
NG'WENO, the Economic Review of PETER WARUTERE tried but they too
folded.It is expensive and requires well trained journalists and NOT the
type of half baked staff found in our media houses. Moreover, Kenyans
are a fickle type they are better off reading "rumours" of the STAR
newspaper rather than news."
Here I agree with most of what he has said. It is rather obvious that
investigative journalism in Kenya is dead. However I beg to differ
slightly. The Daily Nation for instance has some of the most talented
journalists in Africa and even beyond (certainly NOT half-baked).
Resources are also not a problem for the giant cash rich Nation media
group. So they have absolutely no excuse for not delivering the kind of
journalism that Kenya needs very badly just now.
But instead the Daily Nation has been publishing very strange stories
in recent times from outright lies to the kind of stories designed to
do damage that cannot be repaired.
The most recent example of this is the Ruto Kshs 100 million leased
jet saga. The writer of the story did not seek to get a comment from the
government and nobody will remember that the government has now denied
the story let alone believe them. The damage has already been done and
it is irreparable. Kenyans across the political divide and many within
the JUBILEE coalition are livid about the wanton wastage in such a poor
country as our banana republic and nobody wants the facts to get in the way of this juicy controversy.
What exactly is going on at the Nation media group? Who supplied the
damaging Ruto story and why? We all know what kind of a person the
deputy president is and his past sins are well documented but that is
not the issue here is it? The really important story here is that the
public are being fed with the kind of stories some powerful people want
them to hear. My detailed raw notes digs deep into this issue and if you
have been religiously swallowing everything published in the Nation you
will be extremely disturbed by what I have unearthed.
(Guest post by Jeremy Kinyanjui)
Newly elected Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and US President Barack Obama: Two Kenyans with strikingly similar stories and strikingly similar connections to each other;
1. As mentioned, both men are Kenyans
2. Both men born in 1961, Uhuru on 26th October 1961, Barack on 4th August 1961
3. Both are left-handed
4. Barack is of mixed-race, while his wife Michelle is not of mixed race. Uhuru is not of mixed race, while Uhuru's wife Margaret is of mixed race
5. Both men are devoted to their spouses, judging from their public utterances and actions
6. Both men do not have Christian names even though they are both very religious and spiritual. Uhuru's full names are Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, while Barack's full names are Barack Hussein Obama
7. The first names of both men have profound meanings in Kiswahili, the Lingua Franca of East & Central Africa. "Uhuru" means "Freedom" in Kiswahili, while "Barack" is derived from "Baracka" which means blessings in Kiswahili
8. Both men are from Kenya's two biggest tribes. Uhuru is a Kikuyu, Kenya's biggest tribe, while Barack is a Luo, Kenya's second biggest tribe
9. Both men lead sharply divided and polarised countries. Kenya is worryingly divided on ethnic lines, while the United States is worrying divided on ideological lines i.e. Democrats and Republicans, the Left and the Right
10. Both Uhuru's father and Barack's father attended prestigious overseas institutions. Uhuru's father went to the London School of Economics, while Barack's father attended Harvard University
11. Uhuru is from an aristocratic background, while Barack isn't. Uhuru's father Jomo Kenyatta, was independent Kenya's founding Prime Minister and President, and his great-grandfather Kongo wa Magana (i.e. Kongo son of Magana), was a medicine-man. On the other hand, Barack's Kenyan grandfather, was a cook in colonial Kenya's army, what was then known as the Kings African Rifles (KAR)
12. Barack's father was a senior economist in Kenya's Ministry of Economic Planning when Uhuru's father was President of Kenya. At the time, Barack's father wrote a fiercely hostile critique of Jomo Kenyatta's economic growth & development module for independent Kenya, what was then known as Sessional Paper No. 10 of 1965 on African Socialism, which in Jomo Kenyatta's words , combined both "Western Capitalism and Eastern Communism". The senior Obama's dismissal of Jomo Kenyatta's Sessional Paper No. 10 of 1965, earned the senior Obama the wrath of Jomo Kenyatta's inner circle. The senior Obama lost his job at the Ministry of Economic Planning as a result of this. The senior Obama secured a job at the Kenya Tourist Development Corporation (KTDC), after this, but did not also last long at KTDC. While reeling from his second job loss, the senior Obama had the good fortune of bumping into an old acquaintance, Mwai Kibaki, at Nairobi's Hotel Intercontinental. Kibaki, independent Kenya's third President, was then the Kenyan Minister of Finance. The senior Obama did not mince his words, and told Kibaki he was looking for work. Kibaki asked the senior Obama to see him the following week, which the senior Obama promptly did. Kibaki arranged for the senior Obama to be hired at the Ministry of Finance, and the senior Obama was back. The junior Obama appears to have never forgiven the senior Kenyatta for his father's dismissal from the Kenya's Ministry of Economic Planning. When the junior Obama visited Kenya as Senator Obama in 2006, the junior Obama paid glowing tribute to then President Kibaki, referring to Kibaki as a "good man, for giving his father a job at the Ministry of Finance". Senator Obama made no mention at all of Jomo Kenyatta, and omitted laying a wreath at the mausoleum of Jomo Kenyatta, as is customary with visiting dignitaries to Kenya
13. Both men value their roots and heritage. Uhuru speaks excellent Kikuyu and very good Kiswahili, while the junior Obama visited his ancestral Nyang’oma-Kogelo village in Kenya’s Nyanza Province as a "nobody" at least twice i.e. 1987 and 1991. The junior Obama even visited in the company of Michelle in 1991
14. Both men have a great admiration and regard for their fathers and both men listen to alternative opinion. Uhuru used to keep long hair like his father Jomo, brushed backwards like Jomo used to. Uhuru's year 2002 campaign team advised against this and Uhuru complied. Uhuru has not kept long hair like his father Jomo since 2002. Barack on the other hand, was influenced by his wife Michelle, to drop his chain-smoking habit
15. Uhuru reputedly drank heavily in his youth, while Barack reputedly smoked marijuana in his youth
16. Both men appear not to have time for each other. Uhuru's hero is Fidel Castro, while Barack's is Abraham Lincoln. Uhuru is a fan of Bob Marley, while Barack is a fan of hip-hop and soul music
17. Both have an excellent command of the English language and both are excellent orators in English
18. Both men are humble and down to earth, men of the people
19. Both men's fathers had four wives each. Jomo Kenyatta's four wives were Grace Wahu, Grace Wanjiku, Edna Grace Clarke and Ngina, while Barack Senior's four wives were Kezia, Ann, Ruth and Jael
20. Uhuru's wife Margaret grew up on the affluent west side of Nairobi, while Barack's wife Michelle grew up on the less affluent south side of Chicago. Both Margaret and Michelle are however humble and down to earth, indeed, like both their Kenyan husbands
Will both men meet...? It seems likely...
A Muthui Saiti posted my article yesterday about the independent free press in Kenya being dead, on Facebook. It elicited some very interesting comments which tell a story of their own. I hereby reproduce those comments;
