Amkeni Kumekucha!!

Results continue to trickle in from all over the country but all indications are that the Ayes have it and they have it emphatically.

Some initial observations;

The desperate people who spread lies and used every trick in the book to deny long suffering Kenyans the best thing that has ever happened to them, are still very much around and scheming. And so passing of a new constitution is not the end. Rather it is the beginning of the long road to the Promised Land. In my book Kenya has NOT given birth to a new constitution, Rather Kenya is pregnant with it. With modern technology we already know exactly what the new baby is going to look like. But what is going to follow are a lot of discomfort. Morning sickness and so on. And then finally there will be the terrible pain of giving birth. And so while celebrating Kenyans should brace themselves for what is to come before we can see and actually hold the new-born. However the really good news is that this woman called Kenya who has been barren for decades is finally pregnant and that is great news!!

Kalonzo Musyoka’s political career is in serious trouble (did he not vow to resign as Vice president if his people did not vote for the new constitution?). If you doubt what I say, ask yourself a simple question; what will Kalonzo Musyoka bring to the table as his bargaining chip? Because if he promises anybody that he is able to deliver Ukambani then chances are that he will be laughed off the room. In my view although William Ruto is in a better position, he will still have similar problems because there was a spirited YES challenge in his own turf and that is despite the best efforts of both retired President Moi and himself.

Of great importance and what nobody is talking about is the fact that the new constitution gives the ordinary Kenyan mwananchi enormous powers that they have never had. This power comes with lots of responsibility and for the whole thing to have the desired effect Kenyans will need to be made to sober up and realize the implications of this added responsibility.

Provisional results as at 7:39 am Kenyan time;

2,066,722 33% NO
4,164,679 67% YES

12.00 HRS
YES 5,234,547 (69.3%)
NO: 2,322,169 (30.7%)

Official confirmed results (207 constituencies) in announcing the winner from IIEC (20:40 Kenyan time)

YES 5,954,767 (67.25%)
NO 2,687,183 (30.35%)

Constitution has been approved by more than 50% and has received over 25% of the vote in all the provinces of the country.

Kenya's Looming Grand Class Wars (cont)

The truth is the middle/rich class are not "cowardly" as the poor think;in fact the truth of the matter is the entire country was troubled and distressed in equal proportions by the events that took place in 2007 and the subsequent outcome in 2008. Although their immediate response was not to engage in running battles with riot police who were preventing "peaceful demonstrations" in the streets of the capital, or to uproot transit railway lines across the country, they responded in equally huge measure

Same Difference
Remember the call for massive boycotts by ordinary mwananchi of all the "wrong" transport companies, manufactured products and choice select places and locations? As Chris has said numerously before on this blog, there are media print and television houses which as late as last year had still not fully recovered their business owing to the public perception of where their political allegiance lay pre December 2007. Till date some Kenyans still refuse to drink certain milk packages, not to mention you only go to "THAT tribe's" shop if your own nearby is closed after hours or shut indefinitely

In addition to this, you must remember that the working middle class in the entire country was less than average sized and controlled fewer than even half of the capital citys dispatch and flow of relayed information yet now they faced the challenge of gaining sway over the television, print and radio formal mediums in that same year at the risk of losing the sure income stream of political mouthpiecing Instead, they had to convince ill equipped breakfast show presenters, poorly researched talk show hosts and dinasourial conservative column newspaper journalists to turn into self-styled armchair psychologists, psychiatrists and don prophetic professor caps to shine the spotlight and surgically diagnose and prescribe why what happened happend in an act designed to prick the conscience of a nation gone awry

Stuck in the middle
Still, it didn't take long for all classes to notice the bitter change of attitude in ""soldier" and "housie" The bottom line was simple-the tide had turned and the "flying toilet" slum dwellers were demanding their pound of flesh by hook or crook. Afterall, why should some father barely out of his teens himself work all his life as a domesticated household servant forced to leave
his newly married wife also barely a teen herself, and children in the rural setting and yet never live to see the inside of a Nakumatt for lack of being able to afford to shop in there?not to mention almost dying for political poverty

The innocent educated middle class were trapped in middle between hostile misunderstanding "shamba boys" who really are the wheels that run the country and the manipulative self-aggrandizing politcal elite class who had now regained the reigns of control over a country they had nearly lost to internal instability and self-threatened cessation
continued tomorrow...........


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Kenya's Looming Grand Class Wars Soon

and why it's no longer shocking to shop, worship or unwind at your favourite local side-by-side with your slum dwelling shamba boy or "askari soldier"

A vicious modern day class war has quietly been taking place in the country over the past 3 years even as our 45 year old nation, still besieged by pre-independence vices and beleaguered with amatureish political jockeys, hurtles towards a ground breaking referendum and what could potentially be a fateful election worse than 2007 in 2 years time.

Battle lines between Kenya's upper,middle and bottom classes are already drawn and its everyone for themselves, God for us all.The three main camps bitterly pited against one another are: the "flying-toilet-jigger-infested below poverty line" slum dwellers, the educated urban "clipped-english accent speaking" middle class city dwellers, and the elite ruling political class. Unlike our maize eating oil drinking school fees guzzling sorry excuse for a politician members of parliaments, there are no grand coalitions or memorundums of understanding or KKK's political sub clans to be entered into between these 3 classes who essentially are blood brothers drawn from the same family

To understand the root cause of this 3 tier class war we have to go back to the botched 2007 stolen elections and subsequent 2008 anarchy and mayhem that followed suit. It always bothered the poor slum dwellers from Kawangare,Korogocho, mathare etc that while they were out fighting&dying for "haki yetu" between December 07 and February 08 in the streets of the capital city and dingy back alley villages across the country, life was going on virtually uninterrupted for the urban working middle class, minority rich elite and upper ruling political class without so much as a ruffled hair on their expensive well groomed barbershop and salon fashioned hair styles

Clever Poor
It was around that time that there was a substantial shift in the mindset of these majority in number modern day slum dwelling slaves. It dawned on the cooks,shamba boys, "soldiers" (security guards), mechanics and househelps that because the "wakubwas" didn't feel the same pain they felt, they had to devise a pay back strategy, one that would also see them lifted out of the soul crushing poverty in this 6% growing east african economy. mostly, they just felt hurt that they suffered and died in vain.I mean come on, not even a pat-on-the-back for all that blood shed! In any other country around the world they would have been considered the tide -shifting heroes of the hour.

All this needless unnecessary dying whilst their rich fellow kenyans continued to watch DSTV(Digital Satellite Television), eat "nyam chom" and visit the Gigiri based "Village Market", content to only wax lyrical venom at "THAT tribe" from the comfort of their 4 walled 5 bedroomed expensive upmarket real estate penthouses. The "have nots" strategy was 3 fold- first of all they knew where those urban city educated middle class cowards lived,afterall they were their everyday modern "slaves" and did just about everything for them, including looking after "daddy jr" all day long, to washing clothes for "madam", and sometimes even doing the thinking for "Baba Watoto"

Secondly, they knew how to identify those educated "british-english" speaking "cowards", be it through their portly "3-square meals-a-day" obese body frames, or from their ineloquent halting and broken kiswahili (e.g. habari yako wewe today).Failing all that, just look out for the cars they drive. The middle class stopped buying those second hand Dubai imports a looooooooong time ago. Lastly,they knew how "strong"(read weak) those learned scaredy cats were, and correctly surmised where it would hurt the most if they put the squeeze on them

Bad Attitudes
The idea was to go back to living in your slum hell hole, continue cooking, repairing vehicles, guarding those expensive penthouses etc but with a "treat me badly and see what happens" added dimension and attitude to their jobs. Examples of bad treatment include stirring up unnecessary tribal hatred while grossly underpaying them and abusing the physical manpower they offer
Continued tomorrow.........


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The Big Boys: Raila Enters Global Political Arena in Style

As V-P leads ministers in prematurely absolving ECK of electoral malpractices

The Big Boys:Nkurunziza, Mutharika, Mbeki, Schwab, Kufuor, Odinga
(WEF 04/06/2008) (Picture courtesy World Economic Forum)

In his first official trip abroad as Prime Minister, Raila is significantly representing Kenya at the World Economic Forum in Cape Town, South Africa where more than a dozen African leaders together with over 800 participants from 50 countries are participating in the 18th World Economic Forum on Africa. WEF is a prestigious global event which brings together senior government figures and high-level international business leaders in order to plan for a more integrated world and at the same time help both groups make connections which will boost investments.

That Raila Odinga is leading Kenya’s high powered delegation to WEF speaks volumes about the elevated status of Kenya’s statesman. His opening remarks at the conference clearly indicate the formal emergence of Raila in global politics. It also signifies a new chapter in Kenya’s dormant foreign affairs policy.

In a keynote speech at the opening plenary session yesterday, Raila was accorded a thunderous applause by conference delegates when he rebuked African leaders whom he accused of turning a blind eye to poor governance and disrespect of democracy. Said Raila: "The mediocrity with which Africa has been ruled is what is responsible for African underdevelopment."

To more applause, he also attacked Zimbabwe's government: "Still today, it is unfortunate that in an African country elections can be held and no results are announced for more than one month, and African leaders are silent about it. It would not happen in Europe."

These remarks were made in front of six African Heads of State including Thabo Mbeki of South Africa who many hold directly responsible for sustaining the dictatorship of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. No other African leader, even within the SADC, has ever told-off Mbeki to his face on his preferred and obviously unworkable method of ‘quiet-diplomacy’ while the majority of Zimbabwean citizens languish in poverty and widespread hunger. Read the news report on Raila's speech here.

Back in Kenya, in an even more politically significant development, the Nairobi Star daily newspaper published an interesting report today that said Raila is due to be reinvented when he shall be installed as a Kikuyu Elder in a ceremony to be held on July 20 at the famous Riringu Stadium a few miles from Mukuruwe wa Nyagathanga – the mythical home of the Kikuyu Adam and Eve – Gikuyu and Mumbi. The ceremony is being organized by a group of Kikuyu elders and politicians operating under the umbrella of economic inclined MEGA – a breakaway faction of the tribal inclined GEMA – which incidentally also held a meeting recently in a bid to reinvent itself.

The same day Raila was addressing the WEF conference, a group of cabinet ministers led by V-P Kalonzo Musyoka were making categorical and shocking remarks that not one single individual in the ECK will ever be charged in a court of law for events that led to the post election violence last December! Kalonzo insisted that ECK Commissioners did not commit any electoral malpractices and that Kivuitu and all his fellow commissioners would go ahead a serve their full terms.

While Raila is representing Kenya at economically beneficial event in SA, the PNU crowd are busy opening healed wounds and trying very hard to trigger ethnic divisions in Embakasi constituency in the name of campaigning for a PNU candidate.

What has shocked observers is that although the Kriegler commission has just begun its work, it seems Kenyans are being prepared in advance to accept that whatever the findings of the Kriegler team, its recommendations will not be acted upon. This was the Vice President of Kenya speaking without batting an eyelid.

The conduct of leaders in handling public affairs has never been under so much scrutiny. What has happened in this country since December 2007 has clearly built and fortified the image of Raila to an impregnable level and he is now a depiction of an accomplished African statesman who has shown great level of restraint, torelance and leadership at a time when Kalonzo, Uhuru, Karua and their henchmen are hell bent on driving this nation towards ruin. The principals of good governance that Raila spoke about at the WEF conference cannot be seen in the utterances of any of our local PNU leaders.

This is why I am today making a prediction that many will agree with. Barring an assassination, continental pundits, including yours trully, have already placed their bets that Raila will be Kenya’s next president and ODM will leave the Kalonzo/Uhuru/Karua axis trailing a distant second.

The next elections are scheduled for 2012 but may come as early as 2010 depending on the unity of the grand coalition government and also whether or not a new constitution passes the referendum test.

Have you placed your bet yet?

Changing Hearts Winning Minds

There is a saying that goes “the winner takes all, loser gets nothing” This saying is usually true, but as with all ordinary laws of logic, it fails to apply in our local politics. Watching all 3 political contenders of last years elections tour the vast rift valley landscape this week as part of their peace rally agenda leaves one wondering what the fuss in 2007 was all about?

Just who exactly were the real losers if all three are now in Government? The answer of course is you and I the electorate; however, if a tiny 14 seater Nissan can comfortably accommodate 30-40 crammed commuters, why can’t the government of Kenyan play host to all 3 plus 40 others in cabinet?

Well, the former leader of official opposition and current deputy prime minister and minister for trade set the pace last year for what was to come in 2008 when he absconded his constitutional role as head of opposition, vowing that his party must be in the next (current) government and jumping ship accordingly into the party of national unity yatch.

The loser yet again was Kenyans yearning for an opposition that gave an alternative to the Government of the day. The more things change the more they remain the same

PROTOCOL IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Ordinarily, protocol wars such as those witnessed this week can be fought and easily won or lost on the basis of following simple chain of command structure, but as Taabu said earlier this week its easier to legislate bureaucratic structure than it is to legislate the will of the people.

In the hearts and minds of the vast majority of Kenyans (both IDPs and non-IDPs), protocol is in the eye of the beholder, and based on who they voted for respect will be given not taken by force. Unfortunately in life we don’t always have it the way we want, so all 3 party bigwigs made it to government and are represented in the makeup of the current coalition so we are spoilt for choice over whom to pay homage to

Under current circumstances, it’s easier to retell the past than it is to predict the outcome of our future. What is certain is that the current politics of the day shaping up and taking centre stage is neither about development nor negative ethnic bashing but it seems the era of winning over the hearts and minds of millions of Kenyans is here.

This is being done by convincing them to play along with the current uncomfortable yet too familiar script in which yesterday’s sworn enemies are today’s best friends-for the sake of national unity of course-keep your friends close but your enemies closer.

Vice President Musyoka is engaged in a battle royale to convince the masses not to brand him a political turncoat. In his own aloof way President Kibaki’s daunting task is to somehow convince all Kenyans to forget the past and act as if nothing happened. Meanwhile the Prime Minister is left with the onerous task of convincing the government he is not a third step in the ladder.

Of course Kenyans are not buying any of it, but nevertheless the job at hand is to win over our hearts and change our minds so that we can play along to the tune of a new Kenya that is before us.

PRAY FOR KENYA
Folks, its a fragile unity we share today. Stormy waters unchartered that currently lie ahead include the making of a new constitution and rehabilitating the economy. Now would be a good time to believe in God and his power to deliver miracles ala Joseph the prince of Egypt or Moses and the red sea. Spare a minute or two and pray for Kenya


The 4 most popular stories in Kumekucha right now

1. Kalonzo or Raila who is boss


2. Sam okello on the traitor

3. IDPs are pawns in political game

4. Backstabbing ODM mois secret hand

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Beauty of Failing to Succeed

Token reprieve makes the heart exhale out of turmoil or so it appear for Kenyans. The Kibaki-Raila political deal has left most Kenyans more optimistic and partially happy. Waxing poetic, Kenyans have gone over the top with their lyrics about their potential as a nation. The destructive experiment may have just served its reversed role in making us appreciate what we hitherto took for granted.

We reason best by contrast otherwise you wont appreciate a tall person until you see dwarf. Similarly you look genius in the company of dimwits. Bloodbath at our doorsteps made Kenyans rediscover the humanity in them and shun the destructive.

We must go a step further to make Kenya have civilized politics. Our selfish politicians with their cheap brand of politics has been our collective bane. We must never allow them to ride on our backs under the shameful tag of ethnicity. Let our leaders earn their respect from us and let us hold them to account.

Kenya trail blazing
Kenyan's experience may be equated to a near death experience. We were staring abyss in the face with our backs to a smouldering dark blue sea. It is a grim picture imagining what the future held for us without the ceasefire. We trail blaze Africa is reclaiming our country back from the jaws of Armageddon. Kofi Annan will be in high demand following Africa's perennial political crises.

Martha Karua's political tantrums provided the turning point for Annan to face the principal protagonists. Mother nature definitely smiled at Kenya very broadly by inadvertently helping us derive beauty from the beast. PNU's iron lady definitely took her gate-keeping role overboard. Her disrespect for Annan and his team of eminent persons can only be attributed to raw power couched in utter contempt.

The respite arms us with the power and will to banish primitive politics to the pits of hell. We may not be totally out of the woods yet but we must stop our leaders from cheap political schemes that use us as their bargaining chips. We must collective declare NEVER AGAIN

Yes We Have a Deal, So What Next?

Promptlly seizing an opportunity marks the difference between failure and true success. That is an apt message for Kibaki and Raila after signing a political deal. The hard work of reclaiming Kenyan starts now and doing it before now will go along way to re-assure the emotionally and physically wounded to on their value as Kenyans.

Kibaki and Raila must seize this opportunity to show TRUE LEADERSHIP bereft of malice or dirty tricks. Past political tension and suspicion can only be address by honest and focused leadership by example and from in front. Rising above the fray will a shame ethnic purists who must also be made to appreciate the beauty and fruits of diversity over division.

Kenya must turn the past crisis on its head as a launch pad to WHOLESOME and EQUITABLE prosperity for all her citizens. There would be no better befitting tribute to those who have died recently and before for justice. True, some those deaths and incarceration have been unfair and products of excesses.

Unity in diversity
Acknowledging a weakness is strength unto itself. As we wait for Annan and his team to complete his mediation work we must NOT wait to start the healing process. Let us derive utmost motivation to move on from our national pain for the last two months. Unity in diversity must be our clarion call and we must collectively vow to shun empty and chauvinistic pronouncements NOW.

Humility is an irreplaceable pillar in leadership as exhibited by Kofi Annan. Kibaki and Raila must take cue and start uniting Kenya now. They would start this by jointly visiting the internally displaced people in their camps to assure them of putting structures in place within a timetable to address the root cause that is LAND.

Time waits for no man and before the truth and reconciliation commission is up and running, we must not leave room for political suspicion and scheming. We have been BITTEN HARD and it is incumbent upon us a nation to dust ourselves up and showcase to the world that we appreciate their concern for Kenya. We owe it to ourselves and the future generation.

Making a difference
We have a unique opportunity to redefine Kenya. Such luck never knocks at anybody's door twice. As a Kenyan start now by doing whatever is within your powers to make a difference. Ask yourself each day what small thing you have done to any other Kenyan to his or her life better. I rest my case and over to you Kenyans.

Sunday Doodles: Kenya Shall Rise; It is Well

There is a hymn I like very much. The story behind the penning of the hymn is a humbling one indeed. The hymn, It is Well with My Soul, was penned by Horatio Spafford.
This hymn was written after several traumatic events in Spafford’s life. The first was the death of his only son in 1871, shortly followed by the great Chicago Fire which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer). Then in 1873, he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on the S. S. Ville Du Havre, but sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with another ship, and all four of Spafford’s daughters died. Spafford’s wife, Anna, survived and sent him the now famous telegram, “Saved alone.” Shortly afterwards, as Spafford travelled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write the hymn as his ship passed near where his daughters had died.

It is Well with My Soul

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

It is well, with my soul
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Just like Horatio, Kenyans have lost a lot and some are barely holding on. Some are holding to a thin, frayed thread to avoid sliding off the edge of the precipice into an abysmal abyss. And the thread is threatening to snap…

One thing I believe with all my heart is that Kenya will rise above this present situation (oh, but at what cost!); Kenyans will smile again; Kenyans will ‘live’ to see tomorrow. This has, and will always be, my prayer.

Every time I look into the eyes of the children in the camps, tears well up in my eyes and course down the entire breadth of my face. If only tears could help!

I call upon all of us to help in our own unique ways. Emotionally: hold, embrace, speak positive words to the affected etc; Socially: offer whatever you could offer to alleviate the suffering (food, clothing etc).

Let the Golden Rule ‘speak’ in our actions: Do unto others what you would like them to do unto you.

Have a blessed week.

(Drop me a line at: undaunted at yahoo dot com)

Is it a Grand Coalition or a Transitional Government?

Impeccable sources in Nairobi are this morning revealing that contrary to what is publicly being peddled that the Annan peace mission is aimed at creating a Prime Minister's post in a grand coalition government, the talks have actually been discussing ways of creating a TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT to be led by none other than Sabatia MP and former KANU Vice President Musalia Mudavadi.

In yet to be verified claims, sources further reveal that Musalia Mudavadi will be deputised by a Vice President to be nominated from the PNU side. Kalonzo Musyoka's name had been mentioned but was outrightly rejected by the ODM side. Names that have been forwarded for consideration as possible contenders included Uhuru Kenyatta, Prof. Sam Ongeri, George Saitoti and even gender balance in Dr. Naomi Shaban have been put forward as possible contenders.

It is unclear how the choice of the transitional leader was reached but Mudavadi has long been viewed as a moderate in ODM and as an individual who PNU insiders (read Athuri group) can work with.

Ironically, this is the very proposal ODM put forward immediately after the disputed elections and they were rejected by the PNU side.

The transitional government is the one that will be mandated to implement the deal that was agreed upon in Kilaguni Lodge last week. The Kilaguni agreement was very comprehensive and it included constitutional reforms that will comprise the following:

• Comprehensive Constitutional reforms
• Comprehensive electoral reform – including of the electoral laws, the electoral commission and dispute resolution mechanisms
• A truth, justice and reconciliation commission
• Identification and prosecution of perpetrators of violence;
• Respect for human rights
• Parliamentary reform
• Police reform
• Legal and Judicial reforms
• Commitment to a shared national agenda in Parliament for these reforms
• Other legislative, structural, political and economic reforms as needed.
  

Even more significantly, the agreement reached at Kilanguni had also proposed the creation of an Independent Review Committee, that would be mandated to investigate all aspects of the 2007 Presidential Election and make findings and recommendations to improve future electoral processes. The Committee is expected to be a non-judicial body and be made up of Kenyan and non-Kenyan recognized electoral experts of the highest professional standing and personal integrity. The Committee will be expected to submit its report within 3-6 months and it should be published within 14 days of submission. It is scheduled to begin its work not later than 15 March 2008. The findings of the Independent Review Committee must be factored into the comprehensive electoral reforms that are planned by the interim government.

If these developments are true and an agreement is signed next week, Kenya's political landscape will dramatically change overnight. However, it remains to be seen if such a development will eliminate the post election violence that has left the nation deeply scarred and divided.

It is also unlikely that both Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga will seek re-election as president in the new political set-up. The former may bow out on account of age and health, while the latter may be satisfied serving as Prime Minister, a position that is bound to be created by the new devolved constitution that the interim government will facilitate.

Kenya's Protests Against Misrule Goes Regional

A Ugandan opposition MP Betty Kamya is facing sedition charges after imploring Ugandans to take after Kenyans in demanding their country back from the teeth of dictatorship. Writing in the Monitor newspaper of January 28, 2008, Ms Kamya reminded her fellow country men that only the zeal and ultimate price paid by Kenyans can rid Africa of her dinosaur authoritarian regimes.

MP Kamya eloquently urged Ugandans that "like Kenyans, we are going to have to fight to extricate ourselves from Museveni's paws". Well, predictably Museveni came forcefully with all guns blazing. Kaguta M7 ‘penned’ a 17-page (yes twenty less three) reprimand to madam Kamya warning her of coming sedition. As they say in African rulership parlance the rest is history because the MP was promptly arrested with the very offence there after.

Kenyans’ protests against stolen election are having rapid and immediate political effect. Museveni must have seen it coming. No wonder the haste in the only congratulatory message to Kibaki. Speak of common interest collectively served by birds of a feather.

Back home the mediation talks are tottering in the brinks of collapse with PNU suffering acute bouts of fear of the KNOWN. It is finally hitting home that their bravado and brinkmanship are not sustainable under global spotlight.

Martha Karua’s riot act to Annan has effectively dispensed full dose of poison to the mediation. Knowing the devils Kenyans have for leaders, we haven't seen anything yet. Kibaki’s sense of shamelessness and insensitivity is regionally and globally unparalleled.

Well, optimists would wish their virtue floods the hearts of all Kenyans. But I fear the devastating truth of impeding ARMAGEDDON EXTRAORDINARRE is nigh. How I wish I was JUST dreaming but unfortunately this is no dream.

Eyes on Kibaki as Kenya Hangs on a Cliff

A nation waits with their hearts in their hands. The threads holding the national fabric are threatening to snap. The principals on whose hands the solution lies are masters of deceit and scheming. Ours is a country crying for salvation from the bondage of lack of true leadership.

It is make or break starting tomorrow. We enter the defining week when the results of Kofi Annan’s negotiation will leave Kenya on either side of the cliff. Results will either mark the end of the clashes or the beginning of Armageddon. The previous week witnessed unrestrained window shopping. And now the real shopping commensurate with both human budget and need starts.

No glossing over tough issues because it all boils down to political solution. Pretenders used to clichés better arm themselves with feasible proposal that may convince us to temporarily look ahead as a nation before be take a hard look at the bloody past they dragged us through.

Annan has ruled out any resolution premised on either our judiciary or much-maligned ECK. That in itself is a loaded message depicting loss of faith in any our institutions. Only those suffering serious bouts of selective amnesia would vouch for respect to any existing Kenyan institution. But the element of shame is on vice that is found in abundance within our shores.

Only oonstitution, no substitute
Kenya’s future is singularly anchored on a new constitution and nothing more. Any political agreement that skirts this primary foundation will amount to appreciating a storm before a tsunami. If that comes to pass (God forbid) we would rather start taking lesson from our neighbours to the north east on how to effectively run tribal/clan fiefdoms.

The ball is squarely in Kibaki’s court. Having brought all these upon Kenya, only he can extinguish the fire so that we collectively dust ourselves from the ashes. The alternative is too grim to contemplate but not far-fetched given his past and company.

Only a structured TRANSITION government can midwife Kenya through this hell. All others are short term gimmicks that will only succeed in exterminating us sooner rather than later. And this must not be rushed lest we end up scratching the surface as the national would festers underneath.

An exhaustive national healing must begin with exorcising all our devils and skeletons. Only then will the resulting peace be sustainable on equity served with justice through an acceptable constitution.

Castles from ruins
The coming week is important like no other. Stopping the haemorrhage demands true leadership and statesmanship which has been a mirage within our borders. Brinkmanship and bravado will send all of us to hell. It is within our powers to stop press and rebuilt Kenya. But is Kibaki ready for the monumental challenge lying just hours ahead?

All eyes are singularly focussed on Kibaki. He has his hands on the switch. Whether he will go for the extinguisher or trigger only time will tell. We are watching. The whole world is watching, fingers crossed. It is within our power to tranfor this crisis into a foundation for eternal prosperity. No more games, we want our country back NOW.

Breakthrough Before Deadlock?

Smart politics is not played with guns nor bravado but a coup of ideas and perceptions. If Kibaki ever thought that he was such a seasoned THIEF and scoundrel, then he won’t know what hit him. Kibaki has been rightly painted into a corner that not only leaves him wounded but also no options to permute his political sins.

Kibaki never saw it coming. With the world attention singularly focussed on Kenya, the opposition played the aces by making the first impression on concession. The move may have been merely symbolic but the perception and delivery was unrivalled in allowing them rise to the higher moral pedestal of readiness to give-and-take.

But even before Kibaki could say Lucy, he was presented with demands on what portfolios to concede in the cabinet. And to rub it on Emilio was told he WON'T have any say on the composition of other half of the Cabinet. Speak of a scholled move to take away principal tools of pork and barrel politics.

Power to the people
You don’t have to fraudulently occupy State House to execute realpolitik. Kibaki has been left with no maze to unpuzzle. Both the yam and the knife have been cleverly snatched from his bllodied hands.

The objective has been superlatively delivered by painting Kibaki as another dark horse in the old African political landscape. Whatever the schemes of Kibaki’s cronies and supremacists, their territory is clearly marked. They will rue the consequences of their serial goofs at the fatal expense of Kenyans.

Kenyans shouldn’t celebrate just yet. They must be alive to Kibaki’s sahmelessness to mutate into all dangerous shades. Our memory must not fail because the scars are still fresh. It only took a night to STEAL ELECTIONS. Now he has a whole weekend to turn tables and trash everything else into a spin come Monday.

Deception is an unsustainable vice. Make no mistake. The opposition MUST not be naïve to Kibaki’s capacity to throw all caution to the wind in service of supremacists. The prematurely sired interim government must be squarely put into the context it fits. No more games of semantics.

This must be a TRANSITION government principally tasked with putting infrastructure in place for election re-run. Kenyans want their country back and only through fresh election will they give UNADULTEREATED mandate to their president. No more no less.

Road to equity
There is no template to misgovern a people and country. Kibaki’s 1950s Makerere model of ruling with the gun hoping benefit from violence fatigue fell flat on its ugly face. Africans are not fools and we are trail blazing and writing history. The lesson is brutal to treacherous traitors who scheme to benefit from the blood spilt by Kenyans spilt since Kibaki stole the election. What a shame on these vultures and hyenas. Power to the people.

Kenyans are far ahead of their leaders and we must seize this opportunity to shape our country into what we want. That is no premature celebration for the far sighted by any means. It is time to lay the foundation for corporate leadership and banish deceptive and selfish rulership – the NARC dream reincarnated.