Kumekucha Weekend Special: Who Is Afraid Of John Githongo?

Former ethics PS jetted into the country just last Tuesday night. And yet just too much has happened behind the scenes and in the open since then to suggest that as predicted various characters right across the political divide are extremely jittery.

The latest move is that disgraced former powerful internal security minister Chris Murungaru has desperately been trying to serve Githongo court summons for defamation through his lawyers. This is an old suit first filed in 2006 which failed to go anywhere because all attempts to serve Githongo have always failed.

But what is the fuss all about? After all if the massive anti-Githongo campaign that is going on all over the web right now (that is keeping some people extremely busy) were to be believed then Githongo is a non-entity who should not attract the kind of attention that he has attracted so far. And as we have been reminded countless times, he was not even the real whistle blower of the Anglo Leasing scandal and such credit has to go elsewhere. Maoka Maere, is the one who credit must go to for that, some people are saying.

So why should John Githongo ruffle so many feathers right across the political divide? Why is it that some individuals are burning the midnight oil to get as much so-called Githongo dirt onto the web and mainstream media as possible? Why is it that the 2012 presidential campaign which had swung into full gear has suddenly gone quiet? Why is it that even those within ODM are uncomfortable? What is the problem?

The crux of the problem is that although Mr Githongo has not made any indication that he is interested in politics and participating in the 2012 general elections in any way, all in the political class view him as a serious threat to their political ambitions. You see as much as Kenyans dislike the political class for what they are, one thing they are not is stupid. They have correctly read the mood of the electorate. Kenyans are sick and tired of corruption and they are determined to elect a clean government and clearly that is topmost on their minds and will be the undisputed number one agenda in the forthcoming general elections.

Now whatever anybody says about John Githongo, he is the only Kenyan (and I am deeply ashamed as a Kenyan to say this) who has said no to tempting corruption money at the highest level. I would like to believe that there are others who have done the same, but Githongo’s case stands out. A friend reminded me two days ago about what Kiraitu Murungi represented in the 1990s. The lawyer was a firebrand second liberation campaigner. However when he got close to the cookie jar we all know what happened. Martha Karua also has admirable credentials in the fight for the second liberation however we all know the key role she played in the presidential elections mess of last year. My friend emphasized that they have given up on Kenya and that ushering in a new generation of younger leaders will not make any difference.

There is no doubt that many long suffering Kenyans feel exactly the same and they are probably right in throwing in the towel.

However Githongo represents the only exception thus far and is surely a ray of hope. His name has come to mean integrity tried and tested. And those who have been out to tarnish his name have clearly been grasping at straws digging back to his schooldays and planting all sorts of nonsense and untruths amongst the facts (the classic method of spreading propaganda). The bare facts are simple. Githongo was there and he had a chance to simply look the other way and he would never have had to worry about money again in his life. But he chose to say NO. No other Kenyan has those credentials to date, at least not at the national level.

This blog has earned a reputation for being a great Githongo admirer and indeed this writer may look like a seer seeing many years ahead. However I have no time to gloat. I love my country and we must change direction and change direction now. The change we seek is bigger than Githongo or any other individual. However fate and destiny have thrust this Kenyan in a position where he must help to take the lead to a new Kenya. I am persuaded that he is up to it.

Expect high drama like never before over the next few days.

Kenyatta’s Legacy Examined 30 Years After

Kenyans have just marked 30 years since the death of our nation’s founding president Jomo Kenyatta. With a whole generation gone by since his death, what can be branded as the legacy of Uhuru’s dad? Well, Kenyatta’s legacy (or lack thereof) will be obviously viewed with the present partisan lenses.

To his admirers he founded a nation and premised her prosperity on fighting poverty disease and ignorance. Whether he made efforts to deliver on these pillars is a different matter subject to personal judgement. Some of Jomo’s disciples even go further to see a re-incarnation of his ‘prosperous’ reign in the present regime.

Enter Johnstone Kamau’s detractors and all they see in the late president is the planter of the seed of IMPUNITY and FRAUD whose long term effects continue to tear the Kenyan fabric apart. Such people will readily blame Kenyatta for the present land mess owing to his failure to comprehensively address the emotive and cultural issue which was the cause of struggle for independence in the first place. While at it they will bandy criminal statistics that the Kenyatta family own land equivalent to a province thanks to Jomo’s insatiable appetite to grab what he used to fondly refer to as SHAMBA YENYE ROTUBA NYINGI.

So what is the true legacy of Kenya’s founding president who many adore and idolize with his body interred at the heart of the city while others see as synonymous with DECEPTION and FRAUD. Well, there may be no one single answer to that same question as raises more questions than answers. But one thing can be said for certain: Kenyatta RULED and reigned in his twilight years that may have denied Kenya the benefit of a dynamic leader capable of formulating a roadmap to found a nation.

Deceptive legacy
Bishop David Kamau’s sermon commemorating Kenyatta’s death leaves one wondering aloud to whom his message was directed. Urging our politicians to unite Kenyans may be akin to playing a sonorous tune to a goat who cannot appreciate the same. Trust fractious Kenya to subjectively interpret the message of carrying on the dreams of the founding father of the nation by ensuring all Kenyans were served equally.

Bishop Kamau reminded the congregation of Kenyatta’s vision for a united Kenya, free from poverty, tribalism and discrimination. He added that we should make a new commitment that we will lead a country free of corruption, poverty, hunger and favouritism. Well, maybe the late Jomo stood for all these grandiose values or the good man of God was just being good to the dead as is the African/human tradition and trend. At the risk of being seen to be flogging the dead, the jury is still out and only time will tell.