Beware Of The Clear Thinking Kenyan Voter

Ouma (real name with-held) would never have imagined in his worst nightmare what was about to happen as he happily collected his Kikuyu wife from maternity and took her and their bouncing new baby boy home to Kibera. This was at about the time that post-election troubles broke out for the first time.

On their way home, Ouma and his wife met a rowdy group of Luos who proceeded to cut his wife and baby into pieces in front of his very eyes. The response came hours later from the Akorino in the area who cut down dozens of Luos in search of Ouma whom they wanted so as to settle scores. Ironically the man who hid Ouma and thus saved his life was a Kikuyu man. He risked his own life terribly to save the life of Ouma.

The informant who passed on this heart-rending tale to me says they have not been sleeping too well since they learnt about it.

Sadly there are many stories from the worst chapter of Kenya’s history that will probably never be told. The wounds inflicted are much deeper than many people think. However what is surprising is the resilience of the Kenyan people and their eargerness to put the past behind them as they keep their eyes focused on the desired goals. What has become clear to this blogger is the sharp contrast between the ordinary folk of Kenya, down there struggling to survive and the rest of Kenyans sitting in comfortable air-conditioned rooms making hate comments in a blog like this one.

That is the good news.

Reading this blog, one would be forgiven for thinking that the country is about to break into a vicious civil war. Fortunately there is much less tribalism down there in the grassroots than most people will ever realize. Ordinary folk don’t really care about tribalism. Indeed important lessons have been learnt from the troubles of this last January that will help fight the cancer of tribalism pretty effectively in the years to come.

But what has amazed me most of all from my latest of the frequent research I do, to keep my feet on the ground, is how clear in their thinking the masses in Kenya are right now. This is in sharp contrast to all the confusion and uncertainty we see in the media these days concerning our politics. Basically the people want nothing to do with corruption and they want a new beginning, and they want it yesterday. Real change for a better tomorrow. Amazingly many care less what tribe that “Moses” who will lead Kenyans to a new promised land happens to come from. As long as they can be trusted.

Methinks the people who are in for a serious shock are the political class. Despite what people think, the next presidential race will have some very strange names running right at the forefront. And that is coming from a man who told you here that Senator Obama would be the next president of the United States when most people were still asking; Barack who?


P.S. History continues to be made in the American presidential race as McCain picks little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate. This means whoever wins history will be made because even if we do not have a black man in the White House, we will have a woman Vice President for the first time ever.

Why Githongo Does Not Matter Anymore

Kibaki was right to snub John Githongo.

I'll be the first to categorically say that John was a patriot when he took on the Kibaki administration for its corrupt ways. Indeed, we must all hope that there will be many more Kenyans who are not afraid to blow the whistle on the corrupt tendencies they see in their offices. That said, I have to question why John felt the need to go to London to tell us about the rot in our own backyard. And after he did it, why did he come back home and frantically try to have an audience with President Kibaki? I don't like the way President Kibaki has run Kenya, but I agree with him that for the sake of our nation's integrity and his office, he couldn't agree to meet a man who soiled the image of Kenya abroad.

After three years of trying to save Kenya by telling the Brits and the rest of the West about our sleazy leaders, what can he tell us is the practical impact of his actions? Can he look Kenyans in the eye and point to what has changed because of his sit-down with the BBC and all the other Western networks that gave him audience?

Folks, here is where I come down on such matters. We can't allow ourselves to run with our problems to the West every time we have them. The announcement we make by doing things like that is this: We can't handle our affairs. Please, help us.

I'm aware John left because he had reason to worry about his security. I don't begrudge him that. But I detest whenever any patriotic Kenyan, and any self-respecting African, goes out there and slams the motherland. We all know how highly esteemed we are before the world community. Why continue to feed the negative stereotypes by running out there and screaming to the world to see just how incapable we are...many years after independence?

To the extent that John successfully brought this matter to the attention of Kenyans, his work is done. If he can come back to help sort out the mess, kudos to him. If he wants to keep yapping about how ugly the motherland is, I must say that he has ceased to be helpful or relevant. We have mechanisms in Kenya to deal with corrupt entities...and if those who are tasked to deal with corruption can't handle it, then there are mechanisms in place to deal with that too. That's how it's supposed to work. We can handle it. We must handle it. And we must demonstrate our maturity and the strength of our institutions by taking this matter on.

Let's not continue to be the white man's burden.

It shames us!