Guest post By Barry. O
There is something that has to be said about Kumekucha, whether you agree or disagree with bloggers on the site it truly is a great forum for debate and discussion. With that said, there are a number of issues that I have been waiting to discuss here but was mainly waiting to see if history would be with the election of Barrack Obama. Now that history has been made there are a few things that I took from the recent US election that I feel would greatly benefit the electorate in Kenya and indeed the country as well.
For the most part it still seems as though most Kenyans support leaders based on two main characteristics: tribe and personality. Going by the looks of things this has not augured well for Kenya. If I am a member of the Kikuyu community without ties to any powerful leader be it politician or businessman/woman, how has having a Kikuyu president benefited me? Have my living standards improved, does my family have better access to education and healthcare? The community where I live, is it now safer or do I feel more secure now that one of my “own” is in state house? What about employment are my chances of employment significantly better now that one of my “own” is in power? This is not to single out the Kikuyu people as the same question can be posed to members of the Kalenjin community or hypothetically by any other community that should happen to have one of their “own” ended up in state house. If the answers to the above questions are yes, then I must ask if you are content to succeed amongst those who suffer largely through not fault of their own but because one their “own” is not in power knowing full well that in the next election your circumstances could end up in the opposite direction(unless you manage to have your guy in power for 24 yrs!)? If you are someone who prefers a leader who all KENYANS can call “OURS” then let me suggest a few things.
One thing that I took a way from the US elections was that each candidate, whether it was Mc Cain, Clinton, Obama, Romney or even Palin had a record that could be identified, analyzed and evaluated against another. A great portion of this information was PUBLIC, that is to say that even a high school student with a keen knowledge for politics could go online or to the library and look up how each candidate voted on important issues or if the candidate voted at all. Most importantly perhaps, is that each candidate has a fairly identifiable ideology, be it conservative, liberal , moderate, republican or democrat. In Kenya we seem to just have parties and rhetoric. I can recall a few months ago before we were consumed by the waki report, a comment by Kiraitu where he said he and Raila had no differences just different ideologies. I asked myself what are those ideologies? Are they self evident, and perhaps I was just too blind to identify them? Back to US election analysis, because US politicians know that a record is important as well as having a message that resonates with the people it is extremely rare you find a candidate come from obscurity to make a bid to run for the Presidency. The reason for this is because the American voter has no record to evaluate that candidate, and if your record is without substance and thin, like say Sarah Palin your fate is quite often sealed the moment you announce you are running. We Kenyans need to be the kind of electorate that looks beyond rhetoric, let us know which MPs refused to be taxed, If the Waki report is brought to parliament let us know who voted for its implementation who did not and why who is alleged to have done what and why, who was not mentioned and why. Let those who wish to run for the Presidency explain to us how they have voted in parliament on other sensitive issues of the past, then we can have something to consider, evaluate and vote for or against.
When ODM was clamouring for Majimbo I really wish they had chosen another term, something simple like devolution of power or de-centralization. Kenyans would be much better off. In my eyes devolution would make becoming an MP that much harder. Councillors and local government would be strengthened and have more power to address local issues and based on how people performed in these roles would be a good indicator as to how they would perform as MPs or even President because now there would be an identifiable RECORD for voters to examine. Devolution would not mean each province would govern itself exclusively, there would be some room for Provincial authority but this would be subjected to the supreme laws of the Republic. Devolution would not mean the exclusion of certain communities in different provinces on the contrary each and every KENYAN could live where they pleased and own land by RIGHT. What it would mean perhaps, is that certain towns may determine through referendum that for example night clubs close by a certain time, schools in certain towns may determine which languages teachers are allowed to teach in and other unique laws provided that they were not discriminatory against any one community or tribe. I think if we had this in Kenya the electorate would no longer be held captive by tribal leaders who drive around Nairobi in expensive cars and lavish houses and only come home to visit or to ask for votes!
In closing I want to add my two cents to this whole Waki Report debate. As many people have commented and indeed witnessed, the post election violence of 2007 was one of the darkest days in Kenyan history and for us to act like we can just wish it away is not only immoral and foolish it is extremely insensitive to the innocent families who were victims and lost loved ones. I join Raila, Martha Karua, Mudavadi, Orengo, Kilonzo, Uhuru and others who have called for the full implementation for the report. I like many others Kenyans voted for ODM and even when the controversial if not fraudulent results were announced I saluted the call for MASS ACTION by Raila Odinga and others. Peaceful demonstrations should never be banned and disrupted in the violent manner in which they were by the police. At no time can I remember Raila or any other ODM member call for MASS VIOLENCE. I do not recall Raila calling for the forcible evacuation of Kikuyus or Kisiis. So if you fought for Raila and ODM, I am assuming you fought against election fraud and the POLICE who used live bullets, if the calls for MASS ACTION were misinterpreted than I think Raila should apologize for those who misinterpreted him and nothing else as far as MASS ACTION goes in response to the fraudulent election. If there is evidence that shows Raila incited violence by suggesting certain communities be evacuated from certain areas, than I would hope to see Raila and other names amongst those on Waki List. Even in Kenya you are innocent until proven guilty and given the fact that our MPs have the resources to hire the best lawyers in the land, proving their innocence in a Kenyan tribunal would be elementary compared to having to go before the ICC. By coming out and dismissing a report that has only made suggestions you make yourself seem as if you have something to hide in the court of public opinion. As to those threatening to quit parties over INDIVIDUAL stands taken on the report I would recommend that those people fight from within their parties as it is for the party’s ideals and philosophy that you are a member in the first place or is it the individual? I hope my ramblings have not stirred up too much and I have tried to be as non-partisan as possible I look forward to feedback positive and negative.
How Moi used music to rule Kenya for 24 years
Free delivery DVD movies
Friday, November 21, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Why Kibaki and Raila Should Lead the Hague Trail Suspects
The on-going debate on the dreaded Waki List lacks any serious substance. Every politician who shoots his mouth to contribute to the debate are defending themselves (the listed names are still top secret but the guilty ones are already afraid), defending their kinsmen/community or trying to circumvent the truth. These are the fruits of our collective worshiping of our tribes and failing to reason with our heads.
The stinking debate on the Waki List shows that Kenyans never learnt a single lesson from the bloodbath we witnessed early in the year. It is either we are all foolish like the proverbial warthog, which escapes from the jaws of a charging lion once and immediately forgets the looming danger and stops to continue eating grass. The lion’s second attempt is often successful and tragic. If we sit on our brains, we will all sink in this country which we all falsely believed was an island of peace! We thought what our neighbours were going through was a Rambo movie.
When will Kenyans rise above tribes and reason rationally? If Kenyans will refuse to see no evil or hear no evil in their quest to adore their tribe and blindly defend their tribesmen and women implicated in serious criminal acts, then what is happening in DRC today could soon happen in Kenya but on a bigger scale to make the Congo war look like child’s play.
What is amazing is that every time a politician urinates on the law (committing crimes against humanity or being involved in theft of our taxes – which they have stubbornly refused to pay) they rush back to their community shouting their tribe is being finished. Yet, the loot they stole is not shared amongst the tribes but amongst their own wives, children and the lucky concubines. Yet, the community – wallowing in abject poverty – often end up being fooled by the politicians and take the frontline in defending “our own” politician.
Some are even ready to bite the bullet on behalf of their greedy and well-fed politician and yet they themselves have difficulties putting a decent meal on their table. When the politicians manage to hoodwink their tribes they are being finished, the law is often bent to favour the politicians who get away with the crimes and the cycle of the culture of impunity, stealing, theft, corruption and murder continues. Who suffers? Who becomes more and more impoverished? Definitely not the fat-bellied politicians and the “duly” elected president. In all the African countries which have been gripped by turmoil, their leaders often flee to safe havens in other countries and leave the foolish subjects slaughtering each other.
Let’s face the truth. Anyone who was in Kenya in the past three years know the truth of what triggered the violence after the December polls – but we have all sat on our brains due to the stupid loyalty we have for our tribes (read stupid politicians). We never use our brains but prefer to sit back and allow politicians to think for us. And we blindly swallow any rubbish and crap they vomit to our ears without questioning it.
Before the elections were held, the country was so charged – torn between communities supporting OMD and PNU. Anyone wise enough knew this was a recipe for chaos and it was a bomb waiting to explode. Before the election was held, ODM started crying foul that PNU were planning to rig elections. ODM leaders, led by Raila himself, made toured the country making inciting remarks against tribes that were perceived to be supporting Kibaki and his PNU. This heightened tensions in Kenya. And we all sat there cheering our politicians as they armed themselves with their razor-sharp tongues tearing our country into pieces. Already ODM had declared they would not recognise a Kibaki win long before the elections were held? This meant that only an ODM win was a genuine win. Why then go to the polls if you already knew the outcome of how Kenyans were to vote? African elections are never won depending on which side you support. They are rigged.
The election was held. All leading media houses, state-owned KBC included, had figures from the grassroots showing Raila was leading Kibaki throughout. On the 3rd day of counting votes, a MAGIC happened and all the media houses simultaneously removed the figures they were showing us on their TV screens and used ECK figures which showed Kibaki had miraculously overtaken Raila. A few hours later, Kibaki was hurriedly declared winner and sworn in like a thief at the lawns of State House as darkness fast approached. If Kibaki knew he had won fairly, why the haste to be sworn in at night in the GSU protected confines of State House? If he was the people’s president and he had won the popular vote, why not wait to be sworn in the following day at Uhuru Park like it happened in 2002? Surely, a president who has won a popular vote should give a chance to people who voted for him and his opponents to share his glory!
ODM queried the “huge” turn out of voters in parts of Central province. Maragwa constituency, for instance, recorded 115% voter turn out! Only God knows how the voters who cast their ballots could be more than the registered voters. In their defence, PNU accused ODM of electoral malpractices in their strongholds on the voting day. Some constituencies in ODM strongholds in Rift Valley and Nyanza recorded 98% turn out. It was alleged the poll officials and ODM agents voted for the voters who were dead or who failed to turn up. The same claims was made after ODM won the Referendum vote. But how can an Opposition steal votes where there is a functional Government in place? Only in a country where the “duly” elected president is Emilio Mwai Kibaki!
After the “duly” elected Kibaki was sworn in, Raila and other ODM leaders called for mass action and mobilised their communities against communities perceived to have voted for Kibaki. The slaughter of innocent Kenyans began as the “duly” elected president retreated into his preferred cocoon of State House and heard no evil and saw no evil as the country burnt and Kenyans swarm in their own blood.
When they saw Kibaki was not going to yield, ODM cried to the international community and Mr Koffi Annan was dispatched to Kenya to mediate. In fact, Mr Annan was the choice of Raila and ODM leaders. Kibaki and his PNU were reluctant to have international mediators claiming Kenyans were mature enough to solve their own problems. Due to the international pressure, Kibaki and his allies backed down and agreed to meet the Raila team at the negotiating table.
Backed by the international community, Raila pushed the “duly” elected president to the wall and he reluctantly agreed to share power (on 50/50 basis? That’s an illusion) and the slaughter of innocent Kenyans eased off. At the time, Raila and his ODM and communities which supported them were full of praises to Mr Annan, Ambassadors Michael Ranneberger (US) and Walter Lindner (Germany) and all foreign countries that backed the meditation.
Both the Waki and Kriegler commissions of inquiry were the product of the Koffi Annan-led mediation talks. The power-sharing pact signed by Kibaki and Raila endorsed the two commissions and everything else they agreed upon. Both PNU and ODM were bound by the signatures of Kibaki and Raila. Nobody in both PNU and ODM rejected the pact or the subsequent commissions.
When the Kriegler report was unveiled, ODM hurriedly endorsed it and called for the speedy disbandment of ECK, which was criticised by the commission for the poor manner it handled the elections. On the other side, PNU led by Kibaki were urging caution in disbanding ECK. Why? The likes of Martha Karua and Kibaki were against ECK during Moi’s reign. Kibaki’s contempt for competitive democracy was evident when he trashed the gentleman’s IPPG agreement of 1997 and single-handedly picked commissioner to oversee the 2007 polls. Why the sudden change of heart? Did Kibaki and Martha Karua know something the rest of us didn’t know? Why not implement the Kriegler report recommendations, which Kibaki had committed himself on paper to support? Were Kibaki and Karua returning a certain favour to the ECK the rest of us don’t know?
The Kriegler report did not mention any politician. Apart from Kibaki and Karua who were urging caution on the implementation (due to the favour they were returning to the ECK), the Kriegler report is a 100% safe document to any politician and that is why the likes of William Ruto were shouting from the rooftop for the speedy implementation of the report. The Kriegler report did not create any dust since ECK commissioners are not politicians and Kenyans care little if their careers were sacrificed. But should they have been politicians, the story would be our tribe is being finished!
To understand the hypocracy of our politicians, the debate on the Waki report is the complete opposite of the Kriegler report. Why? Because the Waki report identified politicians who financed/contributed to the slaughter of innocent Kenyans! Although nobody knows the names that were handed over to Koffi Annan by Judge Waki in a sealed envelope, the guilt in our politicians has given them sleepless nights and they have retreated to their tribal cocoons to mobilise their community for support in the most likely event that their names are in the envelope. Unlike before when Ruto frequently appeared on TV in his office or in the field talking agriculture, his face is today on TV in all manner of public barazas in his backyard trashing the Waki report! Why is he so jittery that he can’t wait for the names to be made public? Does he know something the rest of us don’t have a clue?
Just to veer off the debate, why did Ruto get all his wealth? Where was he employed after university? How did he make all his money if he was never employed like the rest of us and we don’t have so much money? Have Kenyans forgotten the YK92, Moi’s machine that looted state coffers to fund Kanu during 1992 polls under Ruto and Jirongo? Isn’t Ruto an accused in court for grabbing a forest land in Ngong Forest and selling it to KPLC at inflated prices? Yet Ruto and Jirongo appear on our TVs lecturing us on how we have been made more poor by others (not seeing themselves first)! One feels like puking when we listen to all the lies on TV and digest them like the gospel according to St Luke.
Mr Ruto’s stand on the two reports clearly illustrates the hypocracy of our politicians. Mr Ruto was very vocal that the Kriegler report should be implemented 100% and even told ECK chiefs, led by Mr Kivuitu, they should not wait to be shown the door but should resign immediately if they had any little conscience remaining in them. The Kriegler report was sweet music to Mr Ruto and his ODM. But the Waki report turns out to be a bitter pill for Mr Ruto and a section of ODM and they want it trashed. Why? They suspect their names are in the sealed envelope!
Initially, Kibaki was categorical that any killer/mastermind of the post-election violence should not expect any mercy from Kenyans. On the other hand, Raila and his group were demanding total amnesty for the suspects. That was around June. Today, Kibaki and Raila have swapped positions. Kibaki is calling for forgiveness – suggesting we sweep the Waki report under the carpet and not even place it on the shelves to gather dust! Why the sudden change of heart? Is his inner conscience being pricked by some guilt? And Raila is now calling for the total implementation of the Waki report. Kibaki and Raila both expressed their opposing views on the same platform. Who is fooling who here? Aren’t Kenyans being taken round some circus they don’t know anything about?
Let’s face the truth Kenyans. If the post-election violence was the work of small timers and villagers like most of us, those involved would have been ruthlessly hunted down and those who were luck to escape Maj Gen Ali’s live bullets would be languishing in jail not knowing what hit them. Our jails are bursting to the brims due to congestion. Who have filled the jails? Isn’t it small time crooks? And where are the big time crooks who have milked us dry and made us to slaughter each other and swim in our blood? Aren’t they the ones we vote into leadership and Parliament because they have a lot of money to bribe our conscience – with the same money they have looted from us? Kenyan parliament is full of thieves and murderers. The crooks in Parliament have committed crimes that are collectively bigger than all the crimes committed in the people languishing in jails. Yet, the MPs are walking free with their fat bellies while the wanyonge are languishing in the prisons! Why don’t Kenyans see this when politicians rush to them seeking protection from their tribes?
If post-election violence was the work of the small fish, there would have been no need to form the Waki and Kriegler commissions. The small timers would have tasted the full force of the law on the same day they committed the crimes. The BIG BOYS in Kenya are untouchable and we have to form commissions to investigate what is common knowledge to us. This is a tactic to buy time to give the BIG BOYS a soft landing. When did we ever hear of a commission of inquiry to investigate cries of the wanyonge and the down-trodden? When did we ever hear calls to FORGIVE the wanyonge and the down-trodden? When did we ever hear DIALOGUE being encouraged to determine the fate of the wanyonge and the down-trodden?
If Kenyans want the culture of impunity to end in this country, then we must take hard decisions and tough choices. Anyone who contributed to the post-election violence – either by stealing votes or calling on Kenyans to fight – should carry their own cross regardless of their tribe. Let’s all forget our tribes if we all want to secure a good future for our children and future generations. The post-election violence was directly triggered by both Kibaki and Raila and they must lead the pack going to Hague for trial. That is the surest way to end the culture of impunity and re-unite our country. Why take foot soldiers to Hague and leave out the two masterminds of the violence? Kibaki and Raila diehard supporters can frown over that but the truth is always a bitter pill to swallow. While you are wallowing in poverty and paying huge taxes, Kibaki and Raila don’t know of your sufferings. Think outside the box before you hurl insults for telling the truth.
Kenyans should vehemently demand that no tribunal should be formed in Kenya. All killers and masterminds of the post-election should be frog-marched to Hague which is neutral. If the trials are held here, we will start looking at the tribe of the judge, prosecutors versus who is on trial. Due to our polluted minds, the outcome of the trial will be measured in our minds on the basis of tribe of the judge and the accused. Why are both PNU and ODM against the Hague trial? Because they know they can use their money and influence to have a trail that is favourable to them? They want the Waki List tabled in Parliament so that they trash it like the List of Shame they trashed in the 8th Parliament, which had listed MPs who had stolen public land.
As I have stated above, the Waki commission was the product of Koffi Annan mediation talks which were backed by the international community. The European Union and the US paid bills for the Annan team. ODM knew this all along. Kenya did not pay a cent for their upkeep and allowances. By then, Koffi Annan and European Union and the US were regarded as God-sent angels in ODM ranks because they had forced the Kibaki mountain to move to the negation table.
After the Waki report was out, ODM brigade now shouts from the rooftop they don’t want the Waki report and that the international community has no business lecturing to Kenyans on how to conduct their affairs! Good Lord! Why was it in order in January for the international community lecture to Kenyans on how to conduct their affairs? Koffi Annan did not have any business coming to Kenya in January if he was not invited by ODM. This is why ODM’s latest twist in the Waki debate stinks. ODM wants local trial of suspects.
In Dec, ODM called Kenyans to revolt against the “duly” elected president and told us they would not challenge his election in court because they did not have faith in Kenya’s judicial system. What reforms have taken place in the judiciary since then to make Ruto and other ODM leaders have faith in our courts? Isn’t it hypocritical? ODM’s invite of Koffi Annan and the international community is like a person who sharpens a knife not knowing it will end up cutting him afterwards.
ODM and all the others should face the international knife which we sharpened together because we cannot manage our elections and the best way we know to contest an election defeat/theft (whichever side you stand) is to slaughter each other – when those who are ordering the slaughter are safe in the confines of their well-guarded Nairobi homes. They poured and continued adding more petrol in the villages as they watched the bloodbath on TVs from the comfort of their secluded homes – together with their wives and children. We never saw them, their wives or children leading the battle fronts. We did not hear any casualties in Kibaki, Raila’s, PNU’s and ODM ranks. But close to 3,000 (police doctored figures put it at around 1,700) Kenyans lost their lives. Helpless families were burnt alive in an Eldoret church as they cried for mercy.
Poor Kenyans lost their jobs, business, homes, property, animals, dignity and pride – they are still refugees in their own country. Poor Kenyans live in tents miles away from their home – which offer them little protection from rain, disease and cold weather at night – as Kibaki and Raila sleep under the warm hands of their wives in their electric heated bedrooms. The poor Kenyans are suffering – not because they did anything wrong but because they were perceived to have voted for the wrong presidential candidates. Yet, all of us Kenyans have forgotten the cliff we stood watching our country almost exploding into a bonfire. We are now cheering when our OWN politicians come to us seeking our support to OUR communities (read the politicians) over the looming Hague trial. Why do these politicians come to us only when their careers are threatened and not when they receive their fat salaries to share with us?
Kenyans, rise above tribes and allow every politician who contributed to the bloodbath to carry their own cross and not drag your communities into a selfish debates aimed at protecting their careers and families. Kenyans should tell all politicians – Kibaki and Raila included – that the Waki report was funded by our money and we collectively own it as 37 million Kenyans. The document is not the exclusive property of MPs, Kibaki and Raila for them to decide on their own what they want to do with it. The collective will of the Kenyan people should prevail over the selfish interests of these damned politicians.
We either stand together as Kenyans and not as tribes or we will all sink together.
Guest post by a friend of Kumekucha
How Moi used music to rule Kenya for 24 years
Free delivery DVD movies
The stinking debate on the Waki List shows that Kenyans never learnt a single lesson from the bloodbath we witnessed early in the year. It is either we are all foolish like the proverbial warthog, which escapes from the jaws of a charging lion once and immediately forgets the looming danger and stops to continue eating grass. The lion’s second attempt is often successful and tragic. If we sit on our brains, we will all sink in this country which we all falsely believed was an island of peace! We thought what our neighbours were going through was a Rambo movie.
When will Kenyans rise above tribes and reason rationally? If Kenyans will refuse to see no evil or hear no evil in their quest to adore their tribe and blindly defend their tribesmen and women implicated in serious criminal acts, then what is happening in DRC today could soon happen in Kenya but on a bigger scale to make the Congo war look like child’s play.
What is amazing is that every time a politician urinates on the law (committing crimes against humanity or being involved in theft of our taxes – which they have stubbornly refused to pay) they rush back to their community shouting their tribe is being finished. Yet, the loot they stole is not shared amongst the tribes but amongst their own wives, children and the lucky concubines. Yet, the community – wallowing in abject poverty – often end up being fooled by the politicians and take the frontline in defending “our own” politician.
Some are even ready to bite the bullet on behalf of their greedy and well-fed politician and yet they themselves have difficulties putting a decent meal on their table. When the politicians manage to hoodwink their tribes they are being finished, the law is often bent to favour the politicians who get away with the crimes and the cycle of the culture of impunity, stealing, theft, corruption and murder continues. Who suffers? Who becomes more and more impoverished? Definitely not the fat-bellied politicians and the “duly” elected president. In all the African countries which have been gripped by turmoil, their leaders often flee to safe havens in other countries and leave the foolish subjects slaughtering each other.
Let’s face the truth. Anyone who was in Kenya in the past three years know the truth of what triggered the violence after the December polls – but we have all sat on our brains due to the stupid loyalty we have for our tribes (read stupid politicians). We never use our brains but prefer to sit back and allow politicians to think for us. And we blindly swallow any rubbish and crap they vomit to our ears without questioning it.
Before the elections were held, the country was so charged – torn between communities supporting OMD and PNU. Anyone wise enough knew this was a recipe for chaos and it was a bomb waiting to explode. Before the election was held, ODM started crying foul that PNU were planning to rig elections. ODM leaders, led by Raila himself, made toured the country making inciting remarks against tribes that were perceived to be supporting Kibaki and his PNU. This heightened tensions in Kenya. And we all sat there cheering our politicians as they armed themselves with their razor-sharp tongues tearing our country into pieces. Already ODM had declared they would not recognise a Kibaki win long before the elections were held? This meant that only an ODM win was a genuine win. Why then go to the polls if you already knew the outcome of how Kenyans were to vote? African elections are never won depending on which side you support. They are rigged.
The election was held. All leading media houses, state-owned KBC included, had figures from the grassroots showing Raila was leading Kibaki throughout. On the 3rd day of counting votes, a MAGIC happened and all the media houses simultaneously removed the figures they were showing us on their TV screens and used ECK figures which showed Kibaki had miraculously overtaken Raila. A few hours later, Kibaki was hurriedly declared winner and sworn in like a thief at the lawns of State House as darkness fast approached. If Kibaki knew he had won fairly, why the haste to be sworn in at night in the GSU protected confines of State House? If he was the people’s president and he had won the popular vote, why not wait to be sworn in the following day at Uhuru Park like it happened in 2002? Surely, a president who has won a popular vote should give a chance to people who voted for him and his opponents to share his glory!
ODM queried the “huge” turn out of voters in parts of Central province. Maragwa constituency, for instance, recorded 115% voter turn out! Only God knows how the voters who cast their ballots could be more than the registered voters. In their defence, PNU accused ODM of electoral malpractices in their strongholds on the voting day. Some constituencies in ODM strongholds in Rift Valley and Nyanza recorded 98% turn out. It was alleged the poll officials and ODM agents voted for the voters who were dead or who failed to turn up. The same claims was made after ODM won the Referendum vote. But how can an Opposition steal votes where there is a functional Government in place? Only in a country where the “duly” elected president is Emilio Mwai Kibaki!
After the “duly” elected Kibaki was sworn in, Raila and other ODM leaders called for mass action and mobilised their communities against communities perceived to have voted for Kibaki. The slaughter of innocent Kenyans began as the “duly” elected president retreated into his preferred cocoon of State House and heard no evil and saw no evil as the country burnt and Kenyans swarm in their own blood.
When they saw Kibaki was not going to yield, ODM cried to the international community and Mr Koffi Annan was dispatched to Kenya to mediate. In fact, Mr Annan was the choice of Raila and ODM leaders. Kibaki and his PNU were reluctant to have international mediators claiming Kenyans were mature enough to solve their own problems. Due to the international pressure, Kibaki and his allies backed down and agreed to meet the Raila team at the negotiating table.
Backed by the international community, Raila pushed the “duly” elected president to the wall and he reluctantly agreed to share power (on 50/50 basis? That’s an illusion) and the slaughter of innocent Kenyans eased off. At the time, Raila and his ODM and communities which supported them were full of praises to Mr Annan, Ambassadors Michael Ranneberger (US) and Walter Lindner (Germany) and all foreign countries that backed the meditation.
Both the Waki and Kriegler commissions of inquiry were the product of the Koffi Annan-led mediation talks. The power-sharing pact signed by Kibaki and Raila endorsed the two commissions and everything else they agreed upon. Both PNU and ODM were bound by the signatures of Kibaki and Raila. Nobody in both PNU and ODM rejected the pact or the subsequent commissions.
When the Kriegler report was unveiled, ODM hurriedly endorsed it and called for the speedy disbandment of ECK, which was criticised by the commission for the poor manner it handled the elections. On the other side, PNU led by Kibaki were urging caution in disbanding ECK. Why? The likes of Martha Karua and Kibaki were against ECK during Moi’s reign. Kibaki’s contempt for competitive democracy was evident when he trashed the gentleman’s IPPG agreement of 1997 and single-handedly picked commissioner to oversee the 2007 polls. Why the sudden change of heart? Did Kibaki and Martha Karua know something the rest of us didn’t know? Why not implement the Kriegler report recommendations, which Kibaki had committed himself on paper to support? Were Kibaki and Karua returning a certain favour to the ECK the rest of us don’t know?
The Kriegler report did not mention any politician. Apart from Kibaki and Karua who were urging caution on the implementation (due to the favour they were returning to the ECK), the Kriegler report is a 100% safe document to any politician and that is why the likes of William Ruto were shouting from the rooftop for the speedy implementation of the report. The Kriegler report did not create any dust since ECK commissioners are not politicians and Kenyans care little if their careers were sacrificed. But should they have been politicians, the story would be our tribe is being finished!
To understand the hypocracy of our politicians, the debate on the Waki report is the complete opposite of the Kriegler report. Why? Because the Waki report identified politicians who financed/contributed to the slaughter of innocent Kenyans! Although nobody knows the names that were handed over to Koffi Annan by Judge Waki in a sealed envelope, the guilt in our politicians has given them sleepless nights and they have retreated to their tribal cocoons to mobilise their community for support in the most likely event that their names are in the envelope. Unlike before when Ruto frequently appeared on TV in his office or in the field talking agriculture, his face is today on TV in all manner of public barazas in his backyard trashing the Waki report! Why is he so jittery that he can’t wait for the names to be made public? Does he know something the rest of us don’t have a clue?
Just to veer off the debate, why did Ruto get all his wealth? Where was he employed after university? How did he make all his money if he was never employed like the rest of us and we don’t have so much money? Have Kenyans forgotten the YK92, Moi’s machine that looted state coffers to fund Kanu during 1992 polls under Ruto and Jirongo? Isn’t Ruto an accused in court for grabbing a forest land in Ngong Forest and selling it to KPLC at inflated prices? Yet Ruto and Jirongo appear on our TVs lecturing us on how we have been made more poor by others (not seeing themselves first)! One feels like puking when we listen to all the lies on TV and digest them like the gospel according to St Luke.
Mr Ruto’s stand on the two reports clearly illustrates the hypocracy of our politicians. Mr Ruto was very vocal that the Kriegler report should be implemented 100% and even told ECK chiefs, led by Mr Kivuitu, they should not wait to be shown the door but should resign immediately if they had any little conscience remaining in them. The Kriegler report was sweet music to Mr Ruto and his ODM. But the Waki report turns out to be a bitter pill for Mr Ruto and a section of ODM and they want it trashed. Why? They suspect their names are in the sealed envelope!
Initially, Kibaki was categorical that any killer/mastermind of the post-election violence should not expect any mercy from Kenyans. On the other hand, Raila and his group were demanding total amnesty for the suspects. That was around June. Today, Kibaki and Raila have swapped positions. Kibaki is calling for forgiveness – suggesting we sweep the Waki report under the carpet and not even place it on the shelves to gather dust! Why the sudden change of heart? Is his inner conscience being pricked by some guilt? And Raila is now calling for the total implementation of the Waki report. Kibaki and Raila both expressed their opposing views on the same platform. Who is fooling who here? Aren’t Kenyans being taken round some circus they don’t know anything about?
Let’s face the truth Kenyans. If the post-election violence was the work of small timers and villagers like most of us, those involved would have been ruthlessly hunted down and those who were luck to escape Maj Gen Ali’s live bullets would be languishing in jail not knowing what hit them. Our jails are bursting to the brims due to congestion. Who have filled the jails? Isn’t it small time crooks? And where are the big time crooks who have milked us dry and made us to slaughter each other and swim in our blood? Aren’t they the ones we vote into leadership and Parliament because they have a lot of money to bribe our conscience – with the same money they have looted from us? Kenyan parliament is full of thieves and murderers. The crooks in Parliament have committed crimes that are collectively bigger than all the crimes committed in the people languishing in jails. Yet, the MPs are walking free with their fat bellies while the wanyonge are languishing in the prisons! Why don’t Kenyans see this when politicians rush to them seeking protection from their tribes?
If post-election violence was the work of the small fish, there would have been no need to form the Waki and Kriegler commissions. The small timers would have tasted the full force of the law on the same day they committed the crimes. The BIG BOYS in Kenya are untouchable and we have to form commissions to investigate what is common knowledge to us. This is a tactic to buy time to give the BIG BOYS a soft landing. When did we ever hear of a commission of inquiry to investigate cries of the wanyonge and the down-trodden? When did we ever hear calls to FORGIVE the wanyonge and the down-trodden? When did we ever hear DIALOGUE being encouraged to determine the fate of the wanyonge and the down-trodden?
If Kenyans want the culture of impunity to end in this country, then we must take hard decisions and tough choices. Anyone who contributed to the post-election violence – either by stealing votes or calling on Kenyans to fight – should carry their own cross regardless of their tribe. Let’s all forget our tribes if we all want to secure a good future for our children and future generations. The post-election violence was directly triggered by both Kibaki and Raila and they must lead the pack going to Hague for trial. That is the surest way to end the culture of impunity and re-unite our country. Why take foot soldiers to Hague and leave out the two masterminds of the violence? Kibaki and Raila diehard supporters can frown over that but the truth is always a bitter pill to swallow. While you are wallowing in poverty and paying huge taxes, Kibaki and Raila don’t know of your sufferings. Think outside the box before you hurl insults for telling the truth.
Kenyans should vehemently demand that no tribunal should be formed in Kenya. All killers and masterminds of the post-election should be frog-marched to Hague which is neutral. If the trials are held here, we will start looking at the tribe of the judge, prosecutors versus who is on trial. Due to our polluted minds, the outcome of the trial will be measured in our minds on the basis of tribe of the judge and the accused. Why are both PNU and ODM against the Hague trial? Because they know they can use their money and influence to have a trail that is favourable to them? They want the Waki List tabled in Parliament so that they trash it like the List of Shame they trashed in the 8th Parliament, which had listed MPs who had stolen public land.
As I have stated above, the Waki commission was the product of Koffi Annan mediation talks which were backed by the international community. The European Union and the US paid bills for the Annan team. ODM knew this all along. Kenya did not pay a cent for their upkeep and allowances. By then, Koffi Annan and European Union and the US were regarded as God-sent angels in ODM ranks because they had forced the Kibaki mountain to move to the negation table.
After the Waki report was out, ODM brigade now shouts from the rooftop they don’t want the Waki report and that the international community has no business lecturing to Kenyans on how to conduct their affairs! Good Lord! Why was it in order in January for the international community lecture to Kenyans on how to conduct their affairs? Koffi Annan did not have any business coming to Kenya in January if he was not invited by ODM. This is why ODM’s latest twist in the Waki debate stinks. ODM wants local trial of suspects.
In Dec, ODM called Kenyans to revolt against the “duly” elected president and told us they would not challenge his election in court because they did not have faith in Kenya’s judicial system. What reforms have taken place in the judiciary since then to make Ruto and other ODM leaders have faith in our courts? Isn’t it hypocritical? ODM’s invite of Koffi Annan and the international community is like a person who sharpens a knife not knowing it will end up cutting him afterwards.
ODM and all the others should face the international knife which we sharpened together because we cannot manage our elections and the best way we know to contest an election defeat/theft (whichever side you stand) is to slaughter each other – when those who are ordering the slaughter are safe in the confines of their well-guarded Nairobi homes. They poured and continued adding more petrol in the villages as they watched the bloodbath on TVs from the comfort of their secluded homes – together with their wives and children. We never saw them, their wives or children leading the battle fronts. We did not hear any casualties in Kibaki, Raila’s, PNU’s and ODM ranks. But close to 3,000 (police doctored figures put it at around 1,700) Kenyans lost their lives. Helpless families were burnt alive in an Eldoret church as they cried for mercy.
Poor Kenyans lost their jobs, business, homes, property, animals, dignity and pride – they are still refugees in their own country. Poor Kenyans live in tents miles away from their home – which offer them little protection from rain, disease and cold weather at night – as Kibaki and Raila sleep under the warm hands of their wives in their electric heated bedrooms. The poor Kenyans are suffering – not because they did anything wrong but because they were perceived to have voted for the wrong presidential candidates. Yet, all of us Kenyans have forgotten the cliff we stood watching our country almost exploding into a bonfire. We are now cheering when our OWN politicians come to us seeking our support to OUR communities (read the politicians) over the looming Hague trial. Why do these politicians come to us only when their careers are threatened and not when they receive their fat salaries to share with us?
Kenyans, rise above tribes and allow every politician who contributed to the bloodbath to carry their own cross and not drag your communities into a selfish debates aimed at protecting their careers and families. Kenyans should tell all politicians – Kibaki and Raila included – that the Waki report was funded by our money and we collectively own it as 37 million Kenyans. The document is not the exclusive property of MPs, Kibaki and Raila for them to decide on their own what they want to do with it. The collective will of the Kenyan people should prevail over the selfish interests of these damned politicians.
We either stand together as Kenyans and not as tribes or we will all sink together.
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