Also published a few minutes ago: The sins of Raila Odinga
Dear Mr President,
Let me start by congratulating you and wishing you all the best in the herculean task you have ahead of you.
I am of course aware that you have a lot on your mind just now and the subject of this letter may look like some annoying nuisance just now, but please sir, hear me out.
There are a lot of terrible things that your predecessor George W. Bush did that will take a long time to be corrected and some may never be put right at all, even in the next 1000 years.
The subject of this letter is to draw your attention to one such mistake made right here in Kenya which is going to cause serious trouble very soon if nothing is done.
I am sure that you are aware that American policies over a long time have allowed impunity to thrive in Kenya and other third world countries and this culminated in the post-election skirmishes in December 2007. As usual the Americans took the lead in solving the problem which ironically they had played the biggest role in creating. Am sure you are already aware of what I am talking about.
Now, Mr President the poor Kenyan people who voted decisively are stuck with a coalition government that they did NOT vote for. We are stuck with an American idea created to clean up a mess which the Americans heavily contributed to. This bloated cabinet and government is a huge burden to the people especially when you add the huge salaries legislators have ordained for themselves. Not to mention the fact that this coalition government has already registered itself in the annals of our history as the most corrupt ever.
The main reason for my writing you this note is that even as you read it, dark clouds are rapidly gathering in the horizon that will culminate in such a serious blood bath in Kenya that the last skirmishes where thousands died will look like Christmas party (to quote the words of a Judge Kriegler).
The Kenyan people have been able to take a lot lying down over the years however even a cowardly dog becomes extremely dangerous when it is cornered. I am afraid that is exactly where the Kenyan people are now. And this could not have happened at a worse time because there is serious hunger and famine sweeping across the country. Add that to the deep still-unresolved-wounds of December 2007 and the aftermath and you will realize, Mr President that what we have here is a keg of gunpowder and gasoline with sparks flickering only inches away.
Your administration does NOT need an extra crisis of this magnitude in Africa and I think you can take some steps early using your good office to right some of the wrongs that have been done against the Kenyan people and in the process pre-empt what could be as big a blood bath as the Rwandan problem which co-incidentally happened the last time a democrat was in the White House.
I think you need to help Kenyans return to the polls as soon as possible maybe with a foreign or international constituted body to run the elections. The truth is that Kenyans are fed up with the current crop of leaders. One really sickening thing is that they are still thinking and planning their things along tribal lines. For example a recent cabinet re-shuffle by the president illegally in power put his Kikuyu tribesman in the powerful Finance portfolio, which his opponents have correctly interpreted to mean that he is digging in for war.
I am persuaded that after your inspiring election win against all odds, Kenyans are ready to vote out their tribal chiefs and usher in a brand new generation of leaders who will make Africa proud. I think that in planning any election, efforts must be made to register as many young people to vote as possible. Sir, the youngsters of Kenya are crazy about you and I think they are ready to do something really big here in Africa.
In writing this I know you are bold and have already demonstrated that in so many ways. So let me admit that in helping out your Kenyan brothers in this problem, I am sure your critics will be many both in America and even here in Kenya. But you will be doing the right thing. I am sure. And with a strong stable new democracy in place in Kenya, it will make your work in the region a lot easier.
Good day Mr President and thank you for your time.
Also published a few minutes ago: The sins of Raila Odinga
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Sunday, January 25, 2009
This Is A Quagmire
We are stuck!
Tell me, what in the world happened to Prime Minister Raila Odinga? Is this the same man we thought was a democrat and voted for in droves? Is this the man the Diaspora Kenyans welcomed to cities across the globe, hailing as the man to bring needed change to Kenya? How can it now turn out that he is railing against the media, threatening to deal with "...a certain media house?" And how did it happen that his party was not in Parliament to stop the passage of a bill that was to gag the media? Incidentally, have you heard the PM or any of his brigades talk about reversing that dreadful signature the President scribbled somewhere to bring the law to life? In my opinion, all these incidents amount to this: Raila Amollo Odinga is no democrat, and neither is he a reformer. This man may well be a dangerous dictator hiding his true colors from us until we make the big mistake of electing him president.
Let us rehearse for a moment the Raila we've come to know since he became Prime Minister. He started off by trying to betray his friend and erstwhile fighter, William Ruto. It took the threat of a serious rift in the ODM for him to change his mind. Next came the issue of unga. He went out of his way to assure us that prices would immediately go down. Tell me if they have. Then came the gas/petrol mess. Apparently we should be reassured by the fact that he didn't know what was going on there, so he is clean. And the corruption that's now roiling the Kibaki-Raila administration? The two principals have found a way to deal with it: Collective responsibility. If this is not a quagmire, what is?
In fact, what should we make of Raila's son's alleged involvement in shifting of corn/maize from its intended point of delivery to Southern Sudan? And what should we make of his younger son's involvement in crashing a government BMW when the rest of us were asleep? What, I ask, should we make of the Prime Minister's increasing agitation and his wish to shut us up? Is it because he doesn't want his increasing goofs to hit the headlines? Or is this just a man who being in the government has finally exposed his true character?
We have four more years to go with this painful load we're carrying called the Coalition Government. In that time, the full character of all the key players in this Kenyan version of a Russian Roulette will be revealed. But if what we have seen in all of them, especially my brother Raila, is anything to go by, we're in deep trouble. As we have called for in this and other forums, the time to seek new leadership has come. We must be prepared to lock horns with Kibaki's man, Uhuru Kenyatta, or we will watch as Kenya goes to the dogs in the year of our Lord 2012.
And just like Mutahi Ngunyi yesterday, let me pledge my support and admiration for the teachers who are fighting for "Haki Yetu." Teach us how to deal with and defeat the insensitivity of this cartel that has its grip tightly on Kenya's throat.
We shall overcome!
Tell me, what in the world happened to Prime Minister Raila Odinga? Is this the same man we thought was a democrat and voted for in droves? Is this the man the Diaspora Kenyans welcomed to cities across the globe, hailing as the man to bring needed change to Kenya? How can it now turn out that he is railing against the media, threatening to deal with "...a certain media house?" And how did it happen that his party was not in Parliament to stop the passage of a bill that was to gag the media? Incidentally, have you heard the PM or any of his brigades talk about reversing that dreadful signature the President scribbled somewhere to bring the law to life? In my opinion, all these incidents amount to this: Raila Amollo Odinga is no democrat, and neither is he a reformer. This man may well be a dangerous dictator hiding his true colors from us until we make the big mistake of electing him president.
Let us rehearse for a moment the Raila we've come to know since he became Prime Minister. He started off by trying to betray his friend and erstwhile fighter, William Ruto. It took the threat of a serious rift in the ODM for him to change his mind. Next came the issue of unga. He went out of his way to assure us that prices would immediately go down. Tell me if they have. Then came the gas/petrol mess. Apparently we should be reassured by the fact that he didn't know what was going on there, so he is clean. And the corruption that's now roiling the Kibaki-Raila administration? The two principals have found a way to deal with it: Collective responsibility. If this is not a quagmire, what is?
In fact, what should we make of Raila's son's alleged involvement in shifting of corn/maize from its intended point of delivery to Southern Sudan? And what should we make of his younger son's involvement in crashing a government BMW when the rest of us were asleep? What, I ask, should we make of the Prime Minister's increasing agitation and his wish to shut us up? Is it because he doesn't want his increasing goofs to hit the headlines? Or is this just a man who being in the government has finally exposed his true character?
We have four more years to go with this painful load we're carrying called the Coalition Government. In that time, the full character of all the key players in this Kenyan version of a Russian Roulette will be revealed. But if what we have seen in all of them, especially my brother Raila, is anything to go by, we're in deep trouble. As we have called for in this and other forums, the time to seek new leadership has come. We must be prepared to lock horns with Kibaki's man, Uhuru Kenyatta, or we will watch as Kenya goes to the dogs in the year of our Lord 2012.
And just like Mutahi Ngunyi yesterday, let me pledge my support and admiration for the teachers who are fighting for "Haki Yetu." Teach us how to deal with and defeat the insensitivity of this cartel that has its grip tightly on Kenya's throat.
We shall overcome!
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