Our MPs Playing Old Music to Bored Gallery

I burst out laughing in the wee hours of this morning (Kenyan time) over a very interesting news item.

Have you ever heard of the Bay of Bengal? Well there is a tiny rock island there called New Moore Island (kind of reminds me of of Migingo Island). India and Bangladesh have been fighting over the island for almost 30 years with no solution in site. Now suddenly the island has disappeared. Yep, vanished into thin air. The island has actually been swallowed by the sea. The water provoked by Global warming has just gradually risen and swallowed up the island.

Hon Najib Balala: Playing to the gallery.

In fact the associated press has quoted one scientist who put it very well. The man said: What these two countries could not achieve from years of talking, has been resolved by global warming. You can read the full article HERE.

My message to our parliamentarians still playing games with the new constitution is simple. Just continue with your side shows and very soon you may find that what you are fighting over has disappeared.

I have completely ignored what the MPs have been saying in the house. The whole lot of jokers are just playing to the gallery. So that when they finally get home at the end of the day, a youngster can say to them: “Daddy I saw you on TV, you gave a very nice speech in parliament.”

The real debate over the constitution is going on in secret meetings popping up all over the place. So serious is this phenomena that one may be forgiven for thinking that they will soon overshadow and swallow the real parliamentary proceedings. Even the final vote will be decided in secret meetings at this rate.

Let us look at the various factions.

There is the the Mombasa one, which incidentally has got no clear leader. Because Najib Balala has been shoved aside as de facto leader he is now busy “calling for an end to these secret meetings” and ensuring that the press is capturing his sentiments. Nice touch after the long-winded speech he gave again for the benefit of the cameras in parliament yesterday (I wonder who wrote it for him). Can you imagine parliamentarians are spending cash now on the wording of their contributions in parliament? Maybe this idea of cameras in the house was not such a good one after all.

Anyway, our Mombasa guys just want to ensure that a substantial fraction of the billions that Mombasa earns for the country from tourism and the port, remains at the Coast and somehow benefits Coastal folks. I don’t blame them. Except that their secret meetings worry me. Why not meet in the open like the women faction are?

Then we have the women faction representing the long-suffering women of Kenya. Taking expert legal advice they want to ensure that women are not short-changed once again. No harm in that. My heart goes out to them.

But then we come to the really nasty chaps. There are actually 3 factions. There is the Kibaki faction that usually meets the president or his representative, not to discuss but to receive instructions on the next move. Then there is the Raila faction which usually meets to discuss but at the end Raila instructs. Then there is the Ruto/Uhuru faction which I will call the Ocampo faction for obvious reasons. They usually meet to strategize and decide what to do mainly to frustrate the Raila camp. This has led some to believe that this faction is taking instructions from the Kibaki faction or at the very least is sympathetic to it.

But all the trouble stems from the Kibaki faction. The main worry of this faction is the president losing control. The argument for a two-tier government (national and counties) because it is “cheaper” than a three tier system is just a smoke screen. Their main issue is having a senate that can impeach the president. Taking legal advice this group of conservatives has found a way to keep a powerful president in the draft constitution who will protect their interests after Kibaki is gone. That means covering up their tracks as well. This legal advice has told them, quite rightly that the Senate could easily “deal with a president” and thus frustrate their plans. What really terrifies them is that despite their fight for more counties, it is clear that the most influential regions in the Senate will be the Rift Valley and Western Kenya, by sheer numbers. These are the guys who have thrown a spanner in the works when it looked like we were home and dry for a new constitution. The Daily Nation reported that the march to a new constitution is unstoppable and that parliament cannot stop it. However the Kibaki faction may stall the process indefinitely simply by ensuring that parliament keeps sending back the draft to the COE. The same parliament has the power to pass another law canceling or amending the act that is currently driving the process, or so the Kibaki faction believes.

The Raila faction wants a smooth transition to the new constitution with no major decisison being made without Raila’s nod. And all loopholes sealed for Raila to win the next general elections without any fiddling with votes. But there are other priorities that have suddenly taken centre stage. Like dealing with William Ruto and teaching him the political lesson of his life. As to whether they will be able to achieve this, we just have to wait and see. I think events will overtake things and Ruto will soon be on his way to Europe for an indefinite stay, although the Kibaki faction has assured him it will not happen.

Keep fighting folks, the ship called Kenya is already creaking and almost bursting at the seams over years of impunity and injustice. It will only take a very small spark and this thing will fall apart into the sea and what the kingpins have been fighting for will no longer exist. Just like that island in the Bay of Bengal. Very sad.

Meanwhile Kenyans are busy shouting themselves hoarse telling the MPs to leave the draft alone because it reflects the wishes of the Kenyan people. Methinks it is like shouting at a hungry lion feeding on a juicy antelope to leave the meat for a hungrier leopard.

P.S. I have not agreed with Phil for a very long time. But I can’t help but agree with him when he says that it is always ODM compromising and giving ground to PNU over the draft constitution. The PNU strategy thus far has always been to create “small fires” and then pretend to compromise over them in exchange for gaining advantage over a major issue they wanted to push forward. I don’t like people who think they are too smart.

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Ooops we forgot about the Central Kenya vote

2007 and early 2008 were really bad. Terrible is probably a better word.

I remember talking to a few distraught Kenyans based abroad wondering where their old parents would go if the violence spread into Nairobi. There was a real danger of that happening. One used to call me every night hoping to get inside information and would sometimes cry on the phone.

But the human mind has an amazing way of healing and forgetting old wounds. Especially if life goes back to normal, which it has for most Kenyans. And so for the vast majority of Kenyans the violence in that general election is long forgotten. For these fortunate Kenyans, when they hear that there is fresh voter registration countrywide and we should prepare for elections, it is not such a big deal.

But there are those for whom the word “elections” is the kind of thing that can easily send them to hospital for trauma treatment. I am talking about the poor Kenyans who are still in IDP camps. Those who survived the ordeal psychologically that is. I can assure you that being transformed from an employer to a beggar overnight will kill most people.

My point is that we have an election coming up in 2012 (at the very latest) and the real danger we are facing now is witnessing the most serious voter apathy in the history of the country. Some Kenyans will be too traumatized to actually approach a ballot box and the other half will be too angry (what difference did it make the last time?)

Whatever happens you can be sure that the Kikuyu vote is going to be affected in a big way in the next elections. For those who don’t know this was the community that was most affected and traumatized by the last general elections.

Traditionally the Kikuyu vote has decided general elections in Kenya. Even in 2007 when everybody was sure that the Kikuyu vote would be insignificant, it actually influenced things in the end because the community’s massive support for President Kibaki reduced his landslide defeat and made it possible for his handlers to attempt to manipulate the results which they did with disastrous effect.

Interestingly some presidential aspirants from central province have already seen what will become very obvious as the elections draw nearer. That the candidate who successfully positions themselves as the genuine defender of the traumatized Kenyans who passed through IDP camps or are still there will effortlessly carry the Central Kenya vote. Peter Kenneth is working very hard at that but more are bound to follow.

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Press Release

Villagers now paying a heavy price for kindness to Jomo Kenyatta

Hello, this is the first time am sending an email to the media, though not sure of where or who to contact. I thought this being a source of media you will be interested to know stories that are happening in small village where maybe very few are aware of their rights and because of this the city council is taking advantage of poor people and doing whatever it takes to make their lives a nightmare. Today it is happening to them tomorrow it may happen to you or somebody else.

This is the story. I am a Kenyan lady born in a small village called Kabiria. Kabiria is located near Naivasha Road, Kawangware/Riruta Satellite road. I am sure most of you do not know that in this village used to live Margaret Kenyatta, daughter of our first President the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. One day it happened that Mzee was to visit his daughter but there was a problem to get to Margaret's house, he had to use roads that were larger, so some villagers decided to give a portion of their land to make it easier for the president to get to his daughter's place not knowing in what way their kindness and affection for their president was going to affect them in future. So from there the road become a public road called Kabiria road. I recall my dad complaining because the Kenya power had erected electricity poles in his shambaa (land) without any notice.

When the villagers complained they were told that the one in charge had been given money and all the notes to give to all the landowners before the project was carried out. Sadly enough no villagers got the note or the money. What happened? It was the time when you could not say anything about the leaders or directors carrying out projects, because if you did you would be in trouble. That brought a lot of problems because the electricity was put very near the road and the people's houses. Because per the law the houses had to be 3feet.away from the fence or poles, most innocent people almost lost they homes.

CURRENTLY.2009-2010
It was early one morning, when my brother went to pickup letters from the post office. He gave the letters to my dad. One of the letters was from the city council of Nairobi, demanding part of his land to enlarge the road. All the villagers received a similar letter. A week later the village was visited by city council workers putting marks on people's houses and businesses for demolition. As I said before very few people know their rights and are brave enough to go to the city council to ask what all that meant, unfortunately some people were afraid and they started bringing their houses and businesses down. Only one or two people were brave enough to file a case because whether a law was passed or not people should be compensated. The people built houses per the laws then, a responsible city should compensate residence who loses their property for public purposes. It is only fair and it is their right. That was not enough, the villages that were able to rebuild did it but the sad thing is a month after rebuilding the city council came again, marked the houses telling the villages to move their fences back a second time. The poor villagers did exactly that AND I ask myself what is this project that is changing day and night. I thought a project is well studied before implementation. You know what, last week the villagers received another letter telling them to move 30 feet back. The third demand in less than a year. I think its time to put this into the open and find OUT what THE SO CALLED MBURU a NEWLY PROMOTED ENGINEER AT THE CITY COUNCIL wants with the villagers although he is from the same village. He is not affected by what he is implementing. He is frustrating the villagers and being brutal partly because the road doesn't affect him. Here is a message for him from the villagers, "IT IS SO SAD FOR YOU TO THINK THAT YOU ARE DEVOLPING THE PLACE. YOU ARE NOT, INSTEAD YOU ARE KILLING AND DESTROYING THE PEOPLE. THE PEOPLE ARE TIRED. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.THE VILLAGERS ARE GOING TO DEMAND FOR THEIR RIGHTS AS PER THE LAW OF THE LAND".

This is a historic village with a lot of Kenyan heritage. This is where the late Paramount Chief Kinyanjui, The late mother of late Edward Mathu lived and where Margaret Kenyatta lived and was visited by the late president Kenyatta on many occasions. The people in this village are asking what next, who will stand with them. The media people need to hold the city accountable for their actions. The human rights groups need to fight for the rights of the poor, and the government needs to uphold the law by being fair to its citizens. Please join me to help the villagers fight for their rights, because it is inhuman the way this man Mburu is treating them. Making them live in nightmare. When our people are affected we are also affected.

Thank you.

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