PLUS How Ngilu and Balala were sneaked into the cabinet... Politicians
never change just like leopards never change their spots. The president
may now be having deep regrets over rescinding his earlier decision NOT
to include politicians in his cabinet. (Actually the latest information
I have is that an extremely influential personality very close to him pleaded with him to change his mind. The revealing article is in a recent issue of my Kumekucha's raw notes.) After
the incident a few months ago where we give insider info on how Balala
is said to have asked for a bribe from a mining company in exchange for NOT
cancelling their license, Ngilu is now at the centre of a major land
scandal.
This clearly justifies the policy of never appointing
politicians to cabinet slots. You really can never teach old dogs new
tricks. Most of the other members of the cabinet are professionals and
people eager to retain their reputations and good standing which is
critical to enhancing their careers further after their terms in cabinet
come to an end as they inevitably will. In sharp contrast politicians
in the banana republic don't care and use their positions of influence
to make as much money as they can in the shortest time possible.
------ Incidentally
the adage easy come, easy go comes into play here because former
legislator Ferdinand Waititu is said to be very broke and penniless at
the moment and is living on handouts. Quite amazing for somebody who
earned a million bob a month for 5 years and had access to all kinds of
perks and loan facilities to enhance his financial standing. This is excluding the
other numerous money making "deals" that are always available in the august house. He is hardly the exception. For instance yet another
former legislator is rumoured to be now walking to town all the way from
Runda for lack of matatu fare. Supporting the widely held view that in the banana republic once you enter politics and then lose an election you are finished in every sense of the word.
You will be shell shocked to
discover the real reason for the recent well publicized spat between
Nairobi senator Mike Sonko and embattled Rachel Shebesh. The information
is in my latest Weekly Intelligence Briefings.
Peter Kariuki is
almost 70 years old now but for the last 31 years he has been fighting
to clear his name and to get back his military rank. Those are 31 years
of his life that he has lost and are gone forever.
The Daily Nation yesterday published a fascinating piece on the sad story of Kariuki. Read it HERE.
In
fact Kariuki was lucky in that he missed the hangman's noose by a
whisker. And it all happen simply because he was the “wrong tribe.” Mulinge with Mahmood Mohammed in the 80s
Senior
military and even police appointments have always been political. The
insecure Kenyan presidency in the past has been uncomfortable about
having any senior security men close to them whom they do not trust
completely. And quite often those they trust have ended up being people
from their own villages and where possible relatives. Both Ben Gethi who
headed GSU and Bernard Hinga (police commissioner) were relatives of
President Jomo Kenyatta. This has meant that promotion beyond a certain
level in the military and police has always been highly dependent on the
politics of the day rather than merit. The saddest thing here is that
many very competent and deserving officers have lost out simply because
they were the wrong tribe.
Mercifully things are beginning to change now but ever too slowly.
But
back to Kariuki's tale. The only reason that Kariuki headed the air
force under Moi was because that wing of the KDF has always been "highly
technical" requiring officers with a strong academic background
(especially in the sciences). The result is that to this day most of the
air force personnel are either Luo or Kikuyu.
It is no secret that the air force has always looked down on non-airforce personnel as uneducated and not very bright. "Watu wa mkono"
they used to be referred to in the 1980s. Loosely translated it means
the people who do the manual work under supervision of professionals.
The rest of the military then quite rightly felt that the air force
fellows were full of themselves and “thought that they knew everything."
Interestingly current chief spook Michael Gichangi is a former senior
air force officer. Peter Kariuki today: Lost 31 years of his life because he is a Kikuyu.
This military politics was the main reason why
the 1982 coup attempt failed. Those outside the air force who had to
make a quick decision on whether or not to join the coup plotters just
couldn't stand the idea of having the air force lead the putsch and so
when they had the chance to crush the 1982 coup attempt you can be sure
that it was done with more than a lot of relish and gratification.
And
so despite the fact that Peter Kariuki was one of the first people to
sound out the alarm that there was a coup plot in the offing in 1982
(well before it actually happened on August 1st) and even informing the
CGS at the time (General Mulinge), he was arrested, charged and jailed
for 4 years for “failing to stop the coup.” He was also stripped of his
military rank.
And it all boiled down to the then President’s
well known phobia for the Kikuyu. Moi's great fear for the Kikuyu is
illustrated clearly in my book; Dark Secrets of the Presidency. “Iyo Kikuyu lazima alijua kitu, rokota yeye.” (That Kikuyu must have known something, arrest him).
Even
more interesting was the man who replaced Kariuki at the air force
(which was re-named the “82 air force” after that failed coup.) It was
the then deputy army commander General Mahmood Mohammed. Mohammed was
quite a character. It is said that at the height of the 82 coup he did
not trust any other officer to lead the operation to re-take the KBC
(held by the air force and being used to transmit news of the
“successful” coup countrywide.) And so he removed his decorated military
jacket heavy with medals and stars and put on military fatigues to
personally lead the squad that stormed KBC and took out the air force
rebels with heavy casualties on the air force side (they were not
accepting any surrenders). Mahmoud's gun was said to have been one of
the most active in that operation.
Mahmood was a career infantry
soldier with a very limited educational background but he is the one who
got the nod to take over at the helm of the "technical" airforce,
Mahmood later went on to take over as CGS when Mulinge retired.
The
JUBILEE government needs to address and correct this great injustice
against a patriotic and faithful soldier who has suffered all these
years simply because he was the wrong tribe at the wrong place at the
wrong time. Read also;Details of '82 coup still classified information
See also; Raw notes: Rumours of Uhuru being behind Westgate persist Kumekucha Real Time Intelligence Reports; Ridiculous way "White Widow" got linked to Westgate. (Click Here to find out how you can get this info plus FREE candid updates instantly in the next few seconds OR send an email to umissedthis at gmail dot com for an instant response on how to get the reports.)
