The Kenyan Presidential race – Political hullabaloo?

So in the past few months the political scene has been actively overtaken by they who want to be the next Kenyan Head of State. A little ambitious I’d say but hey, it is indeed a constitutional right to vie for any political seat provided you have satisfied the minimum requirements so stipulated by the Constitution. That said, it is no news that ‘presidential aspirants’ have come out in their numbers to publicly declare their interest in the top seat. But this is just not any other presidential race. See, since the Constitution allows for a maximum of two terms, it means that Kenyans will be presented with their fourth president since independence. This is the making of history. Particular individuals therefore believe that this is the time that they can actually try their hand in this race and win it as there will be no incumbent fighting for it. It is what they say, a free for all affair. This brings us to the candidates. Let us be honest. There is no way (and this I say with all due respect that I can muster to these honorable seniors) that Kalonzo can/will not win the presidency. No offence, but I mean, seriously? And he has hopes? And let us not look far for reasons as to why he can’t clinch it. Let us just say history speaks for itself. And word of advice Mr. Kalonzo, next time try and choose a better name for your political party. ‘Wiper’ just doesn’t cut it. Wamalwa is next on line. This one, I don’t even know what to say. First of all, the ministerial docket alone that he now heads is already too big for him – think about it. And let us be honest, my learned seniors Mutula Kilonzo and Martha Karua before him were actually pretty good at that job too. The justice ministry requires thick skin, courage and unlimited knowledge of the law. I believe Wamalwa just happened to be the fall back guy. Raphael Tuju is another one. Speculations arose as to what his intentions really were and some have gone ahead to label him a spoil sport – one who just wants to split the Luo votes so that Raila can not get it all (the Luo votes) (something that does seem to be true anyway – not that I am bothered). Once ousted out of his Parliamentary seat because of going with the ‘wrong party’, he had to go seek refuge with the Party of National Unity and ended up being given a post by Kibaki whose job he now wants to take up. I have nothing against Ole Kiyiapi and I really think it is brave of him to up and declare his presidential ambitions. Having not been a politician before - even though he was working for the government as a PS in the Ministry of Education - it can be anticipated that he might be able to come with fresh untarnished ideas of a normal citizen. Could he be our Obama? Martha Karua, would be perfect save for one thing, she is a woman. Kenyans are not ready for a lady president unfortunately enough. In my list, Karua is one of the few candidates who I can say has the best interests of Kenyans at heart (and this I’ll always repeat) but after her dedicated fight for the president during the post election violence – a time Kenyans needed peace and quiet the most – she is viewed as the villain she is not. I guess it would be safe to say that she is that person we all love to hate and hate to love but hey, she comes as raw as she can get. Isn’t that what Kenya needs in her Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces? Yes, I would readily vote for her. And she is one of my preferred candidates at the moment. George Saitoti, Musalia Mudavadi and Peter Kenneth are a whole lot alike in that while they are perceived to be the more polite, clear headed ones, they are not ‘hands on’ enough to lead the country just yet. Peter Kenneth’s parliamentary seat has provided him with a platform that has helped show the nation what he is capable of doing given the chance but sadly enough, the normal Kenyan will not take that into account. Lets face it, we are all too ethnic oriented to vote someone in for his/her record. If heading ODM with Raila is anything to go by, Musalia Mudavadi would have been the ‘seasoned’ politician who has never ever even headed a political party on his own. Not so sure that translates into a leader anymore. That said, we are left with a bunch of individuals who are all too greedy for power that they can not even come together and help back each other to avoid a run off come next year’s general election because that’s definitely what is going to happen anyway. Then we have our three political best friends – Raila, Ruto and Uhuru. These, if I were to write anything on them it would sure turn into a book. Need I say more?

Kenyans don’t be fooled

Over the past months with the introduction of the ICC chief Prosecutor Louis Moreno Ocampo into Kenyans’ lives, politicians especially those named as the perpetrators of the PEV have been sent running helter skelter. As much as they would like to make Kenyans believe that all is okay, they are hurting inside and yes, they are panicking too. They are very afraid, even more so now that they’ve been there at least for the preliminary standard procedures.

Since December, we’ve seen and heard all kinds of unnecessary insults hurled from one group to the other. I must admit that here the Prime Minister should have tried real hard not to be sucked into all this but unfortunately it is done. After all, he is a man and one can only take in insults for so long. I do not blame him. The group that annoys me most (yes, even Raila let me down too) however is the Ruto – Kenyatta alliance. This would have been the time for them to show to the world how ready they are for leadership. This is the time they should have shown the world how ready they were to deliver Kenya into the Promised Land. However, they choose to do this in the most juvenile of ways. With emotions running high and attacking the Honorable Prime Minister in more ways than one and hitting below the belt from every angle which only help to reduce their credibility.

How can I be expected to vote for someone who only knows how to use profanities to put his word across? Cursing and swearing as to how ‘Raila will never occupy the state house’ is to say the least, very inciting. How can I be expected to vote for one who instead of showing me his strengths only knows how to point at the weaknesses of others (which most times do not even hold water anyway) while at the same time insulting the very persons? I may sound tribal here (which I rarely am) but let me stick to having the Prime Minister’s back.

Kenyans are not ready to have an emotional and juvenile lot ruling the nation - and may it be known that am not necessarily advocating for a Raila presidency here. But hey, let it be anyone else BUT those two who’ve been doing nothing but creating pandemonium wherever they go. Let them be young but not juvenile in their undertakings. Let them be young but ready for leadership. There is no need for doing something just to prove a point. It is this kind of thinking that will take Kenya into the depths of darkness and heights of escalated State failure. Threats don’t work any more. My advice to Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr. William Ruto (who I really sympathise with on the ongoing case with the ICC) is to take a step back and read the moods of the Kenyans. There is no way you will be saying this today then change it 24hours later just to suit your interests. We are more enlightened now. Do not insult Kenyans’ intelligence. We refuse to be hoodwinked.

And to those Members of Parliament who claim to swear allegiance to the Ruto- Uhuru alliance, you are even most annoying. While I have never heard you sing patriotic songs on any other day on your motherland you now know how best to do that in the Netherlands. It does not work like that my friends. Go get busy in parliament and pass the necessary laws that will ensure the proper implementation of our new Constitution. That is time wastage that really does not help us Kenyans much. Pretense is the worst form of betrayal. It cuts deep.

For granny, with love

Love is when u lose someone
And actually feel that a part of you is gone
Life is when you spend your time on earth
With all your loved ones by your side
A fulfilling life is when you spend your life
With little or no regrets at all

Mrs. Alice Okello was a wife, a mother, a sister, an aunt
A grandma (my grandma) and a great grandmother to many.
Today we come together; we are drawn together because of her
But today is a day that we weep not cos of her passing
But instead celebrate a life well lived

So we mustn’t tie ourselves with tears
But instead be happy that we had these precious years
Grieve for a while we have
Tears have stung our eyes
But all this has been comforted by trust
That it is only for a while that we must part

And since life must go on
We are saddened by the fact that
You no longer will be a part of it
So to God we pray, we beseech Him
That your spirit continues to live on
Among us, within us
That what u stood for in life
May be carried on by us

For when our time too will reach
And we must start our journey to come your way
We just hope that you’ll be there
To receive us with a smile
And say, ‘welcome home’

God bless you grandma.

Why Kibaki is NOT a statesman

Kibaki will never cease to amaze me! First of all I still don’t believe he actually pulled it off by stealing the 2007 election. (yes it was a stolen one and even they that voted for him have gone on record to say, ‘enyewe hio aliiba’. The international community could not agree any more too. Havin seen people die as a result including his kinsmen who were murdered and/or burnt to death in the great rift, he still goes ahead to defend the perpetrators. Amazing!
The latest shocker, is the KKK issue. In naming the appointments, or nominations thereof, he ensures that all three tribes are catered for. Muigai a kikuyu, Kioko a kamba and that Kalenjin whatever his name is. Would it be wrong then to say that Kibaki is just but an old tribal goon who wants to leave power having imposed his choice on us?! He wants to have people work for him even after his retirement. The best he shoulda done was to leave politics pole pole. This to say the least, is impunity at its best and its not even funny!
Martha Karua in yesternight’s news also went ahead to say the same and express her disagreement wit the president’s way of exercising his power. And by the way people should know that right now Karua is the one person in Kenya who has our interests at heart *am just saying.* Even if they say that consultations do not have to come to a hundred percent agreement between the parties, there should be some consensus on the same. I do not agree with the President and if I could, I would tell him to his face!!! Ethnicity is okay, but not if it is attached to political issues.
Another thing we as Kenyans should not tolerate is the matter of endorsement in political parties. For example kibaki goin out of power and saying that his blessings are with the KKK…. (and that term has everything wrong with it. Remember the Ku Klux Klan?) I loved the way in 2002 the way we the people showed Moi that we didn’t care whether his choice was Uhuru cos that was simply not our choice! The only point I come to an agreement with Mr. Moi is the fact that he is also against the tribal alliances that seem to be cropping up.
People, with every year that comes it’s only logical that we become wiser…. The rest of Kenya is bigger than the KKK. Let that be known to the KKK affiliates

Tribalism is here to stay

Lemmie break it down. Here’s the thing. We all (or at least most of the readers in this forum) are Africans. When one is born therefore, s/he is born into a particular community. These communities associate themselves with different cultures and practices that form the backbone of the community thereby defining them as a people. These people in their day to day associations communicate through a common language that is the tribe.

Now there is a thing called allegiance. This is what one pays to his/her most immediate source of sense of belonging. In America for example, we see on t.v people sending shout outs to their homeboys and/or those in their hometowns. This is usually immediately broken down to the ‘hood’ if they are groups of people from the same hometown. Similarly for Kenya, if a Kenyan goes abroad, s/he will pride herself in the fact that s/he is Kenyan and automatically so. If we are still in Kenya, a luo will pride himself in his tribe just as much as a luhya or kalenjin or kikuyu would (politics aside). And they all have something to bring to the table. There is no lesser group (and this is what we fail to understand (politically)).

Going back to politics and any other scenario, let us try and think about this. Since we all owe an allegiance to our tribes and ‘tribemates’ thereof, we will always strive to ensure that we protect our own. It gets to a point that we even extend the sibling status to people from our tribes and call each other brothers and sisters. Why then would one be expected to extend a hand to a foreign person yet ‘s/he is in the same dilemma as my ‘brother?’’ one would ask. Consider the fact that in Kenya, career progressions highly depend on one’s ethnicity.

Maybe (just maybe) this is what presented the President and the PM with a dilemma in the much contested Judiciary nominations. Maybe (just maybe) this is what informed the appointment of Justice Gicheru as CJ in 2003 by Kibaki (though most Kenyans were happy with his appointment at the time. Anything to do away with Chunga at the time). And it is also probably the reason behind the public outcry from every corner of the nation with people asking when it will be their ‘time to eat’. Tribalism is here with us to stay. Sadly, it is for both the wrong and right reasons.