DICLAIMER: This is how I see it-unmasked, blunt and not sugar coated and so in fairness, please be warned. This is not intended to be politically correct in terms of wording or expression and if you are angered by the contents, I accept full credit. Even family must endure tough love for the good of all.
It is amazing what a difference five short years have made in a country that was once on a trajectory to economic and political maturity! Short of an outright formal declaration of Kenya as a failed state, Western diplomats accredited to Kenya are, for the most part in charge, helping, subtly and yet vitally, hold the country together and prevent her from spiraling to the precipice of further lawlessness. Just six short years ago Kenya shined on the world stage with the display of political maturity by her peaceful people in electing president Kibaki and the peaceful transition of power from President Moi. In 2003 Kenyans were ranked as the most optimistic people on earth and even though this quickly evaporated courtesy of politics gone awry, the country generally remained peaceful, posted respectable economic gains and revival of industry. Fast forward to 2008, 2009 and for the foreseeable future and you have practically a failing state, all economic gains almost wiped out, growth all but gone now at a projected measly 1.7% from an impressive 7% leading into the 2007 elections, tribal militias and rag tag gangs supported by warlord politicians essentially manning the streets and communities; at the national level, foreign diplomats from the west are effectively running the government! What happened to Kenya? What went wrong so bad so fast? Very simple, here:
Politics vs. Governance:
Not to regurgitate the obvious but Kenya’s leaders, like most in Africa, are incapable of making a distinction between the two, most politicians equate politics to governance; our political class has substituted fear and intimidation for respect, never mind that respect, which is the true measure of leadership, is earned; and so when the election results were announced in December 2007, none of these clowns would place nationhood above self. And this gaping shortcoming was a big invitation to the West to step in. The calls for armed struggle via “Mass Action” was clearly a signal to the West to our lack of capacity to self govern, to temper our disagreements with reason and our flagrant repudiation of rule of law. Kenya’s leaders failed when it mattered most: President Kibaki was timid and cowed to wits end when the perpetrator in chief, PM Odinga lit the nation on fire through demagoguery and predatory incitement. Whereas the president’s perceived ineffectiveness and inefficiency became painfully clear, the PM exploited the country’s vulnerabilities to the hilt; the sum gain was deaths of innocent Kenyans, suspension of rule of law, a failing economy and constructive hand over of governance to the West. One can make the case against the president for complacency to Kenya’s suffering through his omissions because he failed to use the enormous constitutional mandates of his office, like Kenyatta or Moi would have, to maintain law and order to preserve the country’s stability and save lives while yet another case can be made against the PM for complicity through his direct agitation, encouragement, aiding and endorsement of law breaking to attain self promotion. So the west had no choice in the matter but to fill the vast void suddenly created by spineless morons whose leadership shelf lives long expired in the last century. In rubbishing Kenya’s courts and its entire justice system, the PM, in essence created neo colonialism in Kenya with his repeated calls to the West and “friends of Kenya’ to intervene on his behalf. The truth is many in Kenya’s top leadership would NOT even be electable to a town councilman position in the West, they would in fact be handed a one way ticket to oblivion and commanded to not EVER EVER show back in town again, that is just how horrendous our politicians are and yet many are trotting the globe and making embellished claims of knowledge as if such tours confer spontaneous wisdom!
Western Intervention:
And so when the West stepped in, Kenya’s leaders were more than willing, without debate, question or consternation, to swallow a concoction of a poison pill out of this world; without being given an opportunity to debate and vote, we became the perfect guinea pigs and to this day and for the foreseeable future will continue to reap the repercussions of this intervention.
The two page Grand Coalition agreement which Kenya’s parliament unanimously approved at record speed was perhaps the most abhorrent to the extent it was dictated to Kenya. The standard that I would have applied in adopting the measure is simple, ask the Western diplomats starting with US whether or not the same prescription would apply in the US or any other western country who dictated the Grand Coalition; in other words, what would happen in the US if in 2000 when democrat Al Gore won the popular vote and Republican George Bush was declared the winner and democrats, led by Al Gore himself, started the kind of mayhem and killings PM Odinga engineered? Would the US adopt a two page constitutional amendment to form a “Grand Coalition” government to appease Al Gore? Would these Western countries tolerate mediocre war lords like Ruto and rag tag gangs dismantling their economies and dictating the direction of their countries or would they deploy law enforcement to restore peace and order? Would African diplomats accredited to the West be allowed to dictate political solutions to the West’s political stalemates? Would Kenya’s ambassador have been allowed to counsel Al Gore in 2000? If their answer is “NO” they wouldn’t adopt what they were prescribing to Kenya, then they would be asked to quit meddling and leave us alone but, oh no, our brave leaders were more than willing and mesmerized at the West’s “concern” and quick to take orders from the West! I mean they witnessed what we went through and they rewarded law breakers by installing them in high positions in government and look where it has gotten us. Does anyone have any doubt now that we would have done way better under President Kibaki running the show a second term as he did the first, not perfect but certainly much much better than this nightmare the country is going through right now?
So for this reason, the west misdiagnosed Kenya’s sickness and prescribed her the wrong medicine; and by looking the other way when these corrupt and murderous elements are still wholly in charge of key government apparatus, the West continues to provide aid and comfort to perpetrators of crimes against humanity; the west is complicit in piling on the rot we are so desperate to remove from our governance by way of dictating how the country should be governed on a daily basis (granted we invited them to do so); so one wonders when the country will truly be independent once again. I mean where is Mzee Kenyatta when you need him? Would Mzee Jomo Kenyatta call on the West and “friends of Kenya” to come and solve Kenya’s problems? how about “hell NO”. Kenyatta handled business and that was leadership my friends. The West doesn’t invite other countries let alone Africans to come solve their problems; why do we? The West knows who the perpetrators of post election violence are, they have issued travel bans against some or most of them who happen to head government entities, why not prevail on the Kibaki government to at the very minimum, relieve these suspects from government offices, even temporarily, at least until this matter is resolved; Kibaki let Mwiraria, Murungaru, Murungi, Kimunya among others go for much less aggravating crimes; why are thieves and murderers running major ministries in Kenya and why are these Embassies silent about it? Who are they fooling?
Embassies must be fair to Africans and stop propping incompetent murderous regimes in the name of stability. It is hollow, hypocritical, and false and only prolongs the suffering of populations. The bottom line in Kenya is slowly but surely spiraling into the abyss and the foreign missions are enabling and abetting the rot and only delaying the inevitable; our country is sick and this government is the cancer that has metastasized and contaminated the whole society with rot; sweeping these ills under the rugs only masks the odor and improves NOTHING! The Embassies must exert their influence and prevail on the president to, at the very minimum, get rid of or at least suspend known and suspected perpetrators of Post Election Violence who have holed themselves in government until such a time that investigations and prosecutions are complete; Kenyans are not idiots ya’ll think they are you know. If you can ban suspects from travelling to the West, certainly you can apply equal pressure for the sake of Kenyans who have lost any remaining faith in their government.
The Obama Factor
Kenya’s best blessing, bar none! And what are we doing with it, NOTHING but foolish politics. On the one hand is a PM aching to ride on President Barack Obama’s coattails and coax Kenyans into thinking he has the president’s backing and on the other is an absent minded president too scared of President Obama to be an effective governor and the end result is paralysis. President Obama is an extremely smart man and one careful not to take sides particularly with as hopeless a bunch as these men running Kenya, he will not be drawn into Kenya’s infantile politics and while he stands for what is truly right for Kenya, others like the PM would, instinctively interpret President Obama’s policies on Kenya as an endorsement for his own politics but the truth is; NO! We can clearly read President Obama’s statements and policies, unlike Kenya’s politicians or African leaders for that matter, President Obama does NOT double speak, he says what he means and means what he says. If he were running for president in Kenya or anywhere in Africa, President Obama would win by a landslide, almost by every man, woman and child of all tribes while on the other hand, if either President Kibaki or PM Odinga were running for a town councilman in the US, they would both lose miserably and perhaps be barred from EVER running for office again, that is the disparity of leadership qualities and class of these men; so we have by far the shoddiest characters running a country that sired the world’s most admired man at the very moment we need the most redemption; what do we do people? What do we do short of starting over? I mean Kenya is a disgrace, an international embarrassment folks, just one joke of a mess, only that it is real!
Are Tables Turning?
In a recent publication regarding reforms by the same western diplomats; they expressed “concern” at the pace of reforms, one ambassador was quoted saying “you can’t make an omelet without breaking the egg” and I wonder if this government ever got that memo. As long as the two men, president Kibaki and PM Odinga are at the helm in Kenya, you can bet there will be no “eggs” broken to bring about any meaningful change in the country. The president is a lame duck with no real incentive to bring about any change, he is not running for office again and even if he were, it not in his DNA to hold his feet or those of others around him to the fire to make change happen. The PM is deeply beholden to the various disparate interests who “fought” for him to become president/PM to do anything that may rock the boat or ruin any hope he has for another run for the presidency in 2012, it is just that simple; so are we so naïve to these facts as to believe either of these men mean a word beyond rhetorical symbolism? Seriously!!
International Criminal Court
The cries and frustrations of “WE THE PEOPLE” and those of the post election violence victims are finally starting to resonate and our voices are being heard. Kenya’s leadership has this misguided notion of monopoly of access to world leaders and institutions; we too can speak to President Obama, we too can speak to ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo and the powers that be. The writing has been on the wall way too long and the notice has expired; and when it is all said and done, we’ll know whose voices count the most, we the people or these goons. The ICC is the perfect broom for Kenya; a relief and breath of fresh air. For once, William Ruto, even as ignorant and misinformed he is about the role of the International Criminal Court, has gotten this one right. His recent rants are a desperate attempt to deflect attention, the truth is Ruto knows he is advocating for the hangman’s noose on his own neck. A criminal suspect does not have any say so whatsoever in how the court conduct its functions! Someone educate this ignoramus! Ruto and ODM think they can manipulate the ICC like they did the gullible youth of Kenya. He is about to learn one major lesson that they failed to teach in Botany lessons in college; Bad politics (including rigging) can never be an excuse for crime or murder, period-end of story. The ICC is the only true and neutral arbiter that can clean the mess in Kenya and send a clear message to these goons in government that the sanctity of human life is non-negotiable. Now, both sides of this arrangement are mortally frightened, rightly so, of the unknown when that day comes; people are rightfully afraid if they will join the ranks of El Bashir of Sudan, Kabuga of Rwanda, Charles Taylor of Liberia for a good reason but I think President Kibaki and his officials at the time when these crimes were committed have the least to worry about.
ODM, for all practical purposes provides Luis Moreno-Ocampo with the best possible case to prosecute against them while exonerating the President contemporaneously. ODM’s leaders and most of PM Odinga’s supporters foolishly believe that the prosecution in The Hague would favor them and punish the president for “stealing” the elections and therefore causing the violence; far from the truth. What will be on trial is NOT the reason(s) for the violence, in fact, this argument would only strengthen the prosecution’s case against the perpetrators because it provides the all important element in all criminal prosecutions; MOTIVE! I don’t know of anywhere in any court of competent jurisdiction where MOTIVE qualifies as a defense, somebody please prove me wrong. So RUTO goes in and tells the judges that ODM’s candidate PM Odinga fairly won the presidential election and the Election Commission of Kenya “stole” it from him and awarded victory to President Kibaki and so we were compelled to protest by inciting the masses to action, that he was acting on the instructions of his party’s leader, PM Odinga! And that by the way, we only incited in Rift Valley and Luo Nyanza and areas we already won and had the least reason to kill Kikuyus and Kisiis and other non- indigenous tribes living amongst us whom we believe voted for President Kibaki but we needed to make a statement anyway- see, it got us in government! Was well worth it, you know. Of course the jurists at The Hague are competent enough to weigh the evidence as we know it and also evaluate the statements and images broadcast around the world to know who was clearly the aggressor. They will also note, carefully at that, that PM Odinga and his ODM party had available to them, a lawful grievance avenue through Kenya’s courts specifically designed for election complaints, be flawed as the system may be, it was still an available option for remedial action nonetheless, and that they should have exhausted it but, alas, they not only ignored it and substituted it with street justice instead but also rubbished the very institutions they helped set up and were sworn to defend as parliamentarians. Anger and frustration was clearly the motive for the uprising but NEVER EVER justification for premeditated murder of innocent Kenyans, and that my friends will ensure hefty penalties for ODM.
President Kibaki on the other hand has a relatively simple defense. The president did NOT declare himself the winner of the elections nor did incite anyone to riot; Kibaki was duty bound to continue his responsibilities as president. The president was duty bound to protect all Kenyans and ensure national security; the president has the power and indeed the obligation to suppress riots and violence of all kinds and any resistance to lawful authority through law enforcement agencies, President Kibaki’s authority and actions were lawful, constitutional and justified. The government had to act to protect lives, loss of property and the economy to the mobs. ODM acts as if the president is actually liable for their losses caused by their instigation and should have just back and let this murderous bunch have their way with the entire country, well, the ICC is capable of delineating between incitement and containment, anarchy and order, and who among the combatants stood for what. We will reclaim our government and these fellows will be removed from society and barred permanently from ever running for office, watch!
Coalition Government:
Disband and start over; no elections are required, the two page document establishing the coalition neither mandates a new election nor invalidates the existing government merely because either party pulls out of the alliance; this is rotten just as the characters in it, end of story! We didn’t sign up for this mess, we didn’t vote for this mess, the know nothing do nothing tax evading leeches in parliament have failed in their duties to safeguard national integrity and have long lost any moral capacity to lead, Kenyans’ patience and goodwill have been exhausted; we can still have a peaceful transitional caretaker government devoid of these guys and I think time has come and long gone for change. The president, immediately after its revealed who is implicated in the post election violence must, by necessity, dismiss all of those adversely mentioned regardless of the merits of the allegations; we simply cannot have distracted people with clouds hanging over them making decisions in government, it breeds bad decisions and ineffectiveness and we all know that. The president, as leader of his party and at this point, must seriously consider withdrawing from the coalition if he, as president, determines that this arrangement is NOT in the country’s best interest and prolonging this form of government would be more harmful in total than helpful in the stability of the nation. He is NOT required to resign or call an election merely by pulling out of the coalition, so it is time the rubber hit the asphalt and let’s restore Kenya’s institutions as close to what they were in the first 5 years of Kibaki’s presidency, some prosperity would beat this idiocy ANY DAY.
President Kibaki
This president, once again, was perhaps the best thing to happen to Kenya for decades and yet, he has ended up disappointing so many by being way too whimsical in dispensing the duties of his office, one can make a strong argument against president Kibaki for dereliction of duty; The President has severely weakened the office of the president, the only national office in the country and by projecting such weakness, he has opened doors for all sorts of enemies, both internal and external to exploit Kenya. Nobody anywhere on earth has respect for weakness much less weakness of a president of any country, NOBODY! I mean the man hasn’t committed atrocities or anything like that but he has either purposely omitted or ignored so much from the presidential play book, even stuff that is clearly spelled as presidential mandate in our laws and allowed all the gains he presided over in the his first term to go to waste. Come on Mr. President! What happened buddy? I mean if you are unable to assert proper authority and control, why not step aside? Why are thieves and murderous in your cabinet? Whose interests are you serving? Why are you sleeping at the switch? I mean the level of inefficiency and ineffectiveness in this office is just astounding, internal security falls under the president’s office and yet militias and gangs practically run neighborhoods, the judiciary is completely inept and frustrates all fights against corruptions, old corruption cases are collecting dust in dockets and the president is simply doing NOTHING about it,
PM Odinga
If the PM was a manufacturing company anywhere, particularly in the West, he would be banned from EVER peddling ANY product in the market place; I mean the PM would be shut down permanently, period. This is the man who declared “KIBAKI TOSHA”; he peddled Kibaki to Kenyans as a perfect product to “liberate” Kenya and in just a matter of months after Kenyans bought in, he declared his own product defective and admitted to selling Kenyans just a bunch of bill of goods and that he alone was fit for the job; why on earth should we continue listening to such a guy? I mean for what, to hear what additional garbage comes out next? A gamble that someday he just may get it right? And in the meantime Kenyans are in for the ride in the “ROT EXPRESS”; this is the fellow who admittedly participated in the 1982 military coup that resulted in hundreds of deaths, got in the market square and told Kenyans to disobey the government and not to go to work after a personal disagreement with president Moi, told his constituents in Kibera NOT to pay monthly rents to land lords; this is the man who claims sole credit for democracy in Kenya, never mind the insurmountable effort by the likes of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenneth Matiba, Charles Rubia, George Anyona, Masinde Murillo,Gitobu Imanyara, etc; point being Kenya’s democracy is not a preserve of one Raila Amollo Odinga; as recent as a year and half ago this man led a revolt that killed thousands of Kenyans, displaced hundreds of thousands of innocent Kenyans; women and children were raped and lives permanently altered all in his selfish ambition to get to the top, it didn’t matter who died or lived; this man is complicit in the starving of Kenyan through the henchman Ruto who heads Agriculture; this man not only condones nepotism but also practices it to the core, appoints his family members to key positions whether they are qualified or not; his ministers such as Kajwang, Ruto, Chairman Kosgey, Prof. Sambili are on record flouting all rules and procedures as was the case under president Moi; this man has been MP for “Africa’s largest Slum” for more than 15 years with almost absolutely nothing to show for it in the development of its people except for amassing a tone of personal wealth; is the change this fellow claims to have fought for, is the liberation Kenya needs, is this the presidential leadership Kenyans were voting for?
William Ruto
The quintessential dirt bag in Kenyan politics; if there ever were a reason or justification for detention as under Moi or Kenyatta, William Ruto would serve that purpose perfectly but in Kenya, a rot bag like this man who for several election cycles has personally engineered the murder of innocent Kenyans is sitting pretty high at the table of governance! I mean how does that happen? HOW?! This man obtained his college education in botany, not government, but was smart enough to be connected to Moi’s children who allowed him access to power; I bet they are now regretting it. This was the only man, as an assistant minister, allowed to sit in full cabinet meetings under president Moi, that is how favored he was by the former President; what did the scumbag do in appreciation; well, remember Molo and Muoroto clashes? Ruto, among others like Sunkuli et al, were in the thick of it, planning and implementing the anarchy and death that befell many innocent Kenyans and to top it off, he turned on his mentor and benefactor during the last election to support PM Odinga; when all else failed, William Ruto, true to form and once again employing skills acquired under President Moi, directed the killings of innocent Kenyans in regions the PM handily won, in Rift Valley and Luo Nyanza, areas which the PM’s ODM party won in landslides, there was ZERO reason or justification for Kikuyus, Kisiis and other tribes to be slaughtered the way it happened because there was no dispute and yet ODM made its statement to the world by spilling innocent blood; Ruto has multiple corruption charges pending against him in Kenya’s courts; why on earth would any man, particularly this PM, want to impose such kind of baggage on himself let alone Kenya? Why would such a back stabber even have a seat near civilization of any government? WHY do we entertain such rot if indeed we are about “CHANGE”? I think the PM sealed his own political fate and that of his party through William Ruto; ODM will IMPLODE in due time. The old adage will once again be proven right, i.e. “you can judge a man by the company he keeps”- look at the company around William Ruto and tell me whether or not these characters should be running any government entity!
Kalonzo Musyoka
What a big joke?! The VP once stood a good chance as a viable alternative to help clean up the rot in Kenya but as with most power that corrupts absolutely, Musyoka has been irrevocably compromised and become a part of the contaminated pile of rot masquerading as a government. A friend of mine once described Kalonzo Musyoka as a slithering wimpy weasel and I couldn’t agree more. The man has absolutely no stand on anything, when speaker Marende, in towing the party ruled in favor of his boss PM Odinga in parliament when the latter appointed himself leader of government business, the VP immediately seemed to take a courageous stand to question the validity of such unorthodox ruling and many thought the joker was rightfully asserting himself and employing his lawyer skills to right what was obviously a grossly idiotic ruling by the speaker. Then come the Western ambassadors led by the US in support of the speaker’s ruling and the VP scampered and recoiled his tail like wag the dog! I mean seriously, the man has never been heard from again! Does anyone really have any doubt as to whether or not Musyoka is a strong leader to hold the country together? The man is clueless and reactionary, can’t set any example like PM Odinga does. PM Odinga sets examples and asserts himself but is always WRONG! How I wish the PM had been right on even a handful of his choices to mitigate some of his failures! He would have gotten a pass, the only way Kalonzo Musyoka would beat Raila Odinga in any contest for national office would be because people would vote against Odinga and thereby hand Musyoka victory by default. Musyoka himself is tainted through his associations with former President Moi, as the President’s lawyer, he defended and protected the ills that sank Kenya’s economy, Musyoka witnessed and benefited personally from the siphoning of public resources under Moi’s regime; his gain may have not been as big but gain it was nonetheless, so there you have it. The man has no stand and leads from behind (if there is ever such a thing), so how do you judge such a character’s suitability to lead?
Parliament and Speaker Marende
Another joke of a body led by an extreme partisan speaker; it was clear from the get go that speaker Marende would tow the party line particularly when he ruled himself leader of House and Government Business because PM Odinga, citing other countries’ practices, appointed himself leader of those positions! Get this, the PM, he himself a presidential “APPOINTEE” and once again ignoring the rules and precedence, usurped the president’s authority and “APPOINTED” himself to the role in parliament! How on earth does that work? And the speaker, of course an ODM party stalwart, didn’t waste any time effectively ruling against the president. And none of these genius MPs raised a whimper, they just scurried like roaches when the US ambassador supported the speaker’s decision, we needed someone to speak for Kenyans and they ALL failed; I would urge every one of the MPs to take the PM’s lead and appoint themselves to the position of leader of House and Government Business and compel the speaker to issue a ruling on each and every self appointment submitted by each MP and let’s see the majority party bring the people’s business to a stand-still.
Other Matters
Constitution
Another sad testament to our leaders’ ineptness with these old raggedy tag lines only designed to prolong their political shelf lives before gullible constituents; absolutely hollow and baseless. Kenyans care way more about their personal fortunes, the economy, and education of their children, healthcare, their security and quality leadership than this politically created façade about the constitution. These goons are abject failures in all fronts above and have instead wasted tones of public funds pushing a stale and mundane subject matter only to line their pockets and those of their friends and yeah, remain relevant. Even the one thing they claim to take care of, these geniuses still can’t figure out what to do, I mean Kenya has to import “experts” to work on our constitution! A constitution is simply a set of governing principles that a country is governed by and the citizens are the normally the ones who decide what those principles. The biggest argument made by the likes of Odinga in calling for a new constitution was that Kenya needed a constitution crafted locally by her own people and here we are, years and Billions of shillings wasted later, importing “experts” to dictate to Kenyans how to govern themselves! Seriously, are you kidding me? Kenya had more prosperity and at par with many world powers under President Jomo Kenyatta under this constitution than at any time until President Kibaki took the reins in 2002. It is not about the constitution folks, ABSOLTUTELY NOT! It is about leadership that puts its people and country a head of personal gain, about knowledge of what makes the country work. None of these is possessed by these geniuses leading Kenya right now, our school curriculum has never been revised to meet world challenges to promote ingenuity and innovation, the economy is in ruins, medicines are rotting in warehouses, gangs rule the streets and are egged on by politicians, friends, NO CONSTITUTION CAN FIX THIS ROT, NONE! The only way to fix this awful state of affairs and cure the country of the cancer that is taking over is the removal of all these clueless tax evading blood suckers in government, ALL of them! Start over.
And as for the constitution itself, the document is just ok. Let’s repeal or amend the sections or parts as we see fit at the least expense and controversy as possible. One stark stunt PM Odinga is trying to pull on Kenyans is to convince voters that we don’t need the presidency as voted by the majority of Kenyans and that the concept of one man one vote for the only true national office bearer is irrelevant and should instead be replaced by a parliamentary system like say France or England where, in his discombobulated mind, ultimate power vests in the Prime Minister who is voted to office by MPs! REALLY Mr. PM Odinga?! It is pretty obvious that the ONLY reason PM Odinga wants this is simply because he knows deep down in heart that he CANNOT win the presidency and wants to instead improve his chances by excluding majority of Kenyans from picking their leader and instead turn over that process to the 220 corruptible, incompetent MPs, who as witnessed in picking the stooge speaker Marende, are absolutely incorrigible. It is obvious the PM cannot corrupt Millions of Kenyans into voting for him and he is desperate to become president of Kenya, so, he must figure out a way to pull the process from right under Kenyans feet and turn it over to the 220 corrupt MPs- it is easier to manipulate this ignorant bunch, people- don’t buy it. It is yet another recipe for failure and disaster for Kenya. Up until recently, the PM somehow believed the presidency was his for the taking and that he was owed the office by Kenyans but as it is slowly dawning on him, perhaps he is now disillusioned, maybe it is the realization that his formula of pitting tribes against each other was not the brightest way to get to the top and that betting his ascendancy to the top office exclusively on the Nilotic groups who dominate ODM vs. the majority Bantus instead of being all inclusive of all Kenyans is back firing big time. The PM relied on groups who were overwhelmingly over-represented in parliament to get elected and forgot the presidency is determined by the majority, a majority he explicitly excluded from the political equation; I am not trying to pile on the PM but these errors by the PM must not go unchallenged.
Mau Forest
This is Kenya’s greatest and primary water catchment area and its management thereof cannot be pegged to politics. Rift Valley MPs are, once again foolishly, trying to equate environmental management to political persecution. BULL! The government simply need to devise a formula that would maximize the area’s productivity while sustaining the environment, in other words, we need to know what is the optimum human dwelling density/capacity in the MAU forest and a good way is to look back at empirical data to determine at what time did the trends turn negative in the MAU area; populations that settled after this time must then rolled back and relocated elsewhere so we can preserve the nation’s resources. We can’t as a nation be held hostage by the politics of William Ruto and Kalenjin MPs! I mean, seriously! We know Moi doled out the forest to his tribesmen but Kenya is certainly bigger than Kalenjins and our national interests will ALWAYS trump those of an individual group.
Provinces and Majimbo
The irony of this is that Kenya tried this once and it failed miserably, I mean badly! No Kenyan, except of course for the imbeciles in politics, has expressly on record asked for MAJIMBO or (STATES) as a form of government because they know it is very divisive and if what the clueless Odinga and Musyoka are asking for is genuinely the distribution of wealth, we already have provinces; why do we need to recreate what is already in existence verses improving upon it?
Also, during president Moi’s regime, he created a multitude of constituencies and a disproportionate number of them in the Rift Valley for his tribesmen to give them unfettered and disproportionate representation in Parliament, national resources and government; Moi never consulted with anyone to create new political boundaries; why on earth would Ruto expect President Kibaki to consult with the locals to create new provinces? WHY?! Does that even start to make sense? This president is so afraid to act presidential to a point Kenya is considered a failed state for all practical purposes; WHY?!
Taxation
Nation building is the responsibility of ALL! Why do MPs refuse to pay their fair share of taxes? Kenyan MPs earn some of the highest incomes in the world with absolutely NOTHING to show for it. Why should we fund institutionalized thievery? These MPs are both sleeping at the wheel and sometimes literary in parliament, they don’t understand parliamentary procedures or their role in steering national development; I mean come on! Taxing the poor for self enrichment is not good governance no matter how you cut it.
By David Ochwangi
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Clearly, this is an ambitious undertaking and there’s a need for careful modesty about what this review will be able to achieve
