Do you believe in an African model of Democracy. It is argued that the “winner takes it all” constitutional provisions in Africa can not work effectively to nature equity among other things and has promoted dictorship,greed for power and unwillingness by the political elite not to relinguish power. kindly contribute
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African democracy is quite confusing.Seems to me that this is just but a word used by the opposition to appeal to voters.Once they get to positions of power they change so drastically and the word becomes their worst enemy.In power no politician needs it because he needs no votes.He can stay in office with or without your vote.
Remember Karua,Murungi,Kombo,Kitui,Kibwana and the rest of crusaders of democracy in the early 90’s?Look at where they stand now.Defending the undefendable.Well for Kibaki,Michuki and Kalonzo we can’t blame them because their names appear nowhere in the books of Kenya’s struggle for democracy.
If the Kibaki team refuses to respect the principles of democracy then Kenyans can as well burn their voters card and acquire leathal weapons because only the most heavily armed group will rule after killing their opponents.
WAS AFRICA CURSED?
Agent4change I totally agree with you there are no enough checks and balances on these people
and nothing prevents them from running the country like their personal kitchens. The present constitution
must be overhauled and a lot of thought must go into the devolution of power chapter so that we never have the current situation ever again.
Democracy in africa is just but a word to be thrown liberally by politicians during campaigns otherwise
it means nothing!! by the way even Zimbabwe is a ‘democratic’ country look at it!
I think all african leaders feel they can all pull a ‘mugabe move’ and get away with it and kibaki is testing the
waters so to speak. what would prevent kikwete from pulling such a stunt in future tanzanian elections -seeing that uganda is getting away with it, kenya is on the same path-he knows he will get away with it-
that is why the international community must be sincere and must be seen to be vigilant in promoting ‘true’ democracy in africa.
On a whole separate issue ask yourself what prevents kibaki from refusing to get out of power in 2012-we have seen he holds no regard to the constitution,
he will sit there with ‘lucy saying no one goes to statehouse without her permission’ and then what will people do?
fight again? protest? (they will have gotten used to it) if he gets away with it this time he will get away with anything in the future. It is sad but this is the bitter truth.
The power for institutions everywhere in the world lies on people’s enlightment. The freedom of expression, freedom to know owns rights, freedom of choice, and freedom to exercise effectively human rights have always got their backbone from the awareness of those who exercise such freedom.
I wouldn’t have know the importance of democracy if it were not for the education I have, that has enabled be compare and contrast varied aspects of leadership and governance.
Long before formal education, governance in the world relied on anarchy, dictatorship and monarchy.
The advent of democracy can be traced back to early vivicilized worlds and this affirms the importance of people civilization. In Africa, it was first the agend of the colonialists to deny the indinginant populace the right to access education and information. This darkened the understanding of the imporatance of people’s governance and representation, thereby enabling the colonial powers to exercise their authority at will, without question.
When Africans become albeit enlightened, they fought for independence, but instead of their own governments to pursue the education of it’s people, they under false representation of reality convince the illiterate class to remain foolish and ignorant.
But due to modern technologies and information access freedom, the people of Africa are becoming more and more enlightened, aware of their rights, and sooner than later, democracy will carry the day.
For example, the situation in Kenya will not be easy for the illigitamate government. This government is going to scrumble because the amount of information available to the those thought of as ignorant, is enormous.
And it is not a curse brother David. Even the Western world leaders are power hungry. The only thing that makes them accept defeat is because the people they lead are aware of what happened, what is happening and what should happen.
So far, I would say, Africa is on track!
There is nothing like African Democracy ,instead African imoral politicians with the support and motivation from some invisible evil forces ,the inventors of democracy and money,democracy in Africa has evolved into DEMO-CRAZY.
Africa is the mother of all continents endowed with natural resources making it attractive to the inventors of democracy.
Because of the economic and political vested interest by some foreign countries most of the rulers in Africa are propelled to power by this invisible hands pulling the strings.
The political system like the one Kenya inherited from the British at independence would have worked so well since the populace is empowered through devolved powers at the grassroot level.The major problem in Africa is leadership,Africa lacks visionary,firm and selfless leaders.Whether winner takes all or not ,the driver of the system is the determining factor on the effectiveness of the political system in place.
I do not buy that excuse ( winner takes it all ) since the success of democracy is measured through a competitive oriented process in the name of elections among other democracy components.Through electioneering a winner must be determined by the number of votes garnered therefore the person or party which scores more goals takes the cup and becomes the champion until the next competition date.
The winner has to take it all because it’s the sure way of implementing programmes that inspired and influenced the voters to decide on who should be the winner.
The losers become the checks to ensure the winner uses the power in a balanced way .
If money can be abolished then you would see a more sober world,systems are being blamed yet money,wealth accumulation by a few is the major cause of the crisis in Kenya today.
Any system can work if the drivers so wishes,CUBA has lots of achievement in Human development,despite the economic strangulation by USA because CASTRO refused to play ball.
the following links are not very much related to this thread (sorry) but i think they make some interesting reading…
There can be no peace without justice
By Ken S Muriithi
http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143981430
Annan team should not lose sight of basics
By Jerry Okungu
http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143981432&cid=15
Yep…here’s african democracy for you…where birds of a feather flock together…the dictator Museveni now wants to come back to Kenya ostensibly to “help” Annan in the mediation talks. Of course he wants to come back to help his dictator friend.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200802051228.html
On the lighter side (with ur permission) I hope Wiper is not in the States to try and rig Obama out!
African democracy pheeewww!!!!!!! i think we Africans started well at independence but we lost the plot along the way take for example the Kenyan situation as a case study:
The British govt. set up a parliamentary system of govt for us which ensured more power lies with the people rather than executive what did we do our fathers argued that because we were a young nation of many ethnic groups we needed to galvanise our selves as one so PM post is scrapped we created a president that sits in parliament and the end of the day what do you have a executive so powerful that also controls parliament hence dictatorship. Look at Paul Muite argument when at Bomas people were proposing that we have a parliamentary system he said that Kenyans are not used to that system and it can cause chaos so legitimising the overbearing presidential system. Look at Zimbabwe Mugabe did the same as Kenya he was a PM and usurped the Presidential powers because he wanted to control every aspect of peoples life there are many examples Uganda, Libya, Egypt and all these regimes have used one argument ” we need a strong all powerful leader to unite the country” what a fallacy.
it doesnt have to be democracy, we can have theocracy(kenyans are very religious – hahaha), or aristocracy (Nabongo, Ker , Laibon, Wango wa makeri). Is this the democracy you want ? That when a leader has stolen an election, he continues to recieve recognition from flashy dressed foreign ministers and presidents, with private planes dropping in for a photo session . BETTER A MATCHETOCRACY than a Kleptocracy. A kleptocracy ensures that the citizens are just barely alive so that they can pay their taxes. Though taxes are paid, no tax service is recieved. No roads(if any they be potholed), no hospitals (if any then no doctors, or drugs), no schools (if any then no jobs after).They are designed to keep you poor.
Asked to reversre roles, i would rather be a KLEPTOCRAT than a democrat. Right now i hoover between extreme theocrat to a neo-practicat. Ever wonder why the UN is unable to work or design any policies that work. Well its always the US ans UK working through this body. These countries and other monolithic bodies are bent in giving aid even to despotic govts, inturn we repay through our taxes. Would mugabe have stayed this long had they cut out everything including Humanitatian Aid. If the western countries really want what is best for africa (and iraq) then they should respect the peoples choice and completely disassociate themselves with tyrannical dispensations.
As much as Nyongo makes noise about the IGAD meeting, the chief culprit is Kofi Anan. Notice that he refers to the M.P for Othaya as President. Does he have his job cut out already. In my opinion, these talks were over even before they began. Everyone knows that we are not negotiating with kibaki (he is unable to reign in even members of his household, an s apologetic figure, bare shadow of his former self. In the 80’s and 90 i attended different forums where he was a guest speaker- many times Kibaki never read a speech, everything resonated from his brilliant mind. He is handicapped now). We are negotiating with an armorphous and wealthy group that has hired Karua , Mutua and kalonzo to ensure that their interest are protected. These are guys who have robbed the Kenyans of his earned earned income and want to do so even with impunity. MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS. MASS ACTION MUST CONTINUE TILL THE DEVILS ARE BROKE AND OUT OF FIRE. WHEN A HEART IS BROKEN does it matter if it is a democrat of a Kleptocrat. FOR EVIL TO PREVAIL THAN ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS nothing.
It is said that the ARABS left but the slaves routes remained.
The british left but the rail road continues to ferry goods from the interior to their ports.They also left their boundaries. An exercise that is now propagated by the E.C.K and the Former president MWAI. remember he created over 100 districts in one year preceeding election.
The ECK will one day be disbanded but if the slave mentality is not discarded then. ALAS. They refuse to have our president Elect Raila because he had promised to redefine these borders. Our roads, railway, and even air networks should be redefined to ensure MAXIMUM benefits for the AFRICAN FOLK. misilale.
hold up guys, lets step back a little and think this thru. there is some truth in the saying “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”. to better understand a problem and therefore propose solutions we need to go back and front a number of times to evaluate the root cause(s) and net effects. typically at independence or soon after, african leaders have found themselves thrust at the front with few supporters they could “trust” (problem no. 1 leader is is suddenly widely exposed and in some cases very vulnerable, problem no.2 whom to trust). typically their win whether stage-managed or through true democratic process is accompanied by equally daunting opposition. in the early stages of post colonial rule, (problem 3) these leaders faced the task of both proving that africans were able to self manage as well as try to cultivate peaceful transistion with colonials for international relations and trade. problem 4, in the early years of post independence the western world almost anticipated failure and the leaders then need to overcome any such notions.
our political scientists can identify and define the root causes a lot more explicitly
furthermore our democracies or basically independence from colonial rule left highly skewed structures.
to avoid lengthy discourse I’ll collapse all the problems above as fear.
human reaction to fear can be instinctive and predictable (surround yourself with close family, loyal friends, cronies, tribesmen, deploy suppressive forces and strong arm tactics, etc) and depend entirely on the integrity and moral standard of the leader. constitutions provide the excuse for misrule.
only a handful of leaders once they have attained power, have shown the mettle to be strong enough to step away from the basic instinctive and predictable reaction of fear to nurture true democracy and Mandela and Nyerere immediately comes to mind but our historians and political scientists can refresh our memories. every other president has resorted to the other predictable behavior and therefore the mess we continue to experience as cronys, tribes and guerillas/militia hold the country hostage.
the longer such presidents are in place the more difficult it is to reverse the problems associated.
kibaki was given the chance complete with healthy and wide mix of partners and in essence a fear free opportunity, which he not only squandered but proceeded to heavily skew institutions and leadership.
we still believe RAO and ODM family will lift us out of this mess, but sadly without the support of central/eastern axis.
Before this topic came, I was thinking of the same thing and trying to go through what we call democracy.In life we learn by expirience and prefarably other peoples.Remember the Biafra war in Nigeria.That war came about due to similar circumstamces like we got here today i.e. some people feeling that they are more equal than others. I had not been born when the war started or ended but nobody ever appreciates the need to respect others until he knows history.
The Biafran war came about due what was perceived to be electoral fraud in the Igbo region in 1965 .It was mainly a war against the Igbo who due to their dominance even had the arrogance to declare independence (state of Biafra) when the had lost the elections. The conflict was the result of economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions among the various peoples of Nigeria. Like many other African nations, Nigeria was an artificial construct initiated by European powers, which had neglected to account for religious, linguistic, and ethnic differences. Nigeria, which won independence from Britain in 1960, had at that time a population of 60 million people consisting of nearly 300 differing ethnic and cultural groups.
Igbo are one of the largest tribes in Nigeria together with Hausa and Yoruba.With the independence of Nigeria, a political alliance was forged between the leading Hausa and Igbo political parties, which ruled Nigeria from 1960 to 1966.This is just like the Kikuyu and Luo at independence. This alliance excluded the Yoruba, while the Igbos were considered by many to be the main beneficiaries of the alliance at the expense of Hausa, taking most of the top jobs and leading business opportunities in the young country.Same thing that has happened to our country.This didn’t sit well with the other tribes and before the election an alliance was formed that threatened to lock the Igbo dominated east from power and roll back the gains of the Igbo elite. The elections of 1965 witnessed the alliance of the Nigerian National Alliance of the Muslim north and the conservative elements in the west (ODM in our case), against the United Progressive Grand Alliance of the Christian east and the progressive elements among the westerners (PNU). The Alliance of north and west (ODM) won a crushing victory under Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.In our case it is Raila Odinga. There were many claims of widespread electoral fraud.After loosing the election the junior Ibo military officers mainly majors and captains or organised a military coup so that they could remain in power.
Before the war the Igbo controlled the economy, and held all the plum jobs and were the majority in the military.They were also revered as fearless warriors because they are physically endowed.This made them feel like the country belonged to them only and bragged about this all the time. What really brought about the coup and later the declaration of independence was the greed and fear of the igbo peopl of loosing all they had gained at the expense of the other Nigerians which they didn’t want to loose and hence wanted to hold onto power at whatever cost.
The war cost Nigeria a great deal in terms of lives, money and its image in the world. It has been estimated that up to three million people mainly Ibos may have died due to the conflict, most from hunger and disease. Reconstruction, helped by the oil money, was swift; however, the old ethnic and religious tensions remained a constant feature of Nigerian politics. Military government continued in power in Nigeria for many years, and people in the oil-producing areas claimed they were being denied a fair share of oil revenues.
The Igbos felt that they had been deliberately displaced from government positions, because their pre-war posts were now occupied by other Nigerians (mostly Yoruba and Hausa-Fulani). When Igbo civil servants left to join similar posts in Biafra, their positions had been replaced; and when the war was over the government did not feel that it should sack their replacements, preferring to regard the previous incumbents as having resigned. This, however, has led to a feeling of an injustice. Further feelings of injustice were caused by Nigeria, during the war, changing its currency so that Biafran supplies of pre-war Nigerian currency were no longer honoured and then, at the end of the war, offering only N£20 to easterners on exchange of their Biafran currency. This was seen as a deliberate policy to hold back the Igbo middle class, leaving them with little wealth to expand their business interests.
It is sad to say but the same mistakes the Igbos elite did, I see them in the few ruling kikuyu elite who want to protect themselves at the expenses of the entire kenyan community. I have seen some people come to this forum and tell us we envy kikuyus historically. That is the wrong assessment of the situation.Why would we? This is not a battle against the kikuyus.May be you feel we envy kikuyus because they got wealth? Everyone has the ability to create wealth if all things are equal.The Igbos were once very wealthy but where are they now.Money breeds arrogance and a feeling of false security.Remember the Baganda, who felt they would rule forever at the expense of the other ugandans because of their numerical advantage.For how long did it work or did it ever work. In Africa some people are selfish.They think of themeselves only.Selfishness is a sign of insecurity.
The key to success is equality. I believe that that has been the secret to American success and its why its called the land of opportunity.Wherever you are from, if you get to America and work hard you are sure to make it.In America they even passed a law which Bill Clinton signed that enables black americans to be given priority in promotions in order to promote equality.Some sort of affirmative action.
The Boers in South Africa after ending aperthied and handing over power to Mandela had their wealth multiply to levels they did not imagine.They were wishing they had abolished apartheid decades ago.The secret was bringing equality and handing over power to the winner.Because by doing this, thay empowered the poor black people and created new market segments. This is one of the secret to the boomimg south african economy.The biggest beneficiaries are the whites who controlled the economy.Its not by holding onto power that you prosper like most African leaders think.That is short term security. Its more of digging an early grave for you and your people.
If democratic instutions are created that promote equality, this country will benefit from our ethnic diversity instead of suffering from it.People will exploit their culture to their advantage and this has been said over and over.The Maasai will be able to exploit their potential as cattle owners without fear of loosing their land, kikuyus will take advantage of their enterprneurship skill if they feel that is what suit them, Kalenjin would exploit their farming skills, the Luos will exploit their fishing skills and their love of being professors etc. and there will be mechanisms to promote this.That is how Majimbo comes in.
Anyway the bottom line is that we would rather fail in the cause that someday will trimph than triumph in a cause that someday will fail.
flogging a dead horse?
Politics not ethnicity behind Kenya crisis
Feb 6, 2008 10:10 PM
Political manipulation rather than ethnic hatred is driving Kenya’s post-election violence, says a leading author and scholar on the east African nation.
Oxford University’s Professor David Anderson also criticised both sides of Kenya’s political divide, saying President Mwai Kibaki was “playing Russian roulette” with Kenya’s democracy while opposition leader Raila Odinga was “dead in the water”.
Anderson – author of Histories of the Hanged, about the Mau Mau revolt during British colonial rule in the 1950s – said he was worried for the future of Kenya, where about 1,000 people have died in unrest following the December 27 vote.
“I’ve always felt that Kenya’s middle classes and civil society were strong and robust, and would eventually overcome the problems created by their political elite,” he said.
“At the moment, I’m probably at the most pessimistic I have been in my entire life. I do not see an easy way forward.”
Anderson said the media’s portrayal of the Kenyan violence as inter-tribal fighting did not tell the whole story.
“Describing it as ethnic violence is not quite right. This is political violence of the most classic kind. Ethnicity is how you mobilise it: that’s the modus operandi, not the rationale.”
In the worst-hit Rift Valley area, where the majority of deaths have occurred, Kalenjin “ethno-nationalist” leaders had been waiting for an opportunity to reclaim land settled mainly by Kikuyus in the years after independence in 1963.
“Yes, they did organise it … They have had a long-standing agenda of violence. It is political instrumental violence of the worst kind,” Anderson said in the interview on Wednesday.
“If you map it, if you look at where it takes place, virtually every bit of violence has been on a settlement scheme … Quite deliberate, quite purposeful. You could argue that it has nothing whatsoever to do with the ballot. This might have happened even if (the opposition) ODM had won.”
“No good guys”
On the other side, one of the main motives for violence by Kibaki’s Kikuyu community against other groups – most notably in the towns of Naivasha and Nakuru – was the Mungiki gang’s desire to preserve its grip on extortion rackets.
Supported by some high-level politicians, Mungiki took advantage of the situation – and the justification of revenge for killings of Kikuyus by Kalenjins and others – to kick out other communities whose own protection gangs opposed Mungiki’s grip on the local transport and retail businesses, he said.
“Mungiki run those rackets not against non-Kikuyu, but against Kikuyu. They prey upon their own people. So they seek to exclude non-Kikuyu from those areas so that they can ‘protect’ their own people,” he said, adding that the notoriously murderous gang had supporters and enemies in Kibaki’s cabinet.
“If this (violence) was rooted in deeply-ingrained racial and ethnic hatred, why is there not violence all over the country? It is happening in very specific places which, if you know Kenya well, you could pretty much predict.”
Anderson lamented that both Kibaki and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) led by Odinga had put hardliners in their teams for negotiations over the disputed vote.
“Both sides decided to play hardball,” he said. “I don’t see that either side is willing to take the step towards the other.”
Kibaki hopes time will strengthen his position, he said.
“Mwai Kibaki has nothing to gain by negotiation. He can only be asked to roll back. So he and his advisers know that by sitting tight, hunkering down and hoping all of this will eventually go away, they win,” Anderson said.
“They are playing Russian roulette with Kenya’s democracy. They don’t give a damn. They just want to win.”
On the other side, Odinga’s ODM had been “supremely and idiotically naive” to think they could run a civil disobedience campaign without it leading to violence, he said.
And Odinga’s poor judgement plus lack of gravitas in handling the crisis had shattered his would-be image as a pan-African statesman able to carry Kenya forward, he said.
“I think he’s dead in the water,” Anderson said.
“One of the problems for the international media analysing the Kenyan situation is that there are no ‘goodies’, there is no one you can say wears the white hat.”
@ Nick
that was the best analysis of the our situation that i ever read, its becoz of fear that kikuyus will be victimized if they are not in power, and the fear of the other 42 tribes that they will suffer if kibaki remains in power for 5 years which i think its true for the 42 tribes the situation will get worse becoze thats means for 10 years they will become poorer than moi’s rule. so as we are always told the majority will win kibaki apende asi pende
I think the two words are misleading. We either have or dont have democracy, whether branded african, eurpean, western or anything else. We cant lower standards and say African democracy is poor.
What did Nelson Mandela do. Was that not an example of an African practicing democracy. What of our neighbours TZ?. How comes they havent suffered this much. I even thin due to our problems one can dare talk of African Religion or Chritianity. These are people who believe strongly for instance that same sex marriage should be fought, while they condone various unethical practices of our so called leaders.
I think, all constitutions for Africans should be written in consultation with international observeres to protect our institutions. Its only institutions that will deliver Africa, not human beings.
As for Kenya this is the best opportunity to write our constitution. Lets sezie it.
democracy in kenya as it is is not practical any where else in the world not even the western countries themselves have a dictator enshrined in the constitution.Without checks and balances there cant be democracy,.Our presidency is just too powerful and like deomon this office must be exorcised befor any good can come out of it.The beuty of a Raila presidency was that for the first time we had a pperson who was selfless enough to commit himself in devolving presidential powers it cant get better than that.the (wo)man in state house can even dicide to stay their even beyond 2012 if we do not urgently take care of bussiness.my condolence to hon imanyara cheek, may be he can join the pples govt side.
read , http://kenya-thieves-warlords.blogspot.com/
people who have been barrred from travellng to us, uk and western nations.
they can only go to china
These tyrans should be barred from all the countries, unfortunately china and may be russia has no recognition for democracy. Russia even pushed for the change of the statement from the security council. However the majority of these foreign countries are democrats.
Even if China and russia accept them, I dont think they will be comfortable with their education and development levels. And the last time I checked China was still restricting birth rate to 1 per couple.
Lets hope we will set the stds for African democracy.
TO: USA Department off Justice, UK Ministry of Justice, Canada Ministry of Justice
AskDOJ@usdoj.gov , webadmin@justice.gc.ca , general.queries@justice.gsi.gov.uk
On behalf of Kenyans, I request the USA Department of Justice, Canada’s Ministry of Justice, and the UK Ministry of Justice to help Kenyans at this time of crisis.
There is a suggestion, which needs to be investigated fully by a third party, that the government of Kenya is drugging policemen with a narcotic, possibly cocaine, to make them kill innocent Kenyans indiscriminately.
There was a cocaine haul that was intercepted in Nairobi a few years ago and it is possible that the government withheld some and are using them now to drug their policemen. The idea is to give the narcotic to policemen from a certain ethnic group and then send them to quell protests by members of their ethnic group.
Right now, Kalenjin policemen have been sent and some of them have attacked and killed their fellow Kalenjin. The regime of the former president, Daniel Moi, used this tactic with Kikuyu policemen being used to quell protests by fellow Kikuyus and kill them if necessary.
Some deadly followers of the Mungiki sect in Kenya were former policemen and it is possible that they are the victims of the drugging of the police by the government during their time of service.
The government gives drugs to the police to make them kill or maim without any qualms. When they have done their job and things are back to normal, they are fired from their jobs as they start to show signs of mental instability or aggressiveness.
This is a very gross human rights violation and it should not be allowed to take root. Blood samples from all security forces officers who visit the Memorial Forces Hospital in Nairobi should be taken and analyzed for drugs such as cocaine.
— —
Maru Kapkatet
Hi bloggers i had written before that i cant not at any time support the Mungiki for being used as a defending force for the Kikuyu community because i practically know how evil this group is now that all other tribes that were residing in naivasha have been chased away by this murderous group they are now stripping our women naked of there trousers and in coming days u will see them circumcising women watch this space.
hahaha!
Poor odmers. So full of tribal crap they cant recoincile to the aspect that that dude who shot two unarmed protesters was a kalenjin.
So….surely he must have been drugged!
Your tribalism and hate is amazing.
Maru Kaptatet,
You made my day. poor you. Your ethnic calculations are not balancing , are they?
Kirui =kalenjin=shhoting odm protesters=kibaki hired thugs?
Kirui=drugged!
you might want to know that when you encourage murder, it breeds thugs who sooner or later will turn their guns on you. You might be interested to know that those machete weilding thugs you cheered on in kisumu as they gang raped kikuyu infants are now raping little luo kids as they rob them.
There is something called GOODWILL , and it’ very important for any leader to govern.MK doesn’t have it in six out of eight provinces.For our country to move forward these guys have to realise this in a hurry and stop putting this country on a limbo.
WHY DO I SAY THESE…
I’m tired of having RAO to be the only one who is willing to walk an extra mile for all kenyans while these guys keep changing rules of the game.
karanja
this blog has had over 500 contributors, more than 60% are ready to walk the extra mile to find solutions. we have a lot of obstacles and challenges to overcome, most of us understand the pitfalls as well as traps laid out and the final benefits of the true cause. Navigating through this quagmire of well laid out booby traps and landmines is hard but we shall prevail, one step at a time, aove all our leaders must press on as we continue with the struggle.
the sideshows by 40% or less sometimes engulf the efforts of the many true agents for change and justice and we have seen some exasperation and fatigue but that is reality, we will press on.
true ODMers I urge to rise above the challenges and lets continue to press on for democracy, justice, peace and for the integrity and accountability of our institutions, services and leadership. Do not be sidetracked by the sideshows
Chungwa Moja, Maisha Bora
Well put brother tnk.
http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143981553
its worth reading brothers, i believ all of us wants solutions, i wud encourage to be more honest and argue our points out with our kikuyu brothers instead of gagging them thro tibal sentiments.
this will encourage them that they belong to this big big ODM family.
I am sickened by the repeated mention of ODM and PNU, These terms have expired and they are extremely irritating. Lets talk about KENYA. Even the Media has taken the lead they talk about the Koffi Annan Led Mediation between the opposition and the Government. That does not necessarily legitimize anything. My former Lecturer Prof Anyang needs to re-learn this, refusing to refer Mwai Kibaki, to as the President is just a repeat of a small show by Koigi wa Wamwere of walking round the country with long hair.
I have been calling Hon Raila, the President since June last Year has that made him one? People in this site have called Hon. Kibaki a thief, has that made him one?
Lets arise above praise of personalities and petty party taglines, It hasn’t helped as an inch. Lets NOW talk KENYA.. KENYA.. KENYA…, For its in Kenya, that we belong.
Mike okello
Are u from planet mars or what when you talk of Kenya it is obvious for a person with any iota of intelligence to talk about ODM, PNU(potea na uchaguzi), Kibaki(thief), RAO(the peoples prezzy) and mark my words we will not stop talking about these things because they are part and parcel of our past, present and future so if you cant stomach it GO HANG YOUR SELF SADDAM STYLE!!!!!!!.
“I have been calling Hon Raila, the President since June last Year”
hahaha Mike’s quote, I’m pretty sure on Kibakitena website under the thread were Elections free and fair what you said there will be a massive contradiction to the above quote.
On to the relevant thread, Africa is still young and finding it’s feet, we have proved in the past especially 2002 that democracy is developing in this country. Let us not forget that some of these developed countries took over 100 years for them to have a proper democracy. Britain, only gave women the right to vote in 1928 for example, further the House of lords (the rich and aristocracy) could overide all parliament laws upto the early 20 century. The same applies for other countries.
As a result Kenya was a shinning example in Africa, however what Kibaki did tells us that we are not quite there yet, however the underlining thing has always been that peole have become more informed and have led the fight for changes through mass action and protests as well as enlightened leaders who were willing to make the difficult decision to set us more accountable and transparent systems.
People here have criticized individuals but may I point out that Individuals are the people who have changed history. All History are littered with examples. This is why leaders have such a big responsibilities to lead their people with moral conviction. My prayer is that we shall again strengthen our institutions and restore faith for democracy so that we have our leaders serve thier true employers THE PEOPLE
“I have been calling Hon Raila, the President since June last Year”….. I was not calling him President to vote ODM, I was simply indicating his tremendous growth in popularity, to a point of “Close to Call” with the incumbent. Don’t try to draw dummy contradictions from my honest statements.
Then quit asking the site administrator to edit out my posts, read the signs, you might never know who invited me to this post, I was initially unwilling, but i have eventually accomplished. How long does it take you to understand when your ring leader switches allegiance, even when its apparent that the center can no longer hold?
Okello aka Mutua, it still remains that you and your family are banned from tha US and coming soon all over Europe so you are stuck with us if kenaya burns becoz of kibaki and his crew
Mike
Stop your blah blah blah about who invited you the fact is if the going is getting tough just quit infact better yet wear a big stone around your neck and throw yourself in nairobi river USHINDWE!!!!!!!!.
The fact of the matter is that we have , we are and we shall continously and i repeat continously talk of Kenya in the same breath as ODM chungwa moja maisha bora.
Fellow ODM people….I am encouraged by the resolve shown on this blog…. All of you who have continued to show resolve for justice and truth even in the face of people like Mike Okello and Pato who are trying to break our resolve.But it will not be broken!! Some of us may not write here regularlybut just know that thousands of us are encouraged by this blog and we come here each day to remind us what this struggle is all about…justice and truth…and only after these are achieved, can we talk of peace and reconciliation..only then!!! Keep it up guys and God bless.
Democracy works in Africa. However most of our leaders get drunk with power and lose track to replace the rule by the pople for Rule by minority. This is where things collapse and sooner or later these people go overdrive in their drunkensess with power.
Who knew That Kibaki would become what he is today? Even himslef he dint. But here we are.
One Message to Hon Odinga. ” You seem to give signals that you wanna let go” Do it at your own risk. We are ready to burn with you and that is all we need you to understand. For the sake of the future of this country, you must fix it now once and for all.
Powersharing deal brokered?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080208/ap_on_re_af/kenya_election_violence;_ylt=Aoxrb_G0GRuucshLv0Mb3Zus0NUE
“Hahaha”
“Poor odmers.so full of tribal crap that they cant reconcile to the aspect that that dude who shot two unarmed protestors was a kalenjin. You tribalism and hate is amazing.
You might be interested to know that those machete welding thugs you cheered on in kisumu as they gang raped kikuyu infants are now raping luo little kids as they rob them”
A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when he describes another’s.
The same person goes on to say “ your tribalism and hate is amazing”
Be careful before you pass judgment on another. You are revealing something about yourself and your words may come back to bite you.
I read comments about people who come to this forum and want to behave like the sober voices or voices of reason and I say to myself, God this people are all the same. Pretenders. They seek only victory not truth. Their goal is; win at whatever cost even if it is at the expense of my fellow countrymen. That is why there is a high probability of the Annan led talks failing.
Who doesn’t know for a fact that tribalism exists in our country. You want to tell us that it is only one month ago that some of you realized that tribalism exists and so you are amazed at the level exhibited in this forum. So do you tackle tribalism by exhibiting you own higher levels of tribalism? Am also amazed at the level of tribalism that has been exhibited by the Kibaki administration since it came to power. Is there anybody who will dispute that he is a tribalist?
In all debates let truth be thy aim and not victory. Then we will be able to move forward. Let us accept that most of us are tribalists but not label others tribalists while our tongues betray us. Secondly let us accept that despite the fact tribalism has reared its head in a negative way in form of deaths, displacements etc this could be a positive thing. The underlying problems that brought this will now be addressed. And solving the problem will start with how this election issue is solved. If they are not done justly then be ready to tighten your belts further. That is the truth no matter no matter whose side you are in. You wouldn’t go to a court where the judge is a hyena, the prosecutor a hyena, the court clerk a hyena, the policeman bringing you in is a hyena, while you are a goat and expect to get justice.
Mike, what we need from you is consistency. Consistency in your level of intelligence and thinking. Looking at your earlier posts that will be very hard for you to achieve.I was reading your posts from the other threads especially the 10 reasons you gave and wondering what a fool. Don’t cheat yourself that you are a sober voice. The problem is that you don’t know what you stand for. The funny part is that you haven’t realized that you don’t know what you stand for. Having no stand you can fall for anything and it’s why you want to tell us what you thought then and what you think now. We wouldn’t want to know what you would be thinking tomorrow or in a few months time. You were for Raila because he is popular. He still is popular, but as I put it in one of my earlier post, this is not a popularity contest so we wont go doing things to please people.
If you are a tru Kenyan and one who supports the spirit of Democracy you will agree with me that the “govt” is out to destroy the relationship between multiethnic communities that support ODM across the country. We must learn and know the tricks of PNU , supported by Ali and the ilks. AM 100% sure that the report the police released about the shootings in Kisumu is all about propaganda and tricks to bring the formidable force of ODM apart. But we are aware and very much informed Most of the policemen who were shooting harmless people in Kisumu and otherparts of western were not Kalenjins or Luhyas are Luos. This is just but another wildgoose chase game implored to hoodwink and confuse the people of Kenya. When Lucy slaps Imanyara they issue a counter staement of denial, when they steal votes they deny even after the ECK itself giving evidence, when the leafelets were spread in Eld by police they said all the trash they could. Can you believe their investigations report. This is Just another blantant lie. Belive or not that Policeman,s name is Kariuki not Kirui. I bet them to bring another independent investigator and you will be shocked. ODM supporters Let us not loose focus we want truth Kibaki is a Lier and His Govt would lie to anything just to keep him on power. I am only asking if international community would interven and carry a parallel investigation so that we can get a clear picture. The Police force and the CID of Kenya are partisan and they are only trying to bring the people of Kenya at loggerheads. These pple are known even from their duty stations when will the PNU and the “govt” stop thinking that we are still kids who can be lied to and they just go with it. we dont want to be taken for a ride. Let the truth be spoken and the Kenyans will be free but If they continue the way they are doing then we dont want to know what will happen
Of course Western style democracy can work in Kenya. The reason it has failed up till now is because of all those old timers that continue to dominate politics and will not leave room for the younger generation of politicians (read, Raila and his team) as their ideas are too threatening to the political establishment. The other reason is that there are, even among the younger generation, opportunists such as Kalonzo, Kituyi, Karua, who rather than join forces with the new, continue to ally themselves with the old timers for personal benefit. How else can work explain that people that have fought for freedom become the very ones that now ally themselves to the forces of repression? This so called politics of the stomach is a powerful thing. Given what I have seen of Raila and ODM, I would have no fear at all with retaining the powerful presidency as I am confident that the power would not be abused as it has been in previous regimes. Nonetheles, we need a system that is not dependent on the morality of the person who happens to occupy the office at that point in time. Otherwise, we risk one day finding ourselves with another monster like Kibaki and we will begin to ask ourselves whose creation he is. GO RAILA; GO! You have the support and goodwill of so many Kenyans and many in the international community. You cannot afford to give in now otherwise Kenya will not make that big leap forward that it would have made with an ODM government in place. The road ahead will not be easy, but we are fully behind you, and wish you continued courage and strength.
My heartfelt condolences to all those who have perished undeservedly.
We must at all times appease their spirits.
By the time of writing, a certain “power sharing” resolution is in the making. I hope these “legislators” won’t sleep for days til they find an acceptable and understandable framework as they failed Kenya before now.
My being a Masters student of Africa Studies will not precipitate a spotless assessement of democracy in Kenya. Since I’m not on the ground, some intrisic factors will be missing from my contribution and I therefore accept criticism from you my dear country men/women.
Prof Anderson as quoted above by John Mwenda hits the nail on it’s head about our predicament but for a couple of points.
1. The “conflict” in Kenya will be a blessing in disguise for the populace… in fact in the short and long run. Why? Politicians HAVE realised that their literate electorate (and we are!) can see beyond the “I eat therefore I am” ritual… the spontaneous reaction to a flawed election, albeit violent has squarely re-affirmed the term “I think therefore I am” IS applicable to Kenyans.
*Neither Kibaki nor Raila had realised the power of satellite communication in the hands of millions of Kenyan youth (mobliles). Panick gripped both when the “conflict” breathed life into itself and bandits joined in in the ensuing melee. I contend that the same medium can be used to bring back trust in the most affected areas and the country as a whole … but we need to start in this forum. Tribe is an identity every individual should be proud of, yet tribe has been used to describe us (Africans) as lesser civilised etc. though in fact, it is one of the most formidable assets we have. Unfortunately, it is possible that we have let a “The Animal Farm” analogy creep into the term.
2. Democracy as envisaged by the West through Structural Adjustment Programmes, Good Governamce etc. and enforced by the IMF and the World Bank has failed to create stability in Africa period. Mugabe’s Zimbabwe was a darling of the West and (is) democratic..“electoral authoritarianism” or a “competitive authoritarian regime”.. after all, people go to the polls. Another example is Museveni’s Uganda, voted as an instance of “good governance” … meanwhile Museveni plays Putin in East Africa joining any conflict that might win him economic gain. Zenawi in Ethiopia and the list is long.
Democracy per se, is a term that reffered to elitist administration in ancient Greece. It has since been used severally and vicariously to suit different actors at different situations. Having said that, I concurr that “dictocracy” (a blend of dictatorship and democracy) is what has been practiced in many parts of the world… at government level. Just take any country and evaluate.
Democracy (read majority rule) therefore is utopian and unattainable. A “Representative Democracy” where the welfare of the individual is paramount would be ideal..(I feel this is what Raila has aimed at all this years). However, increased civic knowledge and basic education MUST act as floodgates to tame dictatorial/autocratic tendencies.
This is what we can aspire to achieve for Kenya by educating one another without fear or favour.
Thank you for this democratic space.
Haki iwe ngao na mlinzi
Natukae kwa undugu, amani na umoja
The same evil virus that infests the common gold chain thief is the same one that manifests in the hallways of state house Nairobi, wizi mtupu hadharani!! Whatever happened to shame?
Too much hate in this blogg. All in the name of democracy. I dont think a Kalenjin knows how to pull trigger because he is an expert in arrows only. I therefore believe that only Kikuyus can kill Luos and other tribes in Kenya. FULL STOP. DONTARGUE FURTHER!!!!
US-EU-UN ARE MISSING IT ALL. KENYANS SPOKE BY VOTING A LEADER OF THEIR OWN CHOICE.THEY TOLD THE WORLD IF THEIR DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS ARE NOT RESPECTED, THEN MUNGIKI REGIME CAN CONTINUE RULING OVER THEIR TOMBS. THEY PAID DEARLY WITH OVER 1000 OF THEM DEAD. AND ABOUT A HALF MILLION HOMELESS. THE QUESTION TO THE UNITED NATIONS IS WHY DON’T YOU ANSWER KENYANS’ REQUEST? KENYANS CAN ONLY BE HAPPY WITH YOU IF YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THE COMMON MEN’S WILL RATHER THAN NEGOTIATING KENYA WITH MAFIA WHO SHALL USE THEIR WEALTH TO KILL THEIR OPPONENTS. MUNGIKI REGIME IS DANGEROUS AND KENYANS HAVE TRULLY VOMITED IT.
THE FACT THAT BWANA ANNAN IS ONLY READY FOR PUBLIC RELATIONS ISSUES IS A LET DOWN TO THE WISHES OF KENYANS. MUNGIKI REGIME IS BUYING TIME SO THAT IT CAN USE THE LOOTED PUBLIC RESOURCES TO BUY NEGOTIATORS.
LONG LIVE HIS EXCELLENCY RAILA AMOLO ODINGA
Guys let us put things in perspective. Firstly let us examine what we have achieved. After the elections RAO insisted on a mediated settlement, the government insisted on dialogue and that mediation was not necessary! Well we are in the midst of mediation. Secondly the government position had always been that the solution should only be resolved as per the constitution thus gave legal reasons to shoot all our proposals, well yesterday’s agreement to a political settlement is yet another scalp for ODM whom insisted on a political settlement out of the crisis.
Now the second issue is then, how much pain does one want to exert on its people? We are in a situation where cities have been destroyed, especially ODM strongholds, confidence in ourselves is at a all time low, Hatred is the order of the day, we have lost properties, business’s both large and small are suffering, Tax revenues down hence, tourism down economy is rapidly deteriorating and we are likely to face serious challenges with regards to inflation as money chasing alot less goods, food shortages, and shortages of other basics. This is merely the tip of the iceberg.
We gave RAO a mandate, and ultimately it was to protect and defend our rights, now as a leader he has to make a judgement as to how much he is willing to subject the country and the people.
Remember nobody will remember Obonyo or others pushing for no compromise in history but they will remember RAO. Our children and grandchildren will surely blame Kibaki and Raila for leaving them a country that defines and pigeon holes them according to race and steroetype, with an economy on it’s knees, a tattered international reputation and a unstable and unpromising future.
Fact is that we need each other, remember that our Kikuyu brothers feel that Kibaki is what is stopping genocide of their people, you can guarantee that Kibaki’s people are telling him this. He will not want to give up the seat. We all know that this is not true but the truth of the matter is that anyone looking at what has happened lately has reason to conclude otherwise.
For ourselves, we need to rebuild our towns and cities, ensure our children return to school, stabilize our economy as well as working to find long lasting solutions.
Let us consider this, an interim government for a period of two years, will undoubtably look to strenghten our institutions which ODM promised to do. We have to deliver a new constitution, a radical surgery of the ECK, judiciary, Police to restore confidence from the people.
Further we also now have to think about securing all the by elections for grabs to ensure we give RAO a massive hand in any subsequent negotiations to ensure ODM is in strong command in the interim government so as to push for the people’s agenda and wishes. Let us look at the bigger picture, let us leave our children and grandchildren a different Kenya to what we have lived through over the last 50 years, we owe them that much!
RAO has shown why he is the people’s president in my view, he considered the country first, he walked the extra mile first, reached out to the thieves and offered forgiveness for their crimes. The other sides needed threats and strong hand from US-EU and rest of internatinal community but history which show this. RAO has emerged as the ultimate statesman and is why in 2 years we will give him the full mandate to lead us into the promised land!
Its abit disgusting RAO advisers keep misleading him, which keep lowering his credibility by the day.
They incite people to leave their work and go to demonstrate against IGAD because it has been invited by somebody they do not regard as the president of Kenya.
These igad fellows after coming for the meeting make sure they go to RAO’s office.Maybe to make a point they are actually in the country and have actually come for the meeting after all as invited by the president of Kenya.
RAO has to apologise for the planned action and seemingly insult to those wazee’s blaming it on lack of full information.
MPs are summoned to parliament by the president of the republic of Kenya on 15th Jan. ODM MPs take a long long time arguing on certain issues and laws. At the end of the day, they are declared out of order by the very man they overwhelmingly supported for speaker of the assembly. ODM MPs face embarrassment again blaming it on lack of full information!
People from certain ethnic communities in Rift valley, starting with Eldoret and Kericho, are killed, their houses burnt, churches burnt, schools burnt, roads blocked and in certain areas, roads dug up, making it impossible for our people, even the very ODM supporters to access western Kenya and Nyanza. Our ODM leaders and supporters blame this on Mungiki!.
ODM leaders meet the UN secretary general with the complaint and injustice of rigged elections. He asks our leaders to comment on the human rights injustice in Rift valley province. They get quiet, then reluctantly blame it on a cooking stove and mistaken identity.
Before the mayhem began, one odm advisor confessed he is the one who told ODM leaders that he suspected something was going on at kicc. So the advisor may not have had full information after all!. This half information by our leader’s advisor was enough to incite some masses who regard politicians as their messiahs to cause destruction of lives of those they suspect are their enemies.
So how does democracy work if the advisers to our leaders are full of ignorance, extremely selfish, base their decisions on suspicion as opposed to facts and are full of themselves?.
Jane,
Ha ha ha ha!
PNU desperate tactics won’t move some of us an inch.
The Thief-in-Chief, MK, is the mastermind of chaos that engurfed the country.
Misleading advise to RAO from his advisors is what will make RAO fail at the end of the day.
Someone says, MK does not have goodwill in six out of eight provinces. Misleading.The man led in four out of eight provinces.
Another ODM advisor and RAO supporters start the conversation and say, lets go for a re-run of the two, RAO and MK. MK supporters are saying yes silently.
Have we done enough research or are RAO supporters bent on causing further embarrassment to him?.
Are you sure RAO financial supporters, sir charles included will give even a coin after the damages caused to their businesses associated with ODM protesters?, are you sure Obama who is busy campaigning will spare some time to mobilise resources in usa for RAO campaign, are you sure ODM and RAO credibility in western ,coast, nyanza, and parts of RV stands as it was before 27th Dec?.
Are you sure some people that voted for RAO will listen to ODM when RAO talks about infrastructure, when ODM supporters and protestors were on camera uprooting the railway, burning a post office, blocking and damaging the roads in Rift Valley and Nyanza?
Are you sure some people who voted overwhelmingly for RAO will listen when RAO talks about school when they know their children have not settled or gone to school this first term, due to disruptions associated with ODM protesters?
RAO’s emotional advisors and supporters will cause his downfall at the end of the day.
African democracy is played well in Kenya weak institutions that amass all powers in one person and then causes the split in the nation hence bloodshed e.g Somalia, Sudan,Chad,Angola,Uganda,Siera Leone,Malawi,Rwanda e.t.c and now our own motherland if we want real democracy that can stand test of time you need to devolve power and distribute resources equitably.
Jane
you are just full of crap we all saw it live in the tele the games which were going on maybe if your brain has selective amnesia let me assist u: Kivuitu confessed not able to reach some returning officers yet he is there boss, If the election were not stolen why was pnu afraid of recount then,if Kibaki(mwizi) won fairly why was he sworn in like a thief in the evening and not by full military honors who had spend time practising at Nyayo stadi.,Why were many results from Meru areas and central province delayed yet it is just 3.5hrs drive to Meru yet a drive to Mbita can take you 12 hours and results were received promptly, why did Kivuitu say that he weighed and decided to award kIBAKI because of peace what a dimwit.
Hello guys i hope we are on the right course let us keep it up. The brats who cannot and are blinding themselves let them continue sleeping as Kenya is moving on. These friends of ours will not stop to amuse you. they say this today tommorow they say a different thing. They steal they say nobody stole evidence disapproves them then they say every body stole. By the way where is Olonzo a man in the diminishing return theory I pitty him anyway and he calls himself a Christian may you guys redefine for me who a Christian is? May be I dont know, pple like jane are just trying to be selfish with the reality please pray for her because she does not know what to say or to speeak, may thro our prayers she might see some sense in all that is going on in Kenya. Well the steps made by Anan Kifi HE. is worth commendable we would like the team to oversee their recommendations to the last bit because the thieves we have around are fond of armtwisting. Let us as ODM family remain United as formidable as never before. One thing I have always said Focus is the key to success avoid the destructors or other dream stealers they will always critisize any move you make. My humble prayer and plea is we remain on focus strive harder not to strive in the future. It is our obligation as ODM family to make sure that our team, our party remains formidable united and a party with democrats and sensible minds. Let the PNU continue sleeping we dont care whatever dirt they throw at us we will win as we have always won if they dont like it they should go dive in the ocean. It is a matter of issues and policiesn god hel Kenya.
Jane
“At the end of the day, they are declared out of order by the very man they overwhelmingly supported for speaker of the assembly”
This cracked me up. I put it to you that this was a delibarate ploy played by ODM in order to show Kenyans that Marende was competent and was going to be fair. Look how all PNU aguys quickly got on board and accepted him as speaker for that one act! haha
Have not asked yourself how Marende was able to quickly refer to specific points of order in the constitution and other standing orders and deliver the verdict in that short time? I really wonder what sort of tests PNU subject you guys to in advancing thier agenda of propaganda through people like you. One thing is for sure, High IQ and capacity to reason and analyse materials and fact does not appear! hahahahahaha
Mumias,
I have earned my eternal respect. I dont know you and I probably never will but you are in all probability the smartest Odmer around here.
the hounds snarling for kyuk blood do not realize that the only thing they achieve is to drive moderates; kyuk and others towards kibaki.
Kibaki can be beaten, but the strategems wil have to be notch smarter than burning infants in churches.
For obonyo, i hate to have to tell you this but let me just say it.
Killing kyuks as a stategy is not smart move because it makes three fatal assumptions
1. that Kibaki cares for the 1000 kyuks dead enough to be moved to vacate his seat. He doesn’t and even if he was, killing kyuks would probbly make him want to stay on an control the instruments of state. Mumias alluded to that
2. That the international community will remain unmoved or (maybe ) support the killings – after rwanda, the enemy of the west is the guy with the machete. full stop. you can whine all day and night long about rigging and land and so on but the moment you are at a roadblock hacking innocent people to death. You are the monster. this obonyo, is wht has costed ODM the support it needed from the EU, US and britain
3. That moderate forces (you know the rest of the thirty something other tribes), middle class groupings of all tribes and most other moderates will remain unmoved or (maybe) support the killings – In reality most normal human beings cannot understand much less share your glee at the deaths of 1000 innocent human beings. Killing revolts a lot of normal people and this may prove the fatal blow that sinks Raila in a relection done anytime soon. time is needed for people to forget such things.
In many African countries, the one who controls the guns is the “duly and democratically-elected winner” in any elections, “mpende, mispende”.
Kenya will inch closer to full and sustained democracy three generations from now when the current crop of colonial-era thieves and their successors whom they have also poisoned have fallen silent.
The millions of Kenyans who support Hon. Raila Odinga do not do so blindly. They support the entrenchment of democracy, justice, equity, accountability, and genuine rule of law in Kenya. There was hope that Kenya would enjoy these elements of modern government in a modern country if Hon. Raila Odinga had taken over the reins of power in Kenya.
Right now, rivers of tears and oceans of blood and empty stomachs and fresh graves and full mortuaries and the music of gunfire define a Kenya that the majority of Kenyans do not want.
There is hope. God exists and reigns. In South Africa, apartheid fell. The British Empire, where they used to say that the sun never set is no more. Communism and the mighty Soviet Union are fast-fading into history. Idi Amin is no more.
There is hope for Kenyans. Kenyans will live together side by side in peace again. They will enjoy watching football again and travelling to different parts of the country without having to resort to sign language to hide their ethnicity.
There will be a Kenya without the ruthless butchers someday soon. Let us keep our hopes high and alive.
Remember that Death is the Greatest Equalizer. Even the butchers who have cut short the lives of many will one day also die.
Pato
my fellow comrade Obonyo I feel did not mean targeting kyuks, I will let him defend himself but my interpretation of his comment was for us to continue with mass protests etc to correct the injustice of what Kibaki did.
However this is just the point, there is too much suspicion caused by speculation and propaganda about tribes, certain leaders, advisors, etc. The truth shall set us all free and justice will prevail. We will soon see who played what role in what and when.
Well it seems I may have been presumptious in thinking we had reached some from of settlement.
God knows how much I love RAO and belive in him but
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KENYA_ELECTION_VIOLENCE?SITE=OKPON&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
The link shows he has dropped the tone. I just wonder whether it was a little inappropriate?
What do you think fellow comrades?
mumias,
there is a lot at stake. most of africas opposition politics is watching very keenly how ODM navigates this very slippery process. we can either legitimise strong arm tactics or fiercely resist so that no current or future kenyan or african leader in his right mind will ever attempt it again. i think RAO read the mood on the ground very well. yes we want solutions, we do not want violence against our neighbours in the communities they live in, but corrupt leadership we shall not accept. i think lets wait till wednesday or earlier (if things go awry or there’s a political breakthrough).
this could have gone the easy way or hard way, it went the hard way and so there are a lot of obstacles to overcome
I got my mail in your blogg for the first time. I thank you for that. I believe that Kenya is greater than all of us. By the way those who work on diamond and gold know that the precious medal must be refined by fire to burn all the impurities. I know most of us have lost our loved ones and a lot of property in the mayhem. However, I believe we are in for a long process of reconstructing our institutions to be the best in the world. By the way Professor Anyang Nyongo is one of the best African political mind but saddly one who subscribes to Machiavelli principles. I believe that he means good for the country but will have to give up arm twisting position to force others to do what he wants.
Hon. Raila Odinga is a great statesman who, if allowed to work independently will together with others usher in a new political dispensation. And as he used to say, if black South Africans could sit with the minority white, why not PNU and ODM. And true to that, Kenya is headed in the right direction. The only way to heal our wounds is to do some key things:
Allow far-reaching constitutioal review that will address the balance of power, equal sharing of resources (Kalenjin to be awarded big chunks of land in Rift Valley ie Eldoret and Uasin Gishu areas), and the displaced people to be resettled in their former land or swap with those Kalenjin in the predominantly Kikuyu areas
The constitution to make it a capital crime those who forcefully evict people from their land due to their ethinic groups. This should be made an international law to bar it from happening in the future.
That the presidency be rotational, that no one tribe will be allowed to hold onto this power for more than two terms unless the tribe on the next line is not able to produce a president.
It must be constitutionalized that whoever campaigns on hate must be banned from contesting in the presidency, parliament, or council. This is the onluy way to move forward and not spitting hate fire on this blogg.
We are back to square one. Anan has been requesting the parties from making inflamatory statements in public. But I believe that Raila knows what he knows and we should not judge him for speaking in that mood at Kericho. But I wonder how much more blood must be shed before we can say enough is enough. Right now those calling the shots are the two principals but then a wananchi revolution will be on the way and when that comes, no one will resist. We shall bring it down like a buffalo!
Agent4Change,
I send my commend here on the 9th of february. It is still “awaiting moderation”.
Is this standard procedure?
Ahsante.
Kenyans should strive to place a positive value on diversity
Story by LEE NJIRU
Publication Date: 2/11/2008
I have just come from Rift Valley and Central Provinces a saddened man, dejected and horrified.
After witnessing crimes of unprecedented scope being perpetrated, the murder of hundreds of innocent children, women and old people, I feel like I am going crazy.
The evil-doers show arrogant disregard of all conscience and compassion. The heavens run crimson with innocent blood.
The sobs of the maimed children and women make the earth tremble and shake the very foundations of out civilisation. And are we really civilised?
Our political leaders, elders, clerics and intelligentsia must decide, fast, whether our country must continue to slide into economic and political chaos with all the attendant consequences,
SINCE INTER-ETHNIC MISTRUST AND murderous hatred are at an all-time high, these categories of leaders must decide whether our beloved country should remain one or be dismembered into tribal kingdoms.
They must decide whether criminal gangs should be left alone to mount illegal road blocks and extort money on our highways. They must decide whether Kenyans should degenerate into lunatics. And by the way, are there enough lunatic asylums?
After witnessing the heart-rending and inconsolable misery in the camps holding the internally displaced, I remembered former President Moi’s oft-repeated admonition, which runs thus: “Siasa mbaya, maisha mbaya”.
Before this tragedy befell Kenya, most Kenyans took this admonition as a mere cliche, a tired catchword to be evoked and expounded upon for rhetorical resonance.
Mr Moi’s exhortations are now alive. They are our goal, our dream, our hope. They are the earth under our feet and the skies above us. They will spell the end of living like hunted dogs.
His prediction has taken on magical powers and now means something greater than before. “If you are tired of peace, don’t hasten the coming of mayhem. It will come on its own and it will fry both the bad and the innocent,” was another familiar prediction from Mzee Moi.
The minister for Energy, Kiraitu Murungi, confessed in an article appearing in the Nation of February 3, 2008 that he was one of those who dismissed Mzee Moi as a dictator when he described Kenya as a “collection of warring tribes”.
When Kiraitu writes in the same article about “ a frightening future for some ethnic communities in Kenya”, he ought to ask himself whether he had contributed to the promotion of interethnic animosity.
Continual insults of elderly leaders and reference to them in derogatory terms obviously inflame their communities dislike for the offenders. Ethnic slurs are internalised by the offended communities and militate against national unity. They also make the offending community a common enemy of other tribes.
I do agree with Mr Murungi that violence is a deliberate political strategy by desperate groups for effecting changes in political system that alienates them.
Any serious observer of the changing attitudes should have noticed the heightened ethnic mistrust in Kenya after the last referendum on the Wako draft constitution.
The voting pattern showed that all other communities were standing up against one entity.
And as the campaigns for the oranges and bananas raged, Kenyans continued to witness the most destructive and hateful insults traded between two main blocs.
As I was growing up in Embu, I noticed that by the time children were six or seven, they usually had absorbed the basic attitudes of the regional subculture of overt pride and prejudice against other tribes.
I would like to advise a minister from my region that although it is not possible to legislate against attitudes and prejudices, we should not antagonise communities by careless utterances and ethnic slurs.
The country is aflame with ethnic fever, communities are in a state of high alert for signs of cronyism, nepotism and clannism regarding regional quotas in appointments to positions of authority and enrolments in colleges.
To avoid the desperation Murungi talked about, we should build a nation whereby patterns of political power and economic reward are tested on a distributive formula. And to avoid this discontent, strident guidelines for recruitment urgent to be imposed.
EVEN THOUGH CERTAIN POLITICAL parties had fairplay as their campaign slogans, history has taught us that every community has the potential for nepotism when an opportunity presents itself
The proposed new constitutional dispensation should not allow unscrupulous leaders to use situation ethics to justify digressions from nationally accepted moral standards.
For in cases where communities discern institutional barriers to equal appointments and treatment, one should expect MPs to march in different directions and to face each other across an abyss. Ask Kofi Annan.
Since Kenya is a mosaic of many tribes, we should place a positive value on our cultural diversity.
The ongoing mayhem in the country has proved to Kenya’s main tribes that their perceived individual numerical strengths were a lethal miscalculation. After all who has won the battle? Who has not lost?
Mr Njiru is press secretary, Office of the Former President
Write to the author
friends of Agwambo, this is the time to pray for this man. This is a very difficult time to Agambo. I am very happy that we campaigned on issues and real issues which affect the life of common men, women, children and youths in our country. On the other side our opponents campaigned on propaganda from day one.
You army of REVOLUTION stand firm and have faith knowing that GOD IS WITH US. We have come from very far and as we approach this important week, lets go back to our knees and PRAY, PRAY, PRAY and PRAY. IF I LOVED AGWAMBO WHEN HE WAS CAMPAIGNING, WHAT ABOUT NOW THAT HE IS IN DIFFICULT TIME? Personally I have chosen to pray and wait. It can not be business as usual
Mumias/tnk
Have you guys wondered why before even the negotiations started one Hon. speaker Marende said that he will ensure that any change in the laws to arrive at peaceful resolution to the political impasse will swiftly be done now you can see why ODM wanted this man they had already planned where and how to get what they wanted from the beginning while the pnu(pumbavu na ujinga) were thumping there chest courtesy of Martha the board room strategist Sally Kosgei and the rest of the team were just confident and i think this is how this wll play out ; ODM will say that they will leave Kibaki with the prezzy but would want to create a PM post with executive powers to run day to day affairs of the house hence yours truly will be Leader of govt. business ion the house this post will be created constitutionally hence there will not be backstabbing from the PNU side the way they did the MOU in 2002. Secondly ODM will claim they have the majority of MP’s so they will want to get a lions share of the ministerial seats pnu will cry foul as usual hence ODM will cede ground and acxcept a 55%-45% divide in its favour and that goes to the assistant ministers too the end results ODM controls the Govt., the house and hence they will have there own chief whip and then comes the house committees which again because of the numerical strength ODM will head the crucial committees on top of that you will have the ODM ruling most of the key councils e.g Nairobi, Eldoret, Mombasa, Malindi,Kisumu,Uasin ngishu,Narok e.t.c so ODMers that is why Raila is saying they wont betray there supporters and this time round Kibaki cant dishonour the MOU because this one will be from international mediation and have also to conclude when the house opens in march the first order of business will be Marende to declare the seats vacants paving way for by-elections which we have to win in Ainamoi, Kilgoris, Wajir N. Emuhaya, Kamkunji. Embakasi may be alittle tricky.
am yet to see Kenya’s middle class acting as if they are part of the ongoing in Kenya. Historically known for being the engine behind political change and regulating the government, today Kenya’s Middle Class acts more like an Expatriate Club. They watch things from afar as if they are not part of the problem and it will never affect them. The political problem seems to be a poor man’s problem and wanasiasa acting crazy.
read it here …http://mweusi.wordpress.com/2008/02/10/middle-class-or-wannabe-middle-class/
i wud rather prefer our president his excelency RAO to be opposition chief than share power with the most uggliest president in the world, Mwizi mwai kibaki
Kisumu Riots Executions:Constable Kirui Just a Sacrificial Lamb
The gang-land style execution of two demonstrators by a police constable captured by a KTN cameraman was just a tip of senseless mass killings carried out by state agents but go unreported and unpunished in Kenya.
Had the cameraman not been keen to his profession or taken the bold move of capturing execution on camera and had KTN not stood their ground, the cold-blooded actions by constable Kirui would have been swept under the carpet just like many other executions carried out by the trigger-happy police in the past.
Any right-thinking human being could not find any justification in the macabre shooting of Mr George William Onyango and Mr Ishmael Chacha in a Kisumu neighbourhood on January 16. The two unarmed demonstrators were kicked as they lay on the ground pleading with Contable Kirui to spare their lives.
Kenyans watched the KTN news clip in horror. The KTN clip was also screened by international news outlets and hundreds of websites around the world. The crime committed by the constable was totally unjustifiable.
But what came out of the mouths of Kenya’s police chiefs’ was even more horrifying. In his characteristic norm, Police Spokesman Eric Kiraithe hurriedly called a Press Conference under the instructions of his boss, Commissioner Major general Mohamed Hussein Ali, and dismissed the KTN footage as computer generated images manipulated and equated it to a Rambo Movie. The two police chiefs shamelessly justified the shootings to the utter shock of Kenyans.
In living up to its credibility, KTN stood its ground with the backing of local and international human rights groups and international media outlets. But Kibaki friendly media houses – Nation Media Group, the Royal Media (which owns Citizen TV and Radio), KBC, Regional Outreach Ltd (owners of Kameme FM and jua kali-type K24 TV station) – gave the Kisumu shooting and those of many other innocent Kenyans a total blackout.
The media houses listed above are either owned or under the leadership of Kikuyu managers and editors. There is no doubt these media houses were co-opted by the illegitimate Kibaki regime into a cover up conspiracy when the Presidential vote was being stolen and in the post-election violence when over 5,000 have been killed and they continue reporting only 800 deaths!
Maj Gen Ali and Mr Kiraithe finally gave in due to the expose by KTN and sustained international pressure and instituted an inquiry into the Kisumu shooting. A team of detectives has returned the verdict – Constable Kirui executed the two men in cold blood and he should face murder charges.
They arrived at the conclusion after reviewing the KTN footage (Kiraithe’s Rambo Movie!), a ballistic examination of the officer’s rifle and getting witnesses’ accounts.
It was an insult for those who respect human rights and human life to see Mr Kiraithe convening another Press conference yesterday to declare Constable Kirui had committed a crime and he would be tried for murder. There was no mention of the Rambo Movie and no apology was offered by this cunning officer.
This is the pretence we can do without. Maj Gen Ali and his side-kick Kiraithe are masters of public deception. The two make fools of themselves when they hurriedly shoot their mouths based on false information and before any investigations are carried out only to be proved wrong later.
Based on the earlier comments made by Mr Kiraithe, Kenyans should closely follow the murder trial in court. I’m willing to bet a fortune with anyone who is convinced Kirui will be found guilty of the senseless crime he and his fellow officers committed under the guise of protecting the stolen presidency.
Remember the October 2005 fatal shootings of three primary school kids and an innocent milk vendor? Maj Gen Ali hurriedly called a Press conference claiming police had shot dead four men who were part of a group that tried to raid Kondele police station to steal guns during a protest sparked off by the referendum on the proposed new constitution. In fact, the commissioner said he had no apologies to make termed those killed as “hooligans”.
Two days later, Maj Gen Ali’s lies were exposed when it turned out that those killed were young primary school kids and a milk vendor who were nowhere near the police station. Just like in the Kirui shooting, Maj Gen Ali “ordered” the arrest of the two officers involved in the shooting in an attempt to ease public pressure on him to resign and to cover international shame of his reckless statement. The two officers were quietly released later on when the heat cooled down.
When the Mungiki went on an murderous spree in parts of the Rift Valley, Central and Nairobi last year, Maj Gen Ali formed a special unit to hunt down the rag tag gangs. Between July and October, the special police unit rounded up thousands of jobless youth and anyone they suspected to be involved in the illegal sect. It did not matter if you were linked to the gang or not. If your face did not please the officers, you ended up on their death chamber vehicles and what happened afterwards is a horrific story that none of the media houses dared expose.
Most of those who were arrested disappeared without trace. They were not taken to any police station or court of law to be tried. They few who were lucky ended up in mortuaries (and at least their relatives had something to bury) but thousands of others were killed and their bodies turned into food for wild beasts and crocodiles in Tana River. It is estimated that well over 4,000 youths were executed by the police during that period under the guise of fighting Mungiki.
And when police cover was blown off after some of the bodies that were left in forests were found (in fact, the wild beasts had so much flesh on their hands and they could not finish), furious Maj Gen Ali called a Press conference challenging anyone to prove that police were the killers. But blood was all over his hands, clothes and on his face.
Although he denied police involvement in the mass killings, he was unable to explain why police failed to open up any investigations into the killings. Police only collected the “discovered” bodies from the forests and ferried them to the mortuaries. That was all. Maj Gen Ali would have ordered an investigations against himself had he opened investigations into the mass killings!
Kenyan police – especially commissioner Maj Gen Ali – should not be allowed to get away with Crimes Against Humanity. Those who have blood on their fingers must face justice no matter how long it takes.
If Maj Gen Ali wants to convince Kenyans and the world that the Kenya Police has seen the light, he should do should the honourable thing by resigning for ordering his officers to engage in mass killings under the guise of fighting crime. Mr Kiraithe should also throw in the towel.
And the Kibaki regime, if it wants to be seen to have any slight respect for human life, should order an in-depth audit of the Kenya Police by forming an independent commission to probe incidents of gross human rights abuse since Maj Gen Ali became commissioner. All officers found to have engaged in Crimes Against Humanity should be punished and put behind bars. Anything short of that is mere public relations exercise.
Constable Kirui is just a sacrificial lamb, most likely because of his ethnic background. There are thousands of other Kiruis in the Kenya Police and they should all join Kirui in Kamiti or in the gallows. Maj Gen Ali should answer for the mass killings that have been committed under his watch in the five years he has been at the helm of the Kenya Police.
The KTN cameraman who risked his life to capture the macabre killing deserves an international human rights award. It’s encouraging that while the likes of Nation Media Group takes over the role KBC in doing public relations for the illegitimate Kibaki regime, there are few journalists who are ready to risk their lives to live up to their professionalism.
Compare the KTN bold with a shocking one at Nation Centre. In the height of political unrest in the country in January, Nation journalists in Kibera counted 14 bodies of demonstrators who had been killed by the police in a single day in Kibera slums.
But when the reporters returned to the office to file the story, they were told by their Editorial Director, Mr Wangethi Mwangi, to call Mr Kiraithe for the police version. Mr Kiraithe claimed only one person had been killed in Kibera that day! Mr Mwangi then told the journalists to ignore what they had personally witnessed and report what the police were saying. That has been the reporting style since Mr Linus Gitahi became the CEO over an year ago. The media house that was once respected for standing for the truth has reduced itself to Kibaki’s PPS, a worse situation than when Kenya Times was Kanu’s mouth-piece.
Just to show you how Nation Media Group is slowly killing itself by evolving into Kibaki’s mouth-piece, Mr Gitahi has completely snuffed out the independence of the Editorial Department by ensuring that mostly news friendly to Kibaki, his fellow Nyerian, sees the light of the day.
Mr Gitahi manipulated what was published and aired by NMG’s news outlets during the general elections. He also contributed to the famous Sh1 million-plate lunch for President Kibaki at Safari Park Hotel. Mr Gitahi spent the night of Dec 27 at Nation Centre monitoring the Presidential tally of votes. NMG had set up its own Command Centre to receive election results from their own reporters and correspondents in all the constituencies.
The figures received were fed into a computer and tallied. However, the figures disappeared mysteriously on Dec 29 when it was clear that Mr Raila Odinga was leading Mr Kibaki by a margin of one million votes. Gitahi is in a better position to explain the mystery which was to prepare the ground for the ECK to announce doctored figures.
Bravo KTN cameraman, Bravo KTN, Bravo Justice.
@Railkamuodho
I agree with you first let us to auditng here How many districts to we in Kenya currentlly and how are they represented.
@Railkamuodho
I agree with you first let us to auditng here How many districtsdo we have in Kenya currentlly and how are they represented.
Power sharing is only a plausible solution if and only if it is an interim formula which mandates the two sides to serious reforms on constitutional, judiciary,Police,ECK as well as set in motion dialogue that seeks to solve the land issue that has dodged our people especially in the RV since independence.
-Consitutional reforms should focus on the devolution of power from one man and initiate systems of checks and balances as per the Bomas draft
-Judicial reforms that seek to clearly separate this institution from the executive, as well as empowering them to uphold the law fairly
-Operational independence of the police accountable to local authorities which will against make them independent to the wimps of the incumbent internal security minister, i.e ( AP’s should not never again be used to rig elections)
-ECK disbandment and reconstitution with fully independent commissioners vetted by parliament before appointment, with powers to make them more accountable for their actions which very serious penalties if they were to ever bring disripute to the integrity of the development of democracy
-We will then go into another election in at most 2 yrs yrs, we shall make provisions in the constitutions to allow Kibaki to run not as a third term but as a re-run and if he wins complete the 3 yrs but were RAO to win he should rule for 5yrs
Thus let us await the details of the power sharing today or tommorrow and thus judge from there
Could Mwai Kibaki help Kenya heal. Mwai Kibaki, please:
1. Mitigate, if you cannot totally set aside, greed – your own greed and greed of your associates. Greed is killing Kenya. It is the greed to have everything for me, for my friends, and for my ethnic group. It is greed to have the best and the most for my people.
2. Refrain from making comments that will perpetrate ethnic animosity. If you condemn torching of houses, and you should, also condemn the shooting to death of peaceful demonstrators and elections fraud. If you condemn the burning to death of women and children in Eldoret, and you should, also condemn the burning to death of women and children in a house in Naivasha.
3. Talk about the need for people to live peacefully together side by side. Be the father of the nation and leave any apportioning of blame to investigators and the courts. Bring peace by focussing on today and tomorrow rather on yesterday.
4. Provide genuine and unbiased leadership that will help build unity and peace. Do not engage in secret agenda aimed at undermining other leaders and ethnic groups. You must have realized by now that, in the Kenya of today, you cannot put down anybody or any ethnic group even when you have all the state resources at your disposal.
5. You must accept the fact that you alone are responsible for the over 1,000 deaths in Kenya. Kenyans will, forever, blame you for the death of over 1,000 Kenyans – whether they were killed by the police, GSU, army, Mungiki or killed in ethnic clashes, because you failed to lead and protect.
6. Whatever political arrangement the Kofi Annan teamagree to, accept it wholeheartedly and do not look for loopholes and opportunities to undermine others. Let all build a peaceful and united Kenya.
7. Do something about your wife, Lucy. Ban her from interfering in national affairs. It is my hope that the Kofi Annan team will also discuss her and come up with a decision on how to contain her.
8. All agreements (political or otherwise) reached by the Kofi Annan team must be enacted and implemented while Kofi Annan is in Nairobi. All Ministers, Assistant Minisiters, Permanent Secretaries, PCS, DCs, OCPDs, and Electoral Commission commissioners must be appointed and sworn in the presence of Mr. Kofi Annan. If the Minister is from ODM, the assistant minister should be from PNU-ODMK
Maru kap..
You’ve really hit on good points why kenyans don’t like MK .
1.Lucy is a shame to this nation something has to be done to tame her..
2.Nobody trusts MK anymore remember 2002 and the MOU,the country
was one and ready to move forward only for him to form kitchen cabinet.
So whatever will be discussed will have to be printed in both print/electronic media. Make copies in all tribes for all who cannot read swahili/english.
faith
very good points you mentioned above. right now the problem is that all executive and state institutions operate at the whim of an individual whether its directly or through his proxies or at the bequest of puppet masters. there are many laws that need to be enacted to delink the executive and some of these institutions, but even now as it is, any law still needs to be signed off by the president. everything points back to either a new constitution or a new president without which everything will remain the same. all the grand plans come to nothing because they can be shelved indefinitely while awaiting presidential ascent. sadly Kibakis advisors do not care enough for this country to brave the storm and make or allow change for the better either through constitutional reform or other method. as you see they are desperate to control the affairs of the house hence parliament was immediately prorogued and now they are in the business of downsizing the number of ODM mps after realizing that ODM MPs are working together (Kudos to all ODM MPs, this is the first time in the history of parliament that we do not have “political prostitutes” excuse my language).
i think ODM must present a condition to Annan and UN security council that if any other ODM MP is killed then the international community must intervene immediately and bring down this sham PNU government since it cannot even guarantee the safety of its elected officials having failed to protect the democratic rights as well as lives of many kenyans that have died and hundreds of thousands displaced.
Kenya can learn from Rwanda. I urge the coalition government of Kenya under Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga to establish forthwith a commission similar to that of Rwanda
http://www.nurc.gov.rw to be called the KENYA NATIONAL UNITY AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION (KNURC).
I propose that:
1. The Nobel laurate, Prof. Wangari Mathai, be the chair
2. Lt. General (Rtd.) Lazarus Sumbeiywo be the deputy chair
3. Mr. Philiph Okundi be a member
4. Mr. Musikari Kombo be a member
4. One member from each of the other provinces of North Eastern, Coast, Nairobi, and Eastern
I ask that the EU, USAID, CIDA, ODA, JICA, and other international aid agencies and bilateral donors be asked to fund KNURC.
KNURC should focus on people rather than policy concentrating on:
a) Orgainizing and facilitating peace conferences to be held in each of the provinces
b) Organizing and facilitating in conjuction with churches joint services, concerts, and music festivals to be held throughout Kenya
c) Organizing friendship sports such as soccer to be held throughout Kenya.
The main idea is to have people visit one another, talk to one another, share meals together, and see how each community is struggling to put food on the table for their families and send their children to school.
With Prof. Mathai and Lt. Gen. Sumbeiywo on the commission, I have no doubt that the commission will be more resourceful than the few suggestions I have provided here.
MWAI KIBAKI’S LIST OF PERSONS TO BE HONOURED IN 2008 AND THEIR HONOURS AND AWARDS:
1. Name: Mwai Kibaki, Awards and Honours: President of Kenya, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Kenya, CGH (First Class), Best President of Kenya Ever (equivalent to Juan Antonio Samaranch’s proclamation of “Best Olympics Ever”), Citations: In Africa, we have DE Presidents, RI Presidents, MCI Presidents, and Mwai Kibaki is the first African CCI and MPMMS president
Legend: DE = democratically-elected, RI = rigged-in, MCI = military-coup-installed, CCI = civilian-coup-installed, MPMMS = military-police-mungiki-mercenary-secured
2. Name: John Michuki, Awards and Honours: CGH (Second Class), Citations: Transformed the provincial administration and police force into a formidable rigging and killing machine in less than three years and grabbed the presidency in a robbery-with-violence style
3. Name: Lucy, Awards and Honours: CGH (Second Class), Citations: Her slaps are accurate and hard and she is anxiously awaiting for an opportune moment to add the ODM Pentagon members to her growing list of victims which she started way back on the eve of the new year of January 2003.
4. Name: Samwel Kivuithu, Awards and Honours: EGH (First Class), Citations: A promise-keeper as he kept the promise he gave in December 2007 to declare the loser incumbent the winner of the presidentail elections “wapende, wasipnde”. He had given the promise in exchange for a five-year extension to his tenure as member and chair of the ECK.
5. Name: Kihara Muttu, Awards and Honours: EGH (Second Class), Citations: An able deputy as ECK Vice-Chair who did not allow Samwel Kivuithu, whose shakiness on issues is legendary, to depart from the script
6. Name: All the remaining ECK members, Awards and Honours: EGH (Third Class), Citations: For actively supporting the ECK chair and vice-chair to achieve their objective declaring the losing incumbent the winner and for mounting token or no opposition to Kivuithu’s illegalities
7. Name: General Jeremiah Kianga CGS, Awards and Honours: EGH (First Class), Citations: Transformed the Kenya Armed Forces from a respected national defence force protecting Kenyans against external aggression as well as an internationally-recognized and award-winning international peace-keeping force and a dependable assistance force in times of natural disasters and moulding it into a feared-force along the lines of the Chinese military of the 1989 Tiananmen Square that crushed protesters with full force including use of military tanks
8. Name: Lt. Gen. J.W. Karangi VCGS, Awards and Honours: EGH (Second Class), Citations: Able deputy to CGS Kianga who ensured that the CGS did not depart from script
9. Name: Lt. Gen. Njoroge Army Commander, Awards and Honours: EGH (Second Class), efficiently scrambled a combat force comprising of all Western Command battalions and some Eastern Command battalions with assistance from a battalion of the Uganda People’s Defence forces based in Tororo to fight the protesting Kenyan civilians in Eldoret, Nakuru, Kisumu, and Nairobi. Bravely served as the allied commander and deserves to be awarded a Kenyan-version of the Victoria Cross and Purple Heart military decorations for bravery in combat.
10. Name: Cyrus Gituai, Awards and Honours: EGH (Third Class), Citations: Ensuring that the fighting police force did not run out of ammunitions, guns, and rifles and making advance payments to the People’s Republic of China for prompt delivery of the items
11. Name: Zachary Mwaura, Awards and Honours: EGH (Third Class), Citations: For working hard to esnure that the allied forces under the allkied commander, Lt. Gen. Njoroge were adequately supplied with ammunitions, machine guns, ane new uniforms. His performance overall was excellent except the interception, in Malaba, of a truck carrying new uniforms to the allied forces of Uganda Pepople’s Defence Forces.
12. Name: Maj. Gen. Ali, Awards and Honours: EGH (Second Class), Citations: For transforming the Kenya Police Force into a military-grade fighting force and equipping the police fighters with new bullets-preserving techniques of shoot the victim and then kick and step on their necks to make sure that the operation is final.
Dear Mzee Mwai Kibaki,
I BEG YOU TO STEP DOWN FOR THE SAKE OF KENYA. YOUR INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL STATURE HAS DIMINISHED.
YOU HAVE BEEN REDUCED TO BEGGING COUNTRIES TO RECOGNIZE YOU AS THE ELECTED PRESIDENT OF KENYA.
YOU HAVE NOTHING MORE TO GIVE TO KENYA OTHER THAN HARM KENYA.
YOU ARE HANGING IN THERE TO SATISFY THE EGOS AND GREED OF LUCY, MICHUKI, AND YOUR MUTHAIGA CLUB PALS.
YOUR STOLEN PRESIDENCY IS UNTENABLE.
YOUR FORMER FRIENDS ARE RUNNING AWAY FROM YOU. PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH DOES NOT WANT TO MEET YOU.
Listen to your son, Jimmy, who tells you, “Dad, bail out”. He gets shot for it.
Uhuru Kenyatta is a leader. He is not a robot to be used to kill, divide, and blunder. See what he talks about – a grand coalition to pacify, heal, reconcile, stabilize, and unite Kenya. I like him. He can do a lot for Kenya at this time and in future. Give him a chance now.
A parliamentary opposition is not only undesirable but dangerous at this time when Kenyans are divided and antagonistic towards one another. A grand coalition is the only way to go. Mwai Kibaki, it will be awkward and unwieldy for you to lead in a grand-coalition arrangement so better leave now.
The arrangement I would prefer to be in place, at least for the next two years, is a grand-coalition with Raila Odinga as President (Afterall, he won the presidential elections), Kalonzo Musyoka s Vice-President, Uhuru Kenyatta as Prime Minister and Charity Ngilu, Musalia Mudavadi, and William Ruto as Deputy Prime Ministers.
If duties are assigned well in this arrangement, Kenya will emerge more united and stronger.