Jimmy will pay for Kibaki’s sins

Nothing has angered the Kikuyus more than the news that Jimmy Kibaki is interested in succeeding his father as the MP for Othaya. They see the move as an attempt to create a dynastic pyramid that will see the few privileged families always occupying the top position in political leadership of Central Province and other areas dominated by Kikuyu settlement.

Apart from anything else, the announcement by Jimmy Kibaki that he plans to mobilize the youth to take over the leadership of Kenya after his father’s departure, has opened very sore wounds among the Kikuyus - wounds that were caused by Mwai Kibaki's misrule of Kenya. Paradoxically it is the very youth among the Kikuyus who have suffered most under Kibaki’s administration. Literally hundreds of them have died as the wars between the haves and the have-nots continue to escalate in Kikuyu homeland including the President’s own Nyeri District.

The Kikuyu fury against Mwai Kibaki is caused by a number of things. First there is the disappointment by both the rich and poor caused by the total failure of the Kibaki administration to bring about any meaningful economic development to them. The tycoons supported Kibaki’s reelection in 2007 hoping for greener pastures in economic preferential treatment by the Government. They hoped to get all the lucrative Government tenders and other top job opportunities in the public service under President Mwai Kibaki. 

Unfortunately the crucial position occupied by Prime Minister Raila Odinga, coupled by the amount of noise he makes every time he feels marginalized by Kibaki’ strongmen in the Government, has not made the plan to use Kibaki’s rule as a gold mine for the Kikuyu rich, work successfully. Yet the President has refused to use his powers to come to their aid. Talking to them about the possibility of Jimmy Kibaki getting any political office after his father’s departure is like piercing their hearts with a poisoned arrow. 

Then there is the neglected Kikuyu IDPs. There are thousands of them still living in tents following the 2007 election clashes. These people blame Mwai Kibaki directly for their miseries as they lost their homes, farms and other properties for supporting him in the last elections. No sooner did the PNU leader get into State House, however, than he totally forgot his supporters in the Rift Valley. There is no one among the IDPs who wants to hear Kibaki’s name mentioned to them in any conversation. Telling them of a possibility of Jimmy Kibaki taking over from his father in any way, shape or form, makes them wish the polling day came faster than 2012 so that they could register their anti-Kibaki sentiments by voting against his son or anyone else associated with him.     

The ordinary Kikuyu’s dislike for the Kibaki’s administration is first based on the fact that the Government seems to be doing absolutely nothing when the entire community is terrorized by the Mungiki gangsters who have virtually established a government of their own among them. They collect tax illegally from matatu owners and other Kikuyu business enterprises under the very nose of the impotent Government. And instead of using legitimate security means to end the Mungiki terrorism, the Government has established yet another terror gang known as the “Kenda Kenda” vigilante, which has set up kangaroo courts that pass death sentences on innocent people. 

The name Kenda Kenda or Nine Nine is what the police is referred to in the Kikuyu rural areas. And sure enough, whatever crimes are committed by the Kenda Kenda, the police don’t want to hear about. Indeed they are known to escort the Kenda Kenda groups as they slaughter suspected Mungikis. 

The matter was brought to Parliament by Martha Karua who had names of people hanged by the Kenda Kenda terror group. All in all the Kikuyu wananchi feel they have been caught between the devil and the deep blue sea as the Mungiki and Kenda Kenda slaughter each other in the most bloody panga attacks seen in recent times, which have left scores of innocent young people dead. The ordinary Kikuyus see the Kibaki administration as no different from the colonial regime that killed hundreds of them as it fought the Mau Mau rebellion. Asking the Kikuyu wananchi to elect Jimmy Kibaki today is like asking the Kikuyu’s of the Mau Mau era to vote for the tyrannical colonial masters. That is next to impossible. 

Of late Jimmy Kibaki has shared political platform with Uhuru Kenyatta in which a very conspicuous game of flattery, deceit and treachery was played by the two sons of Kikuyu political giants. Jimmy was trying to use Uhuru’s popularity with Mungiki to at least get elected in Uthaya when his father steps down in 2012; and Uhuru Kenyatta was simply trying to please his boss Kibaki who has given him two important jobs as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for finance . By attending Jimmy’s meeting Uhuru was only protecting his jobs but he had no intention what so ever of forming any political alliance with Mama Lucy’s son. 

Uhuru would hate to repeat the mistake he made when he lost his parliamentary seat in 1997 because he backed an unpopular Kanu at that time. This time he would not be caught by his supporters trying to salvage Kibaki by backing his son. In any case, Uhuru has his own plan for 2012 when he hopes to join forces with Kalonzo Musyoka to remove Agwambo from power. The plan of establishing a Kikuyu-Kamba alliance at that time will be a force to reckon with and Raila himself is aware of that fact, hence the protracted enmity and war against Kalonzo. 

In 2012 Kalonzo is likely to get the backing of not only Uhuru Kenyatta but also that of Kiraitu Murungi. Their hope is to get the support of the Miji Kenda people of the Coast who are extremely disappointed with Raila Odinga whom they backed in 2007 only to end up even more poverty stricken than before the elections. And to make matters worse, their land is still owned by rich people from Bara including Raila himself. Besides the Miji Kenda the Kalonzo-Uhuru pact is also hoping to get the support of the Kisii people who have never fully accepted Raila’s leadership. The political misunderstanding between the Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister William Ruto is another good hope for the Kalonzo-Uhuru scheme. But the Kalenjins cannot be trusted by anyone as they have their own plan to only back the winning horse at the very last moment and in their own terms.Right now their main concern is to make sure the Rift Valley is not divided by anyone. 

In all these game-planning schemes Jimmy Kibaki does not feature anywhere and in fact not a single serious politician would like to be associated with him. Martha Karua, who is another force to recon with in Central Province, would not touch Jimmy with a barge pole. She has her own plans of becoming the first female Prime Minister under President Raila Odinga. There is not a single political scenario which accommodates Jimmy Kibaki in the 2012 elections. In fact he will be extremely lucky to win the Othaya seat vacated by his father. May be he will be paying for Kibaki’s sins.   

Migingo Motion was unfortunate

The passing of a motion in Parliament urging the intervention of the United Nations in the Kenya-Uganda Migingo dispute exposed the Kenyan MPs as extremely emotional people, totally incapable of legislating with cool heads. It also exposed their ignorance about what is now happening between the two countries to end the small dispute over a tiny island of Migingo.

The two governments have engaged the services of experts who will determine the legitimate owner of the Migingo Island after proper examination of maps and surveying activities. The entire exercise is costing millions of shillings yet Kenyan Parliamentarians seem to be in total darkness about what Kenya and Uganda are doing to solve the dispute amicably.

This is a terrible weakness given the fact that they occupy the country’s most supreme lawmaking body. It may be true that only a handful of parliamentarians were in the House when the motion was passed; but of the 49 MPs present none of them, with the exception of Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula and Information Minister Samuel Poghisio, showed any sign of examining the Migingo issue in a mature manner which is a necessary qualification for leaders with the ability to intellectually probe intricate national issues calmly. 

The manner in which they were making reference to the Ugandan leader, as an expansionist who does not get along well with his neighbours, clearly indicated their ignorance about the importance of Uganda to Kenya. The financial benefits Kenyans get from the fishing at the Migingo Island is a mere drop in the ocean compared to other economic benefits derived by Kenya from trade relations with Uganda. Through Uganda Kenya also benefits from trade with Rwanda, Burundi and DRC. Antagonizing Uganda is killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.   

The 47 MPs who wanted the Migingo dispute to be taken to the Security Council also showed how ignorant they were about the functions of the international body. At the moment the Security Council has such major issues to examine including the North Korean nuclear adventures and Pakistan’s civil war that asking it to examine Migingo simply exhibits our MPs’ narrow mindedness and ignorance about the functions of the Security Council. 

According to the Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia the Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action. Its powers are exercised through United Nations Security Council Resolutions. Any sane person would clearly see that the relationship between Kenya and Uganda does not require the intervention of the Security Council. 

Only the very narrow minded can seriously conclude that the current minor dispute over Migingo amounts to a threat to international peace and security. Kenya and Uganda are such natural friends that it really amounts to extreme foolhardiness to even think of a military intervention in the minor disagreement over Migingo between the two countries. From time immemorial the people of Uganda have had such cordial relations with their Kenyan neighbours that some families on the borders can become citizens of either country. There is a classic example of the former Vice President of Kenya Moody Awori whose brother was an MP in the Ugandan Parliament. 

The hostilities that take place between cattle-rustling communities living in the northern border of the two countries are regarded as petty thefts by the two Governments. They have been traditional ways of life of the communities that have stolen livestock from each other from time immemorial. No war can be declared between the two countries because of cattle-rustling that takes place between the Northern Ugandans and Northern Kenyans. Yet that confrontation between the cattle rustlers is far more bloody and serious than the Migingo dispute where not a drop of blood has been shed.   

Unfortunately the Migingo issue has also been blown out of proportion by the media. A headline like “MP Vote for Military Option in Migingo Row” is not only inaccurate but unprofessional. This was the heading of the Daily Nation of May 28; yet according to the journalists’ own Code of Ethics headlines must reflect the facts to be found in the body of the story. Reading the Nation headline one would think Kenya was ready to invade Uganda over the Migingo row. Nothing was further from the truth. The story on the Nation’s front page did not professionally justify the usage of such an alarming headline. 

The media in Kenya were obviously angered by the Ugandan President’s rather reckless words against the Luos. It may be a fact that President Yoweri Museveni has a pathological hatred for the Luo community and of late has uttered very unpalatable words against them. He knows the part of Kenya he wants to grab – the Migingo Island – is also part of the Luoland. The people on it are almost all Luos from Kenya whom Museveni refers to as “Wajaluo”. The majority of the people on the island are fishermen and so no one can really continue to live on that island without fishing. And that is exactly what Museveni wants to destroy for he has openly said though he believes the island is the property of Kenya, the water surrounding it is Ugandan. That means the fish at Migingo belongs to Uganda. This is provocation in its most naked form.

No matter how belligerent Museveni appears, however, when he calls the Luos of Kenya “Mad Wajaluos” he actually means no harm to Kenya as such. As a matter of fact he did not intend to insult the entire Luo community in Kenya. Addressing Kenyan journalists at his Kampala State House he categorically said the “mad Jaluos” remark was only intended for the hooligans who were uprooting the railway line to Uganda at the Kibera slum. Whether the people who uprooted the railway line were mad or not, is not a subject for debate but it would not be difficult for Museveni to prove that they behaved like very nutty and crazy people who had gone round the bend and forgotten that the same railway line supplied essential goods to their own people of Nyanza. 

Museveni cannot make a sweeping statement against the Luo people because in Uganda there is quite a sizable Luo community. Granted, the Luos of Uganda are also giving Museveni hell. The Uganda Luos also known as the Acholis and their cousins who extend right up to Southern Sudan have been fighting Museveni’s regime for quite sometime. So when he hears the word “Luo”, even in his dreams, Museveni has a nightmare.

 

Constitution Making is for all Kenyans

Sad will be the day when constitution making in Kenya is reduced to another battlefield between ODM and PNU. Unfortunately,no sooner did it appear that Mutula Kilonzo was serious about getting the ball rolling again than the country’s major political parties started squabbling about what the future supreme law in the country should look like. According to the ODM, Kenya should have a Parliamentary system with a powerful Prime Minister; and the PNU thinks the country should take a middle line between a Parliamentary system and a Presidential system. They call that a hybrid system like the one that brought about the coalition Government that is still in existence in this country today.

Whereas it is the constitutional right of both ODM and PNU to air their views about what the future of the constitution should look like, it would be very undemocratic for the two parties to attempt to dominate the debate which concerns all Kenyans whether or not they belong to any political party. The reasons for the stand taken by the two political parties are quite obvious. They both want to use the constitution as a political ladder to exclusively climb to power after the 2012 general elections. Whereas there is absolutely nothing wrong with the politicians plotting to retain power after the next general election, there is everything sinful in trying to do so by changing the constitution to favour anyone of them individually or all of them collectively as a political class. 

Constitutions are sacred laws that should safeguard the rights of everyone in society and not just the privileged few. In the past the Constitution of Kenya was systematically changed to ensure power was concentrated in the hands of an individual. The beneficiaries of that scheme are still enjoying the fruits brought to them by the unfavorable laws guaranteed by the changed constitution. It is because of the constitutional changes that took place in Kenya that Jomo Kenyatta underwent a metamorphosis from a freedom fighter to a most dreaded tyrant who made sure political opponents ended up in their graves. These include Tom Mboya, Pio Gama Pinto and J.M. Kariuki.

Due to a bad constitution Jomo Kenyatta’s tyranny was followed by the dictatorship of Daniel arap Moi without the will of the people. Knowing that a faulty constitution put him in office without the mandate of the people, Moi took further drastic steps to secure his position in power even more firmly by a systematic process of changing the constitution to strengthen his hand. The first two presidents of Kenya were helped to change the constitution by a master tactician, Charles Njonjo, who changed the law on their behalf as the country’s Attorney General. In return he was awarded by being kept in the powerful job for a long enough time to become one of the richest and most powerful Kenyans of his time.

The demand by many Kenyans to let the political parties stop from influencing constitution making process in their favour is bound to fall on deaf ears as the politicians know the road to political power in Kenya is through a faulty Constitution which favours a few individuals who are already enjoying the benefit of such powers. Tribalism and nepotism also prosper under a faulty constitution. It is through the powers given to him by the constitution that Jomo Kenyatta filled top Government positions with people from his own tribe. The practice was perfected by Daniel arap Moi who made sure that top public positions were mainly occupied by his people regardless of their academic qualifications.

The Demand by PNU to have a hybrid system is bound to be rejected by Kenyans because they can clearly see the purpose of such a system is simply to make money. The current coalition government is based on a hybrid system which combines a Presidential system together with a Parliamentary system. The outcome is a disaster that has seen the impoverishment of millions of Kenyans as a few individuals in Parliament gluttonously accumulate wealth at the expense of the taxpayers.

It is a system that will see the political death of PNU which at the moment is in a state of dying anyway. If ever there will be a free and fair election again in this country, Kenyans will do everything possible to reject a hybrid system which has gained a notoriety of incompetence, hatred and discontent under the leadership of Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga.    

No matter how sinister the plan by ODM is , however , their suggestion to have a Parliamentary system with a powerful Prime Minister is bound to carry the day with the people of Kenya because it is the untested systems whose sins are unknown to the Kenyans. The people already know how horrible the Presidential system is and they also know how much worse the so called hybrid system is.

If ever the constitution is changed to fulfill the wishes of the people of Kenya then sooner or later Kenya will have a Parliamentary system of Government with a federal constitution that will take most powers to the provinces. That is why the shapes and sizes of future provinces will now be the centre of controversy among Kenyan leaders before they agree on the new boundaries.

Other important parts of the constitution which Kenyans must make sure are included in the final document concern the Bill of Rights. In this score the proposals that were made in the so called Wako Constitutions about human rights were actually extremely good for the country though the people were "regimentalized" to reject the entire document through a yes or no referendum.

It is through a good Bill of Rights that many human rights are protected. While formulating a new constitution the people must make sure that the most basic First Generation human rights are in the Bill of Rights. Because Kenya has now become a country with the world’s best example of the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots, then the Second Generation human rights must be included in whatever draft that will be taken to the people to approve or disapprove.

When Mutula Kilonzo, surprisingly backed by Raila Odinga, says the new constitution will be ready for Kenyans by the end of this year he is indeed serious. The constitution the people want actually exits. It is a product of hard work done by Kenyans at the two Bomas Conferences. What Kenyans don’t agree about constitute a very small part of the Bomas proposals and it should not take long to formulate an agreement acceptable to most people. Whatever happens politicians and their political parties must not be allowed to disrupt the process this time. 

Uhuru's enemies will srike again

It is now absolutely clear that someone quite smart wants to do Uhuru Kenyatta in. The first attempt has made the Gatundu politician escape political death by the skin of his teeth but Mzee Jomo’s son still remains vulnerable with the number of his political enemies swelling every single day. These enemies are to be found in his own political party Kanu, his larger group of PNU, his own powerful Ministry at the Treasury, his own tribe the Kikuyus and in the ODM which happens to be his most conspicuous adversary.

In public Uhuru says a computer “error” made him present to Parliament a faulty supplementary budget that had to undergo the scrutiny by two House Committees ordered by Speaker Kenneth Marende; but in private the Finance Minister blames political sabotage by his most obvious enemies in the ODM whom he claims are masters of skullduggery. Whatever the case may be both his name and that of the entire Treasury have been tarnished. Accusations of inefficiency, incompetence and ineffectiveness will, therefore, not be too far fetched. Right now Uhuru and his Gema colleagues are extremely bitter people and long before further investigations are made concerning the “error”, some important heads at the Treasury will definitely role.

The only trouble is that at the Treasury all the top jobs are held by the Gema people. The Permanent Secretary, Joseph Kinyua, is from the “Big House”, so are the Director of Budget, Paul Ngugi, and the Accountant General Michael Gatimu. The only non- Gema top official is the head of the ICT department Jerome Ochieng. All fingers will be pointing at this man now and many wonder whether he will be made the sacrificial lamb as he does not belong to the “Big House” and, worse still, has a name that sounds like that of an ODM sympathizer.

The big question that is puzzling the people from the “Big House” is whether ODM is so well organized as to penetrate the Treasury which they though they were controlling. Sure enough the ODM has always been interested in the Ministry of Finance. In the party there are a number of people who have held that portfolio including the Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi and Chris Okemo who has been probing Uhuru in Parliament.

The tug-of-war between ODM and PNU before the coalition Government was formed was based on which party between the two would take the responsibility of running the Treasury. Indeed Uhuru’s own assistant is Raila’s brother, Dr Oburu Odinga, who obviously must be having some followers among the senior members of staff in the Ministry. Did Oburu’s cronies throw the spanner in Uhuru’s works? Though Oburu must be somewhat enchanted at the embarrassment of his boss, it is most unlikely that he would want to sink the boat where he is the deputy captain.

The Ministry of Finance has been the centre of controversy long before Uhuru went there. The most recent involves the illegal sell of the Grand Regency Hotel to the Libyans. Until today it is not quite clear who the real beneficiary of that sale was. All that is known is that the powers that be in this country were arm-twisting civil servants to fasten the process that made Gaddafy the owner of one of the most magnificent buildings in our capital city. The removal of Amos Kimunya because of that saga made a lot of his close friends he left behind extremely bitter. These are the people who would not give Uhuru a red carpeted welcome at the Treasury as they see his promotion there as a mere favoritism meant to be used as a stepping stone to higher political positions. Could Kimunya’s friends have tried to push Uhuru over the cliff? No one will ever tell.

The very appointment of Uhuru Kenyatta as one of the Deputy Prime Minister created serious rifts within the Gema group. A lot of people from Mount Kenya area believe the rightful candidate for that office from the PNU group should have been Martha Karua. As a matter of fact Martha herself was so angry that she finally had to quit the discipleship of Mwai Kibaki. In fact she is so bitter that she has publicly announced her presidential candidature in 2012 where she will openly challenge Uhuru Kenyatta’s legitimacy as the true leader of the Gema people. Are Uhuru Kenyatta’s saboteurs at the Treasury supporters of Martha Karua? No amount of enquiry will ever be able to expose that.

Still within the Gema group the followers of George Saitoti are not particularly fond of Uhuru Kenyatta whom they regard as a mere child born with a silver spoon in his mouth and now being elevated to status he does not deserve. The muted animosity between Uhuru Kenyatta and George Saitoti is also based on the 2012 candidature for the Presidency. Having once been only a heart beat away from State House when he served for years as Daniel arap Moi’s Vice President, George Saitoti believes he is the rightful Gema presidential candidate in the next general elections. His only obstacle is Uhuru Kenyatta. Could Saitoti’s cronies have set an embarrassing trap to catch Uhuru with his pants down? If so, then they almost succeeded and to remove this group from the Treasury where Saitoti served for years is next to impossible. Worse still to unearth them will be an exercise in futility.

The Gema enemies of Uhuru Kenyatta extend far and wide and they are mainly caused by the huge gap in the community between the haves and the have-nots. Among the haves Uhuru represents the pinnacle of cornucopia. He has wealth he hardly worked for. Wealth that was acquired by his father through the use of despotic powers. All this, when children of true freedom fighters are languishing in indescribable poverty, caused by the exploitation by the very people who opposed the fight for independence. Indeed this social, economic and political dichotomy is said to be the genesis of the dreaded Mungiki terrorism. Are there children of poor Kikuyus holding important jobs at the Treasury who what to teach Uhuru Kenyatta a lesson? If there are, no one will ever know them because, very much like the clandestine Mungiki movement, they operate in the most subterranean manner.

In Uhuru’s own political party Kanu he has enemies with drawn out daggers ready to strike at any time. Without consulting these enemies, who constitute a very powerful pro Moi Kalenjins within the party, Uhuru pulled the party into PNU and made the oldest political group part of the Gema establishment. It so happens that within the pro Moi Kanu group there are powerful people in the Treasury who were always controlled by Nyayo himself for decades. Could this group be responsible for Uhuru’s computer “error”? Again it will have to take an investigator with supernatural powers to discover the truth. All these groups listed above are composed of people who rub shoulders with Uhuru Kenyatta on daily basis as his so called close friends. But with friends like these Uhuru needs no enemies at all. Very soon they are bound to strike again.

Mutula Kilonzo: The man to watch

The appointment of Mutula Kilonzo as the new Minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs is a move towards the right direction that will see reforms taking shape in a faster and a more democratic manner, allowing everyone to make the necessary contributions. The appointment will also strengthen the ties between PNU and ODM-K, saving Kalonzo Musyoka’s face after the embarrassing defeat in Parliament where he lost the leadership of Government business following the Marende ruling.

And the promotion of Njeru Githae as the new Minister for Metropolitan Development will go down very well in Gema circles where the departure of Martha Karua from the Cabinet was regarded as a big blow to the Mount Kenya community as a whole. The two appointments will cause no resentment from the ODM leadership as they don’t involve people who were appointed to the Cabinet by Raila Odinga.

From now on Mutula Kilonzo will be the centre of many Government plans to introduce the much talked about reforms including Constitutional changes that the country has been waiting for since Mwai Kibaki took over the leadership of Kenya. His is in a hot seat that became unbearable to the iron lady, Martha Karua, who had to quit claiming inability to introduce any reforms because of what she described as retrogressive forces around the President. Those forces will not cease to exist because Mutula Kilonzo has taken over the Ministry from Martha Karua. Neither will they stop scheming to make Mutula’s work just as uncomfortable as they made Martha’s.

This time however they will find out that they are dealing with an extremely tough politician who is as cunning as they are scheming. Martha Karua left the office without actually naming them or exposing their schemes in details. Mutula Kilonzo will not be that reticent. He is known for calling a spade a spade without any fear of stepping on sensitive toes. When the Bill to establish a local tribunal to deal with criminals who plotted the death of over a thousand people after the sham 2007 elections failed to go through Parliament, Mutula called for the resignation of both Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga. Until today he has neither withdrawn his call nor apologized to the two principals.

It so happens that the responsibility to reintroduce the Bill in Parliament lies on the shoulders of Mutula Kilonzo and the country is eagerly waiting to see how the new Minister will deal with the dicey situation. It also happens that very important parts of the Kriegler recommendations will depend on Mutula to implement . These include how to establish unity in the present fragmented country; and how to introduce reforms in the Judiciary and, last but not least, how to change the Constitution and give it the shape the people of Kenya as a whole desire to have. This is, in any language, a very tall order and Mutula is just the right man to handle the sensitive Ministry.

Of all the challenges facing Mutula in his new job, that of reforming the Judiciary tops the list. Reformining the Judiciary will be easier said than done because it happens to be the toughest undertaking in the entire Ministry. It is the one that saw the departure of Martha Karua. The Judiciary also happens to be the one arms of the Government that is most rotten with a saturated form of corruption that is protected by the law under the guise of independence of the Judiciary. The ability of the Judiciary to fight and protect its privileged position is well known to all Kenyans. To make matters worse the most powerful and most corrupt part of the Executive also protects the equally corrupt Judiciary. All these make Mutula Kilonzo’s job even more difficult.

Mutula will also have to implement a number of recommendations from the Waki Report. Of these the most important is the establishment of the special tribunal, to be set up as a court that will sit within the territorial boundaries of the Republic of Kenya and seek accountability against persons bearing the greatest responsibility for crimes, particularly crimes against humanity, relating to the 2007 General Elections in Kenya. This is the one recommendation that Kenyans do not agree about. Among the people causing confusion are those who suspect to be in Kafi Annan’s envelop and therefore likely to appear before the tribunal as suspected criminals.

Some of the suspected criminals are current sitting Members of Parliament. These are the people Mutula should be very careful with because they will gang up to frustrate his work and make sure they delay the whole process of establishing a tribunal in Kenya. Calls of taking the tribunal to The Hague have been made because no one expects the current Judiciary in Kenya to have the capacity or the willpower to seek justice independently.

Waki also recommended that the Special Tribunal should have powers to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate post 2007 election crimes. It suggests that the Tribunal should apply Kenyan and international laws with both Kenyan and international judges, as well as Kenyan and international staff. Again this is an issue about which Kenyans have not been able to agree on. Mutula’s views about the Tribunal are well known because he played a pivotal role in explaining to other legislators about the importance of having the tribunal established as soon as possible. Now that responsibility has been made even more special and urgent for Mutula.

The Waki report suggests that if either an agreement for the establishment of the Special Tribunal is not signed, or the Statute for the Special Tribunal fails to be enacted, or the
Special Tribunal fails to commence functioning as contemplated , or having commenced operating its purposes are subverted, a list containing names of and relevant information on those suspected to bear the greatest responsibility for crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the proposed Special Tribunal shall be forwarded to the Special Prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court. The Special Prosecutor shall be requested to analyze the seriousness of the information received with a view to proceeding with an investigation and prosecuting such suspected persons.

This means the list of criminals who almost succeeded in causing untold damages to this country is in the hands of international investigators. These are the people the AG and the new Minister for Justice should work with. All of a sudden the country depends a lot on Mutula Kilonzo who, hopefully, will not let Kenyans down.

Raila and Corruption : Thirsting for Justice

Parliament will most certainly reject the Mututho Report linking Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s family to maize scandal; but doing so will be a terrible mistake. It will deny the country an opportunity to seek the truth about disgraceful corrupt activities, which have seen the disappearance of the nation’s staple food, making millions face the threat of starvation while a few greedy people fatten their bank accounts.

According to the media reports, Mututho does not say Raila’s son, whom the journalists have so far protected and has therefore remained nameless, is guilty of corruption. All he says is that the Premier’s son should be investigated. That statement, coming form a Parliamentary committee, obviously stigmatizes the entire Raila family, and he should have been among the first people to call for a thorough investigation on the matter to exonerate and sanitize both his son and his family. Instead he has politicized the issue and accused the Mututho Committee of tarnishing his name.

That accusation by the Prime Minister will be strongly supported by the ODM MPs who constitute the majority in the Legislature. Naturally the PNU MPs will take the opposite stand for reasons that are less than genuine. These lots are still very bitter because they feel the Marende ruling hit below the belt in favour of Raila and his team. When the debate on Mututho’s report starts in Parliament it will be one of the hottest that will expose the underbelly of our Parliamentarians and their many weakness which include tribal groupings. Dirty linens will be washed before the eyes of the entire nation.

Yet Raila will have the final word in this matter. He will have an opportunity to show his statesmanship by simply accepting the Mututho Report and calling for a thorough investigation of both himself and his entire family. That way he will prove to the entire world to have no skeletons in his cupboard. Rejecting the Mututho Report will be seen as sweeping the whole matter under the carpet and keeping the truth away from the people. If Raila decides to do that he will join the rest of African leaders including Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi and may be even Mwai Kibaki who all became multi millionaires after becoming Presidents of Kenya.

The move will also disappoint a lot of Kenyans who still see Raila as the only salvation to the many ills that face this nation. Few of them can imagine him involved in any corrupt activities against this nation. The big question is : Do the people have the same trust for every member of the Raila family? If ODM MPs really want to save Raila from this controversy then the only sensible step to take is to hand the matter to the best detectives this country has in order to expose the truth. Unfortunately it looks like Raila himself is campaigning for the rejection of the Mututho Report and his word will carry the day in Parliament.

So far Raila has dismissed the Mututho Report as another attempt to fight him politically because he happens to be the frontrunner for the 2012 presidential elections. Such dirty political intrigues will also be laid bare by a thorough probe in the whole matter. If Raila is exonerated then those who want to commit a bloodless political assassination will be exposed as traitors who are planning to deny Kenyans the opportunity to have a free choice in the next general elections.

While condemning the Mututho Report, the Prime Minister said he was as clean as cotton and may be a lot of people in Kenya believed him. What they may not believe is whether his nameless son is just as clean. Long before the whole maize scandal was made public by Mututho, Raila’s son’s name was mentioned in the ubiquitous rumour mills of the country.

Together with Raila’s son , names of sons of very important people were also mentioned. It is said the son is a frequent drinking mate of sons of other rich people who have acquired their wealth through corruption. At one time, it is said, they were involved in a road accident in the middle of the city at night after engaging in a racing match while driving extremely expensive cars. Compromised journalists ignored the story at that time as much as they are protecting the name of Raila’s son putting his father in trouble at this time.

Talking of journalists brings to mind the whole exercise of investigative journalism in this country. This is the missing gap in the profession which, if perfected, the whole maize scandal issue would have been solved very long time ago. Corrupt people in Kenya do their dirty deals knowing very well no one will expose them because both the police and journalists are paddling in the same canoe of bribery, corruption and dishonesty. If the Fourth Estate was doing its job properly it would have been extremely easy to know who, between Raila and Mututho, is right.

Besides Raila’s son the Mututho Report names quite a number of other people allegedly involved in the maize scandal which brings yet another question to mind. If Raila’s son is innocent, who is guilty of the serious crimes which have led this country into desperation and hunger? Why are the prices of unga still ridiculously so high that the ordinary mwananchi today regards eating ugali a luxury for the rich only? The issue of corruption cannot be reduced to a mere political game between Raila and his enemies. The people of Kenya know that corruption in high political offices exists and the evidence they have is in their empty stomachs.

Until such a time as when a very important man is charged with the corruption involving the maize scandal the people will not believe the Government is serious about ending corruption in this country. Now that Raila’s son’s name has been rightly or wrongly connected with corruption, Kenyans can be absolutely certain that the Prime Minister will hit back so hard by exposing even more important names involved in corruption. Vengeance will be the name of the game. The spectacle will be fascinating. But even more important than that, the people will be interested in witnessing justice not only being done, but manifestly seen to be done.