Sunday, May 31, 2009

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.   

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't think it is fair to be so harsh on Jimmy. He has the constitutional right to stand for any elective post in Kenya...including that of Othaya. This has happened all over the world, in some of the largest democracies such as India with the Nehru/Gandhi Dynasty and their control of the Congress Party. In the USA with the Kennedy Dynasty as Democrats. And right here at home there are the Kenyattas, Moi's, Nyagaha's and obviously the Odinga's. Don't get me wrong, I do not support repressive despotic familiy dynasties taking control of their ethnical regions, but in today's time and age, the electorate are highly informed and are thus very capable of making up their mind who is going to lead them.
That being said, let us also not forget, in the event should he (Jimmy) stand to replace his father, he will obviously be heavily endowed with all the nessesities to win an Othaya election...namely CASH, local provincial administration support (police, intelligence, election officials, returning officers...you name it!). So don't be suprised if he wins. We all know how hungry voters get during elections time, throwing caution into the air, forgeting how they suffered during the last 5 years, and quickly selling their voters cards to the highest bidder (not more than Kshs. 500/=!!??). Intimidation of opponents voters and harasment of competitors to step down!! Politics Kenyan Style.

On the issue of Jimmy carrying the “sins of his father”, there is a real problem there. The Kikuyu Mwananchi in Central Province are a real scared lot, whether young or old. If you age between 15 – 35 years you risk either being killed by Mungiki, Kenda Kenda or the Administration Police. If you are a parent, you live in perpetual fear of losing your son to these slaughterers. The situation is so tense, it is likely that the electorate in this region will remember Very Clearly how the Kibaki Administration let them down when he was supposed to be right by their side protecting them. The same case goes for the IDP's in Rift Valley, how have yet to be compensated leave alone resettled. If the Mwananchi remember their sufferings during the past 4 years, they are sure to vote with their heads and not their stomachs.

Jimmy can also re-invent himself to be a man on his own, with his own principles and not those of his parents, their cronies and other dynastic political families. He can reach down to those very same scared youth and their parents and comfort them and genuinly solve the problem from the grassroots upwards, without the use of brute force. Reaction to brute force is even bruter force. It is time to sit on a round table and solve this problem once and for all. Mungiki is everywhere in Central....it is time to sit down with them and talk! What do they want?

I find your analysis of the Uhuru/Kalonzo/Migi Kenda/Kisii faction very interesting, and if it does infact work they could easily form the next government.
As of the Raila ODM faction and the Martha Narc Kenya faction....lets wait and see.

I await you next article to make a comment.
M.U.K

Unknown said...

hey, sir.i hate it that we analyze people in terms of being kikuyu or luo..i know its far off but am hoping for a day that i will look at my leaders in terms of credibility and inteligence instead of tribe..

Kenya4surv said...

I hate Kenyan Politics. People always with hate speech especially at online internet forums