The Leading Story

                                                                                                                        Photo courtesy of KWELI

Today I declare total loyalty to President Uhuru Kenyatta. Let me be candid and say I did not believe in his presidential bid. I know now you think I am CORDED, oh wait- am more than that. I love stories, listening to them, telling them and writing about them. It is the story of Uhuru presidency that did not resonate with me.

I went to school somewhere in Kenya where I was the only Luo in my high school class and this came with its joys and baggage. I had to translate those dirty words people get to learn first in a language- donge? Then receive all the slack meant for us jang’os, but yes I enjoyed my time.

Around this time a man called Okatch Biggy emerged from somewhere I don’t want to lie I know. I heard he used to be a boxer trying to destroy the fingers that were meant to make him famous by strumming a guitar. Because he was BIG, I became Okatch Biggy to some of my classmates despite being nothing close to big. I knew nothing about him then nor ever heard of his music.

Fast forward and when the boy in me turned to a man, I happened to be around Donna Hotel (note the word ‘around’) one evening and heard some good beats of Okatch Biggy belting out Helena Wang’e Dongo (big eyed Hellen). Wait before you think it’s another version of Musaimo’s Kana Funny. My close friends know that this song has inspired me in many ways. His lyrics later inspired me to learn fluent deep dholuo so as not to float at sea- to get the gist of a master poet and story teller.

Since he died, I have never known any other Luo benga musician who could measure to Okatch, so I don’t fancy this neo-luo benga anymore. Sorry if the vulgar laced song kanungo makes your bones to start vibrating like an android phone. Okatch Biggy had a way of singing vulgar, someone once described his vulgar as liberating, oh my how can that be? Several times he crossed the line but not as far as Kanungo.  For your information, many people drove from Nairobi to Donna Hotel in Kisumu every Friday afternoon to dance to Okatch Dola Ja Ujimbe- Dudi. Luo is a lifestyle and a responsibility, but do we say.

Later I learnt that successful leaders have a personal story and when this story is packaged to resonate with the people, his influence grows hence succeeding in his tenure as a leader. The stories Okatch Biggy told revellers in his songs, brought Luos and also none Luos from far and wide. Stories are powerful.

Barrack Obama made it to white house because his personal and his father’s story of triumph over adversity resonated with the hopelessness of economic depression of the last years of George Bush Jr. tenure. Franklin D. Roosevelt in his inaugural speech in the early 1930s economic depression gave Americans the narrative- there is nothing to fear but fear itself- and America pulled through the tough times.

In East Africa, Paul Kagame’s personal story as a refugee, rebel fighter then a military intelligence officer in Uganda made him succeed as a rebel movement leader and later a successful president of Rwanda. You may have your reservations about this man, but yes, he is the president to watch in Africa.

Back to Kenya, the Uhuruto ticket had two verses, the ICC narrative and anti-Raila chorus. These two stories did not cut it for me as transformational in any way and we can see it now. Then again, they won the elections. If you have not accepted it, just move on. You are allowed to move on without accepting- do I hear some shuffling sandals - for now Uhuru Kenyatta is the president and William Ruto is his deputy.

The first 100 days of Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidency has not brought out the best in him or even in Kenyans. It is prudent that a narrative comes out of the house on the hill. If his ICC narrative was good enough to get him to state house, it cannot sustain his presidency. Things don’t look good and as a Kenyan, I am 100% behind my eloquent president, he must give us a convincing story.

Kenyans have began to feel the economic pinch so much so that they are not fulfilling their role in nature. No wonder a daily newspaper columnist wrote that despite Uhuru making maternity services free of charge; Raila is telling Kenyans not to give birth. There is more to making babies, it needs energy which is food and the baby will also need food. So circumstances have conspired to deny Uhuru an easy win in 100 days.

On the flip side, Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka have been going around telling stories. If these two gentlemen still hope to remain relevant in our political system they must also change their stories. Raila Odinga should stop this- elections were stolen- narrative and give us another story. He should stop making Uhuru Kenyatta his agenda and show Kenyans what we are missing even in small doses.

Jakom, this story of elections is stale. I can understand your predicament but if you want us to even dream of electing you again, tell us a new story. Tell us how your grandchildren are coming up. The Kenya you would like them to grow up in, and do things to that end, may be, just may be- my county mate, you never know.

Uhuru can tell us about Margy, how he tuned her akaingia box. How the birth of Ngina and Jomo changed his perception about life. There are times when political propaganda gets boring and such is the time. We need stories, it will change the people but more so our leaders. We will know where they are coming from and where they are likely to take us.

Kenyans need to dance to inspiring narratives, not depressing rants. Kenyans need a reassuring story in these tough times.

The devil is not in the details but in the story.

                                                                                                     Okatch Biggy

Kethi loses her virginity again...

Ever since the phrase “accept and move on” became our national “motto”- I tend to dig in on stuff. It is not that I never move on- but I do so at my terms. Today I am on Kethi Kilonzo’s case and this time round it’s not about her prowess that gave men intellectual crush. The mental beauty that turns men on then scares them at the same time. It is about Kethi’s virginity.

There is something in a name and the Kilonzo name Kethi bears is weighty with privileges and responsibilities. This is the weight that gave her a strong foundation, bringing her advantages over mere common men like some of us.  The same weight can also drag her down to the gutters of life and the unfolding events have shown that.

Men have a high affinity to lay a lady of her stature- many times for bragging rights. The masterminds of this saga must be gloating over their actions, not for their deeds but their prey. That is what masculinity bestowed on men especially where losing virginity is concerned.

Kethi lived in the shadows of his father and only came out after the March 4^th General Elections to subtly announce to his dad and the country that her time had come. Little did we know that the old man was on his last stretch and the gods were lifting his daughter to the level of the Kilonzo name. This is very good; Kethi came out a pure girl, shielded from the vagaries of this world. Like a poster child, harmless and beautiful she was liked by people from both sides of the political divide. Kenya had welcomed her into the lounge, and sooner to the bedroom.

As the law stipulates after her dad went to dance with his forefathers, the Makueni Senatorial seat was declared vacant. It was back to politics and everyone was of the opinion that Kethi steps forward to replace his father as the first elected woman in the Senate. Politics surrounded her candidature had no sooner had she presented her nomination papers than word came out that she is not a registered voter.

I don’t follow Kenyan news; the closest I come to news is on social media, so forgive me if I don’t have the details of how Kenya seduced Kethi until- akaingia box. The next time I woke up from self imposed Prime Time news blackout, Kethi was facing a tribunal to ascertain if she was registered voter.

The moment the details of her registration were out, the IEBC tribunal findings were subordinate to the court of public opinion. I don’t take Kenyans’ public opinion seriously especially where politics is concerned. We have voted people on the basis of ‘caring for one young man at the expense of twenty others’ so Kethi’s alleged misdemeanor will not affect he political life.

The saga I watched in that bedroom as Kethi lost her political virginity made me look at the whole matter from a different angle. This girl had lived a private life known to her family, close friends and may be clients. Here she was, the monsters of Kenyan politics had dragged her to the bedroom, called in the cameras and went on to defile her as the public watched.

Oh yes, I know Kethi lost her virginity years ago, I don’t have the details but I know she has a very promising son. Some things are proved conversely even if you chose to conceal the real action. Here she is, like any woman who loses her virginity, I know there are times of shame but then again the big picture is she is now a ‘woman’.

In this evolving episode, IEBC is coming out as an institution that cannot be trusted. As long as they did not report loss of registration slip, they cannot pin Kethi, to me the burden of proof is with IEBC and not Kethi. After we accepted and moved on while cohesion was expended at the expense of justice, this time we need IEBC to come out clearly and clear its name.

Two things are bound to happen, either Kethi will coil and go back to her private life where her legal profession would be her fulcrum or the monsters are in for a rude shock. She may just step into politics full swing and teach these people a lesson. The IEBC saga is just a plus as it has jolted her muscles into action mode.

 Like a lady who has lost her virginity, she knows that things will never be the same again even if she opts for secondary virginity out of public life. Keep watching…….

I accepted but to move on, we must ask hard questions

This may be flogging a dead horse, but let me do it, maybe I will ‘move on’ as some people insisted a while back. To be candid, I hated that phrase- accept and move on. Just to whip a question- has anyone ever checked where the said people moved to, if at all they moved on? I accepted, but I did not move on because I dint, and still I don’t know where to move on to.

I am not going to claim that the elections were rigged. I believe the emotions have calmed down now so we can be sober and objective as we look into an election I believe left Kenya more divided than 2008, peace aside.  As a product of public education system, my studies were subsidized by the government. To this end, I owe my society a service because the taxes the government collected were spent on making me the person I am today.

I am good at asking questions, or rather questioning if there is a difference between the two. The 2013 general elections may have been peaceful but to minds like mine, they raised many questions for which I will endevour to seek answers. The bane of an open mind bestowed to me by the nature for which I must honour by doing justice to matters that need to be looked into again.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) did a good job leading to this election and they deserve a pat on the back. To this date though, they have not been able to announce the final results of an election held in March. If at all we have to grow our democracy beyond the mandatory five year election cycle, everybody must ask questions including questioning IEBC.

Let us ask ourselves; in 2002 we had a voter turnout of 57.18% which went up to 69.09% in 2007 when the stakes were so high. In 2013, there was a voter turnout of 85.91%, a world record by itself. Looking at Nairobi County voter turnout for 2013, the presidential elections gave us 72.9% of the registered voters.

Looking at the increase in voter turnout between 2002 and 2007, I strongly believe the Nairobi voter turnout to be representative of the accurate voter turnout all over the country. There is hardly any social limiting factor or hindrance to voting in Nairobi. The level of civil awareness is higher and we had hawk eyed agents for all the parties involved in Nairobi. Nevertheless social amenities like transport and security are much better in the city than anywhere else in the country.

Let us take a look at North Eastern province which has always had an average of 45% voter turnout. With no major stake in the 2013 general election, this region recorded a voter turnout of about 75% in rough average estimates. They surpassed the growth in voter turnout in the rest of the country something that must be attributed a social factor. Either, they were provided with water and pasture for their livestock or polling stations were taken to where they were grazing.

I will then shift my eyes to the Supreme Court ruling. This I will address none other than Dr. Willy Mutunga. I blogged about Mutunga a while back my two cents advice to the good lawyer so I am one of his admirers but the ruling on CORD’s petition left me with many unanswered questions. I did not have the facts so I tried to ‘move on’ but when he came out in the social media to ask for respect, I lost the respect I had retained for him.

 As a young man in the prime of my youth I believed everything is possible; age has a way of dealing with many things so I moved on. My friends and I gave the then Vice Chancellor of University of Nairobi Professor Gichaga sleepless nights. On such friend told the good professor something that has stayed in my memory to date. He asked the professor not to look at our questioning of his leadership as a nuisance but a good report that the university is producing brains that can think. If we agreed with him on everything then he should rest assured that the institution has failed in its mandate.

When six Kenyans went for the hearing on confirmation of their charges for crimes against humanity at the ICC something happened that our good Supreme Court bench should learn from. Judge Hans-Peter Kaul dissented with the rest on the case of William Ruto, Henry Kosgey and Joshua Arap Sang. There is nothing wrong with it, because his arguments were very objective and he did not lose his job.

The six heads on that bench are part of the cream of Kenya’s legal brains with experience in academia, jurisprudence and litigation in as far as the Kenyan law field is concerned. If at all these six people agreed unanimously without coercion whatsoever that the 2013 general elections were free and fair then something is wrong somewhere.

Lastly, I am asking myself what “Free and Fair” means in terms of definition and general application. If what transpired in this year’s election can lead to a free and fair election then ‘some six people’ have set the bar so low that the IEBC will never have a problem in future. The net effect is that it will be difficult for the lower courts to nullify the election of people elected to other posts in the same elections. May be this will lead to an audit of the process from the bottom upwards.

We all make mistakes and no one is perfect so when you put a group of people to undertake a task, the net strength is a sum of their strengths and so is their imperfections. The good thing is even if we fail for whatever reasons, lets fall forward, we will have made a forward move however little.

I write to remain sane in this insane world. Even if I don’t move on, asking questions is paramount for making tomorrow better than today. 

 I remain positive that one day Kenya will rise above the myopic obsession of a small clique of people.

Why Nairobi Governor Race is Waititu's to Lose

I was not surprised when ‘Rio’ Ferdinand Clifford Waititu won the TNA nominations for Nairobi County Governor at the expense of the sleek Jimnah Mbaru. I also expected Bishop, Dr. Margaret Wanjiru to beat Dr. Evans Odhiambo Kidero; the good pharmacist should thank the gods he is on the ballot for ODM just because Bishop Wanjiru was barred for lack of a University degree. To know why these not so learned and rather ‘uncultured’ politicians get good fortunes in the game, tag on me.

Everyone says that a Governor or let me say Gubernatorial seat should be the preserve of technocratic managers rather than the politician type. I couldn’t disagree more, in as much as management skills are important, political skills are more important. This is what is used to discredit Waititu alias ‘Baba Yao’ from the race.

To be Governor, one must get votes and to get these votes one must endear himself to the voters. Waititu has served as a councilor and is the immediate former MP for Embakasi. He is in touch with the ground and his networks traverse the city, having been born in Kibera, lived in Dagoreti to the west and represented Embakasi constituency which is to the East of the city. He comes across as a thorough bred Nairobian.

He built these networks over time without the pressures and constraints of an upcoming election. He even did it ‘with no strings attached’ attitude to the people yet he knew what he was going for. Unlike Kidero and Mbaru who have the money and expertise, yet failed to take time to build their networks in good time. Phillip Kisia being a technocrat spent about four years at City Hall as Town Clerk but failed to use it to learn political skill and build networks.

Waititu speaks the language of the people of Nairobi no wonder they call him ‘Baba Yao’- the top dog. Jimnah Mbaru on the other hand has the audacity to campaign around Mathare slums speaking in English. It doesn't matter how good his ideas are, his choice of language meant they were dead on arrival.

Meanwhile Kidero has tried to do a lot of work including having lunch with the people at Kariokor Market, unlike Waititu this comes out as an attempt to fit in for the sake of votes. Recently on Citizen TV, Kidero kept talking about programmes as Waititu kept it simple, always referring to ‘my people’ in every statement. To the people, what matters is what is in it for them, and it is prudent for the candidates to break down their ideas to basics.

Management

It is unfortunate that a person of Waititu’s character is close to ascending to the second most powerful seat in Kenya after the presidency. Nairobi accounts a huge chunk of economic transactions in Kenya and the region. A recent statement from a Safaricom executive revealed that over two thirds of Mpesa transactions emanate from Nairobi. I can see why the tag manager is being floated every time Governor is mentioned.

The constitution does not vest executive authority of a county in the office of Governor but the County Executive Committee. Waititu may not be a technocrat but if he can cobble a good team and manage them well, he can still succeed as Governor. Then there is the County Assembly composed officials elected to represent the residents’ interests. A governor must be able to manage the personal expectations of these representatives and of the people they represent.

To this I believe, a politician with managerial sub-skills can make a good Governor as compared to a manager without political sub-skills. If he can manage people well, his executive committee and the county representatives then he wins, and that is politics.

Corporate management is all about the bottom line- profits must be made. In the office of governor, it is not about profits but services for which I believe a Non-profit organization manager can make a good Governor. The office has a diplomatic role, resource mobilization and project implementation. These are roles a Governor will seek to hire the right people to help him accomplish.

Politics of Management

When ANC sidestepped Cyril Ramaphosa to give Thabo Mbeki the number two slot to Nelson Mandela, many people agreed with the party’s choice. A few years later Mbeki succeeded Madiba and then things started going well for the country but went worse for him. Mbeki is a technocratic leader who set South Africa on an economic growth path, until Jacob Zuma came. The man from Kwa Zulu branded Mbeki a ‘Boer’and set out to sing the anti apartheid song ‘umshini wami’ (bring me my machine gun) and Mbeki was no more politically.

In 2008 ODM had a majority of councillors in Nairobi City Hall, and Majiwa was elected mayor.  No sooner had he felt the weight of mayoral chains than chairs started flying in council meetings. Then came George Aladwa, a man with modest education but a good mobilizer. Yes, Nairobi resident may have lacked good services from Nairobi City Council but the noise faded. Looking at these two mayors, Majiwa a graduate of Maseno University and Aladwa, a graduate of Makongeni University, who comes out as a better leader?

To be a governor, one must win majority of votes cast by Nairobi residents. To win these votes you must go out and seduce the people of Nairobi to vote for you. Academic qualifications and a good Curriculum Vitae are good, but they do not attract votes. Someone must sacrifice his pride and ambitions to build a political base.

A good example is American President Barrack Obama, when he knew he wanted to be president, despite having a law degree from Harvard  he opted for the trenches of Chicago Community service. He spent years building a political base and reaped from it. I fail to wonder how Jimnah Mbaru can wake up in December 2012 and expect to win an election in March 2013. Money can buy many things but money can never buy trust, and people vote for leaders they can trust.

To conclude- It is Evans Kidero who can give Waititu a run for his money. This will be more due to ethnic arithmetic than his skills as a person. I expect Waititu to pull a surprise, because Mbaru will eat into Waititu’s ethnic vote and Kidero’s ‘middle class’ vote. My bet was initially on Peter Kenneth who I believe has the ability to have his head in the ivory tower and feet in the trenches, now I will watch and see how ‘Baba Yao’ takes on ‘Dawa Yao.’

It will be unfortunate if Waititu and Mike ‘sonko’ Mbuvi get elected in Nairobi. One, they thrive in the informal and broken down systems that has been run from the corruption ridden City Hall. They will do little to change or improve these conditions because it is what will keep them relevant.

The so called ‘middle class’ in Kenyan should desist from knee jerk reaction in politics. It takes time and resources to build a base, just because you have made it in another field does not mean you can transfer that to politics. Learn the game, language and unwritten rules before you plunge in or else, people like Waititu and Sonko will show you why they are ‘Baba Yao.’

Karl Marx (Owiro C.) is a Product of Our Social Systems

For the past one week I have engaged in a public relation exercise on the person of Karl Marx aka Christopher Owiro. Some people on social media did not have kind words for the man who was a hero to many, others chose to keep their views to themselves. To me, Marx was a human being, a person with friends, family, dreams, desires and above all a deep lying hope that this society will change for the better. That is the person I choose to honour; but why is this man spoken with disdain and admiration in one breath?

Karl Marx is a product of our broken and warped social system. When we shun Karl Marx in life or in death and embrace the systems that keep creating other ‘Karl Marxs’ is like hating the calf and loving the cow.

He beat all odds to make it to The University of Nairobi. He went to a day secondary school where he would walk for about 20 kilometres to and from school. When he received his admission letter, the Joint Admission Board (JAB) must have called him for a course he did not want to do. You can argue that yes, that happens to everyone, but why should it be so either?

In the year 2000, the Executive Committee of SONU was sent on a compulsory academic leave, or let me say suspension. After one thousand days, it hit me that many had tried to change courses on admission but failed to do so. The bulk of this lot was the KCSE class of 1996 when JAB decided to admit students with C+. It is romoured that the then JAB chairman, Prof. Eshiwani’s (George) child had scored a C+ and he had to join campus. This could have increased competition thus making it hard to change courses.

When Marx was in first year, word went out that there was a special class of people coming in to take courses of their choice and the core qualification is they can pay for it. Many people could have chosen to keep quiet and complete their studies and join the next level of life. But with examples across the world and even across the border in Uganda, this could have been handled in a better way. To the timid, speaking against such is madness, and so I say, the system created Karl Marx.

In a society where people, especially young people are not allowed to speak, let alone disagree with authority, Karl Marx was a marked man from the word go. You may have been shocked by post election violence (PEV) in 2008 but that is what comes of a society where holding divergent views is criminal. The opportunity many people will wait for is an excuse to ‘solve’ the problem in the easiest way possible. Again, the person who speaks is a villain, he who burns and murders is a hero. The system created Karl Marx.

The world over (and some African countries in particular) student activists are absorbed in socio-political systems that suit their ideological leanings. In Kenya, student activists who chose to hold views viewed as anti-establishment should be prepared for a life of squalor. Look at this, Wafula Buke was William Ruto’s student leader, now Ruto can afford to give Buke a salary for a non-existent job. Does it mean Ruto is more sharp or aggressive than Buke? NO, Ruto got into the KANU system and rose up the ranks, the same system that made sure Buke never rose to be a role model. If Buke is not a role model, where did Karl Marx come from? The system created Karl Marx.

The Universities are obsessed with one thousand day suspensions, but have they ever done an audit to see if it builds talent or kills creativity? The security agencies spend huge amounts of money to trail students and student activists and much more to influence elections in student unions. Can this money be used to nurture student leaders and prepare them for constructive social engagements? Karl Marx could have been of great contribution to the well being of this country, again, the system made sure he did not make it past activism then we curse Karl Marx and leave the system that created him.

There is an unwritten rule that a student convicted of any crime forfeits his place at the University of Nairobi. I was happy to find the student who had served time in jail for handling guns in the  Halls of Residence working in a firm in industrial area. I was even more elated when he told me he would soon resume his studies- there is hope. The system is supposed to build, not to destroy.

The black sheep of University life for students and parents is dead, but to the socially conscious, he leaves many questions than answers. One of them is why is it that approximately two-thirds of student activists are from Western Kenya. Why is it that a majority of these activists end up living low quality lives compared to their counterparts from Central and Eastern parts of Kenya? These are questions the University social scientists should be grappling to answer so as to nip the problem in the bud and save many brilliant brains from ruin.

Mentorship is a foreign word to our social leaders. Their main style is to use bright brains for their own selfish ends. There should be a system, formal and private that everybody will seek to nurture someone else to be like them. It is only by lighting the path for the younger generation will we find new ideas and visions to take Kenya to the next level. To quote US first lady Michelle Obama, you don’t lock the door behind you when it comes to opportunities.

Across Africa, student leaders have risen to positions of influence. Kenya must rise and learn to love the soldier even if he fights a war we loath, because at the end of the day, the soldier is a son, a brother, sister and even a father to a responsible Kenyan. Karl Marx death may be a loss to his family, but it is a bigger loss to Kenya as a nation.

When our MPs vote to award themselves hefty send off packages, do not be shocked, another Karl Marx is around the corner, how will you receive him?

Fare thee well Karl Marx aka Owiro Christopher

Yes, aka Christopher because everybody knew Karl Marx, Chris as I always called him- I know he wondered why- was a Science student at Chiromo Campus who was always in a hurry and full of energy. I knew Marx in my first semester and as soon as I became my Class Representative, Marx asked to buy me a drink, a very shrewd man. From there, I had a friendship with him beyond the usual deceit ridden student activism.

Years later Columnist Philip Ochieng’ would write that every market has a mad man and Karl Marx was the University of Nairobi mad man. By this time things had started to change, and for sure my good friend needed a good public relation strategist. To me, he started going down the moment he started getting involved with women who did not mean well and the ladies took advantage. The scandals increased to a point where he claimed on TV camera how he had given a lady KSH. 0.1 Million. That is Marx for you, never lacking words to explain anything.

I love mad men; my respect goes to Robert Alai, Boniface Mwangi, Kajairo and Cartoonist Gado, these are all to me ‘mad’ men forget Hon. Sonko. It is my best columnist Charles Onyango-Obbo who put it clearly one day, that apart from men of honour and integrity, it is mad men like Che Guevara and Fela Kuti who are brave enough to seek brave new worlds for their societies. To me, Karl Marx the ‘mad’ man had no apologies to be mad.

Many people thought this man spent over a decade at the University of Nairobi for an undergraduate course. I don’t blame them, unlike most student activists who spend their first two years building a base, Marx burst into the University and Kenya’s political scene in his first year. The University did not know that they had admitted a man who would redefine the dormant keg that was student activism. He quickly started pushing for the re-introduction of the banned student Union SONU which he managed in 1998 and renamed it SONU98.

The students could trust the radical Marx to push the administration to re-introduce SONU, but never trusted him with leading it. He ended up reviving the Science Students Union and chaired it for one year. Even without a formal position in the student government, he was a force you couldn’t just wish away.

Karl Marx did many things to uplift the welfare of students; he championed the conversion of Stella Awinja Guest House into a hostel. He always argued for students with fees arrears who were kept out of exam rooms to sit for the exams. In short, a student’s problem was Karl Marx’s problem and this is where I have come to appreciate the mantra- pick your battles. He never saw a fight he did not want to jump into.

Outside of that was an intelligent orator with exceptional mobilization skills. Karl Mark to me was a mathematician, unlike me who did mathematics to pass exams, he could explain everything mathematically. He once took the Vice Chancellor, Professor Gichaga through a calculus proof of why the Parallel Programme is flawed. The next time, he used the same formula to predict that the KANU/NDP merger will not work out and for sure it dint. It is great brains that are always prone to self destruction and Marx was no exception.

Another of Marx habits was his weekend morning briefings outside Hall 10. He would wake up at about 10 am and take on students questions which he would answer with a mixture of humour and eerie attitude. He would then watch the 1 o’clock news on TV and disappear from Campus. He made Hall 10 a hub of Nairobi social gossips.

I will cherish the times I spent with Marx, minus the propaganda and side shows, I met a master strategist who could push an agenda to the end. I might have disagreed with him on ‘how to’ several times, but I still remember Chris asking me to keep off student activism, which I tried but the system had absorbed it.

Behind the radical Marx, was a generous man whose heart went out to the suffering of the common man. A lover of nature and a good hockey player; he was a product of Kisumu Day High School when the school ruled national hockey championship.

Rest in Peace Jakorando B; like Martin Luther King Jr and Che Guevara, I know you have died at your time. Great men hardly see their fortieth birthday. Rest in Peace.

  

  

The Problem with Kenya and Why I am for CORD

“What is the single problem facing Kenya today?” Let me look at the flipside of this question. “The single problem with Kenya is our misguided approach in identifying our main problem.”

If I gave celebrated Nigerian author  Chinua Achebe the same question, he would ask “When did the rains start beating you?” I am sure Kenyans will not have an answer to this question because no one saw the clouds gather and even if we saw, we must have thought our houses will shield us from its effects. Yes, that is the problem with Kenya.

The next three to four months will be hot in Kenya, hot because like I have pointed we are trying to solve a problem we have not identified. The probability of getting it wrong is so high that only heavens can come to our rescue, and thank heavens it is the year of ‘jubilee’ (50^th year of independence)- things have to be sorted. I have identified two main problems we need to look into, elections and our cowardice as a nation.

One, elections will never solve our problems. By waiting for five years to settle social and political scores, we always walk to the edge of the cliff and play poker. To add to that, we need to be courageous enough to form a habit of discussing, agreeing to disagree over any issue before elections. This is like school children waiting to settle grudges on closing day. It has to start from home and at a very early age; that we can always sit and discuss problems even if we don’t find a solution, we are halfway to it.

This will take away our obsession with politics and politicians. Politicians will not take advantage of our fears and misguided aspirations to rise into office. If we let elections solve our problems, we raise the stakes and when the stakes go up the risk is also high. Any high risk venture can go either way, very good or God forbid, very bad like id happened in 2008. The next general elections in 2013 are gearing to becoming high risk again, we are back in 2007.

Two, we need a leader who will clear the slate. The Kenyan slate is full of baggage, real, imagined and fabricated. In my conversation with the common man, I gathered some baggage that we have to clear. There is a perception among Kikuyus that Luos are out to get the presidency from them yet they don’t deserve it. To them, it is Kikuyus who fought for independence hence entitled to the seat on the hill, the Luos want to ‘eat what they did not work for.’

The last time I checked, Achieng’ Oneko was among the Kapenguria Six, Tom Mboya fought for independence through the labour movement and Argwings Kodhek through his law skills. I tend to think just because Luos did not go to the bush, like other tribes in Kenya, does not mean they did not fight for independence. Such misconceptions and entitlement are misplaced and should be cleared from the slate.

The other misconception is that the Jomo Kenyatta stole land meant for displaced common man so getting Uhuru Kenyatta into office is giving him an opportunity to protect this land. There is also the perception that the Kikuyu hoard resources among themselves. Yes, there are very rich Kikuyus but the poorest people in Kenya are also found among them. This is just a product of their proximity to the capital city which made their land prime and placed them near a good market for their produce and rental houses. The same as the old town Arabs in Mombasa, if they didn’t take advantage someone else would have jumped into it.

The third misconception is that only the big tribes can produce presidents. I don’t agree with this notion, the best president Kenya will ever get will come from the minority tribes and you can take that to the bank. This also comes with the misguided thinking that it is only some specific families that can produce leaders. The very reason why James Orengo could not stand up to Raila Odinga for long and why Peter Kenneth despite an illustrious track record as a member of parliament is still supposed to face ‘Mt. Kenya and say Uhuru Kenyatta for president.’

Historical injustices must be faced with a courage that cannot bat an eyelid. A courage that can scare away fear, fear that the old ghosts are better left to rest even if they come to haunt us every election year. This does not mean we have to open up old wounds, but acknowledge that there was an abuse of power by some people and people’s human rights were abused as a result. Then restitution can be progressive, because most of the affected people are long dead, so their children can be sorted going forward. Be it land, massacres, assassinations, detentions and other past injustices, we can face these demons courageously. I am tired of hearing about Wagalla massacre; the government should clear such once and for all?

I repeat that our problem is our inability to delineate our main problem. Our problem is not ethnicity, because there are countries with a boiling pot of diversity that our forty something tribes is a drop in the ocean. Our problem is negative ethnicity, and we fail to note that this is an industry that is making the political class richer with the single aim of clinging to power.

Going forward, I believe Kenyans need to do two things and do them fast. This will address past injustices and reassure others that there place in this country is secured. One, We must elect a Luo president and two we must elect a president from the minority tribes like El Molo, Ilchamus or Sabaot. The earlier we do these and not necessarily in that order, the better.

Why I will vote CORD;

I had started championing for a Peter Kenneth presidency but I feel he should vie for Nairobi governor and run for president in the next elections. He will get a chance to prove to all Kenyan societies represented in Nairobi what he is made of and so have an easy ascent to the presidency. 

This is the part I fought so hard to write but like I said above we need to stand up for what we believe in. I spent a few years trying to fight the injustices of KANU and paid a small price for it. Looking at the two major coalitions going for the polls next year, I see KANU in both but I see more KANU in Jubilee than CORD.

The forces of Moi orphans have been skimmed from the pool into the Jubilee coalition. I would rather make one step forward than go back a decade. My vote goes to CORD and it is not because I expect a big leap in terms of social development, but to safe guard the gains we have made. In the past two years we have had the new constitution, the Jubilee side has made many attempts to water it down and Isaac Ruto is the chief mutilator. I hope the people of Chepalungu will save this country from this man.

 If Jubilee wins, every effort will be made to change any law that is ICC friendly, a push that will be myopic because we don’t know if Kenya will have a Joseph Kony like character in future.

With that I pen off, asking Kenyans to look deep and identify our main problem, it is not ICC, neither is it Raila Odinga or Uhuru Kenyatta. Our main problem is our inability to identify our main problem.

I take a Christmas break from blogging…..