allAfrica.com: Kenya: Time for Top Leaders to Find New Wine Skins (Page 1 of 2)

These are bad times for Cabinet ministers. By now they must be squirming in their seats because of the Riot Act read to them at the Cabinet bonding session last Friday.

It is not going to be an easy ride for most of the waheshimiwa - because the couple at the helm of the leadership equation in this country has openly declared their intention to save their political marriage.

So if you are a Cabinet minister by default with the sole intention of derailing the grand coalition train, then the two "lovers" - the President and the Prime Minister - are not going to allow such destructive shenanigans. Hakuna sikuuu!

The marriage is intact. In fact, it has been consummated - repeat after me, c-o-n-s-u-m-m-a-t-e-d!

It is like holding hopes for an unwilling lover even as she glides down the aisle and off to her honeymoon even after she heaps more scorn on your broken heart by producing offspring after offspring.

And this is the part I like most; those good-for-nothing, conniving politicians on either side of the grand coalition, whose sole purpose is to wreak havoc on the delicate political balance in the country, have no room in this nation's future.

The words rolled off President Kibaki and Honourable Raila Odinga's tongues like amazing nuggets of wisdom and goodwill. Who would have thought that the two would share the same vision?

No, there was no drama at the Kenyan School of Monetary Studies last Friday. There was no contradiction of speech or double speak.

There was only wisdom, that of the marital kind when a couple is through with the honeymoon and now face reality knowing very well that survival of the marriage depends entirely on how sane the two of them will remain.

These are difficult times oh, Cabinet ministers! I know most of you are smarting from the Friday blues, angry at your leaders for perhaps not following the route of scorn and bickering, no?

To put it plainly, Kibaki and Raila are in love. I am sure the love part is difficult to understand but oh, yes, they are and guess what? Before they arrived at the venue of the Cabinet bonding, they did what most couples do before they make a public appearance - they sat opposite each other, knees touching, holding hands, feet teasing and looked deep into each other's eyes. Deep. Absolutely deep oh, ladies and gentlemen of the grand coalition Cabinet!

When two protagonists look each other in the eye, then you have reason to be afraid - very afraid. The eyes do not lie. They mirror the soul.

Those two know what they did last summer when they took time off to take stock of what encompasses this grand coalition marriage. They sat together and counted losses and strategised on gains. Oh, yeah, they do know that they come from strange divides with quite some colourful frills to their names. They know they are walking a really tightrope. They also know that the vultures are circling, eager to feast on their carcasses were they to fall flat on their faces, and the vultures have names and faces similar to those people in Cabinet, Washindwe!

The riot act was music to the ears of ordinary Kenyans who rarely gets a glimpse into what really goes on in the corridors of power. So, Cabinet ministers can actually be reminded why they are holding their posts? Lest, you forget, all 35 million Kenyans will keep you in check, lest you forget your obligations to serve.

We are on the lookout for those of you who will fight each other in public, engage in blame games and participate in media wars. Of course, over the years and the past few months, you have perfected this art. We even know of some top Cabinet fliers who have monopolised media space and carved out budgets every month to shadow box imaginary enemies.

The two powers-that-be oblige you, oh honourable Cabinet ministers not to ever, ever forget that there is only one President and one Prime Minister. Need I say more?

I told you, these are tough times for you Cabinet ministers because corruption and abuse of office is under scrutiny, right from the top brass, and that is compulsory. That, and performance standards and the fact that you should not skip parliamentary sessions.

From where I sit, I can only but sigh with relief, alongside other Kenyans in the knowledge that none other than your appointing authorities are subjecting the whole lot of you to a serious test.

True, the tables might not be turning to your liking. So much has gone down the drain in the countdown to this grand coalition, but if you still harbour some dissent, please grow up and deal with it!

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