Mutahi Ngunyi
15 June 2008
column
Nairobi — The tragedy of the last election is not that we killed - this is how nations are made. The tragedy is that we continue to miss the point.
Let me begin with the question of amnesty. The person who needs "amnesty" the most is President Kibaki because, under his leadership, our peaceful country was pushed to the brink of a civil war.
For this, he committed a downright sin of omission. On their part, the ODM "boys" in custody committed the sin of commission through mayhem.
Like a spider web
Either way, both the president and the "boys" sinned. But as they say, the law is like a spider web: it catches the small flies and avoids the big birds. In our case, we want to fry the helpless "boys" and pretend that the "biggies" are innocent.
This is a lie, and we cannot bring national healing like this. Forgiveness should be unconditional and inclusive. If we grant President Kibaki "amnesty" for his sins of omission, we have to grant amnesty to the "boys" for their sins of commission. The alternative is to deny both of them.
What about Prime Minister Raila Odinga? Has he committed no sins in this charade? Mr Odinga is like Moses in the Holy Bible.
He has a calling, a mission and motive. Unlike Moses, however, he took a shortcut.
We sent him with this message to Pharaoh, "Let my people go!" But when he got to Pharaoh's palace, the man abandoned his mission. Instead of liberating the people, he agreed to share power with "Pharaoh".
Can you imagine if Moses had agreed to become Prime Minister to Pharaoh on a 50-50 basis? I submit that Mr Odinga has done the unimaginable. And that is why he was booed by his Kisumu crowds in March.
Political 'rogues'
In my view, "Pharaoh" is not President Kibaki alone. Pharaoh is a fellowship of economic and political "rogues".
Mr Odinga was the people's messenger to this fellowship. He was the symbol of struggle for the poor and downtrodden. But when he was given 50 per cent shares in the House of Pharaoh, the man became a turn-coat revolutionary.
And now he is telling us that opposition is bad. For a man who spent his entire adult life in opposition, this does not add up!
There is one more thing: once they made him Prime Minister, Mr Odinga abandoned the pursuit of portfolio balance and 50-50 power-sharing in the civil service. And his reasoning was that half a loaf of bread is better than nothing.
I do not disagree with that. My only problem is that the half-loaf was all eaten by the political bigwigs in ODM. The "boys" in custody and their sad mothers were given zero. Allow me to elaborate.
Immediately the power-sharing deal was sealed, the peace talks collapsed.
Now there is some professor, whose name we constantly forget, chairing the talks. The politicians have even asked him to go back to Nigeria or wherever he came from.
Yet this eminent professor is meant to cut a historic economic deal for the poor, listed at Agenda 4 of the peace talks.
And so I ask the question: If the politicians are not interested in this poverty agenda, should we replace them with Mungiki and other pro-poor groups at the Serena talks?
Should these groups take over and negotiate directly with the professor on behalf of the poor?
Economic frustration
I am not being flippant, but if the poor lose faith in our politics, we are in deep trouble. They will express their economic frustration through armed groups like Mungiki. In fact, we currently have around 25 armed groups operating country-wide.
What is more: the security men in our homes, and the house girls who cook our meals, are all connected to these Mungiki-type networks.
They come from Kibera, Kawangware, Mathare, and so on. And if one of their siblings or children is not a Mungiki-type, a friend who visits him definitely is. My point? We are not even safe in our homes; we should be afraid - very afraid.
Poverty crisis
This brings me back to Mr Odinga. Although he is becoming a "turn-coat", he is the man to handle the poverty crisis.
Two things can be done. One, he should implement radical land reforms. A good starting point is what Lands Minister James Orengo is doing.
To the poor, this man has the "Moses magic" - he will liberate them from their landlessness. To the landed rich, he is a disaster, of course. But they are deluded.
The question is not whether their extensive land will be claimed by the poor. The question is when. And their best bet is to do the reforms with Mr Orengo ahead of the storm.
Two, Mr Odinga has no choice but to talk with Mungiki. My thinking is inspired by my late father, a former Mau Mau fighter.
On a jolly day, we would discuss the war and what inspired them as youths. But almost always, he drew parallels between Mau Mau and Mungiki. I often disagreed.
Leadership failure
And to this, he would accuse me of being romantic about Mau Mau. To him, Mungiki, like Mau Mau, is a response to leadership failure in the tribe.
That is why their first enemy was the conservative rich wazees in the tribe and then the colonial master in that order.
Like Mungiki therefore, they were looking for leadership, identity and a decent livelihood. They cried for inspiration, not condemnation.
Can Mr Odinga provide inspiration to Mungiki, the Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF) and the other protest movements? I think he can. And if he fails to, God will raise another Moses. Do I hear an 'Amen!" from Mr William Ruto?
Mutahi Ngunyi is a political scientist with The Consulting House, a policy and security think-tank for the Great Lakes Region and West Africa.
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I have believed in mwai kibaki since my high school days in late sixties and early seventies. He has not dissapointed me for once. I just believe he is too sophisticated for some people to comprehend. A true revolutionary gives poor children access to education, free medical services and job creation opportunities across the country. You never know what that child will become! That is what Mwai Kibaki has done to the Kenyan child. As for Raila, he has sought to misuse them as a ladder to political power. He armed them and inspired them to kill. Give me one example of an initiative in kibera or nyanza which we can copy. There is none at all. Raila reminds of of my uncle when he was a small boy. He visited his father's brother and found him enjoying a meal of roasted meat.The old man continued eating and ignored the young man. The young boy gathered courage and asked him " bwana Kagombe mbona unakula nyama kama mama yako?" The old man was so furious at the insult of his nephew and was going to beat him up, but then he realised the boy just wanted a share of the meat.He handed him a big chunk of the meat and they had a party! Moi invited Raila for the party in 1997 and so did Kibaki in 2007.You should not confuse a demagogue for a revolutionary, the Italians did that with Mussolini and they paid heavily. Raila is seeking out mungiki to tame them , not help them. Has Mutahi ever visualised a meeting of Maina Njenga and Raila Odinga? Who will be the statesman between them? To half the country, one is a rogue and the other one is a hero depending on which part of the country you are from.
In addition, Mr Ngunyi, something I almost forgot: Do you remember Raila's campaign tramp card. The word was Majimbo and you know the emotions this word evokes among all non Kukes and you know also that that is what exactly Raila and Ruto wanted and you saw the outcome after the election results. Remember also he had declared that Kenya would become an Ivory Coast state if he did not win the elections, and that is what he attempted. The best place for Raila is behind the bars!Mr Ngunyi how very dishonest you are when you pretend to look up to Raila as a leader. Of course he is, but what kind? I believe, you do not love Raila, but you hate Kibaki more! I can assure you one thing; The God of Moses will not let a killer like him take the thrown of Kenya.
I believe in every man having his own opinion. this doesnt however, to me, apply to national issues. i wish to strongly differ with the respondents above calling the writer hypocritical. at the behest of sounding tribal, i think you guys are not just patriotic kenyans. mutahi has been one of the most vocal n bold writers of our time. to call him hypocrical just because he said the truth about one of your tribal kinsmen is a shame. we need to move foward n people with retrogressive minds like u guys are really pulling us behind. i wouldnt mind supporting kibaki if i know he can offer better services. lets look at national issues and move away from this tribal cacoons that we are hiding. kibaki messed us up n he has to be told so.
I have read your note Mr Analyzer. Calling Mutahi vocal and bold is fine because this is your opinion, but he chooses to be vocal on non issues. Calling Raila a Moses is a big mistake. Moses saved people, but Raila killed. Raila used a Majimbo card during his campaign and he knew what he wanted; to elicit Kikuyu hatred in Rift Valley and in all other provinces apart from Central. He and his ODM must know that Kenyans will never forget that they returned this country many years behind by what they were calling mass actions and recently he has called it fighting for Democracy. He must be ashamed for offering his hypocritical advice to Zimbabwe. Can’t you see the gentleman in the Zimbabwe opposition leader who did not choose to fight where there was blatant rigging and cheating in the elections. Raila chose to fight on allegations he actually created HIMSELF TO PRETEND HE WAS BEING RIGGED WHILE HE FEARED HE WAS ACTUALLY LOSING and by so doing returned this country many years behind and you hail Mutahi for praising a killer. Let them show any facts on elections rigging in Kenya. Raila succeeded in getting sympathy from US, UK and European Union in making them believe that he had been cheated, but without prove. Mutahi himself, most hypocritical accepts the matter is under investigation and to quote him in the Sunday Nation of 29 June 2008 he says “And the intention of this is: “… to assess the integrity of the results.” This means that the commission must enter verdict on whether the presidential results had integrity or not. If the results had no integrity, we must conclude that President Kibaki lost. If, on the other hand, they are said to have integrity, then Mr Odinga lost and he has no business sharing power with President Kibaki. Why did someone conclude that it was rigged and start fighting and organizing gangs to kill and displace people? Is it boldness to call such a person Moses. Look at Morgan Tsvangirai the opposition chief in Zimbabwe: If anyone is justified to cause a lot of chaos, it is this man, but he chooses to instead withdraw from the poll. He was even cheated in the first round and still he did not organize any gangs like Raila and Ruto. Raila wanted so much to be president of Kenya that he could do anything to be: You must know that the God of Moses and the God who loves Kenya will not allow such a person to be president of this country. See the people who were displaced are now returning against the wishes of Ruto and the others Rift Valley Mps. They will return and prosper because the lands they were displaced from were their God given properties. Those who displaced and killed them will go to jail if convicted and be assured that those who have escaped the justice of man in the law courts will not escape the better judgment of God. They will suffer atrocities and their monies or positions will not save them until they know that Kenya is a land which God loves and protects its peoples. Shame on you for supporting such killers.
Odinga is one opportunist. I do not dispute the fact that Mugabe is a brute. Raila will do anything to be in good books and to be in power. This is the same man who wants thugs to be given amnesty. Please sort out the issues in Kenya first. When Africans ever learn not to be opportunists?
I will start by calling the writer of this article, Is Raila a Turncoat, Mr Mutahi Ngunyi, a lair or at least dishonest. Blaming Kibaki for not stopping the after elections mayhem is a very dishonest statement. There are instances when the police made attempts to stop and their efforts were taken by reporters, who appear to have been sympathetic to the fighters, as a human rights bleach. When the reporters were not sounding the alarm for the same thing, the Western Diplomats were shouting like matatu touts. Take an earlier case of the Mt Elgon clashes and see the hypocrisy of politicians and writers like this. Before the military moved in, even the suspected sponsors, Mps, were shouting loudest against the government’s inability to stop. Now the military is there and the same are accusing the government of bleaching human rights and one wonders if an African government can ever do right. The answer is no: Because if something is very good the opposition would not like the government to take credit. Sample the following statement: “Can Mr Odinga provide inspiration to Mungiki, the Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF) and the other protest movements? I think he can. And if he fails to, God will raise another Moses. Do I hear an 'Amen!" from Mr William Ruto”? When the writer is blaming the government or directly President Kibaki, for not having stopped the post elections results mayhem, he is at the same time calling for someone to encourage them to fight more! Mr Ngunyi, if you are looking for favor with Raila or Ruto and mostly Raila I think because you feel he is closer to the leadership of this country, you have backed the wrong horse. I still remember your confession as to why you have never forgiven Kibaki for not recognizing your efforts when he was organizing an opposition party. No wonder you bash him at every possible opportunity. Which God will provide leadership for Kenyans to be murdered? That is not like the God of Moses. Once again, as I have told you in the past, you are wrong. Remember, I prophesied to you in the early years of the Narc regime that Kibaki would stay on. He has gone on to the second term besides all the hyping of rigging by Raila and ODM and the Western Ambassadors and the resultant killings. You wrote unprintable things about the government mostly from bitterness and not facts and you dried up when your predictions all hit the rock. You are back again hoping Raila will recognize you. Trust in God alone who never can die. Those who may have probably killed and hoped someone like the late Kones and the Assistant Minister would save them now know they cannot. Hoping in human beings is wrong. Raila may not make it to the presidency as are your hopes and what will happen to your expectations.