Consequences Of A Cheated Leadership!

 

Elections came, passed and now the reality is here for us to live with the consequences. Before the elections, there were calls for Kenyans as a nation to avoid placing Indicted criminals as their leaders and most heeded the call. However, there were those whose interest surpassed those of Kenyans and unfortunately, they had their way. Calls of accept and move on drowned the calls for justice and democracy and in the silent coup Kenyans got a leadership that they have learnt to accept. 

    Many Kenyans are now settled to a leadership that they do not trust, agree with or know where they are going. The one thing that is clear to all Kenyans is the fact that the leadership that they have is not about leading Kenya and Kenyans to prosperity but a leadership engaged in self interest and with a myopic goal of placing individual interests before those of the populace.

    So where is Kenya today? Let us first highlight the Sh163 billion budget deficit. How will this be financed? So many uninformed players on social media and in Kenya’s social circles have argued that Kenya is a sovereign state and should not heed the West. I would like to agree with their argument but before I do that , I would like to highlight a few factors. Over the years since independence, Kenya has had the privilege of being the most stable and consistent partner to the West in East Africa. This resulted in sustain aid and promotion of trade in the interest of Kenya’s strategic position and friendly engagement. For decades, the West has financed Kenya’s deficits, given humanitarian aid, trained Kenya’s defense forces, provided educational aid, trained professionals, allowed in immigrants, shared cultural experiences etc. The list is just too long. The only gap was the 90’s where the West held back due to President Moi’s abuse, corruption and disregard for democracy and humanity. Kenya quickly descended into a tailspin to where the Kenyan currency went from trading at $1 for Ksh 16 to $1 for Ksh 48 and counting. This was bad economically but internationally, Kenya was still held in high esteem as a country with great people and a very welcoming culture. Fast forward to 2013 and Kenyans are now grouped into a populace of criminality that even Nigeria with its notorious criminality is yet to see. Just the other day, I had to fight off a Somali(i repeat, a somali) who insisted that Kenya is led by criminals. Very sad… But that is besides the point. Britain has now chosen Somali over Kenya and do not be fooled. When Cameron Chose to take pictures with Hassan Sheikh Mohamed and non with Uhuru Kenyatta, he was sending a strong statement to the world that Uhuru is a persona non grata. The invitation to Britain was to the people of Kenya but the contact person was unwelcome, thus the famous phrase “ESSENTIAL CONTACT.” So now with a budget deficit, Where will Uhuru find the money to offset the deficit? 

     Many have talked about looking East, right! I wish it was that easy but even if it was, WHY put all your eggs in one basket? The naive leadership of Uhuruto have thrown all the bargaining latitude that they had with the East to where now the East are nothing but pedestrian negotiators. They do not have to do any opposition research cos Uhuruto have no place else to go but East and If they look West, they face a cautious engagement as opposed to a willing friend. How is that for leadership. Kenyans, How do you get a good deal from a position of disadvantage? BTW, looking East was a Oginga Odinga strategy, remember Russia Hospital in Kisumu? Question of the week. How does Kenya finance its budget deficit?

   Continues Next Week………..

Ruto

In 2008 ODM under the leadership of Raila Odinga found itself in a forced marriage with PNU in forming a coalition government after the stolen 2007 elections. PNU a predominantly Kikuyu party and ODM a party with a national outlook and following agreed to form a coalition government on a 50/50 power sharing formula, an agreement that would eventually fail to see the light of day as PNU only recognized the agreement on paper but never in practice.

Now Ruto is in a predicament where it is understood that the pre-election agreement that he signed with Uhuru seems to have been thrown out the window and he is unhappy with where they have come to. Just for the record, the agreement was that they would get into a marriage forming Jubilee with each party(URP and TNA) sharing power on a 50/50 basis.

Did Ruto see this coming? Yes, the writing was on the wall and for some reason or the other, Ruto chose to ignore it but just incase he did not see it, I would like to run him through some history to allow him to see how complex his predicament is and allow him to see that he is not unique to history.

There is a swahili saying “Mtoto wa Nyoka ni Nyoka” meaning, the offspring of a snake is a snake. One has to understand the nature of a person, community or culture to really make good decisions in dealing with the same. Ruto is in a position where he is dealing with Uhuru, the son of Jomo Kenyatta who happens to be a Kikuyu and has his strongest political capital in the Kikuyu community. So it is safe to say that an agreement with Uhuru will bring along with it Jomo Kenyatta, his communities interests and most important culture. Unfortunately but truth be told, Jomo Kenyatta and the community have never known an agreement that they ever kept dating far back to the 1800’s. It is also said that a seed does not fall far away from the tree.

In the struggle for Independence revolved on issues of Land and Land Rights.

The Lancaster House deliberation was land and land rights. Indeed the Lancaster participants debated on how they were going to divide the regained land. The Kalenjins, Maasai and Mijikenda put up a strong case for their land in Rift valley and coast region. It was agreed in the 1961 and 1962 deliberations that all British grabbed land were to revert back to the local communities. Indeed this was promised by Mzee Kenyatta himself on 5th February 1962 upon arrival from Lancaster. He said

“Katika Katiba Mpya, Serikali Yenu imeahidi kwamba kila sehemu ya nchi kama ni ya Maasai, itakaa kama ilivyo, ikitawaliwa na Maasai wenyewe…. Kama ya Wanandi, wanandi watatawala nchi yao, hiyo ni kusema ardi yao. Hakuna mtu kutoka inje kwenda kunyakua mali yao. Mashamba yao ni shauri yao kujua watafanya nini nayo” 

We all know what happened after independence. Immediately after independence,  former home guards from Central Kenya consolidated land in central province and displaced their own people into the Rift Valley. For example they transferred part of Rift Valley into Central Province and named it Nyandarua district, 650,000 acres of Nandi Land was transferred to Luo Nyanza, 850,000 acres of Nandi and Koony land was hived off and annexed to Western Province to form part of Bungoma, other thousands of acres were transferred from Kipsigis land to Kisii Nyanza (from Keroka to Chebilat). This was a shock to the Kalenjin community because Kenyatta negated his earlier promise of 1962.

We have been told of “willing buyer, willing seller” but even in cases where there were purchases, there were unfair practices. A bitter example of how the Kalenjins was denied their land right involved the RHONDA FARM in Nakuru. The Kalenjin Enterprise had bought the land, but PC Mathenge engineered its grabbing and was later subdivided among the GEMA members called Mwarigi. No money was refunded to the Kalenjin enterprises. Kalenjins also negotiated to buy NGATA FARM LTD led by Kibowen Arap Komen who paid Kshs 4million, but they were denied to buy the entire farm by PC Mathenge. He gave part of the land to GEMA people.

In 1974 Hon Eric Bomet and Mzee Jonah Arap Cheptoo negotiated to buy MAKUTANO FARM from Mr. PEARCSON (Maji Mazuri), but the DC Baringo Mr. A N N Ndoro ordered the arrest of the two who were locked up at Eldama Ravine. The land was later sold to GEMA people IGURE, hence IGURE FARM. Other areas included a farm in lower Subukia, Olmomoi. After the Kalenjins had bought the land, they moved in only for them to be arrested together with the initiates (TARUSIEK) who were still recovering. They were brought to Nakuru court and ordered to be jailed. Their money was never refunded.

As if this was not enough in 1970 Mzee Kenyatta came to Nakuru, Mob area (originally kuresoi land of the kipsigis and ogiek before British invasion) and distributed 17 former white settler farms to GEMA people who gave their tribal name, thereby erasing its true origin. The 17 farms were namely: Kiambereria, Kiambu, Ngema, Moto, Nyakinyua, Kererekamia, Kamwaura, Poron, Mushorwe, Kapkimani, Kathirika, Kimkasa, Sitoito, Tamnyota, Mutukanio, Matunda and Marwa.

Why do I bring these land issues up? Well, we can clearly see that Kenyatta never kept his agreement with the freedom fighters and who else would one think Kenyatta would honor his promises to? Uhuru is not only held by the forces that his father created but also by what seems to be a culture of unkept promises by his community.

 

Koigi Wa Wamere: Voters Have No Moral Authority To Criticize Greedy Leaders They Created.

 

 

By: Hon. Koigi Wa Wamere

Since Parliamet opened, voters and media have complained against salaries of MPs, governors and ward reps being doubled or tripled in defiance of Salaries and Remuneration Commission’s recommendations.

For demanding higher salaries when ordinary people have hardly one meal a day, leaders are rightly being accused of greed and insensitivity.

On reduction of salaries, we want to be on the same side with the poor, the weak and the downtrodden but many times people of lower classes are their own worst enemies.

But to get to Parliament and raise their salaries, leaders did not shoot their way there in coup d’etat. They were elected by voters in ‘free, fair and transparent elections.’ If voters elected these greedy leaders knowingly, they have only themselves to blame.

Worse, if voters elected these greedy leaders after taking their bribes, they have no moral right to condemn them for raising their salaries.

In case it is not clear, voters create greedy leaders by freely voting for them. As for the greedy nature of leaders, creatures cannot be more to blame than their creators.

Tragically, like apes, people laugh at the red backside of others but never their own. They condemn corruption of leaders but cheer their own for what they wouldn’t have without it.

Hypocritically, voters who complain against the greed of leaders forget they demanded money before they could vote. For their anger against the greed of leaders, Jesus would tell them to remove the log in their eyes before pointing at the speck in the eyes of others.

If voters elected ogres who lead and eat them, why do they forget they went to bed with them voluntarily and blame themselves for being eaten?

When voters elect thieves to lead them, can they be morally right to accuse “their thieves” for greed? If hyenas eat sheep they are given to take to the pastures, can they be accused of greed?

When voters were asked by the retired President Kibaki to eat the money of candidates during campaigns and cheered the emasculation of the Leadership and Integrity Act for letting them eat, how can they now complain when it is the thieves’ turn to eat?

Without a social contract with leaders not to eat while in Parliament and government, voters cannot scream at MPs when they begin to eat. It seemed silently agreed that people would eat during campaigns and leaders would eat later in parliament and government.

One may sympathize if voters elect as president, MP or governor a bad person they don’t know, but not when they elect a thief they know into parliament or government. There are no sympathies for self-inflicted tragedies.

Many times Kenyan voters have rejected Jesus as their President or MP and instead elected Barrabas to lead them. Why should they weep when Barrabas starts to rob and murder them?

Voters deserve the bad and greedy leaders they elect. When people sell votes and leaders buy leadership, aren’t leaders henceforth free to use leadership as a personal enterprise with which to make money from salaries, allowances, service charges and bribes that accrue to corrupt leadership?

Michael Carson was right that choices have consequences. When voters elect hyenas they must expect their goats will be eaten.

But why do people elect hyenas when they know the consequences?

Voters have failed to elect good leaders so many times that they have gotten used to it or given up voting differently.

After concluding that leaders are thieves and good leaders are hard to find, bad leaders take over and transform society into a jungle. As herbivores, voters have resigned themselves to a sad belief that whatever they do leadership, power, government, parliament and courts, all belong to carnivores and electing a sheep is impossible, futile and purposeless. Subsequently, power is for carnivores, from lion to leopard to hyena to jackal to fox.

Why then is anybody surprised when MPs vow to raise their salaries?

There could be surprise only if voters elected hyenas without knowledge, a crime that can lead to people electing hyenas which they do. As for the alternative, it is worse. When voters elect someone because he or she has failed so many times to get elected and should be given a chance to recover their money, why would such a leader not become an outright thief to recover his money?

People who have spent so much or tried so often to get elected can only recoup their expenses through increased salaries, allowances, per diems, charges to ask or not to ask questions and corrupt deals with Anglo-leasings and Goldenbergs.

After so many failures, voters must now know they are the ultimate losers when they elect corrupt leaders and reject good ones. While leaders are beneficiaries of corruption, people are its victims when fleeced government cannot deliver development to them.

Once a deal is cut between a corrupt voter and an equally corrupt leader, in the next five years, corrupt leaders disappear to make their money. Equally, rejected good leaders like Moses, Bildad Kaggia and Joseph Murumbi disappear from public service abandoning people to their own devices.

While voters are bribed for almost nothing during campaigns, in the subsequent five years of no leadership, they lose trillions of money that thieving leaders steal from them or development they don’t deliver. All developed countries began with enlightened voters electing progressive, non-thieving leaders. On the other hand, poor countries are so because corrupt voters elect corrupt leaders who become big thieves while in power.

Voters are right to hate the greed of leaders. They must however hate their own greed more because being weak, they lose more from greed. To move this country forward, greed of all – and not just MPs – must be eradicated. Only then shall we save Kenya. But salvation must begin with the education of voters – if they will listen.

The New Kenyan Politics

It is here but only the wise can see it. Raila Odinga has seen it and is already playing it. The only person who may best benefit from it is still playing watermelon politics. Kalonzo! when will he ever learn that politics is about taking chances?

While Kalonzo is playing it safe, seeking a way back to parliament, his partner Raila is busy creating a new profile outside of parliament. I love Kalonzo but I have to say that the nice guy from Ukambani is a poster child for a choir rehearsal and not a steadfast leader for a serious political party.

Labour Day is here and gone without any national festivities that would show a country in Jubilation. After all the symbols, shouts, abuse, laughter and prophesies about the year of jubilation, it seems like the workers of Kenya have nothing to jubilate about, especially after the Jubilee President found his way to a park named after himself but lacking in jubilation. Surely, reality is more than a words gallery. It is a mixture of words, feelings and humanity….DONGE! Some call it Vitendawili….

Kenyans have accepted and moved on but Where have they moved to? Kenyans have moved on to the house on the hill where people talk in whispers on things that matter but put on a show on a daily basis. They have learnt that Uhuru and Ruto do not have the same ideology but are bound together by selfish reasons, so what do the Kenyans do, they pretend to get along and learn the language to deceive each other. Families invite each other for dinner, birthday parties, fundraisers, weddings, parties, graduations, baptisms etc but behind all these festivities lies the tribal suspicion or implied perception. Everyone tries to wiggle away from the tribal tag yet it holds them stronger than a york. They laugh, hug, share pictures and eat together yet they know it is all a facade. Reality is in the phone calls during the week, early weekends or late sundays when tribal sentiments are dished out to friendly ears. When Ruto feels like half of the ministerial appointments he is entitled to have to come from his Kalenjin community and Uhuru on the other hand nominates his half from the Kikuyu community, do we really say that Kenyans have moved on? It may be that those were the best candidates for those positions but it would be very difficult to convince Kenyans that tribe did not play a part in those appointments. So it begs the question, What do Kenyans have to accept and to what do they move on to? It is easy to say accept and move on. Let us now define what we have accepted and to what have we moved on.

Political leadership is about inspiration and that is where Raila has perfected his art. Raila, love him or hate him is always evolving to Kenya’s reality. Sarah Palin said that one does not need political office to lead. I agree with her. The new Kenyan politics is not about political office but about inspirational leadership. Uhuruto are soon discovering that assuming office is one thing and effecting leadership is another. While Raila has graciously allowed them to cement their tenure, they have failed to inspire the Kenyan constituency. Labor Day was a missed opportunity to rally Kenya and especially the youth to a path of hard work and solid investment to the future of Kenya but I am soundly disappointed because the newly inaugurated government cares more about appointing 16 people than it cares about the welfare of the Kenyan worker. After the professionals do their work, we will always need the village joker to breakdown their work to the villagers. Kitendawili?