Michael Mundia Kamau P.O. Box 17510 00500 Enterprise Road Nairobi , Kenya 8th August 2002
PRESIDENT WANJIKU
The stage is being set for the most interesting Kenyan general election since 1963, with the public being treated to continuous drama in the sense that events are not taking the anticipated turn, and in the sense that the leading presidential aspirant is a novice from the former first family that appears headed back to State House. The evening 9 O'Clock news and indeed the dreaded mid-day 1 O'Clock news have lately become a spectacle to watch and listen to, revealing a nation in it's true perspective.
President Daniel arap Moi in another one of his unorthodox moves, takes this country on yet another excursion. The public could however be spared the baseless hue and cry from the president's lieutenants and other pockets of dissent. The three major issues at hand are that President Moi is going against the wishes of the majority by supporting the candidature of Uhuru Kenyatta for president, that Uhuru Kenyatta is young, inexperienced and totally unsuitable for the job, and that there appears a pact to sustain and switch top leadership between two prominent families. None of the three issues or otherwise bear any substance because Uhuru Kenyatta's candidature is representative of how we govern ourselves. The unfolding events in Kenya provide a prime opportunity for us to re-evaluate ourselves which we shall however not take.
This is not the first time President Moi is being unorthodox. This country for instance remained without a vice president for a full fourteen months between 1998 and 1999. President Moi was also behind the well orchestrated and contentious queue voting resolution of 1988. There is no issue here as President Moi is just being himself, who he has always been. The one thing you can be sure about with Daniel arap Moi, is that you cannot be sure.
Secondly, Uhuru Kenyatta's youthfulness and inexperience cannot be made an issue as his is not the first such high profile appointment or candidature. The late Professor Josphat Karanja was appointed vice president in 1988 above much more experienced politicians. Professor George Saitoti, appointed vice president one year later, was himself inexperienced at the time having been an elected parliamentarian for only one year, and after his opponent had been prevailed upon to step down in his favour. These are certainly not the qualities that a vice president should possess and the vice president stands accused of double standards. He is also certainly a beneficiary of the warped system that he now attacks.
Thirdly, the issue of political inheritance is not new to this country and cannot be fronted as an issue. K.A.N.U. Secretary General Hon. Raila Odinga appears to have forgotten that his brother Hon. (Dr.) Oburu Odinga is a direct beneficiary of this, and that he himself by extension, is also a beneficiary of political inheritance. Hon. Musalia Mudavadi also appears to have forgotten that he inherited his father's parliamentary seat when he was very young and inexperienced. Other examples are Hon. Noah Katana Ngala, Hon. Joseph Nyagah, Hon. George Khaniri, Hon. Ngengi Muigai and Hon. Vincent Maitsi.
Hypocrisy and superficial standards are on display and no one can throw the first stone. There never have been standards in Kenya and the self proclaimed Rainbow Coalition is certainly not going to institute them in a record five months. It is interesting for instance, hearing Hon. William ole Ntimama propagating decorum and rationale. Where were these in 1995 when he walked into the Chief Magistrate's court with an army of Maasai morans terrifying both her and the public ? The more crude and least scrupulous a person you are in Kenya, the greater a chance you stand of succeeding.
Secondarily, what we are witnessing in the ruling party is open mutiny and rebellion against the party boss, the placating terms being used to describe it notwithstanding, and something only quite seen once before in Kenya's history. The outcome is something we shall have to await though the insurgents have certainly dug a significant number of political graves. Those defying Chairman Moi are beneficiaries of a system that he has fortified over the past 24 years, and that has now developed a life of it's own. To defy him therefore is to defy an order.
The order that Kenya is today is an impoverished society polarised socially, economically, racially, ethnically, culturally, politically, religously, academically, geographically, intellectually, ethically and morally. Anything goes in Kenya today and the one standard that there is, is that there are no standards. Alot of hope for change had been placed on the constitutional review process, Wanjiku's constitution as it were. The entire process from it's constitution to it's now near conclusion, has been mired in controversy and irregularity : contentious expensive purchases of luxury vehicles and cell phones, a secret meeting of select commissioners at an exclusive resort, a secret visit of select commissioners to State House, and a chairman without executive authority over his commissioners. The constititutional review commission is infact apt personification of how the system has developed a life of it's own. The public cannot therefore expect anything meaningful out of the Constitutional Review Commission of Kenya, and it should indeed be disbanded in public interest.
Wanjiku's constitution, Wanjiku's presidency, and Wanjiku's country, have once again been wrenched from her hands and put on hold. There is dire need however to increase our efforts towards Wanjiku's presidency and Wanjiku's country as the deprivation and poverty that we live in cannot sustain for very long. The repressive policies implemented by the colonial administration and sustained thereafter by two successive governments in independent Kenya, have developed a life of their own, which should be a pointer to how critical our situation is. Michael Mundia Kamau