Clothes for Emperor\'s Court
written by aeichener , April 27, 2007

The very lakesided English style of Vitalis is a bit hard to stomach (I suggest to any reader a good fat chicken broth as a base, before tackling the text), but it brings forth wonderfully fragrant swampflowers, like the "kiss of the fasces" with regard to Biwott. Chapeau!

Apart from that, a very good reminder to us how naked the Emperor's courtiers really are.

Alexander

they\'re all the same
written by John Ongeri , April 27, 2007

Vitalis puts forward a compelling argument and yet for what I have no clue.

It is one thing ofcourse to point at the hypocrisy and double standards being used today vis a vis the dp clowns and their odm counterparts but I am sure that had the boot been on the other foot.....

Truth is there are ex-kanu henchmen in this government as well as in odm-k and the other lousy parties too. The staunchest Kanu apologist of them all was once heard to comment that defeating Kanu is like trying to cut down a Mugumo tree with a wembe.

I hate to say it and it truly saddens me but victors write the history. Who pays the piper calls the tune and as long as there will be plenty of beer, nyama, flour and blankets around election time, kenyans shall not bother too much with the finer details.

rabble rouser
written by kamau , April 27, 2007

Moral Judgment especially when it comes to politics always turns into a specially and contradictory issue. We have to learn to be more pragmatic in our evaluation of our political leaders. We have to accept the fact that the vast majority of all our political leaders’ are adherents to different sects of the KANU political machinery that has ruled us since independence. Our collective cultural issues have prevented us from producing the kind of political and economic leadership we expect we are all guilty, there is no difference between the thief and the lookout guy.

ODM will adopt a proper gander machinery that avoids moral issues and attack those things that the NARC regime sees as crowning achievements and the bassis for its reelection.

Incumbency Power!
written by Baraza , April 27, 2007

Once an incumbent, always an incumbent!

Once an incumbent, always an incumbent! “Lang’ata MP, Mr Raila Odinga, has spoken of the awesome power of incumbency and the dangers of a splintered Opposition, and sent out a fresh plea for unity in ODM-Kenya”. Not many people, especially in his camp, seem to have paid attention to these words which were carried in one of the Kenyan dailies yesterday but they may just hold the secret weapon that will propel President Kibaki back to power.

The flurry of interest, activity and excitement surrounding the 2007 General elections in Kenya is no accident. Almost every constituency is burning and sparks are gonna fly fire, so be prepared. Everyone who follows politics keenly understands the innumerable advantages that incumbency bestows. The power of incumbency is related in no small way to political parties. Conventionally, the power of incumbency has been embedded in the immeasurable fund-raising opportunities, the open media attention and the name recognition that attaches to the president, his ministers and members of parliament. Incumbency is an important barrier facing women because most incumbents are men.In short, incumbency matters a great deal, and the advantage incumbency affords make it difficult for a possibility of widespread defeat for incumbents.

Name recognition is a major factor in being re-elected over and over again. No wonder nepotism has always been alive and well in Kenyan politics. Certain names are associated with wealth and power thus defeating them in any political contest is always a gigantic task. Betting on the re-election of a sitting elected official is like putting money in the bank. That is simply a fact of life in Kenyan politics. The only question is why that happens and what, if anything, can or should be done about it. In many constituencies this year, incumbency remains a powerful force. The current legislators have had an advantage that many of their predecessors did not have. Their fat pay checks enabled them to criss-cross their constituencies bestowing favors on the voters and participating in development project initiatives on a level that has never been witnessed in the past.

In fairness we would have loved to declare that all of the participants in this epic struggle for power in the Kenya are citizens who believe that their strategies and tactics for claiming and holding political power are in the best interests of the nation. We would love to say that even when the ideological divide between the two main factions in this year’s elections become rancorous and divisive, this power struggle will be a debate than a war. Unfortunately, history shows that political debates in Kenya have produced great enmity from time to time on both sides. Enmity has escalated to nasty political tactics and various low-end shenanigans in some cases.

In order to better understand the political game – as in game theory not idle entertainment – we need to know well who the opposing players are in the 2007 elections. Unfortunately, there is no absolute dividing line between the opposing sides. In fact we find some politicos playing both sides of the debate as it suits their personal ambitions. In the main though there are two opposing sides, which can be defined by the ideas, issues and candidates, they support. For most activists and hacks the two factions vying for power are ODM-Kenya and Narc-Kenya. However, there are many identifying characteristics of personalities in both groups which makes it almost impossible to distinguish one group from the other. Both incumbents and aspiring candidates are running with political baggage. Again this serves to the advantage of the incumbent since there is nothing unique or new that one can point out on the opposition side.

Unseating an incumbent requires money, name recognition and deals with local leaders, and often a helping hand from local government officials. Very few of the aspiring opposition contestants this year have strong legislative records and numerous political alliances like the incumbents thus the path to victory will be tougher for them.

Unlike in 2002 when the battle cry for many local Council, parliamentary and even presidential challengers was for reform and change, for fresh faces and new beginnings, the opposition today faces a sitting president who has managed to play his cards safely thus avoiding unnecessary negative politicking. He has also worked hard to steer the country’s economy a step higher than it was when he took over the leadership of the country. Coupled with the fact that the opposition is made up of people with tainted backgrounds, one can almost certainly believe Raila’s words that unseating President Kibaki is going to be a HUGE challenge to the current shaky opposition which is held together not by ideology but by the thirst to grab power and either safeguard their ill-gotten loot or have the opportunity to loot and amass wealth for themselves.

One prayer that the opposition can bank on is that President Kibaki and his lieutenants may rest on their oars thinking that power of incumbency will do the magic for them at the general elections.

So what solution does Raila and his colleagues have? In the perspective of political marketing, an election campaign consists of three phases: exploration of the political demand, creation of the political offer, promotion of the offer. Despite the different contexts in each constituency and in each election year, are there strategies that could be shared by all aspiring challengers?

Lets clear up the confusion.
written by J Otero , April 27, 2007

Vitalis appears befuddled as to why the activities of different members of Moi's regime are seen in such different light. The problem is the overly simplistic approach that tars everyone with the same brush.

The explanation is quite simple everyone is judged on their individual actions all are not equally guilty. For example it is true that Kibaki was a government minister under Moi and a Vice- President. But that was during the eighties when Moi was still a well intentioned, rather incompetent and hesitant President.

As the Moi presidency increasingly morphed into a dictatorship the Moi-Kibaki relationship became strained. Kibaki was the first of Moi's ministers to resign from the cabinet and form an opposition party. Kibaki was the leader of the official opposition to Moi for over a decade. Therefore it is obvious that Kibaki's association with KANU and Moi is not the same as that of Kalonzo who served Moi up to the end of his presidency. It is also not the same as that of Raila who betrayed the opposition during the darkest days of the Moi dictatorship to prop up Moi's regime through the so called cooperation.

These are the distinctions that Kenyans make and that Vitalis finds so hard to understand.

The same is also true of the other events that Vitalis referred to Police action or even clashes during the Kibaki administration are viewed differently from those of the Moi regime because Kenyans understand the different nature and character of the two regimes.

On the clashes Kenyans know that Moi unleashed ethnic clashes as a political tool. The violence of yesterday begets the violence of today it is a vicious cycle. Kibaki gets blamed for not stamping out the violence quickly enough or not doing enough to end it. However Kenyans still understand these are problems that Moi left for Kibaki.

...
written by aeichener , April 27, 2007

These are the distinctions that Kenyans make and that Vitalis finds so hard to understand.

What Vitalis finds it hard to understand, I would say, is that Kenyans make a distinction where there is no difference.

Alexander

How we lie to defend our Presi
written by RabetMaatari , April 28, 2007

The explanation is quite simple everyone is judged on their individual actions all are not equally guilty. For example it is true that Kibaki was a government minister under Moi and a Vice- President. But that was during the eighties when Moi was still a well intentioned, rather incompetent and hesitant President.

As the Moi presidency increasingly morphed into a dictatorship the Moi-Kibaki relationship became strained. Kibaki was the first of Moi's ministers to resign from the cabinet and form an opposition party.

To state that Kibaki was a VP when Moi was still well intentioned but rather incompetent and hestitant is to try to write history all in the name of protecting our Presidency. Was Moi well intentioned in 1982 when Kenya was declared a dejure one party state with Kibaki seconding the motion to change the constitution? Was Moi well intentioned when in the mid eighties there was a government crackdown on all forms of opposition to his rule with detentions without trial and breakups of student demonstrations? Was Moi well intentioned when there was massive plunder of the economy with scandals such as the All Africa games, Nyayo buses but to name a few. Was Moi well intentioned to oversee the farce that was the 1988 Mlolongo elections? Kibaki was even demoted after those elections to the Health Ministry and served faithfully for the next four years before resigning just in time for the 1992 elections. Fact: Kibaki was not the first Minister to resign his portfolio, that honor belongs to Matiba in Moi’s regime. But that is neither here or there. So go tell your lies to the birds!

...
written by Jotero , April 29, 2007

Whether you accept that Moi's initial intentions were good is really besides the point being made. Nitpicking at the margins of the argument fails to address the issues raised.

The charge by ODM that all former KANU members or members of Moi's government are equally guilty of Moi's excesses is a smoke screen.

ODM is the resurrection of the KANU lineup in 2002 prior to the fall out over the nomination of Uhuru. These are Moi's most loyal lieutenants the guiltiest of the guilty.

We can expect the same disintegration of ODM over the nomination of the Presidential candidate that we saw in KANU circa 2002.