On Madaraka Day in 2002, former
President Moi posited that Kenya's problems could not be solved this
century. He predicted that Africa would continue to wallow in poverty,
corruption, tribalism and disease forever.
Prior to this divination of doom, the former president had predicted that Kanu was the only political organisation capable of carrying the torch of the nyayo pseudo-philosophy of peace, love and unity. He
always warned Kenyans that if they elected the opposition to power the
county would degenerate into the sort of chaos and anarchy that would make the Somalia
and Rwanda experiences look like church services.
Last weekend, the former head of state was in
Mt. Elgon purveying the same visions of never-ending strife, only this time selling the doom as the consequence of voting for the ODM. How insensitive, and what mockery of the people of Mt. Elgon who have known nothing but sorrow for the past one year. What, one wonders does he consider chaos if the experience of the Mt. Elgon people is the
‘peace' he would like them to continue enjoying under a Mwai Kibaki presidency?
It has become clear in the past few weeks, that few Kenyans understand at all where the former president draws inspiration for his extremely scorching
attacks on Raila Odinga in particular and ODM in general. It is not revenge missions, or personal differences that animate the former president. What we are seeing is simply evidence of competing school of thoughts, and with it the fact the that the country has not
managed to properly dissect and open a genuine discourse for the
benefit of posterity.
Before we analyse Moi's viewpoint, we can take note from his prophesies the fact that he believes that no living Kenyan in 2002 and even today will see a
prosperous Kenya in his/her lifetime. This then leads us to question whether Moi is genuine in his support of President Kibaki's re-election bid. Is it a self-preservation trick or is he determined that his prophesy may come true?
Unlike Moi who claims supernatural powers of soothsaying, we needn't try too much to read his mind. However, it is rather strange that even as he supports
President Kibaki's re-election, he has remained staunchly critical of what many agree is the most
successful NARC achievement of all; the free primary school programme. The former president has
dismissed it as a big flop, this even as his successor enumerates it as a major achievement.
Though the former Baringo Central MP has tactically toned down his aggression against
ODM flag-bearer Raila Odinga, and in particular Raila's pledge to recover stolen loot, implement
recommendation of the Ndung'u report and deliver a new constitution
dispensation based on the spirit of the Bomas Draft; it is clear that the ODM leadership sends a shivers down the spine of the former president. In a classical manouevre former president Moi has retreated to the Rift Valley, where he is now accusing Raila of staging the 1982 coup with an aim of
deposing a "Kalenjin" government.
He has also started spreading fear and despondency among the community, suggesting that
Raila's aim to implement the Ndung'u report and a new constitution will
be to the the community's lasting detriment. To the analytical voter, Moi's
opposition to these three most pertinent issues is sufficient evidence that his vision for the country is something totally different from what the
country expects of a responsible leadership.
Only a few months after he left State House,
Baringo district (parts of which he represented in parliament) was among areas that received relief food from the
Government as a result of an acute food shortage. It is likely that good government on his part would have forestalled the food shortages and mitigated the effects of the drought on poor districts like Baringo. It is strange then that he should try to drag into his defence the very people who were victims of his poor government, and to use them against the very forces that are fighting for justice for the poor and hungry.
|
| ODM Leaders |
Even as he uses
scare tactics, bringing up the ghost of the 1982 coup attempt and reminding Kenyans of the numbers killed in the violence, one wishes he could remember with equal clarity the events from even less long ago. The Wagara Massacre and the continuous tragedy that was the 1990s ethnic clashes stand out in the memory for their scale and the terror they wrought. Just as significant, though, are the political assassinations of Robert Ouko,
Bishop Alexander Muge, and the terrifying of a whole generation of university students including Titus Adungosi,
Karimi Nduthu and Solomon Muruli. The horror of the torture at the Nyayo House chambers persists in many minds, and its scars in the nightmares of thousands.
In addition, if we must speak of the 1982 coup attempt, it is vital to prevent a repeat occurrence that we also discuss the motivation behind making Kenya a de jure one party
state- which has been claimed as the primary motivation behind the coup attempt.
And then there
are the economic crimes, most recently impinging on our consciousness in the pages of the leaked Kroll report. These chronicle the extensive and outright theft of taxpayer money and the accumulation of massive wealth by the political class of the
previous administrations. One cannot forget the Goldenberg scandal,
the bribery saga surrounding businessman Nassir Ibrahim bribe, Soya Bean project scam, the Turkwel Gorge
project scam and the rapacious raids on the National Social Security Fund and the Kenya National Assurance Company.
 |
Turkwel Gorge
|
With
this traumatic past we need leaders to come up with clear visions on
how the country could reconcile itself with our sordid past. Raila Odinga's
vision is to establish a truth, justice, reconciliation and restitution
commission so that the nation can properly address its past and close that
chapter of impunity for sake of the future generations. Kalonzo Musyoka
and Daniel Arap Moi share a similar ‘vision' built on a platform of forgiving and forgetting. This vision is extremely ambiguous. If the principle is to forgive and
forget why then is Moi intent on using the coup allegations against
opponents? In the same breath why should Kalonzo Musyoka want to call others
corrupt based on what by his rule should be forgiven wrongs?
Take for instance the
collapse of the Kenya Coopeative Creameries which the current regime has helped revive. The former
president Moi was quoted in the media in year 2000 telling a Rift Valley audience, ‘wacha
niwaonyeshe pahali tutatorokea'. This marked the death-knell of the
KCC, almost killing the daily industry in the Rift-Valley. So again we see the former president trying to provoke ethnic prejudices in his defence, when in his period in office it was clear that he drove the country, and especially the Rift Valley backwards through the collapse of the very structures that sustained their prosperity.
Forgetting the lot that could still be beholden to tribal voting, there
are four distinct categories of Kenyan voters. First, there are those rooting
for Kibaki on account of a perception that he has performed very well on economic reconstruction,
rural electrification, the CDF and the provision of free primary education. Second is a congregation that feels that Kibaki has set fairly good
standards but that these could be improved on by another group. Third is a group that feels that the Mwai
Kibaki years have been a failure in delivery on security, bringing an end to corruption, bringing about a new constitution,
poverty alleviation, eradication of tribalism and resource distribution. These people feel that he should be replaced. Finally, there are those who are rooting for Lang'ata MP Raila
Odinga, and who retain a passionate belief that for this country to realize its full potential, it
needs a leader with revolutionary thinking to address its myriads
problems.
It is important as these groups of Kenyans make their judgments, they do not pay attention to the unsolicited lectures of the former president. Those who value the prosperity of Kenya must remember that Moi's wisdom led us to an extended period of great injustice, widespread sleaze and a tragedy of lost opportunities.
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
I'll take this mawaidha very seriously.