Post by Onyango Oloo on Dec 6, 2006 11:09:44 GMT 3
Did that askari have to die?
The blood stains on the wheels of the riot police truck that crushed one of its escaping members are smeared all over President Kibaki, John Michuki and the fascist macho men who thought they were teaching Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto and Co. Ltd a lesson on Tuesday, December 5th, 2006.
Instead, this morning the Kibaki regime is once more in the global news headlines-
www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L05607621.htm
english.people.com.cn/200612/06/eng20061206_328790.html
for
clobbering peaceful dissenters and flagrantly violating the country’s laws all in an insane quasiquixoticpseudomacchiaviliean ploy to cling on to power by all means- criminal and otherwise.
By now we are familiar with the naked face of state terror displayed by the present Kenyan ruling clique-a cabal which pompously announced via its CEO on December 30, 2002:
We want to bring back the culture of due process, accountability and transparency in public office. The era of "anything goes" is gone forever. Government will no longer be run on the whims of individuals. The era of roadside policy declarations is gone. My government's decisions will be guided by teamwork and consultations. The authority of Parliament and the independence of the Judiciary will be restored and enhanced as part of the democratic process and culture that we have undertaken to bring to foster.
Fellow Kenyans, I am inheriting a country which has been badly ravaged by years of misrule and ineptitude. There has been a wide disconnect between the people and the government, between people's aspirations and the government's attitude toward them. I believe that government exists to serve the people and not the people to serve the government. I believe that government exists to chart a common path and create an enabling environment for its citizens and residents to fulfill themselves in life.
Government is not supposed to be a burden on the people, it is not supposed to intrude on every aspect of life, and it is not supposed to mount roadblocks in every direction we turn to in life. The true purpose of government is to make laws and policies for the general good of the people, maintain law and order, provide social services that can enhance the quality of life, defend the country against internal and external aggression, and generally ensure that peace and stability prevails.
These will be the aims and objectives of the government under my leadership. My government will promote the creative potential of the Kenyan people. My government will adhere to the principles and practice of the rule of law in a modern society. My government will conserve national environment, develop Kenya's resources, and protect our national heritage.
Corruption will now cease to be a way of life in Kenya, and I call upon all those members of my government and public officers accustomed to corrupt practices to know and clearly understand that there will be no sacred cows under my government.
-President Kibaki, Inaugural Address, Uhuru Park, December 30, 2002
I remember how, in first few months of the year 2003 when Adongo Ogony, I and a handful of other people started criticizing the brand new NARC regime, one of my older comrade-friends called me long distance to Montreal, Quebec with palpable concern. He wondered why some of us were busy attacking what he called the “reform wing” of the government; implying that we were giving succour to the ancien regime forces linked to KANU and some of its retreads in the LDP. I answered him quite simply: we were just holding NARC to the heady and giddy pledges that they had showered us with in the run up to the tumultuous 2002 election. Some of our pals went even further- stating bluntly and baldly that Adongo Ogony and Onyango Oloo were griping against the Kibaki regime because we were, well, Luos and therefore, ipso facto blind followers of our “tribal god” one Raila Amolo “Agwambo” Odinga. This was of course, long before Kibaki brought KANU life members like Njenga Karume, Simeon Nyachae to his so called government of national unity and registered Biwott faction between sips of tea with former President Daniel arap Moi.
Here is a sample from those 2003 jeremiads to jog the memories of those who may have forgotten:
www.mashada.com/forums/index.php?az=show_topic&forum=22&topic_id=18634&mesg_id=18634&listing_type=search
Hopefully, that comrade has by now upgraded his earlier assessment of what in hindsight looks like pretty prescient critique, but in actuality were nothing more than commonsense pronouncements from those of us who were honest and courageous enough to point out that the new local emperor was strutting around sans clothes.
Since I know some representatives of the Kenya Government are glued to this JUKWAA forum, let me pass on this message to His Excellency the President Mwai Kibaki:
“Mheshimiwa, you are playing with fire. Remember that those askaris you send out to clobber your opponents are also Kenyans with very diverse political opinions. Not all of them support your government. What will you do the day they refuse to lob tear gas or aim their guns at the wananchi? Reflect on what happened in Fiji the other day because you could be paving the path to a fascist military putsch one of these days. You may be thinking that your inner cabinet is very clever plotting a snap election. How about if a massive national uprising preempts all your well-laid plans? Remember it was Kenyans who put you in power and they can easily remove you- via the ballot box or through an insurrection. It is not lost on Kenyans that in 1992, you formed DP as a secret weapon for KANU to divide and scamper its FORD opponents. In 2006 Nicholas Biwott and Daniel arap Moi are simply repaying the favour. Yours sincerely, Onyango Oloo, Nairobi.”
To move on.
I have a message for Uhuru Kenyatta as well:
“To my contemporary age-mate Uhuru: You have earned the respect of many Kenyans as an articulate, down to earth democrat not quite beholden to ethnic constituencies. You have the potential of being one of Kenya’s greatest statesmen, surpassing by far your legendary father. Why do you want to cling on to KANU, a party associated with graft, political assassinations, land-grabbing, election rigging, detention without trial, torture and the rest? Leave that party to its true owners- Moi, Biwott and Mwai Kibaki. You, hopefully belong to the future of Kenya, not its past.
You and Ruto should and must carve out your own niches, either within ODM-K or another brand new outfit. Biwott’s machinations are quite ephemeral and obviously doomed for failure”.
Personally, I am quite THRILLED at what is happening to the mainstream political parties. Finally the truth is emerging: these are nothing more than convenient electoral machines, totally devoid of ideology and bereft of sustainable structures. How can a party be worth its name when a thief will simply walk into the Registrar’s office and take it over? Such parties DESERVE to die.
The challenge for Kenyans is to forge serious, class based, ideologically inclined true political parties. Can someone imagine a bunch of Tory outsiders taking over the British Labour Party at the stroke of a pen? Could the same happen in relation to the Republicans and the Democrats of the USA (even though they are virtual clones of each other?)
I feel that ALL the mainstream political parties are making one grievous error:
They are taking the average mwananchi for granted. They will pay very, very heavily for this arrogant oversight in the coming months…
Onyango Oloo
Nairobi, Kenya
The blood stains on the wheels of the riot police truck that crushed one of its escaping members are smeared all over President Kibaki, John Michuki and the fascist macho men who thought they were teaching Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto and Co. Ltd a lesson on Tuesday, December 5th, 2006.
Instead, this morning the Kibaki regime is once more in the global news headlines-
www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L05607621.htm
english.people.com.cn/200612/06/eng20061206_328790.html
for
clobbering peaceful dissenters and flagrantly violating the country’s laws all in an insane quasiquixoticpseudomacchiaviliean ploy to cling on to power by all means- criminal and otherwise.
By now we are familiar with the naked face of state terror displayed by the present Kenyan ruling clique-a cabal which pompously announced via its CEO on December 30, 2002:
We want to bring back the culture of due process, accountability and transparency in public office. The era of "anything goes" is gone forever. Government will no longer be run on the whims of individuals. The era of roadside policy declarations is gone. My government's decisions will be guided by teamwork and consultations. The authority of Parliament and the independence of the Judiciary will be restored and enhanced as part of the democratic process and culture that we have undertaken to bring to foster.
Fellow Kenyans, I am inheriting a country which has been badly ravaged by years of misrule and ineptitude. There has been a wide disconnect between the people and the government, between people's aspirations and the government's attitude toward them. I believe that government exists to serve the people and not the people to serve the government. I believe that government exists to chart a common path and create an enabling environment for its citizens and residents to fulfill themselves in life.
Government is not supposed to be a burden on the people, it is not supposed to intrude on every aspect of life, and it is not supposed to mount roadblocks in every direction we turn to in life. The true purpose of government is to make laws and policies for the general good of the people, maintain law and order, provide social services that can enhance the quality of life, defend the country against internal and external aggression, and generally ensure that peace and stability prevails.
These will be the aims and objectives of the government under my leadership. My government will promote the creative potential of the Kenyan people. My government will adhere to the principles and practice of the rule of law in a modern society. My government will conserve national environment, develop Kenya's resources, and protect our national heritage.
Corruption will now cease to be a way of life in Kenya, and I call upon all those members of my government and public officers accustomed to corrupt practices to know and clearly understand that there will be no sacred cows under my government.
-President Kibaki, Inaugural Address, Uhuru Park, December 30, 2002
I remember how, in first few months of the year 2003 when Adongo Ogony, I and a handful of other people started criticizing the brand new NARC regime, one of my older comrade-friends called me long distance to Montreal, Quebec with palpable concern. He wondered why some of us were busy attacking what he called the “reform wing” of the government; implying that we were giving succour to the ancien regime forces linked to KANU and some of its retreads in the LDP. I answered him quite simply: we were just holding NARC to the heady and giddy pledges that they had showered us with in the run up to the tumultuous 2002 election. Some of our pals went even further- stating bluntly and baldly that Adongo Ogony and Onyango Oloo were griping against the Kibaki regime because we were, well, Luos and therefore, ipso facto blind followers of our “tribal god” one Raila Amolo “Agwambo” Odinga. This was of course, long before Kibaki brought KANU life members like Njenga Karume, Simeon Nyachae to his so called government of national unity and registered Biwott faction between sips of tea with former President Daniel arap Moi.
Here is a sample from those 2003 jeremiads to jog the memories of those who may have forgotten:
www.mashada.com/forums/index.php?az=show_topic&forum=22&topic_id=18634&mesg_id=18634&listing_type=search
Hopefully, that comrade has by now upgraded his earlier assessment of what in hindsight looks like pretty prescient critique, but in actuality were nothing more than commonsense pronouncements from those of us who were honest and courageous enough to point out that the new local emperor was strutting around sans clothes.
Since I know some representatives of the Kenya Government are glued to this JUKWAA forum, let me pass on this message to His Excellency the President Mwai Kibaki:
“Mheshimiwa, you are playing with fire. Remember that those askaris you send out to clobber your opponents are also Kenyans with very diverse political opinions. Not all of them support your government. What will you do the day they refuse to lob tear gas or aim their guns at the wananchi? Reflect on what happened in Fiji the other day because you could be paving the path to a fascist military putsch one of these days. You may be thinking that your inner cabinet is very clever plotting a snap election. How about if a massive national uprising preempts all your well-laid plans? Remember it was Kenyans who put you in power and they can easily remove you- via the ballot box or through an insurrection. It is not lost on Kenyans that in 1992, you formed DP as a secret weapon for KANU to divide and scamper its FORD opponents. In 2006 Nicholas Biwott and Daniel arap Moi are simply repaying the favour. Yours sincerely, Onyango Oloo, Nairobi.”
To move on.
I have a message for Uhuru Kenyatta as well:
“To my contemporary age-mate Uhuru: You have earned the respect of many Kenyans as an articulate, down to earth democrat not quite beholden to ethnic constituencies. You have the potential of being one of Kenya’s greatest statesmen, surpassing by far your legendary father. Why do you want to cling on to KANU, a party associated with graft, political assassinations, land-grabbing, election rigging, detention without trial, torture and the rest? Leave that party to its true owners- Moi, Biwott and Mwai Kibaki. You, hopefully belong to the future of Kenya, not its past.
You and Ruto should and must carve out your own niches, either within ODM-K or another brand new outfit. Biwott’s machinations are quite ephemeral and obviously doomed for failure”.
Personally, I am quite THRILLED at what is happening to the mainstream political parties. Finally the truth is emerging: these are nothing more than convenient electoral machines, totally devoid of ideology and bereft of sustainable structures. How can a party be worth its name when a thief will simply walk into the Registrar’s office and take it over? Such parties DESERVE to die.
The challenge for Kenyans is to forge serious, class based, ideologically inclined true political parties. Can someone imagine a bunch of Tory outsiders taking over the British Labour Party at the stroke of a pen? Could the same happen in relation to the Republicans and the Democrats of the USA (even though they are virtual clones of each other?)
I feel that ALL the mainstream political parties are making one grievous error:
They are taking the average mwananchi for granted. They will pay very, very heavily for this arrogant oversight in the coming months…
Onyango Oloo
Nairobi, Kenya
