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Post by Sam Ochola on Mar 10, 2012 16:39:55 GMT 3
By Kipkemboi Jacob Rotich My private statement on the situation in the party regarding our upcoming presidential nominations From the outset, I wish to categorically state that it is not a matter of life and death if Raila Odinga or Musalia Mudavadi loses in the upcoming presidential nominations for the ODM ticket. Why? Because ODM is bigger than both of them combined! It therefore leaves me wondering why certain MP’s and officials allied to both sides behave the way they do. Since we ushered our new republic in August 2010, it is no longer necessary for ‘one of us’ to be in statehouse for ‘us’ to live and be deemed to be alive! Having been prime movers in the agitation for constitutional and institutional reforms in Kenya, certain faces in ODM risk eroding the very principles they have stood for since the entry of party pluralism Kenya in the early 1990s. Why anyone would want to kick off a storm and generate bad blood out of a very simple issue is what I don’t understand! Now we are slowly becoming our own worst enemies. Our honorable NEC members cannot simply agree on the simplest of rules to govern presidential nominations. Soon, we shall be hearing that they are fighting over delegates’ lists! It is a sad situation indeed. For once, Musalia Mudavadi and team should give us a break. Complaining about anything and everything is not adding value to him. If anything, he is simply projecting the image of a spineless opportunist who wants to be handed the party ticket on a silver platter! His ‘Mr. Nice’ kind of demeanor does not wash either. He must rise to the occasion and demonstrate what he is capable of doing! He must also distance himself from the cheering squad offered by the ill fated g7 and its supporters unless he wants to invite the wrath of unamused ODM delegates. Who wants to elect someone only for your opponents to cheer the loudest? In soccer terms, it is called scoring an ‘own goal’ and is a very serious offense! Lastly, Musalia Mudavadi must demonstrate that he is a team player and bear equal responsibility for any ‘mistakes’ committed by the party in the past. He cannot try to distance himself now in order to be seen in better light unless he wants us to imagine that he has all along been a mere passenger in our bus! On the other hand, Raila Odinga must rise above the fray and clear the dust in his camp. Speaking through the likes of Nyongo, Kajwang, Orengo or Midiwo only complicates matters as these are the people who belong to the school of thought of ‘one of us’ in statehouse ‘shall give us life!’ Who does not know what Raila Odinga has done for this country ever since we came to know about him? Who does not know that even the harshest critic of the PM acknowledges the irrefutable space the PM has carved for himself in Kenya’s history? Yet it takes only a minute of unguarded speech and sheer carelessness on the part of the PM’s handlers and those pulling from his side to destroy this immense achievement forever! That arrogance on the part of certain honourable members is fast eroding away the PM’s fortunes is no longer a secret. He can no longer afford to hide behind the veil afforded to him by officialdom. He must now step forward and bridge the growing gap between him and his deputy. In short, the PM must read the riot act to the trouble makers on his side and create an environment of trust, compromise and inclusivity. As one of the youth leaders in ODM, I symbolize the future of the party. I and many others like me have finally arrived and yes, we are here! We demand immediate stability, goodwill and compromise. We demand an environment that favours fair play, compromise and trust. As custodian of the future of ODM, I need to be part of a rich tradition devoid of doubt, innuendo and guesswork especially in an election year. Therefore the ensuing confusion must be arrested immediately before it degenerates into catastrophic proportions! Kipkemboi Jacob Rotich ODM Youth Chairman Uasin Gishu County. Saturday 10/03/2012 Nairobi |
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Post by phil on Mar 11, 2012 0:27:47 GMT 3
By Kipkemboi Jacob Rotich My private statement on the situation in the party regarding our upcoming presidential nominations From the outset, I wish to categorically state that it is not a matter of life and death if Raila Odinga or Musalia Mudavadi loses in the upcoming presidential nominations for the ODM ticket. Why? Because ODM is bigger than both of them combined! It therefore leaves me wondering why certain MP’s and officials allied to both sides behave the way they do. Since we ushered our new republic in August 2010, it is no longer necessary for ‘one of us’ to be in statehouse for ‘us’ to live and be deemed to be alive! Having been prime movers in the agitation for constitutional and institutional reforms in Kenya, certain faces in ODM risk eroding the very principles they have stood for since the entry of party pluralism Kenya in the early 1990s. Why anyone would want to kick off a storm and generate bad blood out of a very simple issue is what I don’t understand! Now we are slowly becoming our own worst enemies. Our honorable NEC members cannot simply agree on the simplest of rules to govern presidential nominations. Soon, we shall be hearing that they are fighting over delegates’ lists! It is a sad situation indeed. For once, Musalia Mudavadi and team should give us a break. Complaining about anything and everything is not adding value to him. If anything, he is simply projecting the image of a spineless opportunist who wants to be handed the party ticket on a silver platter! His ‘Mr. Nice’ kind of demeanor does not wash either. He must rise to the occasion and demonstrate what he is capable of doing! He must also distance himself from the cheering squad offered by the ill fated g7 and its supporters unless he wants to invite the wrath of unamused ODM delegates. Who wants to elect someone only for your opponents to cheer the loudest? In soccer terms, it is called scoring an ‘own goal’ and is a very serious offense! Lastly, Musalia Mudavadi must demonstrate that he is a team player and bear equal responsibility for any ‘mistakes’ committed by the party in the past. He cannot try to distance himself now in order to be seen in better light unless he wants us to imagine that he has all along been a mere passenger in our bus! On the other hand, Raila Odinga must rise above the fray and clear the dust in his camp. Speaking through the likes of Nyongo, Kajwang, Orengo or Midiwo only complicates matters as these are the people who belong to the school of thought of ‘one of us’ in statehouse ‘shall give us life!’ Who does not know what Raila Odinga has done for this country ever since we came to know about him? Who does not know that even the harshest critic of the PM acknowledges the irrefutable space the PM has carved for himself in Kenya’s history? Yet it takes only a minute of unguarded speech and sheer carelessness on the part of the PM’s handlers and those pulling from his side to destroy this immense achievement forever! That arrogance on the part of certain honourable members is fast eroding away the PM’s fortunes is no longer a secret. He can no longer afford to hide behind the veil afforded to him by officialdom. He must now step forward and bridge the growing gap between him and his deputy. In short, the PM must read the riot act to the trouble makers on his side and create an environment of trust, compromise and inclusivity. As one of the youth leaders in ODM, I symbolize the future of the party. I and many others like me have finally arrived and yes, we are here! We demand immediate stability, goodwill and compromise. We demand an environment that favours fair play, compromise and trust. As custodian of the future of ODM, I need to be part of a rich tradition devoid of doubt, innuendo and guesswork especially in an election year. Therefore the ensuing confusion must be arrested immediately before it degenerates into catastrophic proportions! Kipkemboi Jacob Rotich ODM Youth Chairman Uasin Gishu County. Saturday 10/03/2012 Nairobi Kipkemboi Jacob Rotich has been called names and threatened many times for standing firm in ODM. I salute this young Kenyan for being steadfast in ODM. I also appeal to him and his colleagues to be patient. Sooner rather than later the truth will come out and all candidates will be seen in their true colours. As an elected ODM delegate and an ODM insider in a hostile zone, and one who made an emotional voluntary pilgrimage to Kango ka Jaramogi in Nyamira, Kipkemoi knows what he is talking about. |
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Post by jakaswanga on Mar 11, 2012 17:19:59 GMT 3
By Kipkemboi Jacob Rotich My private statement on the situation in the party regarding our upcoming presidential nominations.... As one of the youth leaders in ODM, I symbolize the future of the party. I and many others like me have finally arrived and yes, we are here! We demand immediate stability, goodwill and compromise. We demand an environment that favours fair play, compromise and trust. As custodian of the future of ODM, I need to be part of a rich tradition devoid of doubt, innuendo and guesswork especially in an election year. Therefore the ensuing confusion must be arrested immediately before it degenerates into catastrophic proportions! Kipkemboi Jacob Rotich; ODM Youth Chairman; Uasin Gishu County. Saturday 10/03/2012 Nairobi In another thread somebody bashed b6k for being the prophet of doom when he described the situation in ODM as apocalypse now!  and here is an ODM youth leader sensing the party is in a dynamic with a potential for 'catastrophic proportions'! Perhaps burly b6k had not spent the whole morning munching mexican mushrooms --the aztec ones which make you pessimize and elephantize a Kariokor flat into a Ruwenzori range. This is a strong position paper by Rotich. And I have a premonition it is a watershed. It is the shot across the bow of the ageing politicians who cut their teeth in Moi's all encompassing KANU, and are apparently stuck to their old ways of doing things. He wants a new tradition -- check his list above.It is a hint at both the generational and ideological conflict, but more so, a usurpation by the youth of the megaphone to preach common sense. The Omwenga school is wide I see. This youthful statement is in effect a power grab. As the conflict between Mudavadi and Raila immobilizes the party, both sides turning a mere party primary into a destructive trench affair, a vacuum for a rational approach has opened up. And here steps a confident youth leader to articulate the future and what needs to be done now for it. He does not just read Mudavadi only the riot act as the Star headline purpots, he equally gives Raila his orders. Where Otieno Kajwang' said Raila is odm and vice versa, Rotich says the party is bigger that that iether of them apart, and both of them combined. And he pours scathing scorn on what I refered to as the fwamka think-tank. I will also note, that Rotich comes from the Rift valley's Uashin Gishu and would appear to have resisted the pressures to conform to the muthamaki of that region. How great it would be to have his shadow on the other side tell UK that he cannot be president while at the dock in the Hague. This is why I spend time studying ODM! you can see people wrestling with their country, displaying what they think openly, placing markers for the kind of things they stand for. The other parties are mental morgues, where from only the stench of rotten propaganda occasionally polutes the air! More peace hate rallies please! |
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Post by kurosiwo on Mar 11, 2012 18:02:32 GMT 3
Those who ignore the past are condemned to repeat the same mistakes. It feels just like 2007 all over again. This ODM saga was bound to explode. Ideally because the foundation structures of the party are not cemented by/on ideaology. The party has to be defined by what it(the party) stands for not by what it's member(s)/leadership's believe in. This brings me to the harsh reality that ODM now faces? What if ODM were to go Musalia's way of nominations, Is ODM strong enough to withstand the grassroot nominations? What makes Raila so sure that if nominations were held in the NEC that he would win handily?
Is ODM a party of the future or party of the moment? The reality has many sides, but, you can choose the one that's best for you!
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Post by b6k on Mar 11, 2012 23:32:01 GMT 3
In another thread somebody bashed b6k for being the prophet of doom when he described the situation in ODM as apocalypse now! and here is an ODM youth leader sensing the party is in a dynamic with a potential for 'catastrophic proportions'! Perhaps burly b6k had not spent the whole morning munching mexican mushrooms --the aztec ones which make you pessimize and elephantize a Kariokor flat into a Ruwenzori range. Cataclysmic but it will have apocalyptic ramifications for sure  . The Costa Concordia, aka ODM, is listing but the captain is reluctant to make the call for all souls to board the life rafts... |
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Post by b6k on Mar 11, 2012 23:41:22 GMT 3
Those who ignore the past are condemned to repeat the same mistakes. It feels just like 2007 all over again. This ODM saga was bound to explode. Ideally because the foundation structures of the party are not cemented by/on ideaology. The party has to be defined by what it(the party) stands for not by what it's member(s)/leadership's believe in. This brings me to the harsh reality that ODM now faces? What if ODM were to go Musalia's way of nominations, Is ODM strong enough to withstand the grassroot nominations? What makes Raila so sure that if nominations were held in the NEC that he would win handily? Is ODM a party of the future or party of the moment? The reality has many sides, but, you can choose the one that's best for you! Kurosiwo, that's just it. There is no foundational structure for ODM solid or otherwise because it was the greatest of briefcase parties. Let's not forget that Kalonzo was left holding the certificate for the original ODM Kenya when it became clear to Raila & his cronies that he wouldn't hand it over to them. They abandoned ODM Kenya en masse & registered ODM (in those days the registrar of parties wasn't public enemy number one but just another malleable civil servant) & the rest as they say is history. Those who ignore their past... |
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Post by joblesscorner on Mar 12, 2012 6:57:13 GMT 3
It was a well written article, but the headline that Sam Ochola created : Youth Leader puts Mudavadi on notice, it was misleading. The author talked to both Leaders in ODM, not to Musalia mwana wa Mudavadi only...
So give me a break.
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Post by nok on Mar 15, 2012 13:56:03 GMT 3
Kipkemboi, Jacob Rotich ODM Youth Leader, Uasin Gishu County 15/03/2012 at 8.00am Eldoret
Which way dear Kalenjin Nation? For several months now, I have toyed with a very serious question in my mind: where and when did the rain start beating the Kalenjin Nation? In attempting to answer this question, I am particularly interested with the behavior of one man, Wiliam Ruto, hitherto acclaimed as the ‘undisput...ed’ Kalenjin spokesman. By the time we went to the polls in 2007, William Ruto had successfully managed to cut off the links of the Kalenjin rank and file from the former Kalenjin strongman Daniel arap Moi. He achieved this quite simply by positioning himself as the custodian of Kalenjin interests that had been mismanaged for almost 30 years by the Kanu kleptocracy under Moi and the Narc administration. During the run up to the 2005 referendum, William Ruto bore the hopes, dreams and aspirations of the entire Kalenjin nation. He was simply seen as the savior. For 24 years, the Kalenjin community had scored negatively politically, socially and economically. Here was a community famed for producing international land grabbers, thriving on land and ethnic clashes and cattle rustling. On the social and economic front, Kalenjins recorded very poor results. In particular, Kalenjin Scholars were rarely heard of and the community ranked among the most illiterate in the country! With the coming of the Narc regime, most Kalenjin were thrown out of the work force as they could not produce the required academic documents. Years of repression and decline under Moi had forced Kalenjin academic giants to leave the country to seek gainful employment abroad. Needless to say, the agricultural sector which is the economic mainstay in Kalenjinland was in total collapse. In addition, there was nothing to write home about human rights in the Rift Valley. And so when William Ruto emerged and got crowned as a Kalenjin warrior (he was not crowned a Kalenjin elder) in the run up to the 2005 referendum, the Kalenjin community had very high hopes in him. His in-tray was full of the things he needed to do to improve the welfare of his people. By the time he ended up as a member of the pentagon in the Orange Democratic Movement two years later, William Ruto was a near deity in Kalenjinland. Here was an exceptionally eloquent young man, religious, friendly, energetic, accessible, extremely likeable, focused and visionary! He was the exact opposite of collaborators and betrayers like Daniel arap Moi and Kiruto arap Kirwa. Fast forward to 2012 and the Kalenjin nation finds itself in a new dilemma. That William Ruto is facing charges in the highest court on earth for crimes against humanity is unbelievable! That Ruto’s name is now being ranked with the likes of Gaddaffi, Saddam, Taylor, Mobuto and Amin among others is a big joke. It can only happen in the movies! Yet the reality and gravity of the matter cannot be ignored. The Kalenjin nation is now divided right down the middle. On the one hand is a group of diehards and worshippers who will stop at nothing even if it means laying down their lives if but only to secure the freedom of William Ruto while the other side is made up of those who believe that one’s man predicament is no disaster enough to cause a dilemma to the entire nation especially in the circumstances of one William Ruto! Ruto diehards and adherents believe that his predicament is result of fabrications by local and international forces out to frustrate his presidential ambition. They cannot however explain why a combination of such powerful forces can ‘conspire to end the political ambitions of an innocent man!’ The liberals of the Kalenjin nation seem to be alive to historical developments in Kenya especially after the 2007 general elections. As such, attempts by Ruto and allies to brainwash the entire Kalenjin nation through propaganda and half truths has not affected them! Even as the dilemma persists, one thing is clear. The Kalenjin nation must get its priorities right. We must take up our rightful place in the community of nations. We must chose either to go down with William Ruto or simply pick up from here and work towards a better and more promising future. In so doing, we must invest in alternative leadership and take advantage of the new dispensation to fix all our current and historical challenges in a manner that encourages peaceful coexistence among and between us and fellow Kenyans in order to foster national cohesion, integration, peace and development. Any other way is disastrous and unacceptable!
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Post by b6k on Mar 15, 2012 14:28:03 GMT 3
NOK, those are some interesting insights from Jacob. You may have done the article more justice by posting a new thread or adding it to the "Kalenjin Leaders..." one since this meanders away from the first statement put out by the youth leader that had more to do with the bickering ODM bigwigs. It's good to see there's still some hope out there for former RVP.
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and here is an ODM youth leader sensing the party is in a dynamic with a potential for 'catastrophic proportions'! Perhaps burly b6k had not spent the whole morning munching mexican mushrooms --the aztec ones which make you pessimize and elephantize a Kariokor flat into a Ruwenzori range.
. The Costa Concordia, aka ODM, is listing but the captain is reluctant to make the call for all souls to board the life rafts... 
