Post by miguna on Dec 17, 2005 5:18:42 GMT 3
THERE ARE MANY KENYAS: A RESPONSE TO KOIGI WA WAMWERE
By
Meshack Owino.
masembo@y...
It is often said that simple minds discuss people, but even simple
minds might find Koigi wa Wamwere's obsession with Raila Odinga
excessive and embarrassing. Koigi wa Wamwere sees Raila' shadow in
everything, and everywhere. He spends every waking hour talking about
Raila and every sleeping hour dreaming about Raila. Even when he is
supposed to be fasting and mourning the massive and humiliating
drabbing of his side during the referendum, he cannot help unleashing
broadsides accusing Raila of many things.
As Kenyans gawked at his most recent commentary (December 14, 2005),
surprised at the appearance of a commentary by a man who was supposed
to be fasting and crying and praying somewhere in an inaccessible
maskan, Koigi screamed at them, "Raila should know that he is not
Kenya, and Kenya is bigger than Raila." What was not clear to Kenyans
as they read Koigi wa Wamwere' latest outburst on the dailies of
December 14 2005, was which or what Kenya he was invoking as he
claimed that, "Kenya is bigger than Raila, and Raila is not Kenya."
Kenya is a complex country with a tortured history. Ever since it
achieved its independence in 1963, its history has been punctuated by
many experiences that produce and reproduce many meanings to
different
people at different times. The fact that Kenya has many meanings
became clear right from the time of independence, when Jomo Kenyatta
and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga fought over the meaning, nature, and
future
of Kenya. As these struggles escalated, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
declared that Kenya was Not Yet Uhuru, while Jomo Kenyatta led a
tribal cabal into an oath in 1969. Due to the monopoly of state power
and the control of instruments of violence by his office, Jomo
Kenyatta's version and definition of Kenya begun to enjoy the upper
hand from 1970's onwards even as it stood awkwardly against other
Kenyans' version and definition of Kenya.
Jomo Kenyatta's oath-taking act of 1969 in particular ended up
defining a Kenya where the presidency came to be preserved in the
hands of the "nyoomba" without crossing River Chania. This idea of
Kenya was cruising along nicely and smoothly when it suffered a major
set-back and almost got derailed permanently when Daniel arap Moi
beat
many odds and became president in 1978. But soon enough it was back
on
course when Mwai Kibaki became president in 2003, and was chugging
along when it ran onto a major road-block when Mwai Kibaki's
chauvinistic tribal ruling clique became greedy and arrogantly tried
to ram a self-serving constitution down the throats of Kenyans in the
just-ended referendum debacle. When Kenyans overwhelmingly rejected
the Mwai Kibaki Draft Constitution at the recent referendum, they
were
saying that Mwai Kibaki's definition of Kenya was different from
theirs. They were saying that Mwai Kibaki had his version of Kenya,
and they had their own version of Kenya.
There are thus many different types of Kenyas. There is the Kenya of
Jomo Kenyatta, and the Kenya of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. There is the
Kenya of Daniel arap Moi, and the Kenya of Masinde Muliro; Kenya of
Mbiyu Koinange, and Kenya of Jeremiah Nyagah; Kenya of Pio Gama Pinto
and Kenya of Kamlesh Pattni; Kenya where Aaron Ringera is confirmed
to
his position as Chair of Anti-Graft Commission, and his deputy Julius
Rotich is shown the door without property explanation; Kenya where
Margaret Gachara steals money from Aids patients and is rewarded with
a slap on the hands, and a Kenya where Justice Samuel Oguk is hounded
out of office on hearsay allegations. There are many Kenyas. There is
the Kenya of the Bomas Draft Constitution and the Kenya of Mwai
Kibaki
Mongrel Draft Constitution.
Koigi wa Wamwere's Kenya, his vision and view of Kenya and Kenyans,
is
not necessarily synonymous with other Kenyans' views and visions of
Kenya. There is today a Kenya of the chauvinistic tribal clique
mingling around Mwai Kibaki's State House, a Kenya whose rotten
interstices and innards were exposed to the whole world during the
referendum, a Kenya where one section arrogantly believes that it and
Kenya are synonymous, and a Kenya where the rest are supposed to be
hogwash and can go to hell.
There is the Kenya of in-your face tribalism, a Kenya where tribalism
is practiced crudely and blatantly, and is variously explained away
as
being due to the fact that "we fought for independence," as if others
did not; rationalized in terms of "we appoint only competent people,"
as if competence can only be found within certain geographical
parameters; justified as "but they too are Kenyans," as if others are
Ugandans; and excused in terms such as "what can we do, we never
chose
to belong to our `tribe'," as if others chose to belong to theirs! A
Kenya where every excuse in the book is used to justify cronysm,
nepotism, and tribalism. Ever since Mwai Kibaki came to power, we
have
come to see a Kenya where the Ministry of Education is infested from
the ministerial level all the way down to the directors by those who
come from the same area, and a Kenya where every important sectors of
government - the presidency, defence, internal security, police
force,
GSU, constitutional affairs, the judiciary, finance, energy,
education
are all in the hands of those who believe that God bestowed them with
right to "rule and loot," to use John Githongo's words. It is a Kenya
where power and resources are hogged and hoarded without shame. Take
it or leave it! If you don't take it, it is because you are a Raila
fanatic!
There is the Kenya of 5% economic growth at the Nairobi Stock
Exchange
for Mwai Kibaki's golfing buddies, and a Kenya where the alleged
economic growth is yet to translate into food on tables in Busia and
Namanga, Kitui and Ndhiwa. There is the Kenya of hard-work and
wealth,
and the other Kenya of perpetual insecurity in North-Eastern
Province,
perpetual hunger and starvation in Ukambani, perpetual landlessness
in
Coast Province, and perpetual diseases in Nyanza Province. There is
the Kenya of S. K. Macharia' Citizen Radio, where you are either a
real human being or are a wild animal, the "nyama cia ruguru: animals
from the west." There is the Kenya of God's chosen people, and the
Kenya of Robinson Githae's "red ants," the "red ants" being
synonymous
with S. K. Macharia' "nyama cia ruguru."
There is the Kenya of Martha Karua, where some people are
congratulated for their alleged entrepreneurship and loyalty to the
government, and others are vilified for alleged laziness and
anti-government militancy. There is the Kenya where thieves, thugs,
tribalists, and sycophants are rewarded with money, jobs, medals, and
districts. A Kenya where a minister who has been linked to economic
crimes and has become an expert at masquerading as a Maasai in spite
of not being able to speak that language, is in charge of molding the
character and values of Kenya's children at the Ministry of
Education.
How ridiculous can it get! Perhaps the objective of our government is
to use the Ministry of Education to transform Kenyan children into
thieves and conmen rather than upright and outstanding citizens.
We have a Kenya where even the closest allies of the president would
never trust his word and a Kenya where the president's wife haunts
downtown Nairobi in the middle of the night in her pajamas assaulting
journalists while laughing deliriously. A Kenya where the president
signs a MOU with allies and renegades on it at the first opportunity,
and expects his betrayed allies to just pat him on the back and let
matters lie there. When the betrayed allies cry foul and demand
restitution, the president and his supporters turn around and accuse
them of "driving the president up the wall!"
A Kenya where citizens demand the unity of opposition leaders in the
run-up to elections, celebrate it when they receive news that the
opposition has decided to unite with Mwai Kibaki running as
president,
Wamalwa Kijana as his running mate, and Charity Ngilu [and later
Raila
Odinga] as PM-designate, and then turn around after the election to
deny knowledge of the MOU that laid the ground-work for the
realization of that unity.
There is the Kenya of the 1969 oath, the Kenya of the fake General
Mathenge of 2003, and the Kenya of Njenga Karume holding
consultations
with Mungiki in 2005, all well-calculated moves aimed at cultivating
tribal solidarity for the sole purpose of entrenching power in the
hands of those that perceive themselves as rightful owners and rulers
of Kenya. It is a Kenya where a semi-literate businessman is the
Minister of Defence, and Koigi wa Wamwere only sees power hungry
Raila
clamoring "for power through the backdoor."
There is the Kenya that, in the words of Prof. William Ochieng',
operates like a Banquet Hall, where those who perceive themselves as
true heirs to the British colonial state, feast and belch and vomit
loudly inside the Banquet Hall, while the rest who are confined
outside of the hall, consigned to misery with nothing but only their
claims of identity to the Kenyan state. There is the Kenya where some
people gorge themselves senselessly at tables sagging under the
weight
of assorted types of food and drinks, and the other Kenya where
others
are reduced to making do with hearing the sound of cutlery, smelling
the mouth-watering aroma of boiled, roasted, grilled, and fried food
wafting in the air, and watching the likes of Koigi wa Wamwere
swaggering and giggling like newly married because Koigi's "Kenya is
bigger than Raila." Admission strictly reserved for members of the
ruling "tribe" of Kenya and their bootlickers, reads a notice on the
door of the Banquet Hall.
Kenya thus has many different meanings to different people. There is
the Kenya that some people find peasant and irresistible, and others
find horrible and disgusting. These different meanings and layers of
Kenya should not be very difficult for Koigi wa Wamwere to
comprehend.
He is supposed to be an intelligent man. He should not think that he
speaks for every Kenyan when he deigns to lecture people about Kenya,
and such things as "power hungry people," "one center of power," and
"trying to grab power through the back door." As he alternates
between
fasting, giggling and raving inside the Banquet Hall, he should
appreciate the fact that others may not necessarily share in his
vision and definition of Kenya. His Kenya inside the Banquet Hall may
be bigger than Raila, but it is also a Kenya that majority of Kenyans
have rejected, as they overwhelmingly demonstrated on the Referendum
Day, and will once again reject come the election day.
By
Meshack Owino.
masembo@y...
It is often said that simple minds discuss people, but even simple
minds might find Koigi wa Wamwere's obsession with Raila Odinga
excessive and embarrassing. Koigi wa Wamwere sees Raila' shadow in
everything, and everywhere. He spends every waking hour talking about
Raila and every sleeping hour dreaming about Raila. Even when he is
supposed to be fasting and mourning the massive and humiliating
drabbing of his side during the referendum, he cannot help unleashing
broadsides accusing Raila of many things.
As Kenyans gawked at his most recent commentary (December 14, 2005),
surprised at the appearance of a commentary by a man who was supposed
to be fasting and crying and praying somewhere in an inaccessible
maskan, Koigi screamed at them, "Raila should know that he is not
Kenya, and Kenya is bigger than Raila." What was not clear to Kenyans
as they read Koigi wa Wamwere' latest outburst on the dailies of
December 14 2005, was which or what Kenya he was invoking as he
claimed that, "Kenya is bigger than Raila, and Raila is not Kenya."
Kenya is a complex country with a tortured history. Ever since it
achieved its independence in 1963, its history has been punctuated by
many experiences that produce and reproduce many meanings to
different
people at different times. The fact that Kenya has many meanings
became clear right from the time of independence, when Jomo Kenyatta
and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga fought over the meaning, nature, and
future
of Kenya. As these struggles escalated, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
declared that Kenya was Not Yet Uhuru, while Jomo Kenyatta led a
tribal cabal into an oath in 1969. Due to the monopoly of state power
and the control of instruments of violence by his office, Jomo
Kenyatta's version and definition of Kenya begun to enjoy the upper
hand from 1970's onwards even as it stood awkwardly against other
Kenyans' version and definition of Kenya.
Jomo Kenyatta's oath-taking act of 1969 in particular ended up
defining a Kenya where the presidency came to be preserved in the
hands of the "nyoomba" without crossing River Chania. This idea of
Kenya was cruising along nicely and smoothly when it suffered a major
set-back and almost got derailed permanently when Daniel arap Moi
beat
many odds and became president in 1978. But soon enough it was back
on
course when Mwai Kibaki became president in 2003, and was chugging
along when it ran onto a major road-block when Mwai Kibaki's
chauvinistic tribal ruling clique became greedy and arrogantly tried
to ram a self-serving constitution down the throats of Kenyans in the
just-ended referendum debacle. When Kenyans overwhelmingly rejected
the Mwai Kibaki Draft Constitution at the recent referendum, they
were
saying that Mwai Kibaki's definition of Kenya was different from
theirs. They were saying that Mwai Kibaki had his version of Kenya,
and they had their own version of Kenya.
There are thus many different types of Kenyas. There is the Kenya of
Jomo Kenyatta, and the Kenya of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. There is the
Kenya of Daniel arap Moi, and the Kenya of Masinde Muliro; Kenya of
Mbiyu Koinange, and Kenya of Jeremiah Nyagah; Kenya of Pio Gama Pinto
and Kenya of Kamlesh Pattni; Kenya where Aaron Ringera is confirmed
to
his position as Chair of Anti-Graft Commission, and his deputy Julius
Rotich is shown the door without property explanation; Kenya where
Margaret Gachara steals money from Aids patients and is rewarded with
a slap on the hands, and a Kenya where Justice Samuel Oguk is hounded
out of office on hearsay allegations. There are many Kenyas. There is
the Kenya of the Bomas Draft Constitution and the Kenya of Mwai
Kibaki
Mongrel Draft Constitution.
Koigi wa Wamwere's Kenya, his vision and view of Kenya and Kenyans,
is
not necessarily synonymous with other Kenyans' views and visions of
Kenya. There is today a Kenya of the chauvinistic tribal clique
mingling around Mwai Kibaki's State House, a Kenya whose rotten
interstices and innards were exposed to the whole world during the
referendum, a Kenya where one section arrogantly believes that it and
Kenya are synonymous, and a Kenya where the rest are supposed to be
hogwash and can go to hell.
There is the Kenya of in-your face tribalism, a Kenya where tribalism
is practiced crudely and blatantly, and is variously explained away
as
being due to the fact that "we fought for independence," as if others
did not; rationalized in terms of "we appoint only competent people,"
as if competence can only be found within certain geographical
parameters; justified as "but they too are Kenyans," as if others are
Ugandans; and excused in terms such as "what can we do, we never
chose
to belong to our `tribe'," as if others chose to belong to theirs! A
Kenya where every excuse in the book is used to justify cronysm,
nepotism, and tribalism. Ever since Mwai Kibaki came to power, we
have
come to see a Kenya where the Ministry of Education is infested from
the ministerial level all the way down to the directors by those who
come from the same area, and a Kenya where every important sectors of
government - the presidency, defence, internal security, police
force,
GSU, constitutional affairs, the judiciary, finance, energy,
education
are all in the hands of those who believe that God bestowed them with
right to "rule and loot," to use John Githongo's words. It is a Kenya
where power and resources are hogged and hoarded without shame. Take
it or leave it! If you don't take it, it is because you are a Raila
fanatic!
There is the Kenya of 5% economic growth at the Nairobi Stock
Exchange
for Mwai Kibaki's golfing buddies, and a Kenya where the alleged
economic growth is yet to translate into food on tables in Busia and
Namanga, Kitui and Ndhiwa. There is the Kenya of hard-work and
wealth,
and the other Kenya of perpetual insecurity in North-Eastern
Province,
perpetual hunger and starvation in Ukambani, perpetual landlessness
in
Coast Province, and perpetual diseases in Nyanza Province. There is
the Kenya of S. K. Macharia' Citizen Radio, where you are either a
real human being or are a wild animal, the "nyama cia ruguru: animals
from the west." There is the Kenya of God's chosen people, and the
Kenya of Robinson Githae's "red ants," the "red ants" being
synonymous
with S. K. Macharia' "nyama cia ruguru."
There is the Kenya of Martha Karua, where some people are
congratulated for their alleged entrepreneurship and loyalty to the
government, and others are vilified for alleged laziness and
anti-government militancy. There is the Kenya where thieves, thugs,
tribalists, and sycophants are rewarded with money, jobs, medals, and
districts. A Kenya where a minister who has been linked to economic
crimes and has become an expert at masquerading as a Maasai in spite
of not being able to speak that language, is in charge of molding the
character and values of Kenya's children at the Ministry of
Education.
How ridiculous can it get! Perhaps the objective of our government is
to use the Ministry of Education to transform Kenyan children into
thieves and conmen rather than upright and outstanding citizens.
We have a Kenya where even the closest allies of the president would
never trust his word and a Kenya where the president's wife haunts
downtown Nairobi in the middle of the night in her pajamas assaulting
journalists while laughing deliriously. A Kenya where the president
signs a MOU with allies and renegades on it at the first opportunity,
and expects his betrayed allies to just pat him on the back and let
matters lie there. When the betrayed allies cry foul and demand
restitution, the president and his supporters turn around and accuse
them of "driving the president up the wall!"
A Kenya where citizens demand the unity of opposition leaders in the
run-up to elections, celebrate it when they receive news that the
opposition has decided to unite with Mwai Kibaki running as
president,
Wamalwa Kijana as his running mate, and Charity Ngilu [and later
Raila
Odinga] as PM-designate, and then turn around after the election to
deny knowledge of the MOU that laid the ground-work for the
realization of that unity.
There is the Kenya of the 1969 oath, the Kenya of the fake General
Mathenge of 2003, and the Kenya of Njenga Karume holding
consultations
with Mungiki in 2005, all well-calculated moves aimed at cultivating
tribal solidarity for the sole purpose of entrenching power in the
hands of those that perceive themselves as rightful owners and rulers
of Kenya. It is a Kenya where a semi-literate businessman is the
Minister of Defence, and Koigi wa Wamwere only sees power hungry
Raila
clamoring "for power through the backdoor."
There is the Kenya that, in the words of Prof. William Ochieng',
operates like a Banquet Hall, where those who perceive themselves as
true heirs to the British colonial state, feast and belch and vomit
loudly inside the Banquet Hall, while the rest who are confined
outside of the hall, consigned to misery with nothing but only their
claims of identity to the Kenyan state. There is the Kenya where some
people gorge themselves senselessly at tables sagging under the
weight
of assorted types of food and drinks, and the other Kenya where
others
are reduced to making do with hearing the sound of cutlery, smelling
the mouth-watering aroma of boiled, roasted, grilled, and fried food
wafting in the air, and watching the likes of Koigi wa Wamwere
swaggering and giggling like newly married because Koigi's "Kenya is
bigger than Raila." Admission strictly reserved for members of the
ruling "tribe" of Kenya and their bootlickers, reads a notice on the
door of the Banquet Hall.
Kenya thus has many different meanings to different people. There is
the Kenya that some people find peasant and irresistible, and others
find horrible and disgusting. These different meanings and layers of
Kenya should not be very difficult for Koigi wa Wamwere to
comprehend.
He is supposed to be an intelligent man. He should not think that he
speaks for every Kenyan when he deigns to lecture people about Kenya,
and such things as "power hungry people," "one center of power," and
"trying to grab power through the back door." As he alternates
between
fasting, giggling and raving inside the Banquet Hall, he should
appreciate the fact that others may not necessarily share in his
vision and definition of Kenya. His Kenya inside the Banquet Hall may
be bigger than Raila, but it is also a Kenya that majority of Kenyans
have rejected, as they overwhelmingly demonstrated on the Referendum
Day, and will once again reject come the election day.
