Post by adongo12345 on Feb 13, 2006 19:43:03 GMT 3
By Adongo Ogony
1. Let’s cut through the chase. Mheshimiwa Kibaki, are you still the President of the Republic of Kenya? If so, could you please address your people and tell the nation what the heck is going on in your war against corruption. We are listening to taped evidence of your ministers issuing subtle Mafia type threats to those we pay to fight corruption. We are listening to very incriminating evidence about your own culpability and lack of action on the same. Don’t you think that we, your “loyal subjects” and humble citizens of Kenya are entitled to at least an explanation from you on what really is going on with our government, if indeed it is still our government?
2. Mr. President, the big story in Kenya today and probably for many more months to come as you already know is the John Githongo dossier and the follow ups, some of which like the P.A.C interviews are unfolding as we speak. The heart of the Githongo material is that these were communications directly to you in your capacity as the Kenyan Head of State and Government. The dossier also chronicles a series of other briefings directly made to you by Mr. John Githongo as your PS for Ethics and Governance. This is my question: Is Mr. Githongo being truthful about his briefings to you? Can you vouch for the man at least in terms of what he says he told you? Kenyans need to know this Mr. President. Do you generally agree with what Githongo says or are you leaning closer to what the Mr. Murungaru and Murungi have said so far. Dr. Murungaru has alleged that Mr. Githongo is a pathological lair and a spy. Those are very serious allegations. I have heard that Dr. Murungaru is a pharmacist or a vertinary doctor, I don’t know which is which, but I didn’t know he is also a psychiatrist. Must have spent a lot of time in college. Anyhow, Kenyans want to know this: Do you as our president think you employed a spy and an enemy to our nation or do you think you employed an honest and upright Kenyan in Mr. Githongo? Who is Mr. Githongo to you Mr. President? This is important to the nation Mr. President because we think we know pretty well who is credible between John Githongo, Kiraitu Murungi and Chris Murungaru and now we MUST ask how about you Mr. President? Are you with the suspects or with Mr. Githongo, or is that a redundant question?
3. Why are you, Mr. President, keeping in your cabinet and employed staff, people who have been prominently mentioned as participants and/or protectors in the gravy train of official corruption that has cost Kenyans billions of their tax money? Are you being blackmailed by these folks in any way, shape or form? Why on earth are Kiraitu Murungi and Moody Awori still in the cabinet? How about Muthaura? When are you showing him the door? Why is George Saitoti in your cabinet after a commission of inquiry you established has specifically ordered that he should be arrested and charged with a criminal offence in relation to his role in the Goldenberg scam which caused our Treasury something in the tune of hundreds of billions of Kenya shillings? Yes we know about due process, but that process starts with clean and thorough investigation, which cannot be done when the suspects are still pulling big time strings in the government. Mr. President, have you asked these guys to resign and have they refused as is being alleged in some quarters? Do you need our help to kick them out? Let us know immediately. My advice to you Mr. President is that we can help you get rid of these guys in no time, but if you insist on protecting them, I am afraid the wananchi might decide to get rid of you altogether. Think about that, we will talk about it later.
www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=36390
The two amigos are out. Who is next?
4. This is a big one. Take your time. Mr. President, are you in any way personally or through your family connected to these crazy deals and scams swirling around State House and the Office of the President? We have been told Mr. Pereira, one of the key suspects in the dealings actually paid your medical bills after that nasty accident in 2002. Is that true? Do you know this man personally? Besides the alleged payment of the medical bills what other “favours” if any has Mr. Pereira offered to you and your family? What dealings if any do you or any members of your family have with the Pereiras?
5. A Mr. Jimmy Wanjigi has been mentioned adversely in the Githongo dossier/tapes. Do you as the President of Kenya or any member of your family have any dealings with the so named “Jimmy Wanjigi”? If so in what capacity?
6. Did you personally approve the “Navy Ship Deal” as alleged by Dr. Chris Murungaru, your then Minister of State? If so, on what basis? Do you know if any problem has been identified in the “Navy Ship Deal”? Did you actually lend your presidential jet to Hon. Murungaru to go to Seychelles to complete the Navy deal? Just curious.
7. What exactly was Alfie’s role, if any, on the Anglo scam?
I am talking about Alfred Getonga. Considering that he was your Personal Assistant until a couple of weeks ago, did he ever talk to you about the Anglo project? After Mr. Githongo briefed you sometimes in June 2004 and even later when he sent you written reports mentioning among others, Mr. Getonga as one of the suspected players in the Anglo scam, did you ask Mr. Getonga about those very serious allegations, considering he was your personal employee? Why did you decide to keep him as your PA only to fire him later when the communications between you and Mr. Githongo about him (Getonga) became public?
8. Mr. President would you agree that some of your actions and/or lack of the same in regard to the Anglo scam, knowing what we now know you have known all along, could lead any reasonable person to question your own credibility and personal commitment in fighting against corruption, something millions of Kenyans elected you to do? How do you propose that you will earn back our trust so that we can continue employing you? In other words can you give us any reason(s) why we should not fire you as our president?
9. What happened to our constitution? We were told you were about to appoint a committee to jump start the process (something that doesn’t make sense to me) but so far nothing doing? Have you given up on the constitution? Should we just put a big X for you on that one, the same way we are putting a huge X for you in the fight against corruption in Kenya?
10. Mr. President, have you, at your own quiet time thought about calling it a day? Simply resigning in dignity (whatever is left of it) and telling Kenyans you gave it your best shot and now it is time for someone else to move the country forward. If you haven’t entertained such thoughts I would advise you to take a day off (from the daily inflow of crisis and chaos in your government) and think about it. You might be surprised what options retirement brings. Actually that is what I thought you might have called the former president Daniel Arap Moi to talk about after that crushing referendum defeat. Obviously I was off the mark. You guys must have been talking about something else. I urge you to take this latest offer from me and I am sure from million of Kenyans very seriously. We are a nation of very generous people. You will be surprised how nicely we will treat you if you can stop choking the nation to death with your inaction and breathtaking lethargy in doing what we elected you to do. Look how we love Moi now and yet we almost stoned him on the day of your inauguration. Remember that day. All those hopes. That sea of cheering people. Well today is another day, isn’t it?
Now that I am done with His Excellency, may be I should say a word or two about Ndugu Kiraitu Murungi and his thirty six questions.
You see there is a song by the sensational Hip Hop artist 50 Cents called “Twenty One Questions”. My son listens to that stuff and since we have to live under one roof, at least for now, I have to share in his music taste. Often we are on the same page, but not on this one
The lyrics of “Twenty One Questions” of 50 go something like “would you still love me if I am poor and broke yadah yadah”. You know the hip-hop equivalent of “Will you walk through the river and fire for me” kind of stuff. It is not exactly my cup of tea right now, but my son seems to get his head wrapped around the vibes pretty well.
In fact much more than he got it going with his math homework on geometry, prisms, hexagons, pentagons na kadhalika. Actually I don’t blame the boy, the geometry of prisms and shapes is something else. Anyhow, if you thought 50’s twenty-one questions are ridiculous wait till you hear Murungi’s thirty-six questions. A part from trying to hang on Raila’s neck and begging the world to drown them together, Murungi is basically making confessions with his rapid-fire questions.
I wouldn’t get into the personal attacks on Githongo inheriting a job from his father and being roped along by Joe Wanjui, one of the architects of the sad failure known as the Kibaki government. What struck me as very strange was the fact that Murungi confirms that he knows a lot about Senior Githongo’s personal life and financial affairs, which somehow he thinks is very important to Mr. John Githongo and to the Kenyan public.
Why on earth should Mr. Murungi be asking Githongo about a private loan from Mr. Pereira (we know him already) to his father? I mean this could be important information, but how is it relevant to Murungi’s defense?
More importantly, how did Murungi get to know about this loan? What is his interest in the matter? How does Murungi know that Mr. Pereira and his loan later ruined the health of Githongo’s father? What is the value of this information to Murungi and to the Kenyan public? Is Mr. Murungi the lawyer for Mr. Pereira on this matter?
I am sorry, but it sounds to me like Murungi is still blackmailing Githongo by threatening to publicly unleash all these personal stuff he has on him. What does Murungi want Githongo to do? Does he really want him (Githongo) to answer his questions or is he using the personal dossier to get him to shut up? I don’t see how any of those questions helps Kiraitu’s case. Kiraitu is a smart lawyer but this cross-examination of Githongo by fax is not helping him much. Doesn’t this guy have friends and advisors to assist him in such hour of need? Wacha fitina, Ndugu Murungi, you are embarrassing yourself.
And then the spy business. When did Murungi know or start suspecting that Mr. Githongo is a British spy? I find Mr. Murungi’s question as to whether Mr. Githongo has been a Kenyan Police Reserve to be mischievous. It is public knowledge that Mr. Githongo has been a Police Reserve. He (Githongo) has written and spoken about his experience in the Police Reserve in the Kenyan media. That info is in the public domain. Why is Murungi trying to imply that it is some kind of secret information that could tell us something about John Githongo?
So what exactly is Mr. Murungi’s point? That Mr. Githongo has been a spy all along? Is Murungi suggesting that in Kenya, only spies serving the interests of foreign countries are interested in fighting corruption? If you ask me, I think Mr. Githongo used some good old school police tactics in recording discussions like that with Mr. Murungi where he was being blackmailed. If he didn’t record them, kina Murungi would today be denying any knowledge at all of such conversations. Now they have to fight with the tape and claim it is not audible. Guess what, we can help Mr. Murungi with some hearing devices to enhance the audio quality of the tapes.
The simple questions Murungi should answer are these: Did he or did he not tell Githongo to go slow on the investigations? Forget the tape for a second. Did he or did he not bring up the issue of the loan from Mr. Pereira to Joe Githongo? Did he suggest that this loan could be taken care of if Githongo was willing to cooperate?
Murungi can fire six hundred questions to Githongo but until he answers these simple questions satisfactorily, he has no credibility with Kenyans. Not that he had any to spare to begin with.
Now what do we do? I think Uhuru’s move with the P.A.C interview of Mr. Githongo in London was a masterstroke.
For once, Mr. Githongo’s very explosive info on the Anglo scam and other corrupt activities, are property of the Kenyan people. Not even the president can sit on this one. This will be a parliamentary report and MP’s are going to be scared shitless to mess it up. They know how mad Kenyans are about this endless Anglo nonsense. Even Martha Karua wouldn’t be able to purge names from this one.
The tapes of the interview with Githongo and verbatim reports now belong to us, the people of Kenya. Parliament can take a year to write their report but I am sure millions of Kenyans want the verbatim report of the P.A,C interview with John Githongo. It is no longer a matter of relying on BBC interviews and private media material. It is not a matter of Githongo talking to foreigners about issues at the heart of the Kenyan government.
With the P.A.C interviews, we have John Githongo on record officially talking to Kenyans through our representatives in parliament and telling us what he knows about the grand corruption that continues to suck the life out of our country. His work and experience provided him with an opportunity to probably get at the very nerve centre of the scourge of corruption in high places. Sadly we are also talking about the same being also the nerve centre of our government. Githongo’s meticulously kept records and now his recorded response to questions from members of the Kenyan National Assembly is going to give us an opportunity to make our own conclusions. Isn’t that great? The time for kuhara for the suspects is now.
They are going to do everything to block the info from reaching the public. Lawsuits and threats are going to fly all over, but in this day and age the blockade wouldn’t work. Big time Damage Control that is what these guys must be working on overtime? Everything is backfiring so far when you consider that the biggest catch on the Goldenberg report was Saioti a NAK damu being touted as Kibaki’s replacement. Bosire and co told Kenyans that Saitoti should be in jail and Kibaki doesn’t know what to do next.
Worse still, instead of Kiraitu, Muthaura and Awori resigning to get Githongo out of the front pages, they are stupidly fighting him and getting the story even more explosive in the process.
Norman Nyagah is going to be a very busy man in Nairobi. I hope he recorded his own tapes of the Githongo interview. Trust me, there are going to be some long night meetings of very important people listening to what Githongo had to say and some wishing thunder and lightning could strike him out of the face of the earth. Good thing these folks don’t control thunder and lightning.
We should also remember that this is not the war Kibaki and his crew were getting ready for. This thing took them by surprise. The battle they were paying consultants to help them win was their attempt to bury the pesky Wanjiku once and for all. That is what they had in the radar and then Githongo dropped the bomb and even the consultants don’t know what to do next. Good luck.
By the way I am dying to listen to those other tapes Githongo has. I hope the PAC will obtain copies of all these material and establish an organized way to disseminate the information and provide opportunities for the other side to tell us what they know. Of course it is only fair that those adversely named have an opportunity to present their case and I am sure the P.A.C will accord them that chance.
But whichever way you look at it, this thing has all the trappings of a thriller movie. Of course we are talking about is real life. The movie version is still intriguing. We have high stake rollers just about cornered. We have the action hero, John Githongo doing his piece with poise and dignity. We have a media frenzy and the people are riveted in it. We have tapes. You know the power of the voice in unexpected and even a conspiratorial environment. And the plot of the story is truly majestic. Here we have angry and tired citizens finally getting to face their tormentor. Not sure what they want to do, but figuring, something has to be done anyways. It is like catching up with the village rogue who had been robbing old ladies off their chicken and terrorizing villagers and finally realizing he is not that tough after all.
The P.A.C should move with speed and prepare a report to be tabled in parliament as soon as it opens. Talk about disaster after disaster for Kibaki. The president has been resisting calls to re-open parliament first because of the referendum fall out and the ridiculous banana cabinet of losers he cobbled together slapping Kenyans right in the face after they voted against his constitutional project. Now they have to open parliament, wapende wasipende, and check what is agenda number one. John Githongo. At the rate things are going we do not know how many of those Kibakites who were so happy to retain their cabinet posts shall have joined Raila and the other LDP ex-ministers in the back benches by the time Bunge re-opens. Talk about poetic justice.
Now when Uhuru and his committee table the report, there can be only one sensible conclusion. That would be to ask Kibaki and his team to resign and face investigations. There is really nothing else the president can do at this time. Kibaki could do the nation a favour by dissolving parliament and paving the way for General Elections so that Kenyans can elect a new government to get us out of this annoying madness of a government of crooks by crooks.
My guess is Kibaki will keep hanging on to whatever political life support he can get and prolong this torture the nation is going through until we snap him out of there. The point I am trying to make here is that if we had impeachment laws in Kenya, President Kibaki would be facing impeachment hearing right now. If we believe Githongo and I do, then Kibaki has no business being our president. It is that simple.
Alternatively parliament could, on the basis of the P.A.C report coupled with the grand failure to deliver a new constitution simply pass a vote of no confidence on the government and send the nation to the polls. That won’t happen for the simple reason that many of those MP’s know they are not coming back and one and a half year of their income as MP’s is something most Kenyans can’t make in a lifetime of work. The MP’s are going to get the last penny before they take a risk with the restless voters.
This brings us to the big announcement last week by over 70 civil society groups who promised to take the battle to the powers that be through mass action. That is where this thing is going. Kenyans are pretty savvy and creative once they hit the trenches. Moi chased them everywhere, but they were always coming with something else. Our MPs are good in the battle of press conferences but the wananchi are going to move it up a notch. It is going to be bare knuckles. Yes Mzee, you re a collision course with your people and it is not just about corruption. This circus cannot go on forever. Kenyans need to put the Kibaki government out of its misery, which is threatening to destroy our country. Enough is enough.
The writer is a human rights activist.
1. Let’s cut through the chase. Mheshimiwa Kibaki, are you still the President of the Republic of Kenya? If so, could you please address your people and tell the nation what the heck is going on in your war against corruption. We are listening to taped evidence of your ministers issuing subtle Mafia type threats to those we pay to fight corruption. We are listening to very incriminating evidence about your own culpability and lack of action on the same. Don’t you think that we, your “loyal subjects” and humble citizens of Kenya are entitled to at least an explanation from you on what really is going on with our government, if indeed it is still our government?
2. Mr. President, the big story in Kenya today and probably for many more months to come as you already know is the John Githongo dossier and the follow ups, some of which like the P.A.C interviews are unfolding as we speak. The heart of the Githongo material is that these were communications directly to you in your capacity as the Kenyan Head of State and Government. The dossier also chronicles a series of other briefings directly made to you by Mr. John Githongo as your PS for Ethics and Governance. This is my question: Is Mr. Githongo being truthful about his briefings to you? Can you vouch for the man at least in terms of what he says he told you? Kenyans need to know this Mr. President. Do you generally agree with what Githongo says or are you leaning closer to what the Mr. Murungaru and Murungi have said so far. Dr. Murungaru has alleged that Mr. Githongo is a pathological lair and a spy. Those are very serious allegations. I have heard that Dr. Murungaru is a pharmacist or a vertinary doctor, I don’t know which is which, but I didn’t know he is also a psychiatrist. Must have spent a lot of time in college. Anyhow, Kenyans want to know this: Do you as our president think you employed a spy and an enemy to our nation or do you think you employed an honest and upright Kenyan in Mr. Githongo? Who is Mr. Githongo to you Mr. President? This is important to the nation Mr. President because we think we know pretty well who is credible between John Githongo, Kiraitu Murungi and Chris Murungaru and now we MUST ask how about you Mr. President? Are you with the suspects or with Mr. Githongo, or is that a redundant question?
3. Why are you, Mr. President, keeping in your cabinet and employed staff, people who have been prominently mentioned as participants and/or protectors in the gravy train of official corruption that has cost Kenyans billions of their tax money? Are you being blackmailed by these folks in any way, shape or form? Why on earth are Kiraitu Murungi and Moody Awori still in the cabinet? How about Muthaura? When are you showing him the door? Why is George Saitoti in your cabinet after a commission of inquiry you established has specifically ordered that he should be arrested and charged with a criminal offence in relation to his role in the Goldenberg scam which caused our Treasury something in the tune of hundreds of billions of Kenya shillings? Yes we know about due process, but that process starts with clean and thorough investigation, which cannot be done when the suspects are still pulling big time strings in the government. Mr. President, have you asked these guys to resign and have they refused as is being alleged in some quarters? Do you need our help to kick them out? Let us know immediately. My advice to you Mr. President is that we can help you get rid of these guys in no time, but if you insist on protecting them, I am afraid the wananchi might decide to get rid of you altogether. Think about that, we will talk about it later.
www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=36390
The two amigos are out. Who is next?
4. This is a big one. Take your time. Mr. President, are you in any way personally or through your family connected to these crazy deals and scams swirling around State House and the Office of the President? We have been told Mr. Pereira, one of the key suspects in the dealings actually paid your medical bills after that nasty accident in 2002. Is that true? Do you know this man personally? Besides the alleged payment of the medical bills what other “favours” if any has Mr. Pereira offered to you and your family? What dealings if any do you or any members of your family have with the Pereiras?
5. A Mr. Jimmy Wanjigi has been mentioned adversely in the Githongo dossier/tapes. Do you as the President of Kenya or any member of your family have any dealings with the so named “Jimmy Wanjigi”? If so in what capacity?
6. Did you personally approve the “Navy Ship Deal” as alleged by Dr. Chris Murungaru, your then Minister of State? If so, on what basis? Do you know if any problem has been identified in the “Navy Ship Deal”? Did you actually lend your presidential jet to Hon. Murungaru to go to Seychelles to complete the Navy deal? Just curious.
7. What exactly was Alfie’s role, if any, on the Anglo scam?
I am talking about Alfred Getonga. Considering that he was your Personal Assistant until a couple of weeks ago, did he ever talk to you about the Anglo project? After Mr. Githongo briefed you sometimes in June 2004 and even later when he sent you written reports mentioning among others, Mr. Getonga as one of the suspected players in the Anglo scam, did you ask Mr. Getonga about those very serious allegations, considering he was your personal employee? Why did you decide to keep him as your PA only to fire him later when the communications between you and Mr. Githongo about him (Getonga) became public?
8. Mr. President would you agree that some of your actions and/or lack of the same in regard to the Anglo scam, knowing what we now know you have known all along, could lead any reasonable person to question your own credibility and personal commitment in fighting against corruption, something millions of Kenyans elected you to do? How do you propose that you will earn back our trust so that we can continue employing you? In other words can you give us any reason(s) why we should not fire you as our president?
9. What happened to our constitution? We were told you were about to appoint a committee to jump start the process (something that doesn’t make sense to me) but so far nothing doing? Have you given up on the constitution? Should we just put a big X for you on that one, the same way we are putting a huge X for you in the fight against corruption in Kenya?
10. Mr. President, have you, at your own quiet time thought about calling it a day? Simply resigning in dignity (whatever is left of it) and telling Kenyans you gave it your best shot and now it is time for someone else to move the country forward. If you haven’t entertained such thoughts I would advise you to take a day off (from the daily inflow of crisis and chaos in your government) and think about it. You might be surprised what options retirement brings. Actually that is what I thought you might have called the former president Daniel Arap Moi to talk about after that crushing referendum defeat. Obviously I was off the mark. You guys must have been talking about something else. I urge you to take this latest offer from me and I am sure from million of Kenyans very seriously. We are a nation of very generous people. You will be surprised how nicely we will treat you if you can stop choking the nation to death with your inaction and breathtaking lethargy in doing what we elected you to do. Look how we love Moi now and yet we almost stoned him on the day of your inauguration. Remember that day. All those hopes. That sea of cheering people. Well today is another day, isn’t it?
Now that I am done with His Excellency, may be I should say a word or two about Ndugu Kiraitu Murungi and his thirty six questions.
You see there is a song by the sensational Hip Hop artist 50 Cents called “Twenty One Questions”. My son listens to that stuff and since we have to live under one roof, at least for now, I have to share in his music taste. Often we are on the same page, but not on this one
The lyrics of “Twenty One Questions” of 50 go something like “would you still love me if I am poor and broke yadah yadah”. You know the hip-hop equivalent of “Will you walk through the river and fire for me” kind of stuff. It is not exactly my cup of tea right now, but my son seems to get his head wrapped around the vibes pretty well.
In fact much more than he got it going with his math homework on geometry, prisms, hexagons, pentagons na kadhalika. Actually I don’t blame the boy, the geometry of prisms and shapes is something else. Anyhow, if you thought 50’s twenty-one questions are ridiculous wait till you hear Murungi’s thirty-six questions. A part from trying to hang on Raila’s neck and begging the world to drown them together, Murungi is basically making confessions with his rapid-fire questions.
I wouldn’t get into the personal attacks on Githongo inheriting a job from his father and being roped along by Joe Wanjui, one of the architects of the sad failure known as the Kibaki government. What struck me as very strange was the fact that Murungi confirms that he knows a lot about Senior Githongo’s personal life and financial affairs, which somehow he thinks is very important to Mr. John Githongo and to the Kenyan public.
Why on earth should Mr. Murungi be asking Githongo about a private loan from Mr. Pereira (we know him already) to his father? I mean this could be important information, but how is it relevant to Murungi’s defense?
More importantly, how did Murungi get to know about this loan? What is his interest in the matter? How does Murungi know that Mr. Pereira and his loan later ruined the health of Githongo’s father? What is the value of this information to Murungi and to the Kenyan public? Is Mr. Murungi the lawyer for Mr. Pereira on this matter?
I am sorry, but it sounds to me like Murungi is still blackmailing Githongo by threatening to publicly unleash all these personal stuff he has on him. What does Murungi want Githongo to do? Does he really want him (Githongo) to answer his questions or is he using the personal dossier to get him to shut up? I don’t see how any of those questions helps Kiraitu’s case. Kiraitu is a smart lawyer but this cross-examination of Githongo by fax is not helping him much. Doesn’t this guy have friends and advisors to assist him in such hour of need? Wacha fitina, Ndugu Murungi, you are embarrassing yourself.
And then the spy business. When did Murungi know or start suspecting that Mr. Githongo is a British spy? I find Mr. Murungi’s question as to whether Mr. Githongo has been a Kenyan Police Reserve to be mischievous. It is public knowledge that Mr. Githongo has been a Police Reserve. He (Githongo) has written and spoken about his experience in the Police Reserve in the Kenyan media. That info is in the public domain. Why is Murungi trying to imply that it is some kind of secret information that could tell us something about John Githongo?
So what exactly is Mr. Murungi’s point? That Mr. Githongo has been a spy all along? Is Murungi suggesting that in Kenya, only spies serving the interests of foreign countries are interested in fighting corruption? If you ask me, I think Mr. Githongo used some good old school police tactics in recording discussions like that with Mr. Murungi where he was being blackmailed. If he didn’t record them, kina Murungi would today be denying any knowledge at all of such conversations. Now they have to fight with the tape and claim it is not audible. Guess what, we can help Mr. Murungi with some hearing devices to enhance the audio quality of the tapes.
The simple questions Murungi should answer are these: Did he or did he not tell Githongo to go slow on the investigations? Forget the tape for a second. Did he or did he not bring up the issue of the loan from Mr. Pereira to Joe Githongo? Did he suggest that this loan could be taken care of if Githongo was willing to cooperate?
Murungi can fire six hundred questions to Githongo but until he answers these simple questions satisfactorily, he has no credibility with Kenyans. Not that he had any to spare to begin with.
Now what do we do? I think Uhuru’s move with the P.A.C interview of Mr. Githongo in London was a masterstroke.
For once, Mr. Githongo’s very explosive info on the Anglo scam and other corrupt activities, are property of the Kenyan people. Not even the president can sit on this one. This will be a parliamentary report and MP’s are going to be scared shitless to mess it up. They know how mad Kenyans are about this endless Anglo nonsense. Even Martha Karua wouldn’t be able to purge names from this one.
The tapes of the interview with Githongo and verbatim reports now belong to us, the people of Kenya. Parliament can take a year to write their report but I am sure millions of Kenyans want the verbatim report of the P.A,C interview with John Githongo. It is no longer a matter of relying on BBC interviews and private media material. It is not a matter of Githongo talking to foreigners about issues at the heart of the Kenyan government.
With the P.A.C interviews, we have John Githongo on record officially talking to Kenyans through our representatives in parliament and telling us what he knows about the grand corruption that continues to suck the life out of our country. His work and experience provided him with an opportunity to probably get at the very nerve centre of the scourge of corruption in high places. Sadly we are also talking about the same being also the nerve centre of our government. Githongo’s meticulously kept records and now his recorded response to questions from members of the Kenyan National Assembly is going to give us an opportunity to make our own conclusions. Isn’t that great? The time for kuhara for the suspects is now.
They are going to do everything to block the info from reaching the public. Lawsuits and threats are going to fly all over, but in this day and age the blockade wouldn’t work. Big time Damage Control that is what these guys must be working on overtime? Everything is backfiring so far when you consider that the biggest catch on the Goldenberg report was Saioti a NAK damu being touted as Kibaki’s replacement. Bosire and co told Kenyans that Saitoti should be in jail and Kibaki doesn’t know what to do next.
Worse still, instead of Kiraitu, Muthaura and Awori resigning to get Githongo out of the front pages, they are stupidly fighting him and getting the story even more explosive in the process.
Norman Nyagah is going to be a very busy man in Nairobi. I hope he recorded his own tapes of the Githongo interview. Trust me, there are going to be some long night meetings of very important people listening to what Githongo had to say and some wishing thunder and lightning could strike him out of the face of the earth. Good thing these folks don’t control thunder and lightning.
We should also remember that this is not the war Kibaki and his crew were getting ready for. This thing took them by surprise. The battle they were paying consultants to help them win was their attempt to bury the pesky Wanjiku once and for all. That is what they had in the radar and then Githongo dropped the bomb and even the consultants don’t know what to do next. Good luck.
By the way I am dying to listen to those other tapes Githongo has. I hope the PAC will obtain copies of all these material and establish an organized way to disseminate the information and provide opportunities for the other side to tell us what they know. Of course it is only fair that those adversely named have an opportunity to present their case and I am sure the P.A.C will accord them that chance.
But whichever way you look at it, this thing has all the trappings of a thriller movie. Of course we are talking about is real life. The movie version is still intriguing. We have high stake rollers just about cornered. We have the action hero, John Githongo doing his piece with poise and dignity. We have a media frenzy and the people are riveted in it. We have tapes. You know the power of the voice in unexpected and even a conspiratorial environment. And the plot of the story is truly majestic. Here we have angry and tired citizens finally getting to face their tormentor. Not sure what they want to do, but figuring, something has to be done anyways. It is like catching up with the village rogue who had been robbing old ladies off their chicken and terrorizing villagers and finally realizing he is not that tough after all.
The P.A.C should move with speed and prepare a report to be tabled in parliament as soon as it opens. Talk about disaster after disaster for Kibaki. The president has been resisting calls to re-open parliament first because of the referendum fall out and the ridiculous banana cabinet of losers he cobbled together slapping Kenyans right in the face after they voted against his constitutional project. Now they have to open parliament, wapende wasipende, and check what is agenda number one. John Githongo. At the rate things are going we do not know how many of those Kibakites who were so happy to retain their cabinet posts shall have joined Raila and the other LDP ex-ministers in the back benches by the time Bunge re-opens. Talk about poetic justice.
Now when Uhuru and his committee table the report, there can be only one sensible conclusion. That would be to ask Kibaki and his team to resign and face investigations. There is really nothing else the president can do at this time. Kibaki could do the nation a favour by dissolving parliament and paving the way for General Elections so that Kenyans can elect a new government to get us out of this annoying madness of a government of crooks by crooks.
My guess is Kibaki will keep hanging on to whatever political life support he can get and prolong this torture the nation is going through until we snap him out of there. The point I am trying to make here is that if we had impeachment laws in Kenya, President Kibaki would be facing impeachment hearing right now. If we believe Githongo and I do, then Kibaki has no business being our president. It is that simple.
Alternatively parliament could, on the basis of the P.A.C report coupled with the grand failure to deliver a new constitution simply pass a vote of no confidence on the government and send the nation to the polls. That won’t happen for the simple reason that many of those MP’s know they are not coming back and one and a half year of their income as MP’s is something most Kenyans can’t make in a lifetime of work. The MP’s are going to get the last penny before they take a risk with the restless voters.
This brings us to the big announcement last week by over 70 civil society groups who promised to take the battle to the powers that be through mass action. That is where this thing is going. Kenyans are pretty savvy and creative once they hit the trenches. Moi chased them everywhere, but they were always coming with something else. Our MPs are good in the battle of press conferences but the wananchi are going to move it up a notch. It is going to be bare knuckles. Yes Mzee, you re a collision course with your people and it is not just about corruption. This circus cannot go on forever. Kenyans need to put the Kibaki government out of its misery, which is threatening to destroy our country. Enough is enough.
The writer is a human rights activist.
