Miguna:A Cut and Paste Civil Servant

[nereah]

the article reproduced in the subsequent post landed on my email thirty seven minutes ago.

meanwhile i notice that this great son of africa was commanding attention of influential columnists kwendo opanga and one mutahi ngunyiwho curiously venerated our miguna.



i have reliably learnt from a friend in the media circles that this article has been sent to newspapers for publication.

[nereah]

Miguna Miguna: “A Cut and Paste” Civil Servant

By Wafula Buke

The Party of National Unity’s contestation of the citizenship credentials of Miguna Miguna, the PM’s advisor and the protest by a section of Luo Nyanza MPs at his commentaries, bring into sharp focus, not just the quality of his political analysis, but also the authenticity of the moral ground on which he claims to draw inspiration.

It is apparent that he generously overrates his patriotic credentials and contribution to political change.

Despite Kenya having gone through many national political phases, Miguna’s 1987 student days are not just a highlight, but a full stop in his presentation on his CV as far as the struggle he lionises himself for is concerned. This is what one gathers when he delves into his role in the struggle for change in the piece in which his subject was Hon. William Ruto.

Let Miguna and the rest of the later day and recent returnees from Western capitals as refugees learn from the first lesson of released long serving prisoners from their wives or fiancés.

They are summons titled “While You Were Away.” They are stories too painful to be penned in most biographies of the freed. Imagine your sweetheart confessing that she aborted many times and decided to carry the last pregnancy. She then proceeds to introduce a baby whom you must accept as your own. From that point on, you introduce her or him as your son or daughter.

She further tells you that all your friends abandoned her and that it is only enemy so and so who paid school fees for the children. She may add that the job she has was given to her by a stranger. In short new relationships emerged to address new contradictions.

Miguna needs to be told that while he was away, the nation did not wait for him. New challenges emerged and with them new strategies, new alliances, new forms of sacrifice and new heroes.

Our generation of strugglers sacrificed studies, life, freedom and jobs among others. After the removal of section 2A, new forms of sacrifice emerged, namely; business, jobs, friends, money, history, time etc. Comrades joined KANU and risked their patriotic credentials in the old school definition in readiness for the famous implosion in 2002. Others joined the NGO sector as new platforms.

While he was away, a monster called Wako Draft nearly consumed this country and had it not been for those he contemptuously criticises, this country would be worse of than it was when he left in 1987. In fact Miguna would still be a practising barrister based in Canada.

While he was away, we forged a united front under the leadership of Raila Odinga and won the 2007 General Election. Let him know that we did not achieve all these by manipulating history and maligning those he perceives to have fallen short of glory in the past.

We did it through open re-alignments based on the national priorities of our time. Even as we disagree, we do so with mutual respect due to the trophies we share. As things stand today Miguna remains “a cut and paste civil servant” from Canada who does not understand the rocks on which the office he serves stands.

When those who have walked the trajectory of the struggle in Kenya hear words like “revolution” and “reform” used by Hon Kalonzo Musyoka, we call it progress for the nation. Behold the old permanent thing in human experience is change.

All I ask from him is humility as he enjoys the fruits of the change he mainly observed and occasionally wrote about in our local dailies when continuing with his studies, practicing law and “struggling” in Canada.

Miguna’s “better than thou” psyche puts into focus the patriotic credentials of those who flew out into exile and stayed on for years. I became part of that past after being elected 1987 as chairman of the Students’ Organization of Nairobi University while Miguna Miguna served under me as Finance Secretary.

As told by Miguna, a few days later, we were expelled and we, their leaders, ended up in Nyayo House; the bit he left out was that I, his chairman, was jailed for five years while he and the rest were released.

What many do not understand is that being in exile is not synonymous with being in the struggle. Exile in practice offers continuity to dissidents so as to dissuade them from their revolutionary commitment if any. Those who come back with PHDs and careers in readiness for absorption in the system as privileged labour, fall in this category.

Exile therefore had two categories of people. There were those who perceived exile as a disorientation from their career pursuits locally and hence considered an opportunity to carry on from where they left a windfall to grab and abandon or relegate the struggle to the secondary plane.

This category exaggerated their profile to the UNHCR as targeted dissidents so as to win priority for relocation to ‘lands of opportunity’. It is a cocktail of careerists, job seekers, citizenship seekers, fortune seekers and half-hearted strugglers. In the Kenyan context, they were the externally based version of opportunists.

The other category was composed of men and women who left for exile bitter that they were delinking with the theatre of struggle for change. They crossed the borders weeping for a lost opportunity to institute change from within.

They lobbied for accommodation in the neigh boring countries and whenever they were relocated to the West, they found their way back so as to guarantee a more relevant struggle. Hon Koigi wa Wamwere stands out as a remarkable illustration of this patriotic spirit having been arrested in Nairobi in 1990 despite being the most high profile freedom fighter and anti-establishment leader then exiled in Norway.

The contrast on the other hand were the likes of Oginga Ogego, the current high Commissioner to the US, in early 1992 who rejected pleas from Prof. Miceere Mugo and Dr. Adhu Awiti that he joins us in the military training camp. He instead opted for a degree in Makerere. Efforts in getting comrades from Europe failed despite funds for their air transport being available. We only got some from Tanzania.

With due respect, Miguna was never in this category. He still pursued his personal dreams in Canada like his counterpart Ogego. No wonder his court cases in Canada and ours are radically different in substance.

I find Miguna Miguna’s belligerency and self-righteousness evil in our efforts to re-invent the nation-the principal contradiction of the moment. Why does he accuse the others of being opportunistic when he came back because of spotting opportunities brought into existence by those he recklessly dismisses?


By the way, the late Dr. Mukaru Ng’ang’a and Hon. George Anyona returned and contested for presidency in 1992. What patriotic duty was he still handing between 1992 and 2007 in Canada?


Wafula Buke is a perennial struggler for change in Kenya.

[mzee]

Im wondering, just wondering.
Why is Wafula Buke attacking Miguna, while from the content of the article they seem to be on the same side of the divide?


As for Kwendo, I found his input too much far fetched. Seems he was forced to write something on Miguna even though he nothing to write.

[phil]

I was expecting these kind of articles to start emerging soon following Miguna's outspoken nature and his lofty position as PM's advisor on coalition affairs.

What I did not expect is to read such rebuke from a person of Wafula Buke's stature. Sadly and regrettably Bw. Buke appears to be reducing himself and I cant but help notice some jealous resentment against a comrade and now perceived to be rival.

This was never about who is greater than who, neither was it a competition of who is more of a freedom fighter than then other. We have freedom fighters who paid the ultimate price, for instance, some who were buried alive for standing up to the white man, but we never hear about them.

Miguna need not respond to Buke. Here's a piece he himself did in early 2007 responding to similar accusations in which he pays tribute to himself and his former comrades, and yes, acknowledging how Wafule Buke was indeed jailed for five years on trumped up charges.

This article would be an apt response to Buke's outburst!

MIGUNA in JUKWAA: A Response to Naked Lies and Concoctions

[kenyamoja]

Has it occurred to anybody this guy is more of a distraction than anything else to the PM's agenda? Obviously his bloated sense of self-importance does not help. It may be time for the PM to reduce his role (whatever that is).....

[shifta]

How many ways can one spell jealousy - it is written all over this article - Buke is burning up green. In other words, how dare Miguna run away and forget him and others and then come back sitted on the right hand, yet he, Buke, was "boss" during UoN days and suffered more than Miguna who was drinking tea and "barristering" in the land of plenty
This notion somehow that those who count are just those on the ground is laughable. How many times have the very home people like Raila run to those in the diaspora for more than inspiration.

--
I hope Miguna keeps calling out the hypocrites and kleptocrats like Kalonzo and Moi.
==============
kenyamoja - Miguna is doing preciously what he is there for - taking the flack for the PM. I do not think whatever he has printed does not get a nod from the PM.

[politicalmaniac]

The only point I will agree with Wafula is this.
The change of guard in Kenya did go on even with MM still in Canada.

What Wafula willfully ignores is this.
The diaspora Kenyans, MM included, made big efforts to influence the outcome of elections and the directions of change, through idea generation, through $$ donation, and through editorials. MM was in the forefront in that war, even if he was not physically present in Kenya.

Many leaders have been in exile but their influence were keenly felt during the times of change.

-Where was Jomo during the critical parts of his Adult life during the struggle against colonialism?
-Where was Ayatollah pre Reza Shah?

I know Wafula quite well, and I highly suspect that this editorial, reeking in putrid green envy against MM - just like folks here who hate MM for unspecified "personal animus" is just simple pay for hire, "journalism". I was on the phone with clan mates who included friends very close to an ex-MP, that Asst Min kipkorios appointed whilst who was still in UoN doing BCom and they have had tete a tetes with Buke, who is still trying to find his legs. So I am not surprised entirely by this vengeful column against MM.

This is classic Rovian practice, attack the strength of a political candidate, or someone with whom you disagree. Thats why the inept corrupt tribalistic mafia from central province besmirched and downplayed R 10yr incarceration. That heroic right there, that a man is so willing to stay with his beliefs, that he is willing to be incarcerated, the next worse thing to death itself.

The PNU mafian chicken hawks have no one with that kind of sterling record. So why not degrade and obfuscate such a CV? And who best to to launch that attack but a fellow P.O.W Wafula Buke? This is swift boating halisi!

Shameful!

[adongo23456]

Folks,

This puts me in a very tough spot. Wafula Buke is a great friend of mine. And so is Miguna Miguna. I was slightly ahead of these guys at the campus, then a huge battleground to free the country from the one party dictatorship.

Let me bring the background. My first time in the cops hands was in 1982. That was after the coup attempt. I was then the Secretary General of the Students Organization of Nairobi University (SONU). The Special Branch grabbed me on the second day after the coup. I had gone back to the campus to pick up my stuff and my aunt was waiting for me in South B. She was determined to ship me home to my mom. She never saw me for a long time. When I left jail she had left her house at the Railway Training School and moved to the Golden Gates houses. I didn't know that so I went to the old house and some girl who claimed she knew me walked the whole day to get me to the her house. I got there and she (my aunt) kept touching my face to make sure it was me. I kept promising her I was fine. She didn't seem to believe me. That was a very emotional moment for me. She took me straight to my mom after a lot of trouble because I refused to leave Nairobi until all my certificates grabbed by the SB cops were given back to me.

Anyhow back to coup drama. I grabbed my stuff from the campus and was waiting for the bus in front of the Serena Hotel when the boys came for me. They waited until I jumped into the bus. Then they surrounded the bus with their vans. The driver was terrified. They walked in and grabbed me with all my possessions and told the driver to move on. That was it for me. Fortunately some student from the campus show me and called the news papers to report I had been arrested. That was the only evidence my family had that I could be alive.

It was a very funny experience when I was dumped into the van with these crazy looking fellas. I was terrified beyond belief. I was just a kid. OK I was notorious but I was just twenty. The first thing I did when the bad boys put me in their van was to thank them. Oh yes I did that. I told them I was so happy they arrested me. Then I went on. I told them this was a big mistake and I was going to clear it up very fast. All this time I had all my hands and fingers around my crotch. This is the problem. My good friends had told me the first thing the SB will do to me when they catch me is to blow my nuts to pieces. So here I was defending the family jewel and scared like hell.

So I was yapping all the time in the SB van.. I asked them how long the whole thing was going to take. They looked at me as if to say "shut up". I kept yapping. I told them my aunt was going to get very upset if she doesn't see me. Big mistake. They asked me if they could call my aunt to tell her when I was coming home. I gave them the number. Many people were arrested later for calling that number.

So that was me in 1982. When I was delivered at the then SB Nairobi headquarters at Turkoman Carpet House just outside the campus I met the CID Director, Mr. Too. He told me to take off my clothes. So I took off my shirt. He looked at me and said "take off your clothes". So I took off my pants and sat down. Then he looked at me and yelled, "Take off your clothes". I was stunned. All I had left was the underwear. I was getting very nervous. But I took off the last bit of clothing I had left. Mr. Too seemed satisfied. What followed was ridiculous. I was hammered real hard. Then they moved me to another room and asked me to listen to a radio broadcast that happened as the attempted coup was happening. They told me that was me speaking. I told them NO. They played it again and forced me to record a similar message. At the end of it all they discovered I was not the guy who made that broadcast. I thought I would be released after that. That never happened. I spent months in all police cells in Nairobi while my mom kept fighting the SB to tell them where I was.

Incidentally it was during this time that I met Raila Amolo Odinga. It was at Kilimani Police Station. The system then was that the SB would take you to one police station today and another one tomorrow. They brought him(Raila) at around 11.00 p.m in Kilimani. I recognized him when he came in. I introduced myself to him. He told me he knew who I was. Then we picked a corner to sit and chat. We talked all night long. He told me to be brave. I told him it was hard to be brave when people were beating the crap out of you everyday. He told me the country needed all of us. At around 5.00 am in the morning they came and grabbed him. I have no idea where they took him from there.

I ended up at Nairobi Industrial Remand Prison. Before then I shared cells with my good friends Rateng' Oginga Ogego and Muga K'olale at Muthangari police station.

At Inda I was with Kibisu Kabateesi, David Murathe, Onyango C.A, Omoto and others all in the same room. It was a wonderful experience. I have no time to go into the details. But I will say this. The first day we arrived at Inda, Onyango Oloo was our leader so to speak. He had been there for a few months.The guy was arrested pretty much on the first day of the coup because of an essay they found in his bag. It was entitled " A plea to Comrades". Oloo was talking about the need for Kenyans to defend their country at every turn. But the heading of his essay killed him. I think he was the first student locked up after the 1982 coup attempt. Then they grabbed Chairman Adungosi, me and then Rateng' who was paraded in Bondo town amid protests from my father who had great respect for Rateng'. They used to have great conversations at Wang'arot Market where my father was a tailor. My father went to his grave in 1995 with great respect for Rateng'. The only thing the old man ever asked me is if I believed in what I was doing. I always told him, Yes I do. That is all he wanted to know. He told me to fight and never relent if I knew what I was doing. That man was a good buddy to me.

But anyway, back to the Jail House. Oloo knew everything about how the jail system worked. He advised us at the courts when we met him there that we were going to go through hell even before we reached the jails. He told us they (prison guards) were going to beat the hell out of us. He told us they will strip us and look into people asses. We laughed it off. Until it came. It was horrifying. We looked at each other, 67 students and just laughed at the sheer stupidity of it all.

Then when we hit Inda, Oloo was due for sentencing the following day. So Murathe, Onyango C.A and myself stayed late with him as he prepared his very powerful political statement. The man said he was going to tell the courts off and go down fighting. We were there to offer him support. Then this prison guard comes and yells at us to go to sleep. We told him to get lost. We knew the guards don't even have a key to open the cells. They told us they will come back in the morning. And they did.

They grabbed oloo and started hammering him. They knew he was going to jail. Murathe jumped in and started duking it out with the guards. Before we knew it the other prisoners were with us. They managed to get Oloo out of there and what followed will be eked in my mind forever.

All the students were separated from the regular prisoners. They made us lie in hot concrete for the whole day. Just breathing was enough task. Finally they sent us to the E block, for the bad guys. This was the place they kept convicted murderers and people waiting to be sent to Kamiti max to be hanged. It was our little heaven for a while. We made it so. We used to sing there and do all sorts of things.

So finally I got released from jail after the 1982 coup. They had no evidence to convict us. So after months of torture and life threatening events for us, one day they just came and told us we have been forgiven. It made no sense to us. For me I was in the Mad House. I had been declared insane by the prison commander after I defied them and pushed a full a load of shit and pee into the corridors. Down there all seven of us in one room had to shit and pee in this pail. If you know the guys I was with you would know that thing would be full in a few hours. So it was on this day. I asked the prison guard to open the door so I could empty that thing. He said no. I emptied it right on the corridors. I was taken to the big boss and he declared me insane which meant I had to be taken to the worst place in Inda, the Mad House. When we were released I was there but Murathe remembered me and insisted I have to be taken out of there. I was. It is a huge story what happened after that. All I know is that I had to sit my second year exams in two weeks after almost 8 months in jail and hell and I had not read a book. I passed.

So I went back to campus. Mwandawiro Mghanga was then elected the chairman of SONU. He asked me what I wanted to do. I told him it is too risky for me to join the student leadership. So I took over as the Editor of the Student Magazine " Sauti Ya Kamkunji". It was a tough job. We had no printing facilities. The Department of Literature helped us at first. Gathitu, my goodness I don't know where that guy is. He is the guy who made it possible for us to produce the magazine at first. And then we became a big hit at the University library. The students just loved the paper. That is where I worked and when I joined Mwakenya I was with this magazine. We will declassify some of the Mwakenya stuff when the time is rife. Not now.

So here is my thing with Buke. I graduate from UoN in 1984. They give me all sorts of jobs but I pick up the one of being a lecturer at Mombasa polytechnic. I loved the job. I was teaching people twice my age and they gave me alot of respect. So I make a deal with my mom. I promised to build her a house when I get a job. So my first pay pretty much went into buying building materials. We were doing very great until some cops almost nine of them came to my house in Mombasa at 3.00 a.m.

I don't want to bore you with the details but I ended up being arrested again on claims that I was trying to overthrow the government. I was more pissed than mad. I told them they can't scare me anymore. That is how I ended up at Nyayo House and I can tell the whole world that Nyayo House was the scariest thing I have ever seen in my life. My god. Just thinking of that place makes me very mad. I still marvel at the fact that I came out of there alive. Barely. Sometimes I wish they killed me there as a favour. I mean it. That is another story for another day.

I ended up in jail after Nyayo House. I toboad in 1987. I went back to Mombasa to the polytechnic to ask for my job back. The principal looked at me like I just came from the cemetery. He told me to go away and never to tell anybody that I went back to see him. Of course I told him to f off. I wasn't going to be scared by some idiot principal.

So I went back to the campus. All these time I had not even gone to see my mom in Bondo. She was not too happy about it. Neither was my dad but I had bigger things to deal with.

I applied for a post graduate program at Chiromo to pursue a Post Graduate diploma in computer science. I was admitted. Then the money boys decided they would not give me the funds. Wafula Buke, Njenga Kabarere, the two most popular student leaders asked me to go with them to talk to the V.C. A day later I had my scholarship. I was so grateful to them.

A few days later SONU had its elections and Wafula Buke was elected the chairman of SONU. Kabarere was the SG and Miguna the Treasurer. These very patriotic Kenyans took over from the Patrick Lumumba Otieno era who was a Moi lap dog.

I was very excited for the new crew. Then two days later as I was leaving my Golden Gate joint to go to Afya House to do some computer work I met a mess in the streets of Nairobi. All the student leaders had been arrested just one or two day after they had been elected.

I couldn't take it any more. I was a lecturer the School of Professional Studies while pursuing my post graduate studies. That day I went to teach my students and in a few minutes my good friend Omondi Obanda came in and told me we had to leave or face another arrest.

I still regret the fact that I left my students without giving them any reason. I just left in the middle of a lesion. I feel terrible about that.

Buke was then jailed for five years. Actually they accused him of being a Libyan spy. That was crap. Many of us made it out of the country. Some joined military training programs to fight for the country. Others went to western countries. Miguna went to Canada before me. I later joined him there.

My problem is for people who stayed in the country to accuse those who left as lesser fighters for the freedom of the nation. That is frivolous.

Wafula Buke has been through a lot of state repression. He was locked up at Naivasha Maximum for a while and terribly tortured. He stood his ground and later sued the state and was compensated with peanuts. He is a great Kenyan patriot but I doubt he needs to justify his efforts by diminishing Miguna's.

We are all Kenyans and nobody can tell us just because they live within the boundaries of the republic they are better Kenyans. Nobody feeds my family in Kenya for me. I am with them 24/7. I offer no apologies for that.

I used to argue with my mom when from here in Canada. She used to tell me she was very worried that she would never see me again. I told her she never saw me much since I was 14 years old and went to a boarding secondary school. Then I went to High School. Kakamega of course. I love that place. From there I was on to campus and then to jail in and out. She never saw me any of those times I reminded her. I told her it doesn't matter where I was. What mattered is what I did for the family. Of course I went to see her in 1995 and in 2001 I took the boy to visit her and they became great friends.

So I think our comrades at home should get away from the thought that those who ended up in foreign countries are lesser Kenyans than they are. I will say more about this at some later date.



adongo

[politicalmaniac]

AO
I cant wait for you Biography.

But I wont read it if it has so many typos/grammer errors !! he he he
were you eating lunch?

Check this one out

" So I make a deal with my mom. I promised to build him a house when I get a job "

I also know Buke very well and that is why I bet, I am almost sure, this is paid for, this prurient article. I will ask my pals soon. Who else, but a fellow victim can impugn, and belittle, MM horrific times at the hand of 'nyayo'? This is classic Rovian!

[okhunyanye]

First of, I greatly respect Wafula Buke for the role he played in fighting dictatorship in Kenya. While many of his compatriots went on to use their 'revolutionary' credentials to gain access and amass great wealth after some minimal changes appeared in Kenyas political landscape, for some such as Buke, it continues to be an economic struggle.

Buke raises an important question that I think should not be wished away through his vilification: Who played a bigger role in the fight for democracy in Kenya - Those who fled into exile or those who continued to fight for change from within the borders.

I will not dwell on attacking Buke, a Kenyan patriot per excellence. Like Raila, Buke has personally sacrificed a lot for the country and without dwelling on other trivialities, the personal story about what his significant other had to be subjected to while Buke was incacerated will more than suffice.

The problem I have with most revolutionaries/reformers, and this comes out in Buke's piece, is this: Why do they forget those who fought with them in the trenches after they get into office? Why do the Martha Karuas, Kiraitu Murungis et al., turn around and stifle reform as soon as they gain power? Why does it become so difficult for people like Raila Odinga, James Orengo, Kabando wa Kabando to open their doors to the Wafula Bukes who stayed behind to fight dictatorship?

It is a shame that those who fought for the freedom that most Kenyans enjoy today continue to languish in poverty. For most of them, it is even difficult to get appointments to see the pm, Orengo, Nyongo and others who go by the name of reformers.

Are we therefore surprised that divisions are emerging among those who fought so hard for freedom under Moi?

[adongo23456]

Jan 19, 2010 21:58:39 GMT 3 politicalmaniac said:

AO
I cant wait for you Biography.

But I wont read it if it has so many typos/grammer errors !! he he he
were you eating lunch?

Check this one out

" So I make a deal with my mom. I promised to build him a house when I get a job "

I also know Buke very well and that is why I bet, I am almost sure, this is paid for, this prurient article. I will ask my pals soon. Who else, but a fellow victim can impugn, and belittle, MM horrific times at the hand of 'nyayo'? This is classic Rovian!

PM

I fixed the typos. I am using the internet explorer which is not my preferred option. I usually use firefox. It is kind of messed up right now, which annoys me to no end.

Thanks

adongo

[kamalet]

Well....welll well! Wafula Buke comes and writes a hefty article debunking the fighter credentials of Miguna by showing off what he went through and justifying this with the argument that staying on locally was more brave than running off to Canada and only returning as an opportunist.

Some of his arguments are valid and one needs to look at the return to Kenya by Onyango Oloo which had me exchanging unpleasantries in various internet fora completely killing off the opportunity I had offered to buy him a beer when he came to Kenya. Oloo was perhaps as "loud" in the diaspora as was Miguna, but he in my mind did a much braver thing of returning to Kenya and straight into activism and many things that required a lot of effort! His work for the WSF even with the criticism by many on how it was run cannot hide the success he Forum had with perhaps the largest single gathering in Kenya from all over the world - I did laugh my mother told me she was going for the WSF and she still hangs her forum badge in her house proudly.

Under the circumstances, for Buke to accuse Miguna of opportunism, he must be looking at this other returnee from Canada who sought no favours from anyone and worked his backside off for the "struggle" - Jukwaa being one of his pet projects!! For the avoidance of doubt, it s clear than Miguna's return would not have been premised on anything else but to seek favours for the nomination for the Nyando seat on an ODM ticket and when this did not happen (as I had predicted!), he stuck in found his way working for the PM. Whilst there are those that begrudge Miguna for his opportunism ( perhaps I lead the pack!), there are those that think he is doing a brilliant job for the PM. Where I think Miguna has set off all these articles of criticism on his person is when he arrogantly decided to fend off real and imagined enemies of Raila, and sometimes in words that would not befit his position. One of the avid contributors and defenders of Miguna did question the need for these articles as they portrayed Miguna as the equivalent of Alfred Mutua in the Kibaki government - a propaganda mouthpiece!

Buke has perhaps told his side of the story and the opportunism of Miguna, and in the process earned himself the rebuke of the Jukwaa pro-Raila folk. My personal view is for Miguna to review the reason for all this attack and exposure and whether there are lessons to be learned. One thing he must not do now that he has fallen into a hole is work hard to get out of it and not even contemplate digging further into the hole by attempting to respond to all his critics!

[adongo23456]

Kamale,

When Buke was being tortured at Naivasha Maximum Security Prison almost to death you probably cheered that a dissident had been dealt with.

I have utmost respect for the man(Wafuka Buke) for his guts and patriotism. It is the same feeling I have for Miguna Miguna. But I doubt you would understand that. Would you? Not in this lifetime.

Actually I like it when the comrades are talking and even disagreeing. I m sure you don't know what we used to do in our Mwakenya meetings. They were fun and sometimes explosive. But when you left the meeting everybody knew what they were supposed to do. It was like "if I don't see you again, may your soul rest in peace".

We did what we had to do my friend and we are going to do the same today. No problem. It is just another day working for the good of the nation. Nothing can possibly be wrong with that. History proves that over and over again.

adongo

[kamalet]

Adongo

I do not think every Kenyan needed to go to jail or to exile to qualify as having "fought" for the struggle. You did not get tortured for fighting for anything and if you looked at even your story, you were perhaps tormented for the company you kept and are perhaps a lot more a victim of a paranoid president and government rather than making political statements as was made by the likes of Anyona and Koigi in the early days and later in the Moi presidency the likes of Masinde Muliro, Rubia, Matiba and Jaramogi.

I do feel for you when you talk of your experiences under the torture machines in Nyayo House for you and no one deserved to go through it for simply not agreeing with a regime. But I differ on the suggestion that merely disagreeing with Moi is sufficient claim to be a "fighter in the struggle".

As the good Lord said, not everyone who shouts my name will see the kingdom of heaven!

[adongo23456]

Kamale

I would not even want Moi to go through the torture he and Kibaki who was the Chairman of the Security Committee at the time put us through. It would break my heart. No human being should ever go through that. And did I tell you that when they put us at Nyayo House it was not even gazetted as a government holding facility. That is a criminal offense. Moi could as well have kept us at his Kiptagich farm as his slaves. You can't do that and claim the fellas you are violating are "keeping bad company". That is coming up in the KTJRC and the ongoing legal challenges

No. We did not "disagree with Moi". We fought his dictatorship with every tool we could get including our lives. We have no regrets for that effort.

There was one thing we used to talk about in our Mwakenya meetings. We argued victory will come when the ideas we were championing will be embraced by the populace. Now they are. People thought we were mad then. Not anymore. That is the thing I am most proud about. And this just the beginning. Kenya has a bright future. Thanks to the patriots then and now. What do you think?

adongo

[adongo23456]

PM

I have actually updated the piece to capture some elements I did not address.

Check it out again and tell me what you think.

thanks.

adongo

[job]

This started with the Ruto, Moi and Kalonzo articles Miguna wrote.

I would have thought Wafula Buke would have reaffirmed Miguna’s revisiting of the dark Nyayo era of Moi but lo! A swipe on his comrade Miguna was his worthy rebuttal.

Where in the articles did Miguna overrate his patriotic credentials? It is also totally disingenuous to claim that Miguna’s student days (1987) is a full stop in his contribution to Kenya’s struggle. Are we (by the way) in a contest to see who’s contributed more to the liberation struggle or what?

I will also not accept this notion that only fighters who stayed in Kenya are worth commenting on Kenya’s liberation struggle. Neither will I buy into the myth that the only legitimate battle is that borne within the borders of our Jamhuri.

In every struggle there are strategies and multiple battles (staged from many fronts) and various players complement each other. I see no point in Buke falsely branding his fellow comrade an opportunist, this is painful and sad.

Talking opportunities, there are in fact real opportunities that Miguna leaves behind in Toronto far better than the little civil service sacrifice he is making at the PM’s office. We should not pretend we don’t know how much civil servants are paid.

It is sad when comrades still engaged in Kenya’s protracted liberation struggle start turning onto each other. These are people who’ve known each other for decades. I sense a lot of personal bitterness in Buke’s tone which is likely a manifestation of the deep psychological pain inflicted by Moi’s machinery. Buke is a true hero but he must not forget other heroes (even those who went into exile like Miguna Miguna ) suffered immensely too.

What these two great folks (Buke and Miguna) need to do is share a cup of coffee and exchange their respective experiences. It is only then that Buke would understand for instance, that life as a political refugee is not a walk-in-the-park. It ain’t simply an opportunity for windfalls and personal gratification.

Even political refugees lose spouses and suffer broken relationships. Some fail to bury their dead loved-ones. It is a daily struggle for asylees where they raise themselves through their own bootstraps. Miguna did not just get handed degrees and opportunities for wealth in Canada.

Despite the hardship, political refugees like Miguna didn’t quit the larger Kenyan struggle. As they suffered to complete the education Moi tried to deny them at UON, they played their visible roles both in Canada and at home - even intermittently landing on the ground to participate in various forms (including the Bomas Talks). It’s not just been about writing articles. We need to be truthful.

Let’s not create a wedge between liberation fighters at home and abroad. Buke and Miguna are largely on the same side of this struggle and it’s time they seek each other and sit down for a chat. All fighters matter.

Miguna has a gift in his writing skills - let him not be dissuaded from writing more about MOI, RUTO, KALONZO or any other issue he feels like. I don't think he needs anyone's permission or acclaimation to exercise his rights to freedom of speech or press.

[shifta]

Adongo, I reread your piece and as I did so the second time, I just felt sad that such rich history of the struggle - yes - struggle (for those in denial) for the second liberation is not available for posterity.
I hope you will write your memoir, the same with OO and others

[adongo23456]

shifta,

Thanks for your kind remarks. I keep updating the story. I did not know how much emotional and historical some of these experiences actually are. That it is fine for me. We keep learning. Don't we? Good.

But I forgot something. One of my most memorable events was at Langata Police Station. By that time I had been to every police station in Nairobi. I was exhausted. So this cop comes up in the morning and tells me to clean the cell. I look at him and tell him to get out of my face. Then he grabs me in a wrestling match. He slams me on the wall. Then I try to grab a stair case and miss it. The next thing I know I am one floor down head first. All I remember is blood all over the place, then I passed out. Up to this day I cannot look at blood. Any blood. When I do my medicals that require blood they have to cover my face to make sure I don't see any blood. I am fine with that. It bothers my son but that is another story.

When I woke up I was being stitched by this doctor somewhere. I woke up. I heard the doctor congratulating the cops for arresting us. I put my hand up and told the doctor I was very uncomfortable being under his care. Of course I had no choice. When I left they took me to Kamkunji Police Station. This was the dirtiest and ugliest Police Station I had seen until then. Muthaiga is worse. I was to be there later. I think it was my last. Good old Muthaiga Police Station. So dirty and filthy. May be it is better now.

Anyhow, I am deposited to this Kamkunji cop shop with a blown head covered in bandages and they tell me I have to leave my painkillers and anti-biotics at the desk. At this time my head was a war zone. It was rocking like a tsunami was happening in there. I had no interest in anything including food. I just wanted to lie down. So they took the meds. I didn't argue with them. They told me if I want them I can come for them in the morning.

The strange thing with the police cells is that they were empty most of the day, except for us. At night they were crazy. The cops would bring the whole world in there and there would be nowhere even to stand. Then in the morning they are all gone to the courts. And the night comes back.

So I wake up with my head in riot. I bang the door like crazy. The cops come and take me to the front table. I ask them to give me my medicine before my head explodes. They ask me "what medicine". They had stolen the meds. So that was me and my throbbing head back to the cells. I don't know how I survived.

But you know what, I think the nation will survive better than I did. That is what makes me very happy. We have a lovely country and Kenyans are going to protect and develop it. Good enough for me.

adongo

[tnk]

Jan 20, 2010 5:58:37 GMT 3 adongo23456 said:

shifta,

Thanks for your kind remarks. I keep updating the story. I did not know how much emotional attachment I have to that experience. That is fine for me.

I forgot something. One of my most memorable events was at Langata Police Station. By that time I had been to every police station in Nairobi. I was exhausted. So this cop comes up in the morning and tells me to clean the cell. I look at him and tell him to get out of my face. Then he grabs me in a wrestling match. He slams me on the wall. Then I try to grab a stair case and miss it. The next thing I know I am one floor down head first. All I remember is blood all over the place, then I passed out. Up to this day I cannot look at blood. Any blood. When I do my medicals that require blood they have to cover my face to make sure I don't see any blood. I am fine with that. It bothers my son but that is another story.

When I woke up I was being stitched by this doctor somewhere. I woke up. I heard the doctor congratulating the cops for arresting us. I put my hand up and told the doctor I was very uncomfortable being under his care. Of course I had no choice. When I left they took me to Kamkunji Police Station. This was the dirtiest and ugliest Police Station I had seen until then. Muthaiga is worse. So I go to this Kamkunji cop shop and they tell me I have to leave my painkillers at the desk. At this time my head was a war zone. It was rocking like a tsunami was happening in there. I had no interest in anything including food. I just wanted to lie down. So they took the meds. I didn't argue with them. They told me if I want then I can come for them.

The strange thing with the police cells is that they were empty most of the day, except for us. At night they were crazy. The cops would bring the whole world in there and there would be nowhere even to stand. Then in the morning they are all gone to the courts. And the night comes back.

So I wake up with my head in riot. I bang the door like crazy. The cops come and take me to the front table. I ask them to give me my medicine before my head explodes. They ask me "what medicine". They had stolen the meds. So that was me and my throbbing head back to the cells. I don't know how I survived.

But you know what, I think the nation will survive better than I did. That is what makes me very happy. We have a lovely country and Kenyans are going to protect and develop it. Good enough for me.

adongo

dude that is just unimagine-able i totally understand your aversion to things moi. makes many of our own experiences look like a walk in the park.

surely i second those who say you must pen your memoir in full capturing all these events, spare no detail, names of people, places etc

[tiskie]

Jan 19, 2010 16:48:43 GMT 3 nereah said:

Miguna Miguna: “A Cut and Paste” Civil Servant

By Wafula Buke

The Party of National Unity’s contestation of the citizenship credentials of Miguna Miguna, the PM’s advisor and the protest by a section of Luo Nyanza MPs at his commentaries, bring into sharp focus, not just the quality of his political analysis, but also the authenticity of the moral ground on which he claims to draw inspiration.

It is apparent that he generously overrates his patriotic credentials and contribution to political change.

Despite Kenya having gone through many national political phases, Miguna’s 1987 student days are not just a highlight, but a full stop in his presentation on his CV as far as the struggle he lionises himself for is concerned. This is what one gathers when he delves into his role in the struggle for change in the piece in which his subject was Hon. William Ruto.

Let Miguna and the rest of the later day and recent returnees from Western capitals as refugees learn from the first lesson of released long serving prisoners from their wives or fiancés.

They are summons titled “While You Were Away.” They are stories too painful to be penned in most biographies of the freed. Imagine your sweetheart confessing that she aborted many times and decided to carry the last pregnancy. She then proceeds to introduce a baby whom you must accept as your own. From that point on, you introduce her or him as your son or daughter.

She further tells you that all your friends abandoned her and that it is only enemy so and so who paid school fees for the children. She may add that the job she has was given to her by a stranger. In short new relationships emerged to address new contradictions.

Miguna needs to be told that while he was away, the nation did not wait for him. New challenges emerged and with them new strategies, new alliances, new forms of sacrifice and new heroes.

Our generation of strugglers sacrificed studies, life, freedom and jobs among others. After the removal of section 2A, new forms of sacrifice emerged, namely; business, jobs, friends, money, history, time etc. Comrades joined KANU and risked their patriotic credentials in the old school definition in readiness for the famous implosion in 2002. Others joined the NGO sector as new platforms.

While he was away, a monster called Wako Draft nearly consumed this country and had it not been for those he contemptuously criticises, this country would be worse of than it was when he left in 1987. In fact Miguna would still be a practising barrister based in Canada.

While he was away, we forged a united front under the leadership of Raila Odinga and won the 2007 General Election. Let him know that we did not achieve all these by manipulating history and maligning those he perceives to have fallen short of glory in the past.

We did it through open re-alignments based on the national priorities of our time. Even as we disagree, we do so with mutual respect due to the trophies we share. As things stand today Miguna remains “a cut and paste civil servant” from Canada who does not understand the rocks on which the office he serves stands.

When those who have walked the trajectory of the struggle in Kenya hear words like “revolution” and “reform” used by Hon Kalonzo Musyoka, we call it progress for the nation. Behold the old permanent thing in human experience is change.

All I ask from him is humility as he enjoys the fruits of the change he mainly observed and occasionally wrote about in our local dailies when continuing with his studies, practicing law and “struggling” in Canada.

Miguna’s “better than thou” psyche puts into focus the patriotic credentials of those who flew out into exile and stayed on for years. I became part of that past after being elected 1987 as chairman of the Students’ Organization of Nairobi University while Miguna Miguna served under me as Finance Secretary.

As told by Miguna, a few days later, we were expelled and we, their leaders, ended up in Nyayo House; the bit he left out was that I, his chairman, was jailed for five years while he and the rest were released.

What many do not understand is that being in exile is not synonymous with being in the struggle. Exile in practice offers continuity to dissidents so as to dissuade them from their revolutionary commitment if any. Those who come back with PHDs and careers in readiness for absorption in the system as privileged labour, fall in this category.

Exile therefore had two categories of people. There were those who perceived exile as a disorientation from their career pursuits locally and hence considered an opportunity to carry on from where they left a windfall to grab and abandon or relegate the struggle to the secondary plane.

This category exaggerated their profile to the UNHCR as targeted dissidents so as to win priority for relocation to ‘lands of opportunity’. It is a cocktail of careerists, job seekers, citizenship seekers, fortune seekers and half-hearted strugglers. In the Kenyan context, they were the externally based version of opportunists.

The other category was composed of men and women who left for exile bitter that they were delinking with the theatre of struggle for change. They crossed the borders weeping for a lost opportunity to institute change from within.

They lobbied for accommodation in the neigh boring countries and whenever they were relocated to the West, they found their way back so as to guarantee a more relevant struggle. Hon Koigi wa Wamwere stands out as a remarkable illustration of this patriotic spirit having been arrested in Nairobi in 1990 despite being the most high profile freedom fighter and anti-establishment leader then exiled in Norway.

The contrast on the other hand were the likes of Oginga Ogego, the current high Commissioner to the US, in early 1992 who rejected pleas from Prof. Miceere Mugo and Dr. Adhu Awiti that he joins us in the military training camp. He instead opted for a degree in Makerere. Efforts in getting comrades from Europe failed despite funds for their air transport being available. We only got some from Tanzania.

With due respect, Miguna was never in this category. He still pursued his personal dreams in Canada like his counterpart Ogego. No wonder his court cases in Canada and ours are radically different in substance.

I find Miguna Miguna’s belligerency and self-righteousness evil in our efforts to re-invent the nation-the principal contradiction of the moment. Why does he accuse the others of being opportunistic when he came back because of spotting opportunities brought into existence by those he recklessly dismisses?


By the way, the late Dr. Mukaru Ng’ang’a and Hon. George Anyona returned and contested for presidency in 1992. What patriotic duty was he still handing between 1992 and 2007 in Canada?


Wafula Buke is a perennial struggler for change in Kenya.

SORRY NERAH-

I HAD TO POST MIGUNA MIGUNA'S RESPONSE IN FULL I RESPONSE TO WAFULA BUKE'S CONCOCTED LIES- I WONDER WHO PAID HIM $$$$ NO SURPRISE "PNU" ONCE DEFEATED ON THE CITIZEN ISSUE THEY HAD TO FIND A LAME DUCK TO DO THEIR DIRTY JOB YET AGAIN.. ALA!! THEY SINCERELY THINK KENYANS ARE FOOLS??

A Response to Naked Lies and Concoctions
« Thread Started on Feb 20, 2007, 6:36pm »
A RESPONSE TO NAKED LIES IN JALUO .COM

By MIGUNA MIGUNA, February 19, 2007

I have read with interest the false statements published in Jaluo.com by one “Arum Tidi” purportedly from Nyando, and repeated by others in different Internet-based fora.

I am certain that “Arum Tidi” is being used here cowardly by a person we all know very well in a desperate attempt to hide from liability. The good news is that I know the real person trying to hide behind the nom de plume: “Arum Tidi.”

I am not in the habit of responding to naked lies, concoctions, contusions, defamation and libel in this way. As a lawyer who actively litigates civil matters, and has done so for more than twelve years, I know how to hit back at defamers in a meaningful way, and I promise to do that against this coward very soon.

However, there are certain aspects of the publication that must be confronted head-on because to ignore it might mislead those who are unaware of the FACTS to confuse these concoctions as being either complete or half truth.

First, my true legal names are: Miguna Miguna. “Joshua” is not my name. I legally excised “Joshua” in 1997, not because I belonged to an anti-Christ movement as falsely alleged; but due to the fact that I eventually reconciled myself with my authentic African heritage. There was no “Joshua” anywhere in my lineage and I could not understand why I had to continue with that irrelevant appendage. It was a matter of choice.

Second, I was elected a student leader at the University of Nairobi in 1987 as a representative of the Faculty of Arts in the Students’ Organization of Nairobi University (SONU). Once in the Students’ Representative Council (SRC), the latter elected me to the position of Finance Secretary. At the same time, I served as the Vice-Chair of Kisumu University Students’ Association (KIDUSA) from 1986 to 1987. In addition, the SRC elected me the Managing Editor of the University of Nairobi student newspaper, the Campus Mirror.

At dawn on November 14, 1987, I, together with Wafula Buke (SONU chair); Munameza Muleji (Foreign Secretary); Oyuo Ngala Amuomo (Education Secretary); Kaberere Njenga (Secretary General); and Munoru Nderi (Vice-Chair), were kidnapped by the Kanu/Moi security forces, detained incommunicado and tortured for one month before being expelled from the University. Buke was subsequently jailed for five years with tramped up charges.

University of Nairobi students rose up in protest over our arrests and illegal detentions immediately following our abductions. In response, the government closed down the University indefinitely; banned SONU and accused the detained student leaders of a number of false things, including an alleged plot to overthrow it with the assistance of Uganda, Libya, the Apartheid South Africa and some Christian Fundamentalist groups purportedly based in the United States of America. We were also roundly accused of trying to spread communism among students at the University. Demonstrations were held all over the country against us.

And of course, none of the allegations was true!

In December 1987, I, together with Munoru Nderi, James Anampiu, Peter Gakiri (Catering Secretary); and J.T. Ogola fled Kenya to Tanzania. We stayed in Tanzania for two months during which time we were joined by Omill Oloo (SONU representative in Kabete Campus) before being airlifted by the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner for Refugees to the Kingdom of Swaziland. The UNHCR kept us in Swaziland for six months before the Canadian government brought us to Canada as government sponsored conventional refugees.

I registered at the University of Toronto in September 1988 and graduated in record speed in June 1990 with a B.A. with distinction. I immediately applied for, did my Law School Admission Exams and was admitted to Osgoode Hall Law School of York University in September 1990. I graduated from Osgoode Law School with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in June 1993, articled and did my Bar, and was called to the Ontario Bar in February 1995.

Third, I set up my law practice in Toronto in 1995. I have been providing legal services in Criminal, Constitutional, Civil, Immigration/Refugee Law and Family Law ever since.

In 2001, I graduated with a Master of Laws (LLM) degree with distinction from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, Canada.

Fourth, in addition to practicing law, I am also a certified mediator and Alternative Dispute Resolution consultant. My practice continues as usual.

Fifth, I am somewhat humbled to learn that “Arum Tidi,” though supposed to be in Nyando (where his poorly written unauthorized biography was concocted), has spared time to update people all over the world of where and how I practice law. I encourage him to market my services aggressively because as a self-employed lawyer, I am always looking out for new work.

Sixth, I have published four books. They are: Songs of Fire (Poetry, 1994); Africa’s Volcanic Song (Poetry, 1995); Disgraceful Osgoode and Other Essays (Non Fiction, 1994); and Toes Have Tales (Fiction, 1995). Many of you have also come across my commentaries and opinions in both Kenyan papers and various fora. As well, I have authored many journal articles and poems. These have been published all over the world.

Seventh, contrary to myths and some unpopular beliefs, I was a founder and first chair of a Kenyan organization in Canada called Committee for Democracy in Kenya (CDK). We founded this organization at the height of the Kanu/Moi repression with Willy Mutunga, Peter Omondi Obanda, Onyango Oloo, Adongo Ogony, Perez Oyugi, James Karanga Nga’ng’a and others. CDK vigorously advocated for democracy, good governance, an end to political repression and economic crimes in Kenya at a time when even imagining to be a Kanu/Moi opponent was supposed to be criminal and many people now shouting about freedom and democracy were literally either hiding or condemning us.

I forgive them for they know not what they are doing.

Eighth, over more than a decade, I have assisted thousands of Africans (primarily Kenyans) fleeing from political and economic brutality. I have also assisted Kenyan business people and leaders navigate the intricacies of international business and politics in the process. As well, legend has it that my nimble tongue and potent brain have conspired to produce a legion of successes, many of which like with all success, is rarely spoken about, mentioned or discussed. That is the nature of life and I have humbly accepted its verdict. History, however, will record my contributions more accurately, and hopefully, favourably.

Ninth, my home is Kenya, Africa, although what I regard as my “constituency” in Kenyan parlance is Nyando. I do not subscribe to clan, village, tribal or sectarian politics. I strongly eschew tribalism and racism, among other xenophobia.

Although the cowardly unauthorized false biography by “Arum Tidi” claimed that Wawidhi is a small sub-clan; it isn’t. Wawidhi is a geographic location populated by a number of large and prominent clans such as Kimira, Kanyilum, Kakmie, Tura, Kochogo, Wan’gaya, Katolo and others. According to the voting figures of 2002, Wawidhi alone contributed 13,865 voters in a constituency that had less than twice that number.

And tenth, I have no comment with respect to the number of cattle Wawidhi people once had, except to say that historically, there was a time that Luo people judged how wealthy, influential and respected a person (invariably a man) had by the number of cattle he had. That might have changed over the years. But I am not one who is ashamed of our people’s poverty, ignorance or backwardness. These offer challenges for creative, thoughtful and development conscious people and leaders to confront. I have played my part over the years and hope to continue doing so in the future.

As for the false allegation that I was “a double agent” at the University of Nairobi; I do not know what these terms mean when applied on me because I have never ever compromised my principles at the alter of cheap, selfish and fleeting interests. Anybody claiming otherwise needs to adduce concrete, reliable and credible evidence of any such allegations; not defamatory statements and trashy gossip couched up as “news.” I consider these allegations comical in many respects.

Fortunately for me, my academic, professional, literary and political records speak for themselves.

Finally, I wish to categorically state that I have never been denied access to Honourable Raila Odinga be it in Kenya or abroad. In fact, I cannot be denied access because I have direct access to Hon. Odinga. There was no way any so-called “security detail” could have prevented me from seeing Hon. Odinga, for indeed I met him more than five separate times and held private discussions with him.

I am deeply involved in Hon. Raila Odinga’s presidential campaign and no amount of false propaganda will change that.

The claim that I was “sighted” near Foreign minister Raphael Tuju’s office or that I have links to the Kenyan Ambassador to the U.S.A., Rateng’ Oginga Ogego, do not deserve a response. I treat them with the contempt that they deserve.

I do not engage in pettiness or petty fights. The individuals and so-called organizations that feel legitimate grievances against me should either address their concerns to me in a coherent and logical manner or deal with the same in a civilized and mature manner. Cowardly defamatory publications bearing fake names shall never deter me. You can take that to the bank!

Nyando people, like all human beings, have brains of their own. When the time comes, they will elect a Member of Parliament that they want. No one can hope to dictate who will or will not be a leader in Kenya.

As for anyone who intends to defame me, I wish to reiterate that my response, as usual, shall strike like lightning.

Thank you for reading this response. I encourage everyone to engage in productive exercises and not these useless shadow boxing. If the foregoing is what is called arrogance, so be it!


MIGUNA MIGUNA

NB: I will not engage anyone on any debate over this issue on this or any other forum. . Sincere apologies to James Karanja Ng'ang'a who was inadvertently referred to as Karanja Njoroge. James and not Karanja Njoroge participated in the CDK. The two are seperate individuals. (MM)

[Onyango Oloo]

Fellow Members of Jukwaa:

It is really PAINFUL to read comrades and colleagues going at each other hammers and tongs here on this forum administered by yet another comrade.

I have known both Miguna and Buke for a very long time and I deeply respect both of them for their patriotic contributions to bring about meaninful, democratic change in Kenya- a project that is still ongoing.

It is particularly disheartening to see Buke take on Miguna- a fellow compatriot who was victimized with him when they were both student leaders at the University of Nairobi in the late 1980s.

Today they are BOTH working for very powerful politicians who are high up in the ODM hierarchy and the Grand Coalition Government.

Miguna is an advisor to Raila Odinga who happens to be the Prime Minister of Kenya and the Party Leader of the ODM.

Buke is a personal assistant to William Ruto who happens to the Deputy Party Leader of ODM and the Minister for Agriculture.

The evolution of their politics has been complex and I, for one is not a position to judge either one.

I have spoken to Wafula Buke who retains a very deep admiration for Raila Odinga. He disclosed to me the circumstances under which he became Ruto's Personal Assistant- and I completely understand these reasons. There is nothing which implies that he has in any way compromised his former militant views through his current employment.

It is also obvious, at least judging from the contents of his essays that Miguna has not watered down his frank opinions on a whole range of political issues affecting Kenya- despite his official position which is that of a Permanent Secretary in charge of Coalition Affairs.

Comrades- and here I am talking to directly to Buke and Miguna- I will contact both of you later today and invite both of you to this thread if you are not already aware that it is running here on Jukwaa- Comrades, let us remember our history and joint sacrifices.

The very nature of national liberation struggle implies COLLECTIVE, JOINT ACTION. None of us can be heroes or sheroes as INDIVIDUALS.

We all know our contributions- and the limitations of those contributions.

Whether we were in prison or exile; whether we were expelled or not; whether we joined mainstream political parties or remained underground; whether we mulled over armed struggle or joined religious forums- what matters is the sincerity, quality and consistency of our contributions to the difficult struggle to help liberate our country.

Today, nobody speaks of the role of Kenyan youth (many, but not all of them being radical university students) who paid, sometimes with their own lives to battle and wrestle the Moi-KANU monster to the ground from the late seventies throughout the nineties.

Some like Buke were tortured and horribly brutalized by state goons.

Others like Miguna, facing the same terrors, were compelled to flee from the country to save their very lives.

Who is to say that Onyango Oloo and Adongo Ogony were better revolutionaries than the Wafula Bukes and Kabereres who stayed behind?

Who is to say whether the Bukes in Nairobi were ipso facto MORE COURAGEOUS than the Migunas and Mwandawiros who sought refuge in North America and Europe?

Who is to judge the Jembe Mwakalus who left the core of underground movements like the Kenya Anti-Imperialist Front and Uwake to run for parliament under KANU, being appointed an assistant minister in the process?

Who knew that Adhu Awiti was once the Chairperson of the Me Katilili Revolutionary Movement before he later became the Minister for National Planning under Daniel arap Moi?

The Oginga Ogego who is now an unabashed Kibaki and PNU apologist was once a personal aide to Raila Odinga and when we were in Kamiti, MORE MILITANT than Mwandawiro Mghanga, Maina wa Kinyatti and Onyango Oloo.

Comrades:

What are we doing to ourselves?

At the end of the day the Migunas, the Bukes, the Kabereres and the Kabeberis will be feted and buried by their own comrades rather than any mainstream politicians they happen to be working for.

Beyond paid employment are our core patriotic and revolutionary principles- those are the ties that bind.

People here on Jukwaa have seen me lock horns more than a few times with Miguna- when we were both still in Canada and when we both relocated to Kenya. What people do not know that we have always been in touch, always remained friends, always sharing the trials and tribulations of our personal, professional and political lives.

Buke and Oloo do not agree one hundred per cent on everything. But everyone time I run into Wafula- whether it is outside 20th Century or Simmers or the City Market, Buke will always make a point of suggesting we go somewhere and share a plate of fruit salad or a couple of bottles of beer and always political debate, discussion and conversation.

As most activists reading these lines know, revolutiionaries have a reputation for being frank, honest and open with other comrades almost to the point that if you do not know them personally, you will assume that they are about to murder each other.

So to that extent, one cannot begrudge Wafula Buke for his opinion piece on Miguna Miguna.

What you will not see for example is an Onyango Oloo going after a Mwandawiro Mghanga in Jukwaa or a public forum just because the former has resigned from the SDP as Secretary General which the latter still serves as the National Chairperson.

We have other avenues to raise ideological issues with other comrades- not email list servs, online discussion forums or the columns of newspaper forums.

So I plead with my comrade Miguna- please do not be tempted to respond to your comrade Buke.

And to comrade Buke please seek out Miguna- you both live in the same city and work for politicians in the same party serving in the same cabinet. Call Miguna; call me- let's go out to Ongata Rongai or Kosewe or Simmers or anywhere, roast a goat and talks things over as COMRADES- not sworn political adversaries for goodness sake!

Onyango Oloo
Nairobi, Kenya

[roughrider]

Wafula Buke, unfortunately, is jealous. It is evident from his writing that his throat aches as he witnesses erudite after erudite article bearing Miguna Miguna’s names. He wonders, green with envy, why Miguna is at the centre of Kenya’s coalition management politics and constitutional review debates, and not he, Wafula Buke; for after all, it is his girlfriend who aborted multiple times when he was in jail.

Miguna must be proud to invite such petty jealousies. What usually happens when you are intelligent, articulate, witty is that your adversaries resort to argumentum ad hominem (read PNU, Kamale etc). Even your citizenship – a birthright - could suddenly be matter of question! At that point you should know that they have nothing to your arguments. Unfortunately, some of your supposed comrades (read Wafula Buke), taken by the green-eyed monster, also join in.

Of course we can all attack 'Miguna Miguna' till the cows come home. What we cannot take away, however, is the true history of Miguna’s relentless struggle for transformation on Kenya. He has been relentless.

This emotional outburst by Mr. Buke is intensely personal but ultimately pointless and irrelevant to the struggle for change. But remarkably, it is also poorly constructed and written. Op-ed’s are clearly not Mr. Buke’s forte. Even if he was driven to write, why didn’t Mr Buke write – as Miguna does countless times - with suggestions for breaking the current impasse over katiba? Or Mau? Or youth unemployment? Or dealing with post-election violence? Mr also Buke has a problem with education. It would have been amusing, if it weren’t so tragic, to see a ‘comrade’ jest at colleagues for having chosen to pursue degrees instead of military training. It exposes a small mind.

Ultimately the reality is this: Wafula Buke may have made some contributions to the struggle for democratic change in the past. Whether he actually achieved anything is debatable. But that was then. Today, I can hardly locate him in any significant reformist gains. Wafula Buke cannot hold a candle to Miguna Miguna.

[roughrider]

Oloo – We have just seen your response. You need to be more courageous in calling out adversaries and comrades alike, when they err. Perhaps when you meet Mr Buke for nyama choma, you should ask if his ‘personal assistance’ of William Ruto is responsible for the streak of militancy, tribalism, insubordination and general matope that the Eldoret North politician spews.

[phil]

Jan 20, 2010 9:44:07 GMT 3 @roughrider said:

Wafula Buke, unfortunately, is jealous. It is evident from his writing that his throat aches as he witnesses erudite after erudite article bearing Miguna Miguna’s names. He wonders, green with envy, why Miguna is at the centre of Kenya’s coalition management politics and constitutional review debates, and not he, Wafula Buke; for after all, it is his girlfriend who aborted multiple times when he was in jail.

Miguna must be proud to invite such petty jealousies. What usually happens when you are intelligent, articulate, witty is that your adversaries resort to argumentum ad hominem (read PNU, Kamale etc). Even your citizenship – a birthright - could suddenly be matter of question! At that point you should know that they have nothing to your arguments. Unfortunately, some of your supposed comrades (read Wafula Buke), taken by the green-eyed monster, also join in.

Of course we can all attack 'Miguna Miguna' till the cows come home. What we cannot take away, however, is the true history of Miguna’s relentless struggle for transformation on Kenya. He has been relentless.

This emotional outburst by Mr. Buke is intensely personal but ultimately pointless and irrelevant to the struggle for change. But remarkably, it is also poorly constructed and written. Op-ed’s are clearly not Mr. Buke’s forte. Even if he was driven to write, why didn’t Mr Buke write – as Miguna does countless times - with suggestions for breaking the current impasse over katiba? Or Mau? Or youth unemployment? Or dealing with post-election violence? Mr also Buke has a problem with education. It would have been amusing, if it weren’t so tragic, to see a ‘comrade’ jest at colleagues for having chosen to pursue degrees instead of military training. It exposes a small mind.

Ultimately the reality is this: Wafula Buke may have made some contributions to the struggle for democratic change in the past. Whether he actually achieved anything is debatable. But that was then. Today, I can hardly locate him in any significant reformist gains. Wafula Buke cannot hold a candle to Miguna Miguna.

Dada Roughrider

Thank you. About time, I couldn't have said it better myself. Please keep visiting and posting these kind of comments, we miss them!!

There are far much bigger issues to tackle than a so-called comrade taking on Miguna Miguna whose only 'crime' appears to have had the guts to call out Moi, Kalonzo and Ruto for what they are!

Being detained/jailed for 5 years, although painful enough, is now water under the bridge and is nothing worth chest thumping about. We, the junior liberation strugglers can as well talk about plenty of sacrifices we made and continue to make for LDP, NARC, ODM-K and ODM, but we cannot under whatever circumstances belittle what others in the same movement have done nor attempt to elevate ourselves to a class above fellow citizens in the same movement.