Post by miguna on Feb 23, 2006 18:06:54 GMT 3
THE GOVERNMENT KILLED OUR BELOVED CHILD –
WE MUST NOT ALLOW IT TO KILL OUR SPIRITS AS WELL
By MIGUNA MIGUNA* - 22 February 2006
It is saddening to note that when directly confronted by serious corruption scandals, the Kibaki government has resorted to diversionary strategies and open bribery of politicians in order to maintain itself in power.
The sudden “official” resurgence of interest in the Goldenberg scandal and its culprits was certainly aimed at hoodwinking Kenyans into thinking that the government was finally acting on grand corruption.
The scarlet political dances that Kibaki decoys have been performing on the Kenyan stage – the much hyped but belated Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission summons, the high profile passport withdrawals and cancellations, the revocation of firearm licenses, the purported restrictions on overseas travels, the threatened freezing of suspected accounts, the loudly announced “intentions” to seize assets and the umpteenth declaration that “high profile corruption related arrests would soon begin” – were choreographed and telegraphed to numb our indignations at the government. They were also meant to sideswipe and blindfold our focus and apparent resolution to unearth all the scandals and relegate those responsible to political dustbins.
But whenever State House master strategists and spin doctors have tried a trick or two, both the ordinary Kenyans and their energetic media have resoundingly responded with even more heightened and vigorous demands that those culpable must not simply resign, address press conferences or issue written denials – they must also be arrested, charged and prosecuted.
The more the government apologists have presented bland explanations and justifications, the more the din of public indignation has risen. The half-hearted resignation of Finance Minister David Mwiraria was followed by the Presidentially-announced “stepping aside” of both Professor George Saitoti and Kiraitu Murungi. But even these have not brought the much hoped for respite.
As days turn into weeks, more revelations of hitherto unknown scandals are quickly emerging, and in the process, rocking the weak and shaky foundations of power. Once the central pillars (Murungaru, Kiraitu, Mwiraria and Getonga) were wounded and abandoned by the way side, the ferocity of anti-corruption storm turned its ire on the foundation still trying to hold president Kibaki in power. And as the tsunami comes to the fore and nears the shoreline of the central political establishment, the entire Kibaki administration – the cabinet, civil service, military establishment, the intelligence and business magnets – is beginning to show signs of imminent permanent demise.
The visible signs of the regime’s impending fatal implosion have not numbed the popular drive for political blood. On the contrary, it has actually rejuvenated it.
Rather than die down, the people’s demands have escalated to a crescendo. The public, media and international pounding of the Kibaki government has reached a point where there seem to be no logical reason for the regime to continue playing diversionary games.
Unfortunately, president Kibaki shows obvious visible signs of not having learnt from the Bomas defeat. He also never learnt any lessons from the recent referendum humiliation. One would have expected that at least the current overwhelming demands and outcry from both local and international communities would rekindle his frozen consciousness. But perhaps such expectations are too naïve and optimistic.
The first indication that this government was determined to stay in power even if it meant using underhanded, irregular and plainly illegal strategies was evident when it tried to force and cajole Kenyans into accepting a faulty constitutional draft whose primary purpose was purely a selfish desire to retain imperial powers within one cabal.
The fact that the government felt the need to purport to adopt the constitutional review process as its own child when the child’s legitimate parents – the sovereign people of Kenya – were alive, well and asserting their parental care and responsibilities over the child was a clear signal that those wielding state power were desperate. However, the desperation turned into lunacy when those in power resolved that they would suffocate and kill the child if the child’s parents refused to permit the attempt to adopt her forcefully. Such an act, although previously considered inept and reckless, then veered to the realm of political insanity before reaching its current criminal territory, where it remains transfixed, staring at its ultimate Waterloo.
The announcement by the government that it was raising the emoluments of its ministers and members of parliament to levels higher than any other, even in developed rich countries, comes at a time when the regime is cornered – literally. It feels that with Parliament’s recall now inevitable, the only way to continue clinging on to power is to try and bribe parliamentarians with money that the country does not have, can ill afford and that the politicians do not deserve.
It is not possible to understand how any government could unilaterally increase ministers’ and MPs’ salaries and benefits, in the middle of a fiscal year, without the approval of parliament. If the current fiscal year’s allocations had been budgeted for and approved, how does the government find money to pay for these whopping increases?
Can the government also explain where it got the more than Sh12 billion it reportedly spent on the referendum? Can it also explain how each and every cent of those billions were spent and by whom?
I suspect that these figures prove, more than anything else – even more than what is contained in the John Githongo’s famous dossier - that Kenyans have been repeatedly and royally swindled by gate keepers they had elected to provide security for and be custodians over the public’s coffers. Kenyans elected foxes and allowed them near the house, where they have predictably turned on the household’s chicken. To save the remaining chicken, we must first get rid of the foxes rummaging through the house – metaphorically speaking. One cannot negotiate with a fox over its natural tendency to cause havoc to chicken. The only solution is to promptly and permanently terminate the relationship between the fox and household and ex-communicate the fox to the wild. After all, the fox was never supposed to reside in the household, anyway. Alternatively, one can also call the veterinarian and “put the animal to sleep,” as the North American parlance politely puts it.
Coming at a time when billions of shillings have been lost in official corruption; when those implicated in such corrupt scandals are not just sitting high and mighty in the government, but continue to thumb their noses at the public; and when Kenyans are starving to death in their thousands while many others face imminent death from artificially caused famine, the Kibaki regime’s irresponsible astronomical pay loot (for it is not a legitimate “raise”) has eloquently demonstrated that this outlaw regime is not just a criminal outfit, it is also incorrigibly inhumane.
I strongly believe that this regime is completely incapable of investigating and prosecuting those responsible for corruption. Since most of its members are either perpetrators or beneficiaries of such corruption, it is impossible to expect the culprits to investigate, prosecute and punish themselves.
The best way forward – other than the resignation of this government so that Kenyans can decide on whom to entrust with political power – is for parliament to select a team of special investigators and prosecutors. These individuals should not be Kenya Government employees. In fact, they should never have worked for the Kenya Government in any significant capacity at any time. Neither should they have worked as consultants, advocates, agents or representatives of the said government. Essentially, this disqualifies the KACC and its overpaid director, the Kenya Police, most of the prominent Kenyan Advocates and Judicial officers as well as any foreigners that have conducted business with the Kenya Government or its representatives.
What I am proposing is similar to the position that was occupied by President Clinton’s Special Prosecutor during the Monica Lewinsky saga in the United States of America, Kenneth Starr. Absent total independence of the investigation, prosecution and judicial teams over these corruption scandals, Kenyans will never see justice done on past and present cases.
The bravado so far expressed by Moody Awori, David Mwiraria, George Saitoti, Kiraitu Murungi and Chris Murungaru are exemplifications of why we urgently need an independent outside force to deal with these cases.
The government already killed our beloved child - the Bomas Draft - we must not let it kill our spirits as well.
______________________________________________________________________
*The writer is a Kenyan practicing law in Toronto, Canada
WE MUST NOT ALLOW IT TO KILL OUR SPIRITS AS WELL
By MIGUNA MIGUNA* - 22 February 2006
It is saddening to note that when directly confronted by serious corruption scandals, the Kibaki government has resorted to diversionary strategies and open bribery of politicians in order to maintain itself in power.
The sudden “official” resurgence of interest in the Goldenberg scandal and its culprits was certainly aimed at hoodwinking Kenyans into thinking that the government was finally acting on grand corruption.
The scarlet political dances that Kibaki decoys have been performing on the Kenyan stage – the much hyped but belated Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission summons, the high profile passport withdrawals and cancellations, the revocation of firearm licenses, the purported restrictions on overseas travels, the threatened freezing of suspected accounts, the loudly announced “intentions” to seize assets and the umpteenth declaration that “high profile corruption related arrests would soon begin” – were choreographed and telegraphed to numb our indignations at the government. They were also meant to sideswipe and blindfold our focus and apparent resolution to unearth all the scandals and relegate those responsible to political dustbins.
But whenever State House master strategists and spin doctors have tried a trick or two, both the ordinary Kenyans and their energetic media have resoundingly responded with even more heightened and vigorous demands that those culpable must not simply resign, address press conferences or issue written denials – they must also be arrested, charged and prosecuted.
The more the government apologists have presented bland explanations and justifications, the more the din of public indignation has risen. The half-hearted resignation of Finance Minister David Mwiraria was followed by the Presidentially-announced “stepping aside” of both Professor George Saitoti and Kiraitu Murungi. But even these have not brought the much hoped for respite.
As days turn into weeks, more revelations of hitherto unknown scandals are quickly emerging, and in the process, rocking the weak and shaky foundations of power. Once the central pillars (Murungaru, Kiraitu, Mwiraria and Getonga) were wounded and abandoned by the way side, the ferocity of anti-corruption storm turned its ire on the foundation still trying to hold president Kibaki in power. And as the tsunami comes to the fore and nears the shoreline of the central political establishment, the entire Kibaki administration – the cabinet, civil service, military establishment, the intelligence and business magnets – is beginning to show signs of imminent permanent demise.
The visible signs of the regime’s impending fatal implosion have not numbed the popular drive for political blood. On the contrary, it has actually rejuvenated it.
Rather than die down, the people’s demands have escalated to a crescendo. The public, media and international pounding of the Kibaki government has reached a point where there seem to be no logical reason for the regime to continue playing diversionary games.
Unfortunately, president Kibaki shows obvious visible signs of not having learnt from the Bomas defeat. He also never learnt any lessons from the recent referendum humiliation. One would have expected that at least the current overwhelming demands and outcry from both local and international communities would rekindle his frozen consciousness. But perhaps such expectations are too naïve and optimistic.
The first indication that this government was determined to stay in power even if it meant using underhanded, irregular and plainly illegal strategies was evident when it tried to force and cajole Kenyans into accepting a faulty constitutional draft whose primary purpose was purely a selfish desire to retain imperial powers within one cabal.
The fact that the government felt the need to purport to adopt the constitutional review process as its own child when the child’s legitimate parents – the sovereign people of Kenya – were alive, well and asserting their parental care and responsibilities over the child was a clear signal that those wielding state power were desperate. However, the desperation turned into lunacy when those in power resolved that they would suffocate and kill the child if the child’s parents refused to permit the attempt to adopt her forcefully. Such an act, although previously considered inept and reckless, then veered to the realm of political insanity before reaching its current criminal territory, where it remains transfixed, staring at its ultimate Waterloo.
The announcement by the government that it was raising the emoluments of its ministers and members of parliament to levels higher than any other, even in developed rich countries, comes at a time when the regime is cornered – literally. It feels that with Parliament’s recall now inevitable, the only way to continue clinging on to power is to try and bribe parliamentarians with money that the country does not have, can ill afford and that the politicians do not deserve.
It is not possible to understand how any government could unilaterally increase ministers’ and MPs’ salaries and benefits, in the middle of a fiscal year, without the approval of parliament. If the current fiscal year’s allocations had been budgeted for and approved, how does the government find money to pay for these whopping increases?
Can the government also explain where it got the more than Sh12 billion it reportedly spent on the referendum? Can it also explain how each and every cent of those billions were spent and by whom?
I suspect that these figures prove, more than anything else – even more than what is contained in the John Githongo’s famous dossier - that Kenyans have been repeatedly and royally swindled by gate keepers they had elected to provide security for and be custodians over the public’s coffers. Kenyans elected foxes and allowed them near the house, where they have predictably turned on the household’s chicken. To save the remaining chicken, we must first get rid of the foxes rummaging through the house – metaphorically speaking. One cannot negotiate with a fox over its natural tendency to cause havoc to chicken. The only solution is to promptly and permanently terminate the relationship between the fox and household and ex-communicate the fox to the wild. After all, the fox was never supposed to reside in the household, anyway. Alternatively, one can also call the veterinarian and “put the animal to sleep,” as the North American parlance politely puts it.
Coming at a time when billions of shillings have been lost in official corruption; when those implicated in such corrupt scandals are not just sitting high and mighty in the government, but continue to thumb their noses at the public; and when Kenyans are starving to death in their thousands while many others face imminent death from artificially caused famine, the Kibaki regime’s irresponsible astronomical pay loot (for it is not a legitimate “raise”) has eloquently demonstrated that this outlaw regime is not just a criminal outfit, it is also incorrigibly inhumane.
I strongly believe that this regime is completely incapable of investigating and prosecuting those responsible for corruption. Since most of its members are either perpetrators or beneficiaries of such corruption, it is impossible to expect the culprits to investigate, prosecute and punish themselves.
The best way forward – other than the resignation of this government so that Kenyans can decide on whom to entrust with political power – is for parliament to select a team of special investigators and prosecutors. These individuals should not be Kenya Government employees. In fact, they should never have worked for the Kenya Government in any significant capacity at any time. Neither should they have worked as consultants, advocates, agents or representatives of the said government. Essentially, this disqualifies the KACC and its overpaid director, the Kenya Police, most of the prominent Kenyan Advocates and Judicial officers as well as any foreigners that have conducted business with the Kenya Government or its representatives.
What I am proposing is similar to the position that was occupied by President Clinton’s Special Prosecutor during the Monica Lewinsky saga in the United States of America, Kenneth Starr. Absent total independence of the investigation, prosecution and judicial teams over these corruption scandals, Kenyans will never see justice done on past and present cases.
The bravado so far expressed by Moody Awori, David Mwiraria, George Saitoti, Kiraitu Murungi and Chris Murungaru are exemplifications of why we urgently need an independent outside force to deal with these cases.
The government already killed our beloved child - the Bomas Draft - we must not let it kill our spirits as well.
______________________________________________________________________
*The writer is a Kenyan practicing law in Toronto, Canada
