Post by subsaharanite on Oct 20, 2011 4:55:52 GMT 3
I have always imagined that there are no clear divisions amongst the house of you know who. This man Ngunjiri Wambugu thinks otherwise. If what he says is true, UK has an even bigger fight right at his homestead.
Team Uhuru is currently engaged in a region-wide propaganda campaign that is running primarily on Kikuyu vernacular radio stations supported by intra-central region political activities and rallies. The message is that Uhuru Kenyatta is the 'heir' to President Mwai Kibaki’s perceived four million-strong vote bloc and that Kikuyus must support Uhuru so that he can be the next President in 2012. This message is silent in the role of the other 82per cent non-Kikuyu Kenyans in this matter, but that is a discussion for another day.
This is a powerful strategy in a region still reeling from unresolved ethnic-related political violence during the last election, and that is now considering an upcoming political transition. Basically Kikuyus are being asked to ‘kaa hivyo hivyo’ in 2012 because Uhuru is like Kibaki. Unfortunately this is a Big Lie that borrows quite heavily from Adolf Hitler’s book ‘Mein Kampf’ written in 1925. In his book Hitler stated that when one lies it should be such a colossal lie that no one will believe that anyone could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.
The reasons why I call Team-Uhuru’s propaganda a big lie is because the idea that someone like Uhuru can sell the message ‘Kikuyus must vote as a block’ is amazing. This is the man who in 2002 split the Kikuyu vote when Kibaki was running for President! That anyone can suggest any similarities between Uhuru & Kibaki beyond the fact that they are Kikuyu male politicians shows a complete lack of faith in the specifically the Kikuyu/Mt Kenya voter’s abilities to tell fact from fiction, and the Kenyan voters new awareness of their responsibilities as voters.
Let me look at three examples of the differences between the two.
Team-Uhuru seeks to sell the point that those who support Kibaki do so because he is a Kikuyu. However Kibaki has never, to my recollection, sold himself as a Kikuyu candidate in any single election. To the contrary he has always been the one other Kikuyu candidates called a spoiler (In 1992, against Matiba: and in 2002 against Uhuru). Kibaki’s politics are also so ‘un-Kikuyu’ in that they are so non-confrontational— that at one point some Kikuyus coined the name General ‘Kiguoya’ (the coward) in reference to him. Even Uhuru once called it the ‘hands-off- legs-off, everything-off’ style. Kibaki’s politics is the kind that will engage and/or accommodate opinions of Kikuyus like Maina Kiai, Muthoni Wanyeki, Ndungu Wainanina, Njeri Kabeberi, etc: even when they do not agree. Compare this with Uhuru’s political style, and the fact that Team-Uhuru is desperately trying to portray all Kikuyus who do not agree with Uhuru as ‘traitors’.
The second thing the Team-Uhuru completely gloss over is the fact that Kibaki’s politics are very ‘petit bourgeoisie. Kibaki’s entire career his politics has been associated with middle class interests across all the communities. Uhuru’s politics on the other hand are quite clearly ‘haute bourgeoisie: about the interests of the capital owners. In fact I am convinced that this is why Team-Uhuru is in a panic about the other Kikuyu presidential aspirants. Martha Karua, Peter Kenneth and Paul Muite’s politics are more attractive to Kibaki’s vote bloc, than Uhuru’s politics.
The third issue that Team-Uhuru propaganda must be evaluated against are the differences between the two leaders’ political personalities. In my opinion there is a sense in which one feels the overbearing presence of Uhuru Kenyatta and/or Team Uhuru in Kenya’s political arena. Compare that with Team Kibaki who we only feel directly when we are stuck in traffic jam!
Sometimes when I compare the two leaders I feel as if whereas Team Kibaki operates on the basis that it is a privilege to lead Kenya, and thus observes certain tenets of humility in their public engagements: Team Uhuru operates on the basis that their man was born in State house & deserves to go back there! In addition, has anyone ever considered whether in 2008, all things being constant but with Uhuru as President instead of Kibaki, Uhuru would have accepted a Coalition Government? Or whether under an Uhuru Presidency Kenya would now have a new constitution?
The psychology behind the ‘Big Lie’ strategy is that one should never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy and blame him for everything that goes wrong; and that people will always believe a big lie sooner than a little one; especially if you repeat it frequently enough.
Unfortunately a detailed look at the differences between Uhuru and Kibaki shows clearly that Uhuru Kenyatta cannot possibly inherit President Kibaki’s votes anywhere, leave alone those in the Mt Kenya region. This does not mean that Kenyatta is not a worthy candidate for President in 2012: he has his own vote bloc especially amongst from Kiambu county who voted for him to the man in 2002.
Wambugu is the head of Change Associates.
Team Uhuru is currently engaged in a region-wide propaganda campaign that is running primarily on Kikuyu vernacular radio stations supported by intra-central region political activities and rallies. The message is that Uhuru Kenyatta is the 'heir' to President Mwai Kibaki’s perceived four million-strong vote bloc and that Kikuyus must support Uhuru so that he can be the next President in 2012. This message is silent in the role of the other 82per cent non-Kikuyu Kenyans in this matter, but that is a discussion for another day.
This is a powerful strategy in a region still reeling from unresolved ethnic-related political violence during the last election, and that is now considering an upcoming political transition. Basically Kikuyus are being asked to ‘kaa hivyo hivyo’ in 2012 because Uhuru is like Kibaki. Unfortunately this is a Big Lie that borrows quite heavily from Adolf Hitler’s book ‘Mein Kampf’ written in 1925. In his book Hitler stated that when one lies it should be such a colossal lie that no one will believe that anyone could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.
The reasons why I call Team-Uhuru’s propaganda a big lie is because the idea that someone like Uhuru can sell the message ‘Kikuyus must vote as a block’ is amazing. This is the man who in 2002 split the Kikuyu vote when Kibaki was running for President! That anyone can suggest any similarities between Uhuru & Kibaki beyond the fact that they are Kikuyu male politicians shows a complete lack of faith in the specifically the Kikuyu/Mt Kenya voter’s abilities to tell fact from fiction, and the Kenyan voters new awareness of their responsibilities as voters.
Let me look at three examples of the differences between the two.
Team-Uhuru seeks to sell the point that those who support Kibaki do so because he is a Kikuyu. However Kibaki has never, to my recollection, sold himself as a Kikuyu candidate in any single election. To the contrary he has always been the one other Kikuyu candidates called a spoiler (In 1992, against Matiba: and in 2002 against Uhuru). Kibaki’s politics are also so ‘un-Kikuyu’ in that they are so non-confrontational— that at one point some Kikuyus coined the name General ‘Kiguoya’ (the coward) in reference to him. Even Uhuru once called it the ‘hands-off- legs-off, everything-off’ style. Kibaki’s politics is the kind that will engage and/or accommodate opinions of Kikuyus like Maina Kiai, Muthoni Wanyeki, Ndungu Wainanina, Njeri Kabeberi, etc: even when they do not agree. Compare this with Uhuru’s political style, and the fact that Team-Uhuru is desperately trying to portray all Kikuyus who do not agree with Uhuru as ‘traitors’.
The second thing the Team-Uhuru completely gloss over is the fact that Kibaki’s politics are very ‘petit bourgeoisie. Kibaki’s entire career his politics has been associated with middle class interests across all the communities. Uhuru’s politics on the other hand are quite clearly ‘haute bourgeoisie: about the interests of the capital owners. In fact I am convinced that this is why Team-Uhuru is in a panic about the other Kikuyu presidential aspirants. Martha Karua, Peter Kenneth and Paul Muite’s politics are more attractive to Kibaki’s vote bloc, than Uhuru’s politics.
The third issue that Team-Uhuru propaganda must be evaluated against are the differences between the two leaders’ political personalities. In my opinion there is a sense in which one feels the overbearing presence of Uhuru Kenyatta and/or Team Uhuru in Kenya’s political arena. Compare that with Team Kibaki who we only feel directly when we are stuck in traffic jam!
Sometimes when I compare the two leaders I feel as if whereas Team Kibaki operates on the basis that it is a privilege to lead Kenya, and thus observes certain tenets of humility in their public engagements: Team Uhuru operates on the basis that their man was born in State house & deserves to go back there! In addition, has anyone ever considered whether in 2008, all things being constant but with Uhuru as President instead of Kibaki, Uhuru would have accepted a Coalition Government? Or whether under an Uhuru Presidency Kenya would now have a new constitution?
The psychology behind the ‘Big Lie’ strategy is that one should never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy and blame him for everything that goes wrong; and that people will always believe a big lie sooner than a little one; especially if you repeat it frequently enough.
Unfortunately a detailed look at the differences between Uhuru and Kibaki shows clearly that Uhuru Kenyatta cannot possibly inherit President Kibaki’s votes anywhere, leave alone those in the Mt Kenya region. This does not mean that Kenyatta is not a worthy candidate for President in 2012: he has his own vote bloc especially amongst from Kiambu county who voted for him to the man in 2002.
Wambugu is the head of Change Associates.