Post by adongo12345 on May 7, 2007 2:20:25 GMT 3
I lost respect for Makau Mutua a little while back when he came up with the rather silly idea that the only way Kenyans could deal with the stalemate over the constitution at the referendum where Kibaki and his crew were trying to impose a constitution on the nation was for Kenyans to boycott the referendum. Of course everybody knows boycotting the referendum would have been the surest way to give Kibaki what he wanted.
I thought that was as low as our "distinguished professor" could go. He has surpassed my estimation in a recent article entitled " Nelson Mandela or Idi Amin" Sunday Nation May 6, 2007.
In this piece, Mutua displays shocking and reckless disregard for facts and reality in Kenyan politics.
www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=56&newsid=97470
Mutua's intention it seems was to pour cold water on the anticipated launching of Raila Odinga's bid to be the next president of the republic of Kenya. You could have thought that it would make more sense to wait and listen to what Raila has to say before we respond to it. But No. Not for Mutua. Afterall he lives in a country where the doctrine of pre-emptive strike has currency in some quarters.
The very heading of the piece gives Mutua away. "Nelson Mandela or Idi Amin". Let's face it. There will never be another Nelson Mandela. Makau Mutua knows that. The idea here was to bring the Idi Amin image in relation to Raila. I find this uncouth and just plainly ignorant. I am not so sure it will achieve the desired effect.
Idi Amin took the leadership of Uganda through a bloody military coup. Raila is seeking the presidency of Kenya through the ballot box. Raila has come to Kenyans with his vision, his commitment and his tireless contribution to the good of the Kenyan people and is asking Kenyans to decide whether they think he has what it takes to lead the country to greater prosperity. How can a professor, a distinguished one, by his own declaration, miss that?
Let me get to Makau's so called five important keys in understanding Raila and his politics. Honestly I didn't know they teach "Raila" as a topic at the State University of New York, Buffalo. But that is another story.
One of the "keys" to understanding Raila according to Mutua is the fact that he is a scion of the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.
I knew Mutua was upto some mischief, when he started this way:
"he (Raila) is the scion of the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenya’s most celebrated and frustrated Opposition politician"
What is that about "most celebrated and frustrated Opposition politician"? Jaramogi Oginga Odinga was the first Vice President of the Republic of Kenya. That surely can't be opposition. How did he even get into the opposition? Should Prof. Mutua at least hint to that? What it is in our country that makes us fight together as a country for greater good to all and then as soon as we get to power we rush into our tribal enclaves and other "informal centres of power". That is an important thing to talk about. How did Kenyatta and Odinga/Kaggia/Oneko fallout?
I doubt it was as simple as the professor is trying to make it. Here he goes;
"Mr Kenyatta and his cohorts saw Jaramogi as the ideologue of a Luo-driven socialist insurgency within the State. The recent excellent political memoir by Mr Duncan Ndegwa, Kenya’s first black head of the Civil Service, says as much. This is how the appalling narrative of Kenya as a Kikuyu-Luo only country was constructed."
This is "appalling", to borrow your words, Professor. If I didn't know you, I would have thought this came from one of those cyber hit and run "Kikuyu-Luo" wanksters. What is this Kikuyu-Luo thing? Doesn't our history suggest otherwise?
The problem with history often is that you can't just cut and paste. You are going to get caught by the facts. Makau Mutua is about to learn that.
Still on the Luos, I think I am soon going to recommend Prof. Mutua as a specialist in "Luoism". Never mind if it doesn't exist now. We will invent it.
But here we go:
"The assassination in 1990 of Dr Robert Ouko, the urbane Luo Foreign minister, in which President Moi and some of his senior officials were implicated, solidified a sense of siege in the Luo nation. These events have led the Luo to believe that the Kenyan State is anti-Luo and that only a Luo head of state can cure this problem."
Now Ndugu Mutua, Kenyatta also assassinated our very beloved Josiah Mwangi Kariuki, did he not? I think you were in Nairobi campus at that time with your comrade Wanyiri Kihoro, who incidentally had very nice things to say about Raila at the Sunday May 26th launch.
My question to you. Did the the Kikuyus who very much loved JM as most Kenyans did feel the Kenyan State was against them after JM was assassinated?
How did they express their resentment? Or were they just happy, someone killed JM and threw his body to the hyenas in Ngong Forest? There was no "Kikuyu Psychosis" as a result of all these, Mr. Professor? If so, can we then say that this is something just unique to the Luos? Lets hear that part of the story too.
Prof., I think you need to check the works of Dr. Surman Fernando, a Sri Lankan born anti-racist psychiatrist based in Great Britain. His works will tell you that in the 19th century, "distinguished" psychiatrists mainly in the US and the UK actually diognised "racially" and "ethnically" based forms of "disorder", mainly to justify slavery and other forms of racial oppression of the "Black" races.
History has proved their "findings" were wrong and often racist. Check it out and compare it with your work on the "Luo Psychosis". You may be upto some award. Back to JM.
I may be mistaken but I think you are probably one of those who attended JM's funeral in Nyandarua. Kibaki was there too and he promised that even if it takes a hundred years, the killers of JM would be brought to book. I guess the hundred years haven't lapsed yet. You also know the first one they hit. Pio Gama Pinto. He was neither a Luo nor a Kikuyu, just a patriotic Kenyan.
My point here is that lets go slow on this tribal stuff and if we have to, back it up with facts and objective analysis so that it can help the nation to move forward. That is the only way to go as far as I can see.
Sadly the professor continues.
"Quiet frequently fire begets ash, but occasionally it spawns more fires. Jaramogi Oginga Odinga bequeathed his son a legacy of political determination that few Kenyan politicians can match. In a culture that worships heredity, he bestowed upon his son an almost unassailable status"
This is a very derogatory insult, which looks like one of Prof. Mutua's area of specialization. In fact a good read of Mutua's piece indicates he is glued to the theory that Raila inherited power, prestige and position from his late father. That is fiction from lazy people who refuse to study the history of the country.
Raila's politics has very little to do with inheritance from his father. As a matter of fact it is Raila's elder brother, Dr. Oburu Odinga who should have the inheritance bug on him. For people who don't know, Oburu was invloved in politics decades before Raila came into the scene. Oburu was a prominent official (in the planning sector) before he became councillor in Kisumu for a very long time when Raila was probably still in school. How come Oburu did not inherit the mantle? What is so special about Raila.
Let me tell you why I disagree with Mutua's fiction. My first encounter with Raila is still fresh in my mind like it was yesterday. It was at Taifa Hall at the University of Nairobi in 1981. I was by then the Secretary General of the famed Student Organization of Nairobi University (SONU). The occassion was a public speech day. The chief speaker was none other Ndugu Koigi wa Wamwere. The moderator was one of Kenyans most respected scholars and revolutionary writer, Prof. Micere Mugo.
As usual the Vice Chancellor's office had sent an official to introduce the guests. The fellow had a nightmare starting the event. Taifa Hall was packed to the roofs and this fella started off saying "Ladies and gentlemen". The students shouted back at him demanding to be addressed as comrades. The fool kept trying the same thing almost inviting a riot. That is when Micere Mugo grabbed the microphone from him and started addressing the students by saying " Comrades, Friends and others". The crowd roared back in approval and the meeting was on.
Somewhere in the crowd at the back was Raila Odinga. He seemed to mingle quite well with the students, which is not suprising because he had been a lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering.
My next encounter with Raila was much more dramatic under very difficult circumstances. We met at Kilimani Police Station a few days after the failed coup attempt in 1982. I was arrested on August 3rd 1982. The plan of the Special Branch was to keep rotating us in various police cells. My first cell was Muthangari Police station. It was the first time in my life I had seen the inside of a police cell. Somehow I ended up at Kilimani one day and at about midnight Raila was brought in. I recognised him immediately. We had a great chat. I asked him what the heck was going on. I told him I was not a coup plotter and there I was. He told me to have courage and said something I will never forget. He told me to stop worrying about whether I was innocent or guilty. He said it is okay to suffer even to die for the country. Boy, that kept me going, may be to this day.
As we all know Raila ended up being detained, obviously because they didn't have enough evidence to convict him, something the Mutua's of this world don't want to say. They keep yapping about Raila's alleged involvement in the coup as another example of his thirst for power. How come they couldn't convict him?
Anyhow my next stop after spending about eight months in police cells and at the Nairobi Area Remand Prison, was back to college after Moi released us. As soon as I left the prisons, I joined the Kenyan organised underground movement that was agitating for greater democratic rights for Kenyans and for multipartism in Kenya. My experience in the hands of the Special Branch convinced me we had a war to fight for the good of the country. I was dying to join it on a full time basis. I did as soon as I could.
Eventually the system caught up with me. At that time I was a lecturer at Mombasa polytechnic. I did my time at the Nyayo House torture chambers and later at Kamiti medium security prison. Upon my release I left for Tanzania to continue the struggle.
Once again Raila was very much part of what was going on in the battle for a better and free Kenya. After he was released from detention, Raila teamed up with other Kenyans and was known to be part of the Kenya Revolutionary Movement (KRM).
I had the pleasure while in TZ to meet some of the truly distinguished Kenyan patriots from KRM. I was by then the deputy of my great friend, the late Kaara Macharia in running a safe house for Kenyan patriots in Tanzania. Strangely as it may seem now, the joint we were running was a joint venture between Koigi wa Wamwere and Raila. It was really tough. I remember we used to buy sacks of potatoes and another couple sacks of omena because we didn't have enough money to feed the crew. That is where I learnt my potatoe peeling technics. Someday we will write this part of the brave history of very humble Kenyans like Kaara Macharia.
As we know Raila was soon detained again because of his links with KRM. So what is my point?
I am trying to tell Makau Mutua that this is not the kind of stuff you inherit. Being involved in dangerous democratic struggles at a risk to yourself and your family is not something you get from your father. It is a choice you have to make as an individual. It would be interesting to know what choices in this regard Makau Mutua himself made to justify his claim to be the custodian of the "reformist vision" in Kenya. Of course we know the easy path he took and may be still takes
The second "key" from Mutua ion Raila is even more insulting to the intelligence of Kenyans. According to Mutua Raila has benefitted from "his citizenship of the Luo Nation". Professor, where exactly do we get the Luo Passport? Mine is Kenyan and so is yours, I presume. I really don't want to waste time on this, but the general problem with closeted tribalists like Professor Makau Mutua is that the want to preach to us that the Odingas control the Luos and that the Luos are obssessed with "victimhood" politics. It is tiresome nonsense.
But this is what the good professor says:
"For Kenyans to elect Mr Odinga as their President, he must demonstrate to them that he will not do unto Kenya what he has done unto Luo Nyanza. Kenyans do not want to be turned into spineless sycophants"
This cheap street gossip is what Mutua wants to pass around as serious analysis. He is out of luck because we won't let him get by that easily.
First of all "Luo Nyanza" has been part of Kenya in every aspect of nationhood. There is nothing that has hapenned in Mutua's "Luo Nyanza" that has not hapenned in other parts of the country. People like Mutua have to rise above this pettiness for their own good. How about Kibaki's supporters in Central Province? Why are they in control? I welcome the debate about internal party democracy, infact Kenyans are demanding it as we speak, but let's not cheapen the discussion by trying to turn it into another "Raila invention", because it isn't. I have put my views on this topic in another thread. So I will leave it there.
However I found this tribalistic attack on Kenyans of Luo nationality to be very offensive. It is the kind of crap I expect in bar room "analysis", not from someone like Mutua who wants us to take him seriously.
"Unconscionably, the Luo have been forced into whatever political party was Mr Odinga’s fancy for the moment. When Mr Odinga left Ford-Kenya, the Luo left with him. When he took over the National Development Party, they rushed into it. They started cooperating with Kanu in 1998 and then went to Kanu with him in 2000 when he dissolved NDP to join the Moi government. Then in 2002, they left Kanu with him to join Narc. In 2005, they left Narc with him to join ODM-K. The Luo are simply putty in Mr Odinga’s hands"
First of all political parties cannot be anybody's fancy. They are real living organisms of social organisation. K.P.U formed in 1966, which Mutua predictably denounces as another tribal outfit was a very significant development in the political landscape of our country. It was product of the political reality at the time. The little known NDP that Raila transformed into a national movement was not a fancy, it was a very powerful political force at its peak. In fact Mutua conviniently, and very dishonestly avoids to mention that at the height of the struggle for constituional reforms in 1997, the NDP was the only national party to stand with the civil society to demand constitutional reforms. Was that a Luo agenda? I don't think so. The joke about the Luos leaving Narc in 2005 to join ODM K exposes the perveted reasoning of Prof. Mutua. Kenyans rejected Kibaki's attempt to impose a constitution on the country. Surely no sane persion can blame that on the Luos.
Before I go to the other visions and they are many that Mutua has about Raila and his politics, I thought we should address this one.
"Corruption is one of the most deadly cancers of the African post-colonial African State. Like the leaders in Narc-K, Mr Odinga has shown a proclivity for embracing corrupt networks in ODM-K. In 2002, he betrayed this same tendency when as the leader of LDP he insisted that President Kibaki appoint known human rights violators and economic criminals into the Cabinet. He has played cynical politics with a new Constitution. As a Narc minister, he opposed the truth commission and has refused to push for it even in the Opposition. He has not articulated any credible policy positions on terrorism, foreign policy, and international trade. In sum, Mr Odinga has demonstrated that he lacks the vision and the political will to reform Kenya"
Mutua says in 2002. Raila as leader of the LDP "insisted that President Kibaki appoint known human rights violators and economic criminals to his cabinet". Of course most of us are not privy to the inner workings of cabinet appointments. But I wan't to ask one thing. In a cabinet where George Saitoti is a prominent member, even after the Goldenberg recommendations, do we really have to blame Raila on who is in the cabinet?
And the scandalous accusation about Raila's position on the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission. That is really unfair and dishonest. Most of us had real difficulties getting to make presentations to Prof. Mutua's Task Force on TJRC. In fact Mutua told us in Nairobi after a written request to meet him in mid 2003 that he didn't need to meet anybody else. Everything was fine. Kenyans had recommended a TJRC. All that remained was for his friend the then Minister for Constitutional Affairs, Kiraitu Murungi in collaboration with Kibaki to launch it. What hapenned? Mutua should tell us. Did the bad Raila stop it? Come on Let's get serious with the affairs of the nation.
As far as Kenyans know, Raila has publicly declared his commitment to a Truth, Justice, Restitution and Reconcilation Commission as a way forward for the nation. I support him on that and so should Professor Mutua. Kenyans will hold him accountable for that declaration. What is wrong with that?
Let me conclude by pointing at the tired anti-communist junk from Prof. Mutua, who still seems to think Kenya is at war with the bad communists. I know it is late, but here it is.
"There is a certain Machiavellian style that Mr Odinga seems to have picked up during his formative student days in the German Democratic Republic. The East Germans, who provided “political education” to all students, talked about democracy but neither believed in it nor practised it. Instead, party apparatchiks, working at the behest of Moscow, ran a highly despotic police state under the guise of a workers’ party"
For the record I thought this other piece was a more objective look at Raila's experience(s) at College in the GDR.
www.timesnews.co.ke/07may07/nwsstory/opinion1.html
Just one question though. What style if any, has Professor Makau Mutua picked from his location of schooling and work?
Adongo
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