Kenyatta

Today's screaming headlines in the major dailies left me in shock and wonder. That the old Man Kenyatta who had as many lovers as he had haters met his death in a very sorry neglected situation. it reminded me again of my friend Kodhek's assertion that no-one ever thinks of a rich old man's health but rather his wealth. its dangerous to be rich and old or sick in this country then. That his most trusted and close aides never bothered even when the president withered away with age and disease is very disturbing. And the declaration they had made earlier that even speculation about the presidents health was a treasonable offense may seem to have been orchestrated to actually send the man to his grave painfully and slowly. since the 'king's' nakedness could not be mentioned in public, he was left to face the embarrassment alone. that story does makes seriously sad reading indeed.

The raw greed for power and wealth that those men showed in the post independent Kenya is what made my colleague angry after he came from Lisbon. He talks of how he found it painful to discover that while in 2008 we still don't have a solution to our transport system, those guys already had a sailing school in the 12th century. trams were in use already in the 18th century at a time he reckons that his grand ancestors may still have been fighting with bows and arrows in congo!
But what pained him more was how Kenyatta and his colleagues messed the post independence goodwill to unite the nation and concentrate on development. instead they went into a grabbing spree, thinking only of themselves. this same attitude is what informed his handlers when he now faced imminent death.

But to err is human, to forgive divine, problem comes when you err again and again and completely ignore history.

The story in today's dailies and even my colleagues rants after his eye opening visit to Lisbon really mean nothing. In 2002 only 5 years ago we were faced with a second lifeline, to correct what went wrong in 1963 and even in 1978 but again Kibaki against every ones expectation, bungled it. Early this year Kenya paid heavily for that greed. With the Kriegler commission, people expected a new beginning, to find real answers to this age old problem. but its now seeming rather clear that Kriegler was here to do what Bosire did 5 years ago with the goldenberg commission. which was to sanctify the sinners. look for a cheap scapegoat, sacrifice the poor soul and let the culprits free. In goldenberg case, Pattni took all the blame and everyone else including Saitoti were declared clean. this time, we are being told that even the ballot box stuffing which have been reported by Kriegler were just mere 'mistakes' of the ECK. so Kivuitu shoulders the guilt for the death of those 1200 + dead Kenyans. All those IDPs must blame Kivuitu. But the old judge has said one thing more , that the wrong person was sworn in. that the man did not win! neither did Raila Win according to the judge so we have a country being run by impostors!

But to me the commission's report gave me one more thing to ponder about. What if it were true that no-one actually won? What if it were true that there was a tie? then what? does our constitution have any provisions? This may be the time to put the 50% +1 requirement. ie that the winner must garner 50% of the vote plus 1 more vote. This would save us in future.

Looking to the future though, i saw a posting in a website mostly frequented by young people which made my heat leap for joy. This post is a rarity in Kenya!

Going back to Njiru's press statement 30 years late. I think if this be the trend then one Mr. Daniel Toroitich Arpa Moi should be very afraid. All those atrocities, wrongful detentions and torture will come to light and poor man, he seems to be going strong by the day and those things will be revealed when he is still alive!