Oh No. I hope not

Yesterday was a sad day for me. the day when our MPs decided in one voice to reject the Waki report and throw away the baby with the birth water. It was sad because the violence not only cost people friendships and families but also lives. It was sad because the main reasoning for its rejection was only to save a few careers. But it also taught us great lessons. What we don't know is what may happen next. was January the worst? I surely did not expect Raila to agree to the rejection of the report. We should not allow people to kill with such abandon and let them go free.

This violence especially in the Rift Valley is somewhat historical. And by choosing to protect the guilty , Raila shall have inherited the culpability of the killers of '92 , '97 , 2002 and so on. Even those who fed Kikuyus to the crocodiles in the Kerio Valley in '97. For a man who has spent his whole life fighting for justice and common good, it would be a sad way to conclude a career. Was it worth it? Is that what you get for being the most politically detained man in the history of the country? Its sad like Kibaki, spending more that 40 years of a brilliant career building a rare image of a gentleman politician, only to throw all that out for 5 years of presidency. sometimes people really fail to see the trade off. That now through history Kibaki will be remembered as the man who failed to unite the country, refused to accept defeat and led Kenyans to near civil war and national collapse. As a man who brought us to the lowest levels of tribal considerations and created the deepest divide. Yet for more than 40 years he has been known as the gentleman of politics. All for a miserly 5 year term!

I still hold on to hope that Raila will see that he would rather lose the next election or indeed the current PM seat than block the justice for the over 1300 dead Kenyans and those thousands of IDPs. I hope he will be the golden boy of Kenyan politics. In another chat we were having with a group of friends, i was told that you do not gain anything from good history. so what if people remember you as a thug or murderer. after all you achieved your personal goals and lived the life you wanted? But that to me is a very uncultured argument of uncultured people and Raila, having been brought up by cultured and honorable people, should not buy it.


And yet the report is not only about punishment or justice, its also about what has gone wrong with our systems. our police force, our culture of greed and tribalism, our pride as a people. It gives serious recommendations on the constitution, governance and so on. But politicians will simply look at the one thing: That it threatens their own career ambitions!

Am sad.