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Sunday, July 29, 2007

Just How Corrupt Is Hon Raila Odinga?

This is the most difficult post I have ever had to make here since Kumekucha started (now going to 3 years). It is difficult because I am faced with the prospect of disturbing the peace in this blog and losing a very good dear friend I have made here.

Nobody has contributed so many useful insider scoops to this blog than this good friend of mine that I am talking about. I value this guy very much and I am not ashamed to say that I need him here in this blog. Not only that, this guy works amongst the less privileged Kenyans, the masses of voiceless-down-and-out Kenyans—which already gives him a very soft spot in my heart. You all know that I believe the key to the future is with this group that many of us hardly understand. I asked a question here about how many people have visited the slums and as you can see the silence is deafening—apart from a few counted people (including this treasured friend of mine).

I am praying against all hope that he will not only remain my friend after the information that I am about to disclose, but will be a closer friend because we have one thing in common. We both desire nothing more than a better Kenya. The motherland first, our friendship second.

The founders of this country and people who would have changed the situation in our beloved country no doubt faced the exact same situation I face today. They chose friendship over love for the motherland and see where we are today.

As we seek for change in Kenya, there is one very important thing that we must remember. It was a lesson I learnt in school years ago. There was a very strict teacher who instilled real terror to any students who were unlucky enough to be in his class. On seeking advice on how to "survive" in his class a colleague told me that there was a simple secret to survive in Mr Terror's class. All you needed to know was his golden principal which was, it was OK to make a mistake once but when it was made twice, he went berserk and would use the cane with abandon on a boy's backside. The guy even said it himself many times. To make a mistake the first time is human to make it a second time is to be an idiot and he just had to beat the idiot out of you.

Folks that advice helped a lot and I survived by being very careful not to repeat a mistake that I had already made once. It rubbed off on my life too and I try very hard to stick to it.

This is the reason why I bore many of you here by begging, urging and even bullying you to study Kenya's history. It is because there is no point in making the same mistake all over again. And in that regard we all failed in voting in Mwai Kibaki in 2002. Especially me who voted for him with all my heart, my passion and my everything. Had I bothered to remember my history a little I would have voted differently and I would not be so haunted by memories of how I voted in 2002.

Shortly after Johnstone Kamau (alias Jomo Kenyatta) became Prime Minister and then President of Kenya—incidentally NOT by winning any direct vote by simply being the leader of Kanu which happened to be the party that won most seats in parliament—some Kenyans went overboard with their mutukufus (your excellency's). Baba wa taifa was quickly added to his many titles and soon it was just Baba, which is the same Swahili term people use to refer to God almighty. Very soon after that, it was declared that he should be the president for life and anybody who as much as imagined opposing him should just have their heads examined—their private parts could be chopped off later.

So in short order a former meter reader with the Nairobi City Council became a god in Kenya. I have seen many tendencies with supporters of Raila Odinga that are similar and if they remain unchecked, that is exactly where we will end up—making the same mistake twice. The guy is the best candidate out of what we have so far (in my humble opinion), he is the one who cares most and understands what the common man in Kenya is going through.

BUT…

BUT….

He is not perfect.

And as has been said here many times, anybody who wants to be our president must be prepared to be scrutinized by voters. He must be ready to open his closet and show us the skeletons and explain them. And in he event that they don't and we find them, then they should tell us the truth. And this should apply to ALL presidential candidates.

The truth is that the current generation of politicians ARE NOT prepared to do this, without exception.

The apology I have to make today is that I have had this information for some time now, but I feared to present it. I did not want to offend. Some Kumekucha bloggers have said something similar here about information that they too had. I think the new rule we should make my brothers is never to fear to present the information you have as long as it is NOT malicious or biased. I know it is a tall order and the line between malice and genuine investigated scandalous material is very thin. Too thin. But let's at least try.

I have a witness's sworn statement and documents (letters to a well-known Kenyan lawyer to back up the claim) that Hon Raila Odinga teamed up with Joshua Kulei in 2000, on behalf of Moi in offering a certain foreigner millions of dollars in compensation for them to take back evidence implicating the Moi government in a certain very scandalous matter.

Then the thing which pains me most. Why does Raila Odinga no longer talk about the gruesome assassination of Robert Ouko? Can he prove the wild allegation that he made a deal with Moi wrong? (Actually it is not so wild because I also have a little shred of evidence to also support that allegation.)

I have avoided mentioning the molasses plant for now, because that one Raila has replied to in another forum. Not convincingly, but I give him the element of doubt on that one. At least for now. I have also avoided mentioning other issues that could be contentious like the palatial home he has built for himself and his brother. Please let's not touch on that for now.

My friends, supporters of Raila Odinga. History is watching. How you respond to this post and your suggestions on what should be done next will have a huge impact on things. Much bigger than you may think. We badly need a new Kenya where there is no room for blind support but where we can question and probe those we seek to put in high office.

May God help us all and may HE save our beloved motherland of Kenya.

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