We Are Ready For Fresh Elections, PNU Now Says

And Why Kibaki Must Go NOW

The question on the minds of worried Kenyans now is whether the violence that has broken out in the country is spreading or it is just pockets of resistance that will easily be contained?

Reports reaching this blogger indicate that protests and skirmishes have so far been reported in Nairobi’s Kibera slums, Kipkelion (near Kericho) and in Kisumu. However all have been contained quickly and successful only that in Kibera the railway line that cuts through East And Central Africa’s largest slum was once again destroyed by rioting mobs. Still, at the time of writing this post, tensions remained high in most of Rift Valley.

But the biggest surprise came out of the tough talking PNU and affiliate parties parliamentary group meeting yesterday. The MPs emerged from their meeting vowing to fully support the president even if the worst came to the worst and he dissolved parliament and called for fresh elections.

Of course PNU were bluffing and the truth is that a fresh general election is the last thing President Kibaki wants. But Kenyans will also remember that not too long ago, the last thing President Kibaki wanted were the Anan-brokered peace talks. But they still happened did they not? And shortly after he had sent his ministers to say that those coming to broker peace were coming all that way for a cup of tea. My take is that I will be surprised if Kenyans do not go back to the polls within the next 12 months. But more on that later.

Obviously the game being played by PNU is one of bravado because the call for fresh elections from ODM is hitting where it hurts most.

The biggest problem president Kibaki would face (if he was even eligible to run again) would be from his own Kikuyu community. The truth is that these dear fellow Kenyans, our brothers and sisters have suffered greatly in IDP camps. But to add insult to injury politicians have taken to mentioning IDPs in recent times with only political mileage being the motive. There is nothing that can be more cruel and insensitive.

Nobody has lifted a finger to help alleviate their pain and suffering. In fact the IDPs problem has exposed our political class for who they really are and most of that blame must lie squarely on the door step of one Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki. Indeed it should be very clear now that what is ailing Kenya most terribly now is a disease, nay a fatal disease called Mwai Kibaki. Any Kenyan who is honest with themselves irrespective of what tribe they come from will quickly admit that if Mwai Kibaki were to leave office today the country would quickly get out of every crisis facing her today.

Let us completely forget our tribal affiliations for one minute and analyse the Kibaki presidency soberly and how the country has limped from one crisis to another, culminating in the biggest political crisis ever seen here (indeed bigger than the crisis of 1952 involving Mau Mau cutting off people’s heads and the state of emergency).

To be totally honest, the man is just NOT a leader. In fact for many years those who study management will have a text book example of how indecisiveness can be so dangerous in any kind of leadership. Not to mention the fact that he finds it difficult to get out of bed before 11 am on most mornings.

And now with the country at edge of abyss, President Kibaki has a chance to do the only brave thing he has ever done in his long career in politics, but NO, he won’t. Instead he will hang on to power, even if the country goes to the dogs.

In the man’s mind we are in the year two thousand and sixties. Liitle has it dawned on him that a vast majority of Kenyans today were not even born when that decade was starting. Indeed the most dangerous criminals we have today were not even born in the mid sixties. So how on earth can a politician like Mwai Kibaki lead the government to a creative solution? In deed so far his strategy has been to treat the symptom rather than address the root cause of the disease. In deed his supporters would ask themselves what happened to all those rosy promises of finding employment for the youth? He current troubles are not an excuse because the Kibaki government has spend a fortune on security and hiring new cops and the reason for the country requiring so many more policemen so suddenly again lands squarely on Mwai Kibaki’s door step.

This is all totally unacceptable.

I just want to make my position very clear here, because I can already see the barbs being aimed at me for this post. I am NOT suggesting that Kibaki steps down for Raila. NO WAY. Although the truth is that Raila won the last general elections, my view is that even he too should step aside so that the country has a chance of being re-united once more. The difference here is that Raila Odinga has had a long history of giving sacrifices and I have no doubt that he is the kind of person who would quickly step down if convinced that the people were demanding it.

The 10^th Parliament Will Be The Shortest Serving

Anybody taking a little time to analyze the political mood in the country at he moment will be able to tell that whichever way one looks at the current situation; the 10^th parliament will go down in history as the shortest serving parliament ever.

It is now abundantly clear that this American solution that was imposed on us of a grand coalition will just not work. Not now and not in 100 years. And amazingly many Kenyans too relived when the Anan peace deal was signed did not realize that there was no way it was going to work.

Picture the following situation. Thieves break into your house and steal everything. However because they are well-connected and powerful thieves, when police confront them, they claim that the property belongs to them and that they duly purchased it from various shops. And since they have stolen from poor folks who have no connections, the police know which side of their bread is buttered. One telephone call from one of the thieves and the local police chief will be transferred to oblivion. But then the poor people rise up and start protesting and violence breaks out. To restore peace and order the police decide that the stolen property will be shared out. However human nature is such that once a thief, always a thief. Have you heard of a thief who stole something so that he could return it? Only circumstances force thieves to return stuff and very dire ones at that.

So is it surprising that the side that stole wants the lion’s share of the loot? Not really it is human nature and even ODM were fools to believe that thieves reform overnight.

The only solution now is for Kenyans to use the information they have gathered since last December to go back to the polls. And in my view the country will be prepared much more quickly for those polls if Kibaki, Raila and Ruto are barred from running again. Indeed it will be an excellent idea if anybody who has ever held political office before is barred from running so that Kenya can get a real chance of having a clean new start.