A Dispatch from Onyango Oloo in Nairobi
First draft unedited

It is about 2 pm Kenya time and I have to rapidly revise this piece in thewake of the breaking news that Kimunya had not only “offered to step aside”but that the President had accepted this offer. In a caveat, PNUspokesperson Dr. Alfred Mutua “clarified” that the move was only“temporary”. He was quoted in a Reuters dispatch (9:49 am GMT, Tuesday,July 08, 2008) as saying that “ the finance minister has been indiscussions with the president over this…but he will not be replaced, it isonly a temporary move…”News of the resignation came amidst reports that at least 10 civil societyactivists including Ann Njogu and Okiya Omtatah, were roughed up andarrested INSIDE a restaurant next to the Kenyatta International ConferenceCentre apparently because they were just about to exercise their right toparticipate in a peaceful democratic protest demanding Kimunya’sresignation and an end to impunity on issues of grand graft.Keen perusers of the Kenyan print and electronic media may have noticed asubtle shift in the way in which the country’s newspapers, radios andtelevision stations have been covering the scandalous sale of the GrandRegency Hotel in Nairobi and the dubious role of Finance Minister AmosKimunya in the whole saga.For instance, there are all these seemingly innocuous op-ed pieces whichare apparently taking an “objective” look at the whole thing and pokingholes at the seemingly air-tight case against Kimunya and his allegedcohorts. One such article can be found on Page 11 of the Tuesday, July 08,2008 edition of the Daily Nation where Nicholas Mue cautions his reader to“beware [of]the distortions” in a piece entitled Vital facts and figureslost in Grand Regency Sale Saga-basically an apologia for Amos Kimunya. Onthe facing page, in the leader section, Macharia Gaitho, one of the senioreditors with the Nation Media Group argues that the “report that indictedKimunya left a great to be desired”. Examine the letters pages not only ofthe Daily Nation but the Standard and the Nairobi Star. On the weekend, Isaw a couple of other articles over the weekend-especially the piece in theSunday Nation putting the case for and the case against Kimunya.By far the most blatant form of media partisanship was evidenced on Sundaywhen Citizen TV aired live, several hours of a raucous public rally inKimunya’s Kipipiri constituency. This is where the Finance Ministerdelivered his now infamous “I’d rather die than resign” defiant speechwhich was followed by Uhuru Kenyatta rambling on and on about the need forthe “community” to rally behind Kimunya and making references to thePNU/ODM rifts in relation to 2012. Kimunya himself did not shy away fromblurting out that the campaign against him was tantamount to a plot to“finish” the Agikuyu. It later transpired that this slot was paid for.A very impeccable source here in Nairobi told me ( this was two days ago)there was a high level PNU meeting on Wednesday last week where it wasdecided that Kimunya must be saved at all costs. My source says that UhuruKenyatta chaired that meeting. I am further informed that Kshs 110 millionwas set aside for damage control in the media and that a particular publicrelations firm was brought on board to implement this strategy.A key tactic in this fight back strategy was to recruit key editors in allthe media houses.It was agreed that the media strategy would consist of the following:-Casting doubt on the allegations against Kimunya;-Bringing up the spectre of Raila Odinga as a bogey man to galvanize thePNU base;-Going after James Orengo and other chief accusers of Amos Kimunya;-Tribalizing the issue by giving the impression that the Luos in ODM wereafter the key Kikuyus in PNU;-Imputing that the war against Kimunya was just the dress rehearsal for anupcoming campaign against Kibaki;Now there is no tangible evidence that “money has been poured” but it isinteresting to note that the splashy, often trashy Weekly Citizen tabloidmade the Luo versus Kikuyu angle the thrust of their cover story in theircurrent edition.The flipside of this strategy is using elements of the state terror machineto intimidate those Kenyan activists taking to the streets to demonstratetheir opposition to the fraudulent sale of the Grand Regency.In my humble opinion, the PNU Claw Back over Mumunyagate is an act ofdesperation which reeks of ethnic chauvinism. It is a ploy that is likelyto boomerang and even blow up in the face of its conspirators.If we are to read Dr Alfred Mutua well, he is basically telling Kenyansthat Kimunya’s resignation is a time out, face saving tactic, implying tothe PNU base that Kimunya will roar back to the controls of the Treasuryafter the complete damage control exercise is over and after a hand pickedcommittee probably established by President Kibaki has “exonerated” himfully.The other thing which may be at play is a gambit to perhaps pre-empt theministerial statement scheduled to be unleashed in parliament by PrimeMinister Raila Amolo Odinga.Whatever the case, the PNU side has goofed badly.First, by not recognizing the mood in the country which is now beyondODM/PNU schisms. On Sunday I watched Paul Muite on Family TV basicallytaking a very progressive stance on the issue- stating that Kimunya had togo and saying that the “reformists” in the Grand Coalition, and he singledout Raila and Orengo were being undermined by the “conservatives” aroundthe President. In the case of the Prime Minister, Muite said that PNU wasusing the Civil Service to undercut his powers- citing the vulnerability ofcivil servants like the Lands Commissioner and how their job insecuritymade them dance to the tunes of Muthaura and Kimunya in doing the necessarypaper work to effect the Grand Regency handover.Secondly, President Kibaki’s options are severely limited.The more he tries to stonewall, the more likely for the scandal to swallowthe Othaya MP. Already there are allegations in the streets of Nairobi thatMwai Kibaki IS THE LIBYAN INVESTOR- in the sense that someone (allegedlyhis own daughter Judy was the person who closed the deal) bought the hotelon his behalf. He will pay for any further sitting on the fence.Thirdly, Central Kenya “Succession” politics will rubbish any attempt atbuilding a united front to defend Kimunya, Njuguna, Ringera and the gangaccused of impropriety over Grand Regency- with Saitoti, Uhuru, Karua,Michuki and others pulling in different directions. Already NARC-Kenyathrough Danson Mungatana has allied itself as a party with those callingfor Kimunya’s ouster.Fourthly, Uhuru Kenyatta will rue his rash outbursts in defence of AmosKimunya, especially now that the former Finance Minister has eaten humblepie (before his actual demise) and bit the resignation bullet. Uhuru islikely to be reminded of his underhand shenanigans in subverting the lawduring his brief tenure as Local government minister in the matter of thestrange nominations of councilors. Some of us have not forgotten that oneof his close aides was caught red handed on camera with hundreds ofthousands of shillings given to the aide as a bribe during the same civicnominations. More than that, it would appear that Uhuru has forgotten thathe is the son of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, one of Kenya’s most notorious landgrabbers who left people in Taita Taveta and other parts of the countryseething with resentment as squatters on their own land.Fifthly, PNU’s claw back tactics will revive the post-election bitternessamong a large swathe of Kenyans who are still very resentful about howPresident Kibaki and his cronies used billions of shillings to rigthemselves back to power. Remember that a lot of the money being questionedin the Grand Regency is alleged to be part of a 5.6 billion “gift” from theLibyans to PNU to use during the elections.Anyways, let me pause here.We have to rush to court to be in solidarity with our civil societycolleagues who were arrested earlier today.

This piece may be updated later…
Onyango Oloo
Nairobi, Kenya
2:27 pm July 8, 2008

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Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 16:23:40 +0000
From: Nicholas Mireri
Subject: Is Kibaki the Libian Investor ?