Commentary By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City
INTER-tribal political deals, peace and reconciliations built for political motives for the purpose of helping those individuals nursing presidential ambition, and for undercutting their perceived political enemies, will not last, but are bound to fail.
It is an alliance based on malicious intention to undercut Raila Odinga, the Prime Minister, the man who is truly the darling of every Kenyans with exception of those who have succeeded in enriching themselves from ill-gotten wealth after vandalizing the country’s resources with impunity in the past.
The modern political history of Kenya explains it explicitly clear that any inter-tribal political alliance formed between the Kikuyu politicians and leaders from other communities will always collapse before achieving its objectives and goals. Therefore the much highlighted political alliance between the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and the MP for Eldoret North William Samoei Arap Ruto is just a temporary political marriage of convenience.
People should be bothered by such amorphous alliances, because it is just born out of panicking about the impending trials by the ICC at The Hague.
Dishonesty and non-commitment to any inter-tribal political alliances between the leaders from the Mount Kenya region and politicians from non-Kikuyu community could be well chronicled back from the days of the State of Emergency following its declaration by the then colonial governor Sir Evelyn Baring on the night of October 20th,1952.
The Kikuyu leaders hatched heinous schemes of killing individual personalities, particularly non-Kikuyus they then perceived to be the collaborator of the colonialists. This was the time when the likes of the late Tom Mbotela, the late Ambrose Ofafa were shot and killed by Mau Mau agents in Nairobi.
In 1958 the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga was then the Colonial Legislative Member for Central Nyanza and chairman of the African Elected Members Organization {AEMO}. He was believed to have been nursing presidential ambition himself. But had realized that his way up to the ladder, was being blocked by the presence of the much enlightened and urbanized Tom Mboya and Ronald Gideon Ngala. He shocked everyone by declaring that Jomo Kenyatta was the leader of this country.
Jaramogi did so in the same fashion as the Environmental Minister, John Michuki, who recently went public declaring that Uhuru Kenyatta, according to his opinion, would be the leader of the Kikuyu people {Not Kenya}.
Jaramoigi in a later statement referred Kenyatta as the second God of all Kenyan people, a statement that embarrassed and irked religious leaders in this country.
Those who knew Jaramogi well could still testify that Oginga Odinga was not genuine in his pronouncements, but all were due to guarded jealousy that Tom Mboya was increasingly becoming more popular and recognized both locally and internationally as the most suitable and preferable leader of Kenya at the material time. Jaramog’s objective was to undercut Mboya’s rising political star at the time.
The political difference at the time between Jaramogi and Mboya was based on the following factors. Mboya was more urbanized and had the upper hand in communication skills, whereas Jaramogi represented Central Nyanza, a rural constituency whose constituents were mainly Luos, and was not exposed to national and international political intricacies.
Mboya had won the Nairobi area seat reserved for an African on Kikuyu majority votes, a fete which he repeated in 1961 when Jaramogi ganged behind Dr. Munyua Wayaki and made the frantic effort to unseat him.
Following his outburst about the then still incarcerated Kenyatta, Jaramogi become an instant hero, and the darling of the Kikuyu people. to the chagrins of some Kikuyu up-coming leaders like the late Dr. Julius Gikonyo Kiano and others who had distanced themselves to his pronouncements.
Jaramogi’s outbursts temporarily endeared him to a close nit friendship with Kenyatta immediately when the latter came out of detention camp in the northern Kenya in 1961and this temporary friendship of convenience lasted between 1961 and 1964. The two leaders became so close that they even went into joint ventures in several businesses enterprises, both in Nairobi and Mombasa, before independence in 1963.
Kenyatta had taken over the mantle of KANU leadership as its President, a position which was previously been held by the late James Samuel Gichuru. Jaramogi remained the Vice President of KANU since the party’s inception at Kiambu in June 1960 and Kenyatta appointed him the Minister for home Affairs for only one year.
But it was not long before the matter took a dramatic change in December 1964 when Kenya attained her republican status and the Queen of England ceased to be the head of state replaced by President Jomo Kenyatta. Jaramogi was shocking and surprisingly relegated to the empty cell of Vice President and Minister without Portfolio.
Mboya, who had served in a powerful ministerial slot of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, was equally relegated to the hitherto unheard of Ministry of Planning and Development where he had to start from scratch. A cabal of close Kiambu advisers, from what was known as “Gatundu Parliament” acting on the advice of the former Director o the Security Intelligence, James Kanyotu, from Ndia, had launched a well orchestrated and elaborate plan to sideline both Odinga and Mboya. Their close friends among the Kikuyus who were in the cabinet were summarily summoned to Gatundu, home of Kenyatta, and reprimanded with a stern warning to keep away from the two who became virtually isolated, though they were still serving in the cabinet secret meetings, were switched from State House to Gatundu where important government decision were made.
Rumors and insinuations of all kinds rent the air, about the threat of the Kenyatta government being toppled, by either Jaramogi using the Communist forces from abroad or Mboya using American and British forces. And suspicion became the order the day forcing Jaramogi’s premature resignation after Kenyatta had used Mboya, a fellow Luo, to kick out of both government and KANU party, his hitherto friend Jaramogi and his supporters following the infamous Limuru Conference.
Immediately after this the political scenario in Kenya had changed drastically with the cabal of Kenyatta’s advisers now trained their guns and focus on Mboya’s elimination, which they did on July 5,1969.
At this point in time Daniel Ara Moi had become the closest political associate of Kenyatta. The alliance thrived and was aimed primarily and strategically to have no dissenting views from the Kalenjin leaders about Kenyatta scheme to settle thousands of his Kukuyu tribesmen to the former White Highland farms previously owned by the white settlers who had left the country for fear of chaos at the independence.
The only Kalenjin leader who voiced concern about unfolding event was the late Tinderet MP, Marie John Seroney, who reportedly and bravely launched what was known as Hand Hills Declaration, was immediately consigned to the detention camp. His supporter, the Eldoret North MP Saina, was arraigned in court and earned long term prison sentence on framed up and flimsy criminal charges.
But when it come to the turn of Moi to succeed Kenyatta, the same cabal of Kiambu politicians led by Kihika Kimani, Njoroge Mungai, james Gichuru,Julius Gikonyo Kiano, Mbiyu Koinange with the help of the colorless Kamba politician, Paul Joseph Ngei, ganged up and came up with chorus call for constitutional change which was meant to bar Moi from succeeding the ageing Kenyatta.
It was the then powerful Attorney General Charles Mugane Njonjo who saved Moi’s neck. Njonjo came out with a stern warning that the group action bordered on treason offence of plotting against the President, and the issue was abruptly abandoned. Its proponents beat the hasty retreat. This timely action by Njonjo paved the way for Daniel Moi’s accession to power following the death of Kenyatta on August 22,1978.
But Njonjo’s closeness to Moi did not last long. The same cabal of Kenyatta’s advisers, after realizing that Njonjo’s rising political star was growing much faster, moved at top speed and secretly advised Moi against Njonjo, under the pretext that the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs was involved in the conspiracy to have his government overthrown with the assistance of foreign mercenaries from South Africa and other Western countries.
The serious allegation led to Moi and Njonjo parting company. These people had not forgiven Njonjo for having stood firm against their heinous and futile plan, to block Moi from succeeding Kenyatta, and made it sure that they crate friction between Njonjo and his boss Moi.
Again the MOU reached between President Kibaki and Raila Odinga in 2002, under the auspices of Narc-Kenya, after Raila had vigorously campaigned for Kibaki to be elected the President despite of his ill-health following a fatal road accident, did not materialize for long forcing Raila out of the government following the first referendum victory over Kibaki in November 2005.
It would therefore be a miracle if the alliance between Ruto and Kenyatta will survive and sustain the heat of advices from the same Kikuyu cabals of advisers, particularly if Kenyatta wins and becames the president. Ruto could easily find himself in Kamiti Maximum Security prison for his alleged parts in mass eviction of Kiukuyu from their acquired farms in Molo, Elburgon, Uasin Gishu, Kuresoi, Londiani, Burn Forest, Likia, Subukia, Rongai and other places in the Central and South, North and South of the Rift Valley.
The history as told in the foregoing has told us that any MOU between the leaders fro Mt. Kenya region with those from other parts of Kenya is unworkable due to self-seated egoists. But if it could materialize and work if Ruto become the President, and not under Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidency. This is a hard fact which any level minded Kenyan must know.
It is indeed very interesting that anyone who wants to gain political fame in our Kenya today must open his ambition by invoking the Name of Raila Odinga, not as a hero, but as a villain. The Prime Minister has become the punching bag for amateurish political novices who at times openly display their political naivety by making irresponsible public pronouncements.
It is question of wait and see, if a party that is formed in the premises of numerous criminal cases, will stand the test of the day, and propel its leaders to the presidency!! In my view this is a big joke and my fellow Kenyans, I am sure, have been following the events very keenly. And I am sure they will make intelligent guesswork and arrive at a decision that would bring to an end all the hullaballoo and politics of deceits.
Ends
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com
