Dear All

To circumcise or not to circumcise is and could be a personal decision for Raila and anyone who do want to. The issue is not circumcision. The issue is who Raila is to the luos? Why is he so much glued to making sure that circumcision is absolutely necessary for the luos in particular? Is this circumcision a political move for Raila in particular and luos in general? Is Raila doing this because he is concerned about HIV related deaths in luoland in essence is this a medical issue?

Ladies and gentlemen I must say in advance that I am a strong supporter of Raila. I am quite convinced that Raila is the only bull in luoland; the other representatives are cows as at the time I am writing this piece. In other words, the luos will be lost without Rail especially now. Indeed God forbid something happens to him, we will be like sheep without a shepherd.

In the bible, after God used Moses to free the Jews from Egypt, he denied him entry into the promised land because he himself disobeyed God’s instructions about how to retrieve water from a stone. Moses still remained the leader but not for the sole purpose for which he was appointed. God appointed Joshua to take over. David, a humble man was appointed by God to be the king of Israel but he later became arrogant to an extent that he took an army commandant wife and killed him. God relieved him of his duties and that was the beginning of disintegration of Israel as a nation. However, in these stories whether real or made up, God was the checkpoint. The question is who is the checkpoint for Raila when he says or does something that is detrimental to luoland? I know that a few will counter this point by informing me that Raila is not a luo leader. Oh! he is a nationalist and a PM of Kenya as a nation. My answer is, if it were so, then he would have no business emphasizing this to the luos. He can make this a national issue.

The fact that Raila has been a strong leader is not in question. But the fact that lately he has taken a route that sounds he is loosing his calling is becoming clearer and clearer, especially when he has trivialized his position to this circumcision thing. While some say, Raila knows his way to promised land and that he is completely in control and knows what he is doing, it is also ok for some people including me to constantly pause the question “is this the way?” or “are we there yet” . It is ok to tell the king that he is naked. Because, ladies and gentlemen, it is very possible that the king is indeed naked but no one has the guts to tell him lest him suffer the wrath of the sycophants. The problem the luos have today, is that there is not a “Joshua” and Raila is not interested in grooming one. There also minimal interaction between the king and the council of elders to tell the king that he is naked. Many around Raila including our MPS are so indebted to him so much that it is impossible for them to voice discent. Indeed some MPs and even leaders who have questioned the validity of our direction have been pushed to the periphery and do not matter on the decision table. Woo to the luos if this trend continues.

Culture is something built over years. At some point, some are discarded while others are added. Indeed change of culture is normally by individual action that eventually translate into massive change. However, sometimes culture change may be abrupt but this must be instituted by an abrupt natural calamity or by abrupt invasion of one culture by another culture. In the argument of the prime minister, the luos must change. They must be educated to circumcise now because aids may wipe them out. In other words, the prime Minister is warning of a natural calamity that must abruptly change the luo culture. To me the food the PM is offering is full of maggots underneath and I am unwilling to eat it. There is no adequate data supporting circumcision as a real mechanism to limiting or eradication of HIV as I previously indicated in my last article. What I read in PMs position is that he fears for his future position in terms of capturing the top seat and would like to fit. The PM is possibly attempting to avoid being denied the presidency because of the perception that the luos are not circumcised and by extension he is not and hence he is considered a boy by other communities. In other words, Raila is fertilizing the soil for easy ploughing in 2012. My position is that there is an easier solution to this rather if he believes that this is what blocks him from presidency

1. Raila can declare to the public that he is indeed circumcised

2. Raila can tell the media the day he wants to be circumcised and makes sure it is fully captured.

I give these two suggestions with shear sadness because Raila does not need none of the above. All he needs is to find away of keeping Ruto, Ngilu, Nyaga, Mudavadi, and Balala. The rest of the flies will be coming to the trap. The sad thing is that he has decided to possibly drop some of these people and therefore he is left to grapple for new alliances. I say so because the pentagon members have begun to avoid meetings where Raila meets the new alliances. One of the demands for this new alliance could be this circumcision thing. In simple terms, this change of culture Raila is suggesting will be an invasion of the Luo culture by another culture under the disguise of a medical calamity. This is an invasion of a culture without a battle. I am saddened that the luo leaders, the MPs, are not talking about this. Where are Tuju, Ochuodho, Limumba, and Okundi? Why is Anyang Nyongo quiet? Where is Orengo on this? Why have they never summoned Raila on this or is he above the questioning by the luo leadership. May be they think this is a flimsy issue. Flimsy yes but this could be the very issue that may decide the 2012 support form luoland. For this issue even the toughest Raila diehards have been broken. Some are asking, how dare he? While others are saying that they have given too much for very little. The days of using the luos as a simple bargaining chip or a business entity may be over. There are times when a person can act as an individual while there is a time when people act as a group. If this issue divides the luos, Raila Amollo Odinga will have to bear the blame. He shall have just ruined the dynasty that his father built for years. Indeed he shall have single handedly destroyed chances for the luos to recover from over 40 years of government instituted poverty in Kenya, swindled luo culture and finished the luo nation as we know it.

Dr. Barack Abonyo

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Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:20:22 +0000
From: barack abonyo
Subject: Raila and the circumcision issue