My 10th great grandfather Ragem, commends Kumekucha on boldly seeking the attention of Raila Odinga, but advices as follows:
I too have questioned how and why Raila could renege on duly representing the interest of the people who gave so much to put him in office. I have used intelligence and have been assured by counter-intelligence that the PM may just be on the right track. Bestowed on the PM, and the Raila you have alluded to, is intelligence that we can only speculate about. However, the base is rightly worried and here is where political wit is lacking. On this you have your finger on the pulse. Kumekucha, Raila’s perception may be that he has caught a lion by the tail, and must continue holding lest it bites us. His supporters need to believe, not just in his desire and ability to end impunity, but in theirs. What is the cost of ending impunity? Is it losing a life long dream to be president? MLK gave his life for the world to appreciate his work. Madiba spent 27 years in prison to change SA. Raila has already given about 8 years in detention and recently he contended with giving up claim to victory and with sharing power albeit not 50/50. What more is he prepared to forfiet to change Kenya? Reverse intelligence indicate that Raila has not changed his position on what should be done to those arrested on allegations of fanning post election violence. Quite the contrary, his position is that many are innocent, except that in freeing them without fair jury, the guilty will slip through, and the cycle will continue.
Kumekucha, I am miles away from home, but I am able to read the situation in Kenya, get and decipher reciprocal intelligence and counter- intelligence. I take it that as you celebrate your anniversary, you will read the situation very well so that when you decide to spill the beans, let it be nothing but the absolute truth.
All said, you are doing a good job and Kenyans look up to you for substance most of the time, and chafe now and then.
—
Joram Ragem
wuod Ndinya, wuod Onam, wuod Amolo, wuod Owuoth, wuod Oganyo, wuod Mumbe, wuod Odongo, wuod Olwande, wuod Adhaya, wuod Ojuodhi, wuod Ragem! (Are you my relative?)
– – –
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:37:04 -0500 [01:37:04 PM CST]
From: Joram Ragem
Subject: Ragem’s Response To Kumekuchas article Copied Below.My 10th great grandfather Ragem, commends Kumekucha on boldly seeking the attention of Raila Odinga, but advices as follows:
I too have questioned how and why Raila could renege on duly representing the interest of the people who gave so much to put him in office. I have used intelligence and have been assured by counter-intelligence that the PM may just be on the right track. Bestowed on the PM, and the Raila you have alluded to, is intelligence that we can only speculate about. However, the base is rightly worried and here is where political wit is lacking. On this you have your finger on the pulse. Kumekucha, Raila’s perception may be that he has caught a lion by the tail, and must continue holding lest it bites us. His supporters need to believe, not just in his desire and ability to end impunity, but in theirs. What is the cost of ending impunity? Is it losing a life long dream to be president? MLK gave his life for the world to appreciate his work. Madiba spent 27 years in prison to change SA. Raila has already given about 8 years in detention and recently he contended with giving up claim to victory and with sharing power albeit not 50/50. What more is he prepared to forfiet to change Kenya? Reverse intelligence indicate that Raila has not changed his position on what should be done to those arrested on allegations of fanning post election violence. Quite the contrary, his position is that many are innocent, except that in freeing them without fair jury, the guilty will slip through, and the cycle will continue.
Kumekucha, I am miles away from home, but I am able to read the situation in Kenya, get and decipher reciprocal intelligence and counter- intelligence. I take it that as you celebrate your anniversary, you will read the situation very well so that when you decide to spill the beans, let it be nothing but the absolute truth.
All said, you are doing a good job and Kenyans look up to you for substance most of the time, and chafe now and then.
—
Joram Ragem
wuod Ndinya, wuod Onam, wuod Amolo, wuod Owuoth, wuod Oganyo, wuod Mumbe, wuod Odongo, wuod Olwande, wuod Adhaya, wuod Ojuodhi, wuod Ragem! (Are you my relative?)
– – –
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:37:04 -0500 [01:37:04 PM CST]
From: Joram Ragem
Subject: Ragem’s Response To Kumekuchas article Copied Below.
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Monday, November 17, 2008
Why Has Raila Veered Off So Badly?
By Kumekucha.
I am baffled.
I want to speak in very raw terms here because I think something has gone gravely wrong. I watched the Prime Minister speak at the Safari Park Hotel yesterday, literally fortifying his stance that the Waki Report be implemented to a T. As I watched, I had to scratch my head in amazement at what the man’s strategy is. Where is he going with this fervent call to implement a report that his support base in the Rift Valley is vociferously opposed to? And when that full implementation takes place, where will he find new allies to help him realize his lifelong dream of being president of Kenya? Does he intend to revert to the painful old alliances that have been fraught with jealousy, treachery and outright betrayal?
The way I see it, there are two sides to the Waki Report. There’s the political side. And there’s the legal side. Prime Minister Odinga is obviously winning the legal side handsomely, and in the process he is driving his supporters away. Because he is driving his supporters away in the Rift Valley and elsewhere, he is losing the political side of this equation in a spectacular way. For a politician of his stature, that is an astounding failure. Many ardent followers of this man have been with him because they saw in him someone who had his ear on the ground, who detected the direction of the political winds, who knew when to make tactical retreats. What has gone wrong? Is it the men and women around him who have insulated him from the groundswell of opposition to his leadership style? Has the power of his office suddenly blinded him?
I’m disturbed that it turns out to be President Kibaki who now calls for forgiveness and reconciliation . This was a matter the Prime Minister would have had more moral authority to call for than the president. But since this is something I’ve championed in the past, I salute President Kibaki for going in that direction. Indeed, I maintain that it’s the only viable way to deal with the disunity occasioned by the failed elections of 2007.
But it’s never too late.
The Prime Minister is an intelligent man who understands the power of perception. Our Rift Valley brothers and sisters are not defending one of their own because they think anybody is guilty, they are reacting to the perception that since becoming Prime Minister Raila has not seemed very attentive to their issues. Incidentally, vast swathes of Luo Nyanza voters feel the exact same way as their Rift Valley counterparts. If this trend crosses over to Western Province and the Coast, tell me where the Prime Minister will get his votes from in 2012. An alliance with Martha Karua? Maybe Uhuru? My God! Maybe it’s because of the possibility of this scenario playing out that the Luo Council of Elders called on the PM to rethink his strategy. I concur.
I’m aware that I’ll be called a tribalist for addressing this issue as I have. But I go off on the premise that six out of eight provinces voted for the Prime Minister. What that means is that more than half the nation is looking up to him for direction, inspiration and an understanding of where this nation is going. Advocating that we turn over our sons to the Hague is not how to play this game. A local tribunal is the way to go. It strengthens our faith in our nascent institutions and affirms our hard-won independence. The kind of blackmail the European Union wants to subject our country to is unacceptable. They need to be told in no uncertain terms that we’re no longer a colony. We have to come to a point where we say no to the monies they give us, because they are using those funds to blackmail us. How low can they sink?
Mr. Prime Minister, the time to hit a U-turn is now. I’ve spoken candidly because this is a time for a brother to whisper to a brother that the zipper of his pants are down. I hope you pull that zipper up before the children come storming into the living room and chuckling at the peeping sight of your red undergarments.
————
Kumekucha
– – – – – – – – – – –
Monday, November 17, 2008
Why Has Raila Veered Off So Badly?
By Kumekucha.
I am baffled.
I want to speak in very raw terms here because I think something has gone gravely wrong. I watched the Prime Minister speak at the Safari Park Hotel yesterday, literally fortifying his stance that the Waki Report be implemented to a T. As I watched, I had to scratch my head in amazement at what the man’s strategy is. Where is he going with this fervent call to implement a report that his support base in the Rift Valley is vociferously opposed to? And when that full implementation takes place, where will he find new allies to help him realize his lifelong dream of being president of Kenya? Does he intend to revert to the painful old alliances that have been fraught with jealousy, treachery and outright betrayal?
The way I see it, there are two sides to the Waki Report. There’s the political side. And there’s the legal side. Prime Minister Odinga is obviously winning the legal side handsomely, and in the process he is driving his supporters away. Because he is driving his supporters away in the Rift Valley and elsewhere, he is losing the political side of this equation in a spectacular way. For a politician of his stature, that is an astounding failure. Many ardent followers of this man have been with him because they saw in him someone who had his ear on the ground, who detected the direction of the political winds, who knew when to make tactical retreats. What has gone wrong? Is it the men and women around him who have insulated him from the groundswell of opposition to his leadership style? Has the power of his office suddenly blinded him?
I’m disturbed that it turns out to be President Kibaki who now calls for forgiveness and reconciliation . This was a matter the Prime Minister would have had more moral authority to call for than the president. But since this is something I’ve championed in the past, I salute President Kibaki for going in that direction. Indeed, I maintain that it’s the only viable way to deal with the disunity occasioned by the failed elections of 2007.
But it’s never too late.
The Prime Minister is an intelligent man who understands the power of perception. Our Rift Valley brothers and sisters are not defending one of their own because they think anybody is guilty, they are reacting to the perception that since becoming Prime Minister Raila has not seemed very attentive to their issues. Incidentally, vast swathes of Luo Nyanza voters feel the exact same way as their Rift Valley counterparts. If this trend crosses over to Western Province and the Coast, tell me where the Prime Minister will get his votes from in 2012. An alliance with Martha Karua? Maybe Uhuru? My God! Maybe it’s because of the possibility of this scenario playing out that the Luo Council of Elders called on the PM to rethink his strategy. I concur.
I’m aware that I’ll be called a tribalist for addressing this issue as I have. But I go off on the premise that six out of eight provinces voted for the Prime Minister. What that means is that more than half the nation is looking up to him for direction, inspiration and an understanding of where this nation is going. Advocating that we turn over our sons to the Hague is not how to play this game. A local tribunal is the way to go. It strengthens our faith in our nascent institutions and affirms our hard-won independence. The kind of blackmail the European Union wants to subject our country to is unacceptable. They need to be told in no uncertain terms that we’re no longer a colony. We have to come to a point where we say no to the monies they give us, because they are using those funds to blackmail us. How low can they sink?
Mr. Prime Minister, the time to hit a U-turn is now. I’ve spoken candidly because this is a time for a brother to whisper to a brother that the zipper of his pants are down. I hope you pull that zipper up before the children come storming into the living room and chuckling at the peeping sight of your red undergarments.
————
Kumekucha