Commentary By Leo Odera Omolo

Those older Kenyans who were living here around the year 1965/1966 and who can still remember and follow up the history of constitutional crisis in Uganda would definitely agree with me that members of the GEMA communities are now pursuing the politics of the tribal fiefdom the same way the Baganda did it.

The Baganda with their numerical strength and slightly enjoying the economic power over other Ugandan communities they referred to as backward and primitive failed to realize the importance of nationhood and this negative politics became the genesis o political turbulence in that country ever since 1966.

The Bagandas had launched the infamous “Kabaka Yekka” party immediately after the return of Kabaka Mutesa11{King Freddie} from Great Britain where he had been exiled by the colonial authorities for a couple of years. The vent took place soon after the first general election in which Democratic Party under the stewardship of the late Benedict Kiwanuka swept the board beating other parties in the first general election.

Kiwanuka was himself a Muganda, but a staunch Catholic adherence and this did not pleased many politicians in Buganda region, especially when Kiwanuka was sworn in as the first Prime Minister of Uganda during the responsible {interim government}. They conspired with the late Kabaka Mutesa 11 and launched “Kabaka Yekka”.

Desperately hungry for power to govern the entire Uganda, the Buganda politician and the Kabaka became vulnerable to political manipulation by the late Apollo Milton Obote a Northerner who headed the splinter group of Uganda People Congress, which had just broken the rank with Uganda National Congress which was led by Joe Jolly Kiwanuka.

The alliance between Kabaka Mutesa’s “Kabaka Yekka”worked briefly and the combined forces of the two parties hounded Benedict Kiwanuka out of the office in the independence general election of 1962 which ushered in the independence of Uganda in October the same year when the British government Union Jack was lowered and the new Ugandan national flag went up.

However, the signs of discontent started showing up soon after independence leading to the excessively cunning Milton Obote unilaterally scrapping of the independence constitution in 1966 automatically dismissing Kabaka who was just a ceremonial Head of State and President and assumed all the executive power for himself.

The Kabaka Mutesa 11 gave the national government one month to remove all the institutions of the government out of Bagada region. The Kampala City which housed the government is located inside Buganda and in essence the notice required Obote to remove the entire government out of Kampala and relocated it elsewhere. This was an action which was a clear case of rebellion and near impossible.

Obote’s reaction was devastating. He dispatched a contingent of Uganda military expedition force to Mengo the House of Buganda Kingdom with clear instruction to arrest Kabaka Mutesa 11 so that he could be charged with High Treason. And Kabaka and his men fought back in a shoot out which escalated for the whole day.

Mengo was besieged,but the Kabaka Mutesa 11 managed to escape via Rwanda and went Britain in exile for the second time in less than ten years where he eventually died.

I am making the Uganda references specifically to warn those engaged in forming amorphous tribal political alliances as the short-cut to the presidency of this country to be aware of the risk involved. What have be fallen the Ugandans may be knocking at the doorstep of Kenya’s politics, which may plunge this country to a very distasteful conditions of chaos and anarchy.

In the case of GEMA leaders .especially politicians from other regions who have been associating themselves with Uhuru Kenyatta in the so-called G7 might have by now realize that they are quite irrelevant as far as GEMA leaders are concern. There virtually no mention of any other politician or anything to do with he millions of votes which are in the hands of other Kenyans outside the Mont Kenya region. Their fate {non-Kikuyu G7} members were sealed off.

The last week’s Gema meeting had sent out a very loud and clear messages to the likes of Kalonzo Musyoka Eugene Wamalwa, William Ruto, Ali Makwere,Raphael Tuju and their troop soldiers that they do associate with the people they really don’t know well leave alone understand their culture.

I am also saying that God is great. He placed the Kikuyus under slopes of Mount Kenya, the Chaggas under the sloes of Mount Kilimanjaro, Wahaya in Bukoba and Baganda in Buganda region of Uganda with a beautiful City of Seven Hills {Kampala}. Had the God made a grave mistake of placing the four inter-related Bantus communities under one country and under one national flag, things could have been quite different if not for the worse treacherous.

The GEMA leaders have since coined one misleading word; “Anything About Raila” {ABR} meaning the Prime Minister Raila Odinga is their main headache. Such references about an individual does not augur well in the national objective of peaceful co-existence. .The Luos, Raila’s own community have lived and worked peacefully under two Kikuyu presidents, namely the founding President the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and President Mwai Kibaki. In fact it was the Luos who created both Kenyatta and Kibaki presidency.

And Kenyans are wondering why the Gema community could spent enormous resources exclusively to strategist how to scuttle the presidential ambition of a Luo like Raila Odinga?.Is it not the time for paying back in reciprocation of what the Luos have done to the Kikuyus in the past?

How do they think any sane people in other Kenyan community could trust their parochial approach of national issues such as presidential elections if they are so selfish and shameless partners as they appeared to be?

By coining such ill-famed word Anybody But Raila {ABR} it is a clear indication that Gema leader are selfish people who have no idea about the national cohesion and the need for Kenyans to work together as one nation and one people.

Raila ha never ruled Kenya before any nobody in his best frame of mind could come and tell us how bad his presidency would be. It is therefore my sincere hope that the younger Kikuyu generation, especially the intellectuals should come out and tell the elders, particularly those who still believes in the day of impunity to discard their outmoded politics and join hands with Kenya to work for a better country.

We need each others contribution in kind so that we could built a strong nation and preserve it as one unit and not a fragmented tribal fiefdoms.

Ends