News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City.

It is time for the Kenyans people of goodwill to emulate what their neighbors in Tanzania did interacting with the late President Julius Kambarage Nyerere after his retirement from the office and active politics.

Kenyans should a certain degree of respect to the former President Daniel Arap Moi and members of his immediate family in the same way and manner the Tanzanians had treated their retired head of state.

Nyerere voluntarily relinquished his presidency after serving for close to 26 years. Dr. Nyerere did not have a decent house in his rural Butiama village near Musoma, though he had an established homestead with a small house whose rooftop was covered with old corrugated iron sheets.

In showing their love and good gesture as the sign appreciation to what Mwalimu Nyererere did for the country and its people, members of the Tanzanaia’s People’s Defense force {TPDF} quickly made a move. They raised substantial money among members of the combined armed forces and built a palatial home that befits a retired head of state at Nyerere’s rural home in Butiama village.

The house is an ultra modern or should be said in the Kenyan common standard terms as a palatial home, whose roofs is covered with red tiles with a wonderful finishing, which is close to the state of art construction work.

It was built on a Harambee self-help spirit in which Tanzanians from all walks of life contributed money generously and voluntarily on their own volition.

Mzee Moi served Kenyans diligently for 24 uninterrupted years, though as industrious as he is, he had established his own home at Kabarak farm near Nakuru where he kept his family. As it is normal in the case fall the African rulers, Moi might have brushed his shoulders the wrong way with many Kenyans on various crucial issues, but this should not be used as instrumental tools of causing him and his entire family the high degree of harassment an embarrassment the way I am seeing things.

During his long lasting stewardship of this country Mzee did a lot to the common man. He built many important institutions of higher learning including public universities, he lifted the standards of living among the Kenyan communities which were previously marginalized from the days of colonial era, and should go down in history like someone who did a lot to Kenyans.

What I am seeing now is intriguing activities of some people who have ganged themselves as the agents of hate against Moi and his entire family members. Other are conspiring on daily basis on how to grab whatever the family owns on flimsy claim.

Other conspirators are known to be pursuing the Moi family through legal channels by instituting numerous legal actions based on falsified claims, with aims and objectives of grabbing the family hard earned properties., while other are known to be in the process of hatching conspiracies to deprive the Moi family of their genuinely acquired property through petty jealousies and enviousness.

It is even wore and shame that even Moi’s married daughter who are grown up and now members of other families outside the home of the retired head of state are not spared. They are being accused ungodly manners in conspiracies to have their property grabbed.

I am quite sure for certain that many Kenyans are Christian who believes in the doctrine of Christianity teachings and not “paganism” which forbade grabbing of a neighbor’s property using unorthodox tricks

Moi supported hundreds of thousands of orphans during his tenure of State House, helped hundreds of Kenyans from poor families acquire high education, but many modern roads leading to almost every corner of the Republic of Kenya, modernized he communications system.

The high degree of hate against Moi could be seen in an open following the recent dismissal of a Supreme Court Judge for simply reasons that he did not allow Moi who was then a serving head of state to be summoned his court to testify during the marathon inquiry ordered by the Government in early 2003 to probe the multibillion shillings Golden berg scandal.

By constantly harassing Mr Moi and his family, Kenyan are setting up a bad precedent making the presidency of this country becoming increasingly unattractive the assumption and fear that it is the kind of a job which carries a high risk of being targeted for frustrations and victimization thereafter retirement.

Mzee Moi had handed power to his successor voluntarily and peacefully after completing his constitutional ten year mandate in accordance to the Republican constitution of the day without any fuss as it is the common practice in many pats of this continent, that even he outgoing presidents who knew pretty well that they have been voted out cling to power by any of manipulating members of the armed force to perpetuate their dictatorial ruling and continuing doing so irrespective of the overwhelming public opinion against them This has been the sources of bloodbath in Africa. Moi therefore will go down the annals of history as the president who respected the verdict of the people and handed power peacefully to his successor.

In this context, it is my heartfelt ad passionate appeal to all level minded Kenyans to exercises some amount of respect towards Mzee Moi and his people minded Kenyan to exercise some serious amount of respect to the retired head of state that befits a man of his personal status

Those who feel they were wronged by the defunct Moi’s KANU regime should forgive the old man and follow the words coined by the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta that “We should forgive them but never to forget.” And they will find their conscience settled..

Leo Odera Omolo
Kisumu
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