Very perplexed indeed. There is no prime minister portfolio. A person vying for MP cannot vie for presidency at the same time, while both the election of MPs and the president must occur at the same time. Perfect indeed if everything was perfect in Kenya.
Amazed at the naivety of ODM stalwarts like Orengo and Namwamba, saying hell ya only to be contradicted by not only the boss himself, but also the mouth piece of the boss Miguna Miguna. And I am left to wonder who is the real adviser of the prime minister. Did they get a briefing, and if they did,why do they act naively or are they tired of the king?
My concern is whether Raila or his advisors know that prevention is better than a cure. An unbroken egg is still intact. One cannot keep an egg yolk in a broken egg shell. Once the cat is out of the box it is very difficult to bring it back. In my view, the PSC did not pass the resolutions in good faith. ODM has done one mistake by allowing the resolution to be passed and presented to COE. Until they are sure that one is not being targeted, they must not let this pass in parliament. The resolutions seem to be pro PNU than ODM and this is another chaos in progress.
Colluding with PNU, Ruto managed to pull a fast one on Raila. It is clear that Raila may not outrighgtly win the next general election. Screw the opinion polls by Caesar Odhiambo Wanda et al., projecting that Raila is ahead of Uhuru in central province. Which central province? Not the one I know. As long as rift valley is with central province and the presidential candidate is from central province, then Raila is out.
Raila is left with just being the MP of Kibera. But if the law does not allow him to contest that seat, then he becomes a figure head. Even the Nyanza Mps who adore him now will run away from him. Remember the days when Ouko almost replaced Jaramogi or when Oyugi was the sht.
The days are coming when luoland may be redeemed from the Odinagism, but is it really redemption? Who really cares about the luo fate? Is the fight between Kenyattaism and Odingaism the same as the fight between the luoism and kikuyuism. I doubt it.
However, what the PSC did here was particularly an attempt to finish Odingaism , but in the process they are promoting kikuyuism against luoism. What they did not realise is that they truly managed to put kikuyism against the luoism and this makes many independent people including me very very uneasy. They are indeed putting back the luoism that Riala himself has managed to dismantle.
And let me tell you that if this is indeed the case, then we will fight back because we can, and it is our right to do so.
Why should a law be developed just to finish one man. Why is everyone trying so hard to block one Raila Odinga from power? Is it because of who he is or because he is a luo? I think the latter is true. It is because he is a luo. And if this is true, then PSC is in the pocket of PNU, and me as an independent mind, say no no and no again. Let fairness prevail. It was meant to be, let it be. The constitution must be reformulated by sober minds, not tribalists.
Dr. Barack Abonyo
Dr. Abonyo does not appear to me as independent as he claims to be, and seems to read cospiracy against Raila and luos in everything. He also confuses Luos being in power, and Raila’s aspiration to power as the same thing.
While I uphold Dr. Abonyo’s right to his opinion, I think his way of thinking will stand on his way, to impartial contribution to the debate about the proposed constitution. I am disinterested on who will be elected presiden,t come 1012. I am only concerned at type of governance the new law will provide to my country for along time to come.
Making personality targeted law is desastrous. Remember Charles Njonjo, when as attorney general came up with those laws that would frustrate the opposition? When Moi hired Lee Muthoga to go after him with the laws he championed to make, there was no place for him to hide.
Do you remember that Tom Mboya was minister for constitutional affairs that helped craft the mesh we find ourselves in today?
Let’s not breathe brimstone when we discuss the future, Dr Abonyo, for truth. You and I and Raila and Uhuru and Ruto and the guy next door will go, but the country will remain.
Abonyo, tell me that you were only joking when weaving this article…please tell me that you wrote this pedestrian article to provoke discourse and not to express your conviction.
The reasoning is lazy and reflects very badly on the author. The days of you kikuyus vs us Luos or you Kambas vs us Luhyas is gone. We are trying to build a united nation for the future generations.
The constitution is not made for an INDIVIDUAL but for prosperity. The constitution is supposed to be enduring and should capture the aspirations of its citizen. Most importantly, it should be able to define the role different arms of the government, with concrete provision to enable each to be able to check the other arms. It should be able to guarantee equality and fairness to all its citizens.
It is insulting therefore, to equate the process with personalities. It will not matter who becomes the chief executive if we have a good constitution with sufficient checks and balances.
Both pure presidential and parliamentary systems have their pros and cons. Kenyans would prefer to elect their leader directly since they seem not to trust parliamentarians for obvious reasons.
One should not use this issue to kiss-ass. The days of court poets is long gone.
This article was written by a drunk or a tribalist. One who has complete amnesia of the last 26 months. He even forgets that Raila himself has analyzed and has publicly said that, apart from the added number of MPs, he is okay with it.
Still, he is an independent thinker who is so detached, and his croaking voice is just that. It cannot make music to ears of sober minds, destruct the progressives, or make witnesses of post 2007 election violence, blink, dance, or refuse to drink water. Abonyo can be the few people who need to vote no at the referendum, so the record captures a few opposition
My 10th great grandfather Ragem, indicates that, notwithstanding the political divide, betrayals and animosity amongst politicians, this constitution is the best Kenya has come up with.
Joram Ragem
Both Mr. Anyango and Mr. Oluoch are right! I too don’t think that Mr. Abonyo is serious in reducing the pending constitution reform debate to how Mr. Oginga will fare in it’s outcome!
It is high time for Kenyans to think “outside the box”…the bigger picture!. Why should Kenyans care how this constitution will affect: Mr. oginga’s, Ruto, Kenyatta, Kalonzo and many others like them???????. One of the many roles of the constitution is to lay the enduring foundation where all laws governing the country MUST be based on . The constitution MUST OUTLIVE the current generation, and serve the many generation to come.
It is not a secret that Kenya is currently modeling their constitution on the US model. US constitution is now 200 years old and has outlived the forefathers who founded it. My few cents to Mr. Abonyo and those who feel that this Kenya constitution is tilted towards one: group, party or individuals in it’s current form, please, give the public a chance to pass it and then amend it later!!!
Even the US constitution, that your country is copying now, was not, and still not perfect to this date, but it has been amended many times to address the needs of the public. Kenya too can do the same with their constitution, if they can only moderate their tribal politics, that has plagued political development in this country.
Anyone who is losing sleep over..on how the pending constitution will affect the ruling class…the Ogingas…the Kibakis, should have their heads examined/checked!. Mr. Abonyo, if I were you, I would be concerned with how this document will affect the “little guy” in this country!! Not these privileged personalities!
If it is true that “candidates cannot run for MP, VP or President at the same time…”, then this will affect all candidates regardless of their tribe or political parties. Again, here Kenya can learn from US constitution that allows candidates to run for both offices at the time..and only resign after the election outcome. For example, Sen. Kerry of Mass. did not resign his senate seat in 2004 when he ran for Presidency. For Mr. Abonyo, if your major concern is that Mr. Oginga or anybody else cannot run for both offices, then have ODM, PNU and other parties amend this section of the constitution, because IT WILL AFFECT BOTH OF THEM IN THE FUTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
R. H. Raila Odinga is in his sixties while, I Fuambo is not even smelling 40. If he is lucky, he can live for more than 20 years whereas if I am lucky, I still have more than 20 years to attain his age.
Therefore, if PSC or CoE messes the constitution of Kenya, I and my age mates, and those who are younger than us, including the children of Uhuru, Ruto, Musyoka, Jimmy and Eugene(they of SIMAMA) have more to loose than Raila.
It could be true there is a conspiracy to clip Raila’s political wings but this should not be used to set tribes against others. Besides, if Raila is being fought because of the roles he plays in a national party or in government as the PM, it should not be seen as a fight against the luos or against Raila but as a fight against what he stands for.
The best way to counter the quick sand based fights is to tell Kenyans what they need to stand for and the stands they need to disociate from. On matters of the constitution, tell Kenyans what they need to see in the new constitution.
Dear All
Thanks for your response and comments. Your concentration is who the constitution should be made for and I agree. The constitution is for all Kenyans and should be discussed in that good faith. However in this case there seem to be alot of red herring and I am very suspicious. If that counts for drunkenness, so be it.
When you look at the PSC resolution, you realize that they were targeting one person. Even Orengo himself just talked about this on NTV, and said they were arm twisted because they did not have the votes, and he does not agree with the resolution. He actually echoed the same sentiments as mine. Miguna Miguna bashed the resolution in his article, and the PM himself asked for renegotiation (I would hope that Joram saw this).
Hence in my opinion the PSC used this moment, when they have the majority through Uhuru/Ruto coalition, to settle the old scores with Raila. They used a temporary coalition to draft a constitution. They were not making the constitution for Kenyans; they were doing it to scuttle someone. My question is, should the constitution be made this way? Should this have happened to a document geared towards bringing all Kenyans together? Shouldn’t the constitution be able to transcend time and personalities?
As we speak today, Kenya is not what it should be. As your sentiments state, Kenya should be for all Kenyans, and all citizens should be treated the same. There should be absolutely no tribalism. Tribalism should die and I agree. I hate tribalism. However, anyone who tells me that there is no tribalism in Kenya is lying to me, and everyone else. Anyone who says he does not see tribalism in some aspects of PSC decisions should look behind the closed door negotiations again. We are privy to this and we know what happened before it hit the airwaves, hence Joram may want rethink his statement.
Anyone who does not see tribal affiliations in the next general election is day dreaming. In 2012, we will still have tribally inclinated political parties. I can sure bet you on this. Of course I agree that we should do everything to stop it, and crying foul when such happen is also a strategy to stop the vice. In this case I believe it is and I am glad I am making noise about it, and warning about what it will bring.
And my point is, one should not count the daylight before the sun rises. There could be a terrible eclipse. Buy a sport light just in case.
Barack
Dear All
Please not that the title of this article was
“WHOSE POCKET IS PSC IN”
jaluo.com edited my the title of my article and replace it with
“THE NEW KENYA CONSTITUTION, AS NEGOTIATED BY PSC, IS AN ATTEMPT TO FINISH ONE MAN, PM RAILA ODINGA”
This may have modulated people’s thought process and direction of discussion.
Barack