Andũ a Nyũmba, we have just gone through the worst period in our history in post independence Kenya. This period is politely referred to as the post election period. And all for what just because Mwai wa Kibaki won an election, which some say was rigged? I leave it to each individual to decide for himself whether Kibaki stole the votes or not. Personally, I think that even though the election had its irregularities, Kibaki won fairly. I have seen the case presented by ODM and printed by the local dailies and find it to be extremely flimsy at best. I firmly believe that we are dealing with masters of deception who have an extremely fanatical following.
Be as it may, the rigging of an election does not give anyone the right to rape, loot, burn, kill, maim and commandeer property. Even worse, our people have been going through this for the last 4 multi-party election cycles. It has now become an increasingly sadistic national sport to kill, rape, chase a Kyuk. This sport has been carried out on a regular basis on a cycle of 5 years. Even more dangerous is that it is becoming increasingly popular for high ranking politicians politicians to bash us in public using fairly provocative language, Najib Balala wants us confined in a Lesotho like Island. Such words are uttered in a press conference in broad daylight, without anyone even finding fault in them. On top of that we are now blamed for the 'perceived backwardness' of other Kenyans, much like the jews in Nazi Germany. Anyone looking for proof that such talk can lead to humongous catastrophes, need look no further than the catastrophe that was the 2nd world war.
In the international press, every report starts with our political and economic dominance. For starters, even if we've had 2 presidents, they'll barely surpass the time spent by Mzee Moi at the helm for 24 years. Kenyatta spent 15 years at the helm and kibaki will have spent 10 at the end of his reign. Yet it is the Kalenjins busily killing and committing all sorts of atrocities against our brothers and sisters. There has been no Kenyan government that was not all inclusive, meaning that despite a Kikuyu or a Kalenjin being at the helm, most of the other tribe and with no doubt all the big ones were included in those governments. There is no denying that there has been corruption in successive governments which benefited a small clique of individuals, across the ethnic divide, but for the most part our people have attained what they have through their own blood and sweat, and through their entrepreneurial spirit. We have spread our tentacles far and wide within the Kenyan nation and without, and suddenly we find those who went far from our core domain within the nation of Kenya, increasingly facing resentment and danger. Populist leaders find it easy to win votes by preaching hate against Nyumba ya Mumbi.
The Irony of the matter is that no Kenyan government to date did more to promote all the things cherished by the opposition, than Kibakis. The CDF scheme complemented similar schemes of monies distributed to local authorities (LATF), but excelled in its relative transparency and produced more results on the ground than anything else undertaken so far. It is by no means perfect but compared to the money being poured into the local auth0orities with little results on the ground,the CDF scheme is a God send. The Youth and women fund provided easy access to funds for those wanting to start businesses and the rural electrification programme was enhanced to improve the lives of those living in rural areas. That is just a small fraction of the things done under Kibaki. The country also experienced a period of sustainable growth and poverty levels fell across the board and a lot of jobs were created, even though by no means enough. Michael Chege puts it better in this article, which also analyzes the ridiculous ODM propaganda.
It would be fool hardy for Nyumba ya Mumbi to assume, despite the signing of the national peace accord, that what our people experienced during the post election period won't happen again. The question, brothers and sisters, is what are we going to do? Successive governments including the current one led by one of our own have been unable to protect our people. Our women have been raped with impunity, our brothers and sisters murdered, our people reduced to sleeping in tents in their own land. To this end I have formulated a few proposals in which we have to operate in the new defined reality that is Kenya.
My first proposal is to set up council of elders or a body that will look out for our interests in Kenya. I personally love Kenya and think that all the communities living in it are far stronger united in it than divided. Nevertheless,we have to operate within the reality that Kenya houses 42 different nations. This body would be in a position to sue those like Balala who talk irresponsibly in public among other things.
Next in light of the total collapse of our police force along ethnic lines, we have to ask the government to let our own protect our own especially in the volatile North Rift region. They should be allowed to carry firearms. The government has failed time and to me again to provide adequate security for our people, hence they should only oblige us in this. We should certainly make sure we have enough of our brothers and sisters protecting us, so that our people are never forced to flee their legally acquired property again.
With those two measures in place I believe we will be better prepared the treacherous territory of post 2007 election Kenya. The Agikuyu must be able to operate within the context of the right established in our constitution, of every individual being able to live, own property and marry in any part of the country. Only thus will we thrive and our nation of Kenya thrive. We can certainly not be confined within the boundaries of central province.
Thayu.
