Martha Karua: Reformer of no Shade?

Published on 14th April 2009

I watched recently Martha Karua on NTV and then Mutahi Ngunyi on Capital Talk at K24 (both local Kenyan TV stations) and I was left with many questions. Kenyans are being taken for a ride by these people and the journalists. Earlier in the day, I saw Martha Karua with a team that call themselves civil leaders in a hotel, supposedly talking about Kenya and the Kenyan problem. First, what is this obsession with having workshops in the hotels?

Martha Karua        Photo:Courtesy
At the hotels, it is always the same people meeting. They talk to themselves about what they all know, and what some of us know. And to this extent, what value do they add to the reform process in the country?

They are hardly covered by the media. If they are covered, they are given less than a minute of news time. When I am watching news with friends and they appear on TV, the question that people ask is; on whose behalf do these people talk?

I bet it is time the donor community realized that these people who talk in the hotels are in very serious business. They represent nobody and they talk for nobody. They are in it for themselves. They are part of the problem Kenyans must deal with.

 As soon as we elect them to parliament, they promptly forget the reform agenda. They only come back to the reform process once they have been sacked, or once they fall out of favor. But so long as things are working their way, they will talk no reform. And that is why they must make all the noise in the hotels where they have the usual audience. Remember one Kibutha Kibwana?

During the TV interview, I would have wanted to hear Kathleen Openda ask Karua her role in President Kibaki appointing an Electoral Team all by himself in the run up to the last electoral fiasco, in the process ignoring the IPPG deal. That was not forthcoming. I would have wanted Kathleen to put Karua to task; tell her that she is a reformer of no shade, just like Ruto said. Ask her how logical it can be to declare a man with 43 MPs as the presidential winner while one with 112 MPs is declared the looser.

I would have wanted to hear from Karua how logical it is to declare a man with one and a half province a winner against one with six clear provinces to himself. I would have also wanted to hear how logical it is for two men with the support of only two provinces ganging up to forcefully take over power against one person with the support of six provinces.  The law wants the winner to have the support of at least 5 provinces. Kibaki had only Central and half of Eastern province. Kalonzo had less than half of a province while Raila who was declared the loser had six clear provinces. Karau owes us an explanation.

I would have wanted the journalist to investigate on Karua’s reform credentials. How come she yaps reforms only after falling out of favor with non reformers? Her reform credentials are questionable, just like those of Mwai Kibaki, Kalonzo Musyoka, Mutula Kilonzo and Kibutha Kibwana.

Lastly, for Mutahi Ngunyi to suggest that Kibaki can appoint George Saitoti as the next Prime Minister is superfluous. He must be in very deep slumber for the National Accord that we have is so clear on who becomes the Prime Minister. It is not the President to appoint.

The law states that the Prime Minister shall be the leader of the largest political party in parliament. As it is, Raila Odinga is that leader. He has close to 112 MPs in parliament. The nearest challenger is Mwai Kibaki with 43 MPs in Parliament, followed by Kalonzo Musyoka with 16 MPs, Uhuru Kenyatta with 14 MPs, and then other fringe parties. Kalonzo and Kibaki have a combined force of 59 MPs in Parliament, still a far cry from what Raila and ODM have. These are the facts.

People like Mutahi are the people who are misadvising Kibaki on the Coalition government. If he becomes candid with Kibaki over these issues, he will do Kenya a good favor.

So, can Mutahi tell us under what authority Kibaki can even contemplate appointing Saitoti as the Prime Minister? Mutahi could be a good political commentator, but he must consign himself to reality. He must not be an agent provocateur for the current system. If he does like he is doing, he becomes a rabid dog for hire in the view of many of us who advocate truth as the guiding lines in leadership. In his political brief to the president, he need to be as factual. He must not serve us with water, while he is the company of the President’s bed fellow.

Secondly, why must Kibaki only consider Saitoti in the mind of Mutahi? Are there no Kenyans worthy of consideration? This is a typical myopic thinking. It serves to advance tribal considerations at the expense of the country. It does not advance the national peace and reconciliation that Kenya so badly wants.

Odhiambo T Oketch

Komarock Nairobi.

 


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