Political shareholding has a minority too

Former President Kibaki sold to us the phrase, ‘every marketplace has its mad man’. He was then a VP under siege. We were in high school dining hall watching television news on the gigantic black-and-white wooden sets.

He would later be dispatched to Ministry of Health, but not before accusing his tormentors led by the late Elijah Wasike Mwangale of engaging in ‘political tourism’.

This is the political tours our leaders engage in just for the sake of holding rallies in the name of meeting the people or inspecting development projects but whose underlying theme is ‘siasa ya kumalizana’ (politics of undercutting each other).

That was in the late 80s but clearly if there is anything predictable about our politics, a common denominator through the long Kanu regime right unto Kibaki’s own tenure before Mr Uhuru Kenyatta’s which we are now in, it is that the brand we pursue never changes. Under the first Kenyatta we had the so-called Kiambu Mafia, the ‘experts’ in land sharing and whose unrivaled prowess was how they elbowed their way into the high table and arrogantly displayed self-importance.

In this cabal you find the likes of James Gichuru, Mbiyu Koinange, Kihika Kimani, Njenga Karume, Isaiah Mathenge and Njoroge Mungai. They shared a common ancestry and had a sense of entitlement to power as illustrated by the length they went in so far as trying to stop then Vice President Daniel arap Moi from ascending to power. When Mzee Kenyatta died in 1978, Moi took over and following what many believe was the jolt unleashed by the 1982 attempted coup, a new class of power barons, largely from the Rift Valley. They were the likes of Joseph Kamotho, Kariuki Chotara, Mulu Mutisya and Shariff Nassir. They were many and the roll call inside the sanctum of power kept increasing with admission of new faces and exit of those who had either stepped on a political live wire or found to be rating low on loyalty.

In 2002, Kibaki declared that the old tricks of Kanu were over. But in no time he showcased his own breed of hawks and sycophants, holding fire and threatening to smoulder anyone with the smell of Nyayo, on the pyre of Rainbow Coalition.

Chief among them was Chris Murungaru and Kiraitu Murungi, who have since had a fair share of humble pie. There were also others but they seemed eager to reincarnate the ghosts of Kiambu Mafia, but now with expanded mandate to weave fabric of government solely from strings only to be found around Mt Kenya and its scattered seedlings that had found ground to spout and extend its biological hemisphere elsewhere in the country.

Exit Kibaki, enter Uhuru, and capped by the controversial first defeat of what they call Odingaism in 2007 and again in 2013, and many awaited to see if the ‘digital’ generation led by Uhuru and William Ruto, would tear apart chapters from books borrowed from the library Kanu built. Yes, there were even prayers that may the politics of hawkishness be submerged by the rolling waters of youthfulness. As citizens we are lucky to have a president and deputy whose combined age is around 100. This is a rare thing in Africa where the likes of Bob Mugabe and Paul Biya wake up every morning to surprise themselves that they are still in power!

But as they say in psychology classes, there are two types of ages; mental and physical or archeological and psychological. The first is an offshoot of how long you have been around, while other assesses maturity and mental inclination. One can actually say you can be young physically but lead your life with attitudes and attributes of your forefathers.

This is manifested in how you delight in resonation of the old praise songs and style of governance that for example reserves specific positions such as national security and intelligence for your tribe. In fact not just reserving but maintaining the aspects of power you inherit. There may be a few ‘flower-girls’ or madoadoa here and there, but the same ornamental vale golden watches remain.

Sycophantic tendencies and ear-splitting noises reaching us every day from Jubilee mandarins led by Aden Duale, are fast painting the coalition’s flag with colours we long presumed had expired and thus forgotten. When you hear such old reprimands as, “hii pesa si ya mama yako” (public money doesn’t belong to your mother), you have reason to be afraid, for you know the repository from where that emanates from. By way of admonishing opponents, declarations that Jubilee will rule for 20 years and more, prime-appointments from a few ridges of the country as demonstrated in the recent military and intelligence changes, as well as arrogant dismissal of the opposition and those you disagree with as unpatriotic hirelings envious of power, you know where we are headed.

For those either clueless, even the President dons military fatigues and surrounds himself with Generals, or are blinded by the Jubilee blood running through their veins, a serious interrogation of our past and present may be a nice idea for you this week. But still as they say, if you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.

I wish you Bon Voyage with a gentle reminder of a powerful feminine figure emerging out of the woodwork of Jubilee politics with power of presence around the presidency only comparable to Koinange around his brother-in-law, Mzee Kenyatta.

Duale, just like many in URP brigade is simply deluding himself with their party’s shareholding in government, but isn’t that how tokenism mesmerizes minority shareholders in Kenya’s blue chip companies where share certificates and invitations to AGMs is more prestigious by virtue of recognition, than the handful of coins declared as bonus?