Tough times await new Jubilee party

Napoleon Bonaparte sought to conquer the whole of Europe and Northern Africa, and nearly pulled it off except for hubris.

Between 1804 and 1815 he was, first, the consul, then emperor of France.

Primarily, Napoleon is remembered for military exploits that vanquished whomever he designated enemy.

Armies trembled before his might, but a consequence of that fear was the unity that finally led to his humiliation in 1815 at the battle of Waterloo, a Belgium city where he met his major defeat at the hands of the Anglo-Prussian armies.

The devil, nonetheless, must be given his dues. There is a legacy of military science he left behind that is still being taught in military academies.

Other than the Napoleonic code which enforced a set of social values, he introduced educational reforms, a tax code for colonies under the French rule, the first Central Bank of France and a better roads and sewer infrastructure for France.

There is a parallel in this for the Jubilee Alliance Party (JP) which has set out on an ambitious plan to politically conquer the whole of Kenya.

Napoleon once opined that 'great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them'.

One may ask; what principles drive the Jubilee consortium? Has it been equal to the task of delivering Canaan?

The jury is still out there, but given what has been witnessed in the recent past, we have had more of the bad acts; NYS, Eurobond, IEBC, corruption and the cancerous tumour that is the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.

Has Jubilee's vision got anything to do with the welfare of Kenyans or simply advancing and protecting the personal interests of a few powerful individuals ?

Deputy President William Ruto once posited, "If we beat them (Opposition) when we were not in Government (2013), can they beat us now that we are the government?"

This question was as deliberate as it was suggestive.

It could easily have been interpreted that the Jubilee administration was hinting at connivance with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to give it an advantage over opponents.

There is Jubilee's argument IEBC is just a referee in a game, not a player.

This argument misses the point by a mile because the referee calls the shots on the pitch. What he sees and decides is what counts. He can allow or deny a goal.

The referee can award a penalty kick to his preferred team on the stroke of full time through prior arrangement if the fancy takes him.

Have we forgotten Diego Maradona's hand of God that scored a goal at the 1986 World Cup?

It is only when one tries to understand why Jubilee had to be practically pushed to agree to a process of disbanding the Independent Electoral and Boundaries One; the President's suggestion that IEBC conducts political party nominations was ill-advised.

It might have been well-intentioned, but the perception IEBC cottons to Jubilee is yet to be disabused.

Two; attempts to bar aspirants who fail at the nomination stage from contesting as independent candidates or joining other willing parties portends mischief and flies in the face of the Political Parties Act 2015.

Three; IEBC's capping of a presidential candidate's campaign funds at Sh5 billion was, to many, a give-away.

It could easily be inferred who of the presidential candidates can afford that kind of money. Never mind that political parties are not solely funded by the candidates.

For, how would someone who can only afford a couple of millions compete against one who can afford billions, incumbency et all?

Now, before Jubilee die-hards fly off the handle, I hasten to remind them Raila Odinga does not even fit the bill.

How many times have they shouted from the rooftops that 'baba' was thrifty?

With a lot of fanfare, we are told the pregnancy that arose out of the union between The National Alliance party and United Republican Party (JAP) will come to term in September.

The baby, they say, comes to finish what JAP began.

But the pregnancy has gone through difficult times.

The mother was constantly rattled, be it by insecurity, industrial and political strikes, stress situations and, of course, the outbreak of the Zika virus.

If the expected JAP baby doesn't suffer microcephaly, chances are it will be a mongoloid.

Still, it will be a miracle if neonatal sepsis doesn't set in with some of the unhygienic characters acting as midwives.