Riddle of hyena and the dry shaving of hair that left nation wounded, bleeding

First was the rally at Tononoka in Mombasa County, in which former PM Tinga, the quintessential vitendawili man was in his element.

In that halting speech that intimates overworked trachea, Tinga spoke about people who needed to water their heads because, he said in that call-response fashion that ensures his enthused crowds participate in his performed speeches, if one did not water their heads, they risked having the hair cut dry.

Days later, this hair cut analogy became the centrepiece of Interior Minister Joseph ole Lenku’s intelligence: some hyenas acts had been committed in Mpeketoni, the minister revealed, at the behest of politicians whose past left no doubt as to their true aspirations.

Let’s pause right there. Tinga’s aspirations for power have never been secret; he attempted to grab it through the force of arms in 1982, for which he was jailed for seven years by the Kanu regime.

What was surprising was his total lack of fear when Camp Tinga admonished the Jubilee administration as a re-grouping of Old Kanu. Incidentally, there is a party going by the name New Kanu, which shouldn’t be mistaken for Old Kanu, although one can hardly tell the difference between the two.

But if Vintage Kanu is what CORD likes to call Jubilee, then that’s their business. Pursuing Lenku’s counsel further, one finds Tinga was at it again in 2005.

Then he led the so-called Orange Revolution and mobilised politicians who rejected a constitutional referendum, and his party used the victory to galvanise support in the 2007 polls that ended in blood bath.

If that’s the historical context that Lenku was alluding to, then that’s already in the public domain. What he needed was to move the story forward, beyond the hyenas lurking in the forest, and establish a proper link between Tinga’s Tononoka assertions and the events in Mpeketoni.

Banana republic

That could be unrealistic given the slippery nature of vitendawili, the sort that Tinga is famous for. For once, he did not use football as commentary on his perceived political invincibility, perhaps he’s been trounced enough times to start having moments of doubt about his prowess.

But that does not absolve Lenku of blame. Even as Kenyans resist all attempts to turn their land into a banana republic, the continued presence of Lenku in the Cabinet increasingly persuades we are already one, and that’s not because of his inability to contain hyenas acts by some in our midst.

For if one leads a force that has scant regard for one’s authority, and one does not see that as a major impediment to the discharge of his duty, then we have a major challenge on our hands.

But that’s not my problem. Lenku did not appoint himself into office, and if the appointing authority has no problem with the quality of his performance, then who are we to complain?

Then we have Siegeman David Kimaiyo, the top cop himself who, in a surprising moment of weakness, admits his own frustrations dealing with a force that’s unwilling to do their work.

So when a country needs reassurance, the State conveys nothing but fear and hopelessness, a rhetoric amplified by Prezzo UK himself.

But that neither redeems nor exonerates Tinga, whose tongue seems to possess the power to elongate to every brook and nook in this land and scorch it dry.

It is not too much to ask politicians to give our country back, though I often wonder what will be left of it when they finally do.