'Baba' has come of age, ripe and wise, if somewhat soft and a little too diplomatic

NAIROBI: Former PM Tinga – his ardent supporters still address him as Bwana Prime Minister – also known as “Baba” went to the Press this week to make a plaintive plea: It was beneath him, he said, to beg for his pension, and that he wasn’t going to be arm-twisted into retiring from politics to access it.

I think Tinga could have gained a little more mileage out of the debacle, like using that Duale line, which I will not repeat here because it is too abusive; suffice it to say it has something to do with our mothers and public resources. Only that Tinga has become such a gentleman, he cannot invoke such matusi.

Alternately, Tinga could have berated Prezzo UK with a line like kaa nazo! (keep the money), only that, again, Tinga is too diplomatic.

I think the man reputed as the enigma of Kenyan politics has mellowed in old age. Ooops, ooops! I forgot Tinga gets very uncomfortable these days when any reference is made to old age.

This is a paraphrase of what Tinga told a local radio station this week: “At my age (now), I am younger than Kibaki was when I said Kibaki Tosha in 2002. He went ahead and led the country for 10 years. I am younger than Buhari who has just been elected President of Nigeria. Museveni has been president of Uganda for 30 years (and is) still trying to deliver his promise to Ugandans. As for Mugabe, well, Mugabe is old enough to be my father...”

At Tinga’s age, which shall remain unspoken out of my deep respect for the man, one should have developed some life-saving skills, like the ability to place the hand on the pulse of the nation.

Without a doubt, what tugs at the heartstrings, and Tinga should know this by now, is that when he recalls his days as a revolutionary, every one sits to rapt attention.

No, no, no, I’m not talking about the failed coup attempt in 1982 and its aftermath; that has been exploited to the hilt by Tinga’s detractors as the evidence of his predilection for violence and scant regard for the rule of law.

What I have in mind is the aftermath of the coup attempt, and the years that Tinga suffered in detention without trial.

So all Tinga needs to prick the conscience of the nation; especially to those claiming he is too old to lead, is that he lost many productive years cooling his heels in a detention to champion our freedom.

Such a guilty trip, I suspect, will easily turn the tide in his favour, and remind Kenyans that they owe him a debt of gratitude. That way, the focus would be on his personal sacrifice, and there should be no reference to his pension, which deliberately shifts attention to his personal advancement, rather than the common good.

Another useful strategy would be for Tinga to remain defiant and pose the question that good old Jomo used to pose to anyone who queried his ability to lead the nation on account of his age.

Since Jomo had reached an age when men get away with anything, he would nudge the crowd to ask his wife if indeed he was a grizzled old man, provoking a chuckle from enthused crowds as if to say: We are getting the picture...

Again, Tinga is too modest to try such stunts, so all he does instead is to invoke names of older men in power.

What Tinga should say without any fear of contradiction is that he has come of age, and that the sum total of his experience under the sun has only prepared him for the task of leading the nation, no matter how many times the electorate reject him at the ballot box.

Alternately, Tinga can make his pension a subject worthy of haki yetu campaign, to which I have pledged my support. I am willing to picket in the streets or any other jurisdiction chanting haki yetu until Tinga gets what’s rightfully his.