Kalonzo should stop looking over his shoulders and lead

 By Kenneth Kwama

The gesture by Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka to initiate dialogue over the Kenya Communication (Amendment) Bill is commendable. Indeed, those who understand him better "knew" that help "was always coming".

The only problem, though, is his slow speed or rather the tendency to look over his shoulders before acting. This explains why our good-meaning VP and Co kept quiet after the President signed the punitive Bill into law.

But you can’t fully comprehend Kalonzo’s record without understanding his apparent indecisiveness on important national issues.

From the kind of constitution that the country should have to the Media Bill, Kalonzo has proven himself to be a dawdler, a foot-dragger who can’t make fundamental choices or press upon his adopted party — PNU — to take firm decisions.

Of course nobody is vilifying the VP for his preferred operational speed. The only unfair thing about it is his turn-around ploy to claim credit from trailblazers — the real accolade-deserving individuals.

In my opinion, a true leader is not a copycat. He or she acts with reasonable speed and is unafraid to take firm position(s) on issues, however unpopular those decisions.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga did that in Parliament when he stood up and told the House that it had passed a bad law in the form of the media Bill.

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But as he was doing that, Kalonzo sat, chuckling away mischievously as Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta threw barbs at his boss — the PM — for defending our freedom to gather and disseminate news and accord you the freedom to read opinions like this one.

Now that the coast is clear, the turncoat VP is playing the game he knows best pretending to marshal the PNU brigade to support the media’s cause after cheering on Uhuru, Garsen MP Danson Mungatana and the other lynch mobs that were calling for the crucifixion of the media.

President’s principal assistant

Kalonzo seems too mired in a cult of self-importance and is too cautious to champion a crucial national cause. Kalonzo is no ordinary politician in the Tenth Parliament.

He is the President’s principal assistant and Leader of Government Business.

If his current support is genuine, why did he not find it critical to advise the President against signing the media Bill into law? As leader of Parliamentary Business, why did he not influence changes on the offending clauses of the said Bill?

Instead, the good VP has opted to operate under the sectarian PNU outfit alongside Government Spokesman, Alfred Mutua who has been distributing amateurish propaganda leaflets that tried to justify the draconian law.

Mutua is young, I think, so there should be little shame in being naive. But can you say the same about the man standing a heartbeat away from the presidency?

As a matter of tradition, Kalonzo gives standard, all encompassing answers to important national queries like what to do with suspects in the Waki list, Constitution and the Media Bill. He is not radical, not liberal, cannot be classified as a conservative or even a reactionary.

So who exactly is Brother Stevo and what does he stand for? Effective leaders don’t look over their shoulders. They take the lead.