Why Kajwang is man of the hour

After the Cabinet line-up was announced following the controversial 2007 General Election, Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang revealed that prior to the announcement, he and his wife had cowered in their bedroom, nervous and apprehensive about whether it would favour him.

After spending months entertaining crowds and belting out Bado Mapambano to rally ODM troops for the 2007 election, it would be unthinkable to be dumped on the back bench.

But he got the Immigration docket. He quickly went to work, astounding critics. Far from the comedian with a deep baritone, Kajwang turned out be a first class manager. Everyone was saying how they got passports in hours without parting with something small. Imagine!

It therefore came as no surprise when a lynch mob within Parliament accused him for impropriety over some work permits, purely for political reasons.

Banging rubberstamps

They forgot the man is a first class lawyer, even though he hasn’t practiced for a number of years for reasons that are neither here nor there.

He summoned a press conference, rubbished their claims and told them yawa. We laughed. The lunch mob scattered. But they were not done with him yet. You see, some people in Government think an Immigration officer is just a clerk with a rubberstamp. They said, "Why should Kajwang’s boys be enjoying fat per diems in foreign lands for banging rubberstamps?"

So they sent the clerks packing and replaced them with highly trained Foreign Service personnel. But before you could say "yawa!" two scoundrels sneaked onto Kenyan soil.

One was such a nuisance that Kajwang almost called a harambee to raise money to fly him out of the country. Mercifully, the other one escaped from police custody, consequently saving the taxpayer money to feed him in police cells.

Criminal offence

The dust had not settled when one Yagnesh Mohanlal Devani, a man alleged to have swiped oil worth billions, was nabbed following the usual tip off from foreign cops. Kajwang made it clear: Only his boys have the capacity to identify the fellow. But the cops said, "Shut up, Kajwang. This is not an ODM rally."

So our cops have been holding someone foreign cops insist is the fugitive tycoon. Kajwang agrees with them. But who is listening to him?

Curiously, the man in question has two passports, which is a criminal offence but no one apart from Kajwang is raising a voice about it. Even stranger is that while he has been held in custody for three days, which is patently against Kenyan laws, he hasn’t complained. Not loudly at least.

Even his family, who should know whether the man the cops have is the real Devani or his nephew isn’t bothered.

One can picture Kajwang sitting in his office, humming Bado Mapambano and wondering why the Government gave him a job they don’t want him to do; why the same Government hired and trained Immigration officers at great expense when it knew pretty well it had no use for them.

If this charade goes on, there is going to be a big ka-boom somewhere. And you know who will be blamed? Kajwang, of course!