1. HOW NOT TO BE KENYA’S WOMAN PRESIDENT
When a great leader visits a country, it is always part of the protocol to
attend the host country’s sitting of parliament, or at least the speaker
thereof. The United States president Mr. Barrack Obama took care not to do
that for Kenya’s parliament in his recent visit to that country. That snub was
well deserved and extremely smart of Obama, as he would have wasted his
time talking to people who do not believe in the dignity of the house,
sanctity of debate or sacrifice to the people who elected them there, in the
first place. They have turned it into a place for cutting deals, milking the
people and defending the status quo to the death.
A big tick for Barrack Obama on that, as on snubbing the chief justice Mr.
Willy Mutunga, the electoral board chairman Mr. Isaack Hassan and the
attorney-general Mr. Githu Muigai, the trio that made utter nonsense the
general elections of March 2013. I am always obsessed with elections
because that is the only matter with Kenya. Kenya has no other problem
except this one, elections. It is bad elections that breed insecurity,
corruption, tribalism, impunity, incompetence. Nobody can pretend to
seriously address Kenya issues without mentioning the election process.
Even President Obama himself, if he didn’t make the issue of elections clear
in their talks with Uhuru, as Hillary Clinton did with Hassan before, then he
has sold us on the cheap.
Immediately President Obama left Kenya, William Ruto the Deputy President
spirited to his backyard in Baringo, where he previously had problems going;
he declared to a stunned audience in Baringo; it is all over! Obama had
greeted him! Obama had castigated the opposition. Uhuru was going back to
power in 2017.
This is the sort of thing ambassadors Carson and Bellamy warned Obama
about. He has ended up lightening the burden for impunity, and piling it
upon the opposition, oblivious of the odds the opposition faces dealing with
greedy, beastly, deaf and impregnable wall of a government. If somebody
steals more than half of the country’s turnover, and he is not moved, people
are butchered in terrorist massacres and he is not moved, surely, what does

2. Obama expect of the opposition? It is unusual that Mr. Obama did not
mention, even in passing, the matter of elections. He waffled about
democracy and governance, the usual talk everybody is familiar with in
discussions. What was he afraid of about elections? What was so special
about Uhuru Kenyatta he could not be told the truth, even mildly? Of course
we did not expect him to read Uhuru the riots act, being his host. But
Obama is too good with words to be at a loss what to tell Uhuru about
elections. As it is, everything will remain as it was before, without any
impact from his visit. Yet he had a vast opportunity not only to make the
difference, but to let his visit have some real meaning.
On the side of the opposition Obama did so well. The son of Kogelo hit the
nail on the head, telling off oppositionists Moses Wetangula and Martha
Karua for dismissing the United States efforts when they were in
government. This was especially so after the 2007 – 8 mayhem. Wetangula
was then a newly minted foreign minister who spoke robustly against the US
interference in Kenya’s internal affairs. Kenya was a sovereign state, the US
was told. It didn’t matter that the country was on the brink, literally. Obama
is even aware that Wetangula is in touch with Uganda’s President Yoweri
Museveni, a dictator. You don’t do opposition politics hobnobbing with
dictators. Obama does not find it sincere.
Although oblique about it, Obama’s barb devastated most Ms Martha Karua.
As justice minister during the 2008 mayhem Ms Karua became the greatest
authority in bashing the United States. She declared that the “US was not
heaven,” and she would not even bother to go there. Fundamentally, she
rejected flatly the power sharing the US was navigating with Kenya and
other African leaders. Mwai Kibaki had won the elections square, according
to her, and would remain the president of Kenya. Yet the Mwai Kibaki Karua
maintained had won the elections had only 42 MPs, against ODM’s 100 MPs
in parliament.
Word is Kibaki was ready to give up power after sensing such overwhelming
defeat. But Karua would have none of it. She told Kibaki to stay put, that
things would be worked out. Karua was a byword for evil at that time, all
over Kenya. Then Uhuru Kenyatta, head of government Francis Muthaura,

3. Internal Security minister John Michuki and others put on their battle armour
and swang into action. The rest, as they say, is history.
Obama must have been surprised to meet Karua in opposition. Honestly, we
are in the present leadership quandary because of Martha Karua. We went
through the murderous orgies of 2008 because of the activities of Martha.
Madam Graca Machel, legendary Nelson Mandela’s wife, went out of her way
to warn her, “Young lady, you have not seen anything in politics yet. Go
slow about these matters.” The justice minister would hear none of it. But
she ought to have done so, because now she is left hanging without a job,
taking refuge in a party that has no MP in parliament, and with a future that
is pitch-dark, as far as national politics is concerned.
Obama revealed his encounter with Karua and Wetangula to his civil society
audience for a specific purpose. Like Karua and Wetangula, most civil society
groups are only active when their tribesmen are out of power. When their
tribesmen, especially Kibaki and Uhuru gained power, they quietly left the
scene, a few remaining only in name, for the sake of funds rolling in,
especially from Europe. One example is the Nyeri women MP Priscilla
Nyokabi, who is now a narrow party hawk in spite of all that national
exposure as a civil society leader and champion of the downtrodden.
Only Mr. Raila Odinga seemed to escape the fusillade from son of Kogelo,
but not really much. Raila has an equally stunting issue regarding women
leadership in Kenya. That is the problem of party first ladies dabbling in
politics. Of course it is right for his daughter Rosemary getting into politics.
It is timely, refreshing smart and enthralling. But his wife Ida Odinga should
give the electorate a break. She is like Grace Mugabe pretending to lead the
women of Zimbabwe. Before the results of 2013 elections were announced,
nobody knew that William Ruto has such a charming wife. That is the stuff of
first ladies. When they come in too early they are polarizing. Even if it is
inheriting the husband’s constituency, unknown quantities do it better,
because they are not polarizing. In Africa women come in during
celebrations, and not in the thick of the battle. So even Obama did well to
come to Kenya alone at this time. He was coming into war, literally.

4. President Obama warned about excluding women in leadership. But in a
country where women are the greater population, they should have no
problem with elected leadership. Women are the problem. They try to
imitate the men’s bad habits. This compromises their leadership chances.
Take for example Ms Charity Kaluki Ngilu. Prof. Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o and
Dr. Apollo Njonjo, academic and party stalwarts of the SDP sacrificed their
personal ambitions to support her candidacy as president. They were
surprised Ngilu wanted money first then power later. Later teaming up with
Raila Odinga she managed to get some fat ministerial postings. In each of
these she ended up with legitimate graft accusations. Betraying the
opposition, she teamed up with Uhuru and Ruto, where similar accusations
have grounded her.
Kenya’s constitution was changed and has enabled about 60 women MPs to
be in parliament. Many of them have not even spoken more than two years
they have been there. They are just fat, and round and well-groomed, with
the occasional sex escapedes and determination to toe the tribal line in
parliament. Shinning stars like Ms Anne Waiguru have been consumed by
corruption.
Rachel Shebesh was a fireband young opposition leader commanding
600,000 votes in Nairobi. She later became inward-looking and tribal,
abandoning the opposition. Even her smashing beauty, which earned her the
title “manzi was Nai,” Nairobi Girlfriend, has evaporated in the cauldron of
tribal politics. Building club Uhuru can be costly, literally physically and
morally.
By;-
FREDERICK OWINO OYARO
Email: Frederickoyaro@gmail.com