My strides...

Fellow tax payers...Did the PSC compromise jump-start national healing?

I felt optimistic. I expected the PSC to end in disarray. Well, I was wrong; damn wrong. Now I am intellectually embarrassed. Not by what they have achieved. No.

But by assuming that MPs are generally “sick”. That they suffer from “collective ignorance”. And this is why I call them the “cream of the crap!”
But, on account of this PSC, I withdraw the unkind descriptions. Not completely though; but for now I am compelled by three things. One, this PSC has begun the process of national healing. They were not supposed to, but they have. I will return to this thought in a bit.
Two, by cutting a deal without the supervision of foreigners, they make us proud. In fact, they make the “Annan types” irrelevant. And this is why we must send a quick telegram to President Obama.The message to our Kogelo brother should be simple:

“Back off!” (Bed mabor )Our fathers and i mean Brother Barry and i, through an act of God, sent him to lead Americans. He should lead Americans.Back at home, we have our leaders. They are woolly, alright. But they are still ours. We will not allow him to lecture President Kibaki and the Right Honourable Raila Odinga on constitutional matters. No way.Three, and to flip the “Obama attack”, the PSC has exposed a dark secret. Not intentionally, but by default. In agreeing, they have exposed the two principals as the problem. They have also confirmed that we are not a nation of mad people.Our “national madness” is caused by two Kenyans: One Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki and one Raila Amolo Odinga. Period! Remove them from the equation, we are a sober nation.Leave us to their “cat fights”, we are doomed. But there is a rider to the PSC success. Incidentally, PSC is dominated by young politicians. Even Charity Ngilu is young enough to be President Kibaki’s daughter. Seriously!To the contrary, President Kibaki and his buddy, Ja dhoot mwenyewe Mr Odinga, are political dinosaurs. Come 2012, Mr Odinga will be going 70. In sum, they are “using an old map to take us to new lands”.My point? Maybe national reconciliation will be driven by the younger generation. And, by default, this generation is driving the PSC.They must, therefore, not tire. In doing so, they must be guided by the following thoughts from a wise man:

“If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish motives. Do good anyway. If you succeed, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest minds. Think big anyway. People favour underdogs, but follow only the top dogs. Fight for the underdogs anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.”

And now some thoughts on their deal. Whatever they give us must be better than what we have. The question, however, is this; is it? I have my doubts. It looks like the “more things change, the more they remain the same”.What we have is the same constitution with a few flowery changes. Here are my reasons. First and foremost, they have re-invented the imperial presidency. No. They have entrenched it. Instead of choosing a Cabinet from our representatives, he will choose it from his non-elected “buddies”.This is extreme. In fact, worse than what we have. And if you gave President Kibaki such powers, he would appoint his Muthaiga pals and the biggies from high society into Cabinet.
In the meantime, the idea of vetting them in Parliament would be political nonsense. With money and favours, Parliament will be manipulated to vote accordingly. This choice, in my view, is a disaster.
Secondly, to check the president through institutions like Parliament and the judiciary is to be deluded. He should be checked by one-man institutions. We must create a healthy conflict between the president and such institutions.

The political architectures in West Africa have cracked this. In most of their systems, the vice-presidency is an institution that checks the presidency.General Obasanjo could not fire his defiant vice-president for years. In fact, the election stolen by the generals in Nigeria was against this man. As VP, he was the constitutional, and formal opposition to Obasanjo.
The case of Ghana is similar. Jerry Rawlings could not fire his vice-president because the constitution protects him. And, being the rough man he is, he decided to fix his VP physically.In one Cabinet meeting, Rawlings was irritated beyond. He got up, pounced on his VP and bit him senseless. When the VP recovered, he staggered his way to the nearest police station. He reported the president to the police and checked in at the closest hospital. The rest is history.I want a situation where President Kibaki is irritated by Mr Kalonzo Musyoka. And because he cannot threaten or bully Mr Musyoka, he has to beat him up.Similarly, I am unhappy with the removal of the prime minister’s position. If the president is executive, there is no harm having a non-executive prime minister. This is good for ethnic bargaining. In fact, if you limit the seats of “power,” you will only intensify ethnic competition. And since we are an ethnic society, we should create many positions to tame the “ethnic evil spirit” sindiyo mkenya mwenzangu.Given the spirit of Naivasha, I am persuaded that the PSC would give us an acceptable political settlement. Unlike the “kichwa ngumu” Committee of Experts, they are about to crack the jinxBut to succeed, they must listen to our voices. However, we must treat them with caution sisi ndiye walipa ushuru. They are just political people: unpredictable, selfish and irreligious.nyangumi sana...
mimi bado mkenya Birth naturalisation registration marriage and death!yes my umblical code is burried in the kenyan soil
Ochieng Nas...T

posted by Turphy @ Thursday, March 25, 2010