Something I have noted over a period of time is that there is an inherent wedge that gets easily exposed whenever there is a conflict between groups and individuals who are perceived to belong to different economic classes. Given this trend, it’s no surprising that the majority are trying to support or justify the actions of the guard and have therefore deliberately or unconsciously ignored rationality, fairness or critical analysis on the other side of the story. The mob justice mentality in Kenya has taken root whenever such kind of conflict arises.
The Kenyan government has three arms the legislature, the judiciary and the executive. Under the aforementioned structure president Kibaki heads the executive deputized by Kalonzo Musyoka while the legislature is headed by the speaker Kenneth Marende deputized by Farah Maalim .Nancy Baraza who deputizes Dr. Willy Mutunga’s is the deputy president of the judiciary. I will not necessarily defend Nancy as a person but the office of the deputy chief justice which deserves due respect .The reform process should not mean that we start treating our institutions with contempt. Given her status it’s important to note that the security guard was herself a security threat to the deputy chief justice. If it were Kalonzo’s security, I doubt whether they would have cared whether the said guard recognized Kalonzo or not. I personally don’t find anything wrong if Nancy advised the guard to know people.
The way the media is reacting looks like some unknown mama mboga (nothing ill intended to mama mbogas) raided the village market and refused to be frisked. On this I think the media is ignoring many facts. I have no problem if any VIP chooses to be frisked and walk everywhere freely the way former Burkina Faso leader captain Thomas Sankara used to do; I however think that should be a personal choice so that in case of anything the leader in question takes responsibility of all the potential threats that come with such a lifestyle. That kind of lifestyle earned Thomas Sankara early death when he was assassinated at the age of 37 .In normal circumstances, the guard would have been arrested and be charged with breaching and threatening the security of the deputy chief justice.
Security of prominent people should never be compromised and Nancy Baraza’s is no exception given the position she occupies. In history many prominent people have been brought to harm’s way due to lapse in security.

The most significant scenario is where Dr Martin Luther King junior was stabbed by a woman who appeared very innocent. The incident occurred in 1958 in Harlem new York .It was on September 20th 1958 when Dr. king was on a promotional tour of his book Strive Toward Freedom.. During a book signing at a department store in New York City, a well-dressed woman approached and asked him if he was Martin Luther King, Jr. When King replied in the affirmative, she said, “I’ve been looking for you for five years,” then stabbed him in the chest with a steel letter opener. since Dr. King was a prominent and a very popular civil rights leader in America, he proudly answered in the affirmative because he must have thought that the woman was one of his supporters but that almost cost him his life for the woman instead stabbed him cutting his aorta; something that was so fatal that doctors said that had Dr .King sneezed at that time, he would have died instantly.
On 11 September 2003, former Swedish minister Anna Lindh died as a result of a knife attack in a Stockholm shopping mall the previous day. On the 10th September 2003 at about 4 pm, she had been attacked while shopping in the ladies’ department at the Nordiska Kompaniet department store in central Stockholm. She was stabbed in the chest, stomach and arms. At the time of the attack, Lindh was not protected by bodyguards from the Swedish Security Service, a controversial predicament similar to that of former Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986.
Following the assault she was rushed to the Karolinska hospital where she underwent surgery for over nine hours, receiving blood transfusions continuously during the surgery. She reportedly suffered serious internal bleeding, her liver was seriously damaged, and her medical situation remained critical leading to her death at the age of 46.
The assassination of India’s sixth prime minister on 21st of May 1991 can be related to the same context of poor security arrangements for the VIPs. During the campaigns, a woman who was later identified as a Tamil Tigers suicide attacker detonated a 700 gram RDX after getting too close to the prime minister and bending down towards his feet; a sign of respect among the Indians.

On 4th November 1995,Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a hard-line Jewish university student Yigal Amir as a result laxity in his security arrangements a few days after the historical handshake with the leader of the Palestinian liberation organization(PLO)’s leader YassIr Arafat at the white house.

After A rally, Rabin walked down the city hall steps towards the open door of his car, at which time Amir fired three shots towards Rabin with a Beretta 84F.380 ACP calibre semi automatic pistol. He was immediately subdued by Rabin’s bodyguards and arrested with the murder weapon. He also shot and slightly wounded Yoram Rubin, a security guard, with a third bullet that missed Rabin.

In January 2011, Arizona’s chief federal judge john roll was killed in an incident where Congresswoman Gabby Gifford’s was shot. The two were shot while on kind of a meet the people tour.

In Kenya, we have a culture of looking at incidents of that nature in a simple way, but the security of a senior government official can not be compromised at the expense of making some people happy. We can not afford the risk as a country.
The news that the lady is now demanding obscene amounts of cash shows that she had a well calculated plan in advance and even her argument that she didn’t know who Nancy was now appears questionable. She is an extortionist par excellence. It’s not hard to conclude that the whole scheme was pre planned given that the deputy chief justice says she has been shopping at the same place for a number of years. What should be investigated is whether the security guard was acting alone or in cahoots with other people whose mission should as well be established.

Fwamba NC Fwamba is the leader of Kenya Young Voters Alliance.
fwambancfwamba.wordpress.com
fwambanc@gmail.com
+254786779445

On Tuesday 22^nd Nov 2011, the Netherlands based International Criminal Court(ICC) prosecutor Louis Moreno Ocampo announced that he had no objection for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO) backed Libyan anarchists to try  Col.Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Saif al Islam. His reason for backing a Libya based trial for Saif based on claims that ICC will be comfortable with the trial so long as the trial does ‘not intend to shield the accused’. He indicated that he was confident that the Libyan anarchists will give Saif a ‘fair trial’. According to his version, a fair trial means ensuring that the accused is guilty regardless of the merits and demerits of the charge(s).The remarks also implied that the so called international judicial standard in Ocampo’s own imagination is very low that the NATO’s Libyan mercenaries can be considered a government capable of trying anyone in a fair way. The same remarks confirmed the fears that the west is hell bent to ensure that they have Saif too just like his father and three brothers killed. They only want to window dress the process whose decision has already been arrived at by the western assassins of Col.Gaddafi and their Libyan puppets whom they consider a government.

How fair will be the trial yet the spin doctors of the same court are supposedly the complainants. How do we expect justice to be done when the accuser is the judge? It’s a well calculated move to destroy the family of Gaddafi, just like they did to the family of Saddam Hussein.

The whole world knows that the west has imposed a clique of their preferred puppets as leaders of Libya. The so called government has no legitimacy of any form from the Libyan people. We know that the so called revolution was not a people’s power decision to replace the government but a result of NATO’s military prowess. The current leaders are nothing but a bunch of CIA apologists and individuals driven by vengeance and retribution against Col.Gaddafi’s regime and family. The last thing to expect from these people is a fair trial. The world needs to stand up for the truth; that those claiming that Saif al Islam is a suspect in the murders of innocent Libyans are hypocrites who do not want to admit liability of NATO’s operations in Libya. They don’t want to admit that Obama, Sarkozy, Cameron and Berlusconi hold the highest and direct responsibility of turning Libyans who had lived like brothers against each other. If there are any Libyans who should face trial, then those NATO sponsored NTC puppets should be the first ones. The Libyan anarchists have no capacity to try anyone; not even a chicken thief.

I can correctly predict that any trial of Saif under the jurisdiction of bloodthirsty Western backed regime will be nothing but a mockery of justice. Any objective trial should ensure that all those involved in the Libyan atrocities; including those who tied the hands of detainees and shot them in Sirte are brought to book. The same judicial system should ensure that the leaders of NTC are tried and charged for the same crimes allegedly committed by Col.Gaddafi and his regime. The war claimed lives on both sides and it will be hypocritical to deny justice to the people who were incinerated by NATO missiles. That kind of judicial system is not in existence and will not exist in any near future in Libya. For Ocampo and ICC, a fair trial means giving justice to the victor in the conflict .Ocampo’s move confirms that ICC, just like NATO is just a mere tool of re-colonizing Africa. ICC’s mandate is nothing but managing and manipulating western imposed ‘democracy’ in Africa. The main objective of putting Saif on trial is to have a public relations exercise whose motive and ultimate result is easy to predict .They want to have  what will look like a trial and there is no doubt that they will use former Gaddafi loyalists as  witnesses to fix Saif. It’s predictable that the current puppet regime will recruit false witnesses with promises of amnesty and western life kind of enticements. The world should demand justice for Saif al Islam, the Gaddafi family and former government officials who have so far suffered because of the NATO sponsored propaganda.

The most shocking thing is the double standards Louis Moreno Ocampo has applied in respect to the Libyan case juxtaposed with the Kenyan case.

While there is no people’s government or hope of one in the near future in Libya, Ocampo is contented that the Libyan rulers have capacity to carry out a trial. Kenya on the hand has a working government. In his wisdom or lack of it, Ocampo has remained the main obstacle in referring the Kenyan cases to be heard and determined in Kenya. He has maintained a line of argument that Kenya has no capacity to run its own affairs. Those who didn’t know should now know and see the truth. The west is not interested in justice for any African; what they are interested in is an opportunity to meddle in our affairs in order to have an opportunity to have control over our resources and democratic processes.

Fwamba NC Fwamba Is the Leader of Kenya Young Voters Alliance

+254786779445

fwambanc@gmail.com

fwambancfwamba.wordpress.com

kenyayoungvotersalliance.blogspot.com

By Fwamba NC Fwamba

Colonel Gaddafi swore to remain and die or win in Libya. He lived by his word, when the western sponsored anarchists raided Tripoli; he went and led the resistance from the frontline; a rare attribute of any leader. Under ordinary circumstances, many people in the same position will flee the country and leave their people to suffer alone .Gaddafi lost three of his sons; Khamis,Arab and Mutassim in the war. The leader as he was fondly referred to by his people chose to die a martyr. Gaddafi warned that the rebel elements were terrorists and al Qaeda operatives. Today an al Qaeda flag flies high on a Benghazi courthouse. The historical leader of Al Qaeda in Libya, Abdel Hakim Belhadj, is now the military governor of “liberated” Tripoli and in charge of organizing the army of the “new Libya”. Libya has disintegrated and now ethnic tensions are rife. Death and starvation have taken toll on the populations. Africa is  mourning Gaddafi.

The western media has continued misleading the ordinary citizens of Africa and the third world. A lie repeated many times becomes gospel truth. That is how propaganda works and the western governments are champions of this vice since time immemorial. It will take a while for the citizens of the third world to learn and wholesomely discover that the western axis of evil will never stop to dismantle the developing world so long as Africa remains the richest continent in natural resources and the main source of raw materials for the industrialised nations that claim prefecture and authority over what they define as democracy.

In the midst of this scenario and against the stated background, Africa needs to be curious and ask more questions and seek answers from the west on the malicious invasion of Libya and the eventual assassination of the leader of the Libyan People’s Jamahiriya Republic Col.Muammar Gaddafi. It’s not enough for Africans and the citizens of the developing world to be misled to believe that Gaddafi was killed because he was a dictator. It only takes a foolish individual, innocently ignorant, gullible mind or a bootlicker of the western imperialists to believe such an argument. America’s involvement in any conflict has always been about resources and American interests. It is not the so called democracy that they purport to bring. There is no time in history where America has waged a war abroad with an intention of helping any non-Americans. In any case, America has never been bothered about the deaths they cause during their reckless and unjustified wars.

With the American empire as the most powerful military force on earth, the world peace has become more and more endangered every time America gets involved in any military conflict.

Col Muammar Gaddafi is one of very few Arab leaders that had committed himself to denounce and fight against extremism and terrorism. This had helped Libya which is largely Islamic to remain a peaceful, productive and; politically stable country for a very long time. He denounced jihadists and developed a political ideology that was not necessarily centred on religion. That made many people of different races, ethnic and religious persuasions to be comfortable in Libya .Many foreigners including black Africans worked in Libya to earn their daily bread. Gaddafi developed a people centred economy that ensured that every Libyan earned a decent livelihood. Today Africans like you and I including professionals and citizens of Libya are victims of racist and xenophobic attacks. No western media is highlighting this because its none of their business.

The western media, out of their own hatred and envy of what Col Gaddafi had achieved for his people and what he was trying to do for Africa, embarked on an international media smear campaign of discrediting the leadership of Col Gaddafi. To date, there is no significant justification as to why the western countries decided to invade Libya. There is no explanation as to why the NATO countries decided to turn the entire Libyan infrastructure into rubble. There is no explanation as to why they hunted down and killed the Libyan leader.

The whole NATO operation was intended to destroy Col Gaddafi, his family and Libya. NATO and their Libyan agents in the name of NTC had one main goal, to assassinate Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. It’s ironical that a few days before Col Gaddafi was assassinated, the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Tripoli and called for the killing of Gaddafi. When she saw the images of his brutal killing she sighed in jubilation. As a mockery to justice, she later hypocritically said that investigations were required to establish how Col Gaddafi and his son and national security advisor; Mutassim were killed.

The start of the so called protests in Benghazi in early 2011 already signified what was in the offing. A few hoodlums while chanting and brandishing Kalashnikovs started demonstrating in Benghazi. The so called international community headed by western dictators started alleging that Gaddafi was using too much force ‘against his own people’. They downplayed the fact that that is the same kind of force any government would use against armed demonstrators. This is one question Gaddafi asked Obama in one of his last letters to the American dictator whom he kept on referring to as ‘my son’ considering president Obama’s African origin. Its not only in Libya, in Africa or in the third world that maximum force will be used against any person purporting to demonstrate while armed with guns and bombs. The end was made to justify the means. The world super powers conspired and used the UN Security Council’s resolutions 1970 and 1973 to attack Libya, kill civilians under the guise of protecting them and eventually kill Gaddafi. NATO called off the operations immediately after Gaddafi was captured and killed in Sirte on 20^th October 2011.Its no coincidence that all so called liberators are western educated and speak fluent English. They are agents of imperialism and will plunder the Libyan resources to please their western matters.

It happened so fast that the rebels emerged from nowhere, government armouries were raided and people un trained to handle weapons became custodians of the Kalashnikovs, bombs, grenades and machine guns. Child soldiers were recruited and put on the frontline to fight in a war whose origin and objective they knew little about.

Sometime in May the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued warrants of arrest against Col Gaddafi, Saif Al Islam and Abdalla Senusi .Apparently the warrants were issued not because the named persons were most responsible for the deaths in Libya, but because they are the most politically influential persons in Libya. The intention of western governments is to stage manage what they call democracy in the developing nations.

The Libyan scenario shows that the west had intentions of creating confusion as much as possible so as to access all the oil and get reconstruction projects without any controls. Indicting Saif al Islam was strategically meant to ensure that even if Col Gaddafi left power, there was no room for Saif to help lead the country to its original track. The ICC just like NATO has unfortunately turned into another tool of imperialism and promotion of there west’s selfish and immoral interests in Africa. It must be noted that so far the ICC has not named any individual responsible for war crimes on the side of NATO and NTC.Its evident that majority of the deaths of civilians resulted from NATO bombs.

Africa is watching and waiting. The ICC must take action against the Libyan anarchists led Mustapha Jalil and Mohammoud Jibril and hold them directly responsible for the murders, rapes, recruitment of child soldiers, displacements and destruction of property. The ICC too should indict president Obama, President Sarkozy, Prime Minister David Cameron and Silvio Berlusconi for the crimes against humanity committed in Libya. The same too should be specifically charged for the assassination of Col.Muammar Gaddafi. We expect justice to be done across the board. It should be justice for everybody or justice for nobody.

Citizens of the developing world should also ask themselves about the double standards being applied by the imperialist powers.

Their main reason of attacking Gaddafi followed a claim that he had stayed for long. The Queen of England has stayed in power for 60 years .No African has ever asked why the queen continues to be the head of the commonwealth yet no election has been held to elect the queen. Africans respect other people’s cultures and that is why no African leader has ever ridiculed or attacked Britain for being ruled by one family for all that long without raising a question.

The western governments have been slow and reluctant to take the same action on Syria, Bahrain or Yemen. It’s in doubt whether they would have supported a military action against their disgraced ally and former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak.

The western media has given a blackout to atrocities being committed in Bahrain. The King of Bahrain Hammad Ibn Isa Al Khalifa   is under siege but it appears like the western powers through their puppet Saudi Arabia King Abdullah are protecting the Bahrain king due to selfish interests. It’s unfortunate that the third world and the developing nations’ citizens haven’t grasped interest in reading and learning.

This analysis shows that there was some evil covert intention of attacking Libya and killing Colonel Gaddafi. The ‘dictator ‘theory is misleading and we want our people to know the truth. This is the challenge, read more stuff, find out more information independently and make sound decisions. With this Africa will prosper. Read and know the truth. We refuse to be misled.

Fwamba NC Fwamba is the leader of Kenya Young Voters Alliance

During the 2007 campaigns, I accompanied Martin Wanyonyi to the then New Ford Kenya offices in Woodley estate where he introduced me to Captain Charles Masinde; the founder and Secretary General of the party. It was such an opportune moment for me because I was involved in the presidential youth campaign but had no footing in any political party. Captain Masinde requested me to represent the youth in the Kibaki presidential campaign; a campaign in which I was already one of the 17 man team. I quickly accepted the offer and had a letter of introduction signed by captain Masinde.The letter included my name, Patrick Kokonya,Dr.Ken Orengo,George Nyongesa and Martin Nkari as the bona fide youth representing New Ford Kenya in the national campaigns of president Mwai Kibaki. I had given the names to captain Masinde because the listed people are the ones I had worked together with as we joined the presidential campaign using our own means.

After the elections I continued acting as the youth leader of the party. Many people expected political rewards through their parties or directly through the recognition of having participated in the president’s youth campaign. It must be noted that out of the 17 youth leaders who campaigned for the president, only one occupies a position acquired because of the role played. The rest of us were given ‘half loaf theory’ kind of excuses and we decided to content with what we do in our own lives. I continued with my own life doing and improving on what I always do; political consultancy, design, research and other income generating activities. God has been kind to me and I think I have managed to make progress in my own small way. All this time, I have however remained committed to New Ford Kenya and tried as much as I can make the party relevant in anywhere I have foothold.

Captain Charles Masinde had reached out to a number of his friends too to join the party. One among them was one Col.Muema whom he managed to employ as the party’s Executive Director.

Sometime in late 2008, captain Masinde travelled out of the country. The political parties act of 2007 required parties to register under the newly established structures where the parties were to be registered under the registrar of political parties as opposed to the previous arrangement where the parties were registered at the registrar of societies.

I received a call from Hon Soita Shitanda who told me that there is something we needed to work on as a party. He asked me to meet him together with my colleagues to do the party work as we continued waiting for space to open up in government for us. I immediately contacted Ken Orengo and Martin Nkari. The following morning, we met the minister. In the meeting we were joined by Dr.Boni Khalwale,Kirwa Tirop,Swaleh Abdile and Benjamin Muema.The main agenda of the meeting was to carry out recruitment of the party members so that we comply with the then newly established political parties act.

Nkari,Orengo,Muema and myself used Dr.Boni Khalwale’s office at continental house to work out modalities of registration. Just like many other parties, no practical recruitment was done. We met every morning to as late as 10 pm every day to work out lists for party memberships (a story of its own).

We prepared party lists for all the 210 constituencies. At that time, a case had been instituted at an Eldoret court stopping Hon.Soita Shitanda(Party Leader),Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi(Chairman),Captain Charles Masinde (Secretary General), and Dr.Boni Khalwale(Organizing Secretary) from holding elections or acting on behalf of new Ford Kenya until certain matters were sorted out. For that reason, the said officials were to stay out of party leadership for the sake of the registration process, so that they could reclaim their positions once the court case was over.

During the development of this situation, Captain Masinde was still out of the country and I was made to believe that he had been informed about his temporary removal from his position of the Secretary General for the reason aforementioned.

In the constitution the position of party chairman was abolished.

Councillor Edward Indai was brought in on behalf of Hon.Soita Shitanda to become the registered Party Leader.Prof.Ruth Oniang’o and Tirop Kirwa became Deputy party leaders.Col.Muema who had initially been employed by captain Masinde as the party’s executive director became the secretary general claiming that he was standing in for his friend.Dr.Kituyi never sent anyone to stand in for him or on his behalf. William Ntoina was made Organizing secretary. Other names were proposed by Hon Shitanda,Dr.Khalwale ,Muema and myself.I became the Deputy Director of elections ,Orengo became deputy treasurer while Martin Nkari became the legal and constitutional affairs secretary. Orengo and I were asked to content with deputising positions because the minister intended to get us employment opportunities. This was towards Christmas time of 2008 and Hon Shitanda was sick at the time. We kept on visiting him at the Nairobi hospital to brief him on the progress of the registration. He kept on encouraging me that he intended to allow us run the party and grow politically. He has always had good intentions. In this arrangement,Muema secretly sneaked in his wife as one of the 28 NEC members. We were in a hurry and we never noticed or bothered to know if that was the case. Dr.Khalwale and Hon.Shitanda remained party Nec Members by virtue of being the only party sponsored members of parliament. They are NEC members because of the provision of the party’s constitution.

The case against Masinde,Khalwale,Kituyi and Shitanda was won by the party. After that I kept on requesting the minister to restructure the party to its original form so as to make it more effective.

The party has had so many issues but we have chosen to remain mum so as to maintain the dignity of the party. All this time, I have been patient enough to pursue diplomatic means to internally deal with the party affairs.

In 2009, the party started receiving money from the political parties’ fund. We never held and we have never held any party meeting whether NEC or otherwise to approve any expenditure or any activity. The Secretary General and one of the deputy party leaders secretly made themselves signatories to the account and thus recipients of the political parties’ fund. NEW FORD KENYA HAS NEVER HELD EVEN A SINGLE NEC MEETING SINCE 2008.

After trying to sort out the matter diplomatically for a very long time, we resorted to address it directly through the authorities. Early this year; we approached the registrar of political parties to furnish us with party records. We were shocked to find that the party has been receiving funds, yet there is no sign of any party based discussion or approvals on how the monies are spent. While at the registrar’s office, I received a call from Hon.Shitanda who asked me to see him over the matter the following day. I complied. I met the minister and informed him about misshapenness in the party including the secretary general allocating himself a salary as the executive director of the party. It sounded like the minister wasn’t aware of most of the issues I was raising with him. He promised to intervene. After some time, no progress was seen. The minister got too busy with the Ikolomani by elections and thus didn’t have much time. We decided to address the matter to Kenya Anti Corruption Commission .The KACC referred us back to the registrar of political parties. The reports indicated that the party was paying rent. The reality is that the Woodley office had been closed for over a year. In a nutshell, the party had no official address although according to the registrar, the records indicated that the New Ford Kenya headquarters were situated at Woodley,Kikombe House.The Kikombe House rent was paid from contributions of Captain Masinde,Hon Shitanda and Hon Khalwale, even when the party had started getting funding from the political parties fund. Apparently Hon.Shitanda had been put in the dark about most of the party finances and opportunities.

The registrar asked us to formally ask her office about our party headquarters. We thought of presenting the case to the tribunal but considered the consequences and therefore chose to trust the registrar of political parties to handle the matter. A few days after the Ikolomani by elections I raised the same matter with Boni.Boni didn’t believe that the party didn’t have offices. This is something I tried to avoid telling the new team that joined the party. I didn’t want Eugene’s team to be discouraged, thus I kept this between myself,Soita,Khalwale,Kirwa,Ken Orengo and Martin Nkari.Boni insisted to me that we have a fully furnished office. This was based on the information given to him by Hon Shitanda.When he asked Shitanda about the office, the minister told him that Muema had told him that there was an office. Apparently, Hon Shitanda had never seen the offices himself. He had just been told. When more questions were asked, it emerged that the said office is located in Ngara on a fourth floor of some building. It is evident that someone had rushed to put up an office in Ngara after I raised the matter with the registrar.

I continued to pursue the matter with the registrar but she seemed not serious in dealing with the matter. It was so evident that so many rules had been flouted. The final returns of the financial report from the party can not be said to credible when the party never approved expenditure in the first place. We raised the matter with the bank with a letter from the party treasurer Swaleh Abdille attached. We kept these matters private because we wanted to safeguard the integrity of the party never wished an individual’s mistakes to tarnish the name of the party. We requested for the funding of the party to be put on hold until the matters are sorted out or at least until the party executive is convened to deal with the matters. The registrar agreed but seemingly, no action was taken to ensure this is done even after promising to convene the New Ford Kenya NEC herself in her office. She never acted for the reasons best known to her.

Trying to matters in order I decided to share this predicament with the new entrants to the party. I shared with my friends Kizito Temba,Jack Wamboka,Yvonne Khamati in a confidential way.It was important because they were part of the main team that had decamped from Ford Kenya and I also considered my social and political background I have with them. I never gave a clear answer to anyone about the party headquarters or party affairs because I never wanted to expose the weaknesses of the party propagated by an individual.

I remember being asked by Hon Eugene Wamalwa and Hon. Akaranga about the party offices. I chose to dodge the question.

The secretary general falsely and deliberately interpreted that I had a personal difference with him, which is not the case. For that kind of assumption, the minister called to reconcile us after the CMD elections that saw Kirwa disagree with the secretary general over the same kind of issues. The ‘reconciliation’ was meaningless because the secretary general resolved to avoid passing any information that was meant for the party to myself and other leaders who are against his way of doing things. In the recent meeting, which was supposedly meant to review the party constitution, he decided to keep in the dark and hold the meeting without my knowledge. He has done this for some time since Eugene and the group joined NFK.On the 9th, I got wind that there was an NFK ‘NEC’ meeting which I wasn’t invited. I went there with about 25 of my friends. I was assaulted by hired goons under the instructions of Muema.On the same day, a direct threat was made to my life and I have reported to the police. The decisions I made and the decisions we are making on this matter and the decisions we are going to make are informed by this background. Being assaulted on that day was a culmination of events and not a one day issue. I have chosen to take an informative approach than a radical approach. I will do so whenever there will be need. This is just a summary of the events.

I am still contemplating my next action and I ask for your prayers to help me make the right decision. I am still consulting and listening to my friends.You are some of the friends. Let me hear from you.

Fwamba NC Fwamba

BY FWAMBA NC FWAMBA

Miguna Miguna’s recent article in the star of Tuesday April 26^th 2011 and his previous conduct on a national TV when he was invited for debate with Prof Peter Kagwanja exposes a man full of sycophancy that in the name of trying to impress his master is hell bent on engaging in personal attacks without substance.

I find it a serious disgrace that the taxpayer’s money is spent to cater for salaries of such people. I am yet to find out what exactly the value of Miguna’s position is in government and in effect to ordinary Kenyans.

In his article he used over two thousand words trying to belittle Prof.Kagwanja’s intellectual and academic credentials. It is not forgotten that his perfection in abusing people is what defines what Miguna’s personal credentials are. He is no different from those Kanu sycophants who wanted Karl Marx arrested since some supposed opponents of the Moi regime were said to subscribe to the supposedly corrupt teachings of Karl Marx. He is one person who is not open to criticism of his master or himself. Any criticism of Raila will always be met with abuses, mockery and ridicule from the self righteous Miguna Miguna who has in all his articles personalised the second liberation struggle to look like it was his invention and personal masterpiece. While he keeps on boasting of his reform credentials equating himself to the likes of James Orengo, Raila Odinga and playing superior to the likes of   Wafula Buke, it is yet to be established whether Miguna used the second liberation struggle for the sake of Kenyans. If Miguna is not an opportunist, then the meaning of the word must have changed.

His self imposed exile in Canada in the wake of dissent against Moi within the student fraternity during the Mwakenya days speaks volumes about the real character of this man. Majority of Kenyans opted to remain here and face Moi head on to push for political reforms, the time during which Miguna and his ilk were enjoying life abroad and continuing with their education while their comrades in Kenya were rotting in prison .Tito Adungosi and many others who stood against Moi never made it to come out of prison alive. To Miguna, anyone who does not agree with him is wrong and anti reforms; that is an accusation he has levelled against everyone including Tito Adungosi who is not even alive to defend himself. Even after the enactment of the new constitution he is still obsessed with the past and has not appreciated that Kenya’s hope lies in the future and not the past.

After staying in ‘exile’ for over 20 years, Miguna decided to come back but has remained in utopia ever since. Going through Miguna’s writings gives one an impression of him living 20 years behind the Kenyan political calendar. He seems to have forgotten that Kenya moved on while he was away. Many things happened then for us to be where we are and Miguna should give Kenyans a break and stop hallucinating that his being in self imposed exile is what gave Kenyans the new constitution. If he doesn’t know his role in this then I have to remind him that he is an opportunist who stayed away for self preservation and pursuit of his own happiness when Moi was butchering people only to come back after the war has been won to claim victory in a war which he never participated. He has become one of the major beneficiaries of the blood of our brothers and sisters who died in the struggle; occupying a senior government position for which he never fought. His attack on the people who endured Moi’s repressive regime is a sign of inherent feeling of guilt that he doesn’t want to publicly admit. His supposed participation in the second liberation struggle is a make believe created by him to justify his occupancy of the office he holds because his inner feelings are real as opposed to the hogwash he writes for the consumption of young Kenyans who are not privy to the true history of this country. Miguna is a man desperate to create a false space for himself in the history of this country which in real sense is either non existent or very minimal if any. He has lied to the people until he even believes his own lies. His behaviour is alike to that of the character Ivan Alexandrovich Hlestakov in Nikolai Gogol’s The Government Inspector  who after realising that he had been mistaken for an Inspector General, lies to the town’s leadership that he is actually one to an extend of believing his own lies.

Miguna’s arrogance and belligerent behaviour in itself explains something about his character. It’s a strategy of  trying to conceal his personal weaknesses and as such he will go to any extend of maligning people and intimidating others who may potentially expose him in character and real abilities as opposed to the false image of himself that he tries to create.

To avoid reasoning and deviate from the subject of criticism, Miguna chooses to provoke the critics of Raila into personal fights that involve sharp razored war of words. That he has succeeded in making himself a Raila shield and spear at the same time. During Moi’s time, that was the work of sycophants. It sounds so unprogressive in Kenya today that sycophants are now officially employed and live on the taxpayers money.Miguna’s responsibilities sound more relevant at the ODM headquarters than at the Prime Minister’s office where non partisan interests are supposed to be pursued as opposed to the kind of assignments Miguna appears to busy himself with at the Prime Minister’s office. Another option is that such a person should earn a salary from Raila’s pocket and not from the Kenyan tax payer. In these difficult economic times, it will be helpful that when the two principals consider reducing the size of the cabinet; such obsolete positions like that of Miguna whose job description and mandate appears to be mainly abusing Raila critics through the media, should be done away with.

On his attack on Prof Kagwanja he appears more focussed on justifying his fat pay check and government privileges that he enjoys as a state officer than articulating the truth. He refuses to acknowledge the fact that he and his ODM bandwagon supported the enactment of the new constitution because they had no choice. He refuses to acknowledge that it was Prof.Kagwanja’s team that triumphed at Naivasha and the ODM group only supported the constitution to avoid embarrassment at the referendum. It is a known fact that the ODM group wanted federalism to be entrenched in the constitution while the PNU team wanted the two tier system that was eventually adopted. The ODM team wanted a position of an executive Prime Minister as opposed to the PNU group which wanted one centre of power.Miguna is still suffering from the frustration of their failed attempt to create two centres of power in the constitution.

Miguna also wants us to believe that his vote made us succeed at the referendum. During the referendum campaigns, the ODM group under the leadership of Miguna and others; were more interested in trying to force the success of the referendum to look like a result of Raila’s sole efforts while the PNU team under Prof. Kagwanja was more interested in ensuring that we got enough votes to not only win but win convincingly. Its through Prof.Kagwanja’s strong lobbying skills that we were able to convert the whole of central province which had earlier been prejudiced against the constitution because of the conduct of the likes of Miguna. I am right to say that without PNU and Prof. Kagwanja, the new constitution would have become a cropper; something Miguna being an alien to truth and a compatriot of falsehoods will obviously deny.

In his article he appears like a man trying to get an escape route from that failure by instead pointing at those who succeeded against his team as failures. Even with their failing political mathemaics, Miguna still insists that his master is poised for political victory come 2012.It reminds me of those pupils in the village primary schools who took advantage of their illiterate parents to lie about their academic performance at school. When such pupils performed poorly and tailed in class they lied to their parents that they beat everyone in class. A chicken was then slaughtered to celebrate the academic ‘achievements’ of someone who had managed to be number forty out of forty pupils in class. The pupil took advantage of the illiteracy of his parents to get a gift that he least deserved. Those are the tactics Miguna has always used in his attack articles; expecting that Kenyans will not realise his cheap tricks.

While trying to help the Prime Minister by advising him on ‘coalition matters’, Miguna’s sycophancy , rather than win, can only scare away Raila’s potential voters when people contemplate a government where someone of his temperament will be the one calling the shots. He is a bully good enough to win the Prime Minister more enemies than friends. In this time and age Kenyans have no love lost between them and political sycophants and opportunists of the Miguna type.

Fwamba NC Fwamba

+254721779445

National Convenor

Kenya Young Voters Alliance

What  should be the age of our next president?

There has been a rife debate and most Kenyans are now yearning for a renewed form of leadership. Many voices are now concerned that the country’s leadership should be handed over to a new generation. That is agreed. However history has proved that age alone may not guarantee the other qualities required to ensure that a country or an institution in question achieves its goals. In reference to world political leadership history, its evident that a number of most prominent world leaders started their activities while youthful, a number of them developed good ideas while at any age.

It is true that a number of great leaders like Chairman Mao Tse Tung, Vladimir Lenin, Malcolm X, and Dr.Martin Luther king Jnr, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Thomas Sankara and others became leaders at youthful ages. I believe their leadership abilities were based on their intellect and effort and not necessarily their age. These leaders remain icons in the world of history because of the great things they did for their people and their communities at tender ages.

It is also a fact that there are some people who took reigns of power at tender age but became calamities to their countries; an example was president sergeant Samuel Doe who was later nicknamed as the Monster of Monrovia. After taking power in a military coup’et dat at the age of 27, Doe plunged his country into civil war that lasted for a decade. Liberia stayed for long without knowing peace until post Charles Taylor days.

Another African tragedy is that of Mobutu Seseseko Wa Zabanga who became the absolute leader of the Congo Kinshasa at the age of 30 in a CIA sponsored coup. After conspiring with foreign power to have Patrice Lumumba assassinated, Mobutu ruled Congo with an iron fist. He misused the country’s resources for his own personal gain. He conspired with some of the world’s greatest superpowers to have impoverish Congo which he renamed Zaire. He ran the government like it was his own personal property. He did this for thirty two years because America supported him all through. In essence, Mobutu served the interests of the United States of America and he only lost power when he became irrelevant. Mobutu’s bloody reign led to pandemonium in that is characteristic of the now Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to date.

On the other hand in Cuba, the then youthful Fidel Castro took power in 1959 and ensured that he put policies that later helped Cuba to be self reliant. Those policies have made Cuba one of the most respected countries in the world.

One of the most respected leadership legends in the world history Sir Winston Churchill British prime minister (1940-1945, 1951-1955) became prime minister at the age of 66 years during the Second World War in 1940. Churchill is celebrated to date for his leadership during World War II (1939-1945). He is revered because of his courage, decisiveness, political experience, and enormous vitality which enabled him to lead his country through the war, one of the most desperate struggles in British history.Churchil left the premier’s office at 81 years with honour.
US president Ronald Reagan who is credited with turning the United States of America’s economy around became President in 1981 at the age of 70 years succeeding where his predecessor Jimmy Cater’s leadership had failed. It must be remembered that it was under Ronald Reagan’s tenure that cold war was negotiated to lead to the fall of the soviet union in 1991 three years after Reagan left white house at the age of 78 years in 1989.In America it is the Reagan administration that is credited to have worked towards ensuring the end of cold war.
After the promulgation of our current constitution, there is general euphoria that the country needs youthful leadership. Most of the young people have come up and some have already declared interest in seeking elective opportunities in the forthcoming general election. This is a good move and it will help the nation towards realizing the targets and expectations of a renewed legacy and preparation for a ground to build a bright future for the country.

Kenyans need a new leadership that will work towards ending corruption, impunity and develop our economy. The new leadership must be untainted, trustworthy and free from manipulation by foreign powers. We must pursue new leadership; not necessarily based on age but on progressive ideas and manifesto. The leadership must be Kenyan and not one imposed by foreign interests.

Those are the parameters that we achieve real change in our governance systems. That arrangement is what will also open opportunities for young people who are progressive and with a track record to make Kenya a country of honour.

We do agree that it is time for the youth, but whether it’s an absolute or only quality for leadership, its you to decide.

Unlike Saruman; another wizard who attempts to get the ring of power for himself, Gandalf sticks to his mission of helping the middle earth rid itself of the ring of power by helping in  assembling and leading the team to destroy the ring of power in the same chasm inside the crack of Mount Doom where the ring was forged. The ring of power has a history of bringing down great leaders and kings including Isildur; whose heir; Aragorn camouflaged as Strider carries the duty of reinstating Isildur’s lost glory. Gandalf’s efforts to inform Saruman about The whereabouts of the ring turns out to be a calamity for its later discovered that Saruman has defected and joined Sauron; the dark lord to claim the ring. The ring is in the Shire, the land of the Hobbits. Gandalf is faced with the challenge of ensuring that the ring is destroyed before his former ally Saruman or the antagonist Sauron (the Dark Lord) get it.

Kenya is a county at the crossroads now. The political challenges that face us to day are akin to the conflicts that bedeviled the middle earth. Kenyans have attempted for long to bring about change. All efforts have been futile because of the greed of the leaders that have hypocritically come together in the name of destroying the establishment of impunity and corruption have ended up being corrupt and unreliable. They have always instead just like Saruman been converted and become allies of impunity and subjects of the same ills they purported to oppose.

Kenya has gone through turbulent waters since the days of colonialism. Every political step in Kenya has been a make believe to the Kenyan masses that time for national redemption has finally come.

The chronology of the Kenyan leadership starting from colonialism has always been a disappointment. In Kenya’s war for independence, the freedom fighters fought to return the land that had been taken away by the British colonialists. When freedom was finally granted, the country was optimistic that with an African leader all Kenyans were going to have better lives with equal opportunity to access education and resources compared to the previous regime which had been oppressive, racist and discriminatory against Africans. It emerged that their celebrations were in vain for the new African establishment became no different from the practices of the British colonialists. Fertile lands that had previously been taken by the colonialist were then taken over and shared among the African leaders that had taken over the reigns of power. The ordinary Kenyan who had fought so hard for independence became a disappointed person. It emerged that those who were landless during the colonial period remained landless; those who were lucky got small portions of land where they stayed as squatters. It was not forgotten that those who had taken power led by Jommo Kenyatta had claimed that they wanted change for an ordinary Kenyan African who was lacked opportunities because of racism and other forms of discrimination. It was evident that the African government substituted terms but continued with the oppressive ways of the colonialist. It was not lost to Kenyans that terms like racism were replaced with tribalism. Settlers were replaced by African land grabbers. It’s known to Kenyans that it was under the African regime that those who spoke out their mind like Pio Gama Pinto, Tom Mboya, Argwings Kodhek and JM Kariuki had their lives cut short because of having alternative views on governance.

In 1978, Moi became president and people who had witnessed Kenyatta’s misuse of power and practices of tribalism thought that with change in the leadership, things were going to be different. It however turned out to be more disappointing that Moi declared that he was going to ‘fuata nyayo’(follow Kenyatta’s  footsteps).Under the nyayo era, Moi perfected the art of tribalism, corruption and impunity. Under Moi’s leadership, democracy was crushed and detention without trial; a law that had been put in place under Kenyatta’s regime became more effective than ever. It’s during the Moi era that many pro democracy activists and university student leaders like Tito Adungosi and Wafula Buke were jailed over trumped up charges. Many activists disappeared without trace. It’s during this same regime that saw Kenya’s first Vice President and doyen of opposition Jaramogi Oginga Odinga was put under house arrest. Under the same regime more political assassinations and mysterious deaths occurred. It was during this regime that Bishop Alexander Muge, Dr.Robert Ouko and many others died under suspect circumstances.

The atrocities committed under the Nyayo regime saw progressive politicians like Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Ahmed Salim Bahmariz, George Nthenge, Masinde Muliro, Philip Gachoka and Martin Shikuku to team up and form the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD).It was a new dawn for Kenya when after pressure from the international community Mr.Moi repealed section 2(a) of the then constitution of Kenya which ushered in multiparty politics.

Greed engulfed the country, for every politician saw an opportunity to ascend to power since Moi was very unpopular. Many opposition parties were formed. After the mysterious death of Masinde Muliro at the Jommo Kenyatta International Airport three months to the general election, Ford split into two factions Ford Kenya which was led by Jaramogi with headquarters at Agip House and Ford Asili that was led by Kenneth Matiba that moved their headquarters to Muthithi House (now Occidental plaza), the Democratic Party (DP) and the Social Democratic Party were formed and registered. Young people like Ruto and Jirongo saw an opportunity to become politically relevant. They formed Youth for Kanu 92’ thereby saving Moi’s regime from extinction by mobilizing the youth vote. The divided opposition driven by greed for power lost to Moi. The same situation was repeated in 1997.The opposition fielded many presidential candidates who included Mwai Kibaki of the Democratic Party, Michael Kijana Wamalwa of Ford Kenya,Raila Odinga of National Development Party and Charity Ngilu of the Social Democratic party. The opposition lost again and the country continued wallowing in the culture of impunity.

With new wisdom acquired from lessons in the past election losses, in 2002, the opposition united to defeat Moi and his ‘project Uhuru’.The optimism of Kenyans was renewed. Most Kenyans believed that with the exit of Moi, the country had been saved from all the ills that we had fought against. That was never to be for after one year, the government was grappling with corruption allegations. A mega scandal akin to the Goldenberg that had occurred during kanu’s dark days happened; the Anglo Leasing. It dawned to Kenyans that the greed for power and wish to occupy Moi’s shoes was the driving force for the opposition unity. Kenyans discovered that it was greed for power and money and not good governance that had caused the opposition to unite to defeat Moi and ‘project Uhuru.

In 2007, it emerged that both the incumbent led by Mwai Kibaki and the opposition led by Raila Odinga had been in government. It was declared to be the mother of all battles. The tight race between the two presidential candidates led to a disputed result. I contend that Kenyans didn’t know what the post election violence was all about. It was about greed for power.

2012 is beckoning and we face the same challenges that Kenyans don’t have a leader who wants to create a respectable state. Kenya needs a Gandalf like figure who will not get entangled into power struggles. Kenya needs someone with an opportunity to be president but because of being selfless will choose not to seek presidency, but will assemble a new generation of leaders who will ensure the country has a new beginning. Kenya needs someone to sacrifice, someone who is above temptations for power, someone with the interest of the nation at heart. If Moi and old Kanu establishments represent Sauron and Kibaki represents Saruman, is Raila going to sacrifice his presidential ambitions and be our Gandalf?

8) The roads in question include BUT NOT limited to the following:

(These are the roads that have so far been suggested; please add your ideas and endorsements. Please add more roads or help edit the information to ensure that all that we are presenting is accurate.)
We are looking forward to a practical feedback from you
Yours faithfully:.

Fwamba NC Fwamba The writer is NEC member of New Ford Kenya, New Ford Kenya is a PNU affiliate party in the grand coalition government The ideas expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect the party position