Nandi gaa Kaburwo

The ICC's ignorance on the Nandi Culture inexcusable (first draft)

2013-09-11T20:02:00.002+02:00


Nandi male initiates. The male initiation ceremony is an age-old annual practise in Nandi

The International Criminal Court sitting at The Hague in The Netherlands is prosecuting crimes against humanity against three Kenyans in an unprecedented case. Unprecedented because a sitting President (Uhuru Kenyatta) and his Deputy and erstwhile political nemesis (William Ruto) are facing charges related to the 2007 election in Kenya. William Ruto's co-accussed is radio personality, Joshua arap Sang who worked for the popular Kass FM during the election period and thereafter.

The circumstances leading up to the referrals and confirmation of charges are not the subject of this essay. NO.

My attention has been drawn to the claims by the prosecution that Messrs Ruto and Sang allegedly hijacked the Nandi intiation process and deployed it to form the "network with which they fought other ethnic communities".

Couldn't the prosecution at the #ICC do a simple audit on fact versus fiction in order to understand basic cultural truths? I find the claims to constitute an inexcusable distortion of fact, a blanket condemnation of the Nandi culture and a sorry case for setting the proud Nandi people to ridicule. Let us deal with the facts.

FACT 1: Nobody can remember the last time the Nandi/Kalenjin took part in anything close to an oathing ceremony. We don't have any elaborate procedure for oathing. We have elaborate rites for cursing wrong-doers. Those curses can NOT be used to coerce anybody to do wrong. My community is a community of pious and religious people. So much that even though I am not a language student, I know that if a language has a wealth of vocabulary on something it demonstrates the importance attached to it and its variations. Sin, transgression and iniquity are words in the English language that describe wrong(doing). In the Nandi language that is clearly defined on the basis of its strength and "forgiveability".

Tengek (forgiveable sin)
Ng'oogi (unforgiveable sin, one requiring elaborate cleansing ceremonies)
Kachilililutik (errors)

These words demonstrate a subconscious encapsulation of the community awareness to wrong-doing and a deliberate attempt to regulate it.

So when I saw claims of oathing including slaughter of animals I was aghast. How would this have happened? Was it performed by non-Nandi/Kalenjin people in our region? Was it a figment of somebody's imagination? Does the said claimant hail from an ethnic community in Kenya where oathing is part of daily life?

It is even insulting on our culture and an attack on the very core of our civilization to associate the slaughter of dogs, use of their blood or flesh for whatever ritual it is. That animal, the dog, just like a donkey, is a member of the group of animals which a Nandi would rather starve to death than eat. We simply can't touch its meat and blood. Talk of a goat or sheep. Talk of a cow. Those three are the animals we deal with each day.

So when the prosecution buys this abracadabra about dog-slaughtering and oathing using animal blood, nothing could be wilder than this!

FACT 2: William Samoei Ruto and Joshua arap Sang, to the best of my knowledge, were both initiated into manhood vide the modern rites of passage. In Nandi county this was started by some converts to Christianity. It can be traced to a clansman of mine Jimmy arap Ketter of Chepterit, near Kapsabet. The alternative process is therefore called "KapJimmy".

I went through the Nandi rites. Every bit of the old way, ruthless and very heavy in symbolism. Nobody who went through it talks about it. Those who didn't go through it would stand out from a crowd. It is simply not easy to pretend to be one, because it is a process that trains one on, let us say "Body language".

The Nandi circumcision rites are so elaborate, and if you didn't know, password-controlled that unless one KNOWS the keys you'd not go beyond knowing what women know about it.

Essentially it's a system that has no respect for status (social or otherwise). It doesn't matter who it is NOBODY, and I REPEAT NOBODY, wields influence over the process except those who belong to the relevant categories: the mentors and the elders.

I hold the view that since William Ruto and Joshua arap Sang did not go through the rites, they are strangers to the process, hold no sway at all to the rites and would easily not get close to it for fear of the consequences (including curses). They know better than attempt it.

Then there is the outlandish claim. For the prosecution to claim that the two, who are strangers to the ceremonies, hijacked the process it is tantamount to claiming that boys and women could walk walk into a Nandi circumcision ceremony and play a role or even direct the strictly unchanging process.

That is simply unthinkable.

It exposes a glaring lack of prosecutorial research, is intended to bring dishonour to the Nandi culture and tradition as well as bring disrepute to the great Nandi/Kalenjin people. That insult won't be excused.

FACT 3: Notably, the Nandi initiate their boys annually around end of November and early December. This timing coincides with the longest school holidays. Depending on when schools close, the initiation dates vary around end of November to early December. Therefore, before the PEV, and after that our boys have been initiated. In the period between initiation and graduation they live in a special "seclusion school" called Menjo. The curriculum that is taught there is one intended to develop a wholesome person. We were taught folklore and legend, respect for women and young girls (not to take sexual advantage of a drunk woman for example), for beasts and animals. We were taught respect for the stranger, that unknown man who passes by. Because he might do good, we were told. We were taught respect for the "teachers" and mother "who cooks for you". Do you notice how RESPECT permeates the whole curriculum?

I was never taught about enemy tribes and friendly tribes. No.

What the ICC has done is to destroy my pride as a Nandi, force me to tone down my association with my people as I walk through European capitals and interact with fellow scientists. My children would hesitate to identify themselves as Nandi because fellow German kids would say "we heard on TV" that your people killed others.

Our athletes, those guys who win golds and other gongs for Kenya shall walk off after the races for fear of being tagged with the reckless claims made by the prosecution.

Our reputation is soiled.

Is it that William Ruto and Joshua Sang are on trial or is it Nandi/Kalenjin?

The reputation, honour and international standing of what a Nandi/Kalenjin believes is under assault. I consider it right that we, the Nandi people of the world must seek court redress to cure the community name and restore ourselves to our place of pride.

We'll seek to cure that.

Thank you your honours!

New dawn for Nandi County: Online interview by Dr Seronei arap Chelulei Cheison for EmoPolitics Blog

2011-10-31T22:46:00.002+01:00

A map of Nandi County

Brian of an online blog, Emopolitics, recently contacted me with a list of questions for an online interview.

EMOPOLITICS: In a nutshell, who is Dr. Cheison? (Family, origins, present locality and profession, any other information you would deem necessary for the electorate).

SCC: That is quite a bulky question there! Well, let us begin with the first question in CRE at Form one: Who Am I? I was born Barnaba Kibet on Tuesday February 20^th 1968 at my grandmother Opot Tera’s house just above Chererees river at a place called Chebinyiiny in what is currently Tindiret District in Nandi County to the late Joseph Kiptorus arap Rugut and Julia Chemoso (nee Chebo Koisamoo). Notably, my maternal grandfather, Surtan arap Koisamoo, was a Maotiot to Koitalel Samoei and his "court" tree-shade (Ketitab arap Koisamoo) still stands at Taito right below Taboiyat Primary School in Nandi Hills. I was later given the “kureneet” name Seronei after my grandfather’s brother (Nyongi Seronei). I dropped my Baptismal name Barnabas at Kapsabet Boys after reading the literature set-book “Betrayal in the City”. In that book, a “meeting” was called in Kafira and the first item on the agenda was “Africanisation of our names”. A good number of us changed our names as a consequence. That is how Barnabas went. Because the exam registration could only take three names, I kept Seronei arap Chelulei Cheison. Obviously I was given the name arap Chelulei after I went through the Nandi right of passage in 1986, although I had been instructed by my paternal uncles to register it as I reported to form one in February 1986, well before I was initiated, in November of that year. My family and I are born-again Christians. We fellowship with the Pentecostal Assemblies of God in Kenya.

My father was the first-born to Taprandich Ngeny (nee Chebo Kap Mutwo) the first wife to mzee Kiprugut arap Ngeny. My family is Kap Matelong, the sub-family is Kap Cheison. We are Kipkenda. Kap Matelong live all over Nandi and beyond including Chepalungu and Trans-Mara and Laikipia. We trace our origin to Kapsile in Aldai before migrations north to Tindiret and Nandi as well as diaspora. I have six siblings, three brothers and three sisters. I am the third-born. My brother David Kipkemboi arap Torus is a farmer, and lives at Cheptabach. Indian-trained Daniel Kimutai arap Rambaei is an administrator at Moi University. My immediate follower Mrs Sally Cherobon Butia is a teacher, married at Kipsigak in Nandi. Many people probably know my younger sister Philister Cherotich, a woman with a remarkable history. She has been speaking on Kass FM and in many other fora encouraging the girl-child. She was a mother at 16 and two children later at age 28, she decided to go back to primary. She took her class eight exams, went on to Moi Girls High School and at 32 she sat her KCSE. All the while the girls did not know that they were in class with such an elderly woman! Philister is winding up her Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Nairobi. The Daily Nation covered her story on March 25^th 2005 and I couldn’t help shedding tears as I read it in China. You may read it too. Our pair of young guys Michael Kipketer arap Rotich and Catherine Chesang were not lucky to go beyond primary school and live humble lives at home in Cheptabach.

I am married to the most patient and loving woman I know, Ednah Chelimo Soy. She is a former student of St. Joseph’s Girls High School, Chepterit and a graduate of Moi University with a B.Ed. (Science) in Home Science and Technology and a recent graduate with an MSc in Sustainable Resource Management at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. We have three beautiful blessings, Felix Kiptoo arap Bett is 14, Felicia Cherop is 11 while the little Heinz Kipchumba arap Mugun is fast approaching three. Ednah worked at Kapchorua Tea Estate and taught at Kapnyeberai Girls High School shortly before the family joined me in Germany in August 2007.

I went to Chemenei Basic School in Uasin Gishu while living with my maternal grandmother with whom I had emigrated to Mogobich (between Cheptireet and Plateau) when I was five years old. I never saw my father between 1975 when we left Nandi till early 1978 when I returned home. All this while I was with my grandmother herding cattle for neighbours as their kids went to school, until my mother came visiting in 1977 and demanded that I go to school. I went back home in 1978 when our last born was born but I had to literally run away from home, walking on foot through Kapchorua, Kibabet (where a tea plucker gave me a polythene apron to put my blanket and books) on to Ogirgir and Mogoon. I burnt charcoal at Mogoon as I waited to go to Cheplelachbei Primary. It was not to be. Grandmother came for me and I went on to Uasin-Gishu again in August 1980. Between August 1980 and January 1981, I had to burn charcoal from huge wattle trees which were being felled by the wind. I needed money to buy school uniforms because it was not possible to ask my parents for any. I went back to class four in January 1981. I was top of my class throughout thereafter till class eight in 1985.

After Chemenei Basic School, I was admitted to Lenana School but ended up at Kapsabet Boys in 1986 reporting on February 11. I also topped my class of 125 from form two till form four. I had a lot of problems raising my fees but my patient headmaster, John Peter Makenzi, allowed me to study and I cleared my balances 12 years after my KCSE in February 2001 as I cleared to pick my certificate. I sat my KCSE at Kapsabet Boys High in 1989 and joined Egerton University in 1990 for a BSc in Dairy Science and Technology, a course that was meant to train managers for Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC), which collapsed before we graduated. I went for an MSc in Food Science & Engineering and majored in Enzyme technology at the then Wuxi University of Light Industry (since renamed Southern Yangtze University and now called by its Chinese name Jiangnan University) in Jiangsu Province of the Peoples Republic of China between 2001 September and July 2003. Notably, I completed the MSc course in half the stipulated time. I was home for seven months and was recalled to take up the “Outstanding Foreign Student Scholarship” for my PhD beginning April 2004. I completed the program in another record-setting 30 months to defend my dissertation in December 2006, exactly two months after I had been offered the opportunity at the elite Technical University of Munich to both head a Junior Research Group and pursue the German Post-doc training for University professors, called Habilitation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habilitation). That was from February 1^st 2007. That means that currently I work as a research scientist/Postdoc fellow at the Technical University of Munich where I supervise doctorate, masters and undergraduate students as well as lead active research (see my research homepage). I also teach Enzyme technology, functional foods and innovative technologies as well as speak at conferences and seminars (this year, 2011, alone I was privileged to speak in conferences in India, Greece, Switzerland, USA and here in Germany while my students spoke in China and Croatia. I am also an active author with peer reviewed papers in scientific journals and a book chapter (Chapter 5: LC-MS(/MS) of Trypsin hydrolysed Proteins. In: Letzel, T (Ed.). Protein and peptide analysis by LC-MS: Experimental strategies. Royal Chemical Society, Cambridge, UK. Pp 352, ISBN: 1849731829) this year. I have been honoured twice, in the Marquis Who is Who in the World in 2009 and in the Top 100 Scientists in the world in 2009. I also earned a bonus and recognition as a Premier Scientist of the TUM in 2010.

EMOPOLITICS:You have offered yourself to vie for the Office of Governor of the County of Nandi, What has inspired you to do so? What is your primary aim and vision for the county?

SCC: To be sincere I had never thought of myself outside science since a brief but disappointing dabble in politics in the 1990-2000 decade. To deal with the first part of the question (what has inspired me) let me say that I have all along carried the burden of leadership of our people from my days at University when I penned several “Letters to the Editor” to several local dailies including the Daily Nation, Standard, Kenya Times, People and Weekly Review. Those newspaper cuttings touching on anti-corruption, land-grabbing menace, problems with Nandi Politics, compensation by the British for the murder of Koitalel, complete lack of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by the tea estates in Nandi as opposed to what they do in the greater Kericho for example gave me good exposure while cementing people to push me to politics. But then by 1996/1997 when the strongest push came, I was single and had no family and no house/home. I declined. People asked me to help get someone to represent us in parliament. I played my part but was disappointed to realise that Realpolitik was different from the aspirations of the people.

From those writings you’ll notice a trend: activism and championing of our rights has been with me from the time I noticed that I was a squatter because my father was a squatter and his father before him was one too. Another thing is my conviction that bad politics cannot be changed from outside. It is dirty because the players are dirty, rules cannot change them. In as much as I could sway some things while some political leaders listened to my word, they always reneged on their promises as soon as I was out of sight. An example is a plea I made at an harambee at ACK Sinendet in 1997, in which I asked the political leadership in Tindiret to push for the establishment of a Tindiret Constituency Bursary Fund to be funded by the Tea Estates. Although the concerned people played a game for the gallery, nothing has happened to date. I have always been consumed by some inquiry into “what went wrong”. The Nandi people, for example are reputed for courage and conquest. We were dreaded by our neighbours for cattle raids and war. We expanded, and drove away others who wanted the fertile highland on which we settled in. That land was not obtained just like that. It was a product of resilience and tact. Even at independence, if we disregard the holocaust of colonial occupation and forceful evictions, we still could make it to the tops: Kenya attained independence with five black advocates. There was one son of Nandi, Jean-Marie Seroney. I keep asking myself, where did our community lose the steam? LEADERSHIP. I know it is not easy and with electioneering people tend to promise anything and in most cases deliver nothing. I offer something to Nandi: MYSELF and my energy and commitment. As a team those who join me in service would be accountable directly to me, and together to the people of Nandi county. Nandi has to revive the spectre and glitter again. In sports, academics, business and politics. That is what will change us. We have to re-invent our expansionism and utilise it in business and new frontiers. We ought to redirect our inborn prowess and spirit of a fighter to combat threats like poverty and over-dependence on harambee.

As complained before in my long essay one finds that in the greater Kericho, the tea industry participates in very remarkable CSR including the education of TWELVE university students, support for secondary schools and that huge hospital called Uniliver Central Hospital. In Nandi, there was NO such thing until someone decided to take some knee-jerk reaction to construct some school called KTGA Taito Secondary School. Obviously, to date there is NO support for the kids of the squatters whose land was grabbed by the settler farmers in order to create the multi-billion shilling business that is our VERY important tea industry. One wonders why not? LEADERSHIP! Since these things could not be done by others, I thought, why wait for anybody else who don’t seem to have the passion to DO it when I can as well be the one doing it. That is how I found myself in the mix!

Then the new constitution with the devolution provision came to me as a God-sent opportunity because for long I was tired of being a captive of a centralised system which had little use for the periphery. I supported the constitution as a son of a squatter to whom Chapter five Article 65 speaks. I longed for the day that the people of Nandi county, not some wheeler-dealers with unfettered access to Statehouse, would determine how to relate with those investors. A time when no land leases would be renewed to those obnoxious 999 years without any questions BUT a time when WE, the citizens, would interrogate someone on how he/she plans to plough back to society in exchange for extended leases and investment in our land. On leadership I had a feeling that we had too much intolerance for divergent views. I lived at a time when people had their wives transferred because their husbands did “not toe the line”. I believe in FREEDOM, and I don’t consider pluralism as a threat to our progress. I wanted to be part of a partnership that recognises that everybody has something that they can bring to the table. I wanted to change the politics from “me, myself and I” to “WE”. Those who know me privately and publicly would tell you that I believe in consultation. That doesn’t mean someone decides for me. But I love to include everybody in the decision-making process. It brings about ownership, people own the PROCESS and they can identify themselves with the PRODUCT. I see myself as the team leader, a captain so to speak, with a team that deserves to be heard and seen! I believe that one cannot continue complaining about bad leadership when you know you can solve it by leading!

The second part of your question asks about my agenda (aim and vision) for the county. This is my burden. I carry a thought these days that says “I am not afraid of my opponents, I am afraid of getting the endorsement”. My MAIN aim is to nurture a corruption-free and progressive society that espouses individual freedom with responsibility, respects the democratic rights of each other and embraces a patriotic attachment to the work ethic in order to grow wealth. But what use is it if people work only for those efforts to go to waste? That is where leadership comes in! Governorship entails mainstreaming astute leadership a leadership with a clear touch on the people who are led. That is where I see myself. Not as a super-governor but as a partner with whom the county cabinet and the representatives can do business. This devolution requires, not demands, a Governor who is accessible and easy to deal with but a respecter of processes and the rule of law. The Governorship is also charged with the task of resource mobilization and allocation. I have heard people say “we need a manager for our resources”. I say that is very true. But what do you manage if the resources are not sufficient? Do we really expect to have a demi-god of an imperial Governor who would, unilaterally and single-handedly, dish out candy bars and development without consultation? That is a fatal interpretation of the spirit of devolution as envisaged in the constitution. In my understanding, I see myself as a leader. In my position as the Governor, I’d employ a county minister of finance, somebody with the requisite training in finance. In fact I shall be looking for a skilful person who can write project proposals and drive us towards third-party funding because whether we admit it now or later, the devolved funds are not enough. That is where resource mobilisation and a high profile local and international relations wizard would be required to mop up funding within and beyond borders. Effective service delivery demands on-going research, monitoring and evaluation as well as a continued engagement with citizens in order to establish a barometer to gauge the effect of the Government efforts.

Nandi County, for starters is NOT a monolithic society. We are diverse culturally, ethnically and socially. Such a stratified society takes more effort to unify, yet the diversity is a huge source of strength. But that is possible if we approach that unity as a “unity in diversity”, we espouse a Nandi County in which the minority Okiek and Luhya or Luo feel as included as the Kipsigis and Terik and the Nandi. We cannot afford to segregate against anybody anymore. This is the reality and we must live with it. The constitution protects the rights of everybody. That is the Rainbow Society that I wish to lead, the diversity which to me is a recipe for spice and progress rather than an excuse to hate. WE must play inclusion politics. It is OUR County. There is ONE Nandi County for all of us. That is why, as per the constitution, all those people who live within the borders of Nandi County, including ethnic minorities, must be included in government. I make that pledge, that I would ensure that we al feel part and parcel of Nandi Kaburwo. This is because I also expect the Terik in Vihiga to be catered for in Kakamega County. This is because I expect the Nandi in Laikipia to be catered for in that County and that is why I expect the Kipsigis in Narok South and those Kalenjin people in Trans-Mara to be included in Narok County Governance. It is no longer “us Vs them”. It is ALL of us. The deadliest of wars in Kenya have been fought because of the struggle to control resource allocation. Devolution was meant to ease that. But it won’t be done if we take power from a president who could decide what was good for which region, and give it to a Governor who “knows” what is good for where. I am not saying a Governor would have no knowledge of places. But the cake which comes to Kapsabet must be divided out in a manner that is inclusive. To achieve that, the division process has to be negotiated and inclusive.

Now I carry about seven or eight CORE desires, which are encapsulated in my long essay. I have stated before and I could reiterate for your blog: Kenyans did NOT wish to devolve from an imperial president only to have an imperial Governor. In my DNA runs a commitment to power-sharing and I recognise the pivotal role to be played by the county representatives, the true grass-root leaders who should partner with, not serve, the Governor and the Executive in service delivery.

Education: With the elevation of some schools to National School status, we have to shift focus to Primary schools. Just ask yourself, what happened to those primary schools of yesterday (in whatever locality), which were able to post incredible results. Where did they go to? Can something be done in order to help that mama mboga, tea plucker, casual labourer etc whose child (the only hope for ever breaking from the imprisonment of poverty) goes to the local primary school. Where did our public primary schools lose the steam. Reality check: Not every parent can afford to send their kid(s) to the not-so-cheap private schools which are currently posting better results. In addition I am thinking the county would be tempted to go along what the Chinese do, something like 10-20-100 (which would read like in ten years we develop Kapsabet Boys-like schools (at least 20 of them) and another 100 or so model primary schools. Still on education, I’d think I was among the first to propose that Nandi needed a Nandi County University, call it Koitalel Samoei University or Jean-Marie Seroney (not related to me) University but we have to have a way of dealing with the ballooning demand for university places. On education still, I consider it possible for Nandi County to have a county scholarship scheme to be funded by a number of well-wishers including through CSR as well as innovative fundraisers. On external education, since we don’t have enough education places locally in Kenya, we ought to optimise the route of athletics scholarships which has opened doors to over 1000 of our students to American universities. My leadership recognises the need for synergistic engagement between our local and diaspora sons and daughters and I seek to aggressively promote this option to ameliorate the burden of lack of university places in Kenya as we reach out to entice those private investors who are willing to come and invest in high education institutions in Nandi County.

Dealing with roads and infrastructure. Nandi has about 273km of what you’d call major roads and 234km of what you’d call minor roads. For those roads to be useable, we need to either upgrade them to all-weather bitumen roads or at least work on some form of better murraming. It still remains unclear whose responsibility the roads construction is but it is my priority to work on tapping the leadership of the County at whatever level to mobilise resources, from the central government as well as the donor community and development partners in order to develop a reliable roads network. It is not cheap but it is doable, with the right mindset and priorities as well as skilful fundraising. If we work on good roads networks, we should be able to reform our transport sector to make it consumer-friendly. This includes the use of timed buses (either owned by the county government or the private sector) operated on specific routes. I long to see order in the public transport sector, and I keep wondering whether we need to introduce a “departure on schedule” for public transport vehicles, reduce the parking boys menace and redeploy that labour to more productive use. It is a discussion which I am willing to engage in.

Agro-industrialisation of our farm produce as well as engagement in contract farming. Since we produce a lot of milk (sadly I don’t have the figures since the Kenya Dairy Board and the individual milk processors have never answered the question on how much milk we produce), we need to upgrade from chilling to processing. The value chain must be tethered within the county in order to create jobs as well as spur other spin-offs that come with it. Fruit and vegetable processing remains another huge potential area as is the urgent need for a milling facility.

Sports, Culture and Tourism. With the Koitalel Museum, and another 65 tourist attractions in Nandi County, we stand at the Vanguard of massive new frontiers for tourism development. What we do with that potential, ecotourism included might make the difference between making Nandi County a destination for tea, sport, game and cultural tourism. On culture the museum offers a potential for monetisation of our culture, spurring research into linguistics and anthropology as well as other important aspects of our identity as a people. The eyesore that is Kipchoge Keino stadium needs concerted efforts to build it. Do we register Kaburwo Sports Ltd, partly owned by the County Government and with shares sold to the residents and athletics? Do we let Kaburwo Sports Ltd own the Stadia in the County? It is a crying shame that the home of Kipchoge Keino, Wilfred Bungey, Peter Rono, Henry Rono, Pamela Jelimo and Janeth Jepkosgey among others has no sports facilities to show for that talent. Still on sports, isn’t it time we thought about diversity into tennis and other sports with huge monetary benefits? How do we monetise the Kass International Marathon which starts at Chepterit and ends in Eldoret? Do we just clap for the athletes, who sleep in Eldoret and travel in the wee hours to the starting point, or are our investments ready to provide housing and other facilities. These and many other issues which have the potential to change our income-generating equation require urgent attention. I have talked before of the possibility of a “Kalenjin Week” to fall and climax with the Koitalel Anniversary, on October 19^th annually. In that week, we have each and every Kalenjin community show-casing their culture, music and food. We have a thematic Nandi Village with all those plants named in both Nand/Kalenjin, Scientific and common names. We have our traditional house with all the parts named. Incorporate holiday language courses so that when kids close school they have a week of intensive language classes offered by native speakers. And many more activities. Think of souvenirs and postcards etc sold at each of the tourist destinations. I am tempted to think we’d have to purchase a site-seeing bus with clear circuit routes, into which you can hop and ride though designated tourist sites. I shall appoint a keen tourism expert to help develop and monetise our potential as a tourist circuit.

Dealing with history. Historical injustices visited on the Nandi people by British occupation, the displacement of the Talai people etc must be addressed. I consider myself as a better agent to deal with these because I have written extensively about them and it is time someone stepped up the fight to deal with that history once and for all. The legal framework for dealing with this has been built into both the constitution and the National Land Policy. What needs to be done is to domesticate that and move on.

ICT is the engine, together with Biotechnology, of the world of today and the economies of what is collectively called BRICs. Can Nandi County be the Silicon Valley of Rift Valley and Kenya? It can if we think of some huge potentials that exist in software engineering and especially now with the explosion of mobile telephony. As some of your readers are aware, I have challenged our people to at least make Mobile Smartphone Apps for the Nandi/Kalenjin Bible, Dictionary and games to aid in language learning. If we see the potential in this frontier, we see social blogging (like what you are doing) and move on to monetise our online experience rather than merely consuming it. In line with the ever-changing environment, I shall strongly advocate for eGovernment to enable people from far-flung areas to access government services without the need to travel so far. Some of the simple things which are done here in Germany can be domesticated in Nandi County so that instead of applicants moving all the way to Kapsabet to obtain application forms, those can be downloaded from friendly websites.

Youth and Gender parity. I have made a commitment to give Nandi County a woman for my running-mate because I believe that our ladies are not AOB. They are the centre of our agenda. They are our mothers, wives, sisters and daughters. In recognition of the role that women play in our lives, I commit myself to the formation of a government that takes cognisance of the women and youth (under 35-year olds). The future that “they” have been talking about is NOW. I want to catalyse that process that is aimed at the realisation of the dream by our youth to be part of our leaders TODAY. There are many other issues which are captured in my essay and I invite your readers to interrogate them.

Others (Including quality healthcare and financing, security, motivation for teachers in order to turn around the number of kids who move on from primary schools to secondary as well as from secondary to colleges and universities, provision of a conducive environment to attract investments in order to create jobs as well as ensuring that devolved funds are not spent outside the county unless it is absolutely inevitable. I see us as a county that should encourage our youth to invest both within and without the county and rest assured that where the county government seeks the services and goods, first those businesses with a physical presence in Nandi would be given priority. In addition, I hope that my exposure, first in China and now in Germany and Europe, would offer my county government some good leverage in seeking development partners for the myriad challenges we face: transport and infrastructure, health, sanitation and clean water, green energy sources and further education). We might have to think of making it compulsory that people who live in Nandi subscribe to one form or other of health insurance. We are investing too much on the dead, at the expense of the living. Tany Kina Dairies has a scheme in which those who supply milk are provided some cover. We need to shift the burden from families to Health Insurance.

EMOPOLITICS: You have termed yourself a Liberal Democrat. What, in brief, is your political philosophy? Which Politician, locally and internationally would be the ideal example of your political philosophy?

SCC: Yes I am a liberal democrat because I believe that there are rights which are God-given and which are non-negotiable. Look at the American constitution. The opening of the United States Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, states as follows:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Everybody enjoys a constitutional right to choose. Choice must not be deprived, neither can it be denied without trampling the rights of another. That is why I like saying people have a right to choose or oppose me. It is a fundamental right, it is non-negotiable. I like to consider myself as a social democrat, I believe those who have, ought to take it upon themselves to help those who don’t have but in a way that industry and self-esteem are not compromised.

Many people influence my thinking. I read widely. Benny Carson and as I read each of his pieces I wonder whether his story is not my story. A powerful message, I have personalised his believe that “education is the most powerful (socio-economic) equaliser”. I’ve read Nelson Mandela and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi), I have listened to Martin Luther King Jnr and I love the ease with which Barack Obama goes about his work. I am fascinated by the numerous success stories from family-owned businesses in Germany and I keep asking myself what philosophy drives them. I’d like to borrow the emerging trend in which relationships are shaped more by “economic diplomacy” rather than political diplomacy. It is about interests and in a devolved system, nothing is more important than inter-county relations and protection of traditional markets for our produce as well as critical economic areas surrounding Nandi County. Sadly few Kenyan politicians inspire us today because we run a system which destroyed independence and nurtured sycophancy. However, a few people like Jean-Marie Seroney left an indelible mark in my life from an early age. Bishop Alexander Muge, though not a politician showed us how Church can supplement the state in nurturing enterprise and pursuit of social justice.

EMOPOLITICS: No one can argue with your Academic credentials. Politics however, can be a different cup of tea. Do you believe you have the political mettle that march your excellent Academic credence? Do you consider your Academic experience a political asset?

SCC: I try not to refer to myself as a politician but it is inevitable. Now, I am not new to politics and those who know me will bear witness that when push comes to shove, my opponents must prepare for a very tough political battle. I am very educated, no doubt. But I don’t come across as your typical nerd. In school I was never an obligate bookworm. You'd find me cheering the National Ball Games competitions in Kisii at Cardinal Otunga Boys a fortnight to my KCSE. I was a lead cheer-leader for the school voleyball team, venting with the loudest voice when most of my competitors would be escaping the games period to pour through one more page. Did you know my nickname in high school? Ileet! I earned it due to sports cheerleading.

I have been a leader from a very tender age. At Chemenei Basic School, I started off as the compound prefect (in charge of cleanliness) at class five in 1982. In class six I was made the deputy head prefect and in class seven I became the school headboy. That was in primary. At Kapsabet Boys, I was not a prefect in only one out of the four years at school. In fact at form two, I was made the dining hall captain in charge of two other prefects (one responsible for the kitchen and another for the dining hall). This was a time when we had both the 8-4-4 (including me) and the last A-level system. In form three I was the house captain for Solai house with two prefects, one in charge of Maiyo Dorm and another in charge of Cheruiyot Dorm. You will find the history we left in school: Solai House might not have been the cleanliness champs but we retained the academic trophy for as long as I was the captain. At University I became the chairman of Nandi University Students Association at Egerton (NDEUSA). This is an organisation that somehow defined my politics in Nandi as well as selfless service to people. We had so many cases of students who didn't have fees and risked being sent home. I used my influence and negotiation skills to get them fees. Notably, during my tenure, and I don't know how this was done, students came together and collected books worth about KShs 40,000/= (by then a lot of money). Then we reached out to various donors who sponsored a series of high profile tours to schools as far flung as Kamasai in Mosop to Chemase in Aldai to Henry Kosgey Secondary School Kibukwo in Tindiret as well as Kapnyeberai, Kosirai and Chepkunyuk. We spoke to students and awarded what was envisaged to be a great inspiration to students: The Jean-Marie Seroney Academic Award (a certificate of merit really for the most improved school in Nandi). There are records of very successful involvement of members in meetings and activities.

In fact I think people tend to ignore the academician in me in many instances because I connect with people irrespective of their standing or educational background. So, yes, I might not match my academics in politics because it takes more than me to achieve success but where the results depend on my input, I offer the assurance to Nandi County that I shall post a clean A on whatever I touch. It is simple to see why. I never do things that I know I am not good at. But when I take on something, I don’t go with half my energy. I give my everything.

Would my academics be an asset? Yes. In more ways than one. Living away from my family and friends in China and Germany for ten years has done some things to my personality. I have become patient, tolerant and I have a whole wide view of issues and events. In academia my work is constantly reviewed, my teaching is constantly under scrutiny from colleagues, superiors and students. That has changed my demeanour a lot. I don’t know how many people brought up in the traditional environment where they consider themselves superior can stand criticism from students. Most would take that as insubordination. It has taught me tolerance. I get criticised each day for decisions I have made in the past, my reaction is tempered with grace. I shall be criticised each day in office, that requires measured reaction and an understanding. My education has offered something else. Having been educated in China and Germany, this gave me an international touch. Let us say I could not take Nandi to China, not to Germany. But we can bring Germany and China to Nandi. How? By taking what is good and doable, developing our own hybrid which should help us. Let us look at my having gone to school in those countries as offering a certain identity which would sell with them as development partners. I think we saw in the dream team case, where every donor was angling in to have Kenyans who went to school in their countries in critical sectors of government. I think Nandi County would be blessed if China and Germany (and the European Union) would accept my reaching out to them for partnerships in business and investments as well as the many other solutions to our numerous challenges. That is an asset to the county. As a leader, my rise to the Governorship would also be the strongest message to the poor people that hard work has the capacity to transform our lives. What better teaching aid than the former herdsboy who would have risen to lead us! It would be a confirmation of Martin Luther paraphrased“We have been able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope”. Replace “mountain of despair” with “squatters” and you get the powerful message. Success needs a face and a name, that way it ceases being an abstract concept.

EMOPOLITICS: In brief, Which are the issues that must be urgently addressed in the county by an incoming Governor? Have such issues been mishandled before? What will you do differently?

SCC: I believe agenda number one would be to form an all-inclusive government cognisant of our ethnic, age and geographic realities in Nandi but without compromising the need for quality service. Healing the county from the likely divisiveness of the electioneering would be a priority as I reach out to all the people to synergise the manifestoes and dreams for a better Nandi. In this regard, I consider myself as a team leader, a leader at the top of a team with relevant training to lead (1) education (2) agriculture (3) finance (4) transport (5) land (6) culture and tourism (7) healthcare and health institutions and other departments which fall under the devolved government. Getting the right people to head these departments is a task I am currently dealing with, receiving recommendations from people. I seek result-driven people who know that we are under constant review from the electorate. The biggest challenge is how to optimise revenue while sealing leaking areas through which meaningless or less urgent expenses have been bleeding the county.

On work, I shall need FACTS and FIGURES on (1) assets (2) land (3) schools and colleges (4) public health institutions and other properties that the county government inherits from the existing framework. Obviously most of these are covered in the census reports. In this way shall have a good idea where we are starting off. This is what “thoroughness”, for which the Germans are reputed, and a trait I have studiously acquired is required. Background check, or “Grundlage” as they call it. So that we move from the known to the unknown. I shall be in a better position to determine whether there are cases of land-grabbing that need to be reversed, for example those schools which lost land to greedy people.

To be honest, there is no template for governance, since the devolved government is a new phenomenon. However, I bring a strong scientific trait which means constant evaluation and review (both internally within my cabinet and external by the county assembly and the public). Anybody who has reached me would tell you that one “weakness” which I have is that I consult a lot, That is indeed a great asset. I don’t believe that we can achieve much without involving others. But that does not take away my role as the ultimate decision-maker. I promote accessibility by the citizen, and rapid response by the government. People who have issues have had to fill in forms, write letters or make phone calls and then end up “going to Nairobi or Kapsabet to follow my letter”. That has to stop. Where I am at the moment, if someone has an issue, even a tax refund issue, a quality control measure ensures that government employees respond within a set time to an inquiry, even if the answer is a NO. If people have to travel all the way from Kamwega or Mombwo or Kipsartuk or Kameliil to follow an application then that is a sign of a dysfunctional government. I shall not allow that and I am sure the people of Nandi County won’t consider that to be anything but a slap in the face of the acclaimed benefits of devolution.

I shall be different because my government shall be in constant touch with the people, regularly consult with the assembly and the national government.

EMOPOLITICS: Are you aligned to any existing political entity in Kenya? (Entity= party/ person). Have you chosen the party that will act as your vehicle in the 2012 Elections? Why have you chosen to align yourself to the entity?

SCC: At the moment no I am not and I like to remain so. Political parties in Kenya are yet to entrench the culture of ideological differences. There is too much of big-man stamps and this is not good for democracy. I would like to see a scenario where parties stand for completely delineated ideologies, for example complete federalist Kenya versus unitary etc. The second problem is that with the disappointment of the 2007 elections and the damaging fall-out by the main shareholders like ODM means that we continue to see many people undecided on where to go. I have had to weigh many things: What if the drag in UDM goes either way, that means if it is not settled amicably I would have to shift again! The other reality is that we have people scattered all over: remnants in Kanu, some in PNU, others in Narc-Kenya and the countless other emerging parties. I see the Governor as a unifier, Samburto if you like the Nandi word for it. So regarding party affiliation, I shall feel the ground and let the people tell me where they wish me to go. But let us remain alive to machinations like people with more money than I being in a position to buy direct nominations etc. The second challenge I’d like to throw to my Countymates is the need for us to play what I call “Jewish wisdom” of ensuring we are in a position to align ourselves with the winners in order to access and tap into more resources. The Jews all over the world are not found in the opposition, they have a way of aligning themselves with the winner, be it in the USA or wherever. That way they can push their agenda WITHIN government. Of course they have the money power. We need to adopt that line of thinking as we ask ourselves to think beyond the 15% or so devolved and focus on “what happens with the money that remains, 85%? I could have answered in a politically correct manner. I chose not to, because I wish to cultivate a culture of honesty with the people I shall work so hard to lead. I know what this means for opportunism and people who are ready to spring on this and milk it. No problem. I think Nandi is wishing to elect a CEO who is not a prisoner to anybody else EXCEPT the electorate. I won’t hide behind anything in order to avoid scrutiny. I want to put Nandi County IN government in 2013. There is nothing more for the Nandi to prove by being in the opposition. If you want us to prove our test of manhood and hardiness, we did it by fighting the British with bare hands! There is ONLY one thing that Nandi has to prove: to be man enough and consign poverty to some depot beyond our borders. We need less courage than the one with which we fought colonial infiltrators. Nandi shall rise again. That I KNOW.

EMOPOLITICS: The County of Nandi is as diverse as it is huge. Given the years you have spent abroad studying and working, are you still in touch with the socioeconomic issues that may require quick solutions if ascend into office?

SCC: This question takes us back to several realities. Let us say I have been out for close to ten years now, five each in China and Germany. “In touch” is a question I confront each day. Sometimes I think I am more Nandi than most of my contemporaries who have grown up and lived all their lives in Nandi. I never lost my language and cultural attachment to Nandi, my education notwithstanding.

YES I am in touch and I am alive to the challenges that people encounter each day in meeting their school fees, medical, transport, farm produce prices, cost of inputs and erratic weather. I think in all honesty, for anybody to say one is out of touch merely because of geography and physical distance is dishonest at least and hypocritical at worst. For one, media like Kass FM afford us real-time streaming of information and connection to Jamhuri. Secondly, we obviously get access to relatives, friends and my campaigners regularly either through Skype, Facebook, Twitter or telephone. Look at this reality. When I came to Germany in February 2007, I changed my phone. Then I had to transfer the telephone contacts. There were 853 contacts then. That alone tells you that I was in contact with more people then. I am in touch many more today. I talk to people directly, I answer my phone, I return calls and I respond to Facebook messages of whatever kind. Nothing is left unattended to. And this is before I get the honour to account for my time to the people. That number has grown exponentially. My Facebook profile surpassed 5ooo friends a long time ago and I had to create a page to take on the extra people who would like to connect with me. Alright I understand, my mother does not have Facebook. But I could look at the diversity in terms of the people I speak to each day: those from Baraton who need a cooling plant so badly, those from Mosoriot who produce passion fruits and are recording successes in sales, those from Chebarus who are introducing passion fruit farming, those from Chepkikweny in Mosoop who want to expand their school. So many of these needs and cases come to me, some I can address while others I can’t handle so I refer. Take the cases of the Kundos River project and the Keben River catchment area being led by environmental activists Simion Kosgey and Chebwai ara Boen, respectively. They need help because improper care for our forest cover is impacting on the health of the rivers and affecting the ecosystem. The people at Kiptenden are struggling with the conservation of the Sitatunga, and the pressure of brick-making and illegal hunters. What do I say about the potential to generate and distribute power at Diguna missions in Tindiret and Kilibwoni. Add that to the countless number of people who contact me through my blog, desirous to go for further studies abroad and those others who have one challenge or another. In fact on average, I answer three emails each day, that excludes the Facebook inbox messages, from people who are either writing their CV and need me to correct it for them, or writing their proposals and they wish me to revise for them or simply inquiries on “what do I do if I want to study in Germany”? I get to talk to new people each day who are excited that they have heard about me and my desire to lead us but can’t get to see me. I maintain my Kenyan telephone number, roaming as it were, from Germany and get smses and phone calls. Did I tell you how I chose my Kenyan numbers? I wanted numbers that spell the words ONE NAND, so I got 0702-1-62634. The numbers 62634 spell out the word NANDI on your phone pad!

I patiently assembled a lot of information scattered over several websites and resources e.g on Education in Germany (http://www.Tindiret.com), on Nandi culture and language (http://www.NandiKaburwo.com, http://Language.NandiKaburwo.com and http://www.Matelong.org) as well as Kalenjin language (http://www.Tuiyet.com) etc. Through these resources I get feedback. Look at what I call the most successful project I started (http://www.Labatet.com) which serves as a connection for student athletes and anybody seeking information on Kenyan athletics. Through this portal I spent my own KShs 20000 to get professional interviews which covered the father of Kenyan Olympic medals, Kericho’s Wilson Kiprugut Chumo and the father of the Golden age in Kenyan Olympic Steeplechase, the only game Kenya has never lost a gold since 1968 after Amos Kibwambok Biwott won it for Kenya. I was disappointed to know that he is wasting away at Mulangu, despite that success.

I am in touch. I think to be honest I have gone to more places in Nandi county than most of my opponents. Some of them are leaving their villages in search of votes. I have been to Sing’ore in Sarora as a student. I went to Chemase, been to Chepkuny and Gambogi on the border between Kapsengere and Vihiga. I have been to Sereem, Kiptenden, Sang’alo and Kebulonik as well as my wife’s parental home of Chekumia and Bonjoge. I have been to Sereem and Kiplolok as well as Kelbui. In 1997, I went to every nook and crook in Tindiret and beyond. I feel the needs of our people each day. My parents (my mother at Cheptabach and my mother-in-law at Ol’Lessos) get my regular support and through them I support a good number of others. What shall we say of people who are in Kenya but only go to the village during Christmas? Are they in touch? Reminds me of someone who used to send salamu on Kass FM to someone from Kaptien who had died two months earlier because the sender DIDN’T know, yet I knew that Chief Joseph Rono (RIP) had gone to be with the Lord! Who was out of touch? Long before I had a desire to be Governor I carried burdens for people who contacted me with desires to go for further studies. A day shall come when some of them will bear me witness on the extents to which I went to let them connect with the opportunities which, eventually enabled them to leave for further studies abroad. These days I participated, directly or through proxy, in at least three harambees a week in aid of a church there, a kid going to school here or a university student somewhere else.

I am in touch with needs and challenges. Each day I get to "meet" people who have various challenges, school fees, medical fees etc. Some I help where I can. Others I refer to people we call resource persons for better solutions. I believe the most important way to show that you are in touch is not only to identify with the problems and challenges that people encounter each day. Rather, it is in providing workable solutions. I am in touch with the problems and I am more than in touch with the solutions too.

EMOPOLITICS: The new constitution give special mention to Leadership and National Values. In terms of integrity, First, do you have the spine to face corruption head on? As the C.E.O of Nandi County, what will you do to ensure that the county becomes corruption, tribalism, nepotism free?

SCC: Yes I can be trusted to fight corruption. I have been a fighter against corruption. Consider this. While a prefect at Kapsabet Boys, two cases presented themselves. As a House Captain, we came back from school to find the mattresses had been stolen from the dormitories. One day I launched investigations, followed them up and recovered from a student! The most interesting was this guy who used to steal school books and apparently send them to another school, to his girl friend. I was detailed to recover them. I went with the Deputy Head prefect. We were given KShs 260/= each for travel. Let me just say that I took back the balance of KShs 30/= from that trip and gave it to the Bursar. How many of us would do that? In my writings you’ll find an article entitled “How to End TKK Racket”. Yes, the buck stops with me as the Governor. Any public land which has been grabbed shall be taken back. I played my role as a citizen when, recently, I wrote to PLO Lumumba (while he was in office) to raise issue with the grabbed land at Kiborgok, a scam which involved some elected councillor(s) of Nandi County Council and the employees. We cannot continue watching people pilfer our property. Most of my friends will remember that while I ran a business at Nandi Hills which dealt with stationery supplies, we lost a lot of clients because our competition introduced practices which compromised my stand against graft while transferring the burdens to the parents. I should perhaps mention that I don’t have a Kenyan driving license because of a slight error in judgement by the issuing officers who demanded that I “support my tests”. Even though one can simply “buy” one, I have chosen never to do it. What more evidence do we need to show for a stand against graft. In fact most of the people who would wish to stop me from ascending to the Governorship are those “devolved corruption lords”. For Devolution did not just bring us good governance and resource distribution to the periphery, all the bad that trace its origin to our beloved county would be dispersed, the wheeler-dealers no less. I am ready to face them head-on and I need the support of the citizens of Nandi County to do this.

Regarding diversity, I have addressed it before and it gives me great pleasure to do it again. Nandi County is not a Nandi-only County. We have minorities among us. The constitution spells out clearly that those ethnic minorities must be mainstreamed in government. So yes, I shall strive to wax a society that appreciates the diversity within us but uses it as a source of strength, rather than an excuse for attrition. I advocate tolerance and those who read my writings will have come across my pledge to my opponents to continue playing their constitutional right to oppose. Freedoms cannot be negotiated. I guarantee that. Again I reiterate that I expect our County Assembly to play its role in vetting my actions and those of my officers to ensure that merit and considerations other than nepotism, tribalism, religious affiliations are recognised. Obviously there are sectors of our populations that are disadvantaged, e.g. the Okiek have challenges with regard to the number of educated children. We have to guard against the temptation to have hundreds of “adopted or nominal Okiek” claiming what is not theirs e.g resettlement or a share of the equalisation fund and membership to the Assembly. Masqueraders won’t be entertained. Nandi is notorious for the number of co-operatives which have been raped, run down and the culprits turn around to run for, and are elected into political office. The place of such people is not more responsibility. It is prison cells and remand. I have a message for them: arate biich!

EMOPOLITICS: What are your ideas on the empowerment of young people, women, the disabled and other marginalized members of the county?

SCC: I am afraid to even talk about this but let me say it anyway. It looks to me like the only time the word “youth” gains cloud-status is around election time. I have asked the youth to stop being “youth wingers” and start being “young leaders”. The specifics for the you are drawn from my main agenda. Let us say the under 35s comprise a whole spectrum of people: students in high school and colleges, universities, frsh entrants into the job market and up and coming business(wo)men. To a large extent the central government has devised very good, though inaccessible instruments to help the youth move from job-seekers to self-employed and eventually employers. I have been in constant touch with the challenges enumerated by Hosea Kirwa Serem, the Kabiyet-based Nandi North District Youth Officer and the Nandi-Hills based Thomas Cherwon Chebwai. These two offices are always open as are those in Kapsabet and Maraba in Tindiret and Kobujoi, to discuss the numerous available instruments of funding. Of course there are other bottlenecks like “experience” and getting the right people with whom to form a group.

Whether a youth group wishes to start a poultry farm, or a group of fresh graduates from Kaiboi and Ol’Lessos Technical Training Colleges wish to monetise their skills and start business ventures like electrical installations (Ikweny Electricals is something I like using), these youth must be encouraged to utilise the available funding options. One challenge I got to know from various engagements is “proposals”. I have been toying with the idea that our county Finance minister would have to handle this writing on behalf of groups or provide an officer within the department who would co-ordinate what I call NGO and third-party funding. We have to think of how to cement water wells and ensure sanitation in order to save time for the girl-child and the woman, work on green energy initiatives (solar energy training centres and installation/repair services) etc. Government may not be able to fund all these.

I shall take proactive steps to help with fund-raising for specific projects, including some form of “One-District-One-Product” which would ensure we process at least one product produced in a given district at cottage or industrial levels. I met the disabled persons on December 23^rd at Kapsabet. A number of us have been helping a blind girl since her days at Maseno. Recently a German NGO working through one in Kenya linked me to the program in Kenya which would help her from next year. In fact I’d like to have a member of the disabled people as a personal assistant to the Governor. This way their needs are brought closer to the heart of decision-making. I have discussed with them things like parking spaces specifically designated for “HandiCapable” people, the question of stairs in buildings, seats in matatus and public transport vehicles as well as the possibility to have a day for those of them who make different products to sell, a kind of a “show”, etc. I still remember a family of three with a blind mother and blind kids. Talented but disadvantaged. How do we deal with such a situation? Again it is about information streaming from their office in Nairobi to the periphery and I am happy that one of their leaders, Silas arap Maru of Kapkobiis, is keen to help solve this problem. I met a woman who had to crawl to the stadium, yet there are wheelchairs being offered through their organisation in Nairobi. Sadly I have not been lucky with the inquiries I placed with the various organisations in Germany for sports gear, Braille, wheelchairs etc. Most of them work with established Christian centres.

EMOPOLITICS: Last, How will you ensure good relationship between your office and the National government? How will you encourage direct link between your county and the international community, including members of your county in the diaspora?

SCC: (a) I suppose the link with the national government is catered for in the relevant legislations which were recently published by the Task Force. One great approach is to ensure we reduce hostility and animosity by being tactful. In addition, the Nairobi based officials, MPs, Senator and Women’s Rep, would be a direct link with the national government. I am wondering whether over time we shall have a Nandi County Lobby Office somewhere in Nairobi which would be like a centre to collate and harmonise the agenda for the county as well as push those responsible to provide solutions. I don’t know. But these are some grey areas that would need to be dealt with.

(b) One of the motivations behind the encouragement to run, if I remember clearly, was a desire by the people who asked me to run for Governor to see Nandi stand at a better place with the Chinese and German/European investors and possible donor agencies. In fact, recently I joked that if I had about KShs 40 billion I would tarmac a good part of the 273km of major roads in Nandi. The huge requirements in water, sanitation, energy, roads network as well as human resource development would not benefit from the KShs 1.8-2.1 billion that we are likely to get. Furthermore, to date, nobody knows what we would need to cover as county governments. In short, aren’t we blessed that these critical development partners are directly linked to my life abroad? The German and Chinese doors are among the first I shall knock on as I seek to build networks to meet various needs.

(c) The Nandi County diaspora is among those who remit monthly support to their families in Kenya. Even though I don’t have the figures, they are playing a critical role in ensuring their families and loved ones are living and going about their business in a comfortable manner. Look at great sons and daughters like Ambassador Peter Rono of Kamobo and New Jersey and Assistant Coach Ezekiel Kiprono Koech of Sochoi and North Carolina who are doing a superb job in opening up opportunities for our student athletes to study in top American universities under scholarship. Many more unsung heroes and heroines are doing it each day. We applaud them. We need to replicate this story wherever there are diasporans, in Finland, China, India, UK and Canada as well as Australia and South Africa etc. The reality is that we don’t have enough places for studies in Kenya, there are many more out there including the Philippines. We have to create links with those people and view the diaspora as a resource, not a threat.

(d) Another critical role being played by the diasporans is investment. I shall be more than willing to help develop mechanisms through which people who are willing can invest in our county’s numerous partnerships. A good example is what I talked about later: Kaburwo Sports Ltd. A number of us bought Safaricom shares via EMO. That story, though slow, can be domesticated for Nandi County.

(e) The diaspora Nandi people are going to be more than investors. They shall vote. That means they shall demand value for votes. No wonder some of the people who are seeking office are afraid. Because these are very active people and now they shall determine the fate of our county politics one way or another.

(f) Last but not least, the diaspora has been involved in projects. I shall mention the two that stand out. Imani Community Development Inc and Okeer Gaa are examples of what pooling abroad can do to transform the society back home, especially at Kipsebwo in Nandi Hills and Kabiriirsang. I would not wish to pre-empt but you might be seeing a new set of health facilities being run locally but funded from abroad. May I also use this forum to announce that in February 2012, I shall join a team of medical doctors from the USA in several medical camps including in Nandi County. These are facilitated by our diaspora sons and daughters. Let us say everybody is a resource in Nandi County. We have so many needs, we need medical equipment, we need ambulances, we need fire extinguishers, we need scholarships etc. We have seen how the diaspora has facilitated for the twinning of Eldoret to St Paul and Minneapolis in the USA. The immediate benefit was a fire extinguisher. We need that and more for Nandi. We need the diaspora to attract those universities to see the wisdom of local campuses in Kenya in order to save us the capital flight.

God bless you and thank you for giving me the opportunity. I seek your support to say together “It is a new dawn in Nandi County”. Nandi shall rise again! God bless you and God bless Nandi County.

Nandi County take-off to prosperity: Core issues for 2012 and beyond

2011-05-16T11:23:00.003+02:00

Nandi County in Rift Valley presents an interesting face of Kenya. Geographically, it stretches from the low-lying soiin to the south through the lush green highlands of Kapng’etuny (Nandi Hills) to the stretch of endless plateau in Mosop to the North. The landmass seems to rise laboriously from the tip of Kapseng’ere to the west through the pristine forested midlands of Chesumei through Kapsabet to the elevated ridge of Ol’Lessos to the forests of North Tindiret. In between lie the tea estates and a whisper of wattle plantations. Cultural melting pot it is also, owing to the ethnic diversity of the inhabitants and the over 795,000 residents enjoy what is no doubt an eye-catching mix of culture, economic and socio-political menu. Nandi is home to such minority groups as the Okiek, Ngerekek, Luhya, Luo, Kikuyu, Kipsigis and Terik all living in harmony. Thanks to the new constitution, each of these peoples’ rights are protected and future county governments must cater for them by ensuring their inclusion in matters of governance. There are also special populations like the disabled, single parents and widowed families each facing their unique challenges. Our society must provide space for them. Nandi is still faced with challenges in land ownership, lack of title deeds in some areas and people living as squatters. These are issues that require firm action in order to enable every resident feel a part of our rich county.

Nandi is home to some 66 potential tourist sites (from the eye-catching water-falls at Mulangu to the North to the caves in Keben to the East), holds the religious HQ of the Nandi at Kapng’etuny (Nandi Hills Town) which is home to Koitalel Samoei Museum, the traditional suicide cliffs (Sheu) at Kibolewo near Kaprochoke and Moropi in Kapsimotwo. The County is blessed with institutions of higher learning led by the prestigious Kapsabet Boys High School right at the centre of Nandi. In a radius of only several kilometres, one finds Kapsabet Girls, St Joseph’s High School Chepterit and the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton. These are not enough, Nandi needs more better schools, middle-level colleges to absorb and train artisans and youth who would be ready to go into self-employment as well as a university or two to alleviate the problem of shortage of education places. The future of university education might as well mean that there is need for 47 county universities. Nandi County must not be left behind in this.

Dealing with history

Nandi bore the brunt of British expropriation of land and the murder of the Nandi Orkoiyot, Koitaleel arap Samo-ei at Kapng’etuny in October 1905. With his death came a disenfranchisement of a whole community, murder of hundreds of others, capture of their livestock and eventually forceful eviction and relocation to the concentrations camps called the Nandi Reserves (a division of 25 locations until 1926 when a new one, for the Talai, Kapsisiywa Location number 26 was curved from Location 1 and Location 25). Although this is not spoken of, with this migration came an economic disorganisation of a proud people who had lived peacefully with the environment. The highlands in Nandi Hills were given to Bwana, a settler who either grew tea or coffee or sugar cane. The Nandi who chose to serve ‘Bwana’ adopted servitude and a life of complete dependence in which they had to pledge loyalty by carrying a Kipande and signing themselves to perpetual slavery courtesy of the blue ink ‘teben buluu’. These people were turned into squatters overnight, aliens in their own land. With rocky patches to till, a restricted number of livestock to keep and tethering around a Bwana with little travel, life in the occupied territories resembled life in Jewish concentration camps. The Bwana could rape the Nandi women unhindered, in the process leaving behind children whose lives could not survive the harsh environment in the squatter camps. These are the scars with which we live each day. Yet in the constitution and the National Land Policy, there are brave provisions to redress historical land injustices. A firm leadership strategy is required to mainstream land expropriation issues and pursue compensation without fear or favour. Thankfully, this is provided for in the National Land Policy Article 189-190 on Historical land injustices and in particular disinheritance of our people from our ancestral land. This is a very critical aspect in economic €mpowerment. As we seek justice for atrocities that can be traced back to colonial expropriation of land, we must boldly embrace a paradigm shift that acknowledges that peasantry won’t help us out of our economic morass. Land remains a ruthless master to so many people, yet it is becoming increasingly scarce. This calls for a radical shift from subsistence to a system in which we specialise and move into organised urban set-ups. By specialisation, we mean that we all cannot be farmers. It is time to accept that some of us are good at farming while some of us are better at processing, alternative businesses et cetera which promotes better money circulation since what one does not have, he/she can purchase from the one who has.

The Nandi County: Take-off to prosperity in 2012 and beyond.

To position Nandi strategically, and enable us compete with the rest of the counties in Kenya, we need a new thinking. Proper diagnosis of our problems, and suggestions on how to deal with those problems decisively demands strong leadership in touch with reality and able to work across the board. Building barriers won’t take Nandi anywhere. In the new Kenya, we need bridges with other counties and beyond. A quick look at key areas that need leadership focus and investment is bound to define where we shall be with regard to vision 2030. The first step in realising this dream is to domesticate the national vision 2030. We need to look at decentralisation and devolution of the ambitious national programmes in terms of school enrolment and quality of education, road construction and maintenance, affordable and quality health care, promotion of local tourism, preservation of our language and culture, friendly and sustainable use of the environment and a promotion of a pro-business image in order to attract investment apart from taking bold steps to start agro-industries in order to add value to our agricultural produce. The new County Government will have to pursue a transparent, consultative and all inclusive policy in all its dealings with the residents, aiming to deliver real GOODS and services to the residents.

Education

A great philosopher said “Education is a companion which no future can depress, no crime can destroy, no enemy can alienate it and no nepotism can enslave.” How so true! You can lose everything in an inferno; you only lose education when you lose yourself. In recognition of the fact that education is a game changer, the new Nandi County Government will have to take a census of all the residents and compare the statistics with the available education places from pre-primary, through primary, secondary, tertiary and other colleges. The aim will be to expose any gaps in demand versus availability. The Government will then have to actively progress several initiatives to address any gaps. The final picture should be that any resident of the county should be able to access any education they require within the county without the need to seek for it outside. Of course the other important factor is the quality of the Education. Various initiatives will be implemented, to ensure that the quality of education is quickly improved to match both national and international standards. Among these are incentives for the teachers of the various schools. It is sad that while my generation went to public schools, and still made it through to prestigious secondary schools, in our country at the moment excellence in education is almost directly proportional to the amount of money invested by the parents in their kids who have to study in high-cost private schools. What ails our primary schools?

Don’t the teachers who teach there also go to the same teacher-training colleges as those who teach in private schools? Nelson Mandela says, and I quote: Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that a son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a of a great nation. What a great inspiration! The only tool that levels the field for the son of a pauper and the daughter of a magnate is education. As the world-famous neurosurgeon and author Benny Carson says “Education is the great Equaliser” and I believe, in paraphrasing Carson that “Education is the most powerful socio-economic equaliser”. To help our residents escape from squalor, we have to invest extra energy and innovativeness to fix our primary school system in order to spur performance. Our children go to a public school in Germany, and here there are few, if any, private schools. Those public schools are doing pretty well. Why can’t our public schools in Kenya do the same, or even better? What happened to the tigers of the 70s and 80s? What happened to Terige Primary School and Koyo primary school of yesteryears? What happened to Siret Primary School? Where did Kaboi Primary, Kapseng’ere, Sereem, Kabiyet, Lelmokwo, Kilibwoni, Kibukwo, Kabireer, Mogobich, and so many others disappear to? Where is the lustre of the 1970s and 1980s when these schools produced nothing but the best? It is time to accept that not everybody can afford to put their kids in boarding, private and high-cost schools. Yet, those schools in the villages must perform. To achieve this, the County government will require a leader in the education department who understands the game. We won’t accept to sit pretty as our schools fail to transform the lives of the villages. Urgent measures to identify the rot, fix it and work on inspiring competition in schools must be started. A long time ago there was the Iten Maths contest. Nandi can have a similar product to provide a challenge for our students, not necessarily in maths but some competition with tacit support from the county education department.

We appreciate the cost of schooling in Kenya has risen. At the moment, every family wakes up to the challenges of fees arrears. Yet the schools still run even with outstanding fees amounting to several millions of shillings. We need to revisit several aspects of costs in order to alleviate this problem and ensure smooth education.

Some schools have large tracts of land under crop, should they charge same amounts of other monies as those schools without land/investments? There is potential for commercial farming and expansion of those schools in order to absorb more students.

As I have emphasised before, Uniliver Tea educates four students each for Kericho, Bureti and Bomet districts (12 in total in each given year) in university under corporate social responsibility (CSR). Does anybody care to know why KTGA does not do this in Nandi? The County government will need to enter into negotiations for the establishment of a Nandi County Scholarship funded jointly through CSR and the county government and other partners.

There has been a lot of heat recently with regard to the future status of some schools in Nandi County like Kapsabet Boys, Kapsabet Girls and others. Should these schools be upgraded to national schools or should they be retained and expanded as county schools? My personal stand is that Kapsabet Boys should be retained as Nandi County premier school. The reasons range from the numbers of boys who would be admitted there in the event of an upgrade (only about eight per district!), the cost of education at Kapsabet currently (about KShs 50,000/= per year) would sky rocket to well over KShs 80,000 – 120,000/= per year. Kapsabet Boys is producing As and Bs that our boys could get at Alliance High School at a much elevated cost. Even if we ignore other incidental costs like travelling etc, we would have better reason to offer monetary support for our top schools as a county in order to ensure they remain affordable, competitive and able to absorb and produce our top-notch performers. I wish to provoke further debate in this. Should we open up Kapsabet Boys or do we encourage development and upgrading of other schools? Besides, the government has given money for the development of centres of excellence. We need a strong leadership that recognises the urgent need to ensure that we have enough secondary schools, fully equipped, computerised, with functional laboratories and motivated teaching and administrative staff to ensure Nandi produces a competitive manpower to meet the challenges of economic take-off in Kenya.

We need to urge our investors in the tea industry to borrow a leaf from their counterparts in Kericho and invest in more secondary schools with better facilities in order to cater for the expanded intakes in primary schools.

Nandi will need to think of a county university. While in Uganda in December 2010, I met a sizeable number of Kalenjin ‘students’ at Kampala International University (now cheekily called Kalenjins in Uganda!). Why do we have high school kids going to Uganda? Why do we have people seeking education opportunities in Uganda? Can we invest in a competitive educational facility in order to way-lay and tap the capital flight to Uganda? Do we have land, and the will power to invest in this venture either as a devolved government or in partnership with private investors? Are we ready for a Nandi Koitalel Samoei University or a Nandi Jean-Marie Seroney University? Let us not limit ourselves.

Would it be beyond our mandate to determine that we have at least each primary school provided with electricity in order to aid children from poor families who cannot afford reading lamps? While in primary school, I read books using a spent tyre. The problem of reading light remains a challenge to many families. If we believe that education is the game-changer, and that reading beyond the school time is important for better results, we dare invest in facilities that would aid our children in school preps. To do this, we need bold investments in electricity or solar energy for remote schools. It can be done, it must be done urgently. So that those kids whose parents cannot afford mafuta taa can still read and compete with those whose parents can afford. If we truly believe that education is a game-changer, Nandi County ought to ensure that each and every school has reading lamps and/or electricity. With solar lamps now available, this can be done. Let us do it.

Agriculture

Anybody would do anything to own land in Nandi County. Our productivity is continuously being undermined by the rapid rise in population, continuous fragmentation of land and the bad habits that we must discourage in which one considers sale of land over utilisation as a short-cut to fix cash-flow problems. Aside from this, Nandi is very productive. The County is endowed with rich fertile soils and fairly adequate rainfall. The new County Government will have to take stock of all Agricultural activities to ensure that the farmers get the best available advise, farm inputs, farming technology, and stable market price for their produce. Policies and laws will have to be implemented to protect farmers from exploitative pricing of produce, and any other unfair trade practices. Traditionally, Nandi farmers sell their produce to Kisumu, Western province and Eldoret. In the present politics of devolved systems, a strategy must be adopted to recognise the import of those markets and ensure that nothing is done to rock them. In addition, the trip between the garden and the kitchen must be delayed. It is our hope that bold steps shall be taken to introduce value-addition to our products, particularly maize and milk so that farmers are cushioned against price slumps during times of product glut. In the 1990s, as a university student, I did business in fresh vegetables which we supplied to Kibuye and Kondele market in Kisumu. At times the prices were so high, the vegetables were insufficient and the scramble for the farms was intense. Yet at times we’d go all the way, find a glut forcing us to sell the vegetables at throw-away prices, or if we didn’t want to sell, we had to pay the municipal council to dump the vegetables. To guard against this, we need to think about agro-industries. Just imagine what we’d achieve with cottage industries processing the tomatoes from Usoon, Tereno and Tindiret into tomato ketchup. Apart from the employment opportunities, we are sure to stand a chance in regulating the market prices. Furthermore, with the Eldoret airport just a stone-throw away, and the bold steps taken by our agricultural extension workers (Like Barnaba Maru of Nandi South) as well as the shipping companies dealing with fresh-produce export (for example CanKen Ltd with Dominic Biwott) who export passion fruits, farming need not be a burden. But let us be cognisant of the reality that selling passion fruits might be profitable today. However, over time as other producers catch up, the consumer-driven market might be increasingly competitive. There is need to explore processing options in order to convert these into juices and pastes, which can last longer. The same case obtains with milk. Imagine a farmer with the fast-growing Kabiyet dairies supplies his/her milk at between KShs 25-30 per litre to the cooler. Kabiyet sells it in turn to KCC at KShs 32, barely breaking even. KCC takes that milk, converts it to Mala and sells back to the tired farmer who has gone for pay at Kapsabet at KShs 50 per half-litre packet (meaning KShs 100 per litre). If you get the story of the growth of value from the KShs 25 to 100 per litre, you’re tempted to ask as I do: Bo ng’o teeta (whose cow is it)? Does it belong to the farmer or to the final processor? What if we took bold steps to grow Kabiyet, and many other coolers, into fully fledged processors? Wouldn’t we be able to have farmers earning bonus payments like the farmers who supply milk to Githunguri Dairies? It can be done. It must be done. There are many other examples with potentials in mushroom farming, sheep and goat farming (even dairy goats!) and beef farming. Let us dare to try.

Industrialization and business

Nandi has some ‘centres’ like Mosoriot, Kabiyet, Ol’Lessos, Maraba, Kaptumo, Serem, Kobujoi in addition to the two main towns of Nandi Hills and Kapsabet. These are the main driving forces for business. One would expect that over time, some of these centres would grow into thematic centres with unique business characteristics, be it manufacturing in agro-industries, tourism, educational and so many others. Just as mentioned under agriculture, the new County Government will have to deliberately seek to bring to an end the exportation of raw materials from the county. To do this, we must take bold steps to explore and publish a county investment brochure, outlining investment potentials in agro-industries. Mainly we might wish to think of a maize miller at Mosoriot or anywhere in Mosoop. This would help our farmers move from selling maize in a gunny bag to selling maize flour in a sachet. Maize is more than food. Even where we cannot produce starch, biodiesel and other products like oil from it, we should be able to establish an in-house processing system which ensures the farmer gets value for maize and a guarantee for the market. We must explore avenues of investment, ranging from discussions with the bilateral friends that we can make (the Chinese helped a women’s group in the South Rift, I went to school in China, why can’t we explore this also!). The farmers can also be sold shares of an ambitious Kaburwo Millers or whatever we wish to call it. If farmers own it, and it is well-managed, there is not any reason to doubt its sustainability. Milk processors, fruit and vegetable processors, commercialisation of local tea packing and exploration of our own coffee miller are existing potentials with far-reaching impacts on our economy. As much as is practically possible, all produce must be processed within the county, and sold as finished products, so that the County residents will continue to enjoy stable price for their produce, employment for the youth is created and the Government gets the tax benefits. The government must be willing to enter into partnerships with foreign investors, with the county providing land and tax breaks if possible provided the employment opportunities are reserved for county residents. The Chinese have what they call Joint Venture Corporations, JVCs, as investment ventures between local governments and multinational corporations like Siemens and Nokia. We can domesticate that idea and utilise it to give ourselves an edge. Besides, where we have such an investor, we are almost guaranteed a market for our products back in their land of origin. It can be done. Nandi stands at such a vintage point from the Eldoret International Airport, can we monetise this to our benefit? Yes we can! The question that comes to mind is “what can Nandi do to be an investment choice”? We need to encourage investors by offering land incentives, tax breaks and other attractive packages which means we get 100% jobs for our County. With surplus money to spend, our people would then encourage more investment. A critical aspect in my opinion is the need to ensure that EVERY dime of the devolved funds is spent WITHIN Nandi County wherever possible. Support for our businesses has a multiplier effect, if we buy books from the bookshops in Nandi County (or ask them to bring the books we can’t get), our booksellers would have to expand. By expansion, more jobs are created. This too can happen with our hardware shops. The main motive behind devolution was the complaint that national resources were being dished out favourably. We wanted a share because we argued it was “tetaab Senge”, meaning everybody deserves a share. It won’t be fair for Nandi to act as a clearing conduit for resources which are designated for Nandi only to be spent outside the county at the expense of our businesspeople who pay taxes in Nandi and employ our people. This is not segregation. This is to ensure good value for money.

Transport and communication

Infrastructure is the nerve of commerce, so the saying goes. Nandi can be the most fertile region in the whole world. Without access to the markets, farmers won’t be motivated to produce more and consumers would not spend their money on our products. To reach the markets we need functional roads. Nandi has that challenge. Mosoop in particular has just a rumour of tarmac road. Thankfully, the Mosoriot-Kabiyet-Chepterwai-Kapkatembu road, 66km in total, is slated for tarmacking at over KShs 2.4 billion. Yet that is just one out of the 273km of what we may call major roads that need maintenance and upgrading plus another network of 234km of minor roads which are not insignificant. I wish Nandi could get something like KShs 20 billion in one swoop, we could tarmac the Baraton-Kapsisiywa-Kebulonik-Kaiboi road, The Chepterit-Kapkagaon-Mulangu road, The Mutwoot-Lemook road, the Simaat-Kabiemit-Willever Academy-King’oroor-Teresia road et cetera. Since this cannot be done in one swoop, the county administration must put a firm end to the culture of year-in year-out repairs of the same roads. What is it that makes our rural access roads impassable yet we see some well-maintained roads with murram standing all the seasons. Is it a cash-cow? This has to be stopped. Yet the county has to make bold statements with investments in opening up the county. I realise that road construction can eat into devolved funds. We should explore other avenues. Get out of our comfort zones, and because the County CEO is empowered to borrow from bilateral donors, we could start there. That is why I envy other counties like Kiambu which are plied by Thika Road. Needless to say, while we shall begin to work on our roads network, those counties with modern bitumen grade roads will shift attention elsewhere. But this is the decision we have to make. Some roads will be constructed by government, some might be left to the county government and the local authorities while for others we have to reach out to partners beyond Kenya. Some of us are more than prepared to do this in our private capacities. However, we always encounter the question: who are you! The new County Government will have to actively seek to link to main towns Mainly Eldoret and those in Western and Nyanza provinces with good roads and the latest communication technology through various partnerships, but more importantly, the new County Government will look for ways to encourage Telecommunications companies to invest more in linking up the country through concessions and incentives. It is easier to promise modern roads, the delivery of those roads must be faced with boldness as we seek more funding in the form of roads levy, budgetary investment and other efforts aimed at ensuring that transportation within Nandi County is as safe and reliable as it possibly can be. Now tell me, what do we do with our transport system? Would Nandi dare invest in publicly managed busses plying the main market centres? Would we dare invest in busses that leave at timed intervals in order to enable for some discipline in the transport sector? We need debate.

ICT

There are no more arap Busienei, arap Tuwei, arap Arusei. That was the advise of one Ng’eny from Emkwen when I spoke to a group in 2010. Yes. There are no bulls anymore. There is a shift into the bulls of information technology. Where a man boasted of the number of cows in his herd in the past, a young man with a laptop and knowledge in ICT and software engineering can basically buy off the farmer and his cows, turn the farm into an ICT centre and there we have a millionaire. The development of today and a good part of tomorrow remains IT and biotechnology. Nandi cannot be left behind in this. Our youth, with the right training, can be the open source software engineers that we see in the world. We have to invest in the establishment of connected centres, provide training and exposure to our talented youth and inspire, inspire and inspire; so that they may rise and stamp their authority and presence in the nation and beyond. A bold governmental intervention must be developed to ensure that this is achieved. The new County Government will have to immediately digitize and network all its services and records for maximum efficiency. The officials can be looped into mailing lists in order to ensure quick access to resources and officers. I look forward to a day when a permit applicant in Tapsagoi or Chepsaita to the extreme north, Kapkereer to the extreme South East Kapkuong in Chemase or Kamarero in Tindiret or Kabore to the extreme by Moi University can sit in front of his/her computer, fill in an application form, pay the fees by Mpesa and submit. One week later, the permit should be right there. This would save a lot of productive man-hours wasted on impassabled roads, ensure the applicant enjoys the comfort of an educated county taking advantage of connectivity plus the efficiency of service delivery would be greatly enhanced. We have to commit ourselves to eGovernment. Where one has no access to the internet, the government should consider setting up special sms access numbers like Kass FM’s 5552, through which inquiries can be made and answers promptly provided. It happens in Germany that every email written to an officer must be answered. Why not in Kenya? The people who would lead us must appreciate the value of time in service delivery. Connectivity is one way of solving that lag. The new County Government will also have to encourage ICT innovation through various incentives, such as encouraging the youth to come up with practical ICT solutions to daily challenges

Youth and Women €mpowerment

I have deliberately chosen to replace the ‘E’ with the Euro sign ‘€’ in my writings in recognition of the need to pursue the economic growth over mere talk. Our politics ought to change from the “power politics” of today to the “politics of €mpowerment” in order to add value to our peoples’ lives. You probably hear people paying a lot of airtime to speak of youth and women €mpowerment. I chose to use the Euro sign, €, instead of the E for a reason). We have to stop paying lip service to the youth and women while in reality we consider them as activists and not fit enough to lead. Consider that where we have a male contestant for a seat that requires a deputy, it would be a slap in the face of women to have an all-male ticket. Watch out. There are line-ups already. If I ran for the post of Governor, I’d ensure that a lady is my deputy. Nandi has to move into affirmative action. To €mpower the youth, we have to share responsibilities with them. Anything else is merely an insult. If we really believe that women are a major voting bloc, let us stop treating them as AOB. I look forward to a day when our leadership will rise to say where we have a male Governor, we should have a female Senator. That is not asking for too much, is it? But then let me hasten to provide a caveat. Our youth and women must not sit pretty and expect those seats. They have to show that they are up to the tasks. Step out and show your mettle, demonstrate ability over sympathy and vie for office like anybody else. When you are honoured with a chance to serve our people, do it diligently and without any excuses. Yes the Bible says “Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” The new County Government will have to involve the Youth and Women in all its key decision-making organs, to ensure that the input from the Youth and Women are incorporated into the activities of the new County Government. Again the youth must guard against grey-haired masqueraders who’d be juxtaposed in critical government positions while the under 35s are ignored. It is also important that the youth be part of the county government and demonstrate their ability to deliver. In addition, our youth must start NOW, rather than next year, to develop and establish themselves into business units so as to bid for the openings in the various service provisions that will arise in the county. The essence of devolution would be defeated if services and businesses were to be outsourced whereas our youth could be encouraged to bid competitively for those jobs and service provisions. No devolved funds must be spent outside of Nandi county unless those services are not available. We should instead encourage businesses to invest in Nandi, employ our workforce and hence help lower the menace of unemployment. To do this, a pro-business model should be adopted while the youth and professionals must arise and stake their claim to the openings that would arise. Yes we can!

Tourism/Environment

According to the curator of Koitalel Museum Mr Francis Tallam Baroswa, Nandi County is blessed with 66 tourist spots that need development. These range from Chepki-iit Water Falls in Mulangu to the North, the footprint at Tabolwa, the Caves at Keben, the two Sheu points of Cheboiin/Kibalewo and Moropi/Kapsimotwa, the Sitatunga Antelope at King’waal Swamp, the bird sanctuaries and of course tea tourism. I’d propose that the first task for the new County Government would involve a negotiation with the Central Government to take over the management of Koitalel Museum. Once that is done, it would be important to attempt something I saw and spoke about in a region of Austrian Alps in which the story of the Iceman (5300 years old) is relived. Imagine a thematic village showcasing not only the Nandi culture of yore but with Kalenjin themes. From food, architecture, medicine, iron and blacksmith work to a film/documentary on the Nandi/Kalenjin lives and times. A village show-casing our everything for our children. Combine that with classes in Nandi/Kalenjin language for the holidays and you have a monetary strength to keep the story going. Think about a Kalenjin week in October to coincide with the Koitalel murder anniversary, how about a half-marathon at the end of the week in which all the Kalenjin people bid for the honours. That way we monetise our story, use it to cement our friendship and interaction and Nandi Kaburwo grows. The new County Government will work with practitioners and stakeholders in this vital sector to develop tourist facilities up to international standards, and to develop a tourist circuit and market it both nationally and internationally. The local residents will benefit through employment opportunities, the investors will get business income while the Government will earn tax revenue.

There are many other things that need to be done. There is an urgent need to conserve our wetlands at King’wal. With the Sitatunga antelope and the magnetic pull coming with it, Nandi must adopt a friendly deal with the environment. We ought to plan our urban centres, create parks with tree sheds and flowers, reclaim grabbed land which was meant for recreation and name our streets. Nandi County is blessed with a huge untapped tourist potential. The environment is not an enemy.

Sports

Kipchoge Keino, Peter Rono, Henry Rono, Pamela Jelimo, Wilfred Bungei, Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat, et cetera were born in Nandi. The farmer of Kenya’s Steeplechase, the only event in which Kenya has never lost the chance to win an Olympic Gold, Amos Biwott is languishing at Mulangu. He was born in Nandi. The home of London Marathon conquerors Martin Lel and Emmanuel Mutai, the home of Boston Marathon winners Hussein Kipkemboi and Mwafrika Cheruiyot is Nandi. The shame of Nandi is the dilapidated stadium at Kapsabet. Over the last 40 years, Nandi County has produced countless world class athletes. The new County Government will have to seek to upgrade existing sports facilities to international standards, put in place sustainable talent scouting and development programmes in athletics, soccer, tennis and many other sports disciplines. Sports tourism will have to be launched to create business opportunities, employment opportunities and revenue opportunities. We have to adopt a strategy to reconstruct Kipchoge Keino Stadium through Government, donor and our own fund-raising means. I have proposed before that we should consider something like Nandi Sports Ltd, a limited liability company. Why don’t we sell shares to our people all the way to the village, to our athletes and the business(wo)men. With the money raised, we invest in constructing the stadium at Kapsabet. Make it modern with all the facilities. Let us have our own football team based at the stadium, may be one day it will be in the premier league. We lease out the stadium for functions, even political rallies. Nothing for free. Let us have gyms and the like.

We need to diversify into other sports. Tennis, Rugby, Archery (how can someone who grows up knowing how to shoot an arrow not win an Olympic Gold in the same sport?) and many others. We can deliberately have sports academies. It can be done. We have retired athletes who can help us spearhead this. With sports also comes a success story for which Ambassador Peter Rono is known: student athletes. That our athletes can beat the world in academics is not a figment of a fertile imagination. It can be done.

Link this to the recently introduced Kass Marathon which links Nandi County to Eldoret. With the marathon kicking off in the heart of Nandi, how do we monetise this? Would we invest in better lodging facilities, encourage our youth to make merchandise that can be sold and related spin-offs? Come on people, it is about business and advertisement for the existing and potential opportunities for Nandi County. There is potential for business for our sport can be both a tourist and business venture. There is an urgent need to honour our athletes. It is time for Nandi to have a Hall of Fame for our athletes. We must invest in this, even if it means setting up a museum of sports. The land that beget the world beaters cannot lack space to show-case the same conquerors. Let us do it Kaburwo.

Health

Access to quality health in a county where there are about 8000 people for every qualified doctor is scary. Nandi County needs equipped hospitals and dispensaries, we need to reduce the number of people in illegal practise because they endanger lives. More investments in dispensaries are not enough. Our people must be encouraged to eat healthy cheap foods available in our very productive ecosystem. Prevention is better than cure. With the help of our partners, sons and daughters abroad and others, Nandi County needs to expand our two premier medical facilities at Nandi Hills. I look forward to a time when Nandi County would be a destination of choice for medical tourists, people who come to us instead of going to India. To do this, our county needs to invest in medical equipment, ensure ambulances are working and encourage the citizens to enrol themselves in the medical insurance schemes like HSSF. Kenya is losing a lot of money in our obsession with the dead. Every funeral includes fund-raising for medical bills. With proactive steps, like a health insurance, this burden can be taken away from family and friends and vested in an insurance scheme. The living need to go on with their lives. The new County Government will have to take stock of all health facilities, and work to ensure that health facilities are well equipped and resourced to cater for a majority of the needs of its residents. More Health centres will have to be put up, resourced and equipped in conjunction with the various stake holders. Specific emphasis should be put on primary health care, nutrition and maternal and child health care. One might wish to ask whether Nandi County should not have health facilities funded through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) like happens in Kericho with the Uniliver Central Hospital. In my opinion, there should be one such facility, or at least a reasonable investment by the tea industry in the hospitals to which they refer their sizeable workforce.

Culture and language

Nandi County is the headquarters of the Nandi peoples’ culture and language. The county government has to answer the question: Do we teach vernacular where possible in lower primary schools? Do we make deliberate investments, jointly with other stakeholders and donors, in offering PhD scholarships in Nandi language/linguistics/anthropology? Many scholarship bodies, with the right concept paper, can support such a venture. We need to study and document Terik, Oki, Nandi and many other minority languages before they die off. It is hoped that more than what we see now can be done to mainstream our language. The Koitalel Museum could be a central focus for both the language and culture studies and this means it can also act as a reservoir of the same. Whether the county government would be willing to invest more resources should be left to a decision against the priorities. I look forward to a day that the Nandi Culture and language shall have a strong institutional presence in Nandi County. We should be more than willing to allow debates at our county meetings in both Nandi and English/Swahili with translations either way. This is important so that we are not perceived to discourage anybody merely because of communication barrier. The Europeans do it in their parliament.

Servant leaders, not servant thieves, please

2010-08-28T13:03:00.002+02:00

We are elated because with the promulgation of this constitution, resource devolution was facilitated. With it too is the devolution of anything that was good and bad about Nairobi. The thieves who have been roaming the capital, pulling strings and cutting deals are definitely being devolved to Kapsabet, Eldoret, Kisumu, Mombasa, Nyeri and any other County HQ. Where we say politics is local, we could as well say thieves shall be local.

With this constitution, the requirement that one must be a first rate thief to steal state largesse in order to develop his area is no longer tenable. Our society needs a Senator who's a negotiator, a (wo)man who can stand and defend the need for funding of key projects in an open and transparent manner. Governors must be (wo)men who can't deep fingers in the gravy jar. We need servant leaders, not servant thieves. So help us God.

Welcome to Nandi 2.0

2010-08-26T23:27:00.004+02:00

As the president signs into law the new constitution of Kenya to usher in the birth of the second republic, I can't help thinking that this is the moment that Nandi 2.0 is also born alongside Kenya 2.0. Kenya 2.0 is the product of a negotiated constitution which pitted Kenyans saying YES against those saying NO. In a rare show of maturity, Kenyans cast their ballots and retreated to their homes to await the results of the plebiscite. Those of us, like me, who were outside Kenya at the time stayed glued to livestreaming TV and blogs to monitor the goings-on in Jamhuri. I was elated. Partly because I had pitched for a YES vote and said as much in several posts on this blog and on Kass FM. Partly because this vote was, for the first time as far as my memory could recollect, the most peaceful and possibly the only one whose result was accepted by both victor and loser.

Kenya has had her share of upheavals. From destruction of property and life, from bodily harm to those pluralism activists to deaths of hundreds as we fought to restore our dignity as a people, Kenya 1.0 is a stark reminder of an aborted dream. It is that missed journey that we hope will not recur again, ever. Kenya 1.0, the first republic, was characterised by anything bad about government. From excessive police force (used) against innocent Kenyans to the corruption pandemic to impunity. Kenya 1.0 is synonymous with death, corruption, hate, bitterness, nepotism, skewed resource allocation, favouritism, political marginalisation and failure. It is Misri to us. Not that Kenya 2.0 marks an abrupt departure from the sleaze of the past. No. The RED sea is crossed but we need time in the desert to allow the relics of Kenya 1.0 to die off before we reach Canaan lest they bring their bad into the promised land. Most of the purveyors of those vices associated with Kenya 1.0 are alive and they are positioning themselves to transcend the RED sea and stake a claim on the prominent roles which must re-engineer Kenya o be in sync with a new order.

Nandi County is born, welcome to Nandi 2.0. With this birth comes devolution, of resources and of corruption and vices that have been localised to Nairobi. Unless the new devolved units watch out, change the leaderships and elect responsible and responsive representatives, it shall be business as usual. What with our 'ngo samis muriat ko bo goot ne bo'. That bad and stinking rat knows what to do to evict you from your comfort. It just needs to stink, and off you bolt. Leaving behind the devolved largesse, on which fellow stinking mice will feast. It is real. Devolution of misrule, devolution of corruption or devolution to increase efficiency? We, members of Nandi Kaburwo County must choose to say NO to devolved ills and shades of misrule. Already, I hear whispers of 'he was with us, read RED' or 'he was not with us, read GREEN'. Now is the time for leadership, NOT activism.

Just the other day, someone told me. You'd make a great Senator for Nandi Kaburwo lakini you were GREEN. I considered it unwise. Kenya is ALL Green now, the new GREEN constitution is law and whether you were RED or GREEN doesn't matter no more. We are all in a GREEN Kenya 2.0. Nandi Kaburwo too is GREEN and the move to Nandi 2.0 MUST include ME. I stake claim to this new Nandi because I have been part and parcel of the struggle for fairness. Furthermore it is time to compete for office and the people of Nandi Kaburwo shall determine who stands to serve their interests. I want to be part of that team that shall usher Nandi to the new heights. I want to be part of the new Nandi 2.0, born on 27th Aug 2010. Arye we inyee! During the campaigns for or against this constitution, it was popular to say NO even if you did not know why. I refused to go the popular way. I still believe my choice of a YES campaign, which I explained in this blog, was right. I am proud to have been part of the team that was on the right side of history. That is courage. Safe politics is not necessarily right. By saying YES, I jeopardised my chances of being a prominent part of the Nandi 2.0, but that decision was borne out of the desire to see fairness in matters of squatter landrights. That is why I want to be part of the Nandi 2.0 team.

Make the wish of so many Nandi Kaburwo members come true. Support this transition to new leadership in Nandi. We cannot solve Nandi problems using the same people who created them. Nor can we be fooled any more with stories like "elect so and so because he/she is a friend of XYZ". Nandi Kaburwo must elect leaders with a clear mandate to LEAD Nandi Kaburwo FIRST. Nandi Kaburwo must believe in the abilities of her sons and daughters, the same people in whom you have invested enormous resources and time. This generation is alive to the heavy tasks ahead. But we are up to the task. We need new thinking, an assertive but dynamic leadership. Here we are.

The Construction and Destruction of the Kenyatta State

2010-07-26T10:21:00.003+02:00

By DAVID W. THROUP

Kenya has been regarded as a successful African state by both academics and journalists. Although it came under attack in the 1970s for its neocolonialist policies and has encountered acute economic difficulties with the end of the coffee boom and the second dramatic increase in oil prices in 1979, it seems to have weathered the storm. Kenyatta's death in 1978, the maize shortages of 1980, the attempted coup of August 1982, the Njonjo affair, and the 1984 drought have all been negotiated. Its critics are less sure of themselves than in the early 1970s because leftist inclined regimes have also lurched from economic crisis to crisis. Leys (1974, 1978) and Swainson (1976, 1978, 1980) have pointed to the development of indigenous capitalism while Cowen (1972, 1974b, 1976, 1980), Kitching (1980), and the Cambridge historians have provided a more complex portrait of capitalist articulation, putting Africans back into Kenya's political economy as participants not simply victims of history.

Most recent research has focused upon the processes underlying the development of Kenya's political economy and particularly peasantization (Leys 1971; Anderson and Throup 1985; Lonsdale 1986c). This chapter relates this development to the nation's "high politics" and seeks to examine the operations of the political process at two levels:

The high politics of elite competition for control over policy and patronage at the center, and the "deep politics" of social and economic relations, which legitimize the regime through the incorporation of local clients. We shall see that the study of high politics provides insights into what has happened since independence and more particularly since Kenyatta's death in August 1978

Many observers have bemoaned that we have little understanding of how the Kenyan state functions, of its composition, its relations with international capital, or about the development of indigenous capitalism and the function of the African intermediaries within a neocolonial relationship. Despite these gaps in our knowledge, we can discern from the shifting factional alignments of politics in Kenya certain insights into the underlying social processes, if only because it is through the patron-client linkages of high politics that Kenya's ethnic sub-nationalisms demonstrate their indispensability and emphasize that their interests have to be accommodated. The distribution of scarce resources lies at the heart of politics and it is through the rhetoric of political competition that one can dimly perceive the state's reactions to shifts in the influence of different constituencies and observe the struggle for control between rival economic and ethnic interests. While we may not know what the regime says to its multinational patrons, we can see how the Kikuyu and Kalenjin elites have sought to divide the "pork barrel" and to secure their own dominance (Lamb 1974, pp. 17-26, 132152; Swainson 1980, pp. 182-284; Mohiddin 198~, pp. 97-128).

The Kenyatta state was a shifting series of coalitions both within and without Kikuyuland. Kenyatta at times had to play certain Kikuyu factions off against each other and to incorporate non-Kikuyu into his coalition to maintain his dominance of the state. Moi has done the same but by diverting resources into the northern Rift Valley to benefit his own people--the Tugen--and their Kalenjin associates, he has clashed with Kikuyu capitalist interests that dominated the state under Kenyatta. Kenyatta and Moi had similar ambitions in that both attempted to promote the economic interests of their subnationalist followers and have also used similar political methods of factional manipulation to achieve these ends. Moi's Nyayo rhetoric, therefore, has deliberately sought to conceal important shifts within the balance of power. The Kikuyu hegemony of the Kenyatta era has ended as Moi has attempted to advance his Kalenjin associates in the government, he civil service, the army, the parastatals, and the private sector. Moi's endeavors to secure the rewards of political incorporation for his own ethnic constituency is very similar to Kenyatta's attempt to promote Kikuyu interests. Unfortunately for Moi, the Kalenjin are not the Kikuyu; nor is it as easy in contemporary Kenya to reapportion state resources as it was at independence. The end of colonial rule and the opening of the White Highlands endowed Kenyatta with the resources to reward not only his own Kikuyu following the old Kikuyu Central Association faction--but to extend it to include former Kikuyu loyalists (especially where they controlled important subclan followings), certain elements of the Mau Mau forest fighters and the leaders of Kenya's other subnationalisms, especially Odinga and Mboya's Luo, Ngei's Kamba, and eventually Moi's Kalenjin .

Moi's attempt to restructure the Kenyan state to advance Kalenjin interests and those of their Luhya allies has had to be conducted in much less auspicious circumstances. The economy has been less buoyant, the trebling of the population since independence to 20 million has meant that pressure on resources is more intense, but above all Moi has faced the insurmountable obstacle of Kenyatta's successful entrenchment of the Kikuyu. Every move that Moi has made to reduce Kikuyu hegemony and to dismantle the Kenyatta state has threatened the stability of his government. The Kikuyu, unlike the European settlers in the 1960s, cannot be pushed aside (Wasserman 1976). During the last 30 years of the colonial era, rich Kikuyu peasants and traders were locked in battle with the settlers to become Kenya's first national capitalists. The cost of defeating Mau Mau (which was directed as much against the Kikuyu proto-capitalists and land grabbers in Central Province as it was against the settlers) and the adverse publicity the rebellion attracted for British colonialism, ensured that the Macmillan government would abandon the fight and acknowledge the victory of the Kikuyu elite in their protracted battle with the settlers for control over the Kenyan economy and government assistance.

Moi has, therefore, had to drive a wedge between Kenyatta's political bailiwick in Kiambu and the other Kikuyu Districts, and has also sought to undermine the political base of the Kikuyu capitalists by securing the support of those who did not benefit from Kenyatta's patronage - particularly discontented former Mau Mau and poor peasants who fear 'rural proletarianization’ . He has, however, made little attempt to enhance his political legitimacy with Kikuyu urban poor because their interests inevitably clash with his attempt to create a Kalenjin bourgeoisie and to promote members of his own community as intermediaries between the multinational corporations and Kenya's Asian capitalists and the state, at the expense of the Kikuyu.

These attempts to redistribute economic opportunities provided by control of the state have produced major factional realignments both among the representatives of Kikuyu capitalism and their opponents--Kenya's other subnationalist capitalists- -led by the Kalenjin, and in their respective relationships with the peasantry and the urban masses, especially the interests defended by the Kikuyu populists. These populists are themselves divided between supporters of the new regime- such as Kariuki Chotara and Fred Kubai in Nakuru and since Njonjo's political demise possibly Waruru Kanja's supporters in Nyeri and more socialist elements among whom should be counted Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Mukaru-Ng'ang' a, and Maina-wa-Kinyatti, all of whom have been at some stage imprisoned.

This chapter attempts to relate Kenyan politics since independence to the processes of class formation during the colonial period and over the last 23 years. In addition, we shall analyze these political realignments, especially the class and political interests represented in the Change the Constitution Movement of 1976. The chapter concludes with an examination of the effect of Moi's attempt to undermine the hegemonic position of the Kikuyu on the stability of the state with particular reference to the economy, the military, and the police and offers a brief appraisal of the prospects for the survival of Moi's endeavor. It begins, however, with a discussion of the ephemeral nature of Kenyan political factions and with Kenyatta's attempt as the founding father of both Kenyan nationalism and Kikuyu subnationalism to reconcile these conflicting interests at independence by healing the division between the Kenya African National Union and the Kenya African Democratic Union, and his successful incorporation of the leaders of Kenya's other ethnically restricted subnationalist movements within his Kikuyu-centric polity while he extended his control inside his Kikuyu bailiwick (Gertzel 1970, pp. 32-72; Bennett 1969, pp. 76-79; Mueller 1972).

THE EPHEMERAL NATURE OF POLITICAL FACTIONS IN KENYA

Superficially, Kenya's institutions have been remarkably stable but this is a facade behind which political alignments have altered drastically. Various factions have emerged and disintegrated both at the center and at the district level since independence. Population pressure and social differentiation have, moreover, destroyed many local coalitions and undermined the position of district notables as political patrons and representatives of their localities at the center. Members of the National Assembly have usually remained in office for less than two terms--averaging 7.2 years--and in all post-independence elections more than half the incumbents have been defeated in their bids for re-election. Only five Kenyan politicians- -Moi, Kibaki, Ngei, Nyagah (all cabinet ministers), and Francis Bobi Tuva in Malindi South-have been returned at all five general elections since 1963, and only 24 of the 487 individuals who have sat in Parliament have won three consecutive elections. Since the banning of the populist Kenya Peoples Union in 1969, Kenyan politics has lacked a firm ideological base. Coalitions have been ephemeral accommodations, lacking long-term cohesion. Factional U-turns have been commonplace and large sums of money have had to be dispensed in campaign and harambee (self-help) contributions to survive (Gertzel 1970; Hornsby 1986, pp. 9-18,165-220; Widner 1986; Mueller 1984).

Kenyatta was a shrewd politician and his active work in Kenya's struggle for independence over 40 years endowed him with a unique legitimacy. He straddled Kenya's two most important political processes. As the editor of Muigwithania (The Reconciler) in the late 1920s and in Facing Mount Kenya (first published in 193(3), he created a Kikuyu subnationalist ideology, which legitimized the accumulation of land and capital by the proto-capitalists of the KCA, within the frame-work of a revitalized traditional mythology. Between his return from Britain in September 1946 and his trial at Kapenguria. six years later, he also constructed a constitutionalist Kenyan nationalism for the Kenya African Union, which could encompass all Kenya's conflicting sub-nationalisms including, as he demonstrated at Nakuru in 1963, that of Kenya's "white tribe." He could transcend the limitations of his ethnic bailiwick and was accepted as the Father of the Nation, symbolized by his popular soubriquet, Mzee (Lonsdale 1986d).

Kenyatta's own political stronghold - Kiambu- had been seriously divided first by the penetration of capitalism and the monetization of land, labor, and commodity production, and then by Mau Mau, which was primarily a protest against increased social differentiation. During the period between the late 1920s and the late 1950s, the aramati (trustees or leaders of subclans) and senior lineages of Kikuyu society had cast off their dependents who became migrant laborers, squatters on European farms, or a landless rural proletariat. As early as the 1930s, land had become a scarce resource and clients' and dependents' lineages were a liability rather than an asset. Kenyatta's political career had been based on attempting the impossible: articulating the demands of Kikuyu proto-capitalists for political and economic incorporation while mobilizing the peasantry as a battering ram to break down the doors protecting the corridors of power, despite the conflict of interests between themselves and the possessive individualism of the Kikuyu elite (Spencer 1985, pp. 145-249; Throup 1983, 1986).3

Since the 1920s, this small alternative elite of progressive farmers and traders had been complaining about the monopolization of state patronage by European settlers and the chiefs and their associates. The KAU in the late 1940s had attempted to secure incorporation and to widen the collaborative basis of the colonial state. The "multiracial" future devised by Whitehall for East and Central Africa after the war,however, was posited on the continued paramountcy of European set tier not African peasant production. The transfer of power in Kenya was, therefore, bound to be much more difficult than in West Africa. A few individuals -chiefs, former NCOs in the King's African Rifles, and a select band of mission-educated schoolteachers and clerks-- could be co-opted and rewarded but most of Kenyatta's supporters were spurned (Throup 1983, pp. 47-90, 360-388; Gordon 1977).

Meanwhile, tensions within Kikuyu society, created as much by the protocapitalists of the KCA as by their rivals for the accumulation of resources--the appointed chiefs--were bubbling to the surface. In 1942, Harold Macmillan as undersecretary for the colonies had warned that population pressure in Central Province and the processes of internal social differentiation would provoke a serious peasants' revolt within ten years. His timing was impeccable. The crisis was compounded by the increased capitalization of European farmers in the White Highlands who secured guaranteed prices under the wartime marketing agreements with metropolitan purchasing ministries and had both the financial security and resources to invest in new equipment and grade cattle, and to replace squatter labor with imported tractors and combine harvesters from America. This simultaneous repudiation of their tenants by African "big men” in the Reserves and by European farmers in the White Highlands destroyed the legitimacy of the colonial state as a neutral arbitrator, abstracted from the conflicts of the political arena, and clearly identified it as the servant of one specific interest: the settlers.

The early 1950s were a dangerous time for Kenyatta and his proto-capitalist supporters in the KCA. They were being squeezed not simply between the British and the Mau Mau militants, but were challenged for the leadership of the Kikuyu masses. Bildad Kaggia, Fred Kubai, Mwangi Macharia, and their radical trade union associates based in Nairobi saw through Kenyatta's rhetoric and denounced him and his protocapitalist associates as potential collaborators (Spencer 1985, pp.202-249;Kaggia 1975, pp. 78-86, 99-tl5).

Kenyatta's success after independence was to reconcile the interests of these hitherto antagonistic Kikuyu elites--the KCA and the "loyalists." Kiano of Murang'a and Nyagah of Embu had been tempted after the 1961 "Kenyatta Election" by offers of positions in the cabinet, despite the refusal of the Kikuyu- and Luo-dominated KANU coalition to form a government unless Kenyatta was immediately released. Bernard Mate from Meru, who had been the first African-elected legislative councillor from Central Province in 1957, had defected to the Ngala-Blundell multiracial alliance. Kiano and Nyagah had carefully weighed the short-term attractions of escaping from the political thrall of Mboya and Odinga, but had recognized that it would be political suicide to break the ethnic solidarity of Central Province and desert. If they had done so the nature of Kenyan politics would have been transformed since it would have meant that the Kikuyu "loyalists," the pro-British, established protocapitalists would have been in Ngala's KADU, while the Mau Mau would have remained supporting KANU. Kikuyu ethnic subnationalism would have fallen apart along class lines, and Kenyatta's task of reconciliation inside his own bailiwick would have been rendered impossible (Gertzel 1970, pp. 28--72; The Times, April 22, 1961, p. 7 and April 24, p. 10).5

From the moment of his return from Maralal he set about subsuming their rivalries by appealing to Kikuyu ethnic solidarity. Thus, at the moment of Kenyatta's triumph as leader of Kenyan nationalism, he had to build a united Kikuyu ethnic subnationalism after the bitter divisions of the Mau Mau conflict and the colonial regime's social engineering schemes, to operate from a secure power base. He did this by rewarding the conflicting factions with government patronage, political and civil service jobs, and former European farms in the Rift Valley. There were enough pickings for members of both the former "official" and "unofficial" Kikuyu elites to share when the carcass of the colonial state was dismembered. Other ethnic subnationalist leaders and their clients had also to be rewarded, but the former settler presence ensured that there was enough for all. (Wasserman, 1976; Kenyatta 1968, pp. 167-217; The Times Kenya Supplement, December 12, 1963).

THE ENLARGEMENT OF KENYA'S COALITION

Kenyatta was sensitive to the need to tie as many prominent local leaders as possible to his regime, especially in Central Province. Upon his return from Britain in September 1946, he had set up to secure his own bailiwick by purchasing land in his mbari (subclan) and by courting the established local potentates. He had quickly married into both the Koinange and Muhoho families, who provided the most influential colonial chiefs in southeast and northeast Kiambu. Both families had successfully acted as intermediaries between the British and their Kikuyu clients in the 1890s, and had been incorporated into the colonial structure as chiefs and headmen. Charles Njonjo, the attorney general throughout Kenyatta's presidency, Arthur Magugu, and Munyua Waiyaki, who succeeded Mungai as foreign minister from 1974 to 1979, after having served in the exposed position of deputy speaker of the National Assembly, were also descendants of prominent early Kikuyu collaborators who had established large githaka (estates), and had attracted dependent lineages through their control of trade, first with the Masai, and from the 1860s with Swahili caravans and then the British, who skirted the southern frontier of Kikuyu migration in Kiambu. In this frontier area, land had not been a scarce resource but had been available for occupation by those who could construct a sufficiently large following to clear and stump it, and then, even more importantly, to protect it from the depredations of their neighbors, not only the Masai and the Machakos Kamba, but often other Kikuyu mbari. Throughout the colonial period the aramati, or leaders of these mbari, subclans had exercised considerable power and had been incorporated into the power structure as nominated chiefs. The Koinange, Njonjo, Magugu, Muhoho,and Waiyaki families and their mbari alliances remain the key to political control in southern Kikuyuland and after independence provided most Kiambu members of the cabinet.

Waiyaki's family had initially been the most successful manipulators of the British presence, but the proximity of the British camp at Fort Smith to their githaka had posed too severe a strain on his great-grand- father's control, given the restricted authority of the aramati in Kikuyuland's segmentary lineage ideology. Relations with the British had deteriorated and eventually the Waiyakis were discarded. Waiyaki wa Hinga was deported and died en route to the coast and exile at Kibwezi. This failed collaborator has, therefore, entered Ngugi wa Thiongo's pantheon of Kenyan nationalist heroes. Ngugi, however, is not alone in regarding Waiyaki as a hero. The legend of his fate has become a potent Kikuyu myth, and consequently it was his descendant, the Western-trained doctor Munyua Waiyaki, whom Kenyatta sent to negotiate with Brigadier Mwariama and the remnants of the Mau Mau gangs who were still hiding in the Mount Kenya forests at independence. An invented past has its uses in Kikuyu politics and Munyua Waiyaki’s presence in the government enhanced its legitimacy in Kiambu even though the family had lost their vast githaka to Kinyanjui wa Gatherimu at the turn of the century (Muchuha 1967a; Muriuki 1972, pp. 147-154; Mungeam 1966, p. 12; Ngugi wa Thiong'o 1981, pp. 45-46).

Besides incorporating representatives of these elite Kikuyu families into his local coalition, Kenyatta also increased the cohesion of his domestic constituency by appointing local proconsuls wherever he could not find a local potentate to incorporate. James Gichuru, his political opponent of the 1940s for control of the elitist KAU, was useful as supervisor of the volatile Kikuyu communities around Limuru, which were composed of laborers on the multinational tea plantations and dispossessed squatters, thrown out of the White Highlands immediately after World War II under the restrictions imposed on resident labor livestock and cultivation. Gichuru's high political profile as president of KAU and as the first president of KANU, while Kenyatta was still in detention, and his own experience of house arrest during the Emergency contributed to the legitimation of the regime in this potentially troublesome area. Despite the close identification of Kenyatta with Kenya, he was first, Kikuyu, indeed a Kiambu Kikuyu. Thirty percent of the cabinet were Kikuyu in 1969, 1974, and even as late as 1979 under Moi. During the last five years of Kenyatta's life his brother-in-law, Mbiyu Koinange, exerted considerable power. As minister of state in the Office of the President he controlled the Provincial Administration and supervised the paramilitary General Service Unit (GSU). Kenyatta's nephew, Dr. Njeroge Mungai. was the first defense minister and from 1969 to 1974, foreign minister. Kenyatta appreciated that he could not incorporate merely his own supporters and members of the Kiambaa-Gatundu faction. Julius Kiano from Murang'a and Mwai Kibaki, representative of Nyeri Kikuyu interests, comprised with Gichuru, Koinange, Njonjo, and Mungai an inner cabinet, evenly divided between young technocrats and older, more traditional, Kikuyu politicians adept at manipulating the labyrinthine entanglements of local disputes and inter- and intra-mbari competitiveness (Bienen 1974, pp. 66-81; Lamb 1971. pp·17-53; Goldsworthy 1982b, pp. 207-247; Africa Confidential. February ~978,pp. 1-3).

Once the settlers had been dispatched, the various factions of Kenya's ethnic subnationalist elites could be included in Kenyatta's coalition, either by election to the National Assembly or as local councillors, or by appointment to the civil service, or as directors of parastatals. Loans and land were available in unprecedented abundance. The dismantling of the colonial state ensured that Kenyatta had enough resources at independence to secure the support of both the loyalist and the former KCA factions. The leaders of Kenya's other ethnic subnationalisms were also incorporated into the new regime Those who had suffered proletarianization did less well as the crumbs that reached the masses were normally secured only by the clients of successful patrons. The abilities of the Kiambu Kikuyu elite to reward their followers bolstered their domestic constituency, but in the long term it posed a threat to Kenya's political stability since it had been secured at the expense of other communities. The Murang'a and Nyeri elite were much less successful at securing land and employment for their clients. Moreover, those who challenged the morality of the system or who appealed to their role in the "Mau Mau War of Liberation" secured little. Their demands were subversive of the new political order, which was predicated on the social engineering that had taken place in Kikuyuland under cover of the disruption caused by Mau Mau (Abrams 3979; Buijtenhulls 1973, pp. 21-37, 113-149).

Militarily, the British had defeated Mau Mau by October 1956, when Dedan Kimathi was captured, but the Emergency remained in force until 1960 when African politicians insisted on its end as one of their preconditions for attending the first Lancaster House conference. During these months Kikuyu, Embu, and Meru societies were dramatically restructured to promote the processes of capitalist accumulation and to foster the development of dynamic, progressive farmers on secure smallholdings, complete with the title deeds required to secure loans from commercial banks. The Swynnerton Plan was designed to create a "yeomanry" of rich peasants, cultivating remunerative cash crops such as coffee, tea, or pyrethrum, and along with the land consolidation and registration campaigns provided the essential economic foundations for the new state, rewarding Kenyatta's ethnic subnationalist constituency of Kikuyu protocapitalists and their rivals, the chiefs.

In fact, as Cowen (1972, 1976, 1979, 1981) had demonstrated, this belated acceptance of capitalist forces by the colonial administration slowed down social differentiation. The issuing of individual titles to all with claims to land, which the Kikuyu elite had argued for since the 1920s, stymied their accumulation and limited the displacement of junior lineages and tenants. Once the poor peasant had a title he was less easy prey to the protocapitalists. Social pressure, bribery of the Native Tribunals, and manipulation of mbari customs all became ineffective. Thus, despite the aims of the colonial government, land consolidation and registration have entrenched the Kikuyu peasantry on the land since the Swynnerton Plan's encouragement of cash crops, and has provided poor peasants with the financial resources to sustain the peasant strategy (Kitching 1980, pp. 315-374). This, of course, was unclear at independence, but the stability of the Kenyan state depended on the legitimacy of the Kikuyu land reform. The new state could not have survived the reopening of the colonial Pandora's box of land disputes.

Land was available only for reallocation in the former White Highlands, and by 1963 there were already many claimants. Their contradictory demands had to be carefully balanced according to the scales of political expediency. The Kikuyu elite came first; ruffled claimants for office could be assuaged for some rebuff by an appropriate estate. Reluctant clients could be secured more firmly to the Kenyatta regime. As part of this process, the most difficult group of claimants to satisfy and the most dangerous to ignore, the Kikuyu "have-nots" secured some reward under the British-financed Million Acre Scheme.

LAND AND THE EMERGENCE OF ARAP MOI AS LEADER OF THE KALENJIN

Kenya's population has grown rapidly since the 1920s and since 1963 it has more than trebled. Moreover, only one-quarter of the country regularly receives more than 20 millimeters of rain annually, the minimum necessary to grow grain. Well-watered land is therefore a scarce resource, and Kenyan politics have revolved around the land issue since World War I. Much of the country's stability since independence has stemmed from the reallocation of land in the White Highlands to Africans. Combined with land consolidation and registration in Central Province in the late 1950s, the transfer of settler farms in the Rift Valley and Machakos underwrote the transfer of power and for a generation slowed down the process of rural proletarianization (World Bank 1981, pp. 112-114; Wasserman 1976, pp. 171-175; Ndegwa 1985, pp. 140-143; Weekly Review, January 24, 1986, pp. 17-27; New York Times, August 11, 1982, p. 23).

The politics of land was perhaps the key question dividing Kenya's ethnic subnationalisms at independence. Land was the most important reward that the peasantry expected from their patrons and the new African politicians. The distribution of this scarce resource underlay most of the ethnic rivalries at independence and the division between KANU and KADU. Mau Mau had been a Kikuyu particularist movement for more land. It was essentially a struggle for control of the White Highlands, where many forest fighters had been born and raised as second-generation squatters, before their families were dispossessed after World War II. At independence, however, it was not only the Kikuyu who had to be incorporated. Kenya's other ethnic subnationalities, particularly the Kalenjin and the Luhya, had their demands. Even the Luo were rewarded with settler land in the former Kisumu- Londiani settled area. It was over the land question that Arap Moil first revealed his skills as a political in-fighter. The Tugen are a marginal force in Kenyan politics. Even within the Kalenjin coalition they are smaller in population and economically less-developed than the Nandi or Kipsigis.

Following his appointment to the Legislative Council in 1956, Moi had first become prominent by mobilizing the Tugen in southern Baringo to secure the transfer of the Lembus Forest and the Essageri salient of settler farms for Tugen settlement at the expense of the Nandi and Elgeyo. Although Taita Towett had first raised the issue, he and his rival for the leadership of the Kalenjin, Seroney, were preoccupied with the threat of Luhya and Luo expansion on the western frontiers of the Kalenjin, and by their battle for the leadership of Kalenjin ethnic sub-nationalism. Within the confines of Kaleniin politics, therefore, Moi and the Tugen emerged as a compromise third force, and slowly secured Elgeyo and Marakwet support as arbitrators in the conflict between the Nandi and Kipsigis. In most respects, however, Moi in 1963 was still less important than Seroney or Towett. Indeed, the Tugen were marginal to the main political preoccupations of the Kalenjin, who were primarily concerned about the allocation of land in the western districts of the White Highlands, particularly Trans-Nzoia and Uasin Gishu where they were in conflict with Luhya migrants (Sanger and Nottingham 1964, pp. 20-23; The Times, March 7, 1963,p. 9; May 13, 1963, pp. 9, 13).

Tugen ambitions were focused on north Nakuru, stretching from Subukia to Eldama Ravine and the Lembus Forest. This was not a new development in the 1950s. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the southern Tugen had been engaged in "a range war" with European farmers along this lengthy border, and had regularly encroached on settler land for grazing, water, and salt licks. In the 1960s, this expansion southward by the Tugen into the northern parts of Nakuru District threatened to bring them into conflict with settlement schemes for Kikuyu peasants. Thus, while the Elgeyo, Marakwet, and Pokot came to regard Moi as a neutral arbitrator between themselves and the Nandi, and between the Nandi and Kipsigis, over the western Rift Valley, from the Kikuyu perspective he appeared to be the most important Kalenjin leader, who had to be compensated elsewhere if a confrontation was to be averted. Moi's ambitions had to be diverted away from northern Nakuru to the western Rift Valley by encouraging him to think as the leader of a united Kalenjin ethnic subnationalism. He had to be persuaded that the Luhya presented a much softer target than the Kikuyu (D. Anderson 1982, 1986, pp.l-2, 19-23; Sanger and Nottingham 1964, pp. 21-23).

Nakuru District and town had been predominantly Kikuyu since the 1920s, following the influx of squatters into the areas from "Kenia Province" during World War I to escape from the exactions of the government, nominated chiefs, and the threat of enlistment for the Carrier Corps Kalenjin had only moved into the district in large numbers during the 1950s to fill the vacancies created by the large-scale detention and repatriation of the Kikuyu during Mau Mau. In contrast, Trans-Nzoia and Uasin Gishu and their urban centers, Kitale and Eldoret, were much more ethnically heterogeneous societies. No one ethnic group predominated in the way the Kikuyu did in Nakuru District and throughout the eastern White Highlands. Thus, Kenyatta was able to direct Moi's ambitions away from Tugen expansion into northern Nakuru toward the question of Kalenjin expansion into the western Rift Valley at the expense of the Luhya (Seeley 1985, pp. 54-55, 72- 76; The Times, March 7, 1963, p. 9)·

Both Kalenjin and Luhya claimed possession of Trans-Nzoia, the maize granary of the White Highlands. The two most prominent leaders of these ethnic subnationalisms, Moi for the Kalenjin and Masinde Muliro of the Luhya, were supporters of Ronald Ngala's conservative, regionalist coalition of small ethnic groups--KADU. The seven Kalenjin “subgroups" had all returned KADU candidates with secure majorities in both 1961 and 1963. In contrast, the Luhya had been divided, splitting three ways in 1961, when Musa Amalemba's Abaluhya Political Union had secured nearly 40 percent of the vote and had emerged as the dominant political force. Amalemba was a nominated legislative councillor and had been selected by the British as the first African minister under the Lyttleton constitution. The Abaluhyia Political Union, in contrast to the other district-focused parties permitted under the Lennox-Boyd constitution, chose to become one of the strands of Michael Blundell's multiracial coalition, whose mainstay were the liberal Europeans of the New Kenya Group. Instead of attempting to establish a niche within the nationalist coalition, they became the most important African element in this last-ditch attempt by Kenya’s settlers to preserve some political role in the transfer of power. Luhya ethnic subnationalism, therefore, lacked legitimacy in the opinion of the wider African political nation once the focus of competition switched from the district-oriented politics of accommodation, which had dominated the 1950s, to the nationally orchestrated campaign by multi-ethnic coalitions for control of the central bastions of the colonial state. As a nominated minister, moreover, Amalemba was too closely identified with the colonial regime and even among the Luhyia was unable to extend his support beyond his home area in the south of the region. Muliro's election in 1957 to the Legislative Council with the support of the northern and eastern locations ensured that he automatically became the most senior legitimate nationalist politician from North Nyanza and Elgon Nyanza. This position was bolstered by his conspicuous national political role as effective deputy leader and national organizing secretary of KADU (Bennett and Rosberg 1961. pp- :-1-174)."

By refusing to fit neatly into either the, KANU or KADU coalitions and remaining loyal to their locally focused ethnic subnationalism, the Luhya were isolated from the mainstream of Kenyan politics and despite Muliro's attempts to drag them into the contest for central resources, their domestic political rivalries undermined their potential collective strength as Kenya's third largest ethnic group. Thus, as the contest to inherit the colonial state gathered momentum, Muliro had to fight with one arm tied behind his back against a Kalenjin community united behind Moi. The failure of the Luhya to plump for KANU or KADU weakened Muliro's bargaining position as their perceived ethnic leader. He therefore failed to secure Kitale as the capital of the Western Region, the center of a discrete Luhya-controlled polity under the Majimbo constitution Moi provided to be a hard-headed political realist. Throughout his career, until perhaps Njonjo's carefully orchestrated fall from power in 1983, Moi's rivals have underestimated his skills as a political tactician. In fact, at three stages in his career Moi has demonstrated consummate ability to survive the dirtiest political infighting. He is a master of back-room coalition-building· This was first demonstrated in 1963-64, when he secured Kenyatta's support for Kalenjin, not Luhya, primacy in Trans-Nzoia and Uasin Gishu. During the politics of state formation the Kalenjin, united behind Moi, were a more important element in the political nation than Muliro s divided Luhya. Moi's maneuvering to secure land for the Kalenjin at the expense of the Luhya severely strained the internal balance of power within KADU, to which both Moi and Muliro belonged. Their dispute paved the way to the party's dissolution in November 1961 and its absorption within Kenyatta's governing coalition. A political bargain seems to have been struck whereby the Kalenjin would secure access to the former White Highlands in return for destroying the logic of KADU's anti-Kikuyu coalition. These timely concessions at the expense of the divided Luhya had the additional advantage as far as Kenyatta was concerned of diverting Tugen ambitions from the Subukia area where their encroachment clashed with Kikuyu expansion from Naivasha and Nakuru and enabled the former Kikuyu squatters to become firmly entrenched.

THE POLITICS OF THE VICE-PRESIDENCY

After the demise of Odinga in March 1966, the vice-presidency had been entrusted to two marginal politicians. Kenyatta's first choice, Joe Murumbi, was the child of an Asian-Masai marriage and had a European wife. He represented the ethnicaIly mixed constituency of Langata, which included not only the plush European suburb of Karen, but also the old Nubian settlement at Kibera that in the 1970s became Nairobi's second largest shantytown. Within nine months Murumbi had abandoned the contest against the Kiambaa-Gatundu faction. As an intelligent, articulate politician he represented, as Mboya and Kariuki were to do later, too powerful an antagonist to have been permitted to survive. Moreover, he had radical tendencies, and from 1963 to 1966 he had been associated with most of the intrigues of Odinga's group against Mboya and KANU's procapitalist leadership. Murumbi's appointment was an attempt by Kenyatta to minimize defections to the KPU by convincing those radicals, especially the non-Luo who had not become completely alienated from the regime, that their interests would best be served by remaining within the governing party. In December 1966.

Murumbi resigned, ostensibly to devote his energies to business, but in fact to escape from his Kikuyu political enemies (Goldsworthy 1982b, pp. 237, 241, 247; Hornsby 1986, pp. 10-15).7 His successor as vice-president in January 1967, Daniel Arap Moi, was a cautious politician who had never been identified with the radical populists. He had shown himself during the scramble for the White Highlands to be an effective spokesman for Kalenjin interests, willing to endanger the cohesion of KADU for the advantage of his ethnic constituency. KADU had never recovered from these self-inflicted wounds, and Moi had been rewarded at the merger with KANU in November 1964 with the most senior position in the cabinet offered to the new recruits. These two incidents had demonstrated Moi's intuitive political skill. In addition, as vice-president he brought to the weakened government the support of the non-kikuyu parts of the Rift Valley and delivered the Kalenjin to the ruling coalition.

Moi did not, however, appear to be a formidable new challenger to the dominant Kiambu faction. He had been a member of the National Assembly since 1956, and was the only survivor from the colonial generation of nominated African members. but had rarely attracted popular attention. His unimpressive personality, halting English, and weak grasp of the complexities of government were to prove political assets. The Kiambaa-Gatundu faction regarded Tom Mboya and J.M. Kariuki as much more serious challengers to their domination of the Kenyatta State. Koinange, Mboya, Mungai. Kibaki, and Njonjo, all exercised more influence within the government than Moi, whose ministerial portfolio was whittled away with the transfer of control over the police to Mbiyu Koinange in the Office of the President. As the years passed, powerful contenders for the succession died or lost their seats, until by 1976 Moi's survival as vice-president had transformed the situation. Despite the fact that he had little power within the cabinet and could not even enter Nakuru without running a gauntlet of police roadblocks, his political longevity ensured that he had become the candidate whom the Kikuyu had to stop. During these years he had avoided controversy and accepted every political humiliation from his Kiambu rivals, but he had also constructed a formidable network of supporters who were equally disillusioned with the Kiambaa-Gatundu faction (Goldsworthy 1982b, PP 268-270; Hornsby 1986, pp 10-15; Karimi and Ochieng 1980, pp 3-S1;Africa Confidential, various issues, 1978)

Kenyan politics is held together both at the national level of competition between its ethnic subnationalities and in the districts by a complex series of interlinking patron-client relationships. Kenyatta's unique legitimacy was derived from his role as the founder of its populist political ideology, and as the leader of nationalist action in the colonial period, at both the Kenyan nationalist and Kikuyu subnationalist levels. Moi lacked such legitimacy in the political maneuvering before Kenyatta’s death, these proved to be advantages, since everyone who had been antagonized by the Kiambu hegemony and opposed a "family" succession could agree to support Moi. He appeared open to influence and unlikely to claim for himself more than the role of primus inter pores. Moreover, although vice-president, he had avoided becoming identified with unpopular government actions and was not held responsible for its errors, such as the death of JM Kariuki. The various opposition factions gradually came to regard Moi as a candidate with whom they could deal. He assiduously courted such potential recruits, particularly disgruntled Kikuyu whose support was essential if he was to assuage the doubts at all levels of Kikuyu society about the wisdom of letting power slip from their grasp. His task was eased by the support of Kibaki and Njonjo, the two most influential Kikuyu technocrats in the cabinet, and by Kenyatta's enigmatic neutrality.

During Kenyatta's last years, the Kiambu hierarchy divided into two factions. The first group, which contained most, but not all, of the immediate family, and the majority of Kiambu politicians and businessmen, wished to ensure a Kikuyu, and if possible, a "family" succession. Until his unanticipated electoral defeat at Dagoretti in 1974 by Dr.Johnstone Muthiora, the foreign minister, Njoroge Mungai, had been the favored candidate. His defeat left the "family" without an agreed choice. The obvious alternative, Mbiyu Koinange, at 70 was too old and would outlive Kenyatta by only three years. Koinange had also made too many enemies during his long career in both pre-and post- independence politics. As minister of state in the Office of the President responsible for overseeing provincial Administration and the GSU, his name had figured prominently in the Kariuki enquiry. A sinister back-room figure, adept in the Byzantine subclan intrigues of Kikuyu politics, who reflected the traditionalist side of Kenyatta's character, Koinange was feared more than he was respected, and he found it virtually impossible to construct a Kikuyu coalition, let alone a multiethnic one (Karimi and Ochieng 1980, pp. 65--67; Kareithi and Ng'weno 1S7Sa, pp. 41-45)

Kenyatta's own attitude was ambiguous. The "family" assumed that he would wish to preserve their wealth and authority, but in his lucid moments, which became rarer as he grew older, Kenyatta remained a shrewd political tactician. He appears to have recognized the need to divert criticism away from his family and to reduce the concentration of development schemes on Kiambu in particular, and Kikuyuland in general. Encouraged by Charles Njonjo and Mwai Kibaki, he sought to ensure political stability after his death by bringing other regions and ethnic subnationalities into his coalition. This process of incorporation was facilitated by the boom in world coffee prices in the mid-1970s as money became available for new development projects outside Kikuyuland. The appearance, if not the reality, of power had to be devolved. Non-Kikuyu had to share some of the political power and secure some of the rewards of the statist economy in order to protect the long-term hegemonic position of the Kikuyu within Kenya's political economy.

Two of Kenyatta’s key advisers, Charles Njonjo and Mwai Kibaki encouraged these thoughts. Neither of them was a member of the Kiambaa- Gatundu axis, both were members of a second, more technocratic faction. Kibaki comes from Othaya in Nyeri and Njonjo from Kikuyu in southwest Kiambu. Along with Mbiyu Koinange, they were Kenyatta's closest advisers, but while Koinange supervised the provincial administration and the shifting factions of Kikuyu politics, holding the paramilitary GSU in reserve whenever more heavy-handed tactics were required, Kibaki and Njonjo were technocrats. They operated the economy and ensured that the due processes of the law favored the regime as minister of finance and attorney general. Kibaki had been admitted to the inner circle because of his skills as an academic economist and because the Nyeri Kikuyu required one powerful representative in the cabinet. Intellectually; he was probably the most able man in the government, although inclined to periodic bouts of lassitude (Weekly Review, September 15, 1978, pp. 2-6; October 6, 1978, pp. 9-13: and October 13, 1978, pp. 10-17).

In contrast, Njonjo's attributes were more pedestrian, but over the years he had secured the reputation of being the defender of Kenya's Asian and European communities, who were believed by Western governments and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to be indispensable to the efficient operation of the economy. Njonjo became a symbol of Kenya's political stability and commitment to capitalism, which attracted further foreign investment. Moreover, Njonjo had one additional major political asset, which despite his occasional disputes with the Kiambaa-Gatundu "family" faction made him indispensable to Kenyatta. He was the son of Josiah Njonjo, who since the early 1920s had controlled the segmentary lineage-based politics of southwestern Kiambu following the death of Kinyanjui wa Gatherimu. Kenyatta's marriage alliances in the late 1940s had secured his ties with the Koinanges of Kiambaa and the Muhohos in Mukinyi, but Dagoretti Division had remained outside his control. Political patronage in this area of Kiambu even in the 1960s could be operated only in cooperation with Josiah Njonjo's established network. As a result, Josiah's son Charles was rewarded with the post of attorney general and a seat in the cabinet. Yet although Njonjo came from Kiambu, he was never a member of the "magic circle" around the "family," who resented his influence with Kenyatta (Weekly Review, October 13, 1978, p. 7; April 18, 1980, p. 10; June 6, 1980, pp. 4-5; September 16, 1983, pp. 7-9; September 30, 1983, pp 5-7; Clough 1977, pp 17-18, 138, 142, 227, 238-241).

THE MBOYA AND KARIUKI ASSASSINATIONS

The Kiambaa-Gatundu faction made two serious political mistakes. Under attack in 1969 and 1975, first from outside Kikuyu subnationalism from Tom Mboya, and then from inside by Josiah Mwangi Kariuki, they had overreacted politically and there is at least partial evidence indicating that they were not entirely without some responsibility for the assassinations of Mboya and Kariuki. On both occasions the drastic solution had rebounded and provoked widespread opposition and had severely damaged the regime's internal stability and its international Reputation. Alone among the cabinet, Kibaki had distanced himself from the Kiambaa-Gatundu bloc and had attended his friends' funerals. Mboya had posed a challenge at two levels. His following in the trade unions and his childhood on a sisal estate on the borders of Machakos and Kiambu, which enabled him to converse colloquially in Gikuyu and Kikamba as well as in Swahili and Dholuo, meant that he was able to secure support from outside his own ethnically restricted subnationality. More than perhaps any other politician, Mboya had a Kenya-wide following. In his ethnically mixed Nairobi constituency, Kikuyu out-numbered Luo, but Mboya had demonstrated his ability to secure their support. His international reputation and his close relationship with the American labor organizations, dating from the 1950s, and his network of former "airlift'' students, who had benefited from his patronage, meant that he could not be isolated like Odinga and Kaggia by allegations of socialist tendencies. Moreover, as minister of economic planning, Mboya had been instrumental in the preparation and publicizing of Kenya's official statement of commitment to capitalism, the misleadingly named "Sessional Paper on African Socialism." At the national level, therefore, Mboya appeared to threaten the position of the Kiambu elite, which was based on their successful manipulation of Kikuyu ethnic subnationalism, and more capable than anyone else of undermining it with an appeal to Kenyan national solidarity (Otiende 1969, P· 35; The Standard, October 14, 1969 and November 25, 1969; Goldsworthy 1982b, pp. 267-275. 284-285).

In terms of Nairobi local politics, Mboya stood in the path of Charles Rubia, the city's first African mayor, who had ambitions of securing a parliamentary seat. Rubia's power base in the City Council was in Mboya's Starehe constituency, and he recognized that although an appeal to Kikuyu subnationalism, or indeed the particularist interests of Murang'a migrant workers in Nairobi, might work in city council elections, it would not succeed against Mboya. Both the Kiambu hierarchy and Rubia's Murang'a-Nairobi- based factions were eager to remove Mboya and either might have been sufficiently unscrupulous to have arranged his assassination (Goldsworthy 1982b, pp. 267-275, 284-285).

J. M. Kariuki was a threat to the Kenyatta State because he was attempting to subvert Kikuyu subnationalism from within. Whereas Mboya or Odinga, as Luos, had been compelled by their ethnicity to work from the outside and secure support by their populist rhetoric or trade union past, Kariuki was a former Mau Mau detainee and could challenge the authority of the Kiambu elite by mobilizing a populist Kikuyu following of discontented former Mau Mau and by appealing to particularist rivalries among the Kikuyu. In a conflict within the Kikuyu community, Kariuki threatened to mobilize the rest against Kiambu by emphasizing the unequal distribution of state resources, and to destroy the stability of the regime from within Kenyatta's political bailiwick. Kenyatta, of course, had attempted to ensure that Nyeri and Murang'a benefited from development and welfare schemes as much as Kiambu, and that the Kamba, with their important position in the senior officer corps and in the army's ranks, and the Embu and Meru also prospered. Political power, however, and the distribution of economic rewards and development measures, was concentrated in the hands of loyal Kiambu Kikuyu. While Murang`a. Nyeri, Embu, Meru, Machakos, and Kitui had only one cabinet minister each under Kenyatta, Kiambu MPs occupied six key government ministries. Gichuru had been minister of finance from 1963 to 1969, and then served as minister of defense from1969 to 1979, replacing Mungai who became foreign minister from 1969 to 1974 before being succeeded by Munyua Waiyaki. Thus, with Koinange as minister of state and Njonjo as attorney general, five of the key posts in the government were held throughout Kenyatta's presidency by Kiambu Kikuyu, and for the first half of his rule so was the ministry of finance until it was transferred to the politically reliable academic Kibaki in 1969.

Kariuki was murdered because he was drawing attention to the hegemonic position of the Kiambu Kikuyu and to the privileged position of the Kikuyu capitalists. By mobilizing successfully these divisions within the Kikuyu, Kariuki threatened to destroy Kenyatta's political base among the peasantry. Kariuki himself was as acquisitive as any other member of the Kikuyu elite, and had bought a large farm and considerable business interests, including a major shareholding in the Nairobi International Casino. He was an unlikely hero for the nation's poor, a "WaBenzi" with a flamboyantly extravagant life-style. Kariuki, however, like Kenyatta was a powerful stump orator, especially in Kikuyu, and his simple message, attacking social inequalities, had considerable impact in Nyeri, Nyandarua, and the other forgotten parts of Kikuyuland.

MOI'S SEARCH FOR KIKUYU LEGITIMATION

In a much quieter way Moi was involved in a similar task during the 1970s. If he was to secure the presidency when Kenyatta died he needed to have the support of as many Kikuyu local factions as possible to block a candidate from the Kiambaa-Gatundu faction. Like J.M Kariuki, he had to base his strategy on emphasizing the divisions within the Kikuyu polity and dislodging Nyeri and Nyandarua, and if possible Murang'a and Nakuru, from the Kiambu-dominated alliance. In Murang'a he made little progress since his main supporter in the area, Kiano, was under attack from the representatives of Kikuyu capitalism and could not afford to become too losely identified with Moi and his chief Kikuyu "election agent," Njonjo.

The rival Matiba faction also chose to remain aloof from national political alliances. As successful capitalists they were in many respects natural supporters of the “Change the Constitution” faction, who were fighting to preserve Kikuyu hegemony and represented the interests of Kikuyu capitalism Matiba and his associates, however, were wary of becoming mere clients of their Kiambu rivals, who dominated the movement, especially when Kiano had not completely severed his ties with individual members of this group and committed himself wholeheartedly to the pro-Moi coalition. Both local factions in Murang'a, in fact, were attempting to keep open their political options and to avoid fore-closing the opportunity of using either national group to bolster their own local position. Neither leader wished to disrupt his own local constituency by supporting one of the rival national factions, since both Matiba and Kiano had associates on both sides of the national political struggle. Moi was much more successful in Nyeri and the Rift Valley. Kibaki's role in dislodging Nyeri from the “Change the Constitution” group was vital, and earned him the vice-presidency, Once Kibaki retreated from Bahati, his Nairobi constituency to his home district in 1974, Moi began to court Nyeri support. He regularly attended harambee meetings in the district and held various private sessions with local politicians whom he encouraged to become less dependent on the Kiambaa-Gatundu faction. Kibaki's support in 1978 was a crucial element in Moi's accession to the presidency. A united Kikuyu opposition might well have been able to thwart his ambitions even at this late stage. Moi's most difficult task was in Nakuru, where he has managed to reconcile the conflicting interests of his own Tugen people with those of disillusioned Kikuyu. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Moi's strongest opponents came from this district. They had planned to dispatch him in the same way as Mboya and J. M. Kariuki. Today the new Kikuyu political leaders in Nakuru, Chotara and Kubai are among Moi's staunchest supporters and play an essential role in the president's efforts to legitimize his authority among the Kikuyu.

MOI'S KALENJIN COALITION

As noted, Moi's emergence as the leading Kalenjin politician was achieved not merely at the expense of the Luhya and KADU, but also of the southern Tugen. The problem of reaching an agreement with the Kikuyu over north Nakuru and the demarcation of the frontier between their respective spheres of influence had required Moi, quite literally, to give ground along the Subukia-Eldama Ravine border. As a result, his hold over southern Baringo was weakened. In the late 1950s and early 1960s these southern locations had been an important element in his political following - especially once they had been rewarded by the acquisition of the Lembus Forest and Essageri farms--but as Moi's national political ambitions developed the frontier, Tugen became increasingly concerned. They feared that Moi, who comes from central Baringo, might be willing to sacrifice their interests to ingratiate himself with Kenyatta and to promote his own ambitions. Popular support for Moi over the last 20 years had been weaker along this Tugen southern frontier than elsewhere in Baringo. The Elgeyo and the Marakwet have become more firmly incorporated into his coalition than the Tugen in south Baringo, who are wary of his leadership.

In central and northern Baringo and in Elgeyo-Marakwet, Moi is firmly entrenched. His longevity as the dominant politician in the region since 1956 has enabled him to construct an effective political machine. Clan control among the Tugen, Elgeyo, and Marakwet is very weak and Moi has operated through a personal network of old school friends, business associates, and small-time entrepreneurs- -his peer group when he was a village schoolmaster in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Many of his local lieutenants are not directly involved in elective politics but they control a powerful patronage system. His friend "Sadala," known as "the Mayor of Kabarnet," for example, oversees patronage in south and central Baringo, while Cheboiwo, the member of Parliament (MP) for Baringo North, operates the system in the northern locations and is widely believed to be a "front man" for Moi's business interests in the area and in the Mombasa Peugeot Service. For the last 30 years few measures have succeeded in Baringo without Moi's support. Even as vice-president he dominated the district administration, and district commissioners hostile to Moi's interests were quickly removed. He is widely respected throughout the district for the development schemes he has brought. The new road, new employment opportunities at Marigat, irrigation, and agricultural betterment programs have all enhanced support for Moi in his bailiwick. Political opponents have been excluded from the rewards stemming from his patronage and their support has withered away since it pays to be "a Nyayo man" (personal interviews).

Eric Bomett, the brother of Moi's estranged wife, in south Baringo during the late 1960s, and Zephaniah Kipkebut Chepkonga, in the north in the late 1970s, challenged Moi's authority and have secured considerable support by promoting local issues. Moi's popularity is weakest in the southern locations because of the macro-political compromises he has made with the Kikuyu over Nakuru, both in the Kenyatta era and in recent years when Kariuki Chotara, the Nakuru District KANU chairman, has provided an important element in the president's attempts to secure political legitimation among the Kikuyu poor. His weak standing in south Baringo has been further undermined since 1980 by land adjudication, which has aroused intense local conflict. People have returned to the district as in Central Province during the 1950s to assert claims dating back 50 years. As this process moves gradually northward, Moi's domestic power base is being disrupted and his lieutenants are being dragged into local land squabbles that discredit their patron. The president has no alternative but to ride it out and hope for a return to tranquility in a few years. Aware of these problems, early in 1986 Moi restored his relationship with Bomett and secured Chotara's support for his election as member of Parliament for Nakuru North where the defeated Kikuyu candidates alleged that the district administration had intervened to secure the victory of the president's brother-in-law.

In contrast to central and southern Baringo, the northern part of the district is ethnically mixed as many Pokot have moved into the area. Opposition to Moi's henchman, Cheboiwo, who is regarded as a political nonentity, since the late 1970s has centered around Zephaniah Chepkonga. Chepkonga encountered considerable obstruction from the administration and the police during the 1979 election campaign, disguising himself as a woman to evade police roadblocks so that he could present his nomination papers. The regime moved swiftly to overturn the 1979 result in an election petition to the High Court, and Chepkonga is widely believed to have been prevented by the authorities from presenting his nomination papers. Cheboiwo was elected unopposed at the by-election and Chepkonga was so frustrated that he did not attempt to contest the 1983 election when Cheboiwo won again on a very high poll. Given the comparative backwardness of the constituency and the turnout in the surrounding seats, one student of elections has suggested that there may have been widespread irregularities in the poll. Certainly, many local inhabitants doubt the legitimacy of Cheboiwo's election, and Chepkonga is respected for having challenged the system. Yet despite these local tensions, Moi's bailiwick will remain loyal and reconciled to his political associates while he remains president and can direct government patronage on an unprecedented scale to Baringo

The weakest links in Moi's Kalenjin coalition are probably the Nandi, among whom the erudite lawyer JM Seroney for many years established an independent bailiwick with his populist rhetoric. Since independence, many landless Nandi have migrated to Eldoret in the former European settled area of Uasin Gishu, where they have clashed with Nandi capitalists and Moi's supporters from the smaller ethnic groups within the Kalenjin coalition. It is in Eldoret, therefore, that the strains within the president's own constituency between various local elite factions and incipient class interests are most evident. Uasin Gishu District politics shows how weak Moi's power base is and how easily it could disintegrate. Eldoret is one of Kenya's fastest growing towns, expanding from 18,196 inhabitants in 1969 to an estimated 100,000 today. At independence, the two dominant African groups were the Luhya and the Kikuyu, both of whom had over 5,000 members in the town, followed by nearly 2,000 Luo and only 1,200 Kalenjin. Kikuyu and Asian businessmen dominated commercial life throughout the 1960s, but as Kikuyu control of Nakuru became more absolute, the Kalenjin began to focus their ambitions on Eldoret. Even the Tugen from Baringo, close to Nakuru, have switched their business interests in the 1970s to Eldoret and have acquired European and Asian enterprises and farms in Uasin Gishu.

The town reflects in microcosm many of the changes that have occurred at the national level since Moi's accession to power in 1978. The council has been polarized between Kalenjin and Kikuyu interests, and Kalenjin "big men," fronted by Kipchoge Keino, the Olympic athlete, have invested heavily in farming land. Local politics is based on this conflict between Kalenjin and Kikuyu for control of the town council and the two parliamentary seats. In the 1960s the Kikuyu and the Luhya dominated politics in Eldoret· At independence, for example, there were no Kalenjin councillors, but during the 1970s the Kalenjin have asserted their primacy and have captured all the key positions. As they have become numerically dominant, however, their ethnic coalition has splintered into three factions, partly along sub-ethnic and partly on class lines. This explains the volatility of Eldoret politics and the sensitivity of the government to research in the area. There are three major Kalenjin factions--the Nandi poor and elite, and the other Kalenjin people. The Nandi poor are led by Chelegat Mutai (the MP for Eldoret North in 1974-76 and 1979-81) and her uncle, William Murape arap Saina, who represented the constituency from 1969 to 1974, and was reelected in 1983. Faced by a land crisis in Nandi, highlighted by violent clashes against Luhya encroachment around Kapsabet on the frontier between the two ethnic groups and Seroney's district, the poor have moved into the shanty areas surrounding the town.

Eldoret North, Mutai's constituency, contains several peri-urban squatter settlements just outside the town boundary. These have grown dramatically over the last decade and are scheduled for demolition as land prices inside the town rise. These sites have become attractive for speculative development. Their inhabitants are an unpredictable but major element in local politics. In contrast, Eldoret South has been controlled by Nandi protocapitalists, who for many years supported Charles Murgor until his defeat in 1983. The third faction, which has become progressively more important and captured Eldoret South at the last election, is a coalition of the smaller Kalenjin groups, particularly the Tugen, Elgeyo, and Marakwet. Their most important leader is the mayor, a Tugen, Joseph Lesiew, who has held office since 1974. Lesiew comes from a comparatively privileged background His family were among the first Roman Catholic converts in Baringo, and he received a mission school education. The mayor has good political contacts in Nairobi through his uncle who is a friend of Moi. Since moving to Eldoret in the early 1960s, Lesiew has prospered as a businessman and is part owner of a hotel, a shareholder in the leading Asian-run pharmacy in the town, and the owner of a wine store, a farm, and other property. His position as councillor, and since 1974 as mayor, have provided useful business contacts that have enabled him to entrench his economic and political positions. The Nandi, the largest Kalenjin subgroup in the town, have remained aloof from this pro-Moi camp, and in the 1970s looked to Seroney for leadership. Despite the fact that Nandi politics is riven by highly localized, subclan factions, as is evident from the competitive mobilization of the peasantry for harambee projects, arap Saina and Chelegat Mutai have constructed a resilient political alliance of Eldoret's Nandi ''have-nots, '' which has won the last four general elections in Eldoret South despite harassment from Moi's associates.

MOI'S PROMOTION OF KALENJIN INTERESTS AT THE EXPENSE OF THE KIKUYU

The years since Moi came to power have been difficult for many African economies, following the second major increase in oil prices in 1979 and a continuing decline until recently in the value of their commodity exports, such as tea and coffee, which provide 40 percent of Kenya's foreign exchange. Kenya's economy, moreover, has not been sufficiently broadly based to escape the international depression. The Kenyan state, under pressure from the IMF, has had to retrench and since the attempted coup of August 1, 1982, has reassessed its policies toward the promotion of inefficient import substitution industries protected by high tariffs, the expense of peasant agriculture. Prices for peasant produce, the exchange rate, and import licensing policy have all been rethought as has the position of the parastatals, a major source of political patronage under Kenyatta. Since the 1982 report by Philip Ndegwa on government expenditure, stricter controls on government spending and domestic borrowing have increased gold and convertible currency reserves from a low of 1.7 billion shillings at the end of 1982 to over 4 billion, which provides a reasonable three-month import cover.

Kenya, after certain delays, also met the requirements of the World Bank's first and second structural adjustment loans negotiated in April 1983. The third expected loan, however, encountered delays because the World Bank was concerned about the collapse of the Kenya Farmer's Association (KFA) and the undefined role of the Grain Growers' Co-operative. In addition, Kenya failed to meet the free importation of essential items on "List 1A". The 1984 drought had a serious destabilizing effect. Emergency imports were required until June 1985, and there was a serious shortage of seeds and fertilizers for the 1985 long rains, although the National Cereal Board and the task force headed by Professor Terry Ryan originally in the Treasury, and now under Robert Ouko in the revived Ministry of Economic Planning, distributed relief grain imports effectively, despite inefficiencies within the Ministry of Agriculture and the fact that the quantity to be distributed was 14 times greater than Kenya had ever needed before. Since coming to power, Moi has undermined the stability of his regime by attempting to destroy Kikuyu hegemony and to dismantle the economic foundations of the Kenyatta State under the disguise of the Nyayo philosophy. Government patronage has been diverted from Kiambu, and to a lesser extent Muranga, and directed toward Kalenjin districts, although Kibaki has effectively protected Nyeri. Kikuyu businessmen have been squeezed as state finance houses, such as Andrew Ngumba's Rural and Urban Credit Finance Company, have collapsed when they have been unable to call on their associates in the government to bail them out. Kenya’s economic difficulties have justified these changes but they have increased popular discontent and have made Moi acutely conscious of Kikuyu opposition.

During the Kenyatta era political repression fluctuated. There were three distinct phases of reaction: the era of the Shifta War against Somali irredentists in 1963-64, the detention of the KPU's leadership following the murder of Tom Mboya and the events at Kisumu in October 1969, and the persecution of the Kariuki populists after March 1975. Mueller (1984, pp 399-400) has recorded how the provincial administration ,systematically obstructed the KPU and has argued that it was KANU's "monopoly of key coercive sanctions and economic resources... inherited from the colonial period and consolidated afterwards, rather than the KPU's ethnic base among the Luo, that really explains the party's demise." Although Mboya's murder and the banning of the KPU provided the Kenyatta regime with its first serious crisis, apart from Odinga's resignation in March 1966 which the Kiambaa-Gatundu faction and their ally, Mboya, had themselves provoked--it was the "Kariuki affair" that most disturbed the government since it endangered the stability of the faction's own political bailiwick among the Kikuyu. The regime's reaction was swift. Jean-Marie Seroney and Martin Shikuku disappeared into detention and criminal prosecutions were brought against Mark Mwithaga and Chelegat Mutai. Kenyatta's regime never recovered its self-confidence and subsequent manifestations of left-wing or populist discontent were rapidly crushed. Thus, when George Anyona, who had provided a one-man opposition in the National Assembly, queried the renegotiation of a major railway project in 1977, incriminating Njonjo, he was detained, and Ngugi wa Thiong'o followed in December 1977, after the banning of his Kikuyu language production of “I Will Marry When I Want” at the Kamirithu village theater, which attacked land grabbing by the petite bourgeoisie of middle- and large-scale farmers and traders.

Following his accession to the presidency, Moi attempted to end these divisions, releasing all Kenya's detainees at the Uhuru Day celebrations on December 12, 1978. Even some of the former KPU leaders were rehabilitated and Odinga was appointed chairman first of the Cotton Lint and Seed Board and then of the more important Maize Board, while Achieng Oneko became chairman of the Kenya Film Corporation. Moi's first error was made when KANU headquarters refused to clear Odinga and his KPU associates to contest the September 1979 general election. This sent students at the University of Nairobi on to the streets for the first time under the new government.

The following year was bleak. Confronted with acute economic difficulties as expenditure on oil rose to 40 percent of imports while prices for Kenya's tea and coffee exports declined, corruption within the Ministry of Agriculture and the Maize Marketing Board further diminished the regime's legitimacy. Lines for posho appeared in Nairobi and before the long rains of March-May 1981, rumors of a coup became wide-spread. Moi's refusal to dismiss Nyagah, the minister of agriculture responsible for the grain fiasco, demonstrated a reluctance to tackle corruption within the government and the civil service. Moi and Njonjo attempted to divert criticism by denouncing subversive elements, concentrating their attacks on the promoters of "foreign ideologies” in the university.

Meanwhile, the Kikuyu were becoming alarmed as under cover of the economic decline and Nyayoism, Moi diverted resources away from Central Province to the Kalenjin. The demise of the Gikuyu-Embu- Meru Association (GEMA) in 1980 along with other "ethnic" associations, which were held to divide Kenyans, exemplified the new regime's gradual undermining of the essential institutions of the Kenyatta State. The Kikuyu capitalists, however, were able to safeguard their interests in the reconstituted Agricultural and Industrial Holdings Ltd. Middle-ranking Kikuyu officials, civil servants, and parastatal managers, in contrast, found themselves overtaken by less-qualified Kalenjin or other members of Moi's coalition. These processes have accelerated since the coup, presided over by Simeon Nyachae, who replaced Njonjo’ss associate, Jeremiah Kiereini, as chief secretary and head of the civil service.

The composition of the new government after the September 1979 elections provided the first dramatic indication of Moi's ambitions to institutionalize Kalenjin capitalism through political power and state patronage. Although only two Kalenjin were appointed to the cabinet, Henry Kosgey and Dr. Jonathan Ng'eno, six became assistant ministers: Wilberforce arap Kisiero,Francis Lotodo. Stanley Kiptoo Metto. Edward Cherutich Kiptanui Mulwa, Charles Murgor, and Isaac Salaat. Several also rewarded, such as Elijah Mwangale, whom the new regime has attempted to install as leader of the Luhya instead of the discredited Masinde Muliro, and Moses Mudavadi, Moi's brother-in-law, who both became cabinet ministers, and Mark Mwithaga, now out of jail, who was incorporated as the most senior member of the anti-Ngwataniro Kikuyu from Nakuru District to have secured election.

During the past six years a Kalenjin-dominated inner cabinet has developed, excluding Kibaki and the other Kikuyu ministers. It contains Isaac Salaat (Moi's former bodyguard), now an assistant minister in the Office of the President, and Aaron Kandie, another Tugen, who has been appointed director of personnel. Other prominent Kalenjin ministers are Nicholas Biwott (Moi's former political secretary), Henry Kosgey, Jonathan Ng'eno, Henry Cheboiwo (Moi's henchman in northern Baringo and another Tugen), Edward Kiptanui, and Stanley Metto.

Whereas the Kikuyu held 30 percent of cabinet posts throughout Kenyatta's rule, they have now fallen to four full cabinet ministers--Kibaki, Matiba, Magugu, and Maina Wanjigi--that is, one for each of the three main Kikuyu Districts plus Nairobi, and eight junior positions. In the meantime, the number of Kalenjin ministers has nearly doubled from 9 to 17 percent. The president has also advanced Kalenjin interests through his control of parastatal appointments and by exerting pressure on private industry, particularly Asian and multinational interests. His former Kalenjin rival, the Kipsigis Taita Towett, for example, replaced Eliud Mathu as head of Kenya Airways; Vincent arap Too of the Grain Growers' Co-operative supervises the remnants of the collapsed KFA; and Udi Gecaga, Kenyatta's former son-in-law, was replaced as the chairman of Lonrho (Kenya) in 1979 by Mark arap Too. Gecaga has been too closely identified with the Gatundu-Kiambaa faction. Not only was he Kenyatta's son-in-law but his uncle was Njoroge Mungai, the former foreign minister and Nairobi KANU chairman, who in 1977 had threatened to stand against Moi for the party's national vice-presidency. During the “Change the Constitution” campaign, Gecaga had used The Standard, Kenya's second largest but most prestigious English-language newspaper, to promote the movement. Following Moi's accession, Rowlands was pressed by the new regime to remove Gecaga, first from his position as chairman of The Standard and also from the board of Print-pak, its printing subsidiary, which produces packages and labels, and once this was achieved in September 1979, from his position as chairman of Lonrho East Africa.

Most of the literature on muItinational corporations emphasizes their power over Third World governments but the Gecaga affair demonstrated Lonrho's sensitivity to local political forces. The relationship can be a two-way process when peripheral interests become too important a share of the multinational' s total investment to be lost. In the year before Gecaga's dismissal, Lonrho companies in East and Central Africa made a pretax profit of British Pounds 35,030,000 or 34 percent of the group's total earnings. Although this region includes earnings from Zambia, Malawi, Uganda and Zaire, most of the profits come from Kenya, which earns more for Lonrho than any other part of Africa, or indeed the group's interests in the United Kingdom, which accounted for only 23 percent of its profits. Lonrho in Kenya controls a large number of subsidiaries and would seem to exert a stranglehold over the economy. In fact, this conspicuous position has enabled Kenya's "state capitalists" to treat Lonrho as if it was another parastatal and to use it as a source for their own additional accumulation. Its reputation as an international conglomerate and the important position of its Kenyan interests to the group's profitability made it an easy target for political takeover, first by the Kiambaa-Gatundu "family," and since 1979 by Moi and his Kalenjin business associates. Asian companies have also provided soft targets for the Kalenjin as they have sought to challenge Kikuyu economic hegemony.

Recent interpretations of Kenyan politics that have explained Njonjo’s demise as a result of a struggle between international and indigenous capitalists have missed the point. Both factions in the struggle for local political and economic dominance have been willing to reach agreements with their multinational associates. Moi and his front man, Mark arap Too, have been involved in a struggle not to promote indigenous capitalist forces but to oust the Kikuyu from their special relationship with international capital. Gecaga and the Kiambaa-Gatundu faction had, therefore, to be ousted from control over Lonrho. Njonjo was an obstacle because he remained the leading intermediary between British and Asian interests and the Kenyan economy. Kibaki, who has emerged as the patron of Italian interests in Kenya, such as Fiat which is now assembling family cars, posed less of a threat to the incorporation of the Kalenjin elite. Kikuyu businessmen, who prospered from their privileged access to state resources during the Kenyatta era, feel threatened because Moi has used his political power in the same way as Kenyatta to direct economic opportunities to the small coterie of Kalenjin businessmen. Ben Kipkorir's appointment as chairman of the Kenya Commercial Bank has demonstrated Moi's intention to assist the Kalenjin petite bourgeoisie with easier access to loans. Development measures have also been directed to Baringo and Elgeyo-Marakwet, of which the most notable is the Kerio River project. This use of the government-controll ed "porkbarrel" is inconvenient to Central Province, particularly given the depression in the Kenyan economy, but it does not threaten the regime's stability. Kikuyu commercial farmers and local traders have continued to prosper because of the economic foundations created in the area before 1978. Where the regime is in greatest danger is its attempt to oust the Kikuyu elite from their positions in the statist economy. The devaluation of the Kenya shilling between 1980 and 1981, and again by 15 percent in December 1982, the imposition of tighter import controls, and high interest rates have all hit Kenyan capitalists, most of whom are Asian or Kikuyu. Francis Macharia, the chairman of the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Joe Wanjui, chairman of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, have both contended that the measures will increase rather than reduce Kenya's indebtedness, making it more difficult for companies to meet their debt repayments while increasing the cost of new imported capital equipment.

These capitalists are having to adapt to a state that is hostile to Kikuyu interests. Asian businessmen and the multinational corporations now appoint Kalenjin directors to act as intermediaries with the government. Kikuyu businessmen are being excluded from positions that provide inside information, easy access to loans, and new investment opportunities. Discontent is also rife among the Kikuyu old guard who provide the bureaucracy in KANU headquarters. They consider that the party for which they have worked since the early 1960s has been "captured" by their former rivals, KADU. Apart from Moi, Justus ole Tipis is the national treasurer and Robert Matano was, until July 1985, the national secretary. Both were prominent KADU figures. Following Matano's defeat in the KANU elections, he was replaced by Ronald Ngala's son, Noah Katana Ngala, as the senior politician from Coast Province.

A minister of state in the Office of the President, ole Tipis performs for Moi the services that Mbiyu Koinange provided for Kenyatta, supervising the provincial administration, the GSU, and internal security. As national treasurer of KANU he also occupies one of the key posts within the party from which he can control the election clearance procedure and exclude opponents. This KADU revival has awakened Kikuyu fears that Moi is attempting to destroy the Kenyatta State and to replace it with a Kalenjin-centered polity.

MOI, THE MILITARY, AND THE POLICE

Following the attempted coup on August 1, 1982, Moi has consolidated his hold over the army and the reconstituted air force. Rumors had abounded of another coup, or possibly two, which were supposed to have been timed to take place the following weekend when Moi had left to attend the Organization of African Unity conference in Tripoli. These were supposed to have been organized by rival factions among the middle-ranking officer corps, many of whom were Kikuyu or Kamba who resented the rapid promotion of Kalenjin officers and the destruction of the Kenyatta State. The air force coup was perhaps a preemptive populist bid by the noncommissioned officers and the ranks, following the example of Master Sergeant Doe and Flight Lieutenant Rawlings in Liberia and Ghana. Certainly, the fulcrum of the atttempt was the Eastleigh Air Force Base, situated next door to Mathare Valley - Nairobi's worst shantytown.

Most of those subsequently court-martialed and imprisoned for their role in the events of August 1 were Kikuyu or Luo. These ethnic groups during the colonial era had benefited from widespread mission education. In contrast to the army, recruits to the air force were comparatively well educated, and many of them had been school friends of students at the university, who soon became entangled in the attempt to seize control of the Voice of Kenya Broadcasting Station, which is situated next to the university and student hostels. The government initially attempted to blame Odinga and the Luo for the coup. News of Moi's overthrow had been warmly received in Nyanza Province and among Nairobi's Luo population. Raila Odinga, the Jaramogi's son, Otieno Mak'Onyango, and Professor Vincent Otieno were arrested and subsequently detained and implicated in the coup. Yet despite its efforts the government could not prove that Odinga had financed the attempt, although during the previous six months he had been holding secret meetings with Iraqi diplomats at his daughter's house. Suspicion had fallen upon Odinga and the Luo because they had been in confrontation with the regime in the previous three months, following Odinga's announcement to British MPs that he was planning to form, with George Anyona, a Kenyan Socialist Party. Legislation had been rushed through the National Assembly by Njonjo to turn Kenya from a de facto into a de jure one-party state. Odinga's meetings with the Iraqis may well have been to discuss financial support for the new party rather than for a coup. The former KPU leader, however, was placed under house arrest that was only lifted in October 1983. Both Moi and Kenyatta have had an exaggerated sense of the threat he poses to the regime.

In practice the group that lost most from the abortive coup was Njonjo's supporters. Bell Gethi, the commissioner of police; Peter Mbuthia, his successor as commandant of the GSU; and Major-General P. N. Kariuki, the commander of the air force, were all dismissed and subsequently convicted of having failed to take immediate action to prevent the coup. They had hesitated for three hours before moving against the rebels at six o’clock on Sunday morning. Not until nine o'clock, after another three hours of preparation, did forces loyal to the government reach the Mombasa Road roundabout and begin to edge their way along Uhuru Highway into the city center. It seems likely that these senior officers were implicated in one of the Kikuyu coups and had been caught off guard, uncertain how to react to the air force's preemptive bid. Only when Kariuki had made it clear that as air force commander he did not know what was going on did the GSU and the army act.

Chief of Staff Mulinge, a Kamba, in contrast remained loyal to Moi throughout and was not implicated in the coup prepared for August 8. Support for Moi in the army remains weak despite the changes at the top since August 1982. In May 1985, for example, it was reported that 40 middle-ranking officers were detained. They had planned to assassinate Moi on Madaraka Day, June 1, as he reviewed the armed forces. The lower and middle ranks of the officer corps remain full of discontented Kikuyu and Kamba. Mulinge is extremely unpopular and is regarded as being too closely associated with Moi and to have amassed too much wealth. Many have speculated that following his retirement as chief of staff, Moi may appoint him minister of defense, a post that has been incorporated in the Office of the President since 1979, as a reward for his loyalty although this has not yet happened. In the recent reshuffle, pressure within the army against further Kalenjinization and warnings from the Special Branch have forced Moi to abandon his protégé, Lt Gen. John Sawe, the former army commander and deputy chief of the General Staff, whose promotion seemed to have been cleared by the removal of more senior Kikuyu officers such as Major General Joe Musomba, who was dispatched in 1985 to be ambassador to Pakistan. Under pressure from his advisers, Moi decided to promote Air Force Commander Lt· Gen. Mahmoud Mohammed-the brother of Moi's minister of state in the Office of the president-to Mulinge's position as military supremo This is an astute move since as a Somali, he lacks an independent political base and will be entirely dependent upon Moi's support. Mohammed, moreover, will not be tempted to become involved with one of the Kikuyu, Kamba, or Luo factions in opposition to Moi or to stage a coup. Major General Lenges, has been selected to replace Sawe, a Samburu, for the same reasons (who has been appointed Kenya's high commissioner to Canada) as army commander. In addition, the president has attempted to reduce Kikuyu criticism by the appointment of Major General Dedan Gichuru to Mohammed's former post as air force chief. The Kikuyu and Kamba, however, still form the largest element in the officer corps. One-third of lieutenant colonels and colonels and one-quarter of the higher ranks of brigadiers and above are Kikuyu and the Kamba component is even larger, while the Kalenjin hold only one-fifth of the senior posts, the same proportion as the Luo in the middle ranks.

The number of Kikuyu in the police and the GSU has also been drastically reduced since Kenyatta's death. Both are now commanded by Meru-- Bernard Njinu and Evaristus M'Mbijjiwe-- and senior Kalenjin officers have been promoted. In consequence, Moi has had to be sensitive to Meru interests and has incorporated Jackson Angaine, “The King of Meru," into his coalition, despite the fact that he was a prominent member of the Change the Constitution Movement, and has ditched Gilbert Mbijjiwe, who had become a political liability because of financial improprieties that were attracting much adverse publicity. Harrison Musau, a Kamba, remains Njiinu's deputy in the police, but three of the eight provincial heads of Special Branch are now Kalenjin, as is the new head of the CID, Noah arap Too. The deputy commissioner of the GSU, Kosgey, is yet another recent Kalenjin appointment and a relative of the cabinet minister. In the army, police, and the GSU, and to a lesser degree in the air force, Moi has successfully destroyed the Kikuyu hegemony left by Kenyatta.

THE NJONJO AFFAIR AND MOI'S SEARCH FOR LEGITIMACY AMONG THE KIKUYU

Moi, like Kenyatta, has attempted to construct a coalition of Kenya's ethic subnationalist leaders to legitimize his authority. In particular, he has sought support from Luhya in Western Province and in Nakuru District from the Kikuyu of the diaspora who were dissatisfied with Kenyatta's performance. Elijah Mwangale, the foreign minister, and Peter Okondo, another survivor from the KADU era, now minister of commerce and industry, have been promoted as the main Luhya leaders to forestall the resurrection of Moi's old rival--Masinde Muliro. An attempt was even made to incorporate Martin Shikuku as an assistant minister, although his strident denunciation of Kenya's Asian community and multinational corporations undermined confidence in the regime and made Moi's task of insinuating Kalenjin into their board rooms more difficult.

Njonjo's downfall was an essential ingredient in the construction of these new alliances. He had become an over-mighty subject. Moreover, during his 20 years as attorney general and minister of constitutional affairs in control of the police, judiciary, and the processes of political and company registration, he had made enemies, not least among the Kikuyu. The remnants of the Kiambaa-Gatundu faction led by the former GEMA chairman, Njenga Karume, and Ngengi Muigai, Kenyatta's nephew; the Chotara-Kubai- Kanja ex-Mau Mau group and Kibaki's political associates among the Kikuyu capitalists- -all had good reason to hate Njonjo. His position as the defender of Asian and British interests also hindered the Kalenjinization of the economy, and ever since the trial of his cousin--Andrew Muthemba--for treason in 1980, his loyalty had been suspect.

Moi was pushed into the move by Shikuku, who held the former attorney general responsible for his detention in 1975; Elijah Mwangale, then minister for tourism; and the radical Bungoma MP, Daniel Sifuna, who was to emerge from the affair as KANU's chief whip. They were supported by Justus ole Tipis from Narok, and John Keen from Kajiado North, who wished to settle scores with Njonjo and his Masai ally, Stanley ole Oloitipitip. Njonjo's disgrace seemed to provide the president with an easy way to enhance his support and to balm the wounds created by the 1982 coup attempt.

Since the Kariuki affair in 1975, and the Change the Constitution Movement in October 1976, Njonjo had enjoyed little support within his own Kikuyu community outside of his bailiwick in southwest Kiambu. It appears that Moi, Shikuku, and ole Tipis were convinced that he could be sacrificed to assuage the regime's populist critics without threatening Moi's already precarious relations with Kikuyu capitalists and Kenyatta's former following. Indeed, the disgrace of their archenemy seemed designed to secure support even within Kikuyuland. This proved to be a serious miscalculation. Njonjo's bailiwick in southwest Kiambu remained loyal. Three of the ex minister's leading supporters-- Peter Kinyanjui in Njonjo's former seat at Kikuyu, Andrew Ngumba in Mathare Valley, and Clement Gachanja in his battle with Dr. Njoroge Mungai in Dagoretti--emerged victorious from the September 1983 elections. Arthur Magugu in Githunguri, Njonjo's closest remaining defender in the cabinet, was also returned, having successfully mobilized the members of the Mbari ya Igi, which had been constructed by his grandfather in the 1890s, to defeat Joe Karanja's challenge from the Kiambaa-Gatundu faction. Josiah Njonjo's old patronage network of mbari alliances delivered support for his son even when he was being denounced by everyone else, including many Kikuyu, as a traitor.

The long saga of the judicial commission of inquiry under Justice Cecil Miller, which sat from January until August 1984, was a miscalculation by the anti-Njonjo forces. Njonjo's attackers were unable to find any major misdemeanors with which they could identify him, without discrediting Moi and his cabinet supporters. As the "trial" continued, support for Njonjo rallied among the Kikuyu. Moi's position became extremely precarious as the group closed ranks, and the crisis was exacerbated by the complete failure of the long rains in 1984, which resulted in severe famine in certain pastoral districts and food shortages elsewhere. In August, when Njonjo threatened to take the stand and to disclose governmental corruption, the inquiry was hastily concluded within three days. It would appear as if a deal was negotiated, once Njonjo had called the bluff on his critics, whereby he would be allowed to retire and to receive a presidential pardon in return for keeping quiet and for not implicating Moi in his financial transactions. By then, however, considerable damage had been inflicted upon the regime. To restore his shattered influence the president had to seek new allies among the discontented Kikuyu factions. Following the 1983 elections, Matiba was appointed to the cabinet, along with Maina Wanjigi, thereby binding the Kibaki faction more firmly to Moi. This, however, could only be carried so far because their interests, like those of the Kiambaa-Gatundu faction, clashed with the president's efforts to advance his Kalenjin business partners. He had to be more adventurous and redraw the system of factional alliances. Moi demonstrated his political creativity, or perhaps merely his desperation, with an attempt to divide the Kikuyu by co-opting the anti-Ngwataniro faction in Nakuru and their ex-Mau Mau allies in Central Province. This process had started as soon as Moi became president, although little progress was made until Njonjo was toppled by his Kalenjin and Luhya enemies in 1983, when the courtship began in earnest as Moi sought Kikuvu support. The president's task is extremely difficult because Kenyatta effectively bound the most prominent leaders of the rival Kikuyu political and economic factions into his ethnic subnationalist coalition during the early 1960s and tightened their loyalty to his regime by judicious dispensation of patronage until 1978. Any faction that really mattered was incorporated into the Kiambaa- Gatundu alliance. Those who were left outside were marginalized and lost their popular support. Consequently, Moi has been able to entice only the weakest Kikuyu factions into his coalition, while the macro-political destruction of Kenyatta's patronage network by the new government has severely damaged the legitimacy of his Kikuyu allies.

These charges have produced significant shifts in local balances of power in several Kikuyu Districts--most notably in Nakuru. Dixon Kihika Kimani--one of the leaders of the Change the Constitution group and treasurer of GEMA and its various holding companies--fell from power in 1979. The Ngwataniro faction disintegrated when confronted with the new regime's hostility and withdrawal of patronage. Kimani’s local rivals, Mwithaga, Kubai, and Kariuki Chotara, have been rehabilitated, although, Mwithaga, (like Shikuku) proved to be too populist to be accommodated and has been dropped. Since 1983, Chotara, now Nakuru KANU chairman and a nominated MP - and Kubai, who became an assistant minister in the Office of the President in July 1985, have enabled the president to court the Kikuyu masses (especially former Mau Mau) who had settled in the Rift Valley and to become less dependent upon Kibaki and Kenyatta's associates as mediators. Chotara has even been able to secure the support of Waruru Kanja, which has enabled Moi to undermine Vice-President Kibaki's position in Nyeri.

Chotara, however, seems recently to have antagonized too many people with his draconian control over Nakuru, and despite desperate attempts to "twin" his KANU branch with those in the surrounding districts to promote joint harambee schemes, his political days may be numbered. His crude populism may have been too great a political embarrassment for Moi, although Fred Kubai might survive Chotara's demise. Certainly, Kanja at the February 1986 Mau Mau gathering at Ruringu made strenuous attempts to disassociate himself from Chotara’s clique. This suggests that yet another major realignment may be taking place in Kikuyu politics, incorporating certain elements of Njonjo’s support, such as Kamotho (Njonjo’s Mau Mau) and perhaps Kanja's former enemy, G. G Kariuki, but not Njonjo himself, in a new Kikuyu populist movement based on Central province and Laikipia rather than Nakuru and Naivasha. This would seem to have the president's support but given the hostility that has emerged within the ex-Mau Mau camp to Chotara during the last six months, Kikuyu politics is in a state of flux and Moi may find it very difficult to disentangle his alliance with Chotara without destabilizing North Nakuru and Baringo.

CONCLUSION

Faced by the fairly united opposition of Kikuyu capitalists and diminishing support for his henchmen, Chotara and Elijah Mwangale, Moi's position is extremely insecure. Although the upswing in the economy --especially the rising price of coffee and tea--will buy the president a little time, Kenya is still faced in the next decade with acute economic difficulties. During the 1960s and early 1970s, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 6.6 percent per annum, but between 1979 and 1983, it increased at only 4 per cent, and in 1984 it was zero, while GDP per capita declined throughout this period. Kenya's population growth rate of 4.1 percent annually means that over 300,000 school leavers, mainly at the primary level, enter the job market every year while only 20,000 new jobs are created. It is estimated that out of a labor pool of 7 million, only 1 million are in wage employment. Since nearly half of Kenya's population, which numbers 20 million, are under the age of 15, the situation can only deteriorate as people leave the rural areas for the towns. In recent years Nairobi's population has grown at 11 percent per annum. Moreover, the time bought by land consolidation and the opening of European farms in the Rift Valley to African settlement a generation ago has been exhausted. Planners have warned that Kenya's economy must grow by at least 15 percent per year for the remainder of this century if disaster is to be averted. With a population predicted to reach 34 million by the year 2000, Kenya faces sufficient problems without Moi's attempts to dismantle the Kenyatta State, which was so successful, to advance his own Kalenjin ethnic group and its supporters among the Kikuyu Diaspora and the Luhya.

Time is running out. Since the Ruringu meeting, Moi, through Mwangale at the national level and Kanja in Nyeri has been attempting to discredit Kibaki, who has been a loyal and effective vice-president.

Rumors of coups and assassination plots abound and it briefly appeared in April 1986 as if Moi would be tempted to replace Kibaki with Mwangale as vice-president- Mwangale, like the president himself, however, lacks the abilities required to operate a sophisticated state despite his effectiveness in the Byzantine intrigues of Kenyan politics. He enjoys little support in his own district, which had the highest number of people arrested for prematurely celebrating the 1982 coup attempt, and most Luhya continue to regard Masinde Muliro as their leader. During this phase when the ground appeared to be being prepared for Kibaki's demotion or destruction, tension rose. This was a dangerous moment for Moi since the Kikuyu might have decided that it was essential to act to defend their economic hegemony before Kibaki's demise, for once he ceases to be vice-president their only recourse will be a military coup.

The spate of arrests of the Mwakenya Group in April and May 1986 for publishing "Mpatanishi” demonstrated Moi's political paranoia and the widespread hostility to the regime among the Kikuyu, Luo, and Taita. In themselves, this group is a powerless clique of discontented intellectuals and former student leaders, many of whom had been on the fringes of earlier left-wing and populist movements. Like Ngugi wa Thiong'o and his associates in London, or Maina-wa-Kinyatti and David Mukaru-Ng'ang' a and the Kikuyu radicals inside Kenya, they do not represent a threat to the regime. Their disorganized activities, however, provided the government with a useful excuse to clamp down and to demonstrate the power of the state. More people are now detained than at any period since the Somali Shifta campaign shortly after independence. This spate of detentions, moreover, provided a warning to discontented factions in the army and among Kikuyu businessmen as to what will happen to them if they plot against the regime. Nevertheless, it is the Kikuyu capitalists rather than the Kikuyu populists that the Moi government has most to fear.

The weakness of the regime stems from the fact that Moi has been less successful than Kenyatta at using the state to promote the interests of his own ethnic following. Kenyatta had emerged from detention in 1961 to find Kikuyuland, particularly Kiambu, deeply divided after 30 years of class formation and increasing conflict. Yet despite four years of civil war between 1952 and 1956 and the social engineering campaign of the colonial administration to promote a conservative African yeomanry, he quickly asserted his control and created a relatively united Central Province coalition that incorporated Murang'a, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, and Nyandarua as well as other interests into the Kiambu alliance.

Tensions, of course, existed but Kenyatta's political legitimacy enabled him to transcend district and class divisions within his Kikuyu ethnic constituency. In contrast, Moi has not been able to weld the Kalenjin into a coherent coalition. Unlike Kenyatta's Kiambu Kikuyu, Moi's Tugen are too insignificant- -both numerically and economically- -to enable the president to use them as the focal point of a Kalenjin-centered Kenya State. Even the larger and more sophisticated subgroups in the Kalenjin coalition - the Nandi and Kipsigis--are wary of becoming too closely identified with Moi. Their attitude to the new regime is schizophrenic. While they welcome the influx of development funds and new job opportunities that Moi has brought to the Kalenjin, they also resent the primacy of the Tugen and Baringo. Moreover, Nandi and Kericho Districts are densely populated areas and many people are suspicious of Moi's Luhya allies. In addition, class consciousness is increasing, and the poor and landless are beginning to resent accumulation by Moi's associates. This was, of course, equally true of the Kikuyu landless under Kenyatta, but Moi's Kalenjin capitalists have been less able to secure support from the peasantry. In Central Province during the 1960s and 1970s ordinary Kikuyu benefited from secondary industrialization, cheap loans, and government marketting policies. Although Moi has disbanded the KFA and has attempted to destroy the Kikuyu control over the co-operative movement and to divert resources toward the Kalenjin and Luhya, the rewards have not yet filtered down to the rural population of the Rift Valley and Western provinces. The Kalenjin elite are therefore , much more isolated in their own communities than were Kikuyu capitalists once Kenyatta had resurrected his subnationalist constituency. The Rift Valley lacks the self-sustaining dynamic rural economy that developed in Central Province during the 1960s. In deed, such an economy is unlikely to develop in the agriculturally marginal Kalenjin heartland. As a result, even Moi’s control over the wider Kalenjin community is far from secure. Kenya’s recent political difficulties and the increasingly repressive measures taken against academics and dissidents, however, reflect the president’s insecurity and fear of the Kikuyu. They have been alienated by his endeavors to promote economic development in the Rift Valley and Western Kenya and are fighting to preserve their privileged economic status, which was Kenyatta’s legacy to Central Province, and to prevent Moi’s restructuring of the patronage network. Unless Moi abandons his efforts, this struggle will probably grow worse and bodes ill for the future stability of Kenya.

NOTES

The author would like to thank Jennifer Widner for many conversations on Kenyan politics and for her kind hospitality, and the Master and Fellows of Magdalene College. Cambridge, for providing an academic home

DAVID W. THROUP

Ruto fliflop cannot be explained

2010-07-26T09:24:00.002+02:00

Never again to the culture of lies

2010-07-19T09:05:00.000+02:00

Why is Ruto jittery on land? An explanation for the NO campaign

2010-05-03T17:09:00.003+02:00

BY CHARLES MULILA
Administration Police houses that went up in flames on Monday are located on a controversial plot allocated to a firm associated with a powerful cabinet minister from the Rift Valley province. The plot, LR number 209/13332 was allocated to Rosestar Properties Limited, whose directors at the time of formation were listed the minister and and a Mr.Jamal. Rosestar then used the plot as a security to secure a Sh.200 million overdraft at the collapsed Trust Bank limited in 1996. During the Monday inferno, scores of people were injured and goods worth millions of shillings destroyed.

Two years ago, property worth millions of shillings was burnt at the same property. Investigators are yet to unravel the mystery of the fire then, and now.Interest on the overdraft has since accumulated to a whooping Sh.1.2 billion, according to an official at Central Bank of Kenya who declined to be named. The debt is being chased by the Central Bank's DPF department. Documents obtained by the Business Times show that the said a firm associated with the individual procured a Sh.200 million loan from the collapsed Trust Bank Bank and offered Government land as collateral. The land in question, LR number 209/13332, valued at Sh.500 million by October 1996 is owned by the Office of the President. But is also claimed by Rosestar. The partner however resigned on 14th January 1997, after the firm secured the Sh.200million from Trust Bank.

The money was wired to the firm on 11th November 1996, a letter written by then Trust Bank officials in our possession shows. It is believed that the loan, and many others advanced to politically correct individuals led to the ultimate collapse of the bank, in which billions of savings were sank. The bank collapsed in 2001.

Before it went under, frantic efforts to recover debts by the Central Bank of Kenya(CBK) appointed statutory manager Rose Ndetho yielded no results. In January 2000, Ndetho wrote to the minister and other directors of the firm in question demanding Sh.545,786,606, as principle and accrued interest from the debt. Detho's letter said in part..”We are concerned that you have not responded to our demands to settle this account…if we shall not have heard from you within seven days from the date here of, we shall proceed as appropriate without any further reference to you”, Detho's hard hitting letter said. Communications in our possession indicates that earlier correspondence between the then PS incharge of Provincial Administration and Internal Security Zakayo Cheruiyot and the firm associated with the minister had been exchanged.

In one such communication, the firm firm wrote to the PS demanding that he (Cheruiyot) removes the APSs at LR number 209/13332, which according to the firm was private property. It would appear that the land in question had been allocated to the minister's firm, but the allocation revoked in unclear circumstances.

The letter, addressed to the PS said in part…You area ware that the land is private property and hence we are asking you to remove your personel within the next seven(7) days to enable the Bank to which the property is charge realize their security. The PS neither responded not acted on the ultimatum. But suffice is to say that todate, the plot still belongs to the Government. A check at Ardhi House indicated that the Title Deed still belongs to the Government, raising questions about the authenticity of the title given to Trust Bank as surety for its principal loan of Sh.200million. Currently, the loan interest has risen to Sh.1.2 biillion. Efforts to get a comment from Ms Ndetho, the director of financial services at CBK were fruitless. Not a single coin has been paid of the loan.

The Star

IS RUTO TRYING TO SELL PLOT FOR 1.2BN?
Date: Sat 06th March 2010

BY STAR TEAM

AGRICULTURE Minister William Ruto and fellow directors of Rose star Properties want to sell back to government a prime piece of land that was allocated to them in Nairobi during the Moi regime.

Ruto has reportedly been in talks with the Office of the President to sell the plot LR No 209/13332. It covers 0.871ha in. Nairobi's Community area within Upper Hill, next to National Social Security Fund headquarters. "The allotees are not servicing a loan and have tried to sell the land to the office of the President at Sh1.2 billion," Minister of Lands James Orengo told the Star this week.

"The allottees acquired a bank loan which was not used to develop the plot as is required by the Lands Act", said Mr Orengo. He is now intends to revoke the allocation. The land belonged to the Ministry of Immigration and was allocated to Rosestar Properties by then President Moi before the title was processed by then Lands Commissioner Wilson Gachanja.

The Depositor Protection Fund records the directors of Rosestar Properties as William Ruto and Charles Mwangi. In recent correspondence from Rosestar, Cyrus Jirongo has also apparently identified himself as a director. Ruto and Jirongo were in the Youth for Kanu '92 lobby group that campaigned for Moi in the 1992 multiparty elections.

Moi won the election against strong opposition from Kenneth Matiba and the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. The Rosestar plot was occupied by Administration Police officers until mid- 2009 when a mysterious fire razed their wooden houses and they had to move. Rosestar was allocated the plot in 1996 and used it to take a loan from the collapsed Trust Bank, whose Managing Director was Ajay Shah. By December 2000, the outstanding loan had accrued interest and stood at 5h693,355. The Deposit Protection Fund and the Central Bank of Kenya are holding the title as security. The DPF document remarks "Property is government land. Matter with Ochieng Oduol Advocate. Recovery doubtful"

Yesterday, Jirongo disowned any involvement. "I am not a director in the said company. If you want to verify facts just go to the AG offices and get the records from then registrar of companies. I have never tried to sell any land to the Office of the President," stated Jirongo. However the Commissioner of Lands received a letter in April 2009 signed by 'Hon SK Jirongo" saying "the property is currently charged and we are in the process of redeeming the title for development of the property". The letter said the Minister of Internal Security and Secretary Provincial Administration had agreed to vacate the property.

"I have discussed this issue with the Head of the Civil Service and he is in agreement that this is a private property and therefore not available for allocation to the disabled," the letter states. "That's not my signature on that, letter because I have never written ,any, letter to anybody. Any link to myself can only be motivated by Raila-Ruto wars and them trying to use my name, said Jirongo. Ruto did riot return several calls made by the Star to' his mobile telephone this week.

While cancelling several land title, deeds three weeks ago, Lands minister James Orengo said the land was irregularly allocated to Rosestar Properties Limited. Yesterday, the Star learnt that the minister has already ordered the revocation of the title deed and the return of the land to the Ministry of Immigration. Rosestar Properties was one of Trust Bank's largest debtors when it collapsed. Trust Bank was run down by insider borrowing, unsecured loans and charging of fake titles deeds on loans.

The bank collapsed in 1998 with close to Sh12 billion belonging to depositors. It re-opened three years later and was again shut by the then CBK governor Nahashon Nyagah in 2001. Former Trust bank depositors and shareholders have been fighting a long battle to try and recover some of their lost funds.

They claim that the Deposit Protection Fund and the judiciary have blacked them out on the latest developments after the bank was shut down for the second time by Central Bank. "Most loans were basically insider borrowing. Directors came up with companies and through their nominees and borrowed large sums of money from the bank," stated a former director. Trust Bank had close to 25,000 depositors. The missing funds amounted to Sh12.5 billion.

Ajay Shah was the Managing Director of Trust Bank when it went down. Just before Trust Bank collapsed, Azim Virjee was also a director together with Ajay Shah, Praful Shah and Nithin Chandaria. Praful is also the director of Otis Elevators and Kenya Canvas. Nithin has since become a fugitive in US. Yesterday, the shareholders vowed that they will fight on however long it takes.

When the bank collapsed, many shareholders were heart broken and died. Others have sold their houses and everything they had. We cannot be impoverished when Ajay Shah walks the streets of Kenya a free man," stated a shareholder. ' They accused Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) of breaching a scheme of arrangement where the bank was to operate for four years to recover funds owed to depositors and shareholders.

"The scheme of arrangement was prepared for protection of shareholders and depositors. It was approved by the high court. However, Nahashon Nyagah (then CBK governor) disregarded it and shut it down," stated another former director, who was in the 2001 shareholder team to revive the bank.

Trust Bank loans and eventual collapse of the bank touches on the very sensitive nerves of the then KANU government. It is an issue that has never been resolved. The wahindi who collapsed trade bank are fugitives to date.

You can be sure that once the referendum campaigns start proper, we will hear the real reasons why some people are opposing the land chapter and the kadhis courts. This is where Ruto and Moi will be exposed for who they really are.

The fact that Ruto's company Rosestar have not contested Orengo's title revocation three months after the order was issued clearly tells us that Ruto wants to quietly blackmail Kibaki into ordering the purchase. The immigration department would start development on it. The referendum will certainly change the political matrix.

So when Ruto talks land, ask which land he is talking about. It is certainly not Chebarus squatters who are in his mind. It is HIS grabbed land. This is where he comes together with Moi and Jirongo. Talk of birds of a feather, and there you got them.

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A land lease shrouded in mystery

By Vitalis Kimutai

The land lease for multinational tea companies operating in the South Rift has been shrouded in mystery.

While the initial lease is said to have been 99 years, the same is said to have been revised upward to 999 years without consultation with or consent from the residents.

James Finlay Tea Kenya, Unilever (to be renamed Brooke Bond), George Williamsons, Lesla and Sotik Tea are some of the multinational companies with huge chunks of tea estates.

Local leaders have recently demanded that the ownership should revert to the local community and the tea estates be managed by the local authorities on behalf of the residents. Debate has been raging over the years on the circumstances surrounding take-over of the land by white settlers.

Forcibly Taken
“The land was leased out to settlers in the pretext that it was idle while in reality the residents had livestock and crops on it,” Peter Cheruiyot, the chairman Kaptuigeny / Chepchabas Welfare Society, said.

Most of the land is said to have been forcibly taken away from the residents without due regard to human rights issues and the prevailing laws at the time.

The Devonshire White Paper of 1923 clearly states conditions governing land tenure in the colony.

It states that whenever there were conflicts of interest on land use, the interests of the natives were to come before those of white settlers.

The post-independence Sessional Paper No 10 stressed prioritisation of the economic resources / chances for the locals.

SOURCE: Sunday Standard, 18th April 2010

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I am happy it is Ruto leading campaign against the draft

By Wanyonyi Wambilyanga

I follow the ongoing debate on the Proposed Constitution with glee. Not because the process is so informed, but rather because the comical characters involved.

Agriculture Minister William Ruto wants to campaign for a 'No' vote in the referendum. Some members of the clergy, too, want to say 'No' to the Proposed Constitution. While it is their right to say whatever they want, I am grateful that it is no longer the Church but a few clerics who are crying foul over the document and a few politicians.

Some of the arguments such people are presenting are so misinformed to an extent of being abstract. A top cleric says abortion is allowed in the Proposed Constitution. How far from the truth can he be? This fellow simply has not read the document. He wants to campaign against something he has not looked at. Isn't this the height of buffoonery? Ruto is crying foul over regional government and land, among other issues. He failed to convince his fellow MPs on numerous occasions why we need to alter the draft so when he calls for an extension of the debate who is he going to talk to?

Land grabbing and ethnicity are two devils we have been forced to live with. Politicians have perfected debauchery in grabbing land and used the tribal card to pit neighbour against neighbour. When a land policy is to be entrenched in the constitution, these chaps are raising a furore.

Show me anyone who owns tens of thousands of acres and I wills show you his relationship with the present and former governments, and the squatters living on the periphery of his land.

I am, however, happy that is is Ruto who will lead the onslaught since apart from Cherangany MP Joshua Kutuny, his crony, I do not think there is any other person Ruto can convince on matters constitution. Ruto has not been doing a good job at winning hearts when it comes to voting.

When he supported Gatundu South MP Uhuru Kenyatta in the 2002 presidential race, it was a debacle. And Ruto has never grasped any opportunity to right his political character. But he is not alone. It was interesting to watch the Reverend Mutava Musyimi among 26 MPs vouching for a 'No' vote.

My dear Reverend aren't these the same legislators who walked out on you when you needed them most? Musyimi pushed for his amendments and the MPs walked out on him when it was time to vote. Will I be wrong therefore to say that this newfound alliance is unholy and its foundation is greed and deceit? Watch out you are not left with egg on your face when the country votes 'Yes' and your faithful abandon you too.

It would be interesting for the clerics to vote 'No' and the day after the vote they read an advert in the papers that the Judiciary is looking for a Chief Kadhi; and that the country will have to put up with fellows who, riding on choppers, apportioned themselves land the size of provinces. What shall it benefit you to gratify your ego and lose your faithful, constituents, and their trust?
Citizens who have been denied their rightful share of land, their heritage, because some powerful persons grabbed more than their fair share must say 'Yes' to the Proposed Constitution to address historical injustices.

The writer is Chief Sub-Editor

Weekend Editions

fwanyonyi@standardmedia.co.ke

SOURCE: Sunday Standard, 11th April 2010
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Provisions on land a thorn in the flesh of politicians

By Emeka-Mayaka Gekara

The chapter on land is a critical weapon for politicians opposed to the proposed constitution.

They have rejected proposals that Parliament puts a ceiling on land holding, the functions of the National Land Commission and on repossession of irregularly acquired land.

The draft says the commission will administer all public land on behalf of the national government and counties but MPs opposed to the draft say counties should be empowered to administer land as well as game parks and reserves.

The MPs, mainly from the Rift Valley, include Higher Education minister William Ruto, assistant ministers Jebii Kilimo, Jackson Kiptanui and MPs Peris Simam, Sammy Mwaita, Boaz Kaino, Zakayo Cheruiyot, Mithika Linturi, Elijah Lagat and Joshua Kutuny.

The MPs claim that some communities will lose their land while a group of elders from the region has made the baffling assertion that all land titles will be cancelled if the draft is enacted into law.

Absentee landlords
Mr Nzamba Kitonga, the chairman of the Committee of Experts on law review, describes the views as “completely untrue.”

The draft only provides for a national policy that requires absentee landlords to pay taxes on idle land or make it available for use by other Kenyans.

Due to these provisions, there are fears that big landowners – rich political and business families as well as churches – could be pulling strings to derail the constitution.

During debate in Parliament on April 1, a spirited fights to amend the land chapter failed to go through.

Chepalungu MP Isaac Ruto unsuccessfully tried to amend Article 40 which compels the government to protect the right to own property, but excludes irregularly acquired resources. The bid was seen by some MPs as a bid to protect grabbers.

The MP also unsuccessfully tried to amend Article 60 which says land shall be held, used and managed in a manner that is equitable, efficient and in accordance with the security of land rights.

Mr Ruto wanted to insert the words “for all land holders, users and occupiers in good faith” immediately after the word “rights”.

It was argued that if change was accepted, invaders and squatters would justify their action, claiming it was in good faith.

The proposed set of laws has made a strong attempt to ensure marginalised groups such as women have access to land by spelling out that land administration should eliminate gender discrimination.

But the National Land Commission is probably the major hallmark of the new law. Public land in counties will be held by a county government in trust for the residents but administered by the commission.

SOURCE: Daily Nation, 23rd April 2010
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Don't seek shortcuts nor issue threats if your decision is 'No'
By Gitau Warigi

Some Kalenjin leaders opposed to sections of the draft constitution are citing clauses on land and in particular, the creation of the National Land Commission.

It is important we demystify what they are putting out in order to get to the bottom of their threats. Contrary to what they are saying, their anger is not really about the enactment of a minimum or maximum ceiling on individual land ownership. Actually, they could care less about that.

Their real beef is that land management will remain under the control of the central government. They are furious because the draft denies them control of public land in their local fiefdoms that they want to exercise through a regional jimbo.

This is precisely why they have been shouting themselves hoarse that the draft needs to be amended to accommodate regional, or rather provincial, governments.

The draft has actually placed them in a bind. They would have much preferred a draft that recognised Rift Valley as a wholesome jimbo, which they dream of controlling. Yet even if they got their jimbo without this land control component, they would still cry foul.

However, the draft opted to go for counties, which will operate without much institutional reference to the existing provincial setup. This arrangement, of course, denies these politicians the control they seek over the entire Rift Valley.

The way they were recently rebuffed by Maasai leaders led by William ole Ntimama is a pointer to the sure path to be taken by other Kalenjin counties in the Rift Valley like Nakuru, Samburu, Laikipia and Turkana.

None of them is keen on a self-styled “land commissar” somewhere in Eldoret or Kericho professing to oversee their land affairs.

We often forget that provinces, more so Rift Valley, were not pre-ordained. They were, and remain, arbitrary creations of the colonial government. It is not just Kalenjin who found themselves locked within these new borders. Scores of other ethnicities, both indigenous and immigrant, inhabited this province.

A scheme where just one community asserts as its exclusive right the determination of land and settlement issues within this province must be rejected. The recurrent cases of IDPs in that same province already tells enough.

It is shame church leaders find no problem being in this kind of company. I guess by now they know the jimboists are not animated by the controversy around abortion and kadhis' courts. I would give the bishops a better hearing if, at the onset, they made it clear that they don't care to be poster-boys for this land bandwagon. There are plenty of things wrong with the draft, but none has anything to do with what this eccentric alliance is raising.

What pleases me so far is the way the authorities have come out sternly against inciters and peddlers of hate speech. I notice that the National Cohesion and Integration Commission, led by the aptly named Mzalendo Kibunja, has weighed in with a warning that it will prosecute whomever is caught propagating such speech. The authorities should a keep a particularly keen eye and ear on known political inciters as well as certain rogue vernacular radio stations.

I covered the 2007 election campaigns extensively, and I saw firsthand the particularly poisonous atmosphere hate speech created in the Rift Valley. I also followed closely the testimony of the NSIS director general (the bit that was not on camera) before the Waki Commission and also that of then Commissioner of Police Hussein Mohammed Ali.

It was clear they had reported the explosive atmosphere early enough but were let down by political superiors who failed to take the necessary preventive actions.

Let us be clear on one thing. What is ahead of us is a referendum, which means a contest. That is why people will be voting Yes or No. Otherwise we would simply congregate at Uhuru Park were it possible, and ululate the new constitution into being. If your decision is to go No, don't plead for shortcuts, like calling on the President to to carry out some vague, extra-legal “executive order” to change the draft, or call it back from the Attorney-General in order to railroad your desired amendments through.

That won't work. Just go to the Kenyan public and campaign for your No. And don't confine yourself only to the North Rift. Go and preach your message also to Coast, Nyanza, Western, Nairobi, Central, Eastern, and North Eastern provinces. After all, if you are sure you have a sound argument, what's to fear?

gwarigi@ke.nationmedia.com

SOURCE: Sunday Nation, 25th April 2010

---------------------------------------------
Land the next big hurdle in the way of new law

Unlike divisive aspects such as devolution and representation, the land debate has assumed regional and ethnic dimensions

By Gakuu Mathenge

The land question that has agonised generations is back, threatening to become the biggest hurdle for the Proposed Constitution.

Provisions on the Land Chapter (Article 59) attracted some of the sharpest protests and amendment calls, at the Naivasha consensus retreat by the Parliamentary Select Committee, and during debate in Parliament last week.

Few chapters, including the Bill of Rights, have attracted as much passion, almost bordering on panic, like the Land Chapter.

Unlike traditional divisive aspects as devolution and representation, usually debated along party lines, land debate has assumed regional and ethnic dimensions, with some of the harshest adjectives reserved for the most revolutionary provision in the Land Chapter: the proposal for creation of a National Land Commission to take over administrative and technical functions from the Ministry of Lands.

The passions and patterns on support and opposition of the land provisions are a throwback to the heady days of Lancaster Constitutional Conference in London in the early 1960s that pitted Kanu against Kadu delegates. Indeed, some delegates like former minister John Keen and AR Khalif, among others, refused to sign the final document.

In 2005, land was one of the issues seized on by the opponents of the Draft Constitution to defeat it.

One of the amendment Motions defeated in Parliament last week was from one of the leading opponents of the proposals in the Land Chapter - Chepalungu MP Isaac Ruto.

Irregular Allocations
Ruto sought to reverse the powers of the proposed National Land Commission (NLC) to repossess illegally acquired land without compensation.

NLC will also have powers to establish a national data bank on all aspects of land – ownership and transactions, collection of revenue on behalf of Government, review and resolution of historical injustices, including repossession of public land stolen by individuals over the years.

Others who have lined up against the draft over concerns in the Land Chapter are MPs and leaders from the Coast and Rift Valley, among them former President Moi, Agriculture Minister William Ruto and Co-operative Development Assistant Minister Jebii Kilimo, among others.

Moi last week condemned the document as “bordering on debauchery”.

Lobbies like Kenyans for Equitable Land Laws, Kenya Land Alliance (Kela), Kenya Association of Manufacturers among others, have opposed the land provisions. “The Committee of Experts deliberately ignored all our submissions to the PSC consensus building meetings in Naivasha. We have no choice but to oppose this document,” said Kela spokesperson Chris Foot.

The land proposals are consistent with the National Land Policy hat was passed by Parliament and adopted by the Cabinet last year.

The policy proposed the creation of the National Land Commission and that it be domiciled in the Constitution, along the lines of the Kenya Revenue Authority.

“The National Land Commission shall be a constitutional body. An Act of Parliament, taking into account the need for broad representation, expertise, integrity and equity, shall define its composition. The nominees shall be vetted by Parliament and appointed by the President,” the policy states.

Land Commission's role of spearheading consolidation of all land laws to overhaul decades of decadence at Ardhi House was first proposed by a commission appointed by Moi in 1999, under chairmanship of former Attorney General Charles Njonjo.

Radical Reforms
The Njonjo Commission's report, that described the Ministry of Lands as “rotten and dead” recommended the National Land Authority along the lines of Kenya Revenue Authority, and cancellation of all title deeds to grabbed land, among other radical reforms.

“The Constitution should be amended to recognise title deeds of land that was acquired illegally. Besides taking over key departments of the ministry, the authority will operate branches in every district answerable to people and not the State,” the Njonjo Commission, officially known as Commission of Inquiry into Land System in Kenya, stated.

It was not until a decade later, last year, that the National Land Policy finally became a reality, when Parliament and Cabinet endorsed it.

Land Commission Role

Functions of the proposed Land Commission include:

Hold title to and manage public land on behalf of Government

Exercise powers of compulsory acquisition, and development control on behalf of State and local authorities
Offer technical advice to proposed district and community land boards

Levy, collect and manage all land revenues except rates, which shall be collected by district authorities

SOURCE: Sunday Standard, 11th April 2010

Why I would vote YES for the Draft Constitution

2010-04-30T11:50:00.028+02:00

My dad, Joseph Kiptarus arap Rugut died a poor tea estate labourer. He liked his job. He died on the day he had been 'promoted' to a senior supervisor. His predecessor was demoted. Dad died allegedly from alcohol intoxication, apparently because he was celebrating his promotion the only way he knew best: by drowning in the local brew. Those who picked his remains said he was strangled, his neck showing signs of strangulation. He didn't see his family break some cycle he wanted to see broken. Dad belonged to a generation whose parents considered education as a pass-time for social outcasts. His father made sure that he did not go to the Intermediate level after Kaptumo Government School (GS). His generation produced rare exceptions like Joseph Tendenei arap Letting and younger ones like Samwel Kipyebei arap Ngeny. Those were rare exceptions.

My grandfather, a senior (chongin) of the Maina age-set, somehow regretted his decision to roadblock dad's progress in education much later as he sent me away from his death-bed at Nandi Hills hospital. He made me believe he was OK, saying I should go back to my grandmother's in Uasin Gishu. He died before I reached my grandma's.

Kiprugut arap Ngeny believed that education was only necessary to enable one read the road sign posts. Beyond that, he and his generation thought, children who went to GS Kapsabet howled like hyenas. That was madness. My grandpa would have none of that madness for his sons and daughters. And he had many. He migrated from Kapngendui in Kabirer to Kimatkei in Tindiret and then on to Sireet where he met with Bwana Robotson (Robertson), the owner of Koisagat Tea Estate. Luckily for him and his generation his daughters were married off. For each daughter who was given away, he sold the dowry, kept the money according to a strict rule, which enabled him to separate the wealth according to his two wives' daughters. Eventually, tired of "pressing blue" (teben buluu), signing with the thumb dipped in blue ink, which was a way of seeking permission to keep cattle in the reserves, he sought to buy land in the Location Seven of Kaptalam near Kabiriirsang next door to super athlete Henry Rono, Olympic champion Wilfred Kipkemboi Bungei and World champion Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei. That land was bought using the money accumulated from dowry. Each wife's daughters' dowry bought so much land, which was divided amongst the sons of each wife in keeping with the Nandi tradition of "ma amei go(t age) go(t)", literally no one home shall feed on/eat of another home. Every home is entitled to own property. My father did not want to leave his Kamelilo people to adopt a new home in Kaptalam at Kabiriirsang.

By not moving, he stayed on as a labourer at Robotson's farm (Koisagat Tea Estate). It was the case of the son inheriting servitude from his father. Talk of a vicious cycle, this is one such.

Among the few Africans working at Robot's farm who could write the names of fellow workers and speak a few English words, my dad was a hero in his generation. He was argumentative, intelligent but lost in booze. He was the booze house hero. He stood up to the wazungus as he did when we 'grabbed' Siret Tea Estate's land in the 1979/80s. We because I was in the group of boys and men who went on to partition the grazing land belonging to Siret Tea Estate without the estate permission. Mr Gardner was miffed and he would have swallowed us. But for arap Rugut. On hearing of the invasion, some crazy mzungu called Gardner came on horse-back. The villagers knew there was trouble. We gathered nonetheless at a place in the grabbed land. Everybody went quiet as Kiptaliilgong (starry-eyed) arrived. My father looked around the gathering, none of the other elders stood to say anything. He quietly collected himself, picked his bakora and stood up, spit out the brown tobacco-stained saliva and told the mzungu point-blank, "komoon (come on) this is our shamba". He did not need to say more. The gathering all stood up, the mzungu was intimidated and that inspired dad to go on in his unintelligible English. "We want our land", he said. "That tea cannot grow there because it is our boma, the cow dung has polluted the soil. Give us back our land now". He was the man of the moment.

In 1982, each of those families living on the cliff overlooking the Kano Plains were allocated 2.5 acres (one Hectare) of land. Father, rest in peace.

His generation is full of people who bear the signs of tea bush scratches, tea-pruner's scars and all other attendant professional hazards. Our family's tribulations represent those of countless others who may never tell their tales. I have lived all my life as a youth well aware of the damage to my people that tea estates wrought us. From poor education by the squatters to dependence on food rations (not free) to diseases acquired from the herbicides and other spraying chemicals. All these left many families with widows. My family was no exception. My father died hoping that I'd go to Kenyatta University (by then it was merely a college). He wanted me to get six degrees (double what his hero Jean-Marie Seroney had). He wanted me to excel, perhaps in order to help him break out of the cycle into which he was born. Or may be he had no idea why he wanted it done. But I know he drank lots of busaa whenever I did well in school. Nobody else could say anything in front of him in those busaa dens for the length of the holiday. Poor man was proud of my performance to a fault. He died too soon.

Every time I looked at smoke billowing out of grass-thatched homes in the evenings I always thought "that smoke over there is telling us a story we cannot understand". As if each family had something to say, except through smoke.

In my father's eyes, he saw Robotson going away. He actually went, and died. Just like the poor Botha who crashed at Limuru in his single-engine plane. One by one the white farmers left. Robotson's farm, Koisagat Tea Estate was bought by NK Karanja (he was shot dead at the gate to his home in Ruiru) and SK Njoroge (Former Internal auditor State corporations). None of the squatters knew when and how the farm changed hands. All they know was that managers like Simon Motelin and Andrew Segecha at Ogirgir went away quietly and soon Koisagat was managed by a new manager every six months. Was it leadership that failed to organise us to buy back the farms, with government help? Why didn't the local leadership enable (indeed empower) the Nandi peasants to buy the land from the departing wazungus?

My father's story is similar to so many other untold struggles. Some were buried with their tales. We will never get to know what they knew. Others like arap Letting Kap Chepwongo died complaining of chest pains. A professional earth-mover driver, arap Letting was credited for felling huge trees using T4. Those rocking movements, bumps and rough landing were to take their toll on his health. He died a poor man, like my dad.

The pain of the squatters was to inspire a lot of my writings on land rights activism in the 1990s (refer to Kenya Times of 1. Sat 31 Dec 1994 page 7, "Compensate People who lost Land" and 2. Tuesday 2 Jan 1996 Page 7, "Give Locals Chance to buy Farms", 3. The Weekly Review 23 Sep 1994 Page 2 "Nandi Squatters", "Compensate Nandis who were robbed of Land", The Daily Nation, Thur 27 Apr 1995 Page 7, "Britain should compensate Nandis", see also The Kenya Times of 24 Jun 1995, "Nandis Should be Compensated", Kenya Times Sat 3 Feb 1996 Page 7, "Nandi Problems need a Solution" and The Weekly Review, 20 May 1994 page 2, "Nandi Politics").

Tea Estates had no secondary schools of their own by then, they still sent the kids to Kapsabet Boys High and Chepkunyuk Secondary, schools built by the same poor squatters. The tea estates had no medical facilities of their own. They still ferried the sick to Nandi Hills Hospital. The tea estates did not employ Nandi graduates. They preferred school failures from the UK who were trained by Africans and then, by virtue of nothing more than their colour and affiliation to the owners of those farms, were made bosses over the Africans. We demanded the jobs, and services. Tokenism was to greet us initially but eventually they found it untenable to ignore the masses. Ngo sik berbeer ko tiny koeech ng'omoot (when the ignorant acquire knowledge, those who regard themselves wise are in trouble).

Today things are slightly better. We have KTGA Taito Secondary school and the sick, though not all, are treated at their own facility at Kapsiwon (Kapsiwoot).

Yet that is still a far cry from what they should do. The tea estates are not benefitting the squatters children in terms of scholarships as happens in, for example, James Finlay Tea in Kericho where Kipsigis children are supported in High School and University. In Nandi, none of that happens. One day that will change, but how? They ignore their corporate social responsibility. But not for too long.

Fast forward to the draft constitution.

I am an optimist. I believe in people and their ability to evolve and panel-beat things to suit their lives. As a squatter's son, I have refused to be a prisoner of circumstances, and that has brought me this far. That hope and determination that refuses to draw boundaries and put up fences is what has helped me to date.

Having said that, I know that this negotiated document has gaping holes in it, and bad things. BUT in addition it has a lot of very good things. One of the two that I like, impact on me and my locality in Nandi Hills directly. I am aware of the inherent difficulties in accepting Majimbo with such a divided nation like ours, however passionate some people get about it. YET I see the possibility of increased resource devolution, resource majimbo, if you please. If you gave me a choice between the resources and political devolution, I'd grab resource devolution anytime. I see about 8-10-fold increase in resources being devolved to the grassroots in this constitution. That means for example, that instead of the KShs 66 million that Tindiret Constituency got in CDF in 2009/2010 financial year, Nandi county with four constituencies shall be entitled to about KShs 3 billion (15% of about 850 billion). Simply put, if equal distribution were followed, Tindiret should get about KShs 700 million which translates to over ten-fold increase in available funds for better schools, health facilities and roads as well as bursaries for our kids.

In additions, there are funds like the fuel levy, CDF and LATF which are not mentioned in the constitution. However, these monies were created by administrative Acts of Parliament and these administrative legislations can bring those to levels that must be negotiated again. On resource allocation, I vouch for a YES. On money matters, I see hope for breaking the poverty cycle. Our kids will not be denied access to better education because of lack of money. Nobody needs any more lessons on the usefulness of education in poverty eradication. I stand as a powerful symbol of what education can do to transform a family and her fortunes.

What is close to me, and the squatter children of squatters is LAND in the tea estates. Chapter 5 Article 65 gives me hope. It puts a ceiling on the time that Thornton and his sons, Hutchinson and his family and Gardner and his clan can hold Siret, Kipkoimet, Kipchomoo and Kapchorua. In the draft, it is NO MORE than 99 years. That is about one or two generations. If I don't participate in the negotiations, at least my kids and/or their kids will.

Landholding by non-citizens
65. (1) A person who is not a citizen may hold land on the basis of leasehold tenure only, and any such lease, however granted, shall not exceed ninety-nine years.
(2) If a provision of any agreement, deed, conveyance or document of whatever nature purports to confer on a person who is not a citizen an interest in land greater than a ninety-nine year lease, the provision shall be regarded as conferring on the person a ninety-nine year leasehold interest, and no more.
(3) For purposes of this Article –
(a) a body corporate shall be regarded as a citizen only if the body corporate is wholly owned by one or more citizens; and
(b) property held in trust shall be regarded as being held by a citizen only if all of the beneficial interest of the trust is held by persons who are citizens.
(4) Parliament may enact legislation to make further provision for the operation of this Article.

In the current constitution, they have ten to twenty generations, 999 years, to sit on that land. If this draft were enacted, I have hope that my children, or my children's children shall be able to repossess those tea estates within which are our grandparents' cattle bomas. You may see karaitaab (former homestead of) Mundut, Karaitaab Kabuunet, karaitaab Kap Kerebei, karaitaab Kap Anjaa, Karaitaab Kap Koboos, Karaitaab Kap Chemurungu and many others where in the middle of Siret, Koisagat and Kipchomoo tea bushes, there is a region without tea. Because cow dung had a way of "poisoning" the soil, in order to preserve the evidence of ruthless eviction from those farms. Because there is hope that one day the son of Kipshambaindet, the daughter of a squatter and the peasant labourers who have enriched the white collar farmers rocking in their cosy sofas while trading at the London Stock Exchange in the name of Linton Park Plc, shall either OWN the land or DECIDE who owns it, I votes YES.

Does this draft address existing leaseholds of 999, which Isaac Ruto worked hard to protect? I read Article 65(2) and see hope for that reversal. See it too:

(2) If a provision of any agreement, (title) deed, conveyance or document of whatever nature purports to confer on a person who is not a citizen an interest in land greater than a ninety-nine year (e.g. 999) lease, the provision shall be regarded as conferring on the person a ninety-nine year leasehold interest, and no more. No more! God is great indeed. No more than 99 years.

Imagine this is anticipated by Article 40(1), see below. The shrinking of leaseholds from 999 to 99 is exempted from the "right to property"!

YES for resource devolution.

YES for tea estates reverting to US, even if by then I shall be mbolea for those tea bushes.

I vote for what is close to me and my family, I vote YES to 99 years and no to 999 years.

I know that Isaac Ruto, the MP for Chepalungu had moved a motion to DELETE Article 65. Amazing. Whose agenda was he serving? That of my squatter family and the countless others in Kericho or that of the absentee landlords? Was he a gun for hire? I vote NO to Ruto's 999 years and YES to Article 65.

"NOTICE is given that the Member for Chepalungu (Hon. Isaac Ruto) intends to move the following amendment to the Draft Constitution:

ARTICLE 65

THAT pursuant to the provisions of section 33 (4) of the Constitution of Kenya Review Act, 2008, this House approves the draft constitution submitted by the Committee of Experts and laid on the table of the House on Tuesday 2^nd March, 2010 subject to deletion of Article 65".

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I wish to withdraw the next amendment which is on Article 65 on the basis that my intention, initially was to protect shareholding and possibly not to create a shake on the Kenyan economy. Otherwise, the other side of the coin is equally important. In any case, this Parliament is, at the moment, not serious on passing any of these amendments.

Please help me make this a reality in my lifetime. Vote YES and pass this draft. It is not perfect. But we shall overcome. This is the beginning, we shall amend it if and when it is necessary.

I have heard of arguments like "(the) government shall take away your land". While this is not true, my uncle has an answer. While speaking to him the other day I asked him whether he was worried about land being taken away by the government. His answer was curt. "Which land?", he posed. "Here we have vegetable gardens (kabunguut) and not anything you can call land". So, it the government going to take away Kabunguut? No.

Let us regurgitate what I have written elsewhere.

A). Is anybody going to take away your LAND?

Let us find the Article which is raising temperatures among land-grabbers (the text in red is my own annotation)

Protection of right to property
40.

1. Subject to Article 65 (Ownership of land by Non-citizens which limits it to leasehold of 99 years!), every person has the right, either individually or in association with others, to acquire and own property––

a) of any description; and

b) in any part of Kenya.

3. Parliament shall not enact a law that permits the State or any person—

a) to arbitrarily deprive a person of property of any description (does that EXCLUDE LAND?) or of any interest in, or right over, any property of any description; or

b) to limit, or in any way restrict the enjoyment of, any right under this Article on the basis of any of the grounds mentioned or contemplated
in Article 27 (4).

3. The State shall not deprive a person of property of any description (does that EXCLUDE LAND?), or of any interest in, or right over, property of any description, unless the deprivation—

a) results from an acquisition of land (Quite naturally, if PROPERTY did NOT include LAND, why is it specifying LAND here?) or an interest in land or a conversion of an interest in land, or title to land, in accordance with Chapter Five; or

b) is for a public purpose (government even does it now for things like Pipeline! under Compulsory Acquisition Act Cap 295) or in the public interest and is carried out in accordance with this Constitution and any Act of Parliament that—

i) requires prompt payment in full, of just compensation to the person; and

ii) allows any person who has an interest in, or right over, that property a right of access to a court of law.

4. Provision may be made for compensation to be paid to occupants in good faith of land acquired under clause (3) who may not hold title to the land.

5. The State shall support, promote and protect the intellectual property rights of the people of Kenya.

6. The rights under this Article do not extend to any property that has been found to have been unlawfully acquired (GRABBED land for example).

B). Is LAND property or does Property not include LAND?

Let us look at Article 260 for definitions

Interpretation
260.
In this Constitution, unless the context requires otherwise—

“land” includes—

a) the surface of the earth and the subsurface rock;

b) any body of water on or under the surface;

c) marine waters in the territorial sea and exclusive economic zone;

d) natural resources completely contained on or under the surface; and

e) the air space above the surface;

“property” includes any vested or contingent right to, or interest in or arising from—

a) land, or permanent fixtures on, or improvements to, land;

b) goods or personal property;

c) intellectual property; or

d) money, chooses in action or negotiable instruments;

Let us say that everybody has an interest in this constitution. For some it is religion, for others it is power. For me it is resource allocation and my tea estate, stupid. That is the simplified constitution for me and my rationale for a YES vote. YES we CAN.

Contentious in the Rift-Valley Province: Land

2010-04-19T19:09:00.004+02:00

Will the government take away my land? This is in the ms of ever Kenyan. WKR tells whoever wishes to listen that the government of Kenya, of which he is a prominent member, SHALL take it away. James Orengo, the lands minister says it shall not be taken away.

The NO camp says the new katiba gets yes and you kiss your land bye. Not the way Paul Scholes was kissed by the other guy after ManU scored in the dying minutes to deny ManCity the points. No, it means government is introducing socialism and redistribution of wealth. Doesn't that sound familiar? The only difference is that this message is being given to people who have no land. They are landless while some families hoard 500,000 acres of land. Incredible Kenya.

The YES camp says vote YES and the government gets the teeth to redress the injustices related to land.

Let us retrace our steps.

At the height of mayhem in Kenya in 2008, Dr Kofi Anan was invited by the African Union (AU to help Kenyans talk to, rather than at, each other. In order to resolve the humanitarian crisis, wanton lose of life and property and return Kenya to civility, Dr Anan drafted a four agenda framework. These were:

Immediate action to stop violence and restore fundamental rights and liberties
Immediate measures to address the humanitarian crisis, promote reconciliation, healing and restoration
How to overcome the current political crisis and
Long term issues and solutions.

With regard to Agenda number four which has now gained fame as Agenda Four, these were further identified as the sticking issues.

Undertaking constitutional, legal and institutional reform
Tackling poverty and INEQUITY, as well as combating regional development imbalances;
Tackling unemployment, particularly among the youth;
Consolidating national cohession and unity;
Undertaking a Land Reform;
Addressing transparency, accountability and impunity

The meeting agreed that Agendas 1-3 be resolved in a period between 7 and 15 days from the commencement of dialogue (28 Jan 2008) while Agenda Four was to be resolved within one year from the same date. The document was signed by Karua and Mudavadi with Kofi Anan as a witness on 1 Feb 2008.

See the document here.

In a follow-up to address the Agenda Four Implementation Framework, Kofi Anan left the negotiations to H.E. Oluyemi Adeniji who, together with PNU's Martha Karua, Mutula Kilonzo, Moses Wetangula and Sam Ongeri sat with OMD'S Musalia Mudavadi, William Ruto, Sally Kosgei and James Orengo. The nine agreed on a Statement of Principles and Long-term issues and solutions in a document they signed on 23 May 2008. You may view the signed document here
.

In summary, on land the Agenda Four intentions cover the following key aspects:

Constitutional review to address fundamental issues of land tenure and land use
The development and implementation of land policies should take into account the linkages between land use, environmental conservation, forestry and water resources
Finalisation of the draft National Land Use Policy and enactment of attendant legislation
Land Laws to be harmonised into one Statute to reduce multiple allocation of title deeds
Establishment of a transparent, decentralised and efficient GIS-based Land Information Management System and a GIS-based Land Registry at the Ministry of Lands including all local authorities
Land Ownership Document Replacement for owners affected by post-election violence
Development of a National Land Use Masterplan, taking into account environmental considerations
Land Reform Transformation Unit in the Ministry of Lands to facilitate the implementation of the land reform programme as outlined in the National Land Use policy
Strengthen local-level mechanisms for sustainable land rights administration and management
Finalise the Land Dispute Tribunal Act.

In order to implement these recommendations, the Ministry of Lands was designated as the Focal Point and the mechanism and timeframe for implementation was given as follows:

Land Reform process to be factored in the constitutional review process within 12 months
Let us look at the Draft constitution.

Now let us focus on Chapter Five: Land and Environment.

Part 1—Land
Principles of land policy

60 .

Land in Kenya shall be held, used and managed in a manner that is equitable, efficient, productive and sustainable, and in accordance with the following principles—

equitable access to land;
security of land rights;
sustainable and productive management of land resources;
transparent and cost effective administration of land;
sound conservation and protection of ecologically sensitive areas;
elimination of gender discrimination in law, customs and practices related to land and property in land; and
encouragement of communities to settle land disputes through recognised local community initiatives consistent with this Constitution.

These principles shall be implemented through a national land policy developed and reviewed regularly by the national government and through legislation.

Classification of land
61.

All land in Kenya belongs to the people of Kenya collectively as a nation, as communities and as individuals.
Land in Kenya is classified as public, community or private.

Public land
62 .
Public land is—

land which at the effective date was unalienated government land as defined by an Act of Parliament in force at the effective date;
land lawfully held, used or occupied by any State organ, except any such land that is occupied by the State organ as lessee under a private lease;
land transferred to the State by way of sale, reversion or surrender;
land in respect of which no individual or community ownership can be established by any legal process;
land in respect of which no heir can be identified by any legal process;
all minerals and mineral oils as defined by law;
government forests other than forests to which Article 76(2) (e) applies, government game reserves, water catchment areas, national parks, government animal sanctuaries, and specially protected areas;
all roads and thoroughfares mentioned by an Act of Parliament;
all rivers, lakes and other water bodies as defined by an Act of Parliament;
the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone and the sea bed;
the continental shelf;
all land between the high and low water marks;
any land not classified as private or community land under this Constitution; and
any other land declared to be public land by an Act of Parliament—

i. in force at the effective date; or

ii. enacted after the effective date.

2. Public land shall vest in and be held by a county government in trust for the people resident in the county, and shall be administered on their behalf by the National Land Commission, if it is classified under—

b) clause (1) (a), (c) (d) or (e); and

c) clause (1) (b), other than land held, used or occupied by a national
State organ.

3. Public land classified under clause (1) (f) to (m) shall vest in and be held by the national government in trust for the people of Kenya and shall be administered on their behalf by the National Land Commission.

4. Public land shall not be disposed of or otherwise used except in terms of an Act of Parliament specifying the nature and terms of that disposal or use.

Community land

63.

1. Community land shall vest in and be held by communities identified on the basis of ethnicity, culture or similar community of interest.

2. Community land consists of—

a) land lawfully registered in the name of group representatives under the provisions of any law;

b) land lawfully transferred to a specific community by any process of law;

c) any other land declared to be community land by an Act of Parliament; and

d) land that is—

i. lawfully held, managed or used by specific communities as community forests, grazing areas or shrines;

ii. ancestral lands and lands traditionally occupied by huntergatherer communities; or

iii. lawfully held as trust land by the county governments, but not including any public land held in trust by the county government under Article 62 (2).

3. Any unregistered community land shall be held in trust by county governments on behalf of the communities for which it is held.

4. Community land shall not be disposed of or otherwise used except in terms of legislation specifying the nature and extent of the rights of members of each community individually and collectively.

5. Parliament shall enact legislation to give effect to this Article.

Private land

64.
Private land consists of —

a) registered land held by any person under any freehold tenure;

b) land held by any person under leasehold tenure; and

c) any other land declared private land under an Act of Parliament.

Landholding by non-citizens

65.

1. A person who is not a citizen may hold land on the basis of leasehold tenure only, and any such lease, however granted, shall not exceed ninety-nine years.

2. If a provision of any agreement, deed, conveyance or document of whatever nature purports to confer on a person who is not a citizen an interest in land greater than a ninety-nine year lease, the provision shall be regarded as conferring on the person a ninety-nine year leasehold interest, and no more.

3. For purposes of this Article –

a) a body corporate shall be regarded as a citizen only if the body corporate is wholly owned by one or more citizens; and

b) property held in trust shall be regarded as being held by a citizen only if all of the beneficial interest of the trust is held by persons who are citizens.

4. Parliament may enact legislation to make further provision for the operation of this Article.

Regulation of land use and property

66.

1. The State may regulate the use of any land, or any interest in or right over any land, in the interest of defence, public safety, public order, public morality, public health, or land use planning.

2. Parliament shall enact legislation ensuring that investments in property benefit local communities and their economies.

National Land Commission

67.

1. There is established the National Land Commission.

2. The functions of the National Land Commission are—

a) to manage public land on behalf of the national and county governments;

b) to recommend a national land policy to the national government;

c) to advise the national government on a comprehensive programme for the registration of title in land throughout Kenya;

d) to conduct research related to land and the use of natural resources, and make recommendations to appropriate authorities;

e) to initiate investigations, on its own initiative or on a complaint, into present or historical land injustices, and recommend appropriate redress;

f) to encourage the application of traditional dispute resolution mechanisms in land conflicts;

g) to assess tax on land and premiums on immovable property in any area designated by law; and

h) to monitor and have oversight responsibilities over land use planning throughout the country.

3. The National Land Commission may perform any other functions prescribed by national legislation.

Legislation on land

68.

1. Parliament shall—

a) revise, consolidate and rationalise existing land laws;

b) revise sectoral land use laws in accordance with the principles mentioned in Article 60 (1); and

c) enact legislation—

i. to prescribe minimum and maximum land holding acreages in respect of private land;

ii. to regulate the manner in which any land may be converted from one category to another;

iii. to regulate the recognition and protection of matrimonial property and in particular the matrimonial home during and on the termination of marriage;

iv. to protect, conserve and provide access to all public land;

v. to enable the review of all grants or dispositions of public land to establish their propriety or legality;

vi. to protect the dependants of deceased persons holding interests in any land, including the interests of spouses in actual occupation of land; and

vii. to provide for any other matter necessary to give effect to the provisions of this Chapter.

Now let us look at the source of contention.

A). Is anybody going to take away your LAND?

Let us find the Article which is raising temperatures among land-grabbers (the text in red is my own annotation)

Protection of right to property
40.

a) of any description; and

b) in any part of Kenya.

3. Parliament shall not enact a law that permits the State or any person—

a) to arbitrarily deprive a person of property of any description (does that EXCLUDE LAND?) or of any interest in, or right over, any property of any description; or

b) to limit, or in any way restrict the enjoyment of, any right under this Article on the basis of any of the grounds mentioned or contemplated
in Article 27 (4).

b) is for a public purpose (gava even does it now for things like Pipeline!) or in the public interest and is carried out in accordance with this Constitution and any Act of Parliament that—

i) requires prompt payment in full, of just compensation to the person; and

ii) allows any person who has an interest in, or right over, that property a right of access to a court of law.

4. Provision may be made for compensation to be paid to occupants in good faith of land acquired under clause (3) who may not hold title to the land.

5. The State shall support, promote and protect the intellectual property rights of the people of Kenya.

6. The rights under this Article do not extend to any property that has been found to have been unlawfully acquired (GRABBED land for example).

B). Is LAND property or does Property not include LAND?

Let us look at Article 260 for definitions

Interpretation
260.
In this Constitution, unless the context requires otherwise—
“land” includes—

a) the surface of the earth and the subsurface rock;

b) any body of water on or under the surface;

c) marine waters in the territorial sea and exclusive economic zone;

d) natural resources completely contained on or under the surface; and

e) the air space above the surface;

“property” includes any vested or contingent right to, or interest in or arising from—

a) land, or permanent fixtures on, or improvements to, land;

b) goods or personal property;

c) intellectual property; or

d) money, chooses in action or negotiable instruments;

How Ruto and the gang are lying on amendments to draft before the plebiscite

2010-04-12T11:04:00.009+02:00

Hon William Kipchirchir Samoei arap Ruto, WKR, has said it is STILL possible to negotiate amendments to the draft before the referendum. Well, that is what I would like to see happen. The reasons for our agreement with WKR might be different, however. And that is the end of our congruence of thought. Personally, I hate to see schisms in our society fed by fear and twisted logic. Facts are scary for agents of disinformation. And I guess that is why some people do not want to allow room for civic education. I have heard of tales of people who are scared with stuff like "The RV land is targeted in the constitution". Now the people being told that have no land in the first place! So what shall be taken away from them, if I may ask.

FACT: The current Draft is driven by an Act of parliament, the Constitution of Kenya Review Act (2008) published in the Kenya Gazzette of 22nd Dec 2008. A summary of the Act is given graphically at the CoE Wbsite.

FACT: There exists NO provision in the current driver, the Constitution of Kenya Review Act (2008) for negotiations outside the framework provided which means there is only one logical destination for the draft, safe for editorial corrections at the AG Chambers. That destination is a plebiscite with a clear and YES or NO.

MYTH: That the Principals can still mobilise popular support from the SAME divided parliament that voted to pass the draft with kura ya makelele is being insincere on the part of WKR and his entourage. IF we are a country that believes in the Rule of Law rather than the Rule of Man, then we need to have some urgent remedial actions. Even as a novice in matters legal, I know you cannot stand at Eldoret bus station and shout out to someone in Nakuru to ask Akamba bus service bus cruising towards Nairobi to come back to you shortly after you fought with the driver while he was waiting for you to board the bus at Eldoret. You would need some level of authority to REVERSE the bus' drive to Eldoret. At the moment, ALL Mr WKR and his entourage are doing is to shout at the gates of parliament with all manner of noise asking the Constitution of Kenya Review Act (2008) to reverse the draft (using the FORWARD gear that they GAVE it!) back to parliament. That is cheap populism and I see nothing here but chicanery and lack of foresight.

REMEDY: Using a private members' motion, WKR and his ENTOURAGE should have moved to introduce amendments to the Constitution of Kenya Review Act (2008) IMMEDIATELY following their publicity stunt the other day when they voiced their NO-unless-amended views at the press conference. In the absence of deliberate moves to amend the Constitution of Kenya Review Act (2008) all that they are doing is POLITICAL POSTURING and EMPTY rhetorics whose objectives is nothing but politics.

MPs were in parliament while Ms Karua moved the Act. None of them saw it fit to fix the gaps that they are currently frothing about. Walikuwa wakilala?

Parliament just went through the motions of AYES and a few NAYS. A divided house that could not agree to a single amendment then is being asked to amend the draft now, before the end of a month. Who is not being sincere? Some of the people in the NO were NEVER heard during amendments for the sticky issues close to their constituents. WKR found golden SILENCE when the Orengo motion on DEVOLUTION was being moved. Devolution is so close to the Kalenjin that anything else did not matter in this constitution on a reference scale. Invariably, we heard, and watched as some MPs found their bladders all-too-full-too-soon. Why think brinkmanship now?

As someone has said, WKR should know that 99.99% DNA links him to this beautiful though not perfect baby and he should not shoot it down. He should carry his baby to term.

In the absence of an amendment to the Act, WKR and his entourage are fooling nobody, and they will not get far.

FACT: The law was made for man and not man for the law. In other words, the constitution is made for us and not us for the constitution. Therefore what we make can be changed to suit us when we deem it fit, nothing is cast in stone. Those teaching us that this constitution shall not be amended are not being sincere. One, Kenyans did not want a constitution which could be amended in a bar. Having seen the way the independence constitution was amended and diluted, Kenyans raised concerns about the water-tight provisions to block tinkering with the constitution. That is good. However, Chapter 17 Articles 255-257 and provide for the mechanism for amendment. This draft has anticipated that Kenyans are dynamic, and as such might deem it fit to amend the document in future. HOW to do it has been factored. It is either by popular mandate, where MPs wanaregarega or it can be initiated by parliament. Whatever the case, the process to be followed is stipulated clearly.

If I had an opportunity, I'd request MPs to stop these YES and NO noises and engage in civic education for NOW. People need to KNOW what they shall be asked to VOTE ON at the plebiscite.The NO camp need to mobilise themselves and sign an MoU, a commitment, that once adopted at the plebiscite, the first item in parliament shall be to move amendments to deal with the contentious issues. As matters stand now, not even a year of dilly-dallying can marshal enough MPs to effectively and in a non-partisan manner move amendments to the draft.

FACT: if the draft is being driven by the act as it is, then there is no way any amendment can be made to it without that being regarded as illegal. As people who legislate, they should be the last ones to advise us to disobey the law. ONLY and amendment to the Act to provide for a mechanism for the amendments to the draft can reverse the draft. Otherwise, as it is currently, it is headed for the guillotine. That Guillotine owes its life to WKR and the MPs in the 10th parliament. If they slumbered through their job, they should let us know.

In a hurry to 'Fix Raira', WKR eventually ended up 'shafting the Kalenjin' and now the chicken are coming home to roost. Say NO baby, say NO.

Everybody can see through that. It is WKR in panic mode trying to hit back. By the end of this week he will have been to any place that looks threatened and threatening to his scheme.

WKR is not really interested in a NO train. If his motivation for the NO campaign were the sticking issues, he should have used parliament to stall the process and reverse the Draft's movement. As I hit the keyboard, parliament has not received a Private Member's motion to initiate amendments to the Act which guides the Draft's path.

I shall second-guess him. Please bookmark this email. WKR has teamed up with known anti-devolutionists like Jirongo who did not lend the numbers to the Kalenjiin's hunger for Majimbo for fear of 'ethnic cleansing'. The reason these people are coming together is because YK'92 is becoming WK'12. How amazing a two-decade transformation can impact on this group. WKR's intention is simple, and I read his mind:

"Use the NO campaign to buttress himself as THE Kalenjiin supremo. Get the numbers that will no doubt show the world that he OWNS the Kalenjiin and then ready himself to auction the community to the highest bidder in 2012".

The NO campaign will offer a cost-free census of his strength. He only hopes it becomes big enough.

Meanwhile many more deals can be cut without OUR knowledge.

Good luck Gotaab Myoot, which might as well be miat to some careers.

Kibaki: the guile old political hand and Kenyans love for raucous politicians

2010-03-01T12:07:00.029+01:00

I would like to study under Emilio Mwai Kibaki. His persona is a study in contrasts between the know-all, want-to-know-all of Daniel Kapkorios Toroitich arap Moi and the control-freaks in politics as well as his 'apparent' hands-off, legs-off BUT eyes-on approach. He is probably a suave politician with little colour, or just an opportunist who saunters along ignored. A reputed economist with Alma mater like Makerere and the world renowned London School of Economics, Kibaki does not come along as 'visibly' intelligent as his contemporaries. Yet his stealth nature belies a politically deft personality and a political animal unbeknown to Kenyans. One should excuse Kenyans who are acclimatised to the noises from the Professor of politics and many of his raucous students who mistake vibe for substance. Kibaki is silence and scheming molded into a deadly roll. Here is a politician you would think is not in charge, when all he does is to keep his hands free of soil by delegating.

He had good lessons in management. And he uses them effectively.

But wait.

I dare say Kibaki learnt foul language from Kenyatta High School and graduated in political chicanery from the famous Moi University. When you hear 'kupafu', 'mavi ya kuku' and 'wajinga', you know that Jomo Kenyatta inculcated eternal virtues in the soft matter of the gray material somewhere in the locus between Mwai Kibaki's ears. Mr Kibaki studied Jomo long enough to acquire some traits. Those lessons were learnt in the height of the Jaramogi-Kenyatta adrenaline wars. Kibaki witnessed it all. And he saw how Jaramogi's adrenaline glands dried long before Jomo's. Kibaki knows what personalities like Jaramogi want and how they should be neutralised.

Take stock. Jaramogi agitated for pluralism, but was successfully tagged a communist and ostracised from the powerful Western bloc. Had he succeeded in penetrating the West, Jomo's game plan would have ended. He remained tethered to revolutionary ideals and political activism, while the elite grabbed land and national assets. He was being sidelined. Tom Mboya, his checkmate, was propped up by the Kenyatta regime. Where Jaramogi 'sponsored' Dr Joseph Misoi and Moses Keino's friends to study in the Eastern European 'red states', Tom Mboya was given tons of opportunities to transform Luo Nyanza into an academic powerhouse using American scholarships.

Tom Mboya's, and not Jaramogi's efforts, bore the one important fruit of a diaspora Luo: President Barack Obama of the USA.

Let us say, for history's sake, that Raila Odinga, hewn from the same rock as Jaramogi, went to school in Eastern Germany. Magdeburg is located in what was communist Germany. We shall return to Raila Odinga a little bit later.

Kibaki witnessed the agitation of Jaramogi's KPU, given token consolation by former Mau Mau activists who were edged out of the 'eating' spree in Mutongoria's State House. Bildad Kaggia, disenchanted by the eating clique, broke ranks with the Mundu wa Nyumba, joined hands with Jaramogi and he was ostracised too. He died in the political cold on March 7, 2005. Although he spent time with Kenyatta as part of the 'Kapenguria Six', Kaggia was never regarded a Kenyatta insider. If Kenyatta needed to immortalise the struggle against colonialism, he had the person of Bildad Kaggia. He was never to do it.

What shall we say about Jaramogi. A true patriot who gave up claim to the Premiership with his 'no Kenyatta no freedom', a push that led to the release of Jomo and eventual attainment of Uhuru. Jaramogi had sacrificed personal ambition where KADU was ready to do business with the Mzungu. Consider that KADU's position was less patriotic, they did not appreciate the symbolism of a free Jomo Kenyatta. Mr Ngala and Moi wanted to literally move on with Kenya under KADU. Jaramogi said 'no Jomo no Uhuru'. Jaramogi's Kanu won the day. He was made Veep in Kenyatta's government, a position he was to give up sooner with his agitation for 'political space'.

Kibaki took notes during all these times. He was a fresh man in government, plucked from Makerere to head the Finance Ministry. He saw how all the dissenters were handled, including the slaughter of Kisumu which Kenyatta is on tape with those K$%& ya mama yako as he said it to Jaramogi.

Mr Moi tried to rehabilitate Jaramogi in the 1980s, but it was too late. Then in the 1990s, just before he died, Jaramogi was to praise Moi thus: Moi is a giraffe who sees far. He died before he could be allowed to rule Kenya even for a single day. It was significant that Jaramogi said these after visiting the one ugly symbol of Moi plunder of national resources: The Turkwel Gorge Electro Project. What inspired Jaramogi to say that? Nobody knows.

Kibaki witnessed the Jaramogi 'engineering of government', including bringing Kibaki from Makerere to head the nascent Finance ministry. He witnessed the cold-blooded use of Tom Mboya to neuter Jaramogi and the eventual liquidation of Tom Mboya. He was here, when in 1982 Kenya was transformed from a nominal multiparty society to a legal single-party entity. He witnessed that like nobody else. For it was Veep Mwai Kibaki who moved the motion amending the constitution introducing the single-party dictatorship in Kenya.

Mwai Kibaki witnessed the agitation by Charles Rubia, Paul Muite, Kenneth Matiba, Raila Odinga, Martin Shikuku and Ahmed Bahmazir for the introduction of multi-party democracy. He was to say that cutting down Kanu (baba na mama) was like trying to cut down the hallowed Mugumo tree using a razor blade. How true that has become so far!

Let us look at Moi University. The professor of politics comes along as affable, even harmless. Moi is a pious Sunday-school Christian who must be bothered by the current schism in his AIC church. He was raised by missionaries who taught to pray for anything, not least before eating any food. Child-making was instructively included in the 'pray-before' menu. He comes along as humble, a little sleepy and HUGE. His gait and strides baffle even the most athletic of all ministers and government officials. His love for vegetables, bitter herbs and boiled maize is legendary. And he is generous. This is one lesson Kibaki did not want to learn from professor baba Gideon.

Kibaki witnessed how Moi used Robert Ouko to neutralise Jaramogi, he saw how Moi used some Central Kenya political minions to haunt Charles Mukane Njonjo, he of the Msaliti infamy, into political oblivion. Kibaki witnessed how Moi rehabilitated a grateful Njonjo back to the Kanu fold.

Mr Kibaki has lived long enough to count the garbage in Mr Jomo Kenyatta's garbage and Mr Moi's refuse land-fill.

Mwai Kibaki saw how the 'Seven Bearded Sisters' (sic) were dispensed with. He watched as the drama unfolded surrounding JM Kariuki with his famous 'country of ten millionaires' and 'ten million beggars'. He developed a cold-blooded attitude and acquired those traits.

They have served him well. So far, where Moi thought of him as a drunkard with no clue on governance, Mr Kibaki has succeeded beyond the professor's instructions. If Jomo Kenyatta woke up today, he would be happy and perplexed in equal measure. Mr Kibaki has been an excellent student and an equally excellent professor. Kibaki University, a cocktail of Kenyatta High School, Moi University and his own congenital power has more potent lessons for the keen student. Kibaki University is a melting pot of manipulation, stealthy and incognito operation and a perfected 'use-and-dump' study cases.

Trust him at your own peril. Under-estimate him to your own disadvantage.

Ask Raila Odinga. If you think that Kibaki did not like the Kenyatta-Jaramogi fall-out, think twice. If you comfort yourself with the delusion that Bildad Kaggia was unlucky with Kibaki, stop and think again. As effective as Kenyatta executed a machination, which must rightly traced into the older Jomo's State House, and succeeded in isolating Jaramogi and Kaggia together all their surrogates, Kibaki is cool and more effective. And to him everybody is dispensable, so ruthlessly so that you need to ask the sweaty-armpit Christopher Murungaru. Chris thought he was entitled to take commissions on behalf of government operatives. He was entitled to act as a go-between because he shared Nyeri with Kibaki. No Chris. He was to sweat away on his own, and now he feels no more heat because he is in the cold, and he sweats nonetheless! Nobody talks about the fire-fighting he did for the boss, it is forgotten and it is 'mavi ya kuku'. At least Chris is a Vet, and he knows the worth of livestock droppings.

Raila Odinga pronounced the all-important 'Kibaki Tosa' (sic), sealing the fate of an ambitious Kalonzo Musyoka and consigning Uhuru Kenyatta to the drivel of politics. Not yet Uhuru, you would say. Just about the same time, Mr Kibaki was involved in a ghastly road crash. Michael Wamalwa was hospitalised. The Captain and the Vice-Captain were bed-ridden and in London. Like a loyal team-member, Raila Odinga went out and sliced out Kenya into regional blocs. He assigned Kalonzo Musyoka, Najib Balala and Charity Ngilu the coverage of Lower Eastern and Coast Provinces. He diced out Central and parts of Nairobi to Martha Karua and Joseph Kamotho plus George Saitoti. He had Rift Valley covered poorly by Saitoti and a battery of other freelancers. He covered Nyanza (Kisii) and some Rift Valley regions. You might recall that his shirt was torn in Kisii while he and Kipruto Kirwa were stoned in NARC-hostile Marakwet as their Helicopter took off. Kenya was micromanaged and Kibaki's message was delivered. Narc took Kenya and there was to be a prime minister, the second since independence. The occupant was destined to be Raila Amolo Odinga.

That was a pipe dream. True to Machaevillean tactics, 'the Prince must kill the kingmakers'. Kibaki saliently engineered the first move to tame Raila. With Kiraitu Murungi taking on a visible 'shadow executive' power, Raila was denied the chairmanship of the all-important Parliamentary Select Committee on the Constitutional making process. Kiraitu, then minister in charge of constitutional affairs, subtly put in word to some loyal forces who voted for a Safina MP, another Kibaki-use-and-dump client, Mr Paul Kibugi Muite. That was stupefying for Jaramogi's son. While crisscrossing the country selling candidate Kibaki, Kiraitu was fighting for dear political life in Imenti among the Nchuri Ncheke. With Kibaki safely perched at SH, Kiraitu not only called the shots but was clipping Raila, the kingmaker, to size. The rest is water under the bridge.

But allow me to say that when it was ripe, Paul Kibugi Muite was dropped like an extra baggage and he remains a feeble gadfly to the system. Since he went to bed with them before, and played ball, he basically lacks the moral stand to criticise the government. Let me hasten to say that Muite's baby, the Kilifi draft was a whittle-down of the Bomas draft, from which Kiraitu, an erstwhile proponent for decongestion of powers from the powerful presidency turned around and opposed the 'two centres of power'. As the DP Spokesman, Kiraitu had presented the party position at Cannon house in which he supported the creation of the prime minister's post in the constitution. Need I say that shortly before Kiraitu gave the party position, his party leader Mr Kibaki had given some opening remarks?

How things change.

Muite is in the 'no-use' dump-site. Along him is a heap including akina Murungaru. The list shall grow as we get along.

Having succeeded in driving Raila to foul mood, Kiraitu went ahead and sought to finish Moi. He famously said "We want Moi to retire to his Kabarak home and look after his goats and we will show him how a government should be run". Raila Odinga ganged up with some RV Kanu orphans who were nursing the resounding defeat of Uhuru Kenyatta, the RV candidate and Moi's anointed heir. Leave Moi alone. Kiraitu twisted his lips and backtracked. Anglo-Leasing was catching up faster. Mr Clean Murungi.

Add John Githongo to Kibaki's mound of 'no-more-use' dump-site. Add Mwiraria, and Joseph Munyao of DP. Add Kalembe Ndile, the hilarious and Raphael Tuju. Don't forget the first casualty, Dr Shem Ochuodho. Shem Ochuodho's case is a study in contradictions. Ochuodho is a computer wizard, a man trained in the intricate balance of zeroes and ones, which become what you are reading now. Even that 'logic' could not help him decipher Kibaki's machinations as he was used to hit Raila. Even after a try at revival in 2007, he remains rueful of his abuse by Kibaki. Mr Kibaki has no respect for education. Ndinkilii ni Mavi ya Kuku.

Ask Wanyiri Kihoro. A man whose whole life was dedicated to the improvement of Kenya Inc. He has lived unsung, even by his own Nyerite. What hero, Mavi ya Kuku.

Ask Moody Awori, the ever-smiling no-mood-is bad elder Jomba. He was plucked from the Raila wing of Narc, used in tokenism and abandoned like a chicken gizzard refuse by a slaughterer in Busia. Bless you Moody.

Ask Musikari Nazi Kombo and Wamalwa's first cousin Mukhisa Kituyi. Having fought and chopped off their tails, they were both dumped until Ford-Kenya said they wanted Kombo nominated. Yes he is nominated, but the man who is revered by some Bukusu and whispered to have one of his kids 'kept indoors until he has become yellow' due to lack of exposure to light, was defeated in an election (by ODM!). A Bukusu friend of mine said Kombo could never lose an election, that having sacrificed one of his blood to 'yellowness', he has become a Phoenix of some sort. Kombo, an alleged heir to the Dini ya Musambwa's Elijah Masinde's powers, is currently embroiled in a do-or-die battle for relevance in Ford-K. Either a young Eugene Wamalwa or the more experienced Moses Wetangula will tether him to Webuye. Mr Kibaki is involved, albeit through son Jimmy, in some Simamisha Kenya effort to sell Eugene as untainted. Problem is, he is being ferried in tainted caravans.

Why do I want to study under Mr Kibaki?

In 2007, he is widely believed to have lost the presidential election. Quietly, in the lead-up to that election, his system had engineered a split in the all-powerful juggernaut, the ODM-K of Raila-Kalonzo-Ruto-Mudavadi-Balala. Kalonzo went away with a part of ODM, and retained the -K tag. Dismissed as a paper tiger, Mr 8% and even derided as a loser, hence Kalooser, Kalonzo quickly jumped to join Kibaki as the Veep in the contested election. It will be remembered that while the whole country was raising questions regarding the validity of the poll, Kalonzo's point man, well aware of a pre-poll MOU was pushing his relative, the disgraced ECK Chairman Kivuitu, to release the final tally and announce the winner.

I sometimes think that Kalonzo has lost his place in the plot of things. This happens oftentimes when you agree to be used. You lose respect and you get a price tag. At the moment, Kalonzo is not the man to beat in the renamed cage-of-same-foxes PDM. He might as well find out later that even William Ruto ranks higher than him! Pay back time.

Now let us examine Kibaki. And let us focus on his actions around the time the country was burning in 2008.

I hold the opinion that Kofi Anan did not bring anything new to Kibaki. Just think it over. Before Anan began his work, Kibaki had formed a government with half the cabinet. With the exception of one or two, Kibaki's half cabinet remains intact to date. He was ready for a coalition government long before Anan traversed the collision to coalition. It is the ODM which CAME in to the coalition. Kibaki was already in plan B.

I need not say what happened to the NARA. For even though it was drafted by some of the best brains in ODM, not much was achieved. Even though the PM was designated the supervisor and of co-ordinator of government, for the better part of the two years he has only managed to visit projects in the company of ODM's half cabinet. The rest know their boss. Mr Muthaura remains more powerful than the PM. That again is not in doubt. The PM co-ordinates the ODM appointees he appended to NARA, the same guys he even cannot sack (let alone suspend!).

At the moment, the sleepy (almost sheepish) Kibaki is busy with something pivotal for his twilight term. He has roped in some disenchanted MPs from ODM led by Agriculture Minister William Ruto.

William Ruto needs no introduction. He is ambitious, he is wealthy and he has an ego the size of Kabiyet a hill in the heart of Nandi country. An eloquent man in his own right, Ruto shares many similarities with Raila Odinga. The most prominent trait is the one he is currently using. Mr Kibaki's Agikuyu community consider Mr Ruto as the sponsor of ethnic violence that rocked the Rift Valley. The press has succeeded in stupidly tagging Eldoret, Mr Ruto's constituency, as the epicentre of the violence.

Mr Ruto has found a friend in Uhuru Kenyatta, his pal of 2002. The two can go places, or so we hear. Some of the places they plan to go to is State House. The avenue is a merger of the Kalenjiin and Agikuyu in a clone called Progressive Democratic Movement, PDM. Progressive, what is progressive about Kiraitu Murungi, George Saitoti, Kalonzo Musyoka? What is democratic about this pseudo-movement without any motion? It is owned by Kibaki's money bags, the same people who view power as a right for some and undeserving of others.

What is progressive about Anglo-Leasing, Goldenberg, Maize scams, Laico, and all those other rapists of state corporations?

The PDM has a slogan, it is T-A-I, Tai. Tai in Kalenjin means loosely 'the future' or right side. So, what is the future? Or where is it?

I want to study under Mr Kibaki because he has been successful in hoodwinking anybody who cared to swallow the bait. Ask Simon Nyachae son of Chief Nyandusi. Mr Kibaki is intent on only one thing. Destroying the ODM party and scattering Mr Odinga's followers. Ruto will move with a parchment to PDM. With T-A-I, the Kalenjin will be made to believe that they own it, they are 'ahead of everybody', kimitei TAI! Once in PDM, with bridges burnt in ODM and no where to go back to, the mafia will square it out with Ruto. If you think I am kidding, ask Daniel arap Moi. He was not implicated in the deaths of any Kikuyu, not even JM, before 1982, at least not before the 'Change-the-constitution' campaign of 1975. Yet someone engineered a whole community's turn-around and Moi was abandoned until he retired from politics. Ruto, to the Agikuyu, is a mass-murderer, mention the name Kiambaa and the Mumbi will shrink. That is a stigma he cannot shed easily. Why not? Money may buy freedom from our legal system. However the court of public opinion is a damning indictment not redeemable with money.

Mr Kibaki is not running for president in 2012. Why does he need Ruto's support for? Raila Odninga was a necessary evil in 2002. Kibaki needed to surpass Kenneth Matiba, a man with little regard for Mwai, and become Kenya's CEO. Even though he knew that he was going to run in 2007, Kibaki chose to deal with Raila, a future asset, the way he did. What makes Ruto believe that Kibaki has gloves reserved for him?

Largely ignored and under-estimated, Kibaki remains Kenya's most enigmatic politician ever, perhaps more than Daniel Moi and Raila Odinga. He is a study in political contrasts, a man to watch all the time including in his bedroom. His strings are invisible, put tout. His game-plan is longer than we anticipated, and inexhaustible. His players are many, and dispensable. All his players, including his son Jimmy, can be dispensed with.

While Kenyans have been schooled in raucous politics and gotten used to 'pentecostal politicians', like Baba Moi, Tinga and now Ruto, Baba Jimmy subtly goes by ignored. That guy is a guile hand, largely underrated and yet more deadly than any politician who ever ruled Kenya.

I will not say anything about the countless Mungiki youth massacred in his watch. Though Agikuyu, he has reigned indifferent to them.

It is clear that what he learnt about how to nyorosha Jaramogi, Kaggia, JM, Seroney, Njonjo, and all those other luminaries of yesteryears, he successfully fused into a valuable 'use-and-dump-user-manual'. That "how-to" book is a guarded secret. The more we compile the list of his friends of yore, the more we see why he fights nobody's wars. A perfect man in the game of self-preservation he is. Is anybody caring to see it?

Kibaki has never been a reformer. When he was overtaken by events after the Anan negotiation, Martha Karua was there to do the talking and all the dirty work. Having checkmated the ODM fire-spitters, and secured Kibaki's place in State House, she was abandoned. Noisily she quit government, but as she realised later Kibaki brought in her party's Njeru Githae na kazi ikaendelea.

When Kibaki ceded ground to have the constitutional review process completed, he wanted to ensure that something he swore never to have in the Katiba was banished. In 2007, Kibaki said Majimbo was retrogressive and vowed to oppose it. In order not to be seen as the one fronting it, Mr Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta teamed up at Naivasha recently and quietly but surely immortalised Kenya's move to an imperial presidency and a dilution of Majimbo or federalism an aspect so dear to the Rift Valley constituency. In a recent poll, Kass FM polled 96% of the Kalenjiin listeners favouring Majimbo in the constitution as opposed to a mere 4% who said they didn't care. Kibaki found a foot soldier in Mr Ruto who not only entrenched a powerful presidency, contrary to the motivations for a constitutional review in the first place, but helped removed and consign to the dump-site the concept of Majimbo.

In a frothy rejoinder to this development, an eloquent Chebusiit Marindany Laboso, a diaspora Rift Valleyan had this to say:

The elimination of the regional tier WILL DENY the small and weak counties an essential forum for co-ordination, and protection from undermining by the strong national government.

This means, without regions, and without administrative provinces, Rift Valley, either as a governance or administrative unit will be no more. There shall only be a national government and county governments (two tiers) entrenched in the constitution.

If you closely reflect what this means for instance at the South Rift, it means that majority of the Kipsigis will be sliced and diced into three counties, with some having their voices drowned out in Narok County, some dominated in Nakuru County, and the remaining having their say in Kericho district. The divide-and-rule dictum becomes apparent. The removal of a sense of communal unity becomes real.

Read on: http://jukwaa.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=3825

Kibaki did not need to raise a finger to achieve that. He has company. Unfortunately, that company shall be dropped to the dump-site as soon as the objective is achieved.

My personal take on Chapter 12 of the Harmonised Constitution

2009-11-21T15:23:00.002+01:00

Now to my task as a Kenyan. I am not trained in legal matters and what I offer is basically a layman's wish. I have stayed limited to Chapters twelve (Executive) and fourteen (devolution) for now. I have some misgivings about certain matters of language such as:

Article 156 (2) The State President shall exercise the powers and perform the functions of that office on the advice of the Cabinet unless this Constitution states otherwise. Does he SEEK Cabinet advise OR does Cabinet offer such advise without prompting. I think this 'trigger' needs to be put in black and white. For example, the words: Always, constantly, regularly, etc may be juxtaposed somewhere to disambiguate this and help eliminate the Rigera-type scenarios. The president might argue, 'I didn't need the help of the cabinet' on that, and still point to the ambivalence of this loophole. Let us use a toothcomb on the language!

These are my observations and misgivings so far, which I am also sending to the CoE via email.

Presidency: Election and power.

To me the president is ceremonial in all but name. He is not doing anything on his own. Pardon my gender in prose, I don't mean to deprive the women the possibility of ascendancy to the presidency. I just want to limit my fingers' dance across the keyboard merely to appease biases.

Now, a president who ONLY appoints AFTER parliament has RECOMMENDED and CLEARED the officials is powerless. Which is good. HOWEVER, Kenyans go the the polls to ELECT the president. Such an official should act in a way commensurate with the POPULAR mandate given by the populace. Apparently, after being handed the popular mandate, the president is tethered to SH and Nayo Stadium/Uhuru Park. Nothing else. All the day to day stuff will (nay, shall) be in the hands of the PM. The president as envisaged in the constitution is a creation of the Kenyan people through an election. The PM, on the other hand, is the creation of haggling and horse-trading in parliament.

I consider these tasks of the president:

4..The State President shall—

respect, uphold and safeguard this Constitution;

safeguard the sovereignty of the Republic;

promote and enhance the unity of the nation;

promote respect for the diversity of the people and
communities of Kenya; and

ensure the protection of human rights and fundamental
freedoms and the rule of law.

5. The State President shall not hold any other State or public office.

A person envisaged in the constitution to act as a nucleus of state cohesion and symbol of national pride MUST be saved the DIVISIVE hustles of electionneering. A father-figure, to me, must be above reproach and spared the blame games and must be guarded against playing a role in the rigours of divisive and non-progressive politics and campaign mirk and mire.

The basis of my argument is these dilemmas:

Let Kenyans ELECT the GOVERNMENT-FORMING mechanism. Let Kenyans hand over rulership to a person who SHALL EVENTUALLY EXERCISE THAT POWER. If Kenyans elect a president, then let the EXECUTIVE power rest therewith, let the president, in response to the mandate offered by Kenyans LEAD from the front. Allow HIM to lead government and governance. THEN introduce checks and balances through parliament, to ensure that unilateral appointments to key government positions are checkmated through a thorough vetting process seated in parliament. The president SHALL then exercise authority with a very close monitoring by a muscular parliament, which is also answerable to an electorate.

IF Kenyans want a PM, as seems inevitable from the proposals. The I propose that the PM and NOT the president be ELECTED, together with his party, by POPULAR mandate by the people of Kenya. Such mandate, originating from the power of Kenyans to cede governance to one man/coalition of men, shall transfer governance to the PM who shall exercise EXECUTIVE authority. The PM, either with his party, or as a leader of the LARGEST (basically 50% plus one MPs), shall offer to form the government.

The mechanism of formation of such a government shall involve procedures such as those witnessed in Israel, Germany and the UK where the PM (a product of TOUGH, even divisive campaigning) offers a proposal to form a government to the president. The president, upon being satisfied that the PM-designate satisfies CONDITIONS (nationality, MPs, Coalition rigours, minority interests in government composition) shall INVITE him to form such a government.

Such a government shall formulate the legislative agenda of GOVERNMENT, which SHALL be promulgated by the president at the STATE opening of parliament. The governance agenda shall be owned by the government (read PM plus ministers), the same government shall implement the agenda.

The PM shall PROPOSE Ambassadors/High Commissioners, judges, magistrates and other government appointees to parliament, which SHALL vet, clear for appointment and forward the same to a president whose only task is to FORMALLY APPOINT. The President shall not amend the list of appointees UNLESS he consults AFRESH with parliament, which should then accept and subject to a similar process, a replacement appointee.

In my proposal, the president is a CREATURE of parliament(s). He is a FIGURE of respect, an eminent and pacifying Kenyan in whose utterances divisions have never been hinted. He shall be a ceremonial figure. Being non-partisan means he may be appointed from non-aligned groups, he may be a member of the minority party etc. Better still, the president may be a product of both parliament and the regional governments. Such figure is likely to satisfy the roles specified in schedule 4(a)-(e) of Article156. The president's election shall be EXACTLY one calendar year after the last election in order to ensure that at the conclusion of an election, and in the transition, there is an incumbent president to ensure continuity.

It doesn't make sense to me that the president appoints the Cabinet, which is then presided over by the PM. May the PM nominate and propose the cabinet to the president who SHALL in turn APPOINT the government.

Further on the ministries, I propose that the constitution names BENCHMARK ministries for key sectors such as:

Agriculture

Finance

Education

Culture

Transport

Public Works

Lands

Tourism

Health

Foreign Affairs

These ministries should then have substantive departments under the deputy ministers. For example Agriculture may have deputy misters for Livestock, Fisheries, Crop production, etc. Likewise, Kenya should be courageous enough to lump related ministries like natural resources, forestry, and any other under deputy ministers under Tourism. Education shall have science and technology, basic and high education etc. See my thrift?

On devolution. I wanted to ask for the names of the regions, what are they based on? The provinces as they currently exist or as envisaged in Kibaki's 20 regions?

Holidays

2009-11-13T08:32:00.001+01:00

Ochamegei boiisiechu (abeere muren booi Boaz). Lagok che koyai tiemuutik ko mie koisto ng'olyoot ne kileen "ke tar sukul". Ma mii chi ne tarei sukul. Agot ane nga kimoori kaineet keleen Dr ko toom aatar sukul. Tarei biich sukul. Ye mwa lakweet anan ko sigiik kole "ki ko tar sukul kip anan ko chep shiancho". Mwaeet ne uu noo ko teechei ng'otweet em kabwotuutik. Ribegei chi marigindoab kabwatuutik.

Em kasari ko mi ole kimuuchi kesooman buch em university. Geer Finland ak Jurumaan. Oli kimuuch kesooman em university em robiisiek che ng'ering. Em Juruman ko Jimbo che mochei chepkondook kemogee lakwa elipu 60 kitio. Oltinweek alak ko ma kimochei chepkoonda.

Kobaate....

Nga mi ng'ony chepkondook che kemochei em Finland, Juruman, Sweden ak agot China, ko magaat keng'alaal kutiitnywa. Ara anyuun lakweet ne ko koit kilas 12 ko nda imuugaksei kowo kolej ne kineeti kutusweechu asi kobiit kiibara kiwotoosiekab sobeet. Nda momi chepkondokab Kolej ko amu nee lagook che mi oltinweek che kimuuchi keyai kandaras kou kap chai anan keebut bandek asi konyoor chepkondook che inetegei kompiuta anan kutuswek che tesei boroinwekab somaneet.

Omwachi lagook konai kole koobek pocket money yo ko itui sandukuutab sukul. Nguno ko yaachei ko am kaootikchiik.

Mie ke kaaman kanetisiet agobo koroi kiguree Ukimwi asi kitigiin ko ma itiaach lagook seseenik ne matinyei aiyo. Mi ting'ong'eet beek oriit, mat siil beek kiholeela.

Sere ak ogat arap Sang ak Cheptabach.

KCC: A historical perspective

2009-11-07T22:22:00.004+01:00

In 1990, Egerton University upgraded its Dairy Technology Diploma to a degree course. The BSc Dairy Science & Technology was custom-designed to train 'future KCC managers'. The first batch of the 8-4-4s who had chosen a UoN Food Science found ourselves at Egerton. We were 26 in number. I was the only one from the RVP. In 1992, May to be precise, then Minister for Co-operatives, the late Kamwithi Munyi, ammended the Act that had hitherto given KCC a monopoly. The Kenya Dairy Board lost its teeth. Imports of dairy products came in, including products with radioactive material, that Ukrainian milk powder contaminated by the Chernobyl Nuclear disaster of Apr 1986.

Among the loosers were the farmers, who, without knowing also contributed to the demise of KCC. I wrote my term paper on this liberalisation and its impact on KCC and farmer payments. I am sorry that I cannot locate the hard copy at the moment. However, apart from a free-for-all- importation of cheap and subsidised milk and milk products, farmers were doing what they continue to do. In the morning, they'd supply milk to KCC, but either due to lack of knowledge or merely because they were trying to make a kill, they took their midday and evening milk on bicycle to Eldoret. They were selling full fat raw milk to the same target consumer to whom KCC was meant to sell processed milk, The farmer's milk was costing half the prize of the processed milk from KCC. This hawking was allowed because Munyi's amendment made 'hawking' of milk legal. For with it, the Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) could not impound any unprocessed milk.

KCC was collapsing. Chebelyon was at one time the Chair, Raymond Moi was the de facto head and supplies committee's in-charge. He was running the show as Nathaniel was busy elsewhere. It was during this time that a company, Katestai Ltd, of Tony Ketter (actually John Chumo) and David arap Bett (who was a director of KCC) were doing proxy business for Raymond. They supplied what I have called at in this blog 'more toilet paper than the milk supplied by farmers'.

When KCC was faced with collapse, and after several 'interventions' by Moi who could 'order KCC' in public barazas to pay the farmers (which was always instantly obeyed!), a meeting a meeting was called at Afraha Stadium. As a future manager in KCC my colleagues and I attended. In that meeting, Mark Kiptarbei arap Too proposed, apparently having had prior discussions with Moi et al, that KCC be disbanded and a new entity KCC2000, be formed instead. This KCC2000 was to inherit all the assets from KCC, but no liabilities. Technically, as a 'dead' entity, KCC was free from the law. You all know who owned KCC2000 and what it was doing to farmers.

Yes Kibaki disbanded KCC2000 and I think MO1 walked away with some 400m or something like that. If I am not wrong, that money is still stuck with a lawyer, and Mo1 has since sued the said lawyer to 'recover his money'. Remember that while these guys were raping KCC, Mark Too was busy transforming KGGCU back to KFA and then back to KGGCU. In between that, KGGCU/KFA assets including houses (like the one Mark has at Milimani in Nakuru) was changing hands. Why do we want to die for these crooks, eti 'our own', who owns who? They own you or what. Did I care to say that in the thick of the confussion, one WSR imported maize, yes the same commodity that farmers in Ziwa produce. I love you Kalenjiin, you are 'ours'.

Ruto candidacy

2009-10-31T23:58:00.002+01:00

Amos,
It is democracy at play. For Ruto to declare his candidacy in ODM he is entitled and he should not cease to pursue that way. ODM must promote internal contests and democracy. However, his candidacy need not be Kalonzo-style. He should be guided to practice 'inclusion'. At the moment, guaging by what I have heard so far from third parties, he is not interested in ODM. Ruto's game plan is to herd the Kalenjiin to a party from where he will launch his bid. Knowing well (Kansola let it out today morning) that he will not make it but remain a king-maker, he will hawk us to a 'coalition partner' for trade-offs. Now that is where I part ways with his ambitions. Is it difficult for Ruto's handlers to sound him on the likelihood that Raila might as well be PM in future and not necessarily interested in the presidency? Why don't we encourage Ruto to 'use' Raila and his numbers as he builds bridges to other people like Balala? Surely you don't torch your house before you build another. ODM is a mass movement and Ruto needs to scheme well to not only inherit Raila's numbers but position the Kalenjiin in government, not as beggars to be included in a government. I would like to see Ruto contest within ODM, win the ticket or lose it BUT remain committed to ODM and its aspirations to lead Kenya. That is politics of the future, not the 'nomadism' that I hear coming through.

I hear democracy, democracy. Isn't it democracy when Musa Sirma, Magereer Lang'at and Frankline Bett or even Henry Kosgey decide to stick with Raila? Do we have two prisms through which we measure democracy? While we are passionate about a Ruto presidency, let us be cognisant of the fact that we have differences of opinion. People should be respected for that diversity. But again, Kanu taught us 'sauti moja' but it didn't tell us which one, Bass, alto, tenor or soprano! A lot of the Kanu lynch squad is loose and doing what is natural for them.

To me ODM is ours, we are the main if not among the main shareholders. How do we vacate it and found another one? IF Ruto is planning on taking the Kalenjiin on the tarmac again, with his spirited effort to get us more enemies as if the ones we have are not enough, NANDI will not be part of it. Ma acheek che ke kertoe kiroonget kou tugaab grade.

Ruto, ODM and migration

2009-10-27T12:12:00.002+01:00

Arap Sang,
ODM ko nenyoo Kalenjiin. Amu nee asi ma kiyan keele demokras ko le chi mochei koek President em ODM. Biikab ODM che imong'u chiito ne wendii ko soomei ng'echereet. Ngamwa ale mi ng'echerook aeng'u Kenya: president ak PM. Kalya asi ma king'omegituu ak kiroopgei biik che koneech koitoosiek (numbers) che indoeech Sirikali oriit. Momii bororieet ne imuchi ko boi Kenya inegei. Mochei biik toreteetab Kalenjiin, mochei Kalejiin toreteetab biik alak aki icheek.

Ma nyolu kecheeng'chigei buunik che chang. Kou yo kamwa Kansola ko ma chamei Ruto kaiin toroor ak ko nguno kocheeng'ei buunik em Kaap Some ak Kap Kulusya. Mageere amu ne asi ketinye korotiik che bo uoteet ne ki ombenooti kong'eete goot age agoi goot age. Atkinye kemande em Kadu, ye itio keng'eetee Kanu agoi ODM. Ngunoo omoche kokeny kebe kiroonget ke kertee oreet? Asoome ale kobiit internal democracy em Kalenjiin ak ODM. Kou yoo mitei biik che leweni age ko mii bik che ma mochei nootok. Kobaate chang saanik em ODM ak ke mochegei tugul. Nyolu Kalenjiin keteschii ng'ulootio ng'oomnon, amat kindoi seruun.

Nyolu koguur Elders tuiyeet ne bo MPs tugul asi kochoomnyo, ma nyolu ko amegei ng'eng'eweet ak komii tuguuk che chaang che igeneech. Ngo le chi mochei ng'echer ko ka tiech beekab ingiro? Biik che wolu (iyamuani). Sere igatwoo Cheptabach.

Kiwotoosiekab Kenya

2009-10-22T09:47:00.001+02:00

Ng'eet anyuun I wee, angu kaaga cham keng'oleech kele 24% biik alage em Kenya. Ageere ale nyolu kotuiyo kandoik tugul em Kalenjiin ak kobekchi ng'aleekchok. Amoche aleenji bikchook momi amu nee asi ke meeite kainaiikab koreet ak emeet ne ke reember ak kotesei tai ngelelyoondonoo ko saksakani emeet. Onge chamde kepchei Rift Valley, ang kaleen ki kiroo koiin age kele nga menyei wakiik che chang ko ng'olooli kipkutiinak. Ma mi ng'ala, kimuuchi keemeny komosweek che teer ak kiyopchigei ng'aleek, mitei Kass FM ak simoiisiechoo.

Tos tuiyo MPs chechook korok ak kobegeechi ole ta ki tilda emeet ama nyi Ligale ko mitweech ng'aleek? Joshua, oiin 2007 ko ki mitei Kalenjiin Professionals. Kichuus kowo anoondo? Magotiin nguno bichootok kosiir asi kogoon kandoinateet em ole ma magee kiy MP anan kansola.

Joshua, kata amoche amwa kou ni: ata MPs che tinyei Central ak ata che bo RV? Pchechii ile biik kepchechi MPs asi iroo ile biik ata em MP ageenge. Ki ke ng'aleech koek keny ak keleen ki ng'ering ko chaang' alage. Tos mi Kivuitu oloo kitesee koitoosiekab census? Aiywei ale imuuchi kochuchuuch koitoosiekab ole kimochei ketebee.

Ngot ko egoosiek che bwonei ko Constituency ne wendi ko egu korosioot ne iyumi biik ko nyolu keng'alaal em Asiistab ra.

Kongoi, betuut ne mie.

Nandi gaa Kaburwo: Ingredients of Kalenjin Bonding: Unity in Diversity

2009-10-20T15:02:00.000+02:00

Nandi gaa Kaburwo: Ingredients of Kalenjin Bonding: Unity in Diversity

Ruto is hawking the Kalenjin- recovered post

2009-10-20T10:07:00.002+02:00

Editor's note: This post was first published on June 27, 2007. It has since been reported to me as being corrupt. Fortunately, it was widely circulated and a good sAmaritan has sent me a copy he had saved on his pc.

That William Samoei Kipchirchir arap Ruto is a businessman with few equals is not a secret. The former student of the immortal Kapsabet Boys High School has a nose for the shilling that is unmatched by his peers and agemates. Not many of his contemporaries have seen a million shillings, except in writing, and are unlikely to see it in their lifetime. Likewise, his rise in politics was undoubtedly as meteoric as it was highly unexpected. The former meek Christian Union (CU) and North Rift Evangelistic Team (NORET) official has confounded both friend and foe. Those who know Mr. Ruto well attest to a calculating and ambitious man, sometimes the ambition leading to serious fall-outs reminiscent of betrayals and not-entirely-over-the-table decisions. It is therefore not a wonder that he fell out of favour (or is it the other way round!) with the moneyed blue-eyed boys of the Moi Statehouse - Cyrus Jirongo and Gideon Moi. What led to their fall-outs and the fact that Mr Ruto has a near sneerish gaze at them whenever he comes face to face with them is both mysterious and tempting. But that is not the hypothesis of the present thesis.

Upon the retirement of the all-domineering Senior citizen Moi, the Kalenjin Moi Statehouse squatters were orphaned. With trepidation they lived each day, not knowing when the 'incorrigible' Kiraitu Murungi-led purge of the former official thieves could come knocking on their now porous doors. For with the departure of Mr. Moi, the deepest secrets of his side-kicks, including Mr. Ruto, were filtering through. It was then that the Kalenjin were cajoled and coerced into a cocoon of fear and scouting for a protector became inevitable. Admittedly, the first goof of the nuptial Kibaki Statehouse was a direct affront on the senior Moi who was fast gaining world-wide acclaim and local sympathies for having ceded power peacefully contrary to beliefs by the doomsayers. Nonetheless, Mr. Moi was making amends with the lynch-pins in the Kibaki Statehouse and as it became increasingly clear that he was safe, his former army of tainted poodles were running scared. Mr Ruto emerged as a noisy champion of Kalenjin 'rights to live in Kenya' and this elevated the former humble AIC-adherent to pop-status overnight. That emergence of Ruto came, perhaps by happenstance rather than design, with the emergence of the immensely popular vernacular radio station, Kass FM. Matters were to be God-sent when, unprovoked, some thinkers in the Kibaki Statehouse and particularly at the Information ministry imposed an illegitimate, if entirely unwarranted, attempt to gag the station. When Mr. Sang of Kass FM was thrown into a police cell, Ruto rallied the Kalenjin people to a free advertisement and instant elevation, of both Kass FM and Sang on the one hand and Ruto himself and a number of opposition MPs on the other, to glorified protectors of the Kalenjin against collective persecution by the Kibaki puritanists and Kalenjin-hate machine. It was therefore natural and a very logical consequence when Mr. Ruto decided to throw in the towel and offer himself as a presidential candidate in the crowded, if star-studded, ODM-Kenya. This came hot on the heels of Mr. Ruto having led his politically conscious constituency of Eldoret North to provide the highest count of 'NO' or Orange support against the mutilated and doctored constitution. Even when he was crowned as a Kalenjin elder, he still enjoyed near-hysterical support. The rest, as they say, is history.

After releasing his blue-print which was duped "A Kenya for all Kenyans", Ruto was hailed as a serious contender for Statehouse and not merely one escorting others to the gate. Although his vision was lacking in intellectual input and was massively silent on cardinal pillars of development for the 21st century and beyond (health, science and technology and anti-corruption), it was an eye-opener. That Kenya suffers political plagiarism is not unique. Many people simply take blue-prints and cover the original author's name with the sorry mistake that they forget to replace other salient items of identity. Nonetheless, Ruto promised a fair distribution of wealth, although the vision was silent on wealth creation. You cannot divide ugali equally unless you have made it! One could as well say that Raila's sterling and Hollywood-style launch was a stark revision of the preceding launch episodes. That of course is not to be taken at face-value because one may as well wish to ask why Joseph Nyaga decided to offer a comical display while he launched his with the laughable rider "I'm more educated than all the others" which only served to underline the below-par delivery of service that awaits Kenyans from President Joe Nyaga. It will be safe to imagine that Ruto evolved a highly unjustified ideation that he was as good as the 'god of the Kalenjin' with the launch. This possibly meant that he regarded the Kalenjin vote as his to lose. Suffice it to say that the Kenyan media treated the launch unjustly, offering him just but a page five three-paragraph coverage for all the evening's worth. Well that is an issue for the 'members of the fourth estate'. Notably, the Kenya Times, which Mr. Ruto is fighting a court case to take it away from Kanu members, gave him a front-page coverage. Another day we will revisit the claim that Mr. Ruto has vandalised the printing press in a bid to steal the newspaper.

Concomitant with Ruto's release of his vision and entry into the real-politik arena was a claim by the diminutive and highly experienced Kiprono Nicholas Kipyator arap Biwott's claim of Kanu. Derisively of course, Ruto et al dismissed Mr. Biwott and failed to notice the invisible hand of the senior Moi in the machinations. Soon it was to dawn on Ruto that, like Mr. Kenyatta, all of Moi's students cannot claim to graduate themselves unless the grand-master offers the green-light. He has woken up to realise in the last few weeks that he is currently party-less because Mr. Kenyatta has chickened out of the ODM-K juggernaut with the instruments of Kanu. Mr. Ruto, is therefore, in ODM-K as an individual, virtually party-less and with no bargaining chip. Although he took for granted certain undercurrents of the old Kalenjin suspicions, Ruto was to rue his wasted opportunities when the more experienced Henry Kosgey decided to openly back Raila and therefore drew a clear boundary between the ambiguity with which Mr. Ruto was moving around his politics and his resolute determination not to allow the Nandi to be 'held by the nose' for another 24 years. It is instructive that there is no love lost between Ruto and Kosgey, indeed almost any other Kalenjin leader who doesn't seem to grovel at Ruto's feet. Again things were not helped by Ruto's penchant of 'pursuing a snake to its hole' by stirring the hornet's nest each time he seemed to dismiss the senior Moi.

That some people have issues to grind with Mr. Moi because of his overbearing nature in politics is not news. However, the Kalenjin peoples' magnanimity should not be underestimated. In like manner, Ruto's tendency was spiralling fast towards the big-man syndrome and he was developing enemies among the elite in the Kalenjin community while accumulating a category of followers that are known for insults and lack of respect. This explains why he has reached where he is. At almost the same time, Mr. Ruto awoke to rude realities that the Nandi were pulling in tandem with Kosgey towards Raila, the Keiyo seem stagnant with Biwott while the Tugen are mark-timing with the cultic Moi family. These are not helped by the fact that some enigmatic Kipsigis leaders like his former schoolmate Nick Salat (who has stuck with his bakule Gideon, and Biwott) and the ebullient Kipkalya arap Kones (who, together with his Bakule Franklin Bett, are gravitating towards Raila Odinga in the ODM-K fallout) dropped Ruto's candidature like a hot potato! Consequently, Ruto has been left with a skeleton of hangers-on who have more fights on their own hands. Add these to the dilemma of a man with no secretariat for his presidential campaigns and you have a president indeed (tongue-in-cheek)!

It is important to note that the choice of an ODM-K candidate is not without pitfalls and the dangers of irreparable splits. Consensus is seemingly the most viable means at arriving at a winner. However, consensus should be guided on the principle that the most popular candidate be chosen. As matters stand in the fluid politics of Kenya, it would seem too soon to pick a candidate. One only needs to see the sharp fall of Kalonzo Musyoka from the overwhelming candidate of choice a few months ago to an also-run these days. Raila started off with a consistent sub-20% approval, he has risen now to become the only logical consensus candidate. What happens if the wave changes against him later? Raila is the man of the moment and to ask him to step down in favour of anybody else is laughable. That the Kalenjin are yearning for a consensus is no secret. That they want to support a decision that involves the winner, is without doubt, unmistakeable. It would seem natural, therefore, that our leaders need a close, even parasitic relationship with the people. For to ask Raila to step down when the gods are smiling at him is to ask the Kalenjin people to throw their caution to the wind. That is not practical and Ruto's think-thank seems to have gone on holiday the moment it appeared that he had everyone of us under wraps. 'Ma ki esee beep suuswo', the wind is blowing away that confidence with the consequence that the nakedness of the leaders are being revealed for all and sundry to see!

When Mr. Ruto, therefore, decided to pay a highly unexpected and unprovoked, if poorly thought out, tour to Nyanza MPs few of his supporters expected him to propose the ridiculous things that he did. Proposing to Mr. Odinga that they step down 'for the sake of a winning formula', Ruto got a taste of his medicine when the Nyanza entourage told him to his face to forget it. It is important that hot on the heels of this, Kass FM's fans took an unscientific but probable poll which showed that 74% of the Kalenjin would like to vote for Raila against 14% and 12% for Kalonzo and Mudavadi, respectively. The stark contrast between Mr. Ruto's alleged winning formula and the Kalenjin peoples' aspirations showed a man living on planet Mars. This is the consequence of pride and the schemes of a nakedly greedy man who lacks respect for the collective hope vested on him by the Kalenjin people. Left holding a dead baby in his hands, Ruto has refused to take counsel and retreat to seek the Kalenjin peoples' direction for the future. As I pen this argument, it is emerging that Mr. Ruto was yesterday steeped in yet another controversial effort to woo Mr. Musyoka to step down for Mudavadi. He could as well be heading to Kalonzo with the false believe that he will appear as a champion of sacrifice. What a fallacy! That Mr. Ruto was a pedestrian in the political terrain is now an open secret. That he is running from hotel to hotel hawking the Kalenjin vote and support is ridiculous and borders on the absurd. If Ruto does believe in Mr. Odinga stepping down, why didn't he contemplate asking him to step down and support the Ruto campaign? Why has Mr. Ruto not seen it wise to ask the others to step down for Raila, the overwhelmingly popular candidate at the moment? Is he serving his narrow, business-like interests with this new move or is he a Jeremiah for the Kalenjin?

It would now appear that Ruto is interested in deal-making as a means to nominating the ODM-K flag-bearer to the chagrin of Mr. Odinga and all democrats in the ODM-K. Mr. Odinga, like many ODM-K followers, believes in holding primaries to sort out the candidacy. It is important to note that the decision to back boardroom selections are reminiscent of all of Mr. Moi's 'speak with one voice' mantra. Question is, is Mr. Ruto hawking the Kalenjin for their good or for his good? Who mandated Ruto to 'do a deal' with the less popular candidates when he has not asked the Kalenjin people for the direction? The last time Ruto held a massive rally, it was at Kapkatet. At that meeting, just like on Kass FM, he had sworn to the point of telling off Mr. Moi that he was not going to give up the race. Why is he betraying the collective hope and aspirations of the Kalenjin? Why is he backing a minority candidate, when all indicators are that the Kalenjin 'koyameechin botaan keelog' to support Mr. Odinga's viable-ever bid for Statehouse. Is Mr. Ruto a mere pedestrian who wanted to use us to up his stakes in a game we least understood? Does anybody care to tell him to learn a culture of discussion and feedback so that people know why and where he is going? Or has he fallen to the old dismissive antics of 'leen nee noo?' Ko koaldeech arap Ruto, period!

Mau Forest

2009-07-28T19:06:00.002+02:00

Joshua,
Nga atinye teeret em sobeet asi ma amwaa che chaang ko neegit ateebe biik che echeen eng acheek Kaplelacheek ale:

Chumeechu, Saweiyeechu ak Kipkooimetyeek/Koroongorreek omwaiweech....

Tos ki kowalak kieet yetaab kochutchi biik Mau? Unee roopta em Bureti ne Tebees, Kericho, Belgut ak Naikuro yetaab komeny biik Mau ak koluul ketiik? Ngot ko kiyoomio ainoosiek, ak ko kitiginiit roopta kotoi kopispiis ago kicham koraang'u kipupumuuit eng tai ko nyolu keguut ndureruut amu ki ko er ng'ony.

Ye igeer pichaiinik agobo tororeetab Mau ak timwek alak che uu Cheroondo ko riirin moo. Agot ileet ne kimii Tindireet ko ki kou neegit ma kemwoe keleen Tindireet Chebuusia ne ngooliel kegool bai.

Arap Sang, nda ki nge koonu mbareet eng Mau kigoochi kibananiaat ta murei yeto age. Kobaate ye ki kikoitoi mbareet ko kimiitei chemoetiinik che ma ristoos mootinweek eng mbareenikab ADC, Kapchai eng Nandi/Kipsigiis and timwek alak. Kinyoor mbareenik che tioniin chemogeenik eng Mau, ki igoochi che tioniin goriikwaak, Chebaigeiinikwaak ak alak.

Ye kiwos biik eng Mau ko ng'oo ne riirei ko ng'oo ne rooriei? Ageere ale ma nyolu kinde siasa Mau, ago nyolu kemitei tai eng ripseetab kieet (environment) ngaap kiboo teeta ak mbar. Ye kesen emeet ak koesio kotiaach roopta ko chiito ne tai ne nyalili ko chichoo kwerei keeldo agoi Naikurro kotugul kocheeng'ei kiruoget ne mie. Chemogeenik ko piru simeet kityo, ma ing'eigei.

Joshua, ageere ale nyolu serikali koweech mbareenik chebo ADC asi kigoochi pichootok kimoong'u. Ma nyolu kinde piik rawang, ago mie konai kiruogik ak kandoik kole ma kiyae kumbet sobonwekab biik amu biik ko ma tuguuk. Ileenji Kalenjiin koriip laatit, nyoonei kowolokwsei emeet ak ko luk roopta.

Ng'o ne tinyei saw mill eng Mau?
Ng'o ne ki ng'u ketiikab Mau ib kotamiit?
Kibaniinik che kinyoor ekaiisiek 500 chiichak konyooru kibananook ekaisiek aeng?

Kongoi, betuut ne mie.

Election fraud whistle blower on the run

2008-03-24T19:05:00.001+01:00

Election fraud whistle blower on the run

Published on March 23, 2008, 12:00 am

By Josh Maiyo

A team has been sworn-in to look at how the Electoral Commission of Kenya handled the General Election last year.

As the team gets down to business, one man remains on the run for having blown the whistle on breach of rules during the tallying of presidential results.

Mr Kipkemoi arap Kirui became a marked man immediately he addressed a press conference.

On December 27, last year, shortly before the presidential poll results were announced, one man —whose actions could either be described as courageous or sheer foolishness — came out in the full glare of local and international media.

He confessed anomalies were taking place at ECK offices at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi.

But immediately he addressed a press conference, Mr Kipkemoi arap Kirui became a marked man. Tension was high, nobody trusted the other and as fast as he came into the limelight, he disappeared.

What followed after were events akin to a James Bond movie.

In his address to the world, Kirui said: "I am speaking to the people of Kenya. My conscience would not allow me to see what I have seen and not speak about it. ECK is responsible for this mess. They (results) are altered here, not in the field. Form 16A is sufficient."

Kirui had been mandated with tallying the results on Form 16A brought by returning officers while the Information Technology section would key-in changes for confirmation and signing by tallying officers.

"I did it for the first time but could not proceed to the second constituency because of shameless, blatant, open alteration of documents presented by the returning officers. My conscience would not allow me to sit and keep quiet," Kirui explained.

He added: "I have gone public because it is important to do so. . .for heaven’s sake let us have a fair tallying process."

Kirui says of his action then: "It mattered to me that my coming out would make a difference and I am convinced that it did. When I went to KICC to address the press, the situation was already tense; the paramilitary police had surrounded the place. I was sure a bullet would go through my head any time."

Kirui then believed his intervention would save the situation. He thought the ECK Chairman, Mr Samuel Kivuitu, would nullify the elections and order a recount.

"I was convinced some action would be taken but little did I know that President Mwai Kibaki was preparing to be sworn in at the same time," he recalls.

As a tallying supervisor, Kirui was responsible for the vote tallying process for one of 10 regions comprising 21 constituencies. This involved supervising junior staff who were meant to be in direct contact with returning officers at the constituency level, to receive and tally poll results by phone, verify them via faxed copies of original documents and finally confirm them by receiving the actual physical copies of original documents (Form 16A) countersigned by presiding officers and polling agents at the polling stations before the results could be announced by the commission chairman.

No verification

What transpired, however, was total confusion - a breach of the laid down procedures. Kirui says there was complete disregard for verification and proper and accurate documentation of the results. There was deliberate manipulation of the entire process, says Kirui.

He says none of the tallying and data entry officials recruited by the Electoral Commission of Kenya received adequate training on how to handle the exercise.

He argues the recruitment exercise continued to the very last minute. People were literally being recruited from the streets.

"They had school leavers from the streets joining the ECK tallying teams. I thought it was questionable, not because they didn’t know what to do but because they came very late, totally untrained and unprepared. We were then, as team leaders, asked to train people yet we didn’t receive any training ourselves."

Kirui feels that the Independent Review Committee into the conduct of the elections should focus on structural weaknesses in the ECK that led to such a high level of incompetence.

"The level of incompetence could be seen right from the junior officers picked from the streets and put to do the job right away —seeing the forms and documents for the first time, without any training — to the highest officials and supervisors who seemed not to understand their roles and duties," he explains.

He says: "The lack of organisation and lack of training was not just a failure to plan; it was a deliberate move to create chaos and confusion to manipulate the process easily."

It was these glaring systemic weaknesses that allowed deliberate manipulation of the tallying process, he says.

Despite the real fear that it could well cost him his life, he felt that it was important to tell Kenyans what was going on in the tallying hall shortly before the presidential results were announced.

"I went public because of what I saw in Rwanda: The consequence of denying and robbing the people of their basic democratic rights, against a situation where you have skeletons of more than 250,000 people buried in one grave," he says.

He recalls his trip to Rwanda: "At some stage, I saw the skeleton of a baby, almost 40 centimetres, with diapers still on and the skull had a big hole in it…you ask yourself how and why that level of animal behaviour could happen?"

He adds: "I saw our country sliding down that road and I knew I had to do something to prevent that slide, the certain and horrifying prospect of the consequence of a presidency being snatched from a winner. I could see that the country was already in a tense trance. I thought we were getting drunk, and I could see a slaughter and serious massacres 40 or so hours later. It could have been worse."

But with this, he put his life on the line. With help from friends, Kirui managed to get out of the country. He had been warned, he says, by friends in the National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS) that there were people looking for him and that his life was in danger.

Fled the country

Kirui’s contacts in the police and NSIS had warned him that certain sections of the police were hunting him down and that his best hope was to leave the country.

With that information, he sought help from all possible sources considered friendly. He even talked to a few embassies and high commissions within Nairobi.

Some diplomats suggested that he leaves through Sudan, but the national airspace was under tight surveillance then and small aircrafts from every single airstrip in the country were grounded.

The only option was to leave by road. Uganda was at the time suspected to be supporting President Kibaki. That left Tanzania as the least risky of the available options.

How he was going to leave remained a big question.

Two days after his press appearance, Kirui called this writer in the dead of the night. The writer could tell he was clearly shaken and scared. He said he needed help to leave the country. He asked for any contacts with any foreign embassy that might be willing to help.

I made some phone calls and put him in touch with an embassy official I knew, and so began his extraordinary flight through Tanzania to Europe.

It was not easy leaving Nairobi. His two daughters aged 10 and 12 were upcountry, visiting his parents. His wife could not immediately leave with him as she had to fetch the girls from the village.

He was worried about leaving them behind, but knew he would be no use to them at home in death. He was comforted by the assurance that they would join him soon. According to him, many friends in the civil society and more than one foreign mission came to his rescue.

First, he took refuge in different ambassadorial residences. He was then taken to record a statement and swear an affidavit before a commissioner of oaths before eventually planning an escape route.

What followed was a harrowing 18-hour drive from Nairobi under the cover of darkness and disguise, through the Namanga border via Arusha to Dar es Salaam.

A week after he went underground, he was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. Well wishers in Kenya immediately organised an air ticket for him and after being holed up in an embassy in Dar es Salaam, he was driven straight to Mwalimu Julius Nyerere International Airport where he took his overnight flight to safety.

Currently in his country of refuge, Kirui is now a student of human rights.

Who is Kipkemoi Kirui?

2008-03-24T19:03:00.002+01:00

I first met Mr Kipkemoi arap Kirui in 1987 when we were both students at Kapsabet Boys High School, in the then larger Nandi District located to the west of Kenya’s Rift Valley.

Kirui in asylum

He was my senior in ‘A’ level, quiet, unassuming and down to earth. We both struck a cordial though not very close friendship.

Our Sabbath fellowships together at the physical science laboratory, which became our chapel every Friday evening and Saturday morning, drew us close. It led to a friendship that survived many long gaps in between.

We shared a common heritage — coming from a humble rural background, and as first-born boys in a typical African family, the weight of responsibility. We resolved not only to excel in school but also to set a good example for our siblings.

This responsibility instilled in us a strong sense of purpose, ambition, drive, discipline and self-sacrifice.

Little did I know that after completion of his ‘A’ level studies two years later, I would not see or hear from him again until more than 10 years later.

Although Kirui was never admitted to a local university, he was an ambitious young man. Soon he found his way and enrolled for a law degree at Bangalore University in India in 1991.

His defining moment came when he met a member of the state legislative assembly and an advocate who became a mentor and introduced him to legislative law.

Mr M V Rajashekaran had a profoundly significant influence in his career choice after graduation two years later in 1996. While working as an intern at Rajashekaran’s office, he was struck by how the Indian state legislatures worked.

He describes it as "quite efficient and democratic, with high quality staffing and facilities and good working conditions".

It was then that he decided to focus more on legislative work as opposed to the core legal stuff of his training.

Upon his return to Kenya in 1998, Kirui embarked on a journey that would see him rise quickly as a well respected and accomplished parliamentary official and perhaps one of the few experts with the most detailed and thorough grasp of parliamentary rules and procedure in Kenya.

While at the Kenya School of Law, he became interested in the research capacity of Members of Parliament and sought to find out whether Parliament provided resources and research capability for MPs to do their work effectively.

He then sought a research permit from the Office of the President to study the Kenyan Parliament.

This was an unusual request at the time since no member of the public, not even former MPs, were allowed into the parliamentary library.

It quickly became clear to Kirui that there was, at the time, a serious lacuna. Through this, he also decided to work as a parliamentary commentator for the Kenya Times.

In 2000, he started a parliamentary political talk show on Kenya Broadcasting Corporation TV.

Parliamentary activities

"At the time it was very difficult to have MPs appear on shows," Kirui admits.

"I convinced then Information minister, Mr Joseph Nyagah, that it was possible to have a TV show with politicians coming in to talk about what’s going on in Parliament," he says.

This was a significant historical moment in the country’s political process. The country was gearing itself for the decisive 2002 elections. Civil society involvement in the political process was at its peak.

Kirui’s passion for bridging the gap between parliamentary processes and the public found fertile ground. He started supporting civil society organisations, and donor agencies involved in electoral, governance and legislative issues. He worked with such organisations as the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and USAID, among others.

After the 2002 elections, Kirui turned his attention to consulting for interest groups and stakeholders in lobbying Parliament for specific Bills before the House.

"Many of them would like to understand the implications of the legislation, participate in the law making process and lobby to ensure their interests are protected," Kirui says.

As his involvement in parliamentary procedures deepened and his involvement with a cross section of influential sections of society widened, so did he steadily gain respect from all interested parties in the parliamentary process.

Kirui contributed in varying degrees to some of the landmark Bills that later became key pieces of legislation. These include; the Central Bank of Kenya Amendment Bill (Donde Bill), the Industrial Property Bill on issues relating to access to essential medicines and the Tobacco Control Bill.

He also worked with the Association of Kenya Insurers and other stakeholders.

"Through all this, my experience was to ask: Do we have sufficient capacity for the public to get to know what law is being enacted?"

He says: "I believe in public participation in law making. I do not believe that people just assume that MPs should carry out house processes without consultation or reference to the public," he asserts.

It was in recognition of his expert knowledge of parliamentary procedure, his dedication and unparalleled commitment to the legislative process that in 2003, the Parliamentary Services Commission (PSC) invited him to apply for a position as a fulltime member of staff. It was Mr Oloo Aringo, the architect of PSC, who invited him.

Although at the time Kirui had just been appointed to a lucrative position as deputy country director for a USAID parliamentary assistance programme run by the State University of New York, he chose the less glamorous path to join the public service as a clerk of Parliament.

Tallying supervisor

"I abandoned the USAID project and with it a very lucrative job, but I have never regretted my decision," he says.

Owing to his extensive experience, determination and strong work ethic, he quickly rose through the ranks to become the first staff member in the history of Parliament to be posted to the chamber before confirmation.

While probation in the civil service takes two years, and promotion to the chamber — a process called ‘robbing’ in Parliament — takes up to 10 years for other staff, Kirui was ‘robbed’ within a year.

It was his secondment to the ECK as a tallying supervisor that set the stage that propelled Kirui to the centre of the intrigue that bedevilled the critical final steps of the electoral process in Kenya.

At the time of this interview, Kirui was wrapping up the final papers for his course. He still fears for his life and is not assured that he can be guaranteed adequate security in Kenya.

His informants in the police force and NSIS maintain that his life is still in danger. Contrary to popular opinion, the opposition leadership was not involved in his flight and had no idea of his whereabouts weeks after his departure.

"I could not rely on protection from politicians. I didn’t go public because of politicians. It was my conscience. Who would assure me of my security in Nairobi?" He poses.

"The Government has no control over security. Two MPs were killed like dogs in the streets, who am I to survive?" He asks.

Asked about the Witness Protection Act that was passed during his time as clerk at the national assembly, Kirui dismisses it as one of the weakest legislations ever passed by Parliament.

He says it was watered down by MPs, who through their selfish and short-sighted considerations to protecting themselves, failed the nation yet again.

The Independent Review Committee on the election debacle would have to do without his testimony, at least in person, unless they are able to arrange a videoconference, or accept a signed statement from him.

About his future, Kirui says he will not depart from his career in legislative issues, but wants to continue doing rigorous research, publishing and building a critical body of knowledge that he thinks is needed to improve legislative processes in Africa and particularly in Eastern Africa.

That will be his contribution for the foreseeable future, but for now, Kenya’s Parliament will have to do without his skills and expertise at a time when perhaps it needs them most.

Class and Kinship in Kenya’s Killing Fields

2008-02-20T09:46:00.002+01:00

By Oduor Ong’wen

It is easy “indeed tempting” to dismiss the violence that has engulfed Kenya in the last one month as an unfortunate, though not totally unexpected, resurgence of African atavist ontological disposition. Many analysts, particularly in the West, have argued that even though the breach of peace and mutual existence was triggered off by the stealing of the presidential election by the incumbent, what followed had nothing to do with electoral fraud in particular and politics in general, but an excuse by neighbours who have lived in an artificial harmony while harbouring pathological disdain for each other based on petty nationalism to settle scores with each other. This could be true. But only partially. The stark reality is that the crisis in Kenya has exposed the class tensions that have been peppered over for over more than one hundred years.

In May 2000, The Economist newsmagazine treated the world to an edition with a picture of a young man uneasily holding a rocket propelled grenade launcher, commonly known to guerrillas only as RPG, on his shoulder. His picture filled the whole map of Africa accompanied by the issue’s title: “The Hopeless Continent”. With this one stark phrase, all of us Africans, from diligent farmers along the Nile Delta to cattle breeders in Botswana, from dutiful fisher folks around Lake Victoria to merchants at Nigeria’s Kano Market, were summarised and relegated from the ranks of civilised humanity to one single, dishonourable reality: self-destruction.

The same publication admitted in one of its January 2008 editions that Kenya represented hope for Africa. What hope? Sadly, this hope was equated with a vibrant Stock Exchange, fast food outlets in every corner of central Nairobi, thriving casinos, manicured golf courses and booming tourist industry. Ignored were the facts that two thirds of Nairobi residents occupied only eight percent of the city’s land, living in informal settlements; that more than 63 per cent of Kenya’s urban population had no access to clean water; that two out of every three Kenyans survived on less than a dollar a day; and that a few own huge tracts of idle land while the number of squatters and landless labourers continue to swell.

Virtually bypassed by the benefits of prosperity and modernity that is enjoyed by the North, Africa survives and exists on the fringes of global economy and global politics. It is no wonder that while election observers from the European Union, the Commonwealth, the East African Community and the local observer team were in agreement that Kenya’s presidential elections were stolen, the West has insisted that this being Africa , the subversion of people’s will be ignored for “the sake of the country’s unity and stability”. This is a euphemism for “our strategic interests, our investments, our holidays and safaris are more important than your democratic rights; so shut up, trust and obey.”

Once undisputedly regarded as the repository of culture, the cultures of African people are also fast being relegated to the margins as the MacDonald culture, fiercely promoted by the cinema and television, takes over. This erosion of Africa’s culture is being seen as a good thing “integrating Africa into the global society” that must be encouraged. However, this integration is not being accompanied by the material conditions that sustain such avarice and ostentation. No wonder in Kenya , like would happen elsewhere in Africa , when the protests erupted it was the fast food stores, video libraries, electronic shops and supermarkets that were first targeted in the urban centres. Among the rural communities, it was eviction of “foreigners” from the land they occupied.

While most of the people in industrialised countries are affluent, most of the African people are impoverished, under-nourished, illiterate and without decent shelter and clothing. While the economies of industrialised countries of the North are strong and resilient – and therefore offering hope and security to the populations of these countries “those of Africa are mainly weak and vulnerable” and therefore offer nothing but despair and defencelessness to the African people. While the countries of the North are in control of their resources and destinies, those of the South, more so Africa, are vulnerable to external factors and lack in functional independence and sovereignty. This is the context in which we should understand the attachment to land in many African countries like Kenya and Zimbabwe. Ownership of land, however tiny, gives a sense of security and independence.

We can not contextualise the mayhem in Kenya without appreciating the Kenyan National Question. Kenyans are not polarised because they belong to different subnationalities. They are because they relate differently to the country’s resources and productive forces. At the centre of the National Question is land. It is instructive to observe that the epicentre of the clashes was the agriculturally-rich Rift Valley region. This was no accident. Rift Valley is the most settled region of Kenya. It is also in the Rift Valley where communities like the Maasai, the Pokot and the Nandi have unresolved grievances over land ownership centred on historical injustices traceable to colonial occupation.

It was in the Rift Valley where British settlers alienated huge tracts of land from indigenous Kenyans (paying a mere 10 cents per acre to the crown, not to the owners). It was in the Rift Valley where the Maasai community was duped into signing a 100-year agreement with the British in 1904 and denied a hearing by Kibaki’s government (a successor to the colonial administration) in 2004 when the agreement had elapsed. It is in the Rift Valley where the Pokot were forcefully pushed out of their communal land. As the struggle for independence ensued and the colonial rule looked destined to a sad chapter of history, a new ruling class with interest in landed property was quickly recruited from amongst African collaborators. With the help of the colonial state, the new gentry quickly occupied land belonging to entire communities “that had been herded into detention camps and concentration villages” and were awarded titles by the colonial authorities.

Upon the attainment of independence, the new rulers could not relinquish their claim to these lands but came up with a scheme of settling the new landless in former settler areas (which had been alienated through force or treachery). This led to non-acceptance of the large Kikuyu populations from Central Kenya settled among the Nandi, Maasai, Pokot and other communities in the Rift Valley. The area has since been a powder keg and this is not the first time it has erupted. Instances where the land issue in Rift Valley has threatened Kenya’s unity include early 1960s when a former legislator, Jean Marie Seroney, shook the country with what he called the Nandi Declaration calling for the region?s autonomy and expulsion of “foreigners”. Other major clashes over land occurred in 1991/92 in response to clamour for the re-introduction of pluralist politics, in 1997 and 1998. There have been similar land-related skirmishes along the KenyanCoast, even though the history is slightly different from the Rift Valley.

Going back to the issue that triggered off the chain of ugly events “fraudulent presidential elections” is in order. The incumbent Mwai Kibaki was trailing Raila Odinga by more than one million votes according to the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) print out at 4:07 a.m. on December 29, 2008. The latter had 3, 734,972 votes against the incumbent’s 2, 269,612. It was at this stage that the ECK and Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) did a quick calculation and arrived at the number of votes to add to Kibaki’s credit and how much to debit from Odinga to enable the former catch up with and overtake his rival. That day, results that had apparently been received the previous day but their release held waiting the “opportune” time were altered (sometimes more than once) and released to close the gap. Later in the day, the ECK announced results from 176 out the 210 constituencies placing Odinga at 4,046,010 votes ahead of Kibaki’s

3,760,233. Barely two hours later the Chair of ECK shocked the Kenyan nation when he announced results from 189 constituencies with Odinga leading with 3,880,053 votes against 3,842,051 for Kibaki. The art of counting backwards had been introduced!

Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party as well as various observer teams have detailed how the vote was stolen. What has not been talked about is why Odinga had to be stopped at all costs from assuming the presidency of the Republic of Kenya. It is safe to assume that if was any of his other five opponents that had won the elections, Kibaki would have no problem handing over to them – but not one Raila Amolo Odinga. The reasons for this may be found in the platform of his campaign and his personal history.

Odinga’s campaign was anchored on five planks: addressing economic and social inequalities; devolution of power and resources from the centre to the regions in the context of subsidiarity; eradication of corruption and administrative injustice; state provision of basic social services; and pursuit of a progressive Pan- Africanist and Foreign Policy. In a country where neo-liberal policies have found a very fertile ground, it was quite brave for Odinga to declare from the rooftops that he was social democrat and would faithfully pursue a social democratic agenda.

The first line of attack was that Odinga was trying to introduce communism through the back door. Scaring mongering that provision of free basic social services would mean increased taxation also did not wash. Kibaki’s supporters finally latched onto the pain factor – land. They demonised devolution of power as a recipe for dispossessing the Kikuyu people who had settled in the Rift Valley and elsewhere. This worked for members of the Kikuyu community but not other Kenyans. It is therefore not surprising that members of Kikuyu community from rural areas, regardless of whether they lived in their ancestral regions or not, voted for Kibaki to a person. Only young urbanised ones were able to see through this diversion.

But the biggest worry for the ruling elite was Odinga’s anti-corruption stance. On September 22, 2007, he declared that there would be no blanket amnesty for former heads of state and that both former President Daniel Arap Moi and Kibaki would be called to account personally for their improprieties. This announcement came barely two weeks after it had been exposed that Moi and his family had stolen public money to the tune of Kenya Shillings 130 billion (US$ 2 billion) and stashed offshore.

Wielding of or proximity to state power has been the main avenue of primitive accumulation in Kenya . All those who lay claim to being indigenous bourgeoisie in Kenya trace their wealth and status from state connections. On this score, concentration of power at the centre has been particularly beneficial. Odinga’s devolution, antiinequality anti-corruption package was therefore seen by the captains of politics and industry as going against the natural order of things.

Odinga’s personality and history did not help him either. From the onset of the campaign, Odinga did not refer to himself as a candidate. He simply declared himself “The People’s President.” Odinga cannot claim membership among the proletariat. He is not a peasant either. Nor was his father, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. In fact, although born to a simple school teacher, Odinga grew in relative privilege as his father abandoned teaching when he was still in his early teens, built a business empire and quickly plunged into nationalist struggle for independence. Odinga Senior was so passionately anti-colonialism, antiexploitation and charismatic that it was almost automatic for him to be named Kenya’s Vice President at independence.

The senior Odinga was anti-imperialist. During the struggle for independence, he opposed the exploitative economic system the colonialists had erected. The colonial government accused him of being a communist to which he retorted: “Communism is like food to me.” He was quick to establish Kenya nationalist movement’s fraternal links with the then socialist bloc and as a result, many Kenyans benefited from educational scholarships. Among the beneficiaries was Raila Odinga, who studied mechanical engineering in the then German Democratic Republic.

But Raila Odinga began charting a path for himself much early in life. As a student in the then East Germany , he took the initiative to establish an international office of the opposition Kenya Peoples Union (KPU), a left-leaning opposition founded by progressive nationalists and headed by his father. He was later to be independently involved in a number of underground political initiatives, including the still-born Kenya African Socialist Alliance – the effort made Moi rush a law to parliament to make Kenya a de jure one-party state. But many Kenyans only came to know Raila when he was arrested after a 1982 abortive military coup against Moi’s government and charged with treason. The charges were withdrawn after six months due to lack of evidence but Moi went ahead to detain Odinga without trial. He was to stay behind bars for close to six years before he was released and detained again only five months later. In total, Odinga has served a total of nine years behind bars without trial and spent a stint in political exile.

Having failed to tame Odinga, Moi tried to work with him in a courtship that culminated in Odinga becoming the Secretary General of the then Moi-headed Kenya African National Union (KANU) party. Six months later, Odinga was out of the party and had taken with him the majority of the party’s stalwarts. KANU was left a shell that it still is. Odinga then teamed up with the then opposition chief Kibaki on a platform of change to hand KANU a humiliating electoral defeat. The change never arrived and less than three years down the road, Odinga had mobilised Kenyans to humiliate Kibaki in a referendum vote over a new constitution.

Odinga was the only serious presidential candidate that was seeking a parliamentary seat from a metropolitan constituency (the rest only felt safe in their rural bases among people from their ethnic groups). He represents a parliamentary constituency whose bulk of voters are slum dwellers from one of Africa’s biggest slum settlements. Odinga is one of the few politicians who feel at ease in a slum beer hall as he does an exclusive members’ club. He would meet a foreign dignitary in the morning, be at the soccer stadium terraces in the afternoon and attend a burial fundraising gathering in the evening. The fellow is at home in designer Western suits as he is comfortable in a Swahili kanzu or Nigerian agbada.

To look at what is happening in Kenya purely with an ethnic lens is to blur one’s vision. That is not to say that ethnicity is a non-factor. However, ethnicity is a drug that the ruling keep administering to their victims to cloud their vision. It is escapist. I did not see Kikuyu residents in Nairobi’s exclusive Karen suburb hack their Luo or Kalenjin neighbours with machetes or worse still shoot at each other, even though the majority of them own guns. However, in the informal settlements, neighbours turned against each other. Why, because they believe “wrongly of course” that their neighbours are beneficiaries of the skewed resource distribution and since they cannot reach the culprits, they can settle accounts with their “representatives.”

At independence, Kenya , like the rest of Africa , inherited an edifice that promoted heavy dependence and corruption, both on the economic and political fronts. On the economic front, the country inherited an inordinately backward economy based on subsistence farming dominated by the peasantry and cash crop production and export, revolving around three crops (coffee, tea and pyrethrum) and almost solely in the hands of alien commercial farmers. Small-scale commodity production dominated by a backwardlooking, highly superstitious peasantry that was emerging from the nightmare of decades of oppression and dehumanisation; this was the predominant character of Kenya’s rural setting. The vast majority of the population was helplessly underdeveloped economically; their agriculture fragmented into tiny plots, each hardly sufficient to support a single household.

For any meaningful development to occur, it was necessary and urgent that this problem be tackled as a matter of priority. Instead, however, the newly installed leadership relied on Western “experts”, whose experiences were wholly metropolitan and whose background was entrepreneurial. In other words, Kenya’s leaders sought the solution to these urgent problems from business manuals and Harvard-trained economists seconded by the World Bank, IMF or bilateral “development partners”, rather than from the reality of the situation. The end result is that the new leadership succeeded in perpetuating the colonial division of labour where Africa extracted and exported (unprocessed) primary commodities and imported and consumed manufactured and processed goods.

The decision making processes that govern the international flows of goods, services, knowledge, finances, capital and technology are controlled by the major industrialised countries of the North and by the international institutions under their tight control. Kenya (and the entire African continent) is placed in unfavourable and therefore hopeless position in the global economic system. The country is linked economically mainly to capitalist economies of the industrialised Europe – both a legacy of slave trading and colonial pasts sustained by the relative economic strength of Europe and a consequence of development strategies adopted by post-colonial leadership. The West, and particularly Europe and the United States of America, are therefore as much interested parties as are our leaders. Is it any wonder that the EU, U.S and other major Western nations have been more concerned than our “African brothers?”

On the political front, the new post-independence leadership inherited a state that was monstrously oppressive and that was designed to serve the interests of colonial oppressors; a state that was not geared towards the improvement of the people’s social welfare and the country’s economic progress, but the one which coerced them into accepting and submitting to colonial subjugation so as to produce, through forced labour and other coercive mechanisms, for the metropolitan economies. It was a state that was designed to instill fear, subservience and diffidence in the people by destroying their self esteem through dehumanising and degrading treatment. This has become painfully manifested when state security apparatus are shown in television footages shooting dead unarmed demonstrators in one corner of the country while virtually escorting weapon wielding gangs in another corner of the country according to what they perceive be the preferred side of the leadership.

Since Ghana’s independence in 1957 unto the time of South Africa’s liberation from apartheid in 1994, many painful and largely unsuccessful attempts have been made at trying to put the economies of the fifty-plus African countries on the path of independent development and politics on the road to democracy and realisation of human dignity. In virtually all cases, these attempts at socially and economically altering the state of existence have met immense internal resistance and external obstacles. As has already been observed, the economies of newly-independent African states were weak and fragmented, mirroring centuries of colonial subjugation and exploitation. Industries and physical infrastructure “road, energy and communication” were virtually non-existent. The infrastructure for developing human resources through education and training was also grossly inadequate. Education, literacy and skills development levels were pitifully low.

Add to these economic and social deficiencies the spectre of an exponentially rising population and rapid urbanisation and the picture becomes clearer. As people flocked into cities, municipalities and other urban centres in the hope of securing a better life, pressure on public utilities and welfare services began to overwhelm the authorities, which had neither the administrative capacity nor the wherewithal to respond to these public needs. Raila Odinga promised Kenyans that he would address the foregoing. He articulated it in the people’s language and they understood him. Even though he might have been playing a populist game, Kenyans took him seriously. They decided to give him a chance. Kibaki stole the chance. Kenyans revolted. All the grievances were recalled. Now Kenya is a country openly at pains with itself. Only fundamental re-engineering of Kenya’s politics and economy will heal the wounds – not peppering over our inequalities, our ethnic differences, our exclusionist politics and our self-deception.