As the bullets fly in Goma, the end of Kagame looms,and maybe there shall be Peace in the Congo

“We are not alone. Africa, Asia, and free and liberated people from every corner of the world will always be found at the side of the Congolese. They will not abandon the light until the day comes when there are no more colonizers and their mercenaries in our country.”

Wrote Patrice Lumumba in his last letter, December 1960.

Four years later, at the UN General Assembly of 1964, Ernesto Che Guevara said;

“I would like to refer specifically to the painful case of the Congo, unique in the history of the modern world, which shows how, with absolute impunity, with the most insolent cynicism, the rights of peoples can be flouted. The direct reason for all this is the enormous wealth of the Congo, which the imperialist countries want to keep under their control. In the speech he made during his first visit to the United Nations, compañero Fidel Castro observed that the whole problem of coexistence among peoples boils down to the wrongful appropriation of other peoples' wealth. He made the following statement: ‘End the philosophy of plunder and the philosophy of war will be ended as well.’”

Che continued; “All free men of the world must be prepared to avenge the crime of the Congo.”

Then there is the famous statement attributed to Julius Nyerere at the installation ceremony of Laurent Kabila in 1997; That-“There are no uncles any more for Congo, do not wait for them to come and help you – the country is yours and you must take the responsibility for it and for your people”

The Political Map of DRC

Congo’s depressing History

Much has been said about the Congo, mostly about its tribulations. In fact, if anyone wanted to make a study of why Africa, 50 years after independence from colonial rule is still struggling, then one needs to look no further than the Democratic Republic of Congo.

If it is about assassinations of progressive and visionary leaders and replacing them with puppets controlled by foreigners, then you will find one of the earliest in the Congo, in the form of Patrice Lumumba, and Mobutu Sese Seko.

If it is western countries arming and supporting rebels to create war and destabilize African nations through demands for secession, then you will find one of the earliest examples will be found in the DRC, with Moise Tshombe and the mineral rich Katanga cessation attempt.

If it is about dictatorships in Africa, lack of democracy, puppet regimes, leaders enriching themselves & looting their countries dry, despicably corrupt leadership, political prisoners, forcing personality cult worship of leaders, nepotism,,,,anything & everything bad about African leaders and leadership, you will find the best example in the DRC, through Joseph Desire Mobutu, aka Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga ( the cock that spares no hen).

If it about UN interventions that worsen matters in world conflicts, then the UN Congo intervention in the 60's is one of them.

If it is about deadly ethnic superstition, you will find it in DRC.

If it is about exploitation of African resources by foreign countries and corporations with extremely little or no benefits to the African people, then look no further.

Slavery, King Leopold II, the Belgians and resistance

Even before the tragedies of the last half of the last century, the people in and around Congo had experienced the unspeakable brutality of the slave trade for several centuries, from both its Eastern and western sides, where millions of the strongest and the fittest were captured and taken as slaves to the Americas, Europe and the Arab world; an atrocity whose negative effects were felt for many generations that followed. (we can only imagine how far the African would  be today, if millions of its strongest youth were not taken to slave elsewhere or die in the slave ships, or we can instead imagine, how stagnated Africa could remain, if for the next 100 years, millions of its most able youth are taken out of it, never to come back again)

Then came King Leopold II of Belgium, (whose claim to the Congo he supported by his ‘wanting to end slavery’) who brutalized the people, killed over 10 million Congolese in just 20 years, and left tens of millions of women and children with their hands chopped off and genitals mutilated either because their husbands had not worked had enough to produce enough rubber, or just because it was not possible to produce enough rubber for Leopold.(Most of Leopold's wealth that he had gotten from Congo was taken up by Belgium after his death)

Then Belgium moved in and continued with the murder and plunder (Belgium has the world’s best diamond cutters, and exports a lot of natural diamonds, yet it does not produce any!) until the nationalists managed to gain their independence from their colonizers,,,,,,and the rest of the story is recent history.

             

          [Below are the more known internet photos of the way things were during Leopold's colonization]

A young girl and her sister with cut off hands

Women who's hands were cut off because the husbands did not 'work hard enough'

Some Congolese men holding some of the cut hands

A father, looking in disbelief and sadness at the hands that belonged to his five year old daughter

 On the other hand, the story of DRC has been that of resilience of the people, people rebuilding their lives after each of the numerous manmade calamities that have been imposed on them. A people whose scars are hidden in their happy faces and their welcoming hearts. A people who have refused to be put down by their sad history and an uncertain future. A people who in them resides a deep sense of Utu.

Armed Conflicts and wars

Over the past two decades, the DRC has been through deadly conflicts, and wars that sound more fiction than real. The two Main recent Congo wars left over 6 million people dead and tens of millions devastated.

First came what was seen as a progressive struggle against the backward regime of Mobutu, when the rebels from the East, led by among others Laurent-Desire Kabila, and primarily supported by Paul Kagame’s RPF soldiers, and also directly by the Uganda army (and later by Angola) and they managed to quickly take over town after town reaching Kinshasa with no much struggle from the Zairean Armed forces, whose Commander in Chief had already fled into exile in Morocco.

The main reason that Kagame gave for their entry into Congo was that the Hutu Interahamwe rebels were reorganizing themselves in Eastern Congo(including within the refugee camps) with the intention of invading Rwanda for the purposes of retaking power and continuing with the genocide that they had began earlier, and so they had to move into Congo and fight them off from within Congo……but later they realised that they also had to remove Mobutu from power, since he was supporting the Hutu rebels, and so they did remove him from power.

As expected, Laurent Kabila became the President of the then Zaire, which he renamed Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), but even before he could settle down, trouble started again.

His government and his Military was dominated by the Rwandan Tutsis, and they were creating trouble for him concerning agreements that Kabila had made with Rwanda and Uganda “while in the Bush.” (It is alleged that they (Kabila, Museveni and Kagame) had agreed that after toppling Mobutu, the mineral rich Kivu would be left under total administration of Rwanda.)

 Due to the tensions in his government, he ordered all the Tutsi Rwandan elements in his government out of DRC, and he replaced them with some Congolese nationals.

Rwanda and Uganda immediately began aiding and funding rebels in the East of Congo, and another war began in Congo. Later, Rwanda, Uganda and to some extent Burundi openly joined the War, and began repeating what they had done earlier, taking over town after town with so much ease, with the intention of toppling Laurent Kabila, and this time round replacing him with a person that they could trust, a Rwandese Tutsi.

Intervention of Zimbabwe, Angola and Zambia

Kabila’s young government could not stop what Mobutu’s old government could not stop. He was facing two armies that had toppled three presidents in less than 15 years (Kagame had fought under Yoweri Museveni when NRM/A toppled General Tito Okello from power(just seven months after Okello had removed Milton Obote from Power), Kagame was aided by Museveni when he launched his RPF rebel army from Uganda and removed the Habyarimana regime from Power…..and both Kagame and Museveni armed forces had participated in the overthrow of Mobutu (for Museveni, it was sweet revenge against Mobutu who had earlier supported Okello militarily against the rebels))

Kabila called for help from everywhere, and finally under the strong influence and leadership of Robert Mugabe, some SADC countries, Angola, Zambia and Mugabe’s Zimbabwe agreed at a summit in Harare to move into DRC in support of Kabila. That is when the Rwandan and Ugandan Armed forces met the wrath of Zimbabwe’s armed forces, supported by Angola and Zambia.

By the time Zimbambwe’s Army (born out of the experienced Anti-Colonial Guerrilla Army) moved into DRC, the Rwandan and the Ugandans were at ‘the gates’ of Kinshasa. But after a few battles between the allied forces and the invading armies, the invading army had to run with their dead back to Rwanda(and Eastern Congo)….and then some sort of peace deal was later brokered, which required that Rwanda withdraws all its forces from the DRC, but as expected, this was never to be.

**I regard RG Mugabe highly for this. Many people in DRC do so too.**

Even though another peace deal was brokered in 2002, the Government of Rwanda continued to fund rebels in Eastern Congo, and continued mining the high-value minerals in Eastern Congo.

The Rwandan Defence Forces (RDF) would continue openly entering into DRC, with their usual excuse of fighting the Interehamwe who were organized as Democratic Forces for the Liberation Rwanda (FDLR), but they would continue with their mining business and causing terror to the people of Eastern Congo.

Massacre of 200, 000 Hutus

The lowest point of all the RDF invasions was when, with the logistical support of the United States of America, RDF murdered an estimated 200, 000 innocent Hutu refugees in the DRC, having branded all Hutus in DRC as FDLR.

Peace talks and Inclusion of rebels into DRC Government

The DRC would later, in an effort to end all this violence in the east, engage in talks with the rebel armies fighting against it, and most of the rebel groups agreed to the peace process, and joined the government and the army, with their leaders getting senior positions in the military.

By the time these talks (with Kagame and later with the rebels) were being carried out, Laurent Kabila had been assassinated, and his son, Joseph Kabila (through the influence of RG Mugabe) was appointed the President of DRC by the Congolese army.

(At the time of his assassination, Laurent Kabila, who had several decades before fought alongside Che Guevara, had been moving consistently to the left, and some of his advisers were people like Comrade Ludo Marteens, a brilliant thinker and member of the Belgian Workers Party, alongside other Socialists.)

To cut the long sad story short, Kagame continued/continues to support and armed rebel groups in the East of DRC; and the killings, deaths and devastation continued/continues. Kagame also continued/continues to deny the he had any links with these mostly Tusti-led rebel groups, (just as he had at first denied-but later accepted, that there were any Rwandan forces fighting alongside Laurent Kabila to overthrow Mobutu).

All rebel leaders seek refuge in Rwanda

But even to most gullible supporters of Kagame couldn’t help but notice that whenever these rebel groups are destabilized either by the Armed Forces of DRC (FARDC) or through their own internal wrangles, the losing rebel leaders have always found safe refuge in Rwanda, under the facilitation of the Rwandan government. The likes of Colonel Jules Mutebutsi, General Laurent Nkunda, Colonel Baudouin Ngaruye, Eric Badege, Colonel Innocent Zimurinda, Bishop Runinga Rugerero and many others lead open and comfortable lives in Rwanda. This is despite the many warrants of arrests issued by the DRC government.

It is only General Bosco Ntaganda who did not have a good time in Rwanda since he had refuse to respect the leadership of Sultani Makenga in the M23 as approved by Kigali. He had to seek refuge at the US embassy in Kigali and asked that he be extradited to the Hague.

Kagame’s eternal excuse, FDLR, ends

Kagame’s excuse for invading DRC had always been that he needed to exterminate the FDLR rebels operating from the DRC. He has always used the early 90’s Rwandan genocide to blackmail the world, so that he could do whatever he wanted to do to avoid ‘another genocide’ in Rwanda.

Tired of this excuse, the DRC government agreed with the Kagame government that the FARDC conduct joint operations with the Rwandese Defense Forces (RDF) in eastern Congo to weed out all the FDLR rebels in eastern Congo.

The joint military operations, which began in 2009 were named operations Kimia, Kimia II, and Umoja Wetu. The operations were successful and they weeded out almost all the FDLR (Interehamwe) rebels, with hundreds of them having been killed in combat, and over 12, 000 Rwandese repatriated back to Rwanda.

Below is one of the videos taken at the end of the operation in Eastern DRC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ehK-jdQve4

Coming to birth of M23

Left with no other excuse of directly invading the DRC, the only other option that Rwanda was left with was to increase its support to its rebel movements in the DRC, who were consolidated into the M23 movement. (Kagame’s open support for the M23 led to the temporary withdrawal of military funding to Rwanda by some western countries)

(It is observed that Kagame’s mentor, Museveni, has always used a similar strategy but in different circumstances. Even after fighting and exterminating Joseph Kony’s LRA rebel group in Northern Uganda, Kony would always reappear as the election periods in Uganda neared, and Museveni’s soldiers would fight Kony so bravely that his support at the ballots would increase. Joseph Kony also seems to operate where Museveni has interests. If Museveni needs to interfere with the Sudanese government/support the SPLM/A, then Kony will go and hide in Sudan. If Museveni wants to do some joint military operations with the US army in Central African Republic, then Joseph Kony will go and hide in CAR, if he needs minerals from the DRC, then Kony will flee and hide in the DRC……)

Some hope

After the quick takeover of Goma by the M23/RDF towards the end of last year as the FARDC ran away, while the UN peace keeping forces just stood by the side as the M23/RDF violently took over Goma, Ban Ki Moon gave the rebels an ultimatum to disarm and withdraw, but the rebels ignored the ultimatum and instead demanded for talks.

The process of searching for a permanent solution for Eastern Congo was thus initiated (again)

At about the same time, Ugandan soldiers were also operating in the DRC, with their usual claim that they are after some LRA rebels.

With M23/RDF taking over Goma, and Ugandan military operating in DRC, It was clear that a script from the past was about to be replayed.

This made Kabila look for help within SADC, and Angola announced that it would be sending its elite forces into DRC’s eastern front, a move that had already been consented to by the DRC government.

Of course, if the Angolans were to deal with M23, then it meant dealing with the RDF and in essence dealing with Kagame. Zimbabwe and Tanzania also promised to volunteer troops to the region.

Temporary diversion from hope

Museveni and his wing-man, Kagame, sensed the danger, and instead, they did four critical things;

·         Museveni hastily withdrew his armed forces from the DRC.

·         Museveni called for an ICGLR (International Conference on Great Lakes Region) led peace talks meeting between the M23 and the DRC government.

·         Kagame and his western allies (US & Britain) expanded the mandate of the UN neutralization brigade, transforming it into an Intervention brigade that could engage M23/RDF in open battle. Meaning that the justification for the Angolan/Zimbabwean/Tanzanian direct intervention was no longer there.

·         Museveni quickly ran to Luanda, and begged Eduardo Dos Santos not to sent any troops, since the peace talks were about to begin, and since the mandate of the UN forces had been expanded.

Those ICGLR talks began and failed because the M23 stuck to their demands which included that:

·         The government of DRC should share power with M23, and they should be appointed as ambassadors, that they should be allowed to head some of the government parastatals and institutions and that there leaders should also be appointed as provincial heads.

·         The M23 soldiers should be integrated into the FARDC and given high ranks.

·         Amnesty should be given to all rebels who have engaged in Eastern DRC from 2009.

·         The M23 should be given total administrative and military control of the region of Rutshuru for a renewable period of 5 years.

Also, SADC seemed to agree to the UN plans, and so Tanzania and South Africa contributed troops for the UN Intervention Brigade. (The idea of an Intervention Brigade is good, but not better than the idea of direct intervention against M23/RDF)

M23 and Kagame react

The M23 responded by threatening both Tanzania and South Africa, with a stern warning letter to Jacob Zuma that ‘should he send SA troops into the DRC, then they should prepare for more body bags than they had gotten from Central African Republic’ a few months earlier.

Then there were allegations of Rwanda’s plan to cause destabilization in Western Tanzania, by infiltrating the region with rebels so as to keep Tanzania busy with some internal affairs, since Jakaya Kikwete was openly becoming more critical with Kagame’s activities in the DRC.

Kikwete followed up with a warning to Kagame that “Anyone who dares invade or provoke us will face dire consequences” and a few weeks later, thousands of Rwandese national who had entered western Tanzania illegally were expelled from Tanzania.

Recapture of Goma and new ICGLR talks

As for the better part of last month, the MONUSCO(FIB)-FARDC forces have been battling the M23, with a lot of success, as was expected.

They quickly recaptured Goma, and they are still trailing the M23/RDF into the hills of Eastern RDC/Western Rwanda.(where the geography of the area makes it difficult to further battle the M23/RDF, unless they get into Rwandan territory)

Kagame has claimed that the FARDC has shelled its territory, and has send thousands of RDF soldiers along its borderline and some of these RDF soldiers openly engaged in combat alongside the M23 during their retreat from Goma (and Ban Ki Moon’s best reaction to this brazen involvement of RDF was to ‘strongly condemn Rwanda’ for its involvement!).

Kagame is also claiming that the FARDC & the UN forces are being aided by the FDLR (interehamwe), which ironically they had almost completely wiped off during the Kimia I, Kimia II and Umoja wetu joint operations.

The just ended ICGLR peace talks meeting in Uganda (whose resolutions were actually overshadowed by photos of Kikwete and Kagame shaking hands) demanded for the halting of all hostilities and also demanded for new talks between M23 and DRC, which must begin and end within the next 14 days. This for me appears to be just another plan to buy time, and help M23/RDF reorganize.

The Congolese armed forces

as a way forward, Joseph Kabila needs to reorganize his Army and all his security apparatus. For a country like the DRC, security should be more important than everything else. The DRC should be one of the biggest military spenders in Africa.

A question that comes to anyone hearing about the Congo conflicts usually is; How comes a big country like the DRC, is always troubled by smaller countries like Rwanda and Uganda?

In as much as this question may sound too simplistic, it still holds a lot of water. Joseph Kabila has been given legitimacy through two elections in the past, and he should take proper charge of the DRC. He should not encourage war, but he should not fear engaging in it when it has been imposed on him. Most importantly, he must prepare for war. It doesn’t make sense having a big and beautiful capital while you are living in constant fear that it might be destroyed anytime.

African countries that have experienced Wars, both external and internal, or are situated in unstable regions do not joke around with their military expenditure. Algeria, which has been invaded in the past by Morocco; has had a bloody civil war; and continues experiencing threats from the imperialist countries and Islamist terrorists, has an annual military budget of over ksh 800 Billion.

Angola, having been faced by civil wars that were imposed on them spends over ksh 300Billion. Sudan and Nigeria, having faced civil wars in the past, and still facing constant internal threats spend annually over 160Billion and 140Billion respectively.

Morocco, spends over ksh300Billion on its military, which has in the past been used to invade Algeria, and has been illegally occupying/colonizing Western Sahara Republic since 1975(keeping in mind that its economy is dependent on Tourism, Sale of drugs like Hashish& Heroine and minerals stolen from Western Sahara)

Military spending alone will also not be enough. Brother Leader Muammar Gaddafi went down without any real fight, despite spending heavily on his army. (They never even tried to bomb France which is not far off!)

He will need to instill Patriotism, courage and boost the morale of his soldiers. His soldiers need to be loyal to the DRC and her people. He will need to mobilize the whole country to itself.

The stories of the DRC soldiers fleeing like cowards should be stories of the past. Che Guevara wrote about that problem during his engagement in the Congo in the 60’s. Mobutu’s forces did the same in the 90’s. Laurent Kabila’s forces continued with the habit, so have Joseph’s forces as was even seen last year during the M23 takeover of Goma.

The worst thing about the FARDC is that whereas they used to be biggest cowards when faced with foreign invaders, they are also known to be very brutal and undisciplined when dealing with its own population. This means that Kabila will need to work on the discipline and order in his Army.

Over the past few months though, the FARDC has engaged the M23/RDF very courageously and with utmost discipline, which not only shocked the M23/RDF, but also surprised people like us who support DRC’s sovereignty. Even though the intervention brigade has really helped in beating off the M23/RDF rebels, The FARDC also managed to recapture strategic positions from M23/RDF all alone! This is an extremely positive turn for the FARDC.

 This is because all indications show that, just like Kagame needed to get into DRC territory to weed out the Interehamwe rebels, the FARDC will need to get into the Rwandan territory to weed out the M23 rebels and other rebels.

It also follows the same logic that just as it was necessary to remove dictator Mubutu Sese Seko from power in 1997 so as to reduce the possibilities of war in Rwanda, it is now, more than ever before, extremely necessary to remove dictator Paul kagame from power, so as to reduce the possibility of further wars in the Congo.

Photo of a FARDC Soldier being cheered by the population after the re-capture of Goma from M23 rebels                 (Photo from the FARDC facebook page)

At least dealing with Yoweri Museveni is much easier. He is more pragmatic than Kagame, and he is also a coward. A call from a few African heads of states is enough to tame him. He seems also to be brighter than Kagame; It is easier to deal with bright people, than it is with the opposite.

Imperialism will not rest.

Even with the extermination of M23, even with the removal or death of Paul Kagame, imperialism will not rest, nor will it allow the DRC to rest. Instability and interference in the DRC were there even before Kagame came to power.

There is a common saying among some people that war in the Congo will only end after all its resources are depleted.

The Americans have never abandoned their plans to divide the DRC into several countries.

The Americans, the British, the Israelis, the Belgians, the French, the Japanese and many others are still mining Coltan, Uranium, Platinum, Diamonds, Gold, Timber, and many other natural resources in the DRC.

The DRC leadership needs to learn from its history, and also from the experiences of how other mineral rich countries like Angola saved themselves from its past wars. Only they themselves can solve their own problems as they move forward.

In the meantime, all progressive people in the world, and especially in Africa must speak up, show solidarity and work hard to support the sovereignty of DRC and the prosperity of Bana ba Congo.

8^th September 2013

5:01pm

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The DRC is, and has been Africa’s Superpower in terms of Music for a long time. Right from the days of Franco and his TPOK Jazz, Madilu, Papa Wemba, Pepe Kalle, Tabu Ley, Tshal Mwana, Mbilia Bel, Kanda Bongoman, Awilo Longomba to the invigorating bands of the early 90’s. Great musicians like Koffi olomide, JB Mpiana, Werrason, General Defao. Beautiful voices of people like Lokua Kanza and Barbara Kanam…..to the current sensations like Ferra Gola and Fally Ipupa among many others.

Maybe the DRC government should work with these artists to promote unity among the people of DRC, and also to act as Peace/Sovereignty ambassadors for the DRC. If for instance Fally Ipupa stood up and told M23/RDF off, it would be more powerful than when the same is done by DRC’s foreign affairs minister Raymond Tshibanda. Koffi Olomide’s word will have much more impact across Africa than that of Louise Mushikabwo (Rwanda’s minister of foreign Affairs)

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After President Uhuru Kenyatta’s inauguration, President Joseph Kabila stayed around a little bit longer than the rest of the visitors, and he held several talks with Uhuru Kenyatta.

Even though we do not know about the content of their discussions, Uhuru should definitely play an active role in resolving the never ending DRC conflicts. He is at a good position to influence both Museveni and Kagame (even in the midst of the supremacy battles with Tanzania in the EAC).

His predecessor Mwai Kibaki did very well with Somalia. Under him, Kenya hosted peace talks after peace talks, eventually sending her Defense Forces into Somalia, and it looks like Somalia’s future will improve.

I do not see why Kenya should not work closely with the DRC, so as to end her never ending conflicts, and possibly engage with her and others in the Intra-Africa trade that Uhuru keeps talking about. Supporting the DRC is first as a matter of principal, and secondly as a way of promoting Africa’s interests right from its heart.

To Reduce Road Accidents, We Need To rein in Carelessness.

Last Thursday, the country woke up to shocking news of the gruesome road accident in Narok that left 41 people dead, and many others sustaining permanent injuries.

The President himself gave his condolences, and the Cabinet Secretary in charge of Roads and Transport, Engineer Kamau, went to Narok to personally inspect the scene of the accident, and to console the survivors at the hospital. The same C.S later declared a ban on night travels by the long distance public buses as one of the solutions to the road carnages.

The government has in the past come up with different ways of curbing the road deaths; from introducing the alco-blow, use of speed guns on some highways, increasing the number of police checks on the roads, to media campaigns on road safety....

But when it is all said and done, we will all need to deal with the main problem: Carelessness on the roads.

A view on some of the major roads

During the just ended elections campaign period, I traveled quite a lot along the Major roads and below are some of the general trends that I saw with vehicles that were  travelling to/from:

Central Kenya region;- Careless driving by personal car drivers and Miraa Pickups

Nyanza region;- Careless driving by PSV buses travelling along Mai Mahiu road, with the main culprits being buses from Kisii.

Coast region;- Careless driving by PSV buses& heavy trucks.

Mai Mahiu-Narok road

There were occasions when we would be moving by night from Kisumu at those not-so-interesting speeds of 140kmph/150kmph using some Prados (whose stability makes one feel like they are moving at 110/120kmph on a smaller car).. and then out of nowhere, a Nyamira express bus would swish past you and disappear in to the horizon, meaning that they could be doing anything between 160kmph and 170kmph! anyone who has ever used those long distance buses knows very well that there is usually a sense of lack of stability even at 80kmph, especially when overtaking, or passing over an uneven section of the road. I wouldn't refer to such driving as over-speeding,it is instead just speeding carelessly.

What is interesting is that some of my friends who use these buses are usually very happy about this carelessness. They will tell you that “Siku hizi kuenda Kisii ni 4 hours tu!” or “Siku hizi tunakulanga breakfast na familia asubuhi, sio kama kitambo.” Another friend of mine wondered why I would travel using the Easy Coach buses from kisumu to Nairobi, instead of using the very fast (meaning no speed govenor)and smaller Shuttles.

Highway to Mombasa

While this careless-speeding will make you cross your fingers while in a bus to Homa Bay, what will make you hold tightly onto your seat in buses travelling to Mombasa is how they overtake. In fact, when travelling to Mombasa by bus, I always prefer travelling at night when there are a few heavy trucks, hence less overtaking. You will find a bus that is travelling at 80kmph, trying to overtake a tanker that is moving at 70kmph, while there is an oncoming SUV possibly moving at 100kmph.

Now, me being the type that does not easily fall asleep while travelling, the only choice i am usually left with is stepping on some imaginary breaks whenever such ‘overtakings’ occur(which is quite often)

The other careless thing that these Mombasa bus drivers do is what I can call “communal overtaking.” This usually happens when there are say three slow trucks closely trailing each other, and about four buses behind them, then the driver in the leading bus sees the opportunity to overtake and goes for it, then the rest of the buses blindly follow suit. It is usually not so bad if you are in the first bus, but your hair will definitely stand if you are in the third or fourth bus.

Vehicles to central Kenya

When it comes to vehicles going to/from Central Kenya, it is not the PSV Matatus but some private car drivers and Miraa vehicles that will send you to an early grave.

These roads have very many private cars especially from Friday to Sunday, all of them in some hurry to go wherever. When driving to/from those sides, you will find yourself flashing your headlights many times, just to remind/warn an oncoming overtaking car that you are also on the road. In many occasions, you will be forced to slow down to avoid a head on collision. There are also situations where there are persons overtaking from opposite sides at the same time, again forcing you to slow down to avoid a bad accident, and also so that the fellow can just go where they want.

Some of the drivers on those roads seem to over-estimate the acceleration power of their fielders and Primeos.

There are also these old lorries ferrying food stuff, charcoal, timber etc. where just like the heavy trucks on the Mombasa highway, you’ll find them creating long queues of vehicles behind them, each moving in a zigzag motion, peeping to see whether they can shoot forward and overtake the slow moving lorry (especially headed to Nairobi) which is usually a difficult process given the number of vehicles on the opposite side. Some Macho drivers will nevertheless overtake, and dangerously force themselves in front of you to evade an oncoming vehicle.

Then there are the Miraa pickups. They are always brand new, well maintained Toyota Hiluxes, with a huge Miraa load at the back, and two spare tyres. The speed and recklessness of these pickups makes that of the Kisii buses look like some joke. They will overtake dangerously, and if there is an oncoming vehicle, then it will be up to that oncoming vehicle to get out of the road, or slow down completely so as to allow the Miraa Pickup time to overtake. The Miraa Pickups drivers are the ones who will actually flash their headlights at you, to warn you that they are overtaking, not the other way round. I hear that the drivers  walk around with some huge “petty cash” so that when they hit you, they just give you the money to sort your repairs as they go on with their journey.

Even the police do not bother to stop them, they just won’t stop.

Interestingly, the public transport vehicles on these roads are much disciplined. Most of the vehicles move at maximum speed of 80kmph, and the few that have tampered with the speed governors rarely do over 100kmph. If it takes two and a half hours from Nairobi to Karatina, you will most likely take two and a half hours,or slightly more, not less. The drivers never seem to be in any hurry. The passengers are also very vigilant (especially the women) and they will complain and warn the driver to drive carefully whenever he makes any mistake (since the Matatus are smaller, it is easier to complain directly to the driver). They will also start complaining and verbally expressing their shock if another motorist drives dangerously. You will normally get into these Matatus and everybody sits quietly, minding their own. But if any motorist drives badly, or if they go past an accident scene, then everybody will begin talking to everyone, and they can sometimes stay on the topic of accidents/careless driving for over 30 minutes.

But Maybe the reason as to the why PSVs on these routes are more sober is because they used to be the complete opposite some years ago. When we were younger, my brother and I would always be on the lookout for Matatu accidents every time we traveled upcountry for the holidays. We would never miss two or three fatal ones. In fact, as Alfred Mutua once joked, back then, before commencing a journey, some street pastor would turn up just after all the passengers are fully seated, and make a prayer that believers refer to as “journey mercies” and get some small collections for his prayers.

Superstition.

Just as some people believe that if they pray they will arrive safely, others believe in other forms of superstition.

Just yesterday, I was seated in a 4W Matatu, and the topic of Narok accident came up. Everyone was agreeing that those accidents are not “normal”, and it is the owners of those buses who are “giving sacrifices to the devil” so as to increase their wealth. It was alleged that the politicians also are sacrificing their people after winning the elections, as a sign of gratitude to the devil. Statements like “the season for offering sacrifices has arrived” were repeated. Apparently, the season begins in August, peaking and ending in December. All my counter-arguments fell onto deaf ears.

The problem with such superstition is that the drivers will continue to be reckless, and the passengers will just pray that God saves them from being sacrificed.

There is also the philosophy that “kama siku yako imefika, hata undeshe polepole aje utakufa tu.”

There was a time when my good friend Booker Ngesa complained that a Matatu which we were in was being driven badly and instead of the driver listening and driving carefully, he stopped the vehicle in the middle of nowhere and insisted that we get off the Matatu since we had brought “Swara”(bad omen) into the Matatu by complaining. The other passengers supported the Matatu crew through agreeing that we were bringing bad omen and others through their silence. Of course, we had to calm down (though a fist fight did later occur between the Matatu crew members and ourselves immediately we arrived where we were going…)

Sleeping,Madharau and stray dogs

Then there are some long distance drivers who sleep on the wheel. These drivers claim that they know the road so well, that they can actually close their eyes intermittently along some stretches. There is a time we were going to Kisumu on a Friday, not knowing that it is difficult to get buses to Kisumu on Fridays. We found all buses booked, and we were advised to wait for the buses that travel from Mombasa to Kisumu and chance on getting some space. Just as they said, one of the buses arrived but it only had two spaces left, yet we were four of us. We were then told that two would get their seats, and the remaining two would lie on a mattress that is reserved for the Makanga near the driver, only if we assured the bus crew that these two wouldn't sleep, and that they would do the makanga’s job, which is to “pigisha dereva mastori ndio asilale!”

Then there are other drivers who assume that motorcycles and bicycles do not have the right to use the road, and they will just hoot at them, zoom close to them in high speed, or just knock them off and drive away. (I think that before people get their driver’s license, people should first be made to ride a bicycle along one of the major highways, and maybe the experience will help them follow the law and respect cyclists once they get to drive their vehicles.)

There are also some dog (and occasionally donkey) owners who let their animals lose near the highways. Motorists will either hit them and continue with their journey; hit them and lose control therefore an accident; or they try to evade knocking these animals down, and instead they themselves end up dead in some ditch.

Some solutions.

• Regulation of long distance buses/Matatus-The idea of having speed governors on long distance buses should be thoroughly followed. There should be a limit on the number of trips a driver can make in a day, and also a limit on the number of trips a bus can make in 24 hours (if the minimum time that a bus moving at 80kmph can take from point A to point B is 10 hours, then the bus can make a maximum of two trips only). Self regulation should be encouraged, though there should be government inspectors who follow up on these matters. If these two limits are broken, then it is the bus owners who should be held responsible.
• Have surveillance cameras where possible(like they do in Sudan), and mobile police (I heard that they will now be riding in Subarus) replacing the useless road blocks.
• Have proper lighting and signage on our roads. The government should also care to paint the roads so that they can be clear at night. The marks should include road reflectors on the yellow line.
• Introduce a hotline specifically for reporting those who are driving carelessly. (so that those mobile police may follow up where possible)
• Increase the upper speed limit on the highways (except for PSVs), and also introduce lower speed limit on these highways (to deal will those trucks that move at 40kmph on the highways)
• Combine Insurance renewal with vehicle inspection.
• The government should have a serious campaign against careless driving (the same way they’ve done against careless sex in relation to HIV spread)
• And finally find ways of getting rid of those stray dogs (and Donkeys)………I hear that there was a time when town councils would poison those stray dogs?

That Tummy

The Tummy.

Clear it in two weeks! So they claim.

I do not like how it looks, she and he says.

I work the gym but it never disappears, she complains.

Some men love the hips,

Others ogle the behind,

Most will say it’s the face,

Yet for others, it’s her chest.

I do agree with all them.

But listen to me and dare look,

There is so much to admire,

In that tummy.

So intriguing it is,

More so with the double bump

Or when it’s almost a 360

And yes, when it flows down and up.

For when she lies there

It just disappears

And you are saved from seeing

The ribs and their cage

The best part though,

Is when it is all done,

Laying there, fantasizing your common future.

Where else to lay your arms,

Other than on that intriguing tummy?

Benedict Wachira

12 June 2013

10:00pm

Nairobi Demonstrations; A few Basics To Know

Now that the ‘Occupy Parliament reloaded’ is a day away, I have been thinking about the past Nairobi demonstrations that I have attended, which are quite a few.

I happened to miss out on the last ‘Occupy Parliament’ demo, and it looks like I missed quite some action.

For some reason, Nairobians just do not attend demonstrations, even when the issues being addressed affect most of them in a very personal way, for instance the demonstrations against high food prices and high fuel prices. They prefer complaining about it, blame the cartels, the politicians and the government and so on, but they never come out to express their frustrations when called upon to do so. Maybe a study should be conducted to explain why this happens, but below are some of the more known reasons:

·         “Facilitation”

Many Nairobians will support the idea, and then ask for a fee to attend the demo, this fee is usually referred to as ‘facilitation’:-  Which is a phenomenon that the NGOs-CSOs- Popularised especially in the low income areas and is now an almost permanent trend(The name ‘facilitation’ came up because every time some NGO would organize a community meeting to address real issues affecting the community, you’d hear at the end of the meeting the organizers going like “…We do not pay people to attend our forums, since these forums are for your own benefit as a community. But we will give you some facilitation because we know that you left your affairs today, and you need to eat at the end of the day”.) In fact, these days if you do not intend to give “facilitation” in these forums, you have to be very clear about it right from the beginning, otherwise you might land yourself in very big problems thereafter.

The same phenomenon was exported to demonstrations, hence one of the explanations to the usually low turnout even when the issues being addressed are pertinent to the masses.

(ION//if you ever thought that these NGOs do this by default and not by design, then it will be important that you read James Petras’ NGOs in Latin America)

·         The idea that others will attend

Then there is this idea especially among the middle-class that they can hype the demo on twitter and facebook, and then because of the hype, other people will attend.

They find it easier to seek leave from office to attend trivial matters, but never a demo. That is why you will have 3, 000 people attending the demo on facebook, then 200 attending the actual demo.

·         Fear of Police violence

This is a bit understandable; Pictures such as those of Reverend Timothy Njoya being clobbered by state machinery during some demo back in the 90’s tend to instill some fear into potential participants. Others fear the teargas, water cannons….

Still, a research needs to be done, so that the solutions can be found. From my experience, the average number of demonstrators in a small demo is usually between 20 and 40 people. The average number in a big demo is usually between 300 and 400 people. The smallest demo I have participated in had 5 participants while the biggest and the most successful that I ever attended was the one that was organized by Kenyan Muslims 4 years ago, after the atrocious Israeli bombardments in Gaza that left close to 1000 Palestinians dead. The demo attracted several thousands.

Post-Moi demonstrations

The first years of the Mwai Kibaki regime did not see a lot of street action, I think there was one by journalists against a “media censure bill,” and two by University students. This was until Okoiti Omtatah came into the scene with a series of demos, and I credit him with differentiating between getting a police permit for demonstrations, and notifying the police of the intention to hold a demo (he once even pinned a notification on Central police station’s OCS’s door after the guy kept on hiding so as not to approve the demos)

In this era, it became rare for police to beat up protesters like they used to do in the 90’s…..just some tear gas here and here, water cannons, illegal arrests…… and things got even better with the promulgation of the current constitution in 2010.

Article 37 gives Kenyans the right to peaceably and armed to assemble, demonstrate, picket and to present petitions to public authorities. This means that one can demonstrate at any time, without notifying anybody. Unfortunately, some people still insist on notifying the police even when they do not need police protection in those demonstrations.

Things to know

The fact that Kenyans have this right, and that ‘it belongs to them and is not granted by the state’, then it will be important that they exercise it whenever necessary. From the few experiences that I have had, these are some of the things that one should know as they attend a demo:

You should eat well before the demo

This especially applies to demos that are scheduled to begin early. Eating some Ugali and sukuma wiki before the demo is important due to the unpredictability of Nairobi demos. You never know when they will end. You may have the intention to present a petition to Parliament by noon, but then you find it being received at 4pm in the evening. The problem is that all the chanting and the singing tends to make you hungry, and the bigger problem is that it will not be in order if you leave before the intention of the demo is fulfilled.

Do not take fluids

One is usually tempted to drink a lot of water with the reasoning that the sun might burn too much. The problem comes when you need to take a leak…….i am yet to discover where the Parliament, High Court or Office of the President’s toilets are!

Make sure that you can sing the National Anthem

There are a few songs that are sung in demonstrations, most of them from the NCEC and RPP days. It is understandable when you can’t sing along to those, but it is extremely embarrassing when you cannot sing the National anthem. And here I don’t mean singing the first verse like we do in the stadiums, no, I mean all the three verses. Rarely will a demo start off without the national anthem…and it is usually re-sung severally during the demo.

I hope that Juliani’s Utawala chorus will in the future be included in the list of these demo songs.

Carry a jacket or some warm clothing

This is obvious. Reason is that the weatherman in Kenya is usually wrong.

The second reason which my friend Mulialia Okumu, who is a veteran in the Post-Moi era demonstrations jokingly shared with me once is that, should you end up in a police cell, the warm clothing comes in very handy.

Handling violent policemen

Though this is rare in peaceful protests these days, there are some policemen who still have the animalistic Moi era mentality, who tend to violently disrupt peaceful protests.

Just before the teargas and the batons, a senior policeman will approach the demonstrators and give them the orders to disperse, after which he gives orders to the anti-riot squad to charge.

The demonstrators will always refuse to disperse, and three scenarios always occur:

1.       The demonstrators will hold hands and stand their ground. The police will charge at them but there is nothing that they will do. They will just threaten the people with the batons or push them away using their shields. If any of them lands the baton on you, hold his hand firmly and tell him that you have a right to demonstrate and he has no right to beat you. This ‘rights’ thing always works magic.

This is the best scenario, but it needs quite some courage.

2.       The second scenario is when the demonstrators run away either out of fear or because of the teargas and the sound of rubber bullets being shot in the air. The best scenario as stated above is to stay put and in solidarity stand your ground, but when everyone else is running away, then run away also. If you don’t, you will be beaten up. I have seen it happen many times, but the one that I have never forgotten is when my friend Gacheke Gachihi, another veteran, continued sitting at Harambee Avenue even after everyone else had run away. They almost broke his leg.

3.       The third scenario is that some people will run away, some will stand their ground. The right thing to do here is to be part of those that stand their ground.

In case in the teargas confusion, you get cornered by one or two policemen, never kneel down (I have seen many people do this, I think it comes about automatically, where you lift your hands and kneel, begging for mercy.) These policemen go for the easiest and most vulnerable situations. I remember during that huge anti-Israel demo, the police had laid an ambush near Pan-Afrique hotel, but before I explain how I was beaten up, I’ll first describe this demo;

As I had indicated, it is the biggest and best organized demo that I have ever attended. I think it was Al-Amin Kimathi who addressed us first after the Muslims came from their prayers, then a young man took over the mic of the PA system(not a megaphone)with one hand, and held a shoe with the other (just like the Iraqi who threw shoes at Bush)and began the chants. The chants were the most passionate that I have ever experienced. He would lead in chants like “down down Israil” and we would respond the same……”down down bush”…..”Takbir---Allahu Akbar”….”la ilaha ilalah”…and so on and so forth. Others were distributing pamphlets and placards and off we left for the Israeli embassy. The women were militant, the men were energetic.

We then found GSU trucks having blocked the road at the traffic lights just before Pan-Afrique, we sat down and continued with the chants as more demonstrators arrived. We then stood up and demanded that we be allowed to go through. After some push and shove, one of the trucks opened up the way, and thinking that we were now victorious, we excitedly ran through, only to find that more trucks had barricaded the road a few meters ahead on the other side. As we were demanding for the second barricade to be opened, the one behind us was closed again (I think they had gotten enough people within the two barricades) and that is when all hell broke loose. Teargas and batons with nowhere to run. I tried running in all directions but the ambush was well prepared. Some three policemen descended on me and I made the mistake of going down and pleading thinking that they would have some sympathy, none came through. Just when I began to think that they might kill me, woman came running and stumbled down not far from me. two of the policemen that were on me decided to shift their attention to her, and that is when I found an opening and ran towards the NSSF building where like others, I stepped on the sharp pointed metallic fence and jumped onto the other side, a process that left both soles of my new shoes pierced. There still were tens of policemen on the other side of the road that leads to community, who just threatened us but did not act on us. It was decided that we go back to the mosque and re-organise, but I found myself going back to my campus room, still holding on to my placard (pictured below)

End The Occupation!

I didn’t share the ordeal with anyone, until a year-mate of mine who had attended the demo after their prayers told me of how he was beaten, and since he was very light-skinned, the marks were still there, and we laughed a lot as we exchanged our experiences……….apparently, he did not see the opening on the NSSF side, so his story was much different…

The only flaw in that demo was that the organizers (or maybe it was the media?) had packaged the protest as a Muslim demo, rather than an all-Kenyan demo against the Murder, occupation and apartheid being perpetrated by the Israeli fascist regime.

Going back to violent policemen, there are two occasions when they came with dogs. Not running away is again, the solution.

But people should not fear, the beatings and dogs are rare these days, especially in this constitutional dispensation, that is why I was shocked to watch on TV some policemen beating up a protester (Joseph Kimani) like a sack of maize. That is why we must rein in or better still, do away with this incompetent I.G of police Mr.Kimaiyo or he will take us back to the Moi days.

In related news, i was also happy to read in today’s newspaper that Justice Mumbi Ngugi had ruled that Policemen should also take personal responsibility when it comes to matters of them using violence illegally. She deserves a Nobel award.

For the organizers

There are some things that organizers need also to do.

Reconnaissance visits- The organizers need to make reconnaissance visits to the route and venue of action, so that they can take the best positions. I remember we had once planned to raise the food prices issue directly to the president during a Madaraka day celebrations at Nyayo stadium. Unfortunately, we sat at a non-strategic place, and what we did not know was that the gates are usually closed such that one cannot move from one area to the other.

Taking control- At times some demonstrators can get excited and begin to harass other people, or even come up with ideas that may not be useful for the demo. The organizers need to deal firmly with such.

Agent provocateurs- These are the most dangerous people, and most difficult to deal with. They pretend to be with you but they are actually state agents. Their characteristics include; Charging at the Police for no reason, changing the agenda/program of the demo in a manner that belittles the cause, they become unnecessarily violent, and may even begin to throw stones at the peaceful demo, in case of arrests, they are taken to different locations away from the rest, and so on. There is one perennial demonstrator that I believe is an agent provocateur. The best way to deal with such is to set the people against them.

Gathering point- My brother Emmanuel noted that in the Nairobi demos that we participated in, we never had gathering points in case of forced dispersal. It is important to have a re-gathering point, just in case.

Legal contacts- Should there be arrests, there is always need for legal intervention. Since demonstrating is a constitutional right, these days the police might arrest you and leave you free outside the police station, but should they take you in, a lawyer will come in handy. Paul Muite has always assisted demonstrators-Pro bono.

Back up batteries- There is nothing as disappointing as having to send someone to the supermarket to buy some Megaphone batteries because the ones that you were using have run out of power.

One of the best demo organizers that I have seen in action, and probably the best there is, is CD Otieno. Ever since he became the President of bunge la Wananchi Movement, he has led uncountable demonstrations in the city, and he continues to learn from the failures and successes of each manifestation.

But all in all, Kenyans need to understand the role of demonstrations, so as to appreciate them, and conduct them responsibly.

Benedict Wachira

10^th June 2013

4:06am

Of campus politicians and National politics

After several months off my blog, I have decided to re-engage it with a piece, which was supposed to be titled “Of Campus politics and National Politicians,” but I changed it to “Of campus politicians and National Politics.”

A good number of the people who have shaped Main stream politics in Kenya are those who were also part of University student leadership back in their days. From the ‘greats’ like James Orengo, Mwandawiro Mghanga, Wafula Buke, Kabando wa Kabando, Oduor Ong’wen among others who in their days opposed the KANU dictatorship, to the likes of Isaac Ruto who supported (and were supported) by the dictatorship then….…to the younger entrants led by the likes of Omar Hassan who have been on the progressive side.

But perhaps a more interesting development is shaping itself, quietly, as if ushering a new epoch in the mainstream politics of this country. What I would call my university generation is now playing a mainstream role in the National Politics barely five years after graduating.

Unlike in the recent past where former student politicians became Personal Assistants of ordinary politicians, or when they became youth wingers in Political Parties where they did not have any major say;

This time round, a few of these around-thirty-and-below are now playing non-periphery roles in the Kenya’s mainstream politics. Not that their intentions are necessarily good, but, they are still there.

I know that there could be more out there (especially from the other institutions), but I thought I’d highlight a few of them, those whom I had some interactions with in Campus, how my interactions with them back were then, and what they are doing now.

.(This is more of a journalistic piece, with a short conclusion that foresees bringing out and sharpening contradictions in Kenya’s political sphere)

Lydia Mathia-

A performing poet, Mathia had worked with the Youth Agenda for some time, before she was later unveiled at Uhuru Kenyatta’s TNA Party launch at KICC, as the Secretary for Gender. She was my year-mate at the UoN, where she began her politics at the Hall representative level, latter vying unsuccessfully for the position of Vice Chair SONU. She finally vied for and became the Secretary General of Women Students Welfare Association (WOSWA)

In the ups and downs of fate, she was nominated by TNA for the Senate, her name appearing in the top five positions on TNA’s list, meaning that she was quite sure that she would be part of the next Senate. This was not to be. The IEBC strangely(and illicitly) decided to nominate and gazette other people whose names were lower in the list.

Dann Mwangi

We had heard about each other when we were both in our freshman year: -

He had heard about a first year who had declared intentions of vying for SONU chair, later changing to Secretary Health, and eventually being disqualified by the then overseer of the elections, Professor Peter Wanyande (an action that ended up violently and with some arrests.)

I had heard about this student who had led his fellow first year students in a demonstration outside the Vice chancellor’s office, demanding for a congress position for law students staying in Lower Kabete Campus, which had been scrapped by those overseeing the elections (leading such a demo was extremely courageous, given that the Vice Chancellor, Prof. George Magoha, was a feared man)………of course, the VC never gave them a hearing, he just sent an employee who told the students to go back to their college and even offered them a bus, failure to which they would all be expelled from the university. They complied.

We would meet for the first time the following year, when he was vying for Secretary legal affairs and I for the OS position. The elections were badly rigged, and most of the winners, including myself were rigged out. Dann Mwangi earned our respect for fighting alongside us against the injustice in a fight that brought about a lot of tension in the university; this was in spite of him having won the Legal Affairs seat.

He would later vie and clinch the SONU chair’s seat, where he led one of the biggest students’ Demonstrations in recent history, against the assassinations of Oulu GPO and Oscar King’ara.

His political opinion pieces frequently appear on the major National Newspapers, and he is slowly becoming heavy weight in the Political commentary circle,,,even though his commentaries during the campaign period became clearly pro-Uhuru.

Aol Paul

Aol was a very bright law student and the sharpest student leader that I interacted with during my campus days. His understanding of legal processes, still while in campus was deep, and he knew how to present his opinion in a powerful manner. He also served as a legal affairs Secretary, and I interacted with him more during a review process for the SONU constitution (where surprisingly, the VC himself had asked that I be included in the process, despite myself not holding any official political position and despite our opinions having clashed severally in the past)

He now works with Evans Kidero, the Governor of Nairobi, where he holds the gate-pass to the access of the Nairobi Governor. He worked as Kidero’s Personal Assistant, and later led the Evans Kidero’s Campaign team as the team’s Secretary, where they emerged victorious in the murky, tribal and expensive Nairobi Governor politics.

He also managed to pull in James ‘Woodboy’ Mwangi-who served with him in the same SONU as the Secretary Sports and Entertainment- into Kidero’s team. Woodboy was in charge of Youth and Sports in the Campaign team, and he also did most of the design works for Kidero’s Campaigns. The name Woodboy stuck when we were in first year and he had vied for the main campus’ wooden Prefabs halls. During his campaigns, he had promised to organize an inter-prefabs football tournament, and i got to know him better when I helped him organize the tournament, a period when he would first publicly express his interests in the field of Sports.

Nixon Korir

Nixon Korir was two years behind me in college, where he pursued a degree in Law. He later became the Secretary General of SONU, where I briefly worked with him and his Chair-David Osiany when we were demanding for the reinstatement of Kenyatta University student leaders who had been expelled for protesting and organizing demos against their Varsity administration. He is now the Executive-Director of the United Republican Party (URP). He vied for Lang’ata parliamentary position, but he was not successful.

 His influence within the Party was seen when Lang’ata constituency was initially zoned-off for URP within the Jubilee coalition in a move that would have almost confirmed his winning of the seat. The idea was later abandoned.

The fact that he was not nominated into parliament probably signals a top government posting in the Uhuru-Ruto government.

Martha Wangari

Martha was two years ahead of me, and my first interaction with her was on a wrong footing. She was vying for the Vice Chairperson SONU position, and I supported her opponent from Kikuyu campus, despite the fact that she and I came from same campus, Chiromo. She went ahead to win the elections, which meant that she would automatically become a commissioner in the next elections (a very absurd rule it was!), an election where I became a candidate. I knew I was in trouble when I learnt that she still remembered my not supporting her, given that I had fallen off with most of the would be commissioners, and more so given the fact that I had witnessed brazen rigging by the commissioners in the previous elections (where I was an agent for

Adhiambo Adhiambo-Secretary General and Joseph Adinda-Secretary Sports----both of whom cut off their contact with me immediately they won. Typical Kenyan politicians!), but we would later find some truce.

From that year when she won the position, beating other male opponents, the seat of Vice Chair-Academic Affairs has been held by female students ever since. In fact, some future students would come to believe that the seat was constitutionally reserved for women.

She is now a Nominated Senator, and her weight was became evident when she was nominated for the only senate seat awarded to her Party, the United Democratic Front (UDF), where she holds the position of UDF Party Treasurer.

Dr. Boniface Chitayi

Dr. Chitayi is one of the few people whose politics I’ve always considered progressive among the crop of student leaders of my generation; I have respected his politics a great deal. Though he served in a SONU characterized by kick backs, tribalism and corruption, I was never aware of him engaging in such.

He may not be the greatest orator, but when it comes to organizing people, coming up with ideas and implementing them, creating and maintaining networks, taking bold stands, and obeying the rule of democratic centralism in an organization, he is one of the best.

Despite being a Luhya, which meant fewer numbers in the highly tribal campus politics, Chitayi had always won with landslide margins from the time he vied to be a Campus representative to when he vied for Secretary Health position in SONU. Even though he never won in his last try when he vied against Dann Mwangi for the Chairman’s position, he still retained a lot of respect especially among the medic students. During the campaigns, I would on a few occasions meet him in his SR room where we would discuss the future of student politics (all student leaders and highly political students used to stay in these SR&QR rooms; I had always turned down offers for those rooms since I felt that they were too big and too lonely) and even though I had boycotted the elections following our call of No Reforms No Elections, I towards the end asked those who still insisted on voting that they’d rather vote for Boniface Chitayi for the chairmanship of the Union. I knew that he was genuine.

Chitayi’s organizational skills would be seen two years later, when he, together with other Medics formed the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), a militant and parallel doctors’ Union which is credited with inspiring young workers from other sectors to either be active in Union politics, form Unions where there were none, or form parallel but genuine Unions to fight for their rights.

Under Chitayi’s leadership, the Union’s first major campaign was not just to demand for a pay rise, but also for radical improvement of government health facilities throughout the country, and the progressive realization of the African Union’s Abuja Declaration on Health. The Union would later organize one of the most successful doctors’ strikes in the country, which ended with the government coming up with a paper on how it would improve its health facilities, and the young doctors winning a 100% pay rise, the highest awarded to any Union in Kenya’s recent History, but that was after being conned, threatened and cajoled by ironically, the then Minister Professor Anyang’ Nyong’o, a former Marxist who now claims to be a Social Democrat (was in fact a former Secretary General of the Social Democratic Party!)

With this first experience, the Union would continue to successfully keep the Government on its toes, threatening further strikes and at times making good their threats.

But Chitayi’s role as the Secretary General of the Union would come to an end, after he was approached by TNA party to come up with a health policy that would be included in the party’s manifesto, and was unveiled as TNA Party’s Secretary for Health, indicating that, should TNA win, then he would be made the Cabinet Secretary for health. The social media was awash with demands for his resignation on one side and congratulatory messages on the other, with those demonizing the move seeming to have taken the day.

In as much as I personally didn’t agree at all with the Party that he had chosen, I totally disagreed with those who bayed for his blood for openly participating in politics (which was their main reason). I would have preferred that the debate revolved around which Party the Union should support, rather than the COTU-style stand where Trade Unions and Unionists do not participate in mainstream politics, and just leaving their members to vote for whomever, irrespective of their policies on Workers, working conditions etc.

In order to avoid further internal conflicts within the Union, Chitayi chose to step aside as the Secretary General of the Union.

In as much as KMPDU’s Chairperson and Treasurer are both excellent speakers, I still felt that the young Union had lost the best Secretary General who could organize and lead the Union especially at their formative stage, though I understand that he still served in its National Executive Council as a member.

It will be interesting to see how TNA will treat him now that they are forming the government.

Johnson Sakaja

Campus politics is pretty expensive. One has to chuck posters, move between the seven campuses….and it is at that point that aspiring student leaders organize along their tribes so as to fundraise amongst their tribes men, and also so as to ensure that each tribe(or a combination of tribes) produces one candidate so as to beat the other candidates from other tribes. The worst culprits were the Kikuyu and the Luo. Classical tribalism.

But in Chiromo campus, things were organized along the same idea, but in a different way. Aspirants from the campus would meet, so as to produce a single candidate for any of the executive positions, so as to beat candidates from other campuses, and also so as to trade empty positions with aspirants from other campuses in exchange for their support. An equivalent for regionalism.

So I remember attending the first Chiromo meeting, where I first met Sakaja, who was introduced to the meeting as a “…person with big connections out there, who, once we agreed on a line up, would mobilize enough funds for the final lineup..” He was vying to become the first Module two representative, which was a newly created executive position. I never got to see the funds, leave alone the “enough funds,” but he went ahead and won, and just like Dann Mwangi, he also showed a lot of solidarity with those who had been rigged out in those elections.

We then encountered each other was during the 2007 Kibaki campaigns where we were on opposing sides.

Two years later, I would meet his name in the list of individuals who had connived with the registrar of Political Parties to illegally impose themselves as leaders of the Social Democratic Party. They were led by Kibaki men who included Mutahi Kagwe, Njeru Ndwiga and Mutua Katuku. His name was appearing alongside the three in the National Executive Committee.

Of course, they had invaded the wrong Party with ‘tough-skinned, clear-headed Communists’………and they eventually had to run, run very fast.

It seems like they all ran in different directions, with Kagwe running to Ngilu’s NARC, Katuku to WDM-K, and him coming out as the Chairman of Uhuru’s TNA.

As we neared the elections, I knew that ODM Party, which was the biggest and the most popular Party would face their toughest race, given that the young sharp Sakaja (now with Uhuru’s Billions at his disposal) was going ahead and including young people in the top leadership of their campaign team, while ODM’s Henry Kosgei and his team preferred working with the likes of Franklin Bett, with the young maintained mostly in the rank and file positions.

It was incredible watching the two Right Wing Parties (and later coalitions), with budgets running into Billions, the capitalist media fully behind them and the tribal and regional mathematics carefully calculated, fighting for Wanjiku’s votes. It seemed like the CORD coalition team was caught flat foot, as if thinking that they were campaign against President Kibaki (whose 07’ campaign team was lousy and heavily bureaucratic). While ODM chose to re-use propaganda and lies from the past about prophecies and such, Jubilee’s propaganda and lies attacked everything, not even sparing the PM’s wife. While CORD was majoring on Citizen TV and radio stations, Jubilee was not only using its newly bought Mediamax outlets, but had a much stronger multi facetted presence on the internet and Social media. It wasn’t until later when CORD created the youthful CORD-effect team, that their propaganda and lies began equaling that of Jubilee, finally and ineffectively surpassing that of the Jubilee team after the elections (during the petition.)

Sakaja is now a nominated Member of the National Assembly, though many had thought he’d be given a cabinet Secretary position------an indication that Uhuru Kenyatta doesn’t want to lose him as the Chairperson of TNA, probably saving him for some future fight.

Booker Ngesa

I met Booker Ngesa in my second year, but began working with him more closely in my final year after forming the Liberator movement, which included Oscar King’ara and Oulu GPO, who were both assassinated after Alfred Mutua, the then government spokesman had claimed something to the effect that Oscar’s organisation (Oscar foundation) was a conduit for Mungiki’s external funding. We had formed the movement to help the masses access information, educate themselves from the information, and liberate themselves with the information. After the killings, the movement came to an end, after some of the leaders sought refuge outside the country, leaving only Booker and myself.

Our last activity with the movement was when we were called in to assist the Kenyatta University Student leaders who had been suspended after their twin protests and riots against the Professor Olive Mugenda administration. We facilitated their meeting with other student leaders, and also progressives whose contacts they had, Bonny Khalwale was of greatest assistance, but it was Mwandawiro Mghanga who would impact on Booker the most.

After working with the students and Mwandawiro Mghanga, we joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) where Mwandawiro was the Chairperson. The coincidence here was that we had always wanted to join the SDP, a Party that was financially weak, but with a rich history and considered In the political circles as the only ideological Party. Joining it came with some prestige, but we didn’t know how to go about it……..then we unexpectedly met the Chairperson!

Booker (I have done a lot alongside him, so I now edit myself off) became a member of the Young Social Democrats (SDP’s youth league), where he began cultivating his revolutionary growth, later rising to become the Young Social Democrats’ National Secretary. This was at a time when there were a lot of Party struggles in the top leadership. The wrangles would later escalate to a point where there were two parallel leaderships of the Party. One was led by Mwandawiro and was considered ideological with a history of action, the other led by Mutahi Kagwe and was considered as illegal and had a huge financial muscle with the backing of the state.

Booker supported the legitimate Mwandawiro faction, and he played a critical role in the long arbitration processes, which finally ended at the courts, where the Young Social Democrats defended the Party, representing themselves (couldn’t afford lawyers) while the other side was represented with two well established and experienced lawyers. The other side lost the case. The Registrar of political Parties still refused to abide by the court ruling, and demonstrations followed…..and the demonstrations worked.

Booker was a few months later elected by the National Congress into the Central Committee of the Party as the Organising Secretary of the Party, where he immediately and successfully embarked in the difficult and expensive process of making the Party comply with the election act 2011, whose main intention was to reduce the number of Parties from forty seven to less than five.(the intentions of the law didn’t work, since the number of parties initially went down, but many new parties were later created as the elections neared)

The Party would later field Booker to vie in Gem, Siaya County, where he was to vie against Raila Odinga’s first cousin, Jakoyo Midiwo. Many people thought that Booker would lose badly, since Siaya was an ODM zone, Jakoyo was Raila’s handiman, and SDP did not later join CORD coalition.

Before Booker’s entry in the race, Jakoyo was so sure of his re-election due to lack of competition, that he was constantly interfering with the Senatorial and Gubernatorial politics of Siaya county. Jakoyo would later be forced to confine himself in Gem constituency, after meeting real and stiff opposition from the young Booker Ngesa.

Jakoyo, a politician known for his foul mouth towards women, and better known for employing violence in his campaigns (his campaign t-shirts were printed “Otada x3”, loosely translating to War x3), would meet Booker on the ground, and after clashing severally-Booker would earn the name “Baby Nyahunyo”-one that disciplines but doesn’t injure!

 The Gem campaigns were just too dirty and bloody. With cars being smashed, houses being burnt, pangas being used and gun shots ringing in the air.

It was so clear that Booker was going to win, and I even argued with my good friend and President of Bunge la Mwananchi, comrade CD Otieno, when he told me that Raila Odinga would go to the region two days to the elections and the politics would change overnight.

I never doubted Raila’s influence in the region, especially Siaya, what I doubted him going to Siaya in the last days of the campaigns. I was wrong.

Whereas Booker’s strategy had taken care of Raila’s earlier visits, nobody in his campaign team had anticipated that Raila would go to campaign for Jakoyo and Cornel Rasanga in Gem on the second last day of his campaigns. Three days later Booker would call me and tell me that we had lost by about five thousand votes to Jakoyo. William Oduol also lost to Rasanga.

I feel that those behind Raila’s campaigns were either extremely poor in strategy, or they were so overconfident, that they saw it wise for Raila to spend the last campaign days in Kisumu and Siaya (before coming to Nairobi’s final rally), rather than in Kisii and Narok(then going to Nairobi). I believe that if he had campaigned in the 50-50 zones, then there would have been a clear runoff, without trying to sneak it in through their “Shocking evidence” in the Supreme Court.

It will be interesting to see how the future politics in Kenya will be shaped, with almost all of those appearing above being consciously or unconsciously right wing, versus a whole lot of others from the same generation and slightly below, consciously studying Marx, Lenin, Che, Mao and Kwame Nkurmah, while silently and slowly coming out of their study circles ready for revolutionary practice, inspired by Samora Machel, Fidel Castro, Thomas Sankara and hugo Chavez.

Benedict Wachira

3^rd April 2013

12:33am