LESSONS FROM NYERERE’S INVASION OF UGANDA UNDER DICTATOR IDI AMIN

By Jerry Okungu
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
June 26, 2008

Robert Mugabe may not know it; but the last drums of war are beating in earnest. No system, no matter how brutal or noble lives forever. Finally the curtain falls on each one of them when the time comes. That was how in ancient times the Greek and Roman empires rose and fell. The same dictum raised Adolf Hitler, Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, Mobutu and Idi Amin to greatness. However, when their time came, they all fell from grace to grass.

If you look at the characters I have mentioned above, they had one thing in common. They were men who earned their greatness in the battle field just like Robert Mugabe. The only exception was Adolf Hitler who was elected by Germans through a popular vote.

When Idi Amin removed Milton Obote of Uganda from power in 1971, the streets of Kampala were awash with celebrations. In Amin, they had seen the messiah who had saved them from a tyrant. Women, especially the Baganda danced their legs lame for Amin. On that day, Amin could have married any girl from any royal family.

Several years down the line, Ugandans slowly realized that they had celebrated too soon. The proverbial leap from the frying pan to fire had caught up with them. They soon realized that they had exchanged one ogre with a deadlier monster.

The murders and plunder in Uganda were beyond human imagination. Freedom, security and basic needs became a thing of the past. As Ugandans were massacred by the day, the world community turned a blind eye to all of Amin’s atrocities. The Organization of African Unity together with the then EAC adopted a policy of non- interference in the internal affairs of a member state. Had Nyerere not taken a unilateral decision to invade Uganda to protect Tanzanians from Amin’s aggressive designs, Idi Amin would have remained in power for a couple more years. He would have carried out his atrocities until there would have been no more soul to kill.

What happened to Uganda after Amin is a vital lesson for those planning to rescue Zimbabweans from Robert Mugabe’s regime. Following Amin’s flight into exile, Obote returned to power only to commit more atrocities. When Obote was finally overthrown a second time, many presidents were sworn in but they didn’t metal to stabilize Uganda. Binaisa, Lule and Okello tried their hands at the presidency without much success. The killings and plunder continued that culminated into another five year bush war led by Yoweri Museveni.

If the Ugandan lesson is not good enough; we may need to a draw parallel with what happened to Somalia after Siad Barre was toppled sixteen years ago. To date there has never been a steady regime in Mogadishu. Since then, many factions with respective warlords have waged war against one another with no end in sight.

What the SADDC and the AU members should bear in mind is that to stop Mugabe from massacring his own people, he must be toppled and tried for crimes against humanity either in The Hague or in Arusha.

But in doing so, let us remember that the power vacuum that Mugabe has consistently occupied for the last 28 years must be handled with care. If it isn’t, we will end up with Ivory Coast after Houghet Boigny, Liberia after Doe, DRC after Mobutu and Somalia after Barre. This is because there are potential warlords waiting in the wings to occupy the seat without the due process of the elections. It happened in DRC just the other day after Mobutu left the scene.

What the AU should realize is that if they decide to take Mugabe out as the Americans would say, the present MDC leader may not be the alternative or the answer. An all-inclusive caretaker transitional government must be put in place to run the country for at least five years with closer supervision of the AU and the UN forces to give the people of Zimbabwe time to return to normalcy. Rushing Morgan Tzvangirai to power will not solve the crisis in that country. It will only accelerate the return to the bush of many of Mugabe’s soldiers and fellow veterans for another round of bush war to protect what they have looted from their people over the years. Worse still, they will flee into the bush with all the weaponry they currently hold in their possessions.

jerryokungu@gmail.com
www.africanewsonline.blogspot.com

WHO SHOULD WRITE KENYA’S CONSTITUTION?

By Jerry Okungu
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
June 23, 2008

Rev Timothy Njoya is a great Kenyan. The man has struggled for the freedom of the individual for as long as I can remember. For those Kenyans who were politically conscious in the 1980s, Timothy Njoya’s name reminds them of the late Bishop John Henry Okullu, the late Bishop Alexander Muge and Bishop Gitari, all radical men of the cloth at the darkest period in Kenya’s political history.

My first contact with Rev Timothy Njoya was one miserable afternoon in 1983 when I was a trainee talk- show host on Voice of Kenya at that time. The terror of the station then was one Cornelius Nyamboki, a former parliamentary reporter with the Daily Nation who, due to patronage had suddenly found himself the Head of the Presidential Unit and then Director of Voice of Kenya in quick succession; thanks to Simeon Nyachae his tribesman who had assumed the all important post of Chief Secretary and Head of the Civil Service when Moi assumed the presidency.

On this occasion, I had invited the controversial Timothy Njoya to come on my radio show to talk about the history of Religion and Politics over the ages. I was interested in issues like the King of England rebelling against the Catholic Church in Rome and ending up founding the Church of England- the present Anglican Church. I was keen on the history of Martin Luther; that German theologian that rebelled again the Catholic teachings from Rome and ended up being the inspiration behind protestant churches that we know today.

What nobody at VOK told me at that time was that because of his highly charged anti- establishment liberation theology, Njoya had been banned from ever stepping inside VOK by Cornelius Nyamboki as long as Nyamboki was the Director of the then only broadcasting house.

On arrival at the gate of the Broadcasting House, Njoya naturally asked the security officers at the gate, most of whom were members of Kenya paramilitary General Service Unit to let me know that he had arrived. As I walked to the gate to sign Njoya in, word had spread in the Broadcasting House like a bush-fire that the prohibited Njoya had been spotted in the station premises.

As I led Njoya to the studios where one Otieno Adalla my producer was waiting for me, I wasn’t aware that as we went on with the recording, one diligent staffer had called Cornelius Nyamboki in Mombasa where he was holidaying, that one ignorant trainee had invited Njoya to the studios against his orders.

Within minutes of concluding my recording, there was an urgent message from the Director’s office that one Cornelius Nyamboki was on the line! When I picked the phone, there were only two questions I heard from Nyamboki both of which I had no answers for. The first asked why I had brought Njoya to the studios. The second asked for the whereabouts of the tapes containing my interviews with him. When I told him that the tapes were with the producer, he asked to speak to his secretary.

I later learnt that the secretary had express instructions to retrieve the tapes from the producer, lock them up in the Director’s office to await his return. That was the last time I heard of the tapes. The programme never went on air.

Kenyans may recall that in the heady days of 1997 to 2002, Njoya was one of the casualties of police brutality when Moi’s regime was bent on suppressing agents of change at whatever cost. Images of Njoya bleeding profusely on the streets of Nairobi will forever be engraved in our memories.

Despite this colorful past in terms of the liberation struggle, Rev Timothy Njoya may want to call it a day because circumstances are changing. And with time, it would appear like his interests in dealing with present regimes are clouded by other interests- which is natural with human beings.

During the Bomas Draft way back in 2003-2004, Njoya played a very suspect role in going to court to derail the constitutional process. Despite every effort and resources invested in the process, Njoya’s court case gave impetus to the opponents of the Bomas Draft. The process was stopped in its tracks. When a watered down version was presented to Kenyans for draft, Rev Njoya didn’t return to court to oppose it! However, Kenyans rejected the bastardized document at the referendum.

Right now Rev. Njoya is extensively quoting his case to justify another process of scuttling the process. He believes very strongly that the constitution of Kenya can only be written by Kenyans! Which Kenyans does Rev Njoya have in mind? Do we really have people called Kenyans other than Kikuyus, Luos, Kambas, and Kalenjins among forty two other ethnic nationalities?

Njoya may want to recall that when Parliament set the process in motion under Moi and Raila Odinga in 2001, the so called people’s forum under the auspices of the NCCK, the Catholic Church and then Kibwana’s NCEC set up a parallel Constitution Review Forum at Ufungamano House with Mutava Musyimi and the late Ooko Ombaka as the main drivers. That process failed before the very proponents of the parallel process came back to derail the Yash Pal Ghai group.

If truth be told; there are two types of Kenyans who have always worked against the constitution review in this country. They are the clergy under the umbrella of the civil society. The other group consists of human rights and constitutional lawyers. Their grandstanding and selfishness have always denied Kenyans the constitution. They profess to know everything about constitution making. They claim to have solutions to every problem affecting Kenyans. Most importantly, whenever they hear of the constitution making process, they smell money! It is money and money alone that drives the CSOs and lawyers to fight tooth and nail to secure a seat on the front row of constitution making. It has nothing to do with patriotism. It has everything to do with selfish greed and bloated ego.

Right now Kenyans are so polarized in every sector of society such that bringing any group of Kenyans to write their own constitution will amount to wishful thinking. Tribal feelings will render any meaningful discussions impossible. The more reason there is merit in involving outsiders who have no interest in Kenyan politics.

The other day when President Kibaki decided to pay an unscheduled visit to parliament, he made an interesting remark. He looked at James Orengo and to told MPs that if they really wanted to have a new constitution, they should give the task to James Orengo and he would complete the process in three days. The remark may have been made with a light touch but it spoke volumes.

Rev Njoya fought the good fight in the past and lived to tell his story to his grand children. Now it is time to leave the arena for other players with new ideas. If his kind would like to still remain relevant, let them play the role of senior citizens capable of offering advice from behind but not from the front. The time is now for Njoya’s group to pass the button.

jerryokungu@gmail.com
www.africanewsonline.blogspot.com

MUGABE IS AN EMBARRASSMENT TO THE AFRICAN UNION AND THE UNITED NATIONS!

By Jerry Okungu
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania
June 24, 2008

Sometimes last week, I received a hate mail from one Larry Hill, who though his name looked European, I suspected was some blind Zimbabwean supporter of Robert Mugabe come rain or sunshine. The man was annoyed with me over an article I had written earlier in the week. In that article I questioned why the World Food Programme in Rome had excluded Mugabe from a farewell dinner soon after the World Food Summit in Rome.

This is what Larry Hill said:
"Hello Jerry, in regards to your article "How Mugabe's Speech caused him a plate of chips in Rome, written on Wednesday, June 11, 2008" I have to say I read the article and felt pitiful that I almost cried at Africa. You have sold your soul to the white propaganda machine for a mere $0.10 and you are not bothered at all. I would rather you go pick up a book and read about the colonization of Africa, The Berlin conference of 1884, the 500yrs of Slavery.

"The stupid African kings thought they were just selling their brothers from different tribes, but in turn the whole continent was enslaved. Now the continent is again under siege from the great grand sons of the former colonizers and you can't see that? Why not talk about the promises the British reneged on, they have not paid a dime of the 50 million pounds they were to pay for the resettlement of the white settlers. The Land question in Zimbabwe had not been answered. I believe this is hard to envision, given Kenyans lost their land long time ago and they don't even remember what it means to own land. Very sad.”

When I read this article, I didn’t even feel angry at this Zimbabwean African who found it necessary to judge me for writing about Robert Mugabe. What was even more annoying was the fact that Larry Hill, in his blind faith for Robert Mugabe despite the latter’s atrocities, didn’t even bother to open his eyes to see what was unfolding in his country! Perhaps his kind is the reason despots in Africa continue to act with impunity. They have a cult-like following despite their crimes against humanity.

This article is directed at the African and the world community. What is happening in Zimbabwe is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to go on when the Rwanda trials are still going on next door in Arusha Tanzania. How can the world community, more so Africa stand there and fold their arms while Mugabe is slaughtering his own people? How can the African leaders, more so Thabo Mbeki and Jakaya Kikwete call themselves African leaders while one of their own in the SADDC region is carrying out genocide right in front of their eyes?

Wasn’t it an insult to see Ban Kimoon the UN Secretary General shifting the embarrassment to the African Union just hours after the UN Security Council merely condemned the Zimbabwe crisis?

Why is it that when there is a crisis of this nature in Africa, it is always an African problem that requires an African solution? On what basis did the Allied Forces invade Iraq twice in 1993 and 2003, the latter still going on today? On what basis did the Americans and their allies hang Saddam Hussein?

Were Saddam’s sins against humanity worse than Mugabe’s murderous orgy currently in progress? On what basis did the NATO forces invade Bosnia and Kosovo at the height of genocide in that region? How come when Rwanda was burning in 1994, it was an African problem that did not require super power and UN interventions? How come when the apartheid regime was carrying out genocide inside South Africa while murdering innocent civilians in cross border raids among frontline states, the super powers that controlled the UN decisions stood by for forty years and did nothing for Africans except Fidel Castro who intervened militarily in the region?

To the African leaders and the United Nations, I say that Robert Mugabe has crossed the line. The despot must be removed by force if necessary to stop him from further annihilating his country, his record as a freedom fighter notwithstanding.

Zimbabweans did not fight for freedom only to be massacred by one of their own!
Because of the shame of what is going in Zimbabwe, the African Union and the United Nations stand condemned in the court of World Public Opinion.

jerryokungu@gmail.com
www.africanewsonline.blogspot.com

SHOWDOWN IN SOTIK AS LORNA IS LAID TO REST

Published on June 21, 2008
The Standard
By Steve Mkawale and Vitalis Kimutai

Ugly scenes erupted at the funeral of former Home Affairs Assistant Minister Lorna Laboso, portraying post-election tension that continues to undermine the Grand Coalition.

Despite a large number of MPs arriving in a show of unity to bury their colleague who died in plane crash last week, hostile reaction to Justice Minister Martha Karua by mourners indicated post-election tension is still palpable.

Karua was booed and heckled just after fellow Cabinet Minister Charity Ngilu left the podium after touching on the sensitive issue of the release of post-election violence suspects.

Laboso’s son, Marcos Kiprono and her mother Rebecca, attempted to calm agitated mourners who booed the minister, with the mother appealing for honourable and peaceful send-off for her second born child.

Karua, who embodies Government legal authority as the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, spoke after Ngilu had said those arrested were not the cause of the problem.

It is 13 days since Karua and other MPs had spoken at the same venue, at Manaret in Sotik District, during the thanks giving ceremony, marking Laboso’s election as Member of Parliament.

The drama at the funeral attended by Members of Parliament from both sides of the political divide belies the cracks that ran underneath despite efforts to display a united front.

Trouble started when angry mourners screamed and surged forward in an attempt to stop Karua from speaking.

Karua was twice forced to cut short her speech as thousands of mourners heckled over her stand on amnesty for suspects arrested following post- election violence.

Dignitaries who included Vice- President Kalonzo Musyoka and Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi watched as the crowd humiliated their colleague.

Karua was invited to pay tribute to her departed colleague after Ngilu had addressed the mourners.

Ngilu apparently appeared to have worked up the crowd when she accused some of her colleagues in the Cabinet of working against the release of post-election violence suspects.

"Those who caused the problem are not the boys in jail, but leaders who are seated here with us and who have refused to have the suspects pardoned," she said, amid applause from the crowd at Laboso’s home.

"If the youths will remain in jail then those generals (leaders) who called for mass action must also face the law," said the Kitui Central MP.

Energy Assistant Minister Charles Keter, who was the master of ceremonies, to give her last respects to Laboso, invited Karua.

A section of the crowd started shouting her down as soon as she took the microphone. The jeers then turned into a chorus, with mourners surging forward.

Even attempts by Agriculture Minister William Ruto, Assistant Minister Orwa Ojode, Konoin MP Julius Kones, Rift Valley PC Hassan Noor and Keter to pacify the charged crowd fell on deaf ears. 

It took almost five minutes for Ruto, speaking in vernacular, to calm down the hostile mourners before inviting Karua to resume her speech. He asked them to look at Laboso’s mother’s face, then dripping with tears, to know what they were doing, even if justified, was on the wrong day and occasion.

Jeers and heckling

However, matters went out of hand again forcing the Gichugu MP to eat humble pie and take her seat at the VIP dais. "Forgiveness must come from all of us and not just one side, the victim and the villain" Karua told mourners.

The jeers and heckling drowned the short address forcing the minister to take to her seat between Industry Minister Henry Kosgey and Livestock Minister Mohammed Kuti.

Ruto, who addressed the mourners immediately after took a swipe at the Grand Coalition Government, saying it is failing to meet the expectations of wananchi. He, like Ngilu, said ODM was still marching on and the power-sharing deal was just a pause in the bigger struggle to rule Kenya. He said it was unacceptable that the leaders of the Grand Coalition were being driven around in GK-plated vehicles as the youths who forced on the country the National Peace Accord languished in the cells. He said the situation was compounded by the fact that Mr Samuel Kivuitu, the chairman of Electoral Commission that oversaw the flawed election, was still in office "earning big salary". He called for an end to what he called "selective justice’’, targeting given communities.

"We must as leaders agree when we formed the Government we left behind those who were together with us during elections," he said.

"We changed the Constitution to legitimise the illegal government and the big boys shared positions leaving behind those who fought to defend democracy," said the Eldoret North MP.

He said the suspects in custody must be released if the President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga agreed to share power. "We must accommodate those boys because we are the reason they are in custody," he said.

The Agriculture Minister said leaders had destroyed the country by having two sets of laws. "We have made it look like the country has two sets of law, that for the rich and another for the poor. We have made a country where leaders do not pay taxes while the poor do. We must be honest," said Ruto.

Mudavadi steered off the amnesty debate and instead eulogised Laboso as a great leader, a woman of strength and an inspiration to the girl-child. 

Mudavadi also read a message of condolence from Prime Minister Raila Odinga who was out of the country on official duties. However ODM chairman Mr Henry Kosgey said members of the Kalenjin community had a right to speak out when aggrieved. He too talked of "selective justice’’ in the country.

"Lorna was a person of great compassion and a woman who fought against social injustices and always wanted people to live in peace," Raila said, of the departed colleague.

Musyoka, who brought a message of condolence from President Kibaki, said Lorna was an "honest, steadfast and hardworking politician and a loving mother to her son, Kiprono".

Musyoka said as his assistant, Laboso was up to to the task and ably represented him in many forums. He said: "I was open to her as she was equally open and honest with me during the short stint we were together in the Ministry of Home Affairs."

Musyoka, however, said his interaction with Laboso started some years back, when as a businesswoman she introduced him to floriculture.

House Speaker Kenneth Marende, Industry Minister Henry Kosgey and Kones demanded investigations into the cause of the plane crash be hastened and it should also be thorough. 

Marende said the fatal plane crash that claimed the lives of former Roads Minister Kipkalya Kones, his bodyguard police officer Kenneth Bett and Laboso should be investigated.

"We can not keep losing industrious Kenyans in air crashes. It is simply not acceptable," Marende said.

Kosgey said: "We need the findings of the crash made public as the accident was tragic and disastrous."

Dr Kones said most MPs now fear using planes and instead preferred to travel by road.

"Let the findings of the crash be made public in order to confirm or dispel fears of foul play in the accident," Kones said.

The Konoin MP said the public were keenly following the developments in the investigations into the accident.

"The question is whether Kenya’s airspace is safe. Whether the regulating authority is in charge? If the plane was in good shape, and was the pilot conversant with the terrain?" Kones posed amid cheers from mourners.

Cabinet ministers and MPs led by Kalonzo and Mudavadi travelled to the function in four helicopters while others went by road.

Dignitaries present

As the speakers eulogised Laboso, her only son, Marco Kiprono eight, sat by the coffin with his cousin Ted Abonyo and uncle David Laboso.

Kiprono, dressed in a stripped beige suit, black shirt and dark glasses seemed unaware of the gravity of the situation, and function as he happily played, joked and laughed with Ted as David kept whispering to him throughout the ceremony.

With the huge crowd that turned up for the ceremony, those who wanted to have a bird’s eye view of what was going on were perched on top of trees.

Dignitaries present included ministers Dalmas Otieno, Dr Sally Kosgei, Henry Kosgey, Karua, Ngilu, Prof Hellen Sambili, Beth Mugo, James Orengo and Wycliff Oparanya

Others were Chris Obure, Dr Mohamed Kuti, Samuel Poghisio, William Ntimama, Sam Ongeri, and Dr Naomi Shabaan.

Assistant Ministers included Kilome MP Harun Mwau, Charles Keter, Gideon Ndambuki, Asman Kamama, Bifwoli Wakoli, Peter Kenneth, William Cheptumo, Wilfred Machage and Orwa Ojodeh.

And other MPs present were Isaac Ruto, Benjamin Langat, Musa Sirma, Langat Magerer, Peris Simam, Fred Kapondi, Nderitu Mureithi, Stanley Githunguri, Eugene Wamalwa, John Mututho, David Koech and Johnstone Muthama.

Others were Cyrus Jirongo, Ababu Namwamba, Joseph Kutuny and Prof Margaret Kamar.

Also present were former MPs, permanent secretaries and other government officials.

During the service police officers in uniform and civilian attire had a hectic time controlling the huge crowd, which kept surging forward.

Rift Valley PC Noor Hassan, and Sotik DC Humphrey Nakitare led administrators and other government officials in the function.

Orange Women Democrats laid an orange coloured veil on the black coffin, shone to sheen, with a wreath of flowers laid on top.

Laboso’s portrait with her trademark smile was placed besides the sealed coffin which mourners were not allowed to view.

The eulogy was read by her sister Dr Joyce Laboso-Abonyo. Ruto and Keter alternated as masters of ceremony.

The late assistant minister’s mother, Mama Rebecca Laboso, said she did not know that when her daughter left home after the thanks giving ceremony two weeks ago, she hardly had 48 hours to live.

"I wonder if she would be with us here today had she not joined politics," an emotional Mama Laboso said in her speech.

Dr Sally Kosgei who was very close to Laboso said: "Lorna was one of those who made me do things I never knew I would. I will miss my wonderful little sister whom I loved."

Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s wife, Ida said: "Lorna was a real role model whose body is gone but the spirit lives with us."

In the end it was the final send off for the MP of Sotik who made history as the first woman from the Kipsigis community to be elected to Parliament.

THIS YEAR’S EAST AFRICAN BUDGETS WERE AS INTRIGUING THEY WERE SURPRISING

By Jerry Okungu
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
June23, 2008

Glances at budgets read in the three East African capitals last week, one noticed several areas of convergence as well as divergence. In most circumstances, there was obsession with the vulnerable low income earners in our region. This is what informed the removal of taxes on most consumable items and substantial reduction on duty on imported raw materials for food production, telecommunications and educational facilities. In essence, the budgets provided a win-win situation for most low income earners and the ruling class.

What spoilt the party was the unusual stand-off between Ugandan MPs and their Speaker over the mishandling of the MPs by the police just before the budget was read. Now that the MPs from the Opposition staged a walk-out before the budget was read, one only hopes they reconsidered their decision for the greater interest of Uganda and returned to the august house to debate the all important legislative document.

Tanzanian Finance Minister pledged to reduce donor funding in that country’s budget. This is great news considering that there is so much public resource going down the drain due to graft.

Considering the treatment of the political class in Kenya, especially the well to do members of parliament, holders of constitutional offices and ministers, it was most appropriate that finally taxes ware levied on their fat salaries so that they too could plough back something to the society that maintained their lavish lifestyles. For many years, Kenyans have wondered aloud why this class who sometimes earned more than private sector executives were allowed to retain all their earnings tax free. More intriguing was the realization that in East Africa, Kenyan MPs were the best paid compared to their counterparts in the entire region.

Talking of Kenyan MPs, I have come to realize that in Somaliland, the monthly salary of an MP is US $300, the equivalent of Ks 18,000. A friend told me that if I have to invite MPs to a workshop the way corporate organizations in Kenya lure them to the Coast, all I need to do is to pay them an allowance of $10 and and they will all be there. Then I thought about our MPs back home. I wondered aloud if any MP would turn up for a seminar in the middle of Nairobi for a Ks 600 daily allowance!

Talking of Kenyan MPs’ salaries, did I hear William Ruto, now Minister for Agriculture make that issue his campaign platform in 2007? Did I hear him suggest a reduction in MPs’ salaries from the current U $ 15,000 to U$ 3000, the equivalent of Ks 200,000? Did William Ruto mean it from the bottom of his heart or was he just being fashionable and politically correct?

Soon after the elections, another honorable Member of Parliament from Machakos, Mr. Johnson Muthama threatened to move a bill in Parliament to slush MPs salaries! What happened to his voice? Was he threatened by his colleagues or did he just discover that it was the most dangerous thing to do at this point in time?

Of all the newly elected Members of Parliament, only John Haroun Mwau from Eastern Province has pledged his entire parliamentary earnings for his constituency development. What I hear Mwau has done is to supplement his resources and CDF funds with his salaries for the next five years. Grapevine has it that he has categorically said that he went to Parliament not to get rich but to lift the living standards of his people. And he intends to do this by building good roads, bridges, sinking boreholes, installing electricity in every home, getting piped water in every village hut and making sure learning under trees on stones becomes a thing of the past for his constituents.

With this kind of exemplary vision from a mere assistant minister, it is disheartening to learn that some MPs fear being as miserable as their constituents if Amos Kimunya levies taxes on their allowances.

What is even more pathetic is the threat coming from , of all the people, the judiciary, to go to court with help from the LSK to block Kimunya from implementing the proposed taxation.

For the MPs, at least they have given reason why their allowances should not be touched. They don’t want to be as miserable as their constituents! What about the judges? Any sensible excuse you may have your honors?

Jerryokungu@gmail.com
www.africanewsonline.blogspot.com

OF KENYAN JUDGES, LAW SOCIETY OF KENYA AND SUICIDAL MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT

By Jerry Okungu
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
June 23, 2008

So, Kenyan judges are planning to go to court to stop the Minister for Finance from levying taxes on their allowances! And they have enlisted the services of their comrades, the Law Society of Kenya to fight the proposed tax in courts! How interesting!

For the sake of this argument, let us assume that the matter of taxing judges is a constitutional matter. Filing this case will not take place anywhere except in a constitutional court presided over by a High Court Judge. Assuming that that judge will be part of the collective group contesting the cabinet decision to levy taxes on judges, how will he extricate himself and fairly hear the petition in which he is an interested party, in fact an aggrieved party?

Again, assuming that judges actually take Amos Kimunya and the Cabinet to court, how will they exclude the President from the case since the President presided over the cabinet meeting that approved Amos Kimunya’s proposal? Are the judges ready to go the whole hog and sue everyone who has conspired to deny them their constitutional birth right including Mr. President? How do they intend to deal with the current unwritten law that the sitting president cannot be sued in a court of law until he is out of office?

In suing the cabinet and Amos Kimunya, one is actually suing the entire government. In such a situation, the government will seek legal advice and possible representation from none other than the Attorney General. Will the AG be available to defend the government against the judiciary of which he is apart?

What about the separation of powers? What right does the judiciary have in interfering with a matter that is purely an executive and parliamentary decision? If this proposal from the Executive is passed in Parliament, will the judges and LSK still find any leg to stand on? Or will they take on Parliament and the Executive and try them in the courts where they hold sway? If this were to happen, what would stop MPs from generously discussing the conduct of judges and lawyers on the floor of the House from time to time with impunity? Aren’t the judges on the path to self destruction and debasement of the judiciary as we know it today? Do they have to go this far just to avoid paying taxes that every poor Kenyan is paying?

The decision to levy taxes on members of parliament and holders of public office was made by the political arm of the government in the interest of the larger public. These are the people Kenya elects every five years to pass laws that are in the best interest of the public. If judges feel that paying taxes on their fat salaries is unconstitutional then that part of the constitution must be amended with speed. We have amended sections of the constitution in the past with lightening speed. Now is the time for legislators with wananchi at heart to do it again.
Judges say they cannot be taxed because the act would be unconstitutional.

I say that if the law allows a group of people to steal and rob peasants in broad day light, that law is a bad law that must be amended to save the very judges from public anger and disdain. Any single judge who wants to perpetuate the blood sucking of starving Kenyans is not worth his or her place on the bench. That judge belongs in the City Council or any other class of society where thieving and conniving are virtues.

Some anonymous judges have been heard claiming that they have no other source of income. Right now an average judge earns close to Ks 250, 000 and another Ks 400,000 in various allowances. This is more than US $ 10,000 on a bad month. If this is peanuts in a country where an average Kenyan survives on less than US $30 a month, how do our honorable judges think ordinary Kenyans that they jail everyday for petty offences survive? Have our judges done some homework to find out how much fellow judges in Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi earn without resorting to graft?

Finally, the most disgusting conspiracy theory was the realization that, that barking club that just the other day was defending Kimunya on the move on MPs are now planning to defend their comrades in court against the same Kimunya. Now we know why our judiciary will always remain in dogs! The moral conscience of our society has died!

jerryokungu@gmail.com

DO THE HONOURABLE THING, DEAR MPS, AND PAY YOUR TAXES

By LUCY ORIANG'
Daily Nation

Publication Date: 6/20/2008

Life is bloody unfair, if the standard issue Kenyan MP is to be believed. It is the traditional story of poor little rich kid. Their pay packet reads like the average woman’s idea of heaven on earth.

They are said to earn significantly more than MPs in better-off countries. But to hear them tell it, theirs is a tale of misery.

Why anyone should then fight tooth and nail – literally, sometimes – to get to Parliament is beyond comprehension. A little bird recently told me that some spent as much as Sh30 million for only 5,000 votes in some constituencies.

If you have that kind of loose change, another Sh18 million over five years is hardly something to write home about. Only an idiot would go to such an extent if the end result is a negative pay check.

Children do not eat titles, no matter how high-sounding. Titles do not pay school fees either. Given the violence that attended the last election, it is also safe to assume that no one in their right mind would sponsor maiming, raping and killing orgies just so they can end up living on peanuts.

If those in an uproar over taxation are to be believed, their constituents are a little more than vampires hell-bent on sucking every little drop of cash out of their pockets.

When they see their MPs, they do not picture mortals with needs and responsibilities like everyone else. They see mobile ATMs.

Those cash cows are now bristling at the notion that they should give to Caesar everything that belongs to him. In a land where conspiracy theories abound, MP Bonny Khalwale’s heartfelt protest will go down in the annals of history, much like Marie Antoinette’s if-they-don’t-have-bread-let-them-eat-cake.

In the heat of the moment during debate on Wednesday, he asked: “Do they want to make us as miserable as our constituents?” It is to be hoped the people of Ikolomani heard it, loud and clear.

Let us take a quick look at what our dearly beloved leaders are entitled to: We give them some Sh3 million to buy cars duty-free, Sh75,000 in car allowance, and Sh366,000 to ensure their fuel-guzzlers remain on the road. They also get drivers and bodyguards.

We give them Sh8 million in housing loans each term at an interest rate of a mere three per cent and a house allowance of Sh70,000 to ease their mortgage burden.

There is a constituency allowance of Sh50,000. Their total allowances come to Sh651,000 out of a package that works out to Sh851,000 every month. There is even an extraneous allowance of Sh30,000, whatever that means.

That they should pay tax on only Sh200,000 is an outrage in a country where hardworking citizens pay up to 30 per cent of their income in tax and 56 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line.

It is a devious scheme to cheat the Consolidated Fund of much-needed resources. Yet many MPs – we have been told with glee that the protesters are in the majority – have the audacity to cry foul.

Where I come from, the word for shame translates into a swollen head. It announces to the world that you have no principles. You become an outcast if you persist on this path.

The central argument that the anti-taxation brigade advances is that much of their money is spent on subsidising a plethora of needs of their constituents. They contribute to weddings, bride price, funerals, sports days and homecoming parties where food and drink flow like the Nile.

But they also have at their disposal an innovative account called the Constituency Development Fund. Whereas it can never be enough to do all that is necessary to raise the living standards of all Kenyans, the fund is so unique that MPs from other countries have come visiting to see whether they can play copycat.

If MPs are expected to play bountiful, they have only themselves to blame. We do not elect them to give us handouts. We expect them to lead from the front and pursue a political course that will enable us to take care of ourselves without having to resort to begging and blackmail.

The same Khalwale argues that taxing MPs’ salaries will not solve the poverty issue. Agreed. But we pay him to show us how to do so, not offer sorry excuses.

Besides, the MPs could have exercised what little conscience they have and rejected the Cockar recommendations or scaled them down. They made their bed; let them lie on it.

At any rate, many of them appear to think that all they need do to earn their keep is suck up to their party leaders and they will be guaranteed an easy meal ticket for at least five years.

You tell the stuff of which someone is made only when they are under pressure. In the subsequent debate, the name-calling and counter-accusations over those who have benefited from grand corruption has been as hugely entertaining as it has been revealing.

We spent billions of shillings on commissions to investigate Goldenberg and Anglo Leasing – and their children and grandchildren – when our MPs already knew so much!

If MPs will not do the honourable thing, treat them like other working Kenyans. Deduct what is due from them at source. The alternative is just as simple: Redirect their allowances to the CDF account or funds for women, youth and the disabled.

That should cut the ground from under their excuses – and also cut them down to size.

ATTEMPT TO AVOID PAYING TAX A CRIME

EDITORIALS

Daily Nation
Publication Date: 6/20/2008

Our Members of Parliament expose themselves for what they are by coming out so vociferously against proposals that they pay taxes like everybody else. All the reasons they cite against the proposal simply do not hold water.

Kenyans are taxed very heavily to enable the Government meet its obligations to the people, which include provision of social services such as health and education, in addition to investment in development projects.

It has been a clarion call of this Government that people pay their taxes so that the State can have the funds to provide the expected services. All that the MPs and other leaders are being asked to do is to lead by example and also pay their full share of taxes.

The MPs are not being asked to make any unreasonable sacrifices. They are not being asked to take salary cuts or being compelled to surrender what is rightfully theirs.

All they are being asked is to abide by the tax laws that all other Kenyans are obliged to observe. That, surely, is not too much to ask.

Our MPs are extremely insensitive when they fail to grasp the feelings of their constituents on this issue. Already, the feeling is that they are a selfish, greedy and grossly overpaid lot, who spend more time and energy hatching schemes to further enrich themselves at taxpayers’ expense than serving the electorate.

It is indisputable that Kenyan MPs are already very generously compensated. They are probably the highest paid legislators in the world, earning much more in per capita terms than their counterparts in Britain, the US, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and other wealthy countries.

It is thus adding insult to injury when only a quarter of their emoluments are taxed. Taxation laws in Kenya are clear that all allowances and benefits must be taxed as if they were part of the basic salary. This law was introduced specifically to catch out cheats who preferred low salaries and high allowances as a way of avoiding their tax obligations.

It therefore could qualify as tax fraud to pass legislation just so that specific cadres in positions of authority can avoid the tax laws they pass for ordinary people. These escape clauses Parliament is being asked to repeal should never have been there in the first place.

Utter contempt for voters

When MPs react so angrily to the proposal, they are displaying utter contempt for the tax-paying voters who took them to Parliament. One legislator went as far as wondering whether the proposal he pays taxes is meant to make him as miserable as his constituents!

Our answer to that is a very big Yes! MPs should happily pay their share so they can feel the pain of their people. None of the reasons MPs are giving against the proposal are convincing. The basic thread is the tired, old excuse about the heavy burden of leadership.

That is neither here nor there. They volunteered for political leadership knowing full well the demands that would be made of them. Contributing to harambees and paying school fees and medical bills for needy constituents — and all other demands on MPs’ time and pockets — comes with the territory.

The moment one decides to become an MP, he knows the job comes with all those demands. If an MP must dig deep into his pocket to retain the favour of his voters, then it must be his own pocket, and not from the public purse.

In any case, in these days of the Constituency Development Fund, Bursary Funds, Aids Fund and all sorts of public funds going direct to the constituencies, MPs have never had it so good in terms of relief from the harambee burden.

This selfish campaign by the MPs must be resisted at all costs. The people must come out clearly and say a resounding ‘‘Yes’’ to their leaders being taxed.

NO! NOT ANOTHER UNDP SCANDAL IN THE HORN OF AFRICA!

By Jerry Okungu
Hargeisa, Somaliland
June 16, 2008

A few weeks before Kenya’s elections, in mid October 2007 to be precise, this author caught a UNDP vehicle based in Nairobi distributing hate leaflets targeting Raila Odinga, the then main challenger to Mwai Kibaki in Dagoretti Corner of Nairobi.
This muddy Saturday afternoon, a Volvo with UN registration looked stuck in the mud.

As he drove by after getting a tip from some young men, he stopped to find out what the UN vehicle was doing in that God-forsaken place so late in the evening on a Saturday afternoon bearing in mind that most UN offices close down on Friday midday.
When he moved closer, he found two young men seated comfortably distributing Raila Odinga’s alleged version of his MoU with the Muslim community. That document was as damaging as it possibly could. It talked of Raila in future introducing Sharia law in Kenya and turning Kenya into an Islamic state.

It talked of every major wish list a Muslim would have of a perfect Islamic state. It left it in no one’s mind that Christians and other religious groups would be in deep trouble should Raila Odinga’s ODM win the elections. For all intents and purposes, this document was meant to instill fear in Americans, the British and any other power that would abhor another Islamic state in the Horn of Africa.

After getting a copy of this seditious document, this author took the picture of the vehicle and sent it to all the newsrooms in Nairobi with a caption “Is the UN involved in Kenya’s local political campaign?”

Of all the newsrooms that received the damaging picture, only the Nairobi Star used the story and the picture and followed it up with the UN in Gigiri. The vehicle was traced to the UNDP in Gigiri and after that there was a general stone-walling on how it got involved in the murky waters of Kenyan elections.

Soon after the elections, news leaked that top ranking officials of UNDP in Nairobi together with the then World Bank Director, Collin Bruce had secretly endorsed the flawed elections that caused over two thousand lives and hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons.

Since then, Collin Bruce has been recalled to Washington while the fate of top UNDP officials in Nairobi still remains a mystery after the Chief UN official in Nairobi called a press conference to dissociate herself from the purported endorsement of Kenya’s election results.

As the war raged in the streets of Kenya with Kofi Annan in town to resolve the dispute, a UN official in the Communications department met me by accident at the Serena Hotel. On being introduced to him by his brother, he just fell short of punching me on the face when he was told I was the Jerry Okungu who had filed the UNDP- story and picture of the UN vehicle!

This week, as I was busy going through the newspapers in Somaliland, I came across this article in the Somaliland Times which incidentally was filed from Nairobi in mid May 2008 accusing UNDP of involvement with the Islamic Courts in Somalia! Is this a coincidence or a well orchestrated UNDP network in Africa to meddle in the politics of the regions? Can some UN official clear the air?
Read on a make your own conclusions.

“Nairobi, May 17, 2008 –
A former employee of the UNDP has reportedly accused the agency of involvement with and support to a remittance company linked to the ousted Union of Islamic Courts. This support, according to Ismail Ahmed, included intervening to help the company, Dalsan win U.S. licenses and unfreezing funds blocked in Switzerland on suspicion of money laundering and terrorist financing.

Dalsan was the remittance company which was being headed by Abdilkadir Hashi Ayro, younger brother to Aden Hashi Ayro, leader of the Al-Shabbab who was killed during a US air raid early this month. Two years ago, the remittance company is said to have collapsed and suffered a loss of about $30,000,000.

Ahmed, who worked for UNDP from 2005 and 2007, provided a detailed dossier to Reuters also accused the UN agency of terminating his contract and taking retaliatory measures against him.

A Washington-based Government Accountability Project supported Ahmed's account. Shelley Walden, international programme associate at the non-profit group, told Reuters that the UNDP had turned a blind eye to wrongdoing and damaged its credibility.

UNDP spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: "Clearly UNDP takes all these allegations extremely seriously and we are in fact investigating them thoroughly."
He said the agency's Office of Audit and Investigations had already produced a report on the alleged retaliation for Ahmed's whistle blowing. Its new ethics adviser, who began work on December 1, would review the report and decide what action to take.

Dujarric however refrained from commenting on specific allegations.
"We're going at this with a very open mind. What we will find, we will find...I can't prejudge what the investigation team will find," he told Reuters.
Dalsan, according to some expert accounts was either the largest or the second-largest Somali money-wiring company after its competition Al-Barakaat's assets were frozen by US Executive Order immediately after 9/11.

It had offices in US, Great Britain, Kenya, and the United Arab Emirates where its headquarters was based before Abdilkadir moved it to Mogadishu.
"A report by the European Commission's Nairobi-based Somali Unit estimates that at its height in the aftermath of the U.S. actions against Al-Barakaat, Dalsan, which was, rather interestingly, formed in August 2001, was moving at least $100 million a year," according to J. Peter Pham who is the Director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs.

Pham adds: "In early May 2006, Dalsan folded its operations without warning, taking with it not only the $10 million to $30 million in capital invested by individual shareholders, but an estimated $9 million to $12 million in unconsummated money transfers from ordinary customers.

Company officials – at least those who can be tracked down – have thus far refused to explain the causes of the shutdown, much less elaborate on the fate of the funds entrusted to them."

"A little more detachment, however, raises even greater concerns. Is it yet another coincidence that Dalsan was closely linked with the likes of the Sheikh Osman and Hashi 'Ayro brothers, all of whom were leading figures in the Al-Itihaad precursor of the Islamic Courts militia?

And is it still another mere coincidence that the extremist forces within the ICU received a massive infusion of arms and men in the same month that Dalsan collapsed – reinforcements that tipped the scales in the Islamists' battle with U.S.-backed factions for control of Mogadishu?" Pham asks in his report written in 2006.”
Source: The Reporter, Somaliland Times and Reuters

Nairobi, May 17, 2008 – A former employee of the UNDP has reportedly accused the agency of involvement with and support to a remittance company linked to the ousted Union of Islamic Courts.

A former employee of the UNDP has reportedly accused the agency of involvement with and support to a remittance company linked to the ousted Union of Islamic Courts.
This support, according to Ismail Ahmed, included intervening to help the company Dalsan win U.S. licenses and unfreezing funds blocked in Switzerland on suspicion of money laundering and terrorist financing.

Dalsan was the remittance company which was being headed by Abdilkadir Hashi Ayro, younger brother to Aden Hashi Ayro, leader of the Al-Shabbab who was killed during a US air raid early this month.

Two years ago, the remittance company is said to have collapsed and suffered a loss of about $30,000,000.
Ahmed, who worked for UNDP from 2005 and 2007, provided a detailed dossier to Reuters also accused the UN agency of terminating his contract and taking retaliatory measures against him.

A Washington-based Government Accountability Project supported Ahmed's account. Shelley Walden, international programme associate at the non-profit group, told Reuters that the UNDP had turned a blind eye to wrongdoing and damaged its
credibility.

UNDP spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: "Clearly UNDP takes all these allegations extremely seriously and we are in fact investigating them thoroughly."
He said the agency's Office of Audit and Investigations had already produced a report on the alleged retaliation for Ahmed's whistle blowing. Its new ethics adviser, who began work on December 1, would review the report and decide what action to take.

Dujarric however refrained from commenting on specific allegations.
"We're going at this with a very open mind. What we will find, we will find...I can't prejudge what the investigation team will find," he told Reuters.

Dalsan, according to some expert accounts was either the largest or the second-largest Somali money-wiring company after its competition Al-Barakaat's assets were frozen by US Executive Order immediately after 9/11.

It had offices in US, Great Britain, Kenya, and the United Arab Emirates where its headquarters was based before Abdilkadir
moved it to Mogadishu.
"A report by the European Commission's Nairobi-based Somali Unit estimates that at its height in the aftermath of the U.S. actions against Al-Barakaat, Dalsan, which was, rather interestingly, formed in August 2001, was moving at least $100 million a year," according to J. Peter Pham is Director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs.

Pham adds: "In early May 2006, Dalsan folded its operations without warning, taking with it not only the $10 million to $30 million in capital invested by individual shareholders, but an estimated $9 million to $12 million in unconsummated money transfers from ordinary customers.

Company officials – at least those who can be tracked down – have thus far refused to explain the causes of the shutdown, much less elaborate on the fate of the funds entrusted to them."

"A little more detachment, however, raises even greater concerns. Is it yet another coincidence that Dalsan was closely linked with the likes of the Sheikh Osman and Hashi 'Ayro brothers, all of whom were leading figures in the Al-Itihaad precursor of the Islamic Courts militia? And is it still another mere coincidence that the extremist forces within the ICU received a massive infusion of arms and men in the same month that Dalsan collapsed – reinforcements that tipped the scales in the
Islamists' battle with U.S.-backed factions for control of Mogadishu?" Pham asks in his report written in 2006.

Source: The Somaliland Times Reporter and Reuters

IS A FACTION OF RELIGIOUS ACTIVISTS JUSTIFIED IN BLACKMAILING ODM?

By Jerry Okungu
Hargeisa, Somaliland
June 16, 2008

A faction of Muslims that purportedly signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Raila Odinga’s ODM in 2007 is back in the limelight. This time round, it is not because they are being taken to task by PNU to disclose the contents of the secret accord. It is because they are now asking for their pound of flesh from Raila Odinga for the support they allegedly gave him in the December 2007 elections.

They are listing a series of promises that Raila allegedly pledged to fulfill that they now want delivered. One such demand is the release and repatriation of all Kenyans Muslims arrested in connection with terrorist activities in joint security operations between Kenyan and American anti- terrorist police. According to their letter, some of these victims were shipped out either to Addis Ababa, Djibouti or Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for further interrogation and possible prosecutions.

Like a Kenyan who cherishes the basic rights of every individual worldwide, I will be the last person to condemn this genuine demand. What worries me is the callous attitude of the people now demanding that because they voted for ODM, their demands must now be met as Muslims and not as Kenyans irrespective of the changed political circumstances!

First things first; when this group of Muslims signed the MoU with Raila Odinga, they were playing a political game like every interest group did or would have done. They were investing in a risky business without corresponding insurance cover. They were banking on the ODM outright win in order to benefit from political favors that normally go with such arrangements.

Let us face the truth here; the MoU with a faction of Muslims was not smooth-sailing and neither was it a unanimous all Muslim Affair. Several factions, especially imams opposed it and contradicted the arrangement publicly. This discordant note played itself at the elections when votes particularly in the North Eastern Province were split between the ODM, KANU and PNU. ODM had no landslide win in the province; thanks to the controversial MoU.

Be that as it may, the accord was based on ODM winning the elections outright to give Raila Odinga’s ODM the free hand to deal with the touchy Muslim – Somali issue. As it turned out, the election results plunged Kenyans in to unprecedented turmoil, some of whose effects are still being felt to this day.

As the youths in Rift Valley, Nyanza, Western and Nairobi battled with government forces over the rigged elections, North Eastern was as peaceful as Eastern and Central provinces. To date, thousands of Kenyan youths in these provinces are still languishing in Kenyan jails with at least two thousand more dead. This is the scenario that makes this Muslim demand repugnant when you consider that this is not the government that the ODM expected after a grueling campaign.

It may be necessary to remind this Muslim faction that the present government is a coalition government in which the jailers of the Muslim youths abroad are major partners. President Kibaki is still the president. Yusuf Hajji, a prominent Somali from North Eastern Province is now the PNU Minister for National Defense.

There are several Somali ministers and Permanent Secretaries including the Permanent secretary in the Prime Minister’s office who have benefited from this coalition government.

Of all the Provinces in Kenya, North Eastern has benefitted the most considering that Raila Odinga created a special Ministry of the North, appointed a minister and a permanent secretary from the same region to look after the development of the region. If this cannot be appreciated by a group of self-styled activists from the North then one wonders whether they are truly Kenyans living in modern Kenya.

Put another way; if one considers the number of votes North Eastern Province produces for any political party in any general election, they would not be commensurate with the number of appointments they now enjoy in this government compared to Central, Nyanza, Eastern and Central provinces. The entire Northern vote cannot even be equivalent to the Embakasi Constituency vote in Nairobi.

On the demand for the repatriation of jailed Kenyans abroad, our brothers must realize that we are dealing with a bigger evil and a bigger international problem. We are dealing with a super power that is used to getting away with murder. As a third world country that depends on the good will of Americans and the British for its survival, expecting a single member of a collation government to twist the arms of Americans is to live in fantasy world. If you doubt me, ask Pakistanis, Afghanistans, Iraqis and Palestinians who are ten times more militant and more sophisticated in terrorist activities than our Muslim militants in the Horn of Africa. You will realize that they haven’t gone very far with the Americans when it comes to dealing with terrorist issues, real or imagined.

When Americans decided to hang Saddam Hussein, it was regardless whether they found weapons of mass destruction or not! Saddam was hanged for being Anti- American and anti- Israeli in his swaggering utterances. Suspicion was good enough for the Americans to put a noose around his neck.

Where I come from, we say that “when a strong man breaks your mother’s pipe, you don’t challenge him to a fight; instead you blame your mother for her carelessness!”

jerryokungu@gmail.com
www.africanewsonline.blogspot.com

THIS YEAR’S KENYA BUDGET WAS AS INTRIGUING AS IT WAS A PLEASANT SURPRISE

By Jerry Okungu
Hargesia, Somaliland

Glances at budgets read in Dodoma, Kampala and Nairobi last week, one noticed several areas of convergence as well as divergence. In most circumstances, there was the over-riding spirit with the vulnerable low income earners in our region. This is what informed the removal of taxes on most consumable items like bread, milk and rice and substantial reduction on duty on imported raw materials for food production telecommunications and educational facilities. In essence, the budgets provided a win-win situation for most low income earners and the ruling class.

What spoilt the party was the unusual stand-off between Ugandan MPs and their Speaker over the mishandling of the MPs by the police just before the budget was read. Now that the MPs from the Opposition staged a walk-out before the budget was read, how will they debate its contents when the time comes?

Tanzanian Finance Minister has pledged to reduce donor funding in their budget. This is great news considering that there is so much public resource going down the drain due to graft. If Kikwete can seal these loopholes, Tanzania can begin the journey to real self reliance.

Considering the treatment of the political class in Kenya, especially the well to do members of parliament, ministers and assistant ministers, it was most appropriate that finally taxes ware levied on their fat salaries so that they too could plough back something to the society that maintained their lavish lifestyles. For many years, Kenyans have wondered aloud why MPs who sometimes earned more than the salaries of private sector executives were allowed to retain all their earnings tax free. More intriguing was the realization that in East Africa, Kenyan MPs were the best paid compared to their counterparts in the entire region.

Talking of Kenyan MPs, I have come to realize that in Somaliland, the monthly salary of an MP is US $300, the equivalent of Ks 18,000. A friend told me that if I have to invite MPs to a workshop the way corporate organizations in Kenya lure them to the Coast, all I need to do is to pay them an allowance of $10 and and they will all be there. Then I thought about our MPs back home. I wondered aloud if any MP would turn up for a seminar in the middle of Nairobi for a Ks 2000 daily allowance!

The last time BAT lobbyists took MPs to the Kenyan Coast for a retreat, they caused the company an arm and a leg with little to show for it. Their packages included first class air tickets for a 45 minute flight, a five star exclusive beach resort, all expenses paid and a KS 40,000 allowance! For a three day workshop, our MPs pocketed the equivalent of $ 2000 each, enough to pay a Somaliland MP four months’ salary!

Talking of Kenyan MPs’ salaries, did I hear William Ruto, now Minister for Agriculture make that his campaign issue in 2007? Did I hear him suggest a reduction in MPs’ salaries from the current U $ 15,000 to U$ 3000, the equivalent of Ks 200,000? 00? Did William Ruto mean it from the bottom of his heart or was he just being fashionable and populist?

Soon after the elections, another honorable Member of Parliament from Machakos, Mr. Muthama threatened to move a bill in Parliament to slush MPs salaries! What happened to his voice? Was he threatened by his colleagues or did he just discover that it was the most dangerous thing to do at this point in time?

Of all the newly elected Members of Parliament, only John Haroun Mwau from Eastern Province has pledged his entire parliamentary earnings and more to his constituency development. What I hear Mwau has done is to supplement his resources and CDF funds with his salaries for the next five years. Grapevine has it that he has categorically said that he went to Parliament not to get rich but to lift the living standards of his people. And he intends to do this by building good roads, bridges, sinking boreholes, installing electricity in every home, getting piped water in every village hut and making sure learning under trees on stones becomes a thing of the past for his constituents. With this kind of exemplary vision from a mere assistant minister, can we have more converts in the current parliament following in Haroun Mwau’s footsteps?

Jerryokungu@gmail.com
www.africanewsonline.blogspot.com

RAILA ODINGA HAS NO BUSINESS BEING A KIKUYU ELDER NOW

By Jerry Okungu
Hargeisa, Somaliland
June 15, 2008

There are two sets of the children of the House of Mumbi. Some are more equal and more authentic than others. Obviously my college mate Esther Murigu, the new MP for Nyeri and my friend Muthui Kariuki are the more genuine children of Mumbi under the circumstances compared to the Kugurus, Njonjos and Kamarus of this world. Obviously in their mind of minds, the Kugurus and Njonjos of this world are the children of a lesser god who have no business inviting strangers to the royal house!

And what does it take to be the true son and daughter of Mumbi? You have to be an elected member of Parliament, possibly a cabinet minister no matter how green in politics and most importantly, one must be a blind supporter of the current regime to be able to stand up and defend the leadership of the house of Mumbi.

Right now the rage is that some three children of lesser gods dared to have lunch with Prime Minister Raila Odinga at a Luo joint in Nairobi that culminated in the threesome inviting him to the Ruringu Stadium, the seat of Gikuyu na Mumbi for a cultural coronation. And before Raila Odinga accepted the invitation, wagging tongues already went to town.

The truth is; these opponents of the function do not just have time for Njonjo, Kamaru and Kuguru as they claim. The target is Raila Odinga the man they would like to loathe to eternity in life and in death. Any reference to the characters of Njonjo and Kuguru is just but an excuse to allow them to disparage Raila Odinga, the man they dread most in Kenyan politics.

What is worrisome about the whole of this stinking affair is that the men and women at the forefront of this hate campaign are the younger generation that went to school just the other day; some of who even dated Luo men and women in their campus days! Instead of consulting the real Kikuyu elders like Waruru Kanja, Njenga Karume, Stanley Githunguri and a few remaining Kikuyu elders wise in the ways of their tribe; they have decided that all you need to be a serious Kikuyu elder is to be an elected MP or at worst a political hireling.

Should Raila Odinga go to Ruringu Stadium to be made a Kikuyu elder? Does Raila Odinga want to be a Kikuyu elder? What value would this gesture add to Raila’s political life? Will this gesture stop his haters from hating him more? Will it enhance his political clout? Can it make him win the 2012 presidential elections?
During the 2007 elections, Othaya town offered Raila Odinga and his ODM brigade the worst example of deep rooted negative ethnicity. An enraged kiosk owner refused to serve them tea in their campaign trail. As the physical attacks became imminent, he had to cut short his political programme for security reasons.

When the votes were finally counted, Mt. Kenya voted one of their own to a man.
Despite this poor performance by Raila Odinga in Central and Eastern Province, he still managed over 100 parliamentary seats as a single party against 43 parliamentary seats won by PNU’s affiliate parties.

Looked at another way, out of the eight provinces, 75% of them voted for Raila Odinga and his ODM party. The other 25% was shared by PNU, its affiliate parties, ODM-K of Kalonzo Musyoka and NARC of Charity Ngilu.

This scenario, which is likely to repeat itself unless Kikuyu chauvinists change tact, implies that making Raila Odinga a Kikuyu elder will not add much value to his political life if that is the incentive.

History has proved that one can become the President of the Republic of Kenya without the Kikuyu vote just like one can do the same without the Luo vote alone!. Daniel arap Moi won the presidency twice in 1992 and 1997 without the Kikuyu and Luo votes. This year, Mwai Kibaki is in a forced coalition government because he lost the elections despite the Kikuyu vote and every Kikuyu who is serious about the future of Kenya knows it.

In my heart of hearts, I know that Raila Odinga did not arrange for his son to get married to a Kikuyu girl in exchange for favors as some ethnic chauvinists would like us believe. The two lovebirds met on their own and only asked the two families for their consent. Any Kikuyu who didn’t like the arrangement had all the time to raise an objection.

Right now is not the time for the Prime Minister to go to Nyeri for a cultural event. There are 42 other tribes some of whom have already made him and other leaders their elders. To the best of my knowledge, no tribe in Kenya is superior to the others. If a section of Kikuyus feel very strongly about their animal skin, a walking stick and a spear let them stay with it and give it to one of their own.

More importantly. Now that a junior minister in the cabinet has taken it upon herself to threaten the life of the Prime Minister , should he dare step in Nyeri for the ceremony, the best is for Raila Odinga to give the ceremony a wide berth as obviously there is no decorum or protocol in this regime. Cabinet ministers who should show good examples are behaving like their own youth wingers.

jerryokungu@gmail.com
www.africanewsonline.blogspot.com

MR. PRIME MINISTER, DON’T SPREAD TOO THIN!

By Jerry Okungu

Sometimes I wonder whether this is the kind of job Raila Odinga expected when he accepted to be Kenya’s second Prime Minister. Perhaps there are too many intrigues clouding the effective operations of the Prime Minister, very much unlike when Jomo Kenyatta assumed that office 45 years ago.

As an observer, I fear that if this trend continues, Raila Odinga will end up fighting fires from all corners of the republic, achieving nothing in the end and getting blamed for everything.

If I were Raila Odinga, I would not get entangled in age old football politics, Mungiki menace, Mau Forest environmental saga, land problems in Rift Valley, a dispute with back benchers over whether to have a grand opposition or not and whether to release election violence suspects or not. These matters are too much for a single individual to handle even with the best of intentions.

As Prime Minister in charge coordinating and supervising government ministries and departments, his job should just be that; to coordinate and supervise. In this job description, there should be inserted proper delegation to respective ministers who should find out how to deal with their respective problems and report the same to the Prime Minister for action.

As much as Raila Odinga loves football, he has no business getting embroiled in football politics because that is where insanity lives. Because of this insanity, many governments over the years have dissolved the Kenya Federation of Football a hundred times in fifty years. They never found a lasting solution to the disease.

Let the football nuisance be handled by the Sports Minister to the best of her ability. If she fails to manage the eternally corrupt fraternity, let her report to the Prime Minister, get her efforts discussed at the cabinet meeting and a collective decision taken.

In my opinion, disbanding KFF permanently would not be a bad idea even if it irks FIFA. In fact FIFA banning Kenya from participating in international tournaments for two decades could end up being a blessing in disguise. It would save us from perennial embarrassment for having teams that never win a single match. The other will be to give us time to weed off the bad old managers and train younger players!

As for the Mungiki sect; this is a national security issue whose origins and initial promoters are still in the cabinet. Let this be the full responsibility of the Internal Security Minister who should give the Prime Minister and the President Progress report on his efforts. If the cabinet decides to open talks with them along the lines of Joseph Kony and Yoweri Museveni; so be it.

The Prime Minister should similarly handle land, environment and other sensitive matters through respective ministers. He should be the last resort when his ministers fail to find a solution. Being on the frontline will cheapen the office of the Prime Minster because there are some in the cabinet that will just be too happy to either contradict him or celebrate if his efforts tumble.

On the internally displaced Kenyans in Rift Valley, there are the ministries of Special Programmes, Internal Security and Defense to deal with them.

If there are any talks of releasing the youths that are languishing in police custody for having demonstrated violently in the post poll violence, these matters need serious backroom negotiations.

Borrowing a leaf from Charles Njonjo on how he used to deal with mass University student arrests in the 1970s may come in handy. Amos Wako should be at the forefront in dealing with these cases rather than sitting on the fence as Cabinet Ministers grope in the dark.

Finally, Prime Minister Raila Odinga should desist from engaging back-benchers on the controversial grand opposition coalition. This is a matter that can be handled by the government spokesman and other MPs detailed by the Prime Minister and the President. There are some ministers and assistant ministers that can easily engage the MPs in meaningful debate rather than the PM taking it upon him to confront the MPs, some of whom will just be too happy to bring down the PM.

Remember the days of David Mwenje and Kuria Kanyingi, when Moi could use them to derail the political careers of Vice President Josephat Karanja and Constitutional Affairs Minister, Charles Njonjo?

In Kenyan politics, there will always be charlatans ready to do the dirty work at the behest of their masters.

Jerryokungu@gmail.com
www.africanewsonline.blogspot.com

IS OBAMA MANIA IN KENYA MISPLACED OR OPPORTUNISTIC?

By Jerry Okungu

I must put my cards on the table. I am a confessed and registered Obama supporter for his presidential bid in 2008. I didn’t understand the magnitude of this project until I went to the US in March 2008. On meeting the Obama campaign teams, I was left with no choice but to join the bandwagon.

As an Obama supporter, I have obligations to fulfill. From time to time I have to part with my $25, $50 or $100 to support this campaign. This is how Obama managed to raise $ 265 million for his primaries without going to the big corporate for big cash. This way, Barack Obama has expanded his support base to be able to beat a well established political family like the Clintons. This way Obama has ended up with a surplus fund after winning the primaries as opposed to Hilary Clinton who ended up with a S 30 million debt.

Now that Barack Obama has won the Democratic primaries, what else can genuine Kenyans do to support his presidency even though he is not a Kenyan? Apart from writing pages and pages of glowing tribute, how a man with Kenyan connections is going places, what challenge does this feat give us?

As I write this article, I know there are a group of gunmen in America who have formed the Barack Obama club. There are also residents of Obama city in Japan who are celebrating Barack Obama primary victory like their own. In Hawaii and Indonesia where he also grew up the fever is as high as it is at Alego Kogelo.

Without spoiling the party, I must remind Kenyans that Barack Obama is as Kenyan as my three daughters in America. Like my daughters born and raised there, their allegiance is first to their country of birth. When they visit Kenya, it is because their roots are here and are happy to be here for a few weeks then return to what they call home.

When Obama visited Kenya in 2006, I wrote an article that begged Kenyans to allow Obama to be American. I then said that stressing too much Kenyanness on Obama might switch off his American voters. Thank God the American press has little time for what happens in Kenya, hence this madness hardly filters through and even if it did, it will find very little interest among readers in Chicago, Idaho or Buffalo Bills.

For some of us who have followed Black History in America for the last three decades, who were already conscious when Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and several Black Panther revolutionaries were either gunned down on incarcerated, seeing Obama come this far is already victory of unimaginable proportions.

As I write this article, it has not been lost on me to read chapters on ‘Tom Mboya, The Man Kenya Wanted to Forget’ by David Goldsworthy. In this book, Goldsworthy struggles to reconstruct the struggles Mboya went through in politics to airlift hundreds of Kenyan students to the United States between 1959 and 1963. If Barack Obama Sr. found himself in the US in 1959 for the same quest for education even if he was not part of the Mboya airlift, his significance there and having a child with an American lady bearing a Kenyan name is a coincidence no one can ignore.

Today, I see Barack Obama as part of the struggle by Tom Mboya to prepare young Kenyans for not only Kenyan but African and world leadership. If Barack Hussein Obama did not live to see the seed he had planted on American soil flourish, there are others alive to give testimony to the same.

The more reason true Obama fanatics should stop getting drunk with his success so far but to support him materially throughout his campaign until he is finally in the White House.

Many Kenyans can afford $25 from time to time. Send this to Barack Obama. Many Kenyans have relatives in America. It is time all Kenyans behaved in America as Kenyans not as Luos, Kikuyus, Kambas, Kalenjins and Kisiis.

Martin Luther King told us that he had seen the mountain top but that it would not matter if he didn’t get there. Forty years later, Obama is on the verge of getting to the mountain top. Let us support his efforts to get there by being less antagonistic, less parochial and less racist. Let us contribute to the Obama campaign!

Jerryokungu@gmail.com
www.africanewsonline.blogspot.com

HOW MUGABE’S SPEECH CAUSED HIM A PLATE OF CHIPS IN ROME

By Jerry Okungu

International politics can be dirty and cheap at times. It even gets bizarre at times.When it comes to Robert Mugabe and the West, humor sets in comfortably.

The other day the United Nations took the liberty to invite Robert Mugabe as the President of Zimbabwe to join other leaders in Rome at a meeting to resolve the world food crisis. As much as UN protocol was followed in extending this invitation to Uncle Bob, a few countries; notably Britain and Australia were not amused. They could not understand how a cantankerous corrupt dictator like Mugabe who has been starving his countrymen for decades could be allowed to join civilized nations at the table in Rome.

That protest not withstanding; Robert Mugabe took the challenge and arrived in Rome in his characteristic style and in the mood to do battle with Britain, the US or Australia if the need arose.

And the need indeed presented itself. Britain and Australia threw the first salvo accusing Robert Mugabe of his usual sins; election rigging, ruining the economy, starving Zimbabweans and of course robbing European settlers of their farms.

When it was time to respond, Mugabe prepared a lengthy speech that had nothing to do with world food crisis. There was no mention of hunger in Zimbabwe. Instead, he zeroed in on Zimbabwe’s latest election crisis that has necessitated a rerun at the end of June 2008. He lost no opportunity to blast his main opposition rival as a stooge of Britain and America; a sell out who would rather eat with the enemy than fight for the dignity of Zimbabweans.

To observers, neither Mugabe nor his Western enemies were adding anything new to the debate. What was said in Rome had been said elsewhere in other forums in the last three years, more or less by the same characters.

What was surprising was what took place at the farewell dinner. Customarily when hosts have an array of dignitaries in the form of world leaders and development partners, a fare well meal to thank them for their time is a normal practice. This is precisely what the organizers in Rome did.

What emerged was that when the guest list for dinner was finally out, two crucial names were missing; that of Robert Mugabe and the Iranian President- another thorn in the flesh for the West when it comes to nuclear armament and the destruction of Israel.

Curiously, the Iranian president decided to leave earlier rather than wait for dinner and somehow the organizers played down his absence based on the fact that such a rich country like Iran would not bother with a plate of food offered by his enemies.

As for Mugabe, the media found a curious angle to the story. They went to the archives and dug up Zimbabwe’s recent past to depict the country as literally starving because food shelves back in Harare were empty. That inflation was standing at 2,000,000% and that the smallest currency in Zimbabwe was now 1 million Zimbabwean dollars!

According to the media, the organizers decided to deny Mugabe dinner so that he could feel the pain of being denied food the way he had denied his people the same back home. They could not stand the sight of this ruthless dictator going through a seven cause meal with world leaders while he had locked up the few granaries left back home!

What was the significance of this demeaning act against Mugabe? Was it to humiliate him and his wife? Would it make Mugabe change his mind and start treating Zimbabweans more humanely?

Unfortunately none of the above was achieved by denying Mugabe a plate of potatoes in Rome. If anything, it hardened his stand against the opposition back home and what the West stands for. And his reaction was fast and furious. He banned all international aid agencies from Zimbabwe until after the elections. He made membership to his ZANU-PLF a condition for receiving food rations from government agencies. He got mad and worse! His ego had been pricked to the limit.

Put another way; is it morally right to invite a visitor to your home then deny him food on account of his behavior back in his home? Is it possible the organizers in Rome would have achieved a lot with Mugabe had they engaged him in backroom dialogue and negotiations on how to end the Zimbabwean crisis?

jerryokungu@gmail.com
www.africanewsonline.blogspot.com

IT IS TIME EAST AFRICANS ELECTED THEIR EALA MPS DIRECTLY

By Jerry Okungu
At the beginning of the current life of this EALA, the operations of the Assembly together with that of the EAC came to a standstill due to the election fiasco brought about by political grandstanding in Kenyan parliament. At that time, the Government of National Unity decided to arrogantly usurp the powers of parliament and name all nominees to the Assembly against the standing orders of parliament.

As the stalemate persisted, the aggrieved LDP and other parties went to the East African Court of Justice, obtained an injunction and had the elections nullified. A rerun of the elections in Kenyan parliament did not produce any different result. The GNU arrogance persisted until the aggrieved parties gave up.

Two years later, a similar problem is brewing in Uganda. News filtering through the media indicate that a court ruling in Uganda has nullified the election of all Ugandan MPs to the EALA on account that the procedure followed was in breach of standing orders of the Ugandan parliament. Now it is just a matter of time before the Speaker is formally notified. If this happens, the seven seats will be declared vacant, paralyzing the operations of EALA and the EAC in the process.

But perhaps the most disturbing news was the story that appeared throughout East Africa that the same Ugandan MPs had attacked Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi on issues they had not crosschecked. An advertised response from Uganda’s EAC Minister was clear enough. These enthusiastic MPs had nothing better to do than rumormonger on imagined sins of the three partner states. They had accused Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi for dragging their feet with their contributions. Records made available by Uganda’s EAC Minister and the EAC Secretary General proved that these hotheads had not checked their facts.

The issues above call for a reexamination of the way we are building our regional institutions. As it is now, the composition of the EALA has been abused by local political interests back home. We have not sent the best brains and the best visionaries to the EALA to champion our regional cause. Instead, we have rewarded low level personnel, sometimes jobless street vagabonds to represent our interests there. This is the tragedy of our flawed EALA elections.

If at the national level we have been able to elect our councilors, MPs and Presidents, why is it so difficult to conduct elections for just nine EALA members in each member state? Kenyans, like Ugandans, Tanzanians, Burundians and Rwandans would like to see institutions like EALA, EACJ and the EAUC strengthened. To do this, we need to recruit and elect through a rigorous competitive process so that the most qualified are allowed to go through the process. We have to stop rewarding mediocrity if we are keen on saving our regional economic block.

Right now blind nationalism is threatening to derail the EAC process. People in positions of influence have withdrawn into their own tribal and national enclaves. They are busy eyeing one another with suspicion thinking that by advocating for local issues, they are scoring points with their local fans.

As Kenya wallowed in the miasma of post elections violence, as Tanzanians grapple with the unending Mwafaka problems in Zanzibar and Pemba, instead of using the Kenyan example to sort out the Island’s problem, we are busy beating the drums of war. Instead of East Africans putting their heads together to help Museveni solve the Joseph Kony problems in Northern Uganda we are busy in the streets of Nairobi trying to score points about who is senior between the Prime Minister and the Vice President!

For the East African Community to remain relevant, the EALA should be strengthened to have more controlling powers than the current council of ministers. Ideally the Council of ministers has no business reporting to the Summit of Heads of State. It should first and foremost be answerable to the EALA with a reporting line to the Summit just like national ministers are answerable to Parliament first then to the Head of State.

If we strengthen the EALA through direct elections, it can passing binding laws that will also help curb election malpractices, corruption, fraudulent activities and blatant rigging of elections by parties in power. A standard Electoral Commission to supervise elections in the five member states would not be a bad idea. It will save us the horror of having to deal with hordes of international observers whose only interest is to come here every by election to witness our pre-medieval chaos from time to time.

jerryokungu@gmail.com
www.africanewsonline.blogspot.com

WHEN BLACKS TURN AGAINST BLACKS

By Stan Chu Ilo
Hastings, Ontario, Canada

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Notwithstanding the debate in Quebec and some of the
debate during the Ontario election campaign, I first
of all think immigrants come to this country to belong
to this country…I also think that the Canadian
approach to this, which is a mixture of integration
and accommodation, for a lack of a better term, is the
right approach. -Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen
Harper speaking on Canadian immigration policy,
December 23, 2007.

Many people who have followed post-apartheid South
African society will not be surprised at present and
ongoing uprising of South African Blacks against Black
migrants in Alexandra, Johannesburg. This was a crisis
in the making. There are three fault lines that have
developed since the end of apartheid and the
introduction of Black majority rule in South Africa:
The first is the internal crisis and conflict of
identity among the Black South Africans themselves.

Many young Black South Africans, especially those who
were born in the late 60's and early 70's, never had
an opportunity to develop their skills or attain any
level of educational or professional competence. Most
of them were sired in the revolutionary anti-apartheid
movement of the 70's characterized by militancy and
rebellion. With the end of apartheid, these young men
were left in the broken lower rungs of social
progress, stifled as persons in the choking economic
dungeons of poverty and existential insouciance.

The victorious elites of the ruling party, the ANC,
who took the reins of power at all levels failed to
address the needs of these young people and the
burgeoning Black families who were waking up from the
long night of depersonalization and cultural
asphyxiation. Their concerns were blithely papered
over as temporary social problems that will disappear
as the gains of Black majority rule begin to trickle
down. Unfortunately, close to two decades after the
end of apartheid, the challenges of these lost
generations of South Africans have not been addressed.

The post-Mandela ANC has continued to lose legitimacy
as South African Blacks move from the euphoria of
freedom to the stark reality of Black social apartheid
that is widening the economic divide between the White
South Africans and the Blacks, and among the Blacks
themselves and other colored but marginalized citizens
of South Africa. The ruling party has not seriously
addressed the needs of the lost generation as well as
the Black community as a whole as poverty continues to
spread like wild fire among young Blacks and their
families, and the number of the unemployed and
unemployable Black South Africans continues to
increase exponentially; while HIV/AIDS continues to
eat away the vibrant portion of a palpably restive
Black community.

This situation has given rise to the second fault line
in South Africa. There is real anger among young Black
South Africans. In the early days of the
post-apartheid era, the anger among the lost
generation was directed against fellow South Africans,
fueled by the unrepentant stand of the Inkatha Freedom
Party which felt that the ANC under Mandela has sold
out to the White settlers.

The Black South Africans turned against themselves in those early days in what
many thought would play into the false White
bifurcated vision of the Black personality as
vaunting, aggressive, violent, and resistant to order
and good governance. It was a mini-apocalypse as young
Black South Africans turned against each other in an
orgy of violence and blood-letting. Their passion and
hope for a new and prosperous country was not balanced
with a delayed gratification that demanded the
necessary sacrifice and enduring the inevitable pain
that come with moving from hope to achievement.

Another reality that prepared the grounds for the
present crisis is the violence in South Africa as a
whole. South Africa is a very violent country, indeed
the most violent country in Africa and second to
Brazil in the rate of violent crime globally. Almost
everyone has access to guns, machetes, or the panga.
These weapons are easily made by the many blacksmiths
and local manufacturers who in the immediate past,
secretly produced and armed Black South Africans in
the liberation battle against the White supremacists.
Thus, with a low self-esteem, lacking any education,
fueled by crumbling social structures, deprived of any
sense of purpose, and with no clear signs of progress
or self or group transcendence over the mounting
social and economic challenges of the day, the young

A biting absolute poverty always leads to violence,
but poverty does not legitimize violence. But the
logic of peace and reconciliation which is being
promoted in the various youth camps run by the Tutu
Peace foundation in many provinces in South Africa is
not being bought by young South Africans who are
uneducated, sick, hungry, angry, and whose hopes are
fading as they see the receding horizons of hope and
meaning. These angry but vibrant young South Africans
reveal a thin tipping point of the searing tinder box
on which the Rainbow nation has been sitting for a
long time.

The violence of Black South Africans against the over
3 million Black migrants from Zimbabwe, Nigeria,
Rwanda, Mozambique, Kenya, Malawi etc is the symptom
of a deeper social and economic malaise in South
Africa. A country that is internally at war with
herself cannot produce citizens who are at peace with
foreigners. In the past, the native Black South
Africans saw the White settlers take over their land
with its wealth and fortune, and subsequently
subjected Blacks to internal slavery for more than a
century and half.

Today, the Black South Africans
faced with a shattered social system and decaying
economic structures, and wallowing in the filthy
squalor of want in the midst of wealth, see in the new
'settler migrants' a new threat to their survival. The
hostility of the native South Africans to fellow
Blacks is another reflection of the lack of
integration within the South African society.

It also points to the many wounded hearts and heads that need
a more realistic social engineering and an organic
healing of memory beyond the highly publicized truth
and reconciliation commission. There are millions of
Black South Africans who are losing hope in the new
reality ushered in by Black majority rule. These are
the ones who killed Lucky Dube, they are the ones who
see Tabo Mbeki as elitist and will love to see his
back.

These are the ones who are rooting for Zuma
because he appears to be one with them even if he
carries a moral albatross. These Blacks find new forms
of expression through violence against fellow Blacks
in Pretoria, Diepsloot, and Alexandra and through
uncontrollable violent crimes and drugs.

The streets will soon be cleaned of the burnt corpses
and damaged cars, houses and stalls, but something
deeper is burning in South Africa that needs to be
recovered: Hope is burning in South Africa. A new
narrative is needed in South Africa that should seek
the reconciliation of the Black South Africans with
themselves.

The typical Black South African is
homeless not in a physical sense of the absence of
houses, but at a deeper existential level. They are
suffering from an absence of the inner fulfillment and
self-contentment that arise spontaneously from one's
general condition of being at peace with oneself, with
one's culture, one's nation and with other people and
the world of nature and the supernatural.

This is a
task which Mandela began but which Mbeki has ignored
to the peril of his country and the entire Black race.
Reconciliation in South Africa can only be real when
the feuding ethnic Black nationalities come to terms
with themselves and the new identity and reality that
today's South Africa presents. This demands a
commitment to distributive, commutative, and social
justice, which reweaves the licking nets of economic
and social equilibrium in South Africa. South Africa
should be home to all Africans because when the
dignity of the Black person was insulted and abused by
apartheid, Africans everywhere felt humiliated and
degraded. The conquest of freedom in South Africa was
the result of the cumulative anger and activism by
Africans everywhere supported by men and women of
goodwill all over the world. But today the freedom
that is lacking in South Africa and the rest of the
continent is the freedom every citizen should have to
pursue their ordered ends and attain a measure of
human and cultural fulfillment.

The condition of South Africa today is clear and
simple: This is a nation in dire need of
reconciliation and wrenching in the heat of historical
injustice. Until this is done, no one is safe in that
troubled land, especially Black South Africans and
Blacks from outside South Africa. This reality should
remind Africans of another truth which we often
ignore: Africans from the African continent need
reconciliation with who they are and with their fellow
Africans.

It amazes me how many of us Africans living
in Western countries assume that rights and
privileges, equality and fair treatment from foreign
countries are simply ours to claim, if we cannot have
them in our respective countries. How many of us who
complain when we suffer racism abroad can say that we
have overcome racial and ethnic blinkers? We expect
White people in the Western world to accept us, grant
us residence permit, citizenship, jobs, and other
claims and prerogatives. We expect to prosper on
foreign soils, as long as we work hard or as long as
we play the game. Indeed, many of us leave Nigeria and
live abroad because we expect better life abroad and
to find a true and peaceful home in the Western world.
We cannot find a home abroad if we cannot find it 'at
home.'

Unfortunately, many of us Nigerians in spite of our
education and famed religious grandstanding still
carry a heavy baggage of bias and prejudice based on
ethnic groupings. We are thus held internally captive
because of acquired or inherited untested time-crusted
categorizations and platitudes about people outside
our visible cultural or ethnic or class identities.
Even among the same ethnic group, there are bias,
prejudices, profiling, and hatred based on clannish
considerations and state of origin. How integrated is
Nigerian society? Nigeria like most other African
countries is in dire need of integration.

The Pan-Africanists of the early 20th century had as
their motto, a "Back to Africa" campaign. They were
driven by an uncritical innocent idealism that Africa
is home to all Africans. It should be true then and
should be true even in our times. How wrong the
Pan-Africanists were to think that the diasponic
movement to far flung territories by people of African
descent could be resolved through a return to Mother
Africa, our true home.

Is it not a tragedy that Africa
is no longer a home for Africans except when they flee
abroad or when they fly to the small and shrinking
safety of their small ethnic nationalities or
nationally defined ethnic identities? Is it not a
shame that Blacks are killing fellow Blacks in African
land, replicating the cycle of violence and decay that
are so often the case in the Black neighborhoods of
Toronto, Chicago, Houston, New York, Paris, Marseille
and Brescia? Cry beloved ancestors!