WHY KALONZO MUSYOKA AND UHURU KENYATTA MUST CLING TO KIVUITU’S ECK!

By Jerry Okungu
Nairobi, Kenya
October 3, 2008

Justice Kriegler came, spoke and went. He literally confirmed most Kenyans’ fears that presidential elections were rigged beyond redemption. He painfully told Kenyans that they would never know who won the 2007 presidential elections. In his parting shots, he strongly recommended the dissolution of the ECK as it is composed today because the team had failed to deliver credible elections results to Kenyans in 2007.

Following the Kriegler report, which is yet to be discussed in the cabinet, many voices have called for the dissolution of the ECK. However, all these angry Kenyans and the international community based in Nairobi seem to be at variance with Uhuru Kenyatta, Kalonzo Musyoka and their followers. Kalonzo and Uhuru, for some strange reasons believe that Kivuitu and the entire ECK are blameless. This is despite the fact that Kivuitu had earlier incriminated them with his utterances soon after the controversial elections.

First Kivuitu confessed he never knew who won the elections. Second, he accused politicians from PNU and ODMK who pressurized and intimidated him into declaring the flawed results. It will be difficult to know who in PNU could have intimidated Kivuitu but it is not difficult to guess who it was in ODMK.

More recent revelations at Kivuitu’s meeting with Malawian visitors have not made things any better. In that recent meeting with Malawians, press reports allege that Kivuitu told Malawians that he was bundled into the then Finance Minister Amos Kimunya’s car and escorted under heavy guard to State House only to realize that Mwai Kibaki would be sworn in without the luxury of State protocol as in the past. He was shocked to find Chief Justice Evans Gicheru already seated ready to perform the ceremony!

Under the circumstances, one wonders why two senior cabinet ministers of the rank of Vice President and Deputy Prime Minister would prefer to stick with the present ECK, the group that due to their lack of principle or carelessness, caused mayhem in Kenya that resulted in the deaths of over a thousand Kenyans!

There are many possible reasons why Uhuru Kenyatta and Kalonzo Musyoka are trying really hard to marshal the PNU troops to rally behind Kivuitu’s ECK. Like Kalonzo Musyoka, Uhuru Kenyatta bolted out of ODM after realizing that he would not be either the flag bearer or running mate in the 2007 polls. For many months before the eventual split, the two politicians pretended to be opposition reformists while in fact their long term objective was to wreck the ODM from within. When they failed, they found other excuses to bolt out.

Unlike Kalonzo who ran away with the original ODMK; thanks to his kinsman Maanzo, Uhuru found himself in deep waters after his KANU Secretary General William Ruto and several KANU officials in the Rift Valley failed to follow him.

He was left with no choice but to go back home to his tribe to support Mwai Kibaki, the man he had vilified for the better part of the ninth Parliament. Unlike Kalonzo, Uhuru Kenyatta gave up running for president when he realized he had no ground to stand on. Rift Valley was gone, taken up by ODM. Central and Eastern provinces were gone, taken up by Narc Kenya and DP to be finally brought under the PNU umbrella by Mwai Kibaki. The man was left with no choice but to join PNU and campaign for Kibaki’s reelection in the hope that the President would nominate and support him for the 2012 race. A long short indeed if you ask me!

Kalonzo Musyoka went to the polls a lame duck despite his miracle pronouncements. He was acutely aware that his presidential running mate Dr. Julia Ojiambo had no added value anywhere in Kenya including her own constituency. Again, the few Kamba MPs that followed him to Machakos on the day he broke away from the ODM family would gunner no votes beyond Ukambani. Even Eastern Province was not their turf. PNU and Charity Ngilu’s Narc were also laying claims to the region; which they did with a good measure of success.

Based on the above scenario, it is understandable that Kalonzo Musyoka and Uhuru Kenyatta together with a number of their supporters owe their positions to Kivuitu for messing up the elections. Had the elections been conducted fairly so that either Kibaki or Raila won the elections out right, these people would today not hold the positions they hold. Uhuru would not be Deputy Prime Minister and Musyoka would probably be languishing on the backbenches. But again, in Kalonzo’s case, divine powers are bound to intercede for him in difficult circumstances!

The other reason why they must cling to Kivuitu and the ECK is to remain relevant and newsworthy. They are doing this because both of them are under siege within their parties. Uhuru Kenyatta is facing an onslaught from Martha Karua who has called him “daddy’s son” waiting to be anointed to the throne. This development has put Uhuru in an awkward position. If he wants to run for president as per the pact with PNU in 2007, he must first deal with Martha Karua; a development that is becoming a tall order with each passing day.

Like Uhuru Kenyatta, Kalonzo Musyoka is also facing rebellion in his own party, ODMK with a number of MPs vowing to cut him to size in future elections. Other than this rebellion, the treacherous manner in which he rushed to accept the VP position when Kenya was burning made Kenyans wonder what kind person he was. Worse, when Kivuitu revealed part of the threat that made him announce the flawed elections came from ODM K that was not party to the dispute only helped to point fingers at Kalonzo Musyoka who stood to benefit the most in the scam.

Finally, the other attraction for supporting the ECK is the realization that the present Coalition government, brought about by the flawed elections has only two principal signatories; Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga. Both Kalonzo Musyoka and Uhuru Kenyatta are irrelevant to the equation. They are only appendages to President Kibaki.

If today Kibaki appointed Kiraitu Murungi or Martha Karua for Deputy Prime Minister and John Muthama or Mutula Kilonzo as the Vice President, there would be no earthquakes in Central and Eastern provinces. Yes, they fraudulently acquired their present positions hence they must stick to the fraudulent script of singing praises to the discredited ECK!

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