FRIENDS, THIS MORNING I LISTENED TO UHURU KENYATTA

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By Ngunjiri Wambugu Kikuyus for Change 12:44am Feb 24 Friends, This morning I listened to Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta on a show on Kameme, & I am disappointed. (the show was between 8-9am between Uhuru & Njogu Wa Njoroge). A couple of things stood out in this show. When he was asked to give his opinion on the CJ, AG, & DPP saga, part of his answer was that the President came up w...ith the list then 'agita kimudu giake' (he called his ki-person) and they consulted, then he took the names to parliament. He then said that 'kimudu giki na andu akio' decided to become a problem and claim they were never consulted. The 'kimudu' he is referrring to is the Prime Minister, who is effectively his boss. A caller who referred to himself as Masai reprimanded him, & his explanation was that he was angry, his words were 'temperature inapanda saa zingine'. (or who is he deputy to?). It reminded me of the time he referred to President Kibaki as the leader who practices a 'hands off, legs off, everything off' management system. When he was asked to give advise on politics, he said that he believes very strongly that Kikuyus must unite under one leader to enable them negotiate with other communities. He is of the opinion that Kikuyus must do what Luos, Luhyas (?/) & Kalenjins have done ... & that we only become vulnerable when we are divided. He spoke of those calling for internal democracy as being misguided, etc. It made me wonder why he was in Kanu in 2002, and in ODM in 2005. Which side were Kikuyus on during those two occassions? On the issue of the ICC, he explained about providing resources for blankets & transportation for victims, then he asked a couple of questions: what was he was supposed to do when people are being killed & hundreds of thousands displaced? what were police were expected to do in the circumstances? He then added that if what he did is what he is being told is wrong, he would do it again any way if circumstances re-occurred. Uhuru was in government at that time ... is he accepting that government was so unable to deal with this situation that they ended up relying on individual resources to sort out PEV victims? Incidentally, does anyone remember a day in Kikuyu Constituency where Uhuru climbed on top of a vehicle bonnet & told the people there to be peaceful, and that he had learnt that Ruto was not his ally, as he had always thought, & would never work with him again. Today they want to make the guy Prime Minister! I hope someone will take this utterances up with Mzalendo Kibunja & the NCIC. Even more importantly, this cannot be the kind of leadership that will lead Kenya after Kibaki. The kind of contempt shown in those two words ' kimudu kiu' indicate how Uhuru cannot do what Kibaki did in 2007, i.e. humble down & listen to someone he does not agree with, and build a relationship that literally goes against his personal interests, for the sake of Kenya. In fact, with utterances like this we do not need someone to mobilize other communities against Kikuyus .... as the masai caller said, 'hapo umekosea'. Someone who aspires for national leadership cannot get there by asking (especially in public!), for his tribe to practice Kikuyu Nationalism first, then negotiate with other tribes. I expect to get some serious beef from Uhuru's supporters for this, but we really must speak out. One also wonders whether this is meant to re-inflame tribal passions again, maybe to lead to some skirmishes as a sign that Kenya is still unstable and maybe justify why ICC should be deferred ... whatever the case, a warning is going out: if our leadership has not learnt anything from 2007, the rest of us have. We will not stand by and allow anyone to invoke/manipulate tribal emotions to serve personal interests. This time get another game-plan-preferably one that starts from the `principle that Kenya is made up of close to 40 million individuals, rather than 42+ tribes. As this generation of Kenyans, we will only accept to be led by someone who understands that tribal interests must take second tier significance to national interests. So, my message to Uhuru Kenyatta, as a Mugikuyu from Nyeri, I refuse to accept your advice on political strategy for people of Central: Infact, the latest news from NCIC is that that plan is illegal as they have stated that no-one will be allowed to mobilize on the basis of tribe in politics. So, please, 'cora ringi'. -- Ngunjiri Wambugu Convenor, KikuyusforChange