Wednesday, April 25, 2007
The hunt is not yet over
Why is ODM-Kenya sitting down to share the meat when the hunt is not yet over. The deer is still out in the bush and running yet they stop the hunt to share the imaginary spoils. They want first to agree on who will be the meat roaster, who will oversee the skinning , who will be the keeper of the bones, yet the game is not even caught. The fragile opposition is held together by the hope of each getting a big share of the spoil. When the day of reckoning comes and one of them is appointed to wield the knife, the fall out will begin.
All the rhetoric about unity and common purpose is just that, rhetoric, empty at that. Time is running out for whoever is given the mantle to face Kibaki to begin the long and arduous task of selling himself/herself and the policies he will pursue. Taking Kenyan voters for granted will prove disastrous. Kenyans are increasingly getting fed up with the dithering and teetering of the ODM leadership. Since they denied voters the right to pick on of them to lead the hunt, time has come for them to decide on who is to take the gauntlet and face Kibaki. Uncertainty and procrastination does not augur well for the opposition. Kenyans will get increasingly exhausted by this uncertainty and may become lethargic and disillusioned.
There are those that support ODM because of specific candidates as soon as the spoils are shared they will flutter away with their candidate. The earlier this happens the better for the fight for leadership. The energy expended in flamboyance and arrogance needs to be contained and channeled to the fight for democratic supremacy, something the opposition is faulted for by denying the voters the right to pick one of them. The Kenyan presidency is not a collegiate presidency. Only one person can be the president at any given time. This grouping of ODM aspirants needs to come up with one of theirs so that the public can be focused on the battle ahead. The notion that the unity can be maintained only if they agree to share the spoils is a selfish defeatist misnomer. These agreements or MOUs are not worth the air expended in uttering them not even if you solder them on cast iron. The country is guided by the constitution not MOUs and other pre-election power sharing deals. Who tells them they will be elected in their own constituencies anyway? This is fodder for inefficiency and arrogance in public service, when ministers owe their positions to boardroom deals rather than competence and experience. You cannot buy loyalty.
The opposition is at pains to show their solidarity, at a whiff of doubt of this they rush out as one to show they are together. Most observers can tell that the only unity is at those staged photo sessions. Every good hunter knows that the easiest way to catch game is to break the herd first. Kibaki is a hunter, he is waiting for the herd to break and one by one the game will be picked, poached, acquiesced, contained and bagged. Come elections day, most of these die hard oppositionists will be die hard Kibaki supporters. As Achebe would tell us, the man who holds the knife decides how the yam will be shared. Right now the knife is in Kibaki’s hand and it is likely to remain there unless the ODM decide who is going to lead the hunt rather than who is going to eat what part
Watch this space.
All the rhetoric about unity and common purpose is just that, rhetoric, empty at that. Time is running out for whoever is given the mantle to face Kibaki to begin the long and arduous task of selling himself/herself and the policies he will pursue. Taking Kenyan voters for granted will prove disastrous. Kenyans are increasingly getting fed up with the dithering and teetering of the ODM leadership. Since they denied voters the right to pick on of them to lead the hunt, time has come for them to decide on who is to take the gauntlet and face Kibaki. Uncertainty and procrastination does not augur well for the opposition. Kenyans will get increasingly exhausted by this uncertainty and may become lethargic and disillusioned.
There are those that support ODM because of specific candidates as soon as the spoils are shared they will flutter away with their candidate. The earlier this happens the better for the fight for leadership. The energy expended in flamboyance and arrogance needs to be contained and channeled to the fight for democratic supremacy, something the opposition is faulted for by denying the voters the right to pick one of them. The Kenyan presidency is not a collegiate presidency. Only one person can be the president at any given time. This grouping of ODM aspirants needs to come up with one of theirs so that the public can be focused on the battle ahead. The notion that the unity can be maintained only if they agree to share the spoils is a selfish defeatist misnomer. These agreements or MOUs are not worth the air expended in uttering them not even if you solder them on cast iron. The country is guided by the constitution not MOUs and other pre-election power sharing deals. Who tells them they will be elected in their own constituencies anyway? This is fodder for inefficiency and arrogance in public service, when ministers owe their positions to boardroom deals rather than competence and experience. You cannot buy loyalty.
The opposition is at pains to show their solidarity, at a whiff of doubt of this they rush out as one to show they are together. Most observers can tell that the only unity is at those staged photo sessions. Every good hunter knows that the easiest way to catch game is to break the herd first. Kibaki is a hunter, he is waiting for the herd to break and one by one the game will be picked, poached, acquiesced, contained and bagged. Come elections day, most of these die hard oppositionists will be die hard Kibaki supporters. As Achebe would tell us, the man who holds the knife decides how the yam will be shared. Right now the knife is in Kibaki’s hand and it is likely to remain there unless the ODM decide who is going to lead the hunt rather than who is going to eat what part
Watch this space.
