Can they be trusted with high office?

Principles have been tossed through the window and insults dominate political talk in nation desperate for solutions.

By Joe Kiarie

Principles have been tossed through the window and insults dominate political talk in nation desperate for solutions

As President Kibaki prepares to exit State House, the race to succeed him is once again helping illustrate the true colours of Kenyan politics.

With the March 4, General Election fast approaching, the citizenry is being treated to all sorts of antics as doublespeak reigns supreme. Politicians have been blowing hot and cold without warning, with torrents of slurs aimed at rivals instantly transforming into hugs of comradeship as they enter into political pacts with the same politicians soon after, and vice versa.

They have been divorcing, shifting alliances and denying the obvious in the most casual of ways and later justifying their actions without blinking an eye.

Oddly enough, some of the politicians are known to vacillate on sensitive national security matters or other Government policy issues as they seek to please different constituencies.

This unique trend among Kenyan politicians is not new, but it is during the pre-election time when the mastery of double speak is taken a notch higher. Ofcourse, the hidden agenda is obvious: winning votes and support, no matter what it takes.

Top of list

The art is perfected by most politicians irrespective of the seniority in Government. Those who top the list of Roll of Honours in the Masters of Doublespeak include Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta,  Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, Water Minister Charity Ngilu and Justice minister Eugene Wamalwa. And the list is long.

Raila perfected the art when he addressed the issue of the outlawed Mombasa Republican Council. In one meeting he would castigate the group while in another he would say they speak his language yet the Government’s policy is that it does not negotiate with an outlawed criminal gang.

Security issues

“Instead of giving a deaf ear to the group we should be ready to hear their grievances. Whether it is because of the historical injustices or other issues, I am ready to listen to them,” Raila said of the criminal group in February last year while opening and ODM office in Kwale County.

He later changed tune during a leadership forum at the Coast hosted by the Tourism minister saying the Government could not negotiate with MRC.

“In the instance where we have a new Constitution to address historical injustices, lets us dialogue. But we cannot sit down and dialogue with a group that is saying that they are not Kenyans. We cannot negotiate with someone who is saying Pwani si Kenya. Then how do we talk? You are not Kenyan. We cannot be talking to a Tanzanians about Kenyan issues,” he said.

In April, speaking in the wake of the Mtwapa and Tononoka blasts, Raila appeared to change tune calling MRC members cowards who want to run away from problems. “If you are not Kenyans, then who are you? Only cowards!” said Raila. “They have been overwhelmed by problems and want to run away from them.”

In May, he changed tune saying although he was opposed to MRC’s separatist slogan Pwani Si Kenya (Coast is independent from Kenya) he now believed the slogan was an extreme way of pointing out genuine historical issues including marginalisation and land injustices.

Language of liberation

“These youth called the Mombasa Republican Council are talking Raila’s language, the language of liberation. They have seen oppression by the traitors who took over independence and imposed a rule of quislings,” said he. In September last year, Raila announced he would appoint a taskforce that would include all residents including MRC saying the next Government should not carry the baggage of unresolved issues countrywide.

On the political side, the storm that blew within the Jubilee Alliance a few weeks ago best exemplifies how unpredictability is becoming the most predictable trait in the political arena.

Having joined the alliance in a last-minute deal on December 4, United Democratic Forum (UDF) party leader Mr Mudavadi apparently signed an agreement that would see The National Alliance (TNA) leader Uhuru Kenyatta withdraw his presidential candidature in his favour.

But after TNA delegates and MPs rejected the pact, Uhuru, although admitting having authored and signed the agreement, disowned it in the most barefaced ways, blaming dark forces for shepherding him into the pact.

“Sunday tukiwa Afraha si mulituona? Lakini sasa hapo katikati, na ndio vizuri tuambiane ukweli, shetani ambaye hata hajui kazi hiyo tumeanzisha wapi anakuja na kusema sasa nyinyi mkiendelea hivyo mmetangaza, mnanajua wazungu hawatatupea pesa, sijui wazungu hawatanunua chai yetu... (You saw us at Afraha (Stadium) on Sunday? But later on, let the truth be told, the devil who does not even know where we started our mission came saying that if we proceeded as planned, the West will not give us money nor buy our tea...),” Uhuru stated as he explained to delegates how he had voluntarily agreed to sacrifice his own presidential bid.

But before Kenyans could figure out the sudden unrest troubling the Jubilee Alliance, and with Uhuru’s sudden change of heart, Mudavadi parted ways with the coalition after a marriage that lasted just 16 days. The duo that had earlier showered the UDF leader with praises had no more good words for the union. “Sasa shetani ameshindwa kabisa! (Now the devil has been fully defeated),” Uhuru declared as he announced the divorce alongside URP party leader William Ruto.

Water minister Charity Ngilu has also been resolute in her transformation from Mama Rainbow to ‘Mama Doublespeak’. She has in the current race remained true to type. Shortly after launching her presidential bid and vowing to go all the way, the Narc chairperson soon afterwards joined Uhuru and William Ruto in the TNA/URP Alliance.

But after a brief flirtation, she hopped onto the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) bandwagon, catching almost everyone by surprise as she made a grand entry into the ODM/Wiper/Ford Kenya coalition signing ceremony at the KICC on December 4.

In yet another swift u-turn, Ms Ngilu, bitter that she had been duped into signing a deceptive coalition document, bolted back and reopened negotiations with the URP/TNA/UDF coalition after just three days.

While Ngilu may be the queen of doublespeak, her next-door-neighbour, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka may claim the title of master of doublespeak. The VP has effortlessly earned nicknames such as “water melon” and “kigeugeu” for his contradictions.

On December 1, Kalonzo characteristically poured cold water on a reported deal between his Wiper Democratic Party and Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s ODM party, in which he was said to have agreed to be Odinga’s running mate.

“I have returned to the country to get a major surprise attributed to my party NEC meeting that I have accepted to be somebody’s running mate. There is nothing like that. I will be naming my own running mate before January 4,” he said at Nakuru’s Afraha Stadium.

Accusing the media of forcing coalitions, Kalonzo was adamant that having served as Kenya’s vice president, he was not willing to play second fiddle anymore.

But barely two days later, he personally confirmed he was indeed going to join Raila as a running mate. “After we sign the agreement tomorrow, Kenyans will then know who true reformers are in this country,” Musyoka said on December 3, a day before their alliance was unveiled.

Unsavoury words

Raila and Kalonzo have since the formation of the Coalition Government in 2008 crossed paths on many occasions, hurling unsavoury words at each other at the slightest provocation. On November 19, just two weeks to the unity pact, Kalonzo had for the umpteenth time asked Raila to retire from politics alongside President Kibaki, saying this was the only way Kenyans would have a chance to elect a new crop of leaders focused on taking the country to the next level of development.

“He should consider taking a break from politics and let young and determined leaders take over from where they have left,” the VP said during a rally at Nabongo grounds in Mumias Town, noting that the PM’s post does not exist under the current Constitution.

The two have abruptly buried the hatchet for a common goal, with Kalonzo now branding Raila a reformer and using a Cord meeting at Uhuru Park to not just say “Raila tosha” but also explain their now conquered antagonism in the most spiritual of ways.

“I thank God because he found it right that I part ways with honourable Raila but we are now back together,” he said, urging Mudavadi to follow suit and reunite with the PM.

Raila has recently further showcased his doublespeak artistry in his dealings with Ruto. After failing in his dogged mission to win over the Eldoret North MP to become his running mate in October, the PM had a sudden change of heart, cautioning Ruto and Uhuru that not even winning the presidency would save them from their impending trial at The Hague.

Another star actor in the world of doublespeak has been Justice minister Eugene Wamalwa. As a founder member of the G7 Alliance, the Saboti MP had in past months appeared so pivotal to the alliance’s future that it came as no surprise when he was awarded the influential Justice portfolio. He later became a conspicuous part of Uhuru’s courtesy calls to regional heads of states to build support for presidential aspirants facing trial at The Hague. The young politician was even rumoured to be the preferred choice as Uhuru’s running mate.

“Mimi dini yangu ya kikristo ni mkatoliki halisi na dini yangu ya kisiasa ni G7. Nataka niwaambie kwamba nitaendelea kuwa mkatoliki na pia nitaendelea kuwa member wa G7 na kila mkutano wa G7 nitakuwa na Uhuru na Ruto. (I am a Christian Catholic by religion while G7 is my political religion. I will continue being a Catholic and will continue to be a G7 member and accompany Uhuru and Ruto in every G7 meeting,” he said in a rally in November.

Political lightweight

But as fate would have it, Wamalwa pulled out of the G7 Alliance in late November and was effectively locked out of the Jubilee Alliance. Despite affirming that he is no longer a political lightweight, and that he would have his name on the ballot paper as a presidential candidate, his actions have stated otherwise as he has courted three coalitions in under a month.

After quitting G7, he joined the Pambazuka Coalition on December 4 and did not hesitate to declare his mission. “I have no intentions of being a running mate to any presidential candidate whatsoever. I am the presidential candidate of Pambazuka Coalition and I will run all the way to the end,” the minister said on December 11. But this was easier said than done. Wamalwa joined Peter Kenneth and Raphael Tuju in the Eagle Coalition. Days later, he had jumped ship and joined Musalia Mudavadi’s Amani Alliance.

While leaders such as Musyoka, Ngilu, Wamalwa and Uhuru have steered the doublespeak bandwagon in November and December, it was Kilgoris MP Gideon Konchellah who carried the day in October.

While serving as the Party of National Unity (PNU) chairman, Konchellah led his party into a pre-election coalition agreement with TNA at the party’s headquarters on October 11. After a photo session with Uhuru and officials of the two parties, Konchellah drove straight to the URP headquarters where he defected to the Kusema na Kutenda party with Ruto at hand to receive him.