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Miguna Miguna Says - 15th July 2012

by simon

Posted on Sunday, July 15, 2012 01:55 PM

Next book to be launched early December (WHY KENYANS ARE BITTER WITH RAILA)..

Why I Know Raila Will Never Be President of Anywhere

· Our only beacon of hope, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, had not only failed to clinch the presidency, but had miserably performed disastrously, in 1992. Outgunned and outpaced, Jaramogi was beaten to a poor fourth behind Daniel arap Moi, Kenneth Matiba and Mwai Kibaki respectively. The Luo voted to a man. We had learnt our lessons and in 1997, the excitement was measured. Come 2002, we were happy, we had avenged Jaramogi Oginga Odingas defeat by voting a winning candidate; but then again, the euphoria outplayed a prank on us, we were blind, so much that we forgot His Excellency The President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of The Republic of Kenya, Hon. E. Mwai Kibaki wasnt a Luo, nay, he wasnt an Oginga, he was not one of us

· Come 2007, Raila Odinga lucratively rallied the support of the populous Rift Valley Province and was faring well in opinion polls against the incumbent Mwai Kibaki. We were sure to win; areas that had hitherto not voted with the Luos had shown they were willing to do business. Nothing could stop our grand march to State House. Then something went wrong, very wrong, mathematics laws were somewhat defied by the then ECK (Electoral Commission of Kenya). For instance, in Nithi, the announced poll results exceeded the registered number of voters; the numbers just failed to add up, Mwai Kibaki won. Raila couldnt believe it, and refused to accept defeat, refused to go to court, setting the country aflame! The rest is history

·Yet again, Raila is making a stab at the presidency, and we Luos are being rallied to vote in, one of our own. Anybody of a contrary opinion or dares oppose our tribes candidate is a traitor. This is our time, our hope and our dream; our only chance to throw out the yoke of poverty and start the march to prosperity and opulence. We are also told, that the march will not commence until and unless we win the presidency, and we shall only commence this march upon Raila Odinga, and not Onyango Oloo, not Raphael Tuju nor James Orengo, nor Othis nor Othat winning the presidency. Any other win is fake and not truly Luo. Or so we are told

· Until recently, it was noticeable that nothing was stopping Agwambo from winning the coveted trophy. After all, two of the leading presidential candidates Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto had been enmeshed, heavily chained by the International Criminal Court (ICC) development. Their fate was apparently sealed. Kalonzo Musyoka was considered weak against Railas campaign juggernaut, water melon. But then, yet again, something went wrong, very wrong! The ICC watered down our (Luo) sky-scraping ambitions, by confirming that nothing, not even the confirmation of the charges against the two would bar them from the contest! Coupled with Railas steady collapse in opinion polls, the numbers may just refuse to add up yet again as they did in 2007 and 1992, but this time round, indisputably and obvious, within mathematical laws. It is thus my opinion, which I know is right and I wouldnt care to be punished by the family for being right to tell my community that we have to awaken to reality, it is now time and imperative that we Luos start thinking and voting like the rest of Kenyans. Not by tribal enclaves. Arent we seeing Maasais, Luhyas, Kalenjins, Kikuyus, Kambas and the Swahili combining forces in various forums and platforms, business, political or otherwise, just to mention a few of the 42 ethnicities of Kenya. We couldnt be more myopic than to imagine we Luos voting for a Luo as a president for the simple reason of being a Luo; we couldnt be more tribal than others to hate 2007 presidential aspirant Madam Nazlin for being a non-Luo, or Eugene Wamalwa and Musalia Mudavadi for being Luhya, ole Kiyiapi for being Maasai, Ruto for being Kalenjin, Peter Kenneth, Martha Karua and Uhuru Kenyatta for being Kikuyus, Kalonzo Musyoka for being a Kamba and Kamlesh Pattni for being a Hindu. Consider this, other Kenyan communities are already strategically placed should Raila, Uhuru, Ruto or Kalonzo win. A case in point is Kikuyus carpooling with us; For the Kikuyu, the likes of Peter Kuguru, Mark Mwithaga, Wambugu Ngunjiri, Charles Njonjo, Joe Wanjui, Royal Medias Samuel K. Macharia, and Stanley Githunguri are pitching in Railas camp. No one has exclusivity, save for messianic descent, to save any community from its economic and social afflictions. Didnt someone say that freewill is for all but freedom is for they that deserve it? Let it be known that even though the Kikuyus and the Kisiis may be said to be affluent, many of them are still shackled in dire paucity, and though we Luos may be termed as poor, some of us are incredibly wealthy, point is, a Luo president wont sort us out, not every rich Kikuyu has shaken hands with Mzee Jomo Kenyatta or His Excellency the President and Commander in Chief of the Republic of Kenya, meaning that whether you will live in poverty or wealth is usually a question of individual efforts. Let no one associate our poverty and misery with Luo inability to win the presidency. If that be the case, are the Luhya, the Meru, Kisii, Maasai, or Swahili, faring worse, just because they have not held the presidency? And can somebody explain the whereabouts of the famed half loaf of 2008! By that I mean, why then would we be having poor Luos living in slums and shanties, and others squirming in hunger and lack in our rural Luo Nyanza when we have our very own exceedingly wealthy father as the Prime Minister? Nothing could be as odious and egregious as taking advantage of your own kinsmens ignorance after they sacrificed a lot to take you to school to get educated and voted for you to represent them; it is akin to predating on your own family. Whats in it for me or, for you as a person, if he becomes the president? How has he helped you as a Luo, now that he has been in the government and powerful for 10 years, since 2002? What reforms will he invent overnight that he hasnt for 10 years in the government? Nothing to add! Everything is in black and white

· In 1992, the Kikuyu had both Matiba and Kibaki. In 2002 they had Kibaki and Uhuru and come next year they already have not less than five candidates from different parties. The rest of the country has several candidates. They are at peace and very amicable with their campaigns, except us, Luo land, where hooligans break up meet-the-people tours with our trademark missiles-style (stone throwing, or could someone correct me if it was in a dream or real I watched in dismay, shame and embarrassment as our youths pelted our brother and son Raphael Tujus political rally for the only crime of not being born in the right family)? I say, lest we develop selective amnesia, Luo Nyanza has slightly over one million ( approx1.2million)votes against GEMAs estimated voting strength of 4.5 million votes, the Kalenjin and Kamba had slightly over a million votes each, the Kisii about 600,000, and Luhyas above 1.4 million among others. Kikuyus have an idiosyncrasy of their youths taking polls lightly, and a majority completely shunning elections and not even registering as voters, unlike us Luos who vote seriously, enmasse, sick or healthy, rich or poor, young or old. It is statistically and so factually feared that if the over18years pure Kikuyu youths alone were tribal to register and vote en bloc, their vote count would tally to 12 million votes (excluding the Mbeere, Embu, and Meru youths who also dont vote seriously) A Raila presidency could as well be a pipe dream This added to the fact that the Constitution requires 50% plus one vote to clinch the presidency in the first round, failure to which the best two would compete in a simple majority basis. And what if Raila does not hack it then? It is high time we Luos integrate politically with the rest of Kenya before its too late and implosion catches up with us. We are educated and we jolly well know our Kenyan map, Luo Nyanza is an iota, if we may choose to argue for presidency as our rightful portion as Luos. Kenya is much bigger than any single ethnicity be it Kikuyus, Maasais, kalenjins or we Luos. In other words, must a Raila, Uhuru or Ruto presidency have the Luos as senior members of their administration? That nobody will employ you in a company or appoint you to high political office if you do not support their political cause is a fallacy. We Luos are stacked with Agwambo. What if he fails as he has done before? We should hedge our bets and allow some of us Luos to walk with Uhuru, others with Ruto, others Kalonzo, as the rest of Kenyans are, without disclaiming ostracizing or victimizing them? Let all men be in the know. We have to work hard to reach out to other communities and integrate with the rest of Kenyans before its too late for Mzalendo Kibunja to help us out of ignominy, long after we got outcast as pariah

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