The imminent, apparently, downfall of Col Gaddafi should be a warning for the hyenas that pass for Kenyan presidential candidates. Most of them believe that at that level, they are the masters of their destinies. Nothing could be further from the truth. The history of African presidents and prime ministers is a history littered with revolutions, coups de tat, assassinations and other downfalls. If these men and women (woman?) believe that they will have a free hand to determine the political and economies direction of this nation, it is time someone whispered in their ears and disabused them of that idea.
Conservative talk radio in the USA has been busy lately, calling out President Obama for his dithering over the Libya mess. But what should be instructive for us is that while the USA claims it is no longer the world policeman, it is still operating a foreign policy that determines what is in the best interests of the nation at the expense of the self-determination of the rest. Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, going out on a limb, thinks that his opinion on the goings-on in Libya will have an effect, either domestically or internationally, on how he is perceived in terms of his ambitions. He mistakes his years as Foreign Minister as giving him unique insights into diplomacy. The truth is, Mr. Musyoka was NOT a diplomat; he was just the political face of Kenya's diplomacy. His fulminations regarding the bombardment of Gaddafi's troops do not serve him or our nation in the best light.
What we should be considering is why Kenya is in hock to western banks and governments, universities and militaries, multinational corporations and 'world' bodies. The effect since the advent of Kenyan independence has been to retard innovation and success. It is indisputable that Kenyans from all walks of life are intelligent and capable of making decisions regarding the destiny of this country without bowing down to the wisdom of the IMF or the World bank or the United nations. If we had politicians of goodwill, 2007/08 would not have been so bloody, if at all. If it had turned nasty, Kalonzo Musyoka and his band of pseudo-diplomats would not have spent a hundred million shillings on some fools errand to try the Ocampo Six at home; it would have been a matter of course to investigate the atrocities, try the perpetrators of the violence, and where possible, convict and sentence them in all fairness.
Now that ODM has joined the referral v deferral bandwagon, it is indisputable that the voice of the ordinary Kenya is to be ignored when it says inconvenient things. The Prime Minister, attempting to shore up his support in certain tribal enclaves, has 'permitted' his acolytes to raise the deferral/referral issue and to support the government in its endeavours to establish a 'local mechanism' for the Ocampo Six. Nowhere is it being suggested that the investigations into the causes and the perpetrators of the violence and mayhem will be full or complete or that the thousands upon thousands of youth who were paid to kill, rob, rape and plunder will ever see the inside of a court room.
Kenyans are fond of proclaiming their love of their fellowman, that they will do everything in their power to offer support and solace to those who suffered injustices at the height of the PEV, yet thousands upon thousands still languish in tented camps, living in squalor and abject dejection. It is only fair that those who were chased from their farms or homes be protected when they do return; the Constitution, after all, protects the individual's right to own property anywhere in Kenya. Arguments that individuals have an 'ancestral' or 'traditional' home to go back to admit that we are yet to see justice in quite the same light as the victims of 2007/08.
It is in this background that the interference of the west is to be seen for the hypocrisy that it is. The USA and its acolytes does not want Kenya, or Africa, to be truly free. If we were, then we would not buy their cars or their computers or their guns. An America president once proclaimed that the business of America is business, while another warned about the influence of the military-industrial complex. Look at the wars that keep on erupting in Africa and you will see that American and European big business and their guns and bombs are everywhere. Until we unshackle ourselves from the western-oriented slavery that restrains us, it really doesn't matter whether Tinga or Wiper or the Iron Lady or 'UK' are in charge, they'll still take their cues from Obama or his successors.
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