As Kenya carries on in Somalia, going after the men who constitute the leadership cadre of al Shabaab, members of the Cabinet are going after each other, trying to paint the other as the stumbling block to a successful campaign against the terror outfit. The Prime Minister has been in Israel this past week, meeting with the President and the Prime Minister of the Jewish State and obtaining assurances of assistance in homeland security. Meanwhile the Minister of State for Defence and his colleague in the Foreign Ministry, have been doing their best to shore up support for Kenya's mission in Somalia from the diverse Arab world, securing assurances from the Kingdoms of Saudi Arabia and Morocco among others. After the euphoria of the first few days of Kenya's incursion into Somalia, it is now becoming apparent that there does not seem to be coherent foreign policy or defense strategy with regards to Kenya's mission in Somalia bar the defeat of al Shabaab and its sympathisers, both in Somalia and Kenya.
Yusuf Haji and Moses Wetangula are not exactly Raila Odinga's biggest fans, but surely they must realise that regardless of their politics, all three have an interest in protecting and advancing the interests of Kenya. When the two of them go off the deep end regarding the Prime Minister's forays in Israel, they betray the fact that they are more interested in embarrassing the PM rather than securing any and all help that may help contain the fallout from the invasion of Somalia by Kenya's military forces. The PM is not blameless either; he should have co-ordinated his plans vis-a-vis Israel with the two ministers at the heart of Kenya's diplomatic charm offensive so that it seemed that the right hand knew what the left was doing. It seems he wanted to hog the limelight and that his discussions with the Government of Israel would shore up his foreign policy chops and show up those of his political detractors.
Four years is a long time to be sorting out the teething problems of the Grand Coalition and it is incidences like these that show that Kenyan politicians are incapable of seeing beyond their noses politically or strategically. Our invasion of Somalia is a watershed moment in our history. Kenya has managed, through thick and thin, to live in relative peace ad harmony with its neighbours, bar a few unfortunate incidents. Indeed, it has frequently acted as an honest broker, helping violent factions in Somalia and Sudan to come to terms with each other and agree to live in relative peace and harmony. Such was Kenya's reputation that its participation in UN peace-keeping missions has been the norm than the exception, conducting itself professionally and with dignity. But the violence of 2007 and 2008, the formation of the Grand Coalition and the invasion of Somalia have revealed that perhaps Kenya's, or Kenya's politcians', stellar reputation has feet of clay. The longer these people keep behaving they way they are, the more they reveal the depth, or lack thereof, of their intellect and patriotism.
The post-election violence failed to bring our politicians together for the greater common good. So has the invasion of Somalia. Perhaps it is time we asked ourselves whether we would be better off without any member of the Tenth Parliament being trusted to walk the hallowed halls of the National Assembly, Senate, County Assembly, Governor's residence or State House. Time and again they have been presented with chances to demonstrate that they appreciate the plight that the people of Kenya find themselves in and tie and again they have deeply disappointed. They came up with new rules to control the price of fuel against the advise of experts in the field; the result has been that the price of fuel has only gone even higher. They set up a Parliamentary committee to investigate the rising cost of living, but all it seems to have done is to pay the members of the committee hefty sitting allowances with nothing to show for all the money spent. Kenyans are now afraid that if they enact a law to control the price of essential commodities, it may end up raising rather than lowering the price of these goods. They say that it is madness to do the same thing over and over again and expect a different outcome. It is tine we said enough of the Tenth Parliament and sent them all home where they deserve to be. It is time that only their families suffered heir presence; Kenyans are tired of being taken for very expensive rides.
No comments:
Post a Comment