Monday, October 30, 2017

USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: RAILA ODINGA AND THE STRUGGLE FOR KENYA

Kenya


Listen to all of it,  the interview on CNN with  Becky Anderson and see who is talking to  Becky Anderson  and what he imagines is an ignorant outside world which doesn't have a clue about what's going on :


"Raila Odinga who has a track record of violence from 1982 to date and he has now transformed his political outfit into a political militia , instead of in his sunset years  ascending  to the levels  of Nelson Mandela who are democratic icons, , he has descended into the abyss of the likes of Joseph Kony who are basically guerillas and people who use violence as a means to get their political ends "


It's none other than Kenya's vice-president Ruto talking, Ruto who just a while ago was wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity


Ruto


Raila Odinga is not the one that was wanted by the ICC …


They now want to offer him the kind of retírement terms that they believe will be too good to resist or to turn down...



On Monday, 30 October 2017 22:49:06 UTC+1, Cornelius Hamelberg wrote:

NRM's Under 4 Million Voter Turn-Out vs Chebukati's Dubious 48% Figure

Ngatia's Message to Imperialism; Uhuru Fighting a Losing Battle



On Monday, 30 October 2017 21:26:50 UTC+1, maloba wrote:

 

 

RAILA ODINGA AND THE STRUGGLE FOR KENYA

 

This Election

 

By any measure, this may be Kenya's most consequential election since 1963. The most notable development in this election is the steadfast coalition that Raila has managed to weave together. This is a coalition of the forgotten, the poor, the unemployed, the marginalized, the excluded, the aggrieved, those who have been routinely locked out of the house.

 

Raila Odinga's contributions toward post-Jomo Kenyatta democratization efforts in the country are many and beyond dispute. He stands at the center of these gallant efforts aimed at building a tolerant, inclusive, and democratic society. No one can doubt his courage to defy and resist autocracy so that the Kenyan society could open up. In his political career, we see persistence of effort to question, to criticize, to suggest, to lead and to endure. At the moment, he is the most dominant political personality in Kenya.

 

At the Start

 

Raila's aim is to dislodge the colonially imposed formula of 'tribal politics.' Up to now, Kenya has been ruled according to the formula established by Malcolm MacDonald, Kenya's last colonial governor. In the interest of British imperialism , this formula recommended, then implemented, the domination of post-colonial Kenya by the conservative and rich elements in Kikuyuland. The inevitable consequence of this horrendous policy was that it gave rise to ethnic antagonism, suspicion, hatred, and simmering tensions. But it also gave rise to a feeling of entitlement by the conservative and rich elements in Kikuyuland, who have felt over the years that they constitute Kenya's permanent ruling class. Naturally, any thought of losing this power is equated with drinking poison.

 

The MacDonald formula put in place an internal unrelenting class tyranny within Kikuyuland. Class analysis was forbidden, sometimes this was forcibly enforced. Progressive inter-ethnic political coalitions were forbidden. Internal oppression and exploitation within Kikuyuland, and now increasingly in Kalenjinland, is an open secret; a sensitive open secret. To be a good Kikuyu, one has to conform, to support the elite. One has to repeatedly accede to the dictates of the elite and be ready to charge into the 'enemy' as defined by the rich and conservative ruling class.

 

Why so much Hatred toward Raila?

 

The unrelenting hatred toward Raila from the corridors of power within the Jubilee Party, is not because he is an 'outsider,' not because he is a Luo, and the son of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. These factors could be true. But the hatred is fueled by more than this. It lies in the fact that Raila is building a national coalition that is quite capable of dislodging the old ruling elite from power. It is power, and the benefits of power that has, and will continue, to fuel this animosity. The economic wealth of this ruling elite is the product of political domination, and by extension, domination in all machineries of government and commerce. This wealth is largely the result of corruption and abuse of power, including hobbling the legal system.

 

Dislodged from power, it is going to be very difficult for this established ruling elite to continue to steal and benefit from corruption on scales of the past. This ruling elite will be unable to 'sell' Kenya and accumulate fabled wealth, which they claim is the result of hard work and industriousness. All these direct and indirect benefits will be cut off without access to unchecked power. Raila's program is in reality, a coalition of all those who have suffered at the hands of the arrogance, petty vindictiveness, tyranny and misrule of this old ruling elite. There is an aching worry within this class of what will happen to its members once these previously excluded peoples, classes and communities, ascent to the summit. What will they do? And how about old secrets, the dirty and potentially criminal deals of the distant and recent past? Who will hold down the lid on unspeakable secrets and crimes? Will awkward questions be asked? In the past, political power has routinely shielded this old ruling class from scrutiny. They have never been held accountable for their misdeeds.

 

What also makes Raila a direct and pointed threat to the powerful and rich in Jubilee Party, is the realization on their part that, if indeed he wrestles power from them, this power might never come back to them at all. He will have completely changed the path to power in the country. It is most unlikely that this power can ever come back to the conservative ruling elite that has dominated Kenya since 1963. A systematic exposure of their crimes, with no political power to intervene on their behalf, will sharpen national resentment toward them. Locally, the Kikuyu peasants, the poor, the squatters, the dispossessed, log oppressed and exploited will, in growing numbers, rise up and abandon the suffocating embrace of 'tribal unity,' from which they have benefited little in all this time. Raila represents the urgent and pressing need to confront and then address well known historical injustices and grievances. He also, represents a golden opportunity to embark on the collective redefinition of Kenya.

 

Uhuru Kenyatta and Jubilee

 

By whipping into motion the emotive power of 'tribal politics,' however modified and camouflaged, Uhuru's grouping of necessity looks at other communities as 'homicidal enemies' that must be dominated and subdued.

 

We make a big mistake in imagining that Uhuru has any credible program for the development and cohesion of Kenya. His definition of progress, as has been evident during his reign, is maintenance of the status quo. In other words, for Uhuru the future is represented in the past. And this past as we all know, was divisive, oppressive, exploitative, exclusionary and discriminatory. What we have here is a spirited attempt to endlessly reproduce the past with all of its 'sins,' contradictions, tendencies, and crimes. Jubilee Party fervently seeks power in order to protect past benefits and advantages. And now armed with immense economic resources gained from inherited advantages, Uhuru's grouping does not have any crucial or new idea toward re-constituting Kenya as a free and  democratic society with accountable leaders. Indeed, what is Uhuru's definition of Kenya?

 

In the drama unfolding in the country at the moment, one notices with dismay, the arrogance of power and wealth. An arrogance born of habitual disregard for any constraints to personal conduct. The mixture of wealth and power has given rise to a disturbing sense of entitlement.

 

The Poison of 'tribal domination.'

 

The program of 'tribal domination,' is, as expected, silent on its long-term implications for the enterprise of nation building. There is loud silence on how 'tribal domination' provides a credible framework for national cohesion and development. 'Tribal domination' can work for a short period. But after a few tortured years, it becomes toxic. That is where we find ourselves now in Kenya. It is impossible to sustain this dead-end program without resorting to continual bloodshed, divisiveness and heavy-handed oppression. 'Tribal domination,' is, in essence, a conspiracy against the building of a democratic society seeking social justice and human dignity for all. It is self-evident that the quest for 'tribal domination,' works counter to all efforts aimed at molding our youth to be honorable, tolerant, inclusive, open minded and generous, with a love for Kenya and all Kenyans.

 

-- 

W. O. Maloba

Chair

Department of Africana Studies

Professor of History and Africana Studies

University of Delaware

302-831-2897 phone

302-831-6063 fax

 

 

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