Hypocrites and the cabinet

At last President Kibaki has filled the vacant seats in his cabinet by reappointing Saitoti and Kiraitu. His court of poets is applauding while ODM sympathizers are groaning. Some are calling it musical chairs. Why are we pretending to be surprised?

Kibaki is not the first and will not be the last to reaffirm his commitment to maintain the status quo. Before him there was Moi and after him will be ODM. Stop shifting on your chair uncomfortably because I am putting ODM “reformers” in the same group as Moi and Kibaki.

Some hypocrites have crawled out of their caves and others have cut short their campaign of brand Kenya a drug peddler to address Saitoti’s reappointment. Leading this park is none other than the chief hypocrite and demagogue of demagogues Raila Odinga.

While speaking on Saitoti’s appointment demagogue Raila said: “We know for sure that Saitoti’s case was carried out speedily to give him a clean name. The Government had other purposes why they sought to have Saitoti cleared.”

People who were brain-dead before yesterday will be quick to take Raila’s word as the truth because in the past he has been saying things that came out true. People with working brains will see hypocrisy in his words.

After the 1997 elections, Saitoti was dropped as VP a post that was left vacant for a long time till one day Moi and gave us Saitoti while at the same time challenging us to see if it will add ugali to our sufuria. That statement did not go down well with Raila who had been promised the seat by Moi for joining Kanu.

Raila reached in the Goldenberg closet and pulled the Goldenberg bones. Raila -through Kajwang- brought a motion to push for a vote of no confidence on Saitoti over the Goldenberg. The motion did not go as planned and Raila ate his humble pie.

It was Raila who -again- used Kajwang' to institute a private criminal case against Saitoti. The case did not go through.
http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/230699/News/News13.html
http://www.nationaudio.com/News/EastAfrican/070799/Regional/Regional45.html

But interesting enough, it was Raila who came to Saitoti’s defense (when Saitoti joined Rainbow) saying Saitoti was a sacrificial lamb. He said Saitoti was an innocent man who fell victim to Moi's devious plans. Raila went on to blame Mudavadi for the fleecing.
http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/17112002/News/mainNews18.html
http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/26122002/News/News2612200253.html

But Raila and Saitoti’s love/hate relationship did not last long. Saitoti became a criminal again as soon as he turned down Raila’s offer to join ODM demagogues. Raila started preaching of how clean Mudavadi is and why Saitoti should be blamed for Goldenberg.

The demagogues are claiming that the president violated the constitution by appointing Kanu MPs to the cabinet. This is laughable! Why? When Moi appointed these demagogues to his cabinet, they never complained. They justified it saying that Kanu and NDP were coming together to give Kenya a new start. The demagogues were escorted to Kisumu in government choppers and given treatment that befits a president.

An NDP activist, Mr John Omuse, said: “I am happy because what has happened to Mr Odinga is unbelievable. I couldn't expect a man who has been fighting the government for so many years to be appointed a minister, complete with bodyguards and a government car.” http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/17062001/News/News32.html

Some people were overboard saying their son had come home like a president. "Today our son has come home as a hero, he is a resilient boy and you can see how the police are struggling to clear the way for him. Today he came home just like a President, we shall pray for him,'' one Mzee said.

http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/18062001/News/News35.html
MP Joshua Ojode went as far a saying: "What do you want? Must you be told verbally the man to succeed Moi when the Head of State is already exposing an individual to Libya, South Africa, Rwanda and other countries abroad? … Read the signs of the times, dalili ya mvua ni mawingu (clouds are a sign of rains)."
http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/19032001/News/News41.html

As far as I know, we are using the same constitution that was in place when our sons were touring the country and abroad with their newly acquired cabinet positions. What has changed since then?

Today as we mourn the re-appointment of Saitoti, let us remember that ODM is full of Saitotis. If I started to count them it may take 10 pages. Today we are comfortably turning a blind eye on that as we place the Rutos and Mudavadis on a pedestal and we kneel down before them in adoration. The only reason is that they are helping our messiah kick Kibaki out. But have you ever sobered from this euphoria induced drunkenness and imagined what the next cabinet will look like –assuming ODM forms the next administration?

As we seek to remove Kibaki’s speck, we need to get rid of the logs in our eyes