What is Your Opinion on this article by R Chutha?
By Robert Chutha
( EA Standard 12/06/08)
Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s admission that he had accepted a proposal by Mr Charles Njonjo, Mr Peterson Kuguru and Mr Joseph Kamaru that he be vested an elder of the Kikuyu community on July 24 ought not to pass without serious scrutiny — and some good advice to the PM.
The PM, responding to what Njonjo, Kuguru and Kamaru couched as a “briefing” on plans, now at an advanced stage, to ennoble him the Kikuyu way, spoke of the ceremony as “a symbolic gesture to reconcile him with a community that voted heavily against him”. The three were lunching at Nairobi’s Ranalo restaurant (Kosewe).
Just who advises the PM on matters to do with the Kikuyu and the extended Mt Kenya communities? Time after time, Raila makes utterances and takes actions (such as his highly ill-advised 2002 tour of Mathira constituency in Nyeri District at the height of his ill-fated co-operation deal with the then ruling party Kanu, on which he was accorded near-presidential security) that serve neither the region’s interests nor his own.
Odd company
The company Raila is keeping with regard to central Kenya is a motley crew indeed. With friends like these, he needs no enemies among the ‘people of the mountain’.
Njonjo, 88, has been 25 years out of political office and the power brokerage game. In the 1970s, when Nyanza was ravaged by cholera outbreaks the then Attorney-General and presidential adviser reportedly declared in public that he would not shake hands with any Luo for fear of contracting kipindupindu.
In the preceding decade, Njonjo moved mountains, including helping Jomo Kenyatta and his circle to amend the Independence Constitution, to thwart Raila’s father Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.
Njonjo’s ostentatious forays to Ranalo’s for Luo cuisine, accompanied by media cameras, seem a grotesque atonement, towards the end of his eccentric life, for his actions against Odinga and his decades-long scornful attitude towards the Luo. But, so what?
Kuguru, like Njonjo, is neither a certified Kikuyu elder nor did he bother to invest in the community by way of marriage, marrying instead in South Korea (Njonjo is married to a Kenyan of British heritage).
Njonjo and Kuguru could well be fronting for a larger group of Central Kenya eccentrics. The numbers do not matter. What matters is the damage the crackpot investiture that they have lined up for the Prime Minister is likely to do to Luo-Kikuyu relations already fraught with the baggage of both recent and older conflicts and cross-purposes.
Suffice it to say about Kuguru that he is the same operative who at the launch of the Mega Initiative a couple of years ago heartily recommended the setting up of a Sharia-compliant bank in the Mt Kenya region — the so-called Mega Bank. Kuguru’s insensitivity towards his own people’s feelings, attitudes and basic beliefs was nowhere more clearly demonstrated than in the Mega Bank concept, which, like all his attempts at the Mathira Constituency seat, promptly fell flat on its face.
(Mega Initiative Welfare Society officials have since ‘disowned’ Kuguru for running for political office, which is against the society’s constitition, and say the Mega Bank plan has been shelved in favour of a microfinance institution.)
For decades, musician Kamaru fed the central Kenya communities with lyrics that disparaged the Luo, reaching a climax in the period just before, during and after the Tom Mboya assassination.
It was not until 1975, when JM Kariuki, the only prominent Kikuyu politician who dared travel to Rusinga Island and lay a wreath on Mboya’s tomb, was also assassinated, that Kamaru stopped being a dyed-in-the-wool ethnic chauvinist.
Why Kamaru is joining in the scheme to make Raila an ‘elder’ of the Kikuyu community remains a great mystery.
What Njonjo, Kuguru and Kamaru should know is that it is no crime to vote heavily against Raila Odinga. The reverse is also true — we are perfectly free to vote in droves for Raila if we ever so wish to do.
The voters of Central and Eastern Kenya, the People of the Mountain, have no apologies whatsoever for their electoral preferences and practices.
Appeasement
What’s more, they have not sent Njonjo, Kuguru, Kamaru, or any other “community emissaries” on any mission of appeasement to Raila. Nor has the PM asked to be appeased. Or has he?
Why does Raila want to wear monkey skins in the heart of Mt Kenya country at the apparent behest of a bunch of eccentrics, some of whom have caused great harm to both the nation and the two communities, and probably against the wishes of — or to the indifference of — the majority of Kikuyu?
Where is the Kikuyu politician who cuts a national profile who is also a Luo elder? And what would happen in Raila’s circle and large following if former Minister Raphael Tuju, from Luo Nyanza, were to organize the ennobling as a Luo elder of Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, from Eastern Province, in a ceremony to be conducted somewhere in Bondo?
Beware the company you keep in Mt Kenya region, Prime Minister. And think very carefully indeed of being seen to be foisted upon an entire people by fringe operatives.
The logical conclusion of the coronation planned by Njonjo-Kuguru-Kamaru in Nyeri Town on July 24 is a state of affairs whereby the Premier can be made an elder of all 42 tribes, wapende wasipende, but where no other national leader can hope to be invited to become a Luo elder without Raila Amolo Odinga’s say-so.
The writer is a Nairobi-based social science researcher
June 19th, 2008 at 7:17 am
Just imagin that trio. But Chutha forgot to add one Tony Gachoka whose bootlicking of the PM has earned him a job. Now imagine Gachoka working for for government with his careless tongue…Psss….Do you know it is Gachoka who circulated the sms asking ODM supporters to boycott business owned by Kikuyus. I will not say much…But I think it is in order to let the Gachoka, and njonjo types to know that we know them and what they are upto.
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:44 pm
The ideal of Raila going to central is good in spirit of national recociliation
June 27th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
The idea of Hon Raila coming to Mt Kenya region is so emotional because is one thing that kikuyus would want to happen but have’nt come to terms with the fact that it’s happening.
In my opinion, we the kikuyus need to appreciate that Hon Raila is the Prime Minister of the republic of Kenya, whether we like it or not. We need to embrace other leaders, from other communities. Kenya is not just made of kikuyus.
The reason why this event should continue is the fact that reconcilliation needs to be given a chance. Not that we are apologing to anyone for being kikuyus, but because we are mature enough to understand that other kenyans also have a right, just as we.
We need to grow up from the nag over of post independence relationship between Kenyatta and Jaramogi. Our older fathers are the ones who have brought this wedge between kikuyus and luos and we, the younger generations have an obligation to transcend this.
Kenya is moving on, kenyans are moving on and we do not have to be left behind.It’s your time as a kikuyu to choose to live in the past, in the past way of doing things or to embrace the future and move ahead with the rest of kenyans
June 30th, 2008 at 1:40 am
Chutha could not have put it better! If kikuyus are not ready for the coronation, they simply are not and nobody should push it down our throats. If we have to die to protect our pride, then so be it!
Even the last of our displaced brothers and sisters have not left the IDP camps and someone thinks we should pop the champagne bottle to celebrate the leader of a party that was responsible for alienating the kikuyus from other tribes….so much for national leaders.
Like Chutha says, the PM should be careful on the company he keeps in central. Infact, what we should be doing on 24th July is perform a ritual to ex-communicate Njonjo, afterall he is ashamed of being a kikuyu! Something he should blame his parents for, not us.
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:15 am
I do fully agree with Chutha and I think we should start off first by defining a Kikuyu elder. This is an elder of the Agikuyu community and for those of you having trouble understanding this, it simply means that the elder has to be a Kikuyu. Plain and simple. Have we ran out of full blooded sons and daughters of Mumbi that we have to ask people who simply do not understand our language, our culture, our history to become elders? Njonjo & Co., surely, you jest!
That said, do we need for Raila to become a Kikuyu elder for Kenyans to be reconciled? Please! Do not treat us like children. This has nothing to do with reconciliation. If it did, the Kikuyus would be reaching out to Ruto and other Kalenjin leaders first because truly, the war was between us and the Kalenjins, Raila was just a pawn. Making Raila our elder is just a political move. If they want to talk reconciliation, then I suggest that they get the displaced Kikuyus to sit down with their antagonists and have a heart to heart, now, that is the true spirit of reconciliation. Anything else is just a lot of bull, I know it, you know it and so does Raila and his ilk.
April 7th, 2009 at 6:44 am
DID THI DRAMA ACTUALLY TAKE PLACE
April 7th, 2009 at 7:03 am
No it didnt Cathy.
July 16th, 2009 at 6:35 am
How do we force ourselves into people who already hate us badly and for no reason but our hard work. Ata kama ni wizi as they believe?!
February 12th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
I usually take people like Robert Chutha and all that subscribe his thought as for lack of a better word backward archaic and ignorant. Britain and France fought for 700 hundred years. Today they form the European union the third largest common market in the world. For Chutha to describe an Elder as Kikuyu by virtue of being married to Kikuyu is simple tribalism. To say the kikuyu are hardworking is a myth confined in the penal institutions full of the names alluded to the Kikuyu.
If you allow me to teach you about yourselves. Agikuyu-simply means people of the Mukuyu. A mukuyu is a fig tree that grows in the semi arid lands next to the Savannah. History teaches us that the Kikuyu came from southern Ethiopia during hunger. So they are a bunch of people who have come from attrition. Genetically wired to steal. Rightly, justified by the pangs on the hunger. This hunger has continued to ravage the genetic makeup of the Kikuyu. The nine daughters came with Mundu wa Mukuyu and his wife under the mukuyu tree, and typical of people in attrition prostituted with the Maasai, Taita, Kamba and the Ndorobo who dwelt in the forest of Nyandurua. It is no wonder they do not know how to keep a pact, how to honor a treaty and how to live a decent life. The Kikuyu need to be weaned off this. That is not anything meant to demean them as a people, but realy to understand their history. Some of the sediments of this attrition is very evident in the streets on Nairobi, Kisumu, Eldoret, Mombasa and Malindi. You will find the women who boast of hard work, stealing other people’s children to use them as beggers. I would not be surprised if the 9 daughters found under the Mukuyu tree were not prostitutes from Ethiopia. To share in this heritage is indeed a shameful to an emancipated Kikuyu today. However, it is worth learning that when the Kikuyu crossed over from Ethiopia and started to mix with the bantu communities of Kenya they were fascinated by the sophistication that they found in these areas. They left their brothers the Wolaita, Gurage and Kambata to continue living a destitute life in the southern part of Ethiopia. The Kikuyu should take heart and understand why Museveni is having sleep less nights. It is simple, if the likes of Robert continue to play the ethnic card, how many Kikuyus are there on earth, they are only 3-6 million people. How many Luhyas are there on earth, they are close to 89,000 people, followed by the Luo who are about 50 million people. To count so that we get rid of this ignorance. The Luhyas are spread in Western Kenya, Eastern Uganda, Eastern Congo, Southern Tanzania, Northern Malawi, North Eastern Zambia, and some parts of Central Africa republic. You will find them among the Wafuliro of congo,Wandande, Watembo of Bunyakiri, Wabembe of Congo and Zambia, the Chikunda of Malawi, Zambia Zimbabwe (That is why the Name Mugabe is found in Rwanda, Tanzania, Congo, Zimbabwe and Cameroon)and Mozambique, Wasafwa of Southern Tanzania just to mention but a few. The Luos are spread among the Anu who were the gods of the sky for the Egyptians, The greater Shilluk Kingdom, The Acholi, Alur, Lango, Jopathola, Akan of Ghana, and the Nuer and Dhinka of Sudan. It is therefore myopic for the Kikuyu to continue this ethnic discourse because Museveni tried to link Rwanda, Burundi into east Africa but the numbers still are a drop in the ocean in comparison to what Agrey Awori and Raila Odinga combined can bring to the table. Woe unto the Kikuyu if this comes to pass. They will be swallowed and become extinct like the Elmolo, Ndorobo, Malankontes, Waatas of this country. I would indulge the Kikuyu elite who purpote to speak for the Kikuyu to read a bit more and not to come to the fore with this cheap backward analysis on the strength the of the Kikuyu. Put order in the economy and seal theft loopholes and they will come crumbling like the tower of babel. The Kikuyu need to be realy humble. Kikuyus work hard, do they trade among themselves or with other Kenyans. They can not live in Muranga now, because what was Kikuyu Mungiki-Multitude- has turned out to be a group of unscruplous multitude of thieves who are choking Muranga with greed. If they are not welcome in other parts of the Country they will surely go back to their promodial state: A community out of Attrition.
February 19th, 2010 at 7:45 am
This world has all kinds of people. James must be allowed to hold his thoughts, no matter how amazing they are. Goodness, do you actually believe everything you are saying?
April 6th, 2010 at 5:27 am
cut the crap james, we all went to school and studied history at some point so for you to claim that kikuyus came from ethiopia is absurd yet we all know kikuyus are bantus from cameroon.May I remind everyone that this was the same kind of hate speech that was used in rwanda where tutsis were said to have originated from ethiopia therefore they were not bantus for they were said to have mixed with caucasian blood? Let us all be careful of the utterances we make lest we regret…Please we are all kenyans native to this state and we should all tolerate each other regardless of any so-called injustice commited for the consequences are to dire to contemplate!
April 9th, 2010 at 3:16 am
I found this very intriguing website when I was looking for documentation on governance and rights. I am not even sure I should comment as I may not be the targeet group. However, I am in shock and concern at the kind of anger and hatred that can be spewed on the web and at this rate I fear all us may be forced to go back to where we ‘came’ from before our ancestors ‘came’ to the land that is now known as Kenya. Is there hope for Kenya as an entity or should we perhaps rethink our statehood, forced on us as it was by colonial boundaries? Can healing take place or should we consider the possibility that some of us will never be able to live within the same space? I wonder.
April 11th, 2010 at 3:23 am
I do fear the same thing in the sense that we may all be forced to go back to ‘ where’ we came from but is that going to solve any of our problems? Its about time we redefined what it means to be Kenyan.What is Kenyan and who is Kenyan? Lets face it we are all defined from where we come from for its either you come from this tribe or this province…we are our ethnicity first then our tribes second.When our politicians talk about something that is acceptable to all Kenyans, they are simply talking about what is acceptable to their tribesmen.Personally I do believe that there is no hope for Kenya as an entity until we rid ourselves of the notion of ‘my community’, ‘its our turn to eat’,'this community has eaten for too long’,'we were born to rule’ and many more.This leads me to the ever emerging fact that Kenya is the only state in the world that is a nation by definition but truly a conglomerate of ethnic cocoons ready to ‘fix each other’.I also do believe that healing can take place but there has been no effort whatsoever to confront this problem and the wounds are as fresh as ever.Therefore we should all consider the possibility that we may never be able to live in peace until ‘kila mtu arudi kwao’.However the consequences of this action are just too grave if we truly value human life.This is a nation that is already at war, we are just wading through the calm before the storm but let us all remember that no one ever wins a war.