This
man Kibaki…the
good,
the bad and the ugly of his leadership
President Mwai Kibaki deserves a round
of applause, a myriad of roads being named after him or even the
whole of Nairobi city being christened his lovely name, Kibaki city.
Here is why.
This man as a life of politics, from
his first time in parliament when he represented Donholm
constituency in Nairobi in 1963, to 2002 when he rose to presidency,
to 2012 when he must retire, thanks to the constitution, this man has
done more in ten years than most people can do in half a century as
leaders.
Let’s face it, for just ten years,
Kibaki has built a superhighway of international standards,
transformed the transport sector, built markets for hawkers, opened
up a new port in Mombasa, commissioned roads in North Eastern where
only cow tracks were existent, improved a mutilated economy and the
big one, delivered a new constitution…and the list is endless.
However, it must be noted that Kibaki
the economist from Makerere is a strategist and a darling to the rich
contrary to what many may want to believe. He has clearly done
little to improve the lives of the poor Kenyans, who, just like
yours truly here, have seen rough days during his reign.
Believe it or not, it was during
Kibaki’s tenure that many poor Kenyans lost their livelihoods,
small businesses were wound up to pave way for giant highways,
hawkers driven out of the streets of the city where they eked a
precarious existence, houses have been demolished by heartless city
council thugs, thousands have been sent to inflation to add up the
worsening statistics of the jobless in this country, and the list
continues, making the poor poorer.
There is no denial that the old man
promised more than half a million jobs per year for the youths whose
simple ideas and maneuvers to survive have been thwarted forcibly by
his government, but although he openly embraces the notion of a
working nation where he urges the youth to contribute in nation
building he has done little to give the incentives necessary to
achieve that thus remaining just that, a fumbling lip service job
for the old man…..and anybody can now see the reason why we have an
increment in the numbers of street muggers and gangsters in the city?
Where will these people make a living
if successive governments are competing to send them to Siberia? Yes,
Kibaki has done something to address this. He introduced a project
that many wish to forget than remember, the Kazi kwa vijana project.
Though well intentioned, the project was just another scandal as
government ministers and individuals in positions of power competed
in embezzling the funds and transforming the project’s name to Kazi
kwa vijana, pesa kwa wazee…..what a shame that was?
Kibaki has had good intentions for this
country since time immemorial, though he had been dragged by poor
leadership, Moi’s dictatorial tendencies which made him (kibaki)
look like Moi’s shadow for most of the 90’s and remain irrelevant
in a government that ripped Kenyans in broad daylight.
The
good side
Look at the roads, the GDP, regional
integration, education, health projects, and the new constitution
which sadly, has been mutilated, power, trade, grants, Kenya’s
position in the eyes of the international community and everything
else that makes up for his legacy. Thats why I said Nairobi, the
epicenter of Kenya, should bear his name somewhere… Look at how
greedy his predecessors were? They named almost everything to
themselves, from schools to international Airports, roads to highways
to estates to hospitals, to markets. How greedy? That’s why I laud
Kibaki who vowed to be different, were this not the case, the man
could have named everything that was left by the likes of former
presidents Kenyatta and Moi after himself and we could be having
places like, Kibaki hawkers market, Kibaki university, Kibaki
superhighway, kibaki health center(all major hospitals have been
named otherwise)
The
bad side
It was during his reign that the
country slumped to its darkest period in history. The post election
violence which claimed the lives of more than 1, 000 hapless Kenyans
as the old man clinged to power and watched on the sidelines as his
beloved country burnt.
Kibaki and his ilk orchestrated this.
Why couldn’t the good man compromise his position in power even
when there were allegations of massive rigging, he could not offer to
call for another election and instead chose to be sworn in
abnormally, as the president of this country regardless of widespread
violence that was worsening by the minute?
One question to Kibaki, why was it so
hard to relinquish power even when the lives of Kenyans were at
stake? You mean you could have done nothing to salvage the situation?
The
ugly.
This is interesting. A newspaper names
president Kibaki among the world’s ugliest presidents, literally.
As a matter of fact, he scooped the
award for the ugliest president to grace our planet as we know it
today.
In as much as it is unfair to our
beloved president, many might be compelled to ask, why did he not
appear in the Kenyan currency notes and coins save for the much
disliked “kirucy”, (the 40 bob coin) as has been the norm with
other Kenyan presidents?
President Kibaki might not have the
looks of a beauty geek but what is in between his two ears is
unmatched in terms of quality and perhaps, quantity.
The
first lady scandals
Who does not remember Lucy Kibaki in
her good old fiery days when she literally controlled the house on
the hill?
When journalists were slapped for
asking the right questions, and when president Kibaki would be
embarrassed in broad daylight?
Thanks god, someone hid Karucy from the
valuable limelight that she nonchalantly basked in with sheer
abandon.
The
Mum kibaki
It is common knowledge that Kibaki has
always remained mum in the most crucial times when his say could have
changed everything. Look at the PEV. He said nothing to restore
public confidence. Another speck in Kibaki’s leadership. He has
been named among Kenyans who own vast chunks of land in the country.
In fact his two predecessors,
presidents Moi and Kenyatta, own hundreds of thousands of acres of
land.
It is sad to know they are the greatest
land grabbers, why should they own so much land when we have
squatters everywhere from the coast to Nyanza?
It is even more heartbreaking to learn
that most of their purported lands are lying idle.
Look at Kibaki, he has vast chunks of
land almost everywhere. Methinks he should be featured in the
program, “Who Owns Kenya” on Citizen TV because he literally owns
it. From his vast piece in Nyeri which almost runs from the Aberdares
to the other end of Mt. Kenya, to his Koru farm which spurns
thousands of acres.
Before he bows out of power, can the
old man tell us he acquired all that land and how he feels to see all
of it lying idle when hundreds of internally displaced persons sleep
in the cold as he seeks to leave a rich legacy?
And what happened to IDPs resettlement?
They remain in the camps five years later despite Kibaki’s re
assurances.
With his exit, Kibaki goes into
retirement with so many of Kenyans dark secrets.
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