We are in this hole together, for better or for worse!

By: Jerry Okungu
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[ Posted On: 2008-01-13 ]

This article is meant to annoy everybody on both sides of the political divide. If it doesn't, I will have failed in my mission. I really want to prick both hardliners to the limit because I want to wake them to the reality of what is brewing on the ground; something our leaders in the city may not be aware of or may only have related to through the media.

We Kenyans are in deep shit and the shit has hit the fan. We are choking with stench and sooner rather than later, we will not hold our breath any longer.

The stage is set for real drama, the theatre of war like we have never known since the Mau Mau war.

President Kibaki is sitting pretty at State House after the ECK stole the last elections for him. For how else could he have ended up being the winner after losing six of the eight provinces? How else could he have won the elections after securing only 43 parliamentary seats in a 210 member parliament? How could his PNU have beaten ODM that had 100 seats in the same house? And even after Uhuru's KANU and Kalonzo ODM joined PNU, they still could only garner 73 seats against ODM's 100 seats!

Where did the winning formula come from?

President Kibaki's second term has been the most expensive in Kenya's independence history. With Ks 60 billion lost in turmoil, 600 people dead, 250,000 people internally displaced and another 6000 refugees fleeing into Uganda, this has been a really expensive affair.

Has anybody quantified massive destruction and loss of jobs and livelihood in Kisumu, Kakamega, Kitale, Eldoret, Mombasa and the slums of Nairobi? Is anybody listening out there? Are our politicians listening and bleeding with the bereaved or are the figures a mere necessity in any struggle for change?

This coming week, there are more sounds of drama coming from all corners of the Republic. The stage has been set for another round of wanton destruction and violence orchestrated by thugs, criminals, ethnic militia, political party supporters and the armed state machinery. They will all be out there in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, the day "peaceful demonstrations" are supposed to start.

As Kibaki sits pretty while Raila demands his right, as PNU hawks dig while ODM gathers its troops, the inevitable is bound to happen as sure as sunrise. Those ODM peaceful demonstrations in the nine venues country-wide will be infiltrated by ethnic militia, criminals and the official state thugs called the Police. The police will come armed to the teeth. They will stop the rallies either through negotiations, lodging tear gas or opening fire! Once they have done that, it will be a free- for all- affair. It will be another day of running battles, looting and pillage- but only in the city. In rural farms of Kuresoi, Kitale and Burnt Forest, there will be more "forest" fires as homes- the little that are still standing will go up in smoke.

Information reaching me is distressing me a lot. It indicates that the GEMA community is regrouping to build the GEMA Alliance Defense Force to protect themselves from attacks by other communities in Rift Valley and elsewhere.

Another thing, the right wingers in the GEMA community are agitating for reprisal killings targeting vulnerable groups in city slums. If this scenario that now looks hypothetical takes place, it will be an all out civil war among ethnic communities with a real possibility of a military take over with dire consequences for all of us.

The question to ask is this: Must we set out house ablaze even as we wait for international mediators to arrive? Is it possible to tone down our rhetoric no matter how right we are or how wronged we have been?

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard

Jerry Okungu is a freelance political analyst based in Nairobi, Kenya. Jerry also serves as a Board Director at The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation. Jerry has written extensively on issues affecting Kenya and the rest of Africa over the years. Other articles written by Jerry Okungu are available at this location

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