Someone once said that there is no such thing as a “moral victory”.That life is about absolute “winners” and “losers” – about who has the most (pick your passion).Most money.Biggest house.Fastest car.Shoes.
Purses (clutch, tote, cross-body)And specific to this piece, the most number of votes in an election.I disagree – vehemently so.While at the very elemental level – using a variant of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a yardstick – it, life, starts off being about acquisition/attainment of some tangible physical thing.
Food, not necessarily on the table, but inside a hungry stomach.Clothes, not necessarily Paris’ or Milan’s latest, but enough to cover one’s private parts – and in some cases, that’s not even a consideration.
And ideally, a roof over one's head.It, life becomes, at the other end of the spectrum of Abraham Maslow’s pyramid, less about tangible “stuff” and more about intangible, more abstract aspirations including the feel-good loosey-goosey self-actualization and self-esteem – which brings me to today’s piece.
I, we, bae and I, (have) supported Raila through thick and thin.In fact, the two of us went back and forth re: the depth of our support for the man and what he said he stood for and I won the day and along with Bae, we threw our lot behind Raila and Kalonzo in their run for the 2017 presidency.
This we did because we believed, wholeheartedly, in the ideals and values – all seemingly abstract and aspirational – that RAO and SKM talked about on the campaign trail and codified in NASA’s Manifesto.
Put another way, the two of us opted for the other end of the hierarchy of needs, eschewing what was derisively referred to as the "Apathy of Kenya's Middle Class".I will save myself the aggravation of recounting the twists and turns and machinations of the 2017 campaign and beyond.
However, aside from the “handshake” with Uhuru Kenyatta, the picture of Raila Odinga now shaking hands with Moses Kuria is, and I will not mince words, utterly revolting!This is the Moses Kuria who has threatened, not once, not twice, but on more than one occasion, to “castrate Luos”.
This is the same man who was pictured standing next to (and gleefully pointing at) Chris Msando’s SUV just before the electoral body’s Ag. Director of ICT was reported missing and eventually found somewhere in Kikuyu – tortured and murdered.
To date and to my knowledge, Moses Kuria has never been questioned by the country’s law enforcement and security agencies.Raila Odinga is pictured shaking hands with the very same man who has repeatedly advocated violence against Luos including “circumcising them”.
And the clincher? Kuria has said all the above without any repercussions from the National Integration and Cohesion Commission (NICC) – at best, a symbolic hand slap – but barely enough to curtail his behavior.
So forgive me if I am simultaneously stunned and repulsed at this latest turn of events; images of the two men shaking hands but that’s how incredulously revolting it is.
The MP for Gatundu South, has uttered words and behaved in a manner most objective observers would characterize as “inciteful” and “hateful” without an admonishing word from the head of the ticket and fellow “handshaker” Uhuru Kenyatta.
And while I don’t have any evidence that Moses Kuria was acting AND continues to act in cahoots with State House, I am a firm believer in the adage “silence in the face of evil IS tacit approval of said evil”.
Put another way, Moses Kuria has acted as a surrogate for Uhuru Kenyatta.Coming in the wake of Beth Mugo’s veiled admonition of Kamwana, Ferdinand Waititu’s treatise on Prayer, not to mention the collective reaction by those gathered at the two events AND the manhandling of Miguna Miguna - IN FRONT OF RAILA no less, I will be absolutely remiss if I don’t call out Raila and ask him pointedly
What are you doing and more importantly, what is the plan?What is the plan – beyond the boilerplate campaign rhetoric and the blasé “Building Bridges to a New Kenyan Nation” – now that mtoto wa nyoka has revealed himself to be the very snake some of us predicted he will be?
What it does it say about the “handshake” and its promise of a “new Kenyan Nation” when Beth Mugo, a key member of Uhuru Kenyatta’s “Kitchen Cabinet”, a coterie significantly more insular and secretive than your (RAO’s) co-principals in NASA, comes out and poo-poos the impending rapprochement?
Finally, as already pointed out, what does it say about the "handshake" when forces that take their orders from your "brother" throw their weight around despite your supposed phone calls to said "brother"?Jakom, as ardent supporters, you owe us an explanation - and sooner rather than later.