SERO DEPASCO AND RABET MATAARI ON KALONZO

Rabet Maatari Your Kalonzo Musyoka analysis is very correct. For somebody who has been in Siasa for so long, he should be keenly aware of the fact that winning the presidency is not about being a back stabber and using the same old antics (like promising Kenyans free secondary school education, knowing that this was the one thing that would positively touch virtually every single Kenyan voter, especially because so many have failed to go to secondary school for lack of fees). Neither is it about cutting a new image (joining a street demonstration for the first time ever in his political career. We all know that he Kalonzo has always behaved sheepishly and nothing to Stand for. His Idea and conclusion to Defect for Raila Led ODM K and joing LPK was the counter the thought that he has never led any political or civic Party during his entire 20 plus years in active politics, he thought by Being a leader of LPK qwells this Question. Electing a president is the people’s prerogative and a leader must merit the top seat. Is Kalonzo qualified for president? HELL NO This is not for me to judge, but going by the people’s wishes, it is clear the man stands NO chance to beat president Raila or Kibaki if he stands alone as the opposition candidate. Real change can only come when the pain of having something in our lives not working exceeds the pain of making a change, or when the rewards of change exceeds the rewards of resistance. We have come a long way to realize change do not require resolutions we cannot keep or the guilt that follows our failure, but the intense awareness that accompanies self-confrontation. We fear self-confrontation, often choosing self-righteousness to shield us from the one thing that can move us forward; - self confrontation. Bwana Kalonzo Self-righteousness does not bring change, self-confrontation does!! Kenyans do not need the likes of Kalonzo. We need a president who can confront major issues without fear. A decisive decision-maker. We need new ideas, not old Kanu re-cycled tired strategy, which is the only thing we can expect from Musyoka who as we all know is still remains very close to former president Daniel arap Moi, the man who invented him from nowhere, Bwana moi has refused to let go of politics for obvious reasons. My honest conclusion? In a Kalonzo presidency we can only expect more of the same. Where president Kibaki has been a fence-seater, President Kalonzo would be even more so.Then somewhere along the way his true colors would have to emerge even more, his defection from ODM and his steal the show anitics are only splinters of his true self. His arrogance and deamenour are all but self telling. SERO DEPASCO RESPONSE TO MATAARI Rabet Maatari wrote: Over the past few months ODM-Kenya Presidential candidate Kalonzo Musyoka has exposed his soft underbelly in political strategy this albeit declaring that he is a "strategist" and "Revolutionary" . Time and again his serious lack of political acumen has been exhibited by his monstrous blunders made in an effort to "steal the show" from his main rival in the Orange Democratic Movement Raila Odinga. Having realized earlier on that the only person that stood between him and the opposition outfit's leadership mantle was Raila, Kalonzo by design and not coincidence chose to portray his stand on issues as completely opposite of his rival's. A brief trip down memory lane will point to instances where Kalonzo has conspired to out manoeuver and "steal the show" from "Agwambo" as Raila's supporters adoringly refer to him, but come out bruised and weaker. From their heydays in LDP, Kalonzo always insisted on taking positions on issues that would project him in the public domain as the alternate center of power in LDP. There was tussle of whether the flag bearer of LDP was to be picked by consensus, delegates or direct voting by members of the party. While Raila favored the delegates method, Kalonzo chose direct voting by members after learning of Tinga's preference and knowing all too well that that his stand would look more democratic. This was done despite the reality being that a direct vote in the nominations would cost a colossal amount of money which LDP did not have. Besides this there was all the issue of identifying the bona fide members of LDP. On moving to ODM, Kalonzo again deliberately opted for a stand of always taking a different view to that of Raila. When the issue of the mode of choosing the ODM Presidential Candidate came up in the Navaisha plenary Kalonzo shifted from his direct vote preference to delegates system but here again he took a diametrically opposite position from Raila. While Raila was for delegates chosen from the constituency level, Kalonzo insisted on having delegates from the sub-location level. When this become a cropper he then insisted that the delegates would only be chosen from the constituency level if their number was increased from Raila's suggested 1000 to 2000. All the while Kalonzo was making these demands, he was in Nairobi to keep an appointment of a TV interview while all party members including all Presidential Candidates were busy holding deliberations in the Navaisha plenary. Ostensibly Kalonzo was issuing his demands via his mobile phone to his group of supporters at the meeting. Then there was the London trip debacle. All ODM-Kenya Presidential candidates except Raila and Joseph Nyaga failed to make the trip which had been heralded as a "bonding session". Four candidates, Uhuru Kenyatta, Julia Ojiambo, Nazlin Umar and Kalonzo skipped the excursion in solidarity with William Ruto another candidate who reports said had been denied entry into the UK owing corruption cases against him in the Kenyan courts. Two others, Musalia Mudavadi and Najib Balala had originally planned not to travel. On this occasion Kalonzo triumphantly declared he had decided not to travel as a show of support for his "brother" Ruto. His second reason for opting out of the trip was because his intelligence network had reliably informed him that the trip was to be used to clandestinely endorse Raila as the ODM-Kenya flag bearer in this year's election. Clearly his explanation was an attempt to paint Raila as the lone ranger in the movement. When the Lang'ata MP was preparing to launch his vision in May, Kalonzo sensing the euphoria Raila's event was creating rushed to a Nairobi hotel and unveiled his "tax proposals" to the nation a day before Raila's gala event. Again the motive here was to steal the thunder from Raila who by this time had eclipsed Kalonzo in terms of popularity in opinion polls. Kalonzo then ridiculously took a swipe at media houses accusing them of giving undue and unwarranted coverage to Raila. When Uhuru, Ruto, Ojiambo and Nazlin all declared that they would not be submitting their presidential nomination papers back to the Anyang' Nyong'o led ODM-K secretariat but to a properly constituted ODM-K elections board Kalonzo swiftly joined the their bandwagon. He even displayed a copy of a million shillings cheque for the nomination fee while picking up his nomination papers from the secretariat and gleefully declared that money was not the issue. He then refused to hand the cheque to Nyong'o. This stunt was primarily not only geared at seeking cheap publicity, but also taking a swipe at Nyong'o who reportedly is a Raila supporter. He was also intent on quashing the perception that his campaign lacks financial support as opposed to Raila's. Hot on the heels came the fiasco surrounding the leaked report by the Fred Gumo led ODM-K council of elders which had controversially favored the candidacies of Musalia or Kalonzo. This led to a flurry of meetings of interest groupings within ODM-K which culminated in Rift Valley MP's and Ruto asking Raila to step down in favor of either Musalia or Kalonzo. Kalonzo then seized the opportunity to declare that he and Ruto were like minded and speaking as one when it came to matters pertaining to finding an agreeable ODM-K flag bearer. He quickly then shifted his goal posts declaring that consensus was indeed the best method of choosing the ODM-K presidential candidate and that the delegates or his earlier preferred direct vote where susceptible to infiltration by Government agents and sympathizers. His current stand was of course informed on the misguided perception that Raila ambitions had been "dented" by the leaked report and he Kalonzo was clearly the man of the moment. It is common knowledge of how Raila aptly handled the leaked report and took his quest directly to the people to the chargin of Kalonzo. On the eve of the controversial Mombasa ODM-K rally, Kalonzo was again at his best with his "steal the show" antics. He secured an interview with a local daily in which he poked fun at Raila's second liberation credential's. He then famously claimed that his major contribution to Kenya's democratization process was coining the phrase the "Rainbow coalition" and that the first meeting of the Rainbow coalition was held in his room whatever that meant. One wonders whether this interview was the catalyst that led to him being booed and heckled at the Mombasa rally. Clearly losing major ground to his rival Raila as the Steadman and Infotrak opinion polls suggested, Kalonzo unrelenting and seeking to recover pulled a move he seemingly believed to be deft but which turned out to be daft. After short consultations with Julia Ojiambo's Labour Party of Kenya he announced his defection to LPK from LDP two parties that were members of ODM-K. It is instructive to note that his defection was motivated by his desire to get out under the suffocating influence of Raila in LDP. He then proceeded to instruct the registered officials of ODM-K led by his supporter Daniel Maanzo who were holding the party in trust to take over the operations of the party from the recognized interim officials led by Henry Kosgei. But Raila and co successfully managed to cast his act as a defection from ODM-K arguing that LPK had contravened the ODM-K constitution by advertising in the newspapers for parliamentary and civic aspirants willing to stand for elections on it's party ticket. Kalonzo's "masterstroke" act evidently ended up not having the desired domino effect of gaining him more supporters but instead only a handful of members from his ethnic group jumped ship with him. And last week when the then Kosgei led faction of ODM-K called a NEC meeting in Nairobi, Kalonzo initially reacted by saying the Maanzo faction would instead be holding the legitimate NEC meeting in Machakos before being reported as saying that he would indeed be attending the NEC meeting in Nairobi. But to political pundits surprise, Kalonzo called a press conference on the morning of the NEC meeting in which he wasted no time in castigating the Kosgei led faction and declaring the soon to be held NEC and it's resolutions null and void. He then retreated to his Machakos ethnic backyard for a rally with his supporters who all again consisted of members of his ethnic group. The Nairobi NEC meeting of course resulted in Raila and his group acquiring the first registered ODM party from Lawyer Mugambi Imanyara. In shock and left with an empty shell in the form of ODM-K, all Kalonzo could manage was to call Raila a coward and traitor. And now while Raila and his group have moved on, Kalonzo is still up to his "steal the show antics" and has reportedly declared that his ODM-K will hold it's Presidential nomination a day before ODM holds it's nomination on September 1st. This according to him will prevent ODM from stealing ODM-K delegates. Talk of stealing. One can't stop but think why delegates of Kalonzo's ODM-K would want to be associated with ODM if they are truly ODM-K delegates. Furthermore, shouldn't it be as clear as day and night the distinction between the two parties with one (ODM) presenting itself as an individual membership party and the other (ODM-K) being a coalition of parties? From this chronicle, it is evident that Kalonzo is devoid of any originality as far as political agenda setting and strategy is concerned and should stop passing himself as a Political Strategist Instead his energies should be spent on building team skills and political alliances with grassroots leaders countrywide. This he should start by venturing out of his Kamba backyard and not retreating to it when caught between a rock and a hard place. He should also invest in a different PR team as his current team is doing great injustice to him with their contribution to his Presidential campaign. By Rabet Maatari.