REFORMS: A CASE OF A LION GOING INTO LABOUR AND GIVING BIRTH TO A MOUSE?

Sun baked concrete pressed roughly against one`s nose is not enjoyable at best, and when the concrete is part of the synchronized international pressure, it is sure to be hot enough to be extremely unpleasant to those with a non reformist mentality. You expect them to throw a memorable fit of hysterics as is evidenced in “He should not put his fingers into our noses” or “We do not need lectures from people who are unfit to wipe our shoes” or worse still “We shall declare him a persona non grata”, words separately uttered by Dr. Alfred Mutua, Honorable Mutula Kilonzo and Honorable Moses Wetangula respectively while casting aspersions on the US ambassador, Michael Ranneberger for ostensibly misleading the Obama administration over the pace of reforms in Kenya. The circus gets even funnier when Dr. Alfred Mutua, the Government Spin Doctor par excellence, who either suffers from serious malapropism or he is an arrogant ignoramus, because he has now resorted to the worst form of flattery and chicanery. Perhaps he is a lead character artist in a haunting hilarious titled play titled “The Lion went into labour and gave birth to a mouse”. What else can one make of him in his straight faced defense of the country`s snail paced implementation of Agenda 4 reforms? Why would he use tax payers` money to mislead the public in a paid up advert in the country`s leading Daily Newspapers? That the reform process is 90 percent complete? That in most reform areas we are way ahead of schedule? What incomprehensible talk is this? Is this a case of straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel or is our spin doctor in a séance? Any Tom, Dick and Harry knows that this is a Cock and Bull story! And to imagine that our hard earned dimes have been put to such a reckless course makes it even more painful. Cosmetic reforms in the police force and the Electoral Commission are far below the minimum threshold for essential reforms required. The disingenuous judiciary is unscathed yet 2012 is nigh. The Ping- Pong in the constitution making process threatens to throw this country into a Cimmerian darkness. The litigations currently surrounding it are but a ploy serving the interests of the non reformists. Just where does Mutua get the 90 percent progress? Or is it that the reforms will be achieved in a jiffy? However, this is hardly surprising as Dr. Mutua and company have always been parsimonious with the truth, a trait absolutely consistent with their character and job descriptions; always turning a blind eye to the plight of the forty million Kenyans who desperately hope for a better tomorrow. In their quest to appear heroes they run the risk of engaging in reckless foolishness. It must be made abundantly clear to them that heroes are often set above and apart in history and legend by their bravery and boldness, by their skill and intelligence in their worthiness and will in genuinely serving the citizenry and not in stooping to unparalleled levels of sycophancy. The common denominator among the argument by all these Government functionaries rests on a mistaken premese of the pervasiveness of the nebulous concept “sovereign” which to them precludes international intervention even when it is crystal clear that the chilling power games are a stumbling block to essential reforms process and that we are fast and furiously heading to a tumultuous future that is more grievous than the 2007 post election violence. The more you harp on this lame excuse the more you will be seen by the public as conceited bullies. You see when the riot act is read by the apprehensive public and the international community; the leadership must know that the game is up. Do not give sop to Cerberus nor sail under false colors. You have the Hobson`s choice-Reforms and more Reforms. Period. Not even the burning desire to paint the US ambassador as the devil incarnate will work, for he will in the long run emerge out smelling as a rose. Leaders must be reminded the spectre of unresolved killings is haunting Kenya and the sooner we deal with it, fairly and squarely, the better for us. Wananchi should realize the violence was like the tip of an iceberg. Beneath the deceptively calm peace lies the threat of anarchy, bloodletting and degeneration of the State. Should we swallow the sugar coated, poisonous lies these selfish politicians are peddling, we shall firmly have put ourselves on the path to destruction. Kenya is more important than any individual politician. It is also more important than the sum of all its politicians.