DR. ALFRED MUTUA AND COMPANY: IS THIS CHICANERY, MALAPROPISM OR SYCOPHANCY?

Dear Sir/Madam, 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 ignomarous, who now has resorted to the worst form of flattery and chicanery. 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 non sense is this? Is this a case of straining a gnat and swallowing a camel? 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 soap 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. TOME FRANCIS, BUMULA CONSTITUENCY.

ETERNAL VIGILANCE IS THE PRICE OF LIBERTY.

Dear Sir/Madam, The Anglican book of common prayer states that “Constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke the vice, and patiently suffer for the truth`s sake.”It is in this light that I dare ask whether the Prime Minister erred in New York when he stated that the Grand Coalition Government had at no time agreed to use the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) to try the perpetrators of Post Election Violence (PEV)? I do not think so. He was simply brutally frank to the chagrin of a section of the legislators. Stating that Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) is the way forward for this country does not in itself preclude the establishment of a local and/or international legal framework for dealing with people who hold the highest responsibility for PEV. Truth whether spoken in Kenya or in New York remains nothing but the truth. With the deepest spirit of patriotism, I dare say that every Kenyan must exercise his responsibility and vigilance and to speak truthfully about what is before us. In the words of John P Curran, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” To shy away from this responsibility because a temerarious, obdurate and desultory Harvard trained lawyer is telling us that too much democracy is bad for us will be suicidal. Such persons are hell bent in making us to exchange that vigilance and responsibility for complacency, to idle in the shadow of false images, thoughtlessness, ignorance, and disinformation and to blindly swallow sugar coated lies that they are desperately trying to implant in the minds of the masses. They without prospicience want the impuissant public to permit without effective protest the dissemination of error and mendacity about the state of our nation. It must be crystal clear to all and sundry that to look at issues from the lenses of these self serving politicians is a sure way to reserve for our nation a place in the dust-bin of history. One does not have to look far afield to discern well-meaning societies who, for like-reason, have suffered that fate. When yesterdays liberation fighters turn into today’s political Henchmen and turn you into a punching bag, do not despair for this is the price you have to pay to regain the high standards of truth and democracy upon which our great nation was founded. Do not fear that Kenya has increasingly become a hotbed of political insanity. The truth shall set us free. In this regard I whole heartedly support the Prime Minister over his stand on retributive justice. The cabinet`s collective responsibility stance to hide the reality is just but collective insipience since this will be a sure way to reserve for our nation a place in the dust-bin of history. It is quite unfortunate that some politicians in cahoots with a section of a partisan media are deliberately misinterpreting and vilifying the Prime Minister`s views in order to make the public susceptible to phantasms that are projected as realities. Yes, the media is the pubic relations expert, the image-maker but unfortunately if misused it becomes a purveyor of falsehoods. The Prime Minister`s views are no different from the views expressed by members of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) who have been on record stating that TJRC can not effectively handle the prosecution of the perpetrators of PEV. In fact some TJRC members have threatened to resign should the cabinet`s decision to expand their mandate be implemented. The public too has expressed serious doubts over the expansion of the mandate of TJRC to prosecute PEV suspects. A section of legislators have echoed the same sentiments. And I do not think that we need a seasoned political science professor to tell us that dealing with the extensive and intensive historical injustices alongside Post Election Violence (PEV), within a very limited time frame and more so, without clearly spelt out specific objectives, is a disaster in the making for the country. It is our consentaneous decision that no amount of sprucing TJRC can make it rise to the occasion. I wonder why these politicians should go through the dance, when I suspect that they invariably are not listening to the same music as we are. TOME FRANCIS, BUMULA CONSTITUENCY.

A TALE OF THE MASTERMINDS OF THE NOXIOUS GRAND SCAMS.

Dear Sir/Madam, T S Elliot, a 1948 Nobel Prize winner in Literature wrote a poem titled “Macavity –The Mystery cat.” Macavity was described as having a hidden paw, having the movement of a snake and a criminal who used his intellect to defy the law. He was bafflement to Scotland Yard and caused constant despair to the Flying Squad; for when they reached the scene of the crime, Macavity was simply not there. This was suavity and deceitfulness par excellence. He always had an alibi and spared one or two more alibis just in case they came in handy. He was outwardly respectable in spite of being a Napoleon of crime, the crème de la crème. It was therefore not surprising that his footsteps could not be found in any file of the Scotland Yard. Today, the fictitious Macavity has acquired life. He is alive and kicking in Kenya. He is not one. There are many. The edacious Macavity are more emboldened in the perpetuation of noxious deceit as they are equipped with a fat legal experience often coupled with the exquisite Harvard legalese. They are not in the same league with the pusillanimous. They are true master minds of crime, the men who supervise brigandage on grand scales. You have heard Macavity spin legal webs in defense of the well executed schemes that led to loss of billions of shillings in the Golden Berg, Anglo leasing, Grand Regency and the porous Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC). For instance in the wake of the fuel shortage witnessed in 2008 and following complaints by oil marketers and financiers it was revealed that stocks amounting to 126.4 million litres were irregularly and illegally released to Triton Petroleum Limited between November 2007 and November 2008. Triton was not entitled to the stocks, nor did financiers authorize the release as required under contractual arrangements. Today, its architects are still a mysterious. In Macavity`s case, it was rumored that all the cats whose wicked deeds were widely known were nothing more than agents of Macavity the Napoleon of crime. Like Macavity, blame for the scandal has tended to be heaped on junior officers at the state corporation. When the subordinates are nabbed, which isn't often, there is no evidence linking the crimes to the masters. The master mind of crime is a mysterious "brain" who plans the crimes that lesser criminals execute. Were we not told that junior clerks at KPC's operations department, especially "schedulers" (i.e. those involved in the actual release of the product from KPC system), were responsible for the Triton saga? We were also not told of how junior officers inflated costs during the Oil Pumbing Capacity Enhancement Programme where the president and the Prime Minister were duped into officiating a project that was barely 20 percent complete in spite of records saying that it was almost complete? And now accusing fingers are being pointed at junior officers in the scandal involving the procurement of machinery parts in KPC. The situation is no different in other sectors. With alacrity unmatched, some Ministers in cahoots with senior officers in their ministries and parastatals hermetically sealed all the possible avenues for the unraveling of the scandals. Their rendition always almost made us believe that there was no iota of evidence to warrant prosecutions. Of course you and I were so sure that the Ministerial statements issued in parliament in the wake of the scandals were as clear as mud. Going back to the KPC, we are almost sure that honorable Kiraitu`s odious silence will be shattered by yet another master piece of defense. But isn`t his reactionary move symptomatic of a Minister who is ill equipped to head this vital Ministry? The Minister must resign to pave way for unhindered investigations in the company. The onus is with the able parliament (whose reputation is now a notch higher) to help rid KPC and other parastatals of “Macavity-The Mystery Cat.” TOME FRANCIS, BUMULA CONSTITUENCY.

NEW CURRICULUM: GOVERNMENT ADMITS FAILURE IN ADDRESSING ESOURCES INEQUALITIES IN SCHOOLS.

Dear Sir/Madam, To the delight of some students and teachers, the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) in conjunction with the Ministry of Basic Education has come up with a simpler mathematics and science curriculum that comes into effect next year. It is ostensibly formulated for secondary school students who loath the subjects and do not wish to pursue them at a higher level. The curriculum, KIE argues, also takes cognizance of the fact that there are ill equipped schools which can only afford to offer less practical oriented general science subjects. Prima facie, this sounds a great policy directive. However, the devil lies in the detail. A good curriculum ought not to be discriminative and must play a significant role in human resource development and placement. But looking at it from all angles, this curriculum bears the hallmarks of the Government`s discrimination against the less fortunate members in the country. Is this the way to go with curriculum changes? I do not think so. First, this is undoubtedly the beginning of what may appear as a deconstructive policy but which will in the long run inevitably and increasingly see the poor condemned eternally to certain cadre of jobs in the society. In my estimation it appears as if the Government is admitting its failure in addressing issues relating to access, equity and quality of education across the social divide as was promised in the Sessional paper no.1 of 2005. Under a targeted programme the Government was supposed to rehabilitate and provide laboratory equipment in schools in the rural and marginalized areas in a bid to address regional disparities. By implementing such a curriculum the Government is reneging on its promise to help rid resources inequalities in schools. Yet it is abundantly clear that children from affluent homes enroll in well equipped schools and perform relatively better in science oriented subjects. It follows that such students end up taking all the slots in the few but competitive pure science related careers in the Universities. Secondly, such a curriculum may unfortunately appear to have given managers of some schools especially those in the rural and marginalized areas and whose schools have limited resources, a carte blanche to force down the throats of students and teachers the less glamorous option. It is largely because of this fear that I do not just see the reason for the jubilation. I am extremely afraid that the complacency now setting in is both foolish and dangerous. Thirdly, the Government seems to be suggesting that students from disadvantaged schools will never become engineers and doctors, and by all indications, it will be sending a strong message to the public that students from disadvantaged schools are lesser citizens than their counterparts. This is an inconceivable form of human discrimination that I have never come across. But this does not come as a surprise. Over the years the government has abdicated its responsibility in helping build and equip rural schools to enable students from poor rural schools pursue pure science related careers. Much as we all agree that the acute inequalities in schools in the country have over the years made it impossible for the construction of a consistent, reliable and valid performance measurement, but should that be a ground for the entrenching of a discriminatory and retrogressive curriculum change? Certainly not. Two wrongs do not make a right. Fourthly, what good will it do to a learner/teacher whose interest is in learning/teaching pure sciences or pure mathematics but who is forced by the school management due to unavailability of resources to only learn/teach the general sciences or simplified mathematics? From the foregoing, the question shouldn’t be whether the Government can afford to do more to promote social mobility. It should be whether Government can afford not to. And the answer is no. TOME FRANCIS, BUMULA CONSTITUENCY.