Never before had Kenya seen the Kasarani spirit of this year
<b>An East African Perspective</b><br><br>The Kasarani International Sports Centre in Nairobi became the ‘kichinjio’ blood bath in March 2002. That was the day Daniel arap Moi’s KANU merged with Raila Odinga’s NDP. Kichinjio is a Kiswahili word for slaughterhouse.
JERRY OKUNGU
An East African Perspective
The Kasarani International Sports Centre in Nairobi became the ‘kichinjio’ blood bath in March 2002. That was the day Daniel arap Moi’s KANU merged with Raila Odinga’s NDP. Kichinjio is a Kiswahili word for slaughterhouse.
In the words of one casualty on that fateful day, J. J. Kamotho, one of the foremost defenders of KANU for nearly two decades, the manner in which he and the then Vice President, George Saitoti were bundled out of KANU top leadership was brutal, in carefully choreographed political manoeuvers that were personally designed, executed and supervised by Moi.
Who would have believed that in just less than 15 years, Kenyans would usher in a new democratic process more sophisticated even by American standards? Who would have believed that political parties would conduct primary elections as sophisticated and as elaborate as that of the Republicans and Democrats across the Atlantic?
A day earlier, Orange Democratic Movent (ODM) Kenya led by Kalonzo Musyoka had raised the curtains by going through the same act with limited competition. A day later, the ODM, with a team of five presidential hopefuls gathered at the same venue to contest for the nomination.
Musalia Mudavadi, Joseph Nyagah, Raila Odinga, Najib Balala and William Ruto; all sat patiently for close to 12 hours at the sports centre as the 4,200 delegates went through the motions to vote for their best candidate to face other parties in the next general elections.
What the two Orange parties did at the weekend was not new and neither was the process original. Moi had purported to do that countless times for nearly a quarter of a century. For Moi, it was more of a ritual rather than a political process. For him, they were occasions to rubber-stamp his authority on a helpless voiceless and intimidated electorate.
What made the difference this time round was that nobody beat drums for any candidate to be declared unopposed. Nobody pressured any of the delegates to stand down for this or that candidate. Yes emotions were high while tribal and regional expectations were running wild.
The “our turn syndrome†almost drowned what was an otherwise well organised campaign by the candidates. When Kalonzo bolted out of the ODM family a few weeks earlier to team up with the little known Labour Party of Kenya; observers saw a man scared and running from a stiff competition.
The manner in which party owner Julia Ojiambo welcomed him also talked volumes. These were two potential losers engaged in a face saving ego trip to avoid imminent embarrassment had they to face the Kasarani delegates together.
Let us face it, if Kalonzo Musyoka and Julia Ojiambo had made the mistake of being at Kasarani on Saturday, Julia would probably have come last after Balala while Kalonzo would have come third after Musalia.
Musalia’s good nature and team spirit would have endeared him more to the delegates than Kalonzo’s public aloofness and perceived selfishness. Back to what is the subject of this article; last Saturday’s event at Kasarani was proof to the world than Kenyans have come of age politically, that democracy has grown in this country, that if nurtured well, Kenya could easily be an example of a best practice democratic state.
Never before in the history of the country have five competing candidates met alone in a hotel for breakfast on the morning of their elections. Never before have they sat together, crossed their fingers and said their last prayers in front of their delegates before the voting started.
Never before has this nation seen five competing candidates pledging before their delegates that if anyone of them was elected, they would rally behind that one and support his campaign.
Never before has Kenya seen candidates losing, conceding defeat and making their speeches in honour of the winner.
Never before has Kenya seen rival candidates sharing a cake of solidarity after a hotly contested election process. If this has not been democracy at its best then I don’t know what democracy is.
Despite this spectacle at Kasarani on Saturday, many prophets of doom will surely come out with their own versions of the story.
Some will advance the theory that it was carefully choreographed to rubber-stamp Raila Odinga’s candidacy. They will even cite as evidence of their claims the last-minute decision by Najib Balala to stand down in favour of Raila Odinga.
However, a keen observer who watched the body language of the four remaining candidates saw it all. They all exhibited seriousness and anxiety hardly found in someone who has been compromised. They all looked determined to go all the way and win or lose with dignity.
Something else that was special at Kasarani was the unprecedented peaceful nature of the gathering. Despite the swelling crowd of 7,000 people; twice the number of delegates, it was all song and dance in praise of their candidates without violence. Interestingly, a gathering of this magnitude did not attract the attention of a single policeman to keep the peace yet the organisers made sure there was zero violence on the ground.
Now that ODM has decided who their torch bearer is, Kibaki and Kalonzo must brace themselves for tough times ahead. The battle for the hearts and minds of Kenyans will be fought in the trenches, valleys and hills of Kenya’s rugged terrain.
jerryokungu@hotmail.com
An East African Perspective
The Kasarani International Sports Centre in Nairobi became the ‘kichinjio’ blood bath in March 2002. That was the day Daniel arap Moi’s KANU merged with Raila Odinga’s NDP. Kichinjio is a Kiswahili word for slaughterhouse.
In the words of one casualty on that fateful day, J. J. Kamotho, one of the foremost defenders of KANU for nearly two decades, the manner in which he and the then Vice President, George Saitoti were bundled out of KANU top leadership was brutal, in carefully choreographed political manoeuvers that were personally designed, executed and supervised by Moi.
Who would have believed that in just less than 15 years, Kenyans would usher in a new democratic process more sophisticated even by American standards? Who would have believed that political parties would conduct primary elections as sophisticated and as elaborate as that of the Republicans and Democrats across the Atlantic?
A day earlier, Orange Democratic Movent (ODM) Kenya led by Kalonzo Musyoka had raised the curtains by going through the same act with limited competition. A day later, the ODM, with a team of five presidential hopefuls gathered at the same venue to contest for the nomination.
Musalia Mudavadi, Joseph Nyagah, Raila Odinga, Najib Balala and William Ruto; all sat patiently for close to 12 hours at the sports centre as the 4,200 delegates went through the motions to vote for their best candidate to face other parties in the next general elections.
What the two Orange parties did at the weekend was not new and neither was the process original. Moi had purported to do that countless times for nearly a quarter of a century. For Moi, it was more of a ritual rather than a political process. For him, they were occasions to rubber-stamp his authority on a helpless voiceless and intimidated electorate.
What made the difference this time round was that nobody beat drums for any candidate to be declared unopposed. Nobody pressured any of the delegates to stand down for this or that candidate. Yes emotions were high while tribal and regional expectations were running wild.
The “our turn syndrome†almost drowned what was an otherwise well organised campaign by the candidates. When Kalonzo bolted out of the ODM family a few weeks earlier to team up with the little known Labour Party of Kenya; observers saw a man scared and running from a stiff competition.
The manner in which party owner Julia Ojiambo welcomed him also talked volumes. These were two potential losers engaged in a face saving ego trip to avoid imminent embarrassment had they to face the Kasarani delegates together.
Let us face it, if Kalonzo Musyoka and Julia Ojiambo had made the mistake of being at Kasarani on Saturday, Julia would probably have come last after Balala while Kalonzo would have come third after Musalia.
Musalia’s good nature and team spirit would have endeared him more to the delegates than Kalonzo’s public aloofness and perceived selfishness. Back to what is the subject of this article; last Saturday’s event at Kasarani was proof to the world than Kenyans have come of age politically, that democracy has grown in this country, that if nurtured well, Kenya could easily be an example of a best practice democratic state.
Never before in the history of the country have five competing candidates met alone in a hotel for breakfast on the morning of their elections. Never before have they sat together, crossed their fingers and said their last prayers in front of their delegates before the voting started.
Never before has this nation seen five competing candidates pledging before their delegates that if anyone of them was elected, they would rally behind that one and support his campaign.
Never before has Kenya seen candidates losing, conceding defeat and making their speeches in honour of the winner.
Never before has Kenya seen rival candidates sharing a cake of solidarity after a hotly contested election process. If this has not been democracy at its best then I don’t know what democracy is.
Despite this spectacle at Kasarani on Saturday, many prophets of doom will surely come out with their own versions of the story.
Some will advance the theory that it was carefully choreographed to rubber-stamp Raila Odinga’s candidacy. They will even cite as evidence of their claims the last-minute decision by Najib Balala to stand down in favour of Raila Odinga.
However, a keen observer who watched the body language of the four remaining candidates saw it all. They all exhibited seriousness and anxiety hardly found in someone who has been compromised. They all looked determined to go all the way and win or lose with dignity.
Something else that was special at Kasarani was the unprecedented peaceful nature of the gathering. Despite the swelling crowd of 7,000 people; twice the number of delegates, it was all song and dance in praise of their candidates without violence. Interestingly, a gathering of this magnitude did not attract the attention of a single policeman to keep the peace yet the organisers made sure there was zero violence on the ground.
Now that ODM has decided who their torch bearer is, Kibaki and Kalonzo must brace themselves for tough times ahead. The battle for the hearts and minds of Kenyans will be fought in the trenches, valleys and hills of Kenya’s rugged terrain.
jerryokungu@hotmail.com