12/02/07
Charles Nyangwara, DE, USA
PNU nominations/selection of candidates tells more than the eye can meet. It appears to fuel further the suspicion and mistrust that has dogged PNU after it chose to give a sizeable chunk of its bigwigs/sycophants direct nominations, while denying the same to others, who are equally insiders of the Kibaki regime, without any clear criteria, then attempting to shut them out of the race altogether after they lost the stage-managed nominations and sought refuge in affiliate parties.
This source can now authoritatively report that the team led by Chris Murungaru, Martha Karua, and Kiraitu Murungi appear not to be comfortable with Uhurus presidency in 2012. They would rather settle for a person outside the Kikuyu community or at least the great professor of statistics, George Saitoti, who is a Maasai by naturalization. They argue that it will be time for the Kikuyu community to support a person from another community as they cannot win the presidency alone.
On the other hand, the Kiambu Mafia led by Njenga Karume, George Muhoho, Peter Munga, the chief Executive officer of Equity Bank, Stanley Murage and Professor Joe Wanjuhi are strategizing for Uhuru Kenyatta in 2012 and anybody with a varied opinion to them is an enemy and at most against the interest of their community and should not be allowed to be near the corridors of power. They will do anything to get MPs or rather sycophants who will buy their idea without any question or resistance. This is the reason why some PNU warriors got direct nominations, while those seen as having divergent views were subjected to the stage- managed nominations in order to get rid of them.
More signs of this in-fighting in PNU emerged again on November, 25th 2007, when Prof George Saitoti, spoke of a conspiracy to have him lose the elections in a campaign rally in his constituency while addressing his supporters. The outgoing Kajiado North MP appeared to link his woes to the 2012 Kibaki succession plan. This was reported by the Standard Newspapers on November 26, 2007.
What the Kikuyu mafia is doing is completely wrong. How do they know that Kibaki will win the presidency and therefore position themselves for 2012? What is this selfishness for? Kenyans are now cleverer than yester years. The 2012 ECK will be independent and fair for the likes of Uhuru to run.
Saitoti the professor and loyalty!
One thing the great professor has not mastered is the art of strategy in his 20 years plus in politics. He plays politics of loyalty and sycophancy. While he served Moi for 13 years as vice president, he was always loyal and never acted independent of Moi. He thought Moi was to reward his royalty when it came to succession and chose him his heir. Here he was diametrically wrong. Uhuru came from night clubs and beer dens and outsmarted him. What Saitoti did not know was that Moi was returning the presidency to the owners, and therefore Uhuru was his apparent heir.
Somehow, Saitoti seemed to have learned through the wisdom and wit of Raila that loyalty does not pay, but clever strategy and maneuvering, while exercising caution and independency when it comes to politics. He followed Raila to the defeat of Moi and Uhuru. When he was appointed by Kibaki to the cabinet, he seemed to have literally forgotten the great political skills he was given or rather taught by Raila in their short-lived alliance. He immediately crafted himself to the Kibaki mainstream and resumed his loyalty and sycophancy, while demonizing his political professor and savior, Raila. He very soon forgot the great African proverb, which goes that, one cannot hold a spear against those who had taught him how to hold the spear.
Instead of learning real politics from Raila and how to play it, the professor retrogressed and at one point thought that Kibaki will declare him a defacto successor to the presidency, but he was very wrong on this. Saitoti seems to be applying the principles of statistics in political games, which can only work in a math classroom, but not in politics,
Political Strategy
One thing Saitoti should have learned in all the years he has spent in school, academics and politics is the art of political strategy. Also he should have realized that being a professor of political strategy is not the same as being a professor of Statistics. The great professor should have realized that no one can give you the presidency in the current Kenya, other than the voters and one ought to work smart to get it.
A strategy is a long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal, most often “winning”. Strategy is differentiated from tactics or immediate actions with resources at hand by its nature of being extensively premeditated, and often practically rehearsed. Strategies are used to make the problem or problems easier to solve. The word strategy is derived from the Greek word stratgos, which derives from two words: stratos (army) and ago (ancient Greek for leading). Stratgos referred to a ‘military commander’ during the age of Athenian
Democracy.
Strategy is adaptable by nature rather than rigid set of instructions. Strategy is the subcomponent to tactics. The simplest explanation of this is the analogy of a political scenario. If Saitoti was to organize a plan in which he will win the presidency, he has to come up with a sequence of events, personalities to use, resources to exploit and prove to Kenyans that he is capable of doing the job. He should know that it is only through such strategy and maneuvering that he will greatly minimize the vulnerability to variables like Uhuru/Mt Kenya mafia, Goldenberg etc. and the opportunity to operate in that manner occurred far more often and taken the place of his sycophancy and loyalty, first to Moi and later Kibaki.
Unfortunately Saitoti has never understood the role of strategy in political maneuvering. The sad part at the moment is that Saitoti political obituary has been written on the wall. The best thing for him is to retire to Kanunga and spend the millions he looted from Kenyans cautiously while waiting for the opportunity for Kenyans to take back what rightfully belongs to them when ODM takes over in 2008.
More MoUs to Come
Sometimes we human beings are interesting! We decide to become holier than though. Why is PNU questioning Railas MoU with Muslims? Are Muslims not Kenyans like PNU members who signed a MoU with Moi, and which is not being questioned, yet Moi paid Kshs.3 Billion to the Kibaki Tena campaign so that he can get protection of his ill-gotten wealth by the Kibaki administration?
Muslims are free to vote for the person they want. Stop blackmailing them!
This is just a tip of the iceberg, more MoUs will come up against Mt. Kenya mafia as we approach December 27. Saitoti, Muite and others may seek refuge with Raila!