KENYA IS AT A CROSSROADS ON ELECTION YEAR

After going through a successfull power handover from President Moi in December 2002, Kenyans under the leadership of President Mwai Kibaki were rated as the world's most optimistic people. President Moi's reign of 24 years left the country in tatters. The economy was on the verge of collapse after the agricultural sector had been disoriented by his henchmen. The infrastructure was in a sorry state of disrepair and the country was yearning for a new start.

With a determined opposition, the Kenyan people saw change coming in the horizon and nothing would stop their determination to have a new start. Even when the Narc Presidential candidate, Mr. Mwai Kibaki, was temporarily incapacitated following a serious road accident during campaigns, Kenyans' resolve to dislodge Moi and Kanu from power became even more pronounced in the manner in which they galvanised their support for the opposition movement.

So when the new President was sworn on December 31st 2002, there was hope for a new start in the hearts of the citizenzry. President Kibaki had promised a departure from the Moi style of leadership that was excemplified by roadside declarations. Most importantly, he promised to slay the dragon that had been responsible for putting Kenya in the league of countries impoverished by sleece - Corruption.

Yet more than four years in power, President Kibaki's government is not any different from his predecessor's. More than three quarters of his campaign promises remain unfulfilled to date. Sadly, the anti-corruption campaign platform on which he rode to power is a non-starter. Within two years, his government had registered corruption scandal of the magnitude ever reported in Kenya's post-independence history. The tragedy is that there has not been any visible serious attempt to bring to book the suspected culprits, who are his ministers, despite irrefutable evidence implicating them in fictious contracts that have cost the taxpayer close to 50 billion shillings. All the verbal pronouncements on committment to fight official graft has been proved to be mere window dressing gimmicks aimed at hoodwinking the world. Even with audio recordings availed by the self-exiled anti-graft czar, John Githongo, implicating senior government ministers in the Kibaki goverment, the President has seen no reason to take action.

The worst part of it is that those paid by the taxpayer to fight graft like Aaron Ringera has been conducting himself in a manner indicating that his role in the graft body is to protect Kibaki's men accused of graft. That he is being paid to cover up the whole affair has been proved by his recent Kenya Gazette notice in which he stated that investigations into the Anglo Leasing scam is closed. Aaron Ringera's conduct as the head of the anti-graft body has been the centre of focus since his visit to London where he went to record a statement from Githongo. Kenyans have been surprised at the revelations that soon after Ringera recorded Githongo's statement on audio tape (at the insistence of the latter), he came up with a claim later that the audio recordings got spoilt due to a technical hitch.

On an election year, there is no doubt that Kibaki will be facing an uphill task to convince the Kenyan electorate that he has been true to the promises he made in 2002, more particularly he will be in the line to tell Kenyans what role he played, if at all, in the Anglo Leasing saga. Evidence adduced by John Githongo in his popular dossier posted on the web months ago, paints the picture of a President who was consistently posted on the progress of the Anglo Leasing investigations by his advisor [John Githongo] and yet did nothing. His silence, ever since the saga spilled into the public domain, ominously points to the possibility that he could have been a beneficiary of the Anglo Leasing proceeds either directly or through third parties. That this is a big possibility has been lent credence by the fact that in Githongo's latest audio release, former Finance David Mwiraria is heard asking Githongo to stop the Anglo Leasing investigations as the ultimate discovery might bring about the fall of the Kibaki regime.

But with an informed electorate eager for accountability from their leaders, Kibaki seems out of luck. His I-dont-care attitude forms the first catalyst that will finally ensure that the end product at the end of this year is that Kibaki will handover to a new occupant of State House.

There are, however, a minority of voters who have been seduced into believing that life is better under Kibaki than it was under Moi. But observers disagree and believe that it seems like an insult to compare anything with the past regime. The truth is that life is more difficult today for the common man than it was under the past regime. The flactuating prices of common household commodoties like maize flour and sugar puts Kenya in the league of failed states like Zimbabwe and Somalia. The man on the street is still suffering as money circulate in the hands of a few.

Finally, it must be pointed out that Kenyans must be ready to understand the political manipulations that the Kibaki government intends to turn to to ensure that he goes for another five-year term. Already, he has succeeded in postponing the constitution review for the last four years. He has also single-handedly appointed new Commissioners to the electoral body and there is word that the current ECK Chairman, Mr. Samuel Kivuitu, could soon be replaced by a Kibaki-freindly Chairman. That Kibaki has been going to bed lately with his predecessor and his cohhorts like powerman Nicholas Biwott points to a wider conspiracy to deny the Kenyan people the right to elect a government that will be truely responsive to thier needs. These guys are bonded together by much history that they would rather, like members of a doomsday cult, use all their energies to remain together. But it is my hope that Kenyans will once again rise against the forces of tyranny, corruption, nepotism and tribalism and elect a government that is truely a government of the people.

Omushe.