By M.Mundia

JALUO dot KOM

JEXJALUO

The dramatic sacking of Kenya's "dream team" of government technocrats last week is a resounding statement from the office of the president of whose in charge in Kenya. It is also almost certainly a dramatic prelude to the imminent resumption of donor funding to Kenya and another "coup de grace" for President Daniel arap Moi of Kenya.

The battle of wits in Kenya doesn't seem to be relenting. On the one hand you have Daniel arap Moi, the master tactician of Kenyan politics, "Mukonzi wa Bakonzi" ("Chief of Chiefs"), and on the other you have 29,999,999 pretenders to the throne. This losing battle has been going on for far too long now and the vast majority of us are on the losing end.

It is time that we started taking Daniel arap Moi much more seriously than we do. The very fact that the vast majority of us do not give him half a chance at anything is what has fueled his continued reign over us. When a foe is contemptuosly dismissed, then half the battle is lost. This country is in a state of total confusion, and President Moi loves this every bit.

In the week gone by 70 secondary school students perished in a school inferno.Two weeks ago, two of Kenya's oldest sugar companies, Muhoroni and Miwani, were placed under receivership, putting at stake the livelihoods of 3,000 workers and their families. At about the same time, the government made known it's intention to degazette huge chunks of forested land across the country.

Underlying all this are numerous other problems facing this country. The populace is impoverished, hungry and in an ill state of health. Literally all of us are on the wrong side of capitalism.

Despite relentless calls for change from all areas of the country however, there is little real committment from the majority. Many people now even openly state that the problem in  Kenya is Moi and change will only come if he leaves office. These calls bear alot of irony. What has managed to sustain Moi in leadership all these years is his ability to change while the vast majority inordinately holds on to old beliefs.

Many of us forget that this is the man who decamped from the federal leaning Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU), to the central government leaning Kenya African National Union (KANU), 37 years ago, where he still remains, and where he is the party's staunchest supporter. It is Moi's government that made Kenya a "de jure" one party state in 1982, reversing this to make way for multi-party politics in 1991.

It is also Moi's government that implemented the much detested Structural Adjustment Programmes in the early 1990s after years of resistance. What emerges is a man who changes with the times, a man who pays close attention to current trends. The constitutional review process is also being adopted as a way of dislodging Moi from power, forgetting that Moi was there at the Lancashire House conferences in 1961 and 1962 where Kenya's independence constitution was formulated.

 Many have ignored this vast experience and exposure and it is the reason we are losing the battle for change. Daniel arap Moi has never been accepted as the leader in Kenya since his ascent to power in 1978. In essence Kenya is not 23 years behind it's time but actually 34, because it was in 1967 that Moi was appointed vice president and was perceived as nothing more than a lame duck. This country is still in 1967 when Moi is in the year 2010 which is very tragic.

This clearly explains why the battle is being lost. Moi's regime is run on Machiavellian dictates. He fully understands that The vast majority do not have access to the basics i.e. food, shelter and clothing. In such circumstances, survival is the key.

One lives for the day and there is practically no energy left for intellectualism or intricate forecasts for the future. Like Kenyatta before him, he has ensured that that the vast majority remain in such circumstances. It is a brutal system thatruthlessly deals with dissent.

Five generations of Kenyans have undergone this kind of persecution and the result is growing desperation in the face of dwindling resources. Whether or not the governments degazettes the intended forested lands for instance, it is of little consequence since these are areas that have long been encroached on. Terms like ecology, environmental degradation, desertification, and water catchment areas, have no meaning to a hungry, desperate people.

The real solution lies in the redistribution of the hundreds of thousands of hectares of land held by a few wealthy and powerful families. The tragedy is that change is not going to come to Kenya soon. Moi is determinedly pushing ahead with his agenda, and the people are determinedly fighting each other and not focusing on the issues.

The people of Kenya are not happy. People are smiling but there is no joy. People are talking but there is no communication. People are walking but there is no direction. People are holding in the accumulated frustration and bitterness of five generations and this is what makes living in Kenya scary right now. We shall sink lower before rising and this is the bitter reality.

When Jaramogi Oginga Odinga was the vice president and minister of home affairs close to 40 years ago, he had a no nonsense approach to dealing with dissenting Whites and Asians who still treated Blacks with disrespect and contempt.

Many Whites and Asians were deported by the late Jaramogi at the time. Ian Henderson, the superintendent of police who was behind the capture of Mau Mau leader, Dedan Kimathi, was one of those who faced Jaramogi's wrath. When there was an outcry against Jaramogi, he memorably replied " I understand that Ian Henderson is as much of a Kenyan citizen as I am....... whose Kenya is it ?

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