Finance Minister Hon. Amos Kimunya Heckled and Booed in Minnesota

By Robert Nyagudi , MN USA

The Minister for Finance Hon. Amos Kimunya has been giving a series of lectures on the economic strategic plan of Kenyan Government to the Kenyans in Diaspora including Washington DC , Atlanta , Minnesota etc and will be heading to Canada for the same lecture. This is done in an effort and with hope that it will attract Kenyan in Diaspora to participate in the Kenyan Economy by investing in Kenya companies such as KenGen, Postapay, Nairobi Stock Exchange etc. Loaded with graphical PowerPoint presentation the man at treasury gave a good academic lecture on the strategic plan Kibaki’s government is putting in place to revive the economy from the current 5.8% growth to a near 10% growth by the year 2030.

The Untold Story about Kenya
During the Investment Forum in Minnesota organized by the Kenyan Embassy, the Minister did well in articulating the facts according to the Governments statistical findings. Amazingly the Minister failed to convince his audience through his lecture which according to many did not address how the current economic growth and all these plans are benefiting a common mwanainchi who most Kenyans in Diaspora are compelled to financially support through constant remittances to their families. Many thought that Hon. Kimunya’s lecture was boring, long and dry, although there were some who agreed that “there are strides this Government has made worth noting and Hon. Kimunya has articulated the same very well.” It was strange that several times the Honorable Minister shamelessly solicited for clapping from wanainchi as he painful sojourns through his lecture that he dubbed “The untold story about Kenya ”

Politics in the Lecture Although in his preamble Hon. Kimunya stated categorically that him and his team which was widely from a one region in Kenya were not in Minnesota for political reason, he failed to steer clear of politics. It will be noted that Finance ministry is currently managed by Kenyans from one region not to mention that the top positions in most Parastatals and Government Ministries are staffed by people from one region. Notably these sectarian appointments have been done and continue to be done with a lot of impunity by the same government who was elected in 2002 by all Kenyans. The Hon Minister hailed Kenyans in Diaspora for investing in Nairobi Stock exchange saying when some politicians go around saying that the NSE is supported by drug money is tantamount to saying the Kenyans in Diaspora are drug dealers.

Past and Current Mistakes Not Addressed
In his lecture, Hon. Kimunya constantly stated that he is not going to address the past mistakes and what the Government has not done claiming that this Government has made strides in tax revenue collection; however how the revenue has been used “ that is a totally different topic that I will not be addressing today” he said. Similarly Hon. Kimunya trivialized and deliberately refused to address the looting of Kenyans economy done by certain individuals such as the Goldenberg and Anglo leasing scandals. Hon. Minister stated that anti- corruption has made a lot of strides and although the prosecution and punishment has not been done yet, it is not all about prosecuting the perpetuators of these economic crime but equally important was to build a fence around the economy so that there will be no way any other looter can find their way into the economy. Hon. Kimunya stated that although Kenyans may not be hearing much of what is being done to bring economic looters to justice, a lot is being done in to ensure justice prevail. He further warned that revenge against and hanging of the perpetrators will not help heal the economic wounds. “Has the shoot to kill directive by the late President Kenyatta help solve the problems the same directive sort to alter?" He paused.

Insecurity not an Issue
The Minister ran in trouble when during Q and A session when he blundered by stating that “insecurity is not an issue in Kenya anymore” at this point the Hon. Minister was booed and heckled as he endeavored in vain to redeem himself from his careless and insensitive utterance. Hon. Kimunya who was answering question while seated was forced to stand and address the balance of the questions while on his feet. It is common knowledge that Kenyans have been subjected to increased incidences of thuggery, robbery with violence, as well as killings in cold blood of relatives and friends and all sorts of insecurity such as clashes in Mt. Elgon region, Kibera, and Mathare just to mention a few. The Ministers endeavors to make good his statement was even more annoying to the audience who booed and heckled some more causing Hon. Kimunya to loose his cool. Embarrassed and disoriented he later owned up about insecurity in Kenya but gave a mediocre rebut that there is insecurity everywhere in the world including America and that is why there are police officers with guns radios and police cars all over. At this point some people decided to walk out in protest claiming they are “not ready to hear any more rubbish and lies from a Finance Minister”

More Booing and Heckling
As though the above was not a lesson enough the Hon. Minister was asked if the present government is voted out of power come general election are they willing to support the incoming regime in implementing these strategic plans? To this question he played a game of musical chairs for a long time failing to address the question. This irked the audience who begun shouting “stop beating about the bush”……”Answer the question”……..”sema ukweli” ……..”Will you support the next government simple YES or NO?” At this point the Hon. Kimunya, again blundered by quoting an infamous statement of the Kibaki re-election campaigns “if it is working why fix it.” This is in apparent reference to a claim that Kibaki’s government is performing at expectation and should be re-elected. Still in his bid to answer the question about supporting the next government, the minister angered the audience by saying that since Kenyans are the once who will decide who is their leader, should Kenya make a mistake to vote Kibaki out then they will move to the opposition and show leadership. Any more of what the minister said to answer this question was drowned by the booing and heckling from Wanainchi forcing the Master of Ceremonies to cool people down as he tried to stop Hon. Kimunya from answering any further questions simply to avoid more embarrassment.

Long Speeches after abbreviated Q and A Due to shortage of time, Q and A was abbreviated yet it was interesting to see both Ambassador Rateng Ogego and Hon Amos Kimunya who had earlier talked and fielded questions came back on the platform for another set of long speeches thereby eliciting mummers from the audience that “why did they stop Q and A only to create more time for speeches which wanainchi were already tired of. In his chest thumping characteristics Ambassador Ogego boast that he knows how to handle hecklers so the heckling that was done today did not bother him much. He also asked why Kenyans can not behave like the Americans. Although in retrospect Americans believe in freedom of speech hence are always free to boo and heckle anyone who happen to peddle lies and unpopular propaganda in any public forum. The audience at this forum did exactly that. Hon. Kimunya left the Edge Christian Worship Center a tired, embarrassed and a socked man. Hopefully the dinner hosted in his and his entourage’s honor helped cool him down.

Robert W. Otieno-Nyagudi
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