Re: [youthagendayln] FROM LAMENTATIONS 4:2 TO ACTS 101

Orina,

I think you are the one who is missing the point. What you need to realize is that there are many other passengers in this bus who also have strong opinions on where this bus should go and how fast it should go.

You have to recognize that there are many players and many perspectives in this game of politics. Our country is clearly changing, but not single person is going to dictate the pace or the direction of this change but a collective us. I am therefore not dismissive of the passengers as you are. If Kibaki-the driver, thought that he could drive this bus anywhere he wants to and as fast as he can, I believe he would have arrested Kalonzo, Raila, Ruto and banned ODM like Kenyattaa did with Jaramogi andKPU. It is because Kibaki knows that the passengers in this bus have a voice and would not take that kind of behavior lying down, that he has not done it.

I therefore conclude that these passengers are not as passive and helpless as you would have us believe.

Let me help you with a few thoughts. You have to respect the views of all Kenyans including the people you disagree with them and avoid grouping people as intelligent Kenyans and I guese, unitelligent Kenyans.

Kenyans like you asked for democracy but now that we have democracy, the same people like you seem to be impatient with democracy and is not giving democracy the time it needs to correct the extremes of the last 45 years but you want a revolution instead of measured and deliberate changes. You forget that there are other people in this country who may not necessarily care for the changes that you think are so important.

This is why we have elections so that a majority can decide where this country goes and not a minority elite either on the right or on the left who somehow think they are right.

I believe that through free, fair and regularly held elections, a country can manage its changes very well and avoid extremists on either side of the political divide. The reason why Kenya moved so much to the right during the Kenyatta and Moi regimes is because it was a dictatorship and there were no elections. Moi's two elections were neither free nor fair and nothing changed.

The first elections close to being free, and fair were the elections in 2002 which gave us Kibaki. Because Kibaki's strong political base is to the right of center, Kibaki could not move all the way to the center and just nudged a bit to the left. Because he resisted the push to move all the way to the center, I believe he is going to lose this elections if it is fairly and freely held.

What we need to do now as a country is to make sure that the elections remain free, fair and regular then the country, like water, will find its own level.

ODM has clearly positioned themselves at the center while people like you are clearly to the left of ODM. This is why ODM will win this elections if it is free and fair because the correction or the movement to the left is not complete.

However, the movement to the left must not be too drastic as to put this country into a tail spin. This is why I believe that ODM must resist its far left members from hijacking the party and moving it to the far left. This is also why ODM members such as Kalonzo, Mudavadi and Ruto are so important because they will not allow the party to move too far left.

The fight between Kalonzo and Raila can be seen in this light. There are those who believe that Raila will move this country to the left of the center and there are those who believe that Kalonzo will move this country to the right of the center even if to the left of Kibaki. Kalonzo and Raila are therefore claiming the center and the People of Kenya as a whole have to decide how far they want to move this country.

Because Raila is seen to be the most left leaning of the major candidates, the Hummer can be said to be a political assurance to those in the right that Raila is not moving to the far left as they may fear.

Obungu