PROFESSOR MAKAU MUTUA RESPOND's TO GORDON TETI

Bwana Teti:

I also want thank you for your kind and considered response. You are right about my history -- I was exiled to Tanzania in 1981 by the Moi regime for advocating for reform as a student. I barely escaped abduction and forcible return to Kenya by Tanzanian security forces in the dragnet that returned the 1982 coup plotters. After that I decided to leave Tanzania and headed for further studies at Harvard University. Throughout, I have remained focused on the reform of the Kenyan state. It is in that context that I was in Kenya in 2002-03 where I headed the truth commission task force. As you know, President Kibaki and NARC refused to establish the truth commission.

I want you to know that I speak directly and honestly whatever the issue. I am only guided by principle and good faith no matter the subject or the individual. This applies to my scholarship as well as my political commentary. It matters not what individuals or groups are the subject of my analysis. My quest always is to find out how we can reduce powerlessness and allow the people to empower themselves. This has been the mission of the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the organization which I co-founded with Maina Kiai, Willy Mutunga, Kiraitu Murungi, and Peter Kareithi. As you know, I still serve as the chair of its board.

With respect to the subject at hand, I have nothing personal against Raila Odinga who is known to me and with whom I have had discussions about the future of our country. But I regard it as my obligation to seriously interrogate all those who seek to lead us. This is what democracy is all about. If someone does not like what I write about an issue or a person, they are free to respond, but they are not free to try to silence me. Trying to silence me is futile because it will not succeed and it is wrong because it is intolerant of democratic values. In any case, often the answer to speech one considers bad is more speech.

As you know, I have written many articles criticizing political leaders in Kenya for betraying the people. I initially supported NARC because I saw some hope in it, as did the majority of Kenyans. But in 2004, I was one of the first reformers to attack the Kibaki regime for its betrayal. You may not recall this, but both Isaiah Kabira, the State House press aide and Professor Peter Anyang' Nyong'o, then minister for planning, bitterly attacked me in the press for exposing the corruption within the NARC government and its betrayal of reforms. Is it not ironic today that Prof. Nyong'o is saying what I said in 2004?

What upsets me about Mr. Odinga is his proclivity for going to bed with anyone who supports him. He was in bed with Moi from 1997-2002 as you know. Today, he is in bed with William Ruto, Henry Kosgey, Kalonzo Musyoka, Mutula Kilonzo, Sally Kosgey, Fred Gumo and many others who are the architects of the ruin of our country. Most of these people have been implicated in gross human rights violations and economic crimes. How can Mr. Odinga be a reformer if this is the company that he keeps? These people would have been of great interest to a truth commission. In my view, these flip-flops make Mr. Odinga an opportunist in spite of his history of struggle and reform. I would be happy to work with Mr. Odinga to reform the country, but not in the company of such folks.

Finally, I want to draw your attention to the fact that the folks who complain that I am unfair to Mr. Odinga say nothing when I expose Mr. Musyoka or even President Kibaki. This year, I wrote a piece in which I argued that Mr. Musyoka was not fit to rule Kenya. How come no one complained then? Let us not apply double standards when we analyze potential leaders. If we are true democrats, we must subject all of them to the same exacting standards of scrutiny.

Once again, thanks!

  Makau Mutua
SUNY Distinguished Professor
Professor of Law
Floyd H. & Hilda L. Hurst Faculty Scholar
Director, Human Rights Center
State University of New York
Buffalo Law School
626 O'Brian Hall
Buffalo, New York 14260
Tel: (716) 645-2311
Fax:(716) 645-2064