Saturday, December 11, 2010

Ranneberger got it all wrong on Raila







  BY PHILIP ETALE

Reading the Secret Cables from Nairobi and authored by the US Ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger depicting Prime Minister Raila Odinga as anti-reformist, I fail to know what facts he has to qualify this.

When he came to Kenya on official duty in 2006, I vividly remember witnessing President Barack Obama, then US Senator for Illinois State introducing a shy Mr Ranneberger to the cheering crowds at Kogelo Primary School as America’s new Ambassador to Kenya. Yes that was when he came to Kenya.

The WikiLeaks on Ranneberger’s secret cables about Kenya and its leadership clearly portray him as a man who thrives on rumour, wining and dining with rumour mongers and a person with absolutely no diplomatic morals. His diplomatic credentials have now become questionable.

By saying that Mr Odinga is anti-reformist, I believe Mr Ranneberger has got a hidden agenda which he and those he drives around with in his official car only know.

To remind Mr Ranneberger, when he came to Kenya in 2006, Mr Odinga had been around for 60 years. Over half of those years, Mr Odinga had been through a lot. He was detained, tortured, roughed-up, tear-gased and humiliated in public and before his family in the name of fighting for reforms.

Mr Odinga is one of the few daring politicians who rose up against all odds to challenge the regime of retired President Daniel Arap Moi on issues of poor governance, undemocratic way of running State affairs and a lack of commitment to reforms.

Mr Odinga was one of the then Young Turks of the early 1990’s who braved the brutality, beatings and trigger-happy police officers sent by the Moi regime to frustrate their efforts to push for the re-introduction of political pluralism in Kenya. 

He was one of the many politicians and Kenyans who stood firm in November 2005 to say no to the proposed Constitution which was drafted in defiance of the wishes of the people through their representatives during the Bomas of Kenya Constitutional Review talks that lasted almost two and a half years.

The draft christened “The Wako Draft” was defeated at the referendum.

This year, Mr Odinga as the Prime Minister of Kenya teamed up with President Kibaki to drum up support for the proposed new constitution which was later approved by Kenyans at the referendum and later promulgated by President Kibaki in an historic occasion held at the Uhuru Park grounds in Nairobi.

During the struggle for change in Kenya, many lives were lost. Innocent lives were forced to heaven by the brutal regimes that were against reforms in Kenya. Mentioning Raila’s name in public was the greatest crime one would commit. It had severe consequences which included incarceration without trial and forced disappearances.  Indeed, Raila was an enigma that even Mzee Moi failed to understand. He fought for the rights of Kenyans and the freedom that they wanted but they could not show, due to fear of victimization.

Dumping Raila’s name in a dustbin that has names of people who cannot stand up and claim their contribution to reforms is like likening Jesus Christ to Satan.

Mr Ranneberger is only five years old in Kenya and cannot claim to be very conversant with the History of the country. He has not only insulted the persons of the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic of Kenya, but also the Sovereignty of the country and its people.

Mr Odinga’s contribution to the betterment of the lives of the people of Kenya speaks for itself. Even a standard one pupil can attest to this more that Mr Ranneberger would.

It is now evident that Mr Ranneberger is working for some forces who want to use him and the influence the US has over Third World countries to discredit established leaders and bring his cronies into the limelight.

It is no wonder Mr Ranneberger has been moving around the country in the company of “some young men and women”, could it be the reason he calls some leaders “Old Guard?” Mr Ranneberger should know that his behavior is unbecoming of a friend and that very soon cables about his character and association will be released for public scrutiny.

A good Diplomat respects his/her host country, its people and the leadership. A simple definition of a Diplomat for the benefit of Mr Ranneberger is one who uses skill and tact in dealing with others. This is one fundamental thing that he lacks and he ought to learn. He should not just listen to a few individuals who harbour Presidential ambitions but with no support only hoping on the US to install them into power. We know the persons Mr Ranneberger walks around with and whom he has a close ear for even when they are telling him nothing.

He should thank God that he came to Kenya after President Moi’s retirement; otherwise, he would have sought advice from Mr Smith Hempston (R.I.P).
Mr. Ranneberger should know that he can stand tall without standing on someone and that he can be a victor without having victims. What if Julianne Assange had not stumbled upon these Cables? What would the US think of Mr Odinga they know as a reformist? Wouldn’t the US think he is just a pretender?

Mr. Odinga should now know who his true friends are. Yes, he is a friend of the US but not Mr. Ranneberger. As a matter of fact, Mr. Ranneberger represents the old regime of President G.W. Bush and not the present school of thought. As Alan Cohen said, “the people who matter will recognize who you are”. The true friends of Mr. Odinga (in the US) will recognize who he really is.

The good US Envoy to Kenya, Mr Ranneberger should start dealing with what is the reality or he can be rest assured that the reality is going to deal with him. Its only the Biblical Moses who could stop the flow of the river and it so obeyed. But the Earthily Michael will not. The river is flowing and it is unstoppable.

He surely owes an apology to the President, the Prime Minister and the People of Kenya who have all been so good to him for the five years he has been on the tour of this great Nation.

(The writer is a journalist and Director of Communication-ODM)


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