By MAKAU MUTUA
Posted Saturday, March 31 2012 at 16:42
Posted Saturday, March 31 2012 at 16:42
The so-called “Limuru II” meeting last week was an exercise in ritual sacrifice.
At the “altar of sacrifice” was Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta. In a dark tragedy reminiscent of the ancient Greeks, Gema leaders seem to have decided that Mr Kenyatta must be “sacrificed” for their own political survival.
It’s a classic of “parents eating their young”. Gema seems to believe that its renaissance depends on the “death” of its “prince”.
Mind you, Gema has very little to do with the majority of the Gikuyu, Embu and Meru peoples.
But it has usurped their political agency, and purports to speak for them.
That’s why Mr Kenyatta must think hard and long. He shouldn’t be duped into “committing suicide” for Gema.
I want to state categorically that Mr Kenyatta is completely innocent of crimes against humanity.
He hasn’t been tried, or convicted, by the International Criminal Court. In fact, the ICC may never try, let alone convict, him.
If, and when, he’s tried, the International Criminal Court prosecutor will have to prove “beyond reasonable doubt” that Mr Kenyatta is guilty. We are a long way from there.
Which begs several poignant questions. Why is Gema, a myopic tribal group, poking the ICC in the eye?
Why is Mr Kenyatta, whose future hangs on a thread, allowing Gema to play Russian roulette with his life?
Methinks the son of Jomo would do well to free himself from Gema. Gema is “against” Mr Kenyatta. It’s not “for” him.
The DNA of the leaders of Gema-like groups is simple. They conflate their narrow interests with those of “their” communities.
Parasitic
They are parasitic and drink from the blood of “their” kinsmen. This is a global phenomenon.
In the United States, for example, the Republican Party, whose policies favour the rich, draws a lot of its support from poor whites.
Ethnocentric groups have no moral compunction in using – and abusing – any of “their” members to avoid political oblivion.
Mr Kenyatta needs to ask himself why Gema has “rallied” to his side. If Mr Kenyatta was so special to them, why did the same Gema leaders abandon him for Narc’s Mwai Kibaki in 2002?
One could think of Gema leaders as “vultures”. They circle above looking for either a fallen animal, or easy prey.
Then they swoop in for the kill. They easily smell blood. I am afraid they’ve done so in Mr Kenyatta.
On the surface, they feign pain for his woes at The Hague. But their double-speak and crocodile tears betray them.
Their anger at the ICC is manufactured. It’s fake and phony. They aren’t angry. They see the ICC as the perfect opportunity to aggrandise themselves.
They are determined to use the ICC to manipulate “their” people to vote for them in the next elections.
They believe only those who “support” Mr Kenyatta – and bitterly attack the ICC – will win. I think that Mr Kenyatta is road kill for Gema leaders.
One of them, Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi, used to be a serious intellectual. I believe he still has his marbles, even though he’s become Gema’s ideologue-in-chief.
One of them, Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi, used to be a serious intellectual. I believe he still has his marbles, even though he’s become Gema’s ideologue-in-chief.
The Harvard-trained lawyer knows that Mr Kenyatta’s fortunes at The Hague are dire.
He also knows that it’s disingenuous to pretend that Gema can “petition” the ICC or the UN to postpone The Hague trials against Mr Kenyatta.
The idea is nutty and laughable. So, why is Mr Murungi serving Mr Kenyatta such “sweet” Kool-Aid?
It’s a cruel and heartless ploy that is exploiting Mr Kenyatta’s vulnerability. As senior counsel Paul Muite said, it’s “very sad”.
Competent lawyers
Mr Kenyatta himself is a bright man. He seems to be represented by competent lawyers.
So, why would he, and they, allow Gema to toy with him so callously. Even more seriously, why would he allow himself to be cast as an antagonist of an “evil” ICC?
Surely, Mr Kenyatta must know that you don’t win any points at the ICC by stoking ethnic passions.
Isn’t that the “demon” that caused the 2008 mayhem and brought the ICC into Kenya?
Why would Mr Kenyatta want to confirm to the ICC that he’s a tribal project? It’s not a winning strategy for him.
Not unless he believes that he has nothing to lose now. But that would be absurd.
Limuru II was clearly a political stunt. But it’s a stunt that can only hurt Mr Kenyatta, both at The Hague and at home.
It doesn’t paint a pretty picture to the ICC that the Mungiki was well represented.
In Kenya, the Gema meeting could only alienate other communities and remind them of Gema’s arrogance and patronage during the Kanu-Kenyatta regime.
But I will tell you one thing – it certainly will help Gema leaders in their electoral battles in their backyard. It’s cynical, but classic political demagoguery. How that could help Mr Kenyatta’s national presidential fortunes escapes my mind.
I cannot see any conceivable way in which Mr Kenyatta remotely benefits from such posturing. It’s simply outlandish.
My conclusion is that Gema will most likely doom Mr Kenyatta’s fortunes. I can see how Mr Kenyatta may believe that he’s using Gema.
He’s beleaguered, and may feel that he needs Gema to stand solidly behind him to stave off the ICC and propel him to State House.
This would be in the category of wishful thinking, not thoughtful wishing. The ICC just convicted DRC warlord Thomas Lubanga on war crimes charges.
Mr Kenyatta can avoid a similar fate. That’s why Gema, and those who wish him well, should stop manipulating him for their own selfish political gain.
Makau Mutua is Dean and SUNY Distinguished Professor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of the KHRC.
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