It has often been said that when you live in a glass house, do not throw stones. When it comes to things like reform, democracy and good governance, former assistant minister and Subukia Member of Parliament Michael Koigi wa Wamwere is a man in glass house.
Wamwere likes passing himself off as a reformist and a nationalist. A patriot. He derives his self-proclaimed accolades from the fact that both former presidents Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi detained him for being a political activist. No doubt, Wamwere considers that he has the best democratic credentials in the country. This is despite numerous question-marks that surround these over-praised credentials.
Writing in The Star, Thursday 22 March, Mr. Wamwere writes with the righteousness of St Michael, the Archangel. He calls Prime Minister Raila Odinga a dictator, because the Premier has dared suggest that people who did not support the New Constitution during the referendum in 2010 cannot be trusted to implement it.
Of course, Wamwere was one such a person. He was unequivocal and passionate in the extreme in his avowals against the then Draft Constitution, ending up in the unfamiliar company of former President Moi, William Ruto and other people whom Wamwere would ordinarily classify as democratic retrogrades.
Koigi wa Wamwere rose to temporary fame as a democrat of sorts in Kenya’s Fourth Parliament (1979-1983). He was among a small number of parliamentarians who dared question the autocratic Kanu regime. For this, he was detained without trial in 1982, along with other patriots. His contribution to the struggle for democracy this far cannot be questioned. However, a new Wamwere began metamorphosing out of the democrat of the 1980s.
At some point in the struggle, Wamwere escaped to Tanzania. Under rather mysterious circumstances, he was able to acquire an exclusive, luxurious house in one of the salubrious suburbs of Dar es Salaam. He stayed here for a while, with other people who became members of the Kenya Patriotic Front (KPF) that he formed in exile.
Up to the very end, KPF remained a village party. KPF did not even pretend to recruit from outside Nakuru District. Nor did it bring a single member outside Wamwere’s tribe on board. In 1992, Wamwere declared himself a presidential candidate on a KPF ticket. This is the democratic nationalist that Wamwere is. He did not even ask anybody to nominate him for the presidential ticket.
There were other very instructive developments, too. After a while, Wamwere left Dar es Salaam for Norway, where he settled down as a comfortable refugee. Shortly afterwards, a power struggle erupted among his political orphans in Dar es Salaam. Mr. Wamwere weighed in, directing that his brother, Mr Kuria wa Wamwere, who had all along been his deputy, would be the party leader, until he came back. The patron of the party was his mother.
Such is the gentleman who accuses other people of what he calls “negative ethnicity” and nepotism. Wamwere returned to Kenya to contest for Parliament in 1992 and won a seat. During his third year in the House, revelations emerged to the effect that he had enjoyed for three years an allowance from Norway, on grounds that he was allegedly disabled.
This was an allowance reserved for disabled poor people. Mr. Wamwere was earning a salary as an able-bodied MP while also getting a disability allowance from Norway. The reader should draw independent conclusion on matters of integrity here. I will say little of the ethnic chauvinist that Wamwere became in President Kibaki’s first term in office. As assistant minister for information and broadcasting, Wamwere issued one draconian edict to gag the media after the other.
He campaigned for a thoroughly flawed Constitution in the 2005 referendum and opposed a progressive Constitution in 2010. Such is the ‘democrat and nationalist’ who questions other people’s nationalism and democratic credentials. Away from Wamwere’s own obvious flaws and contradictions, are there merits in the suggestion that we should be wary of those who opposed the Constitution? History has lessons for us.
In 1960-62, Kenyans negotiated the Independence Constitution in Lancaster, UK. When independence came, those who had opposed the Constitution moved swiftly to claim the reins of power. They used the power to mutilate the Constitution. Is there cause to be wary of those who opposed the Constitution in 2010, Wamwere included?
Today Wamwere is preparing to have another stab at the Presidency. Nobody has nominated him. He has however given himself the party ticket. Such is democracy.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment