Miguna’s Bitter-Gate: Memoir-turned-Street-Tabloid!

Miguna’s Bitter-Gate: Memoir-turned-Street-Tabloid!

By Job

I read the entire book and will sum it up in 2 or 3 parts (time allowing). We were promised avolcano– butstreet tabloidis what we got!Peeling Back the Maskis an angry man’s collation of bar-room anecdotes; motivated by the author’s bitterness over unceremonious suspension from work. That's it in a nutshell. The memoir takes a very different turn from the point of Miguna’s brusque exit from the Prime Minister’s (PM’s) office.

The beginning is quite an interesting narrative of Miguna’s early life – well written and filled with descriptive details. There’s no doubt Miguna experienced atraumatic childhood– never saw his father (who died prior to his birth); endured abject poverty; and eventually went to live with abusive relatives. You really have to go through the entire book to start appreciating subtle signs that these early abusive experiences may have had effect on the author’s later life. I will not even attempt to psychoanalyze anything. All you have to do is read this book and pick for instance, the multiple (& conflicted) personalities of Miguna - described by himself. This may eventually help figure out how he handled his equally traumatic and gruff suspension.

Miguna describes himself on one hand as: ‘humongous’ (both in height and weight); with a strong and loud voice (especially when agitated); vocal; holding strong opinions; articulate; never fearing (power, wealth or position); and fierce defender of ideals he holds high. That actually reads more like the Miguna I’ve known (through cyber) over the years.The limelight-hogging, microphone-loving, loud and boisterous Miguna! Then there’s this other unfamiliar Miguna that he refers as the –No Drama Miguna: Here’s how he describes thereticent, reserved, lone-ranger Miguna:

Excerpt from Chapter 18 “Circling Wolves”:

It may come as a surprise to many to know thatI am also quite reserved and private.I hardly go out at night. I love listening to music and reading for hours on end. I am punctual and adhere to deadlines without fail. In fact, throughout my life, I’ve always completed school assignments ahead of my classmates. I work without supervision. Indeed, during the first year after my appointment as Raila’s advisor,I rarely made public statements and never appeared in the mediaunlessas part of a state or official event.That made some of my supporters refer to me in internet discussion platforms as “No Drama Miguna”. I can, and often tend to be reticent,especially in the midst of important assignments. I consider myself both a strategist and tactician. Before I comment on or commit to anything, I subject the prevailing issue to thorough research, analysis and introspection. This could be frustrating to those used to shallowness, sycophancy or rushed decisions.

Your guess is likely right which Miguna dominates this memoir. He comes out frankly as a self-confident character with an overblown sense of self-importance. Often, he exhibits both irrational grandiosity and explosive temperament.At some point (likely coincides with the time of his suspension from the PM’s office) - the tone of the book suddenly changes into that of anger and bitterness.

The tale from then on is apparently rushed – clearly in a bid to beat both the publishers’ and electoral calendar deadlines. Thrilling well recollected details that were abundant in the earlier portion of the memoir are now replaced by livid (and often emotive) bureaucratic intrigues and put-offs. Several mistakes and inaccuracies can also be noted in the later part – for instance 90% and 30% doesn’t sum to 100%. There was clearly a rush to achieve something.

An enraged and resentful pitch eventually dominates the rest of the book.Much later, Miguna also dabbles liberally into street gossips, unsubstantiated innuendoes, and half-truths which persist to the very end of the book.It degenerates into - either‘I heard this from Sally Kosgei’; or 'heard that from so and so'. Street and bar anecdotes about who could be sleeping with whom; who has acquired what property; and such, are peppered in to spice the memoir. Nothing of a smoking-gun expos`e. No factual evidence of wrong-doing.

His memoir virtually turns into a tabloid where cheap gossips about close friends, family, and colleagues flow almost recklessly. Unlike John Githongo’sactionable Anglo-Leasing dossier and the substantive“It’s Our Turn to Eat”whistle-blowing account;“Peeling Back the Mask”terribly fails to expose real evidence of graft in government. Granted, there’s a lot of name-calling, card-stacking, and throwing of the occasional big lie, but this book frankly fails to connect not just Raila Odinga,butCaroli Omondi andMohammed Isahakhiain any form of graft. The closest thing to whistle-blowing in the memoir is a rehashed World Bank audit report(previously exposed by media) which suggested misappropriation of KKV funds into unauthorized expenditures – such as fueling vehicles and other irrelevant undertakings. Miguna himself explains that those expenditures by officials such asRachel Gesami, Chabeda, and otherswere nevertheless redirected for authorized use (following the routine audit querries).

I only wish Miguna had a hand-in-jar detail showing Caroli or Isahakhia’s direct involvement in real graft – which I suspect may have actually proceeded right under Miguna’s nose.Was the ‘humongous and fierce’ Miguna probably too consumed fighting Kibwana and Muthaura to pick such little but crucial clues? Or junior staffers were too afraid to confide any tangible information toBig Loud Mig? Part of this failure is likely attributed toMiguna’s complex personality and emotional state– quite of which is peeled backby his own account in the book.

The Miguna who showed up in office most of the days must have been the confrontational, loud, and boisterous one. These traits don’t abode well for any insider investigator who wishes to get to the bottom of facts and unearth scams and corruption. It is sad that the closest whiff of corruption Miguna walked out of that office with is main street rumours - not even a single actionable file or tape. What a missed opportunity!

I suspect Miguna had been working on his memoir for some time – meticulously detailing his early life experiences –until the sudden suspension from the PM’s office.From that point – what suddenly entered into the memoir is arushed collection of pay-back propaganda driven by fury and sourness.What started as an excellent life story suddenly veers into a swirling narrative dominated by half-truths and a clearly slanted sense of reality. I suspect even the diplomats he touts as friends must be wondering!

Miguna doesn’t also (seem to) respect the unwritten dictum thatprivate conversations (shared in confidence) should essentially remain private. He mercilessly breaks this rule; often pitting friend against friend. Whatever the long-term motive, I doubt the end result would be favorable (to him and some of his friends alike).

Then there’s this tendency forquick rush into judgment.When Miguna described a friend who once visited him in Toronto - and asked to be connected to a female shopping-guide - he ends up defining that person’s “priorities in life” based on that single encounter. Reading between the lines, a great omission is that he actually never saw the friend until years later. He confesses he had no clue what happened between the two. Was there actual shopping or more to it? Miguna rushes into judgment through insinuation. How does Miguna conclude about his friend’s so called priorities if not through conjecture and innuendo? Talk of a memoir-turned-tabloid! You will find acres of innuendo and insinuations in this book - some of which don't make sense at all.

I find it unfortunate that an articulate lawyer like Miguna is so big onunsubstantiated street gossip–rolling them into a memoir for sale.It depicts some tawdry slyness on his part. For Pete’s sake this was supposed to be Miguna’s memoir. A journey from Magina village, through Toronto to Shell House ends up dwelling on salacious innuendos about who sleeps withMrs. ShebeshorAnne Kariuki!!!Helloooo!!!! Probably he should have just opted to confine the 614-pages to a long ego trip. “Iam so important”… “Iam so intelligent”… “How canIbe suspended?”… doesn't just blend well with "oh by the way,sheis so and so'ssqueeze" in my view. Miguna consistently paints a bigger-than-life image of himself – even literally attaching his height and weight into that perception. Why then invite all these othersmallandunimportantlosersinto thisvolcanicmemoir.

Then there’s this propensity (by Miguna) to invoke easily discernibleexaggerationsandpower-wordsso as to stroke powerful emotions. He’d probably wish every reader would cry along. A glaring example of a hyped emotion is the ordeal of escaping Gwassi by the night (as an 11 year-old). After a fight with his cousins, 11 year-old Miguna escaped from his uncle’s homestead at night. Well, young Miguna was lucky to get a truck-ride to Ahero (near Magina). He didn’t run into a Gwassi leopard or rhino. Here is how Miguna sums his feelings about his uncleAoyi- from whose homestead he was escaping:

The second time I communicated with Aoyi was after my relocation back to Kenya in 2007. Aoyi was by then an ailing old man. He had undergone prostate cancer treatment and was back at the Moi Referral and Teaching Hospital in Eldoret for further tests and treatment. While there, his son, Daudi, who was then teaching at a university in South Africa, called and asked if I could speak to his father. I did. That was the second and only time I had spoken to Aoyi since 1974.To me, Aoyi was an embodiment of raw and unmitigated evil.By not trying to prevent an 11-year-old boy from disappearing into the night in a place where wild animals roamed,he had shown real barbarism.But worse still, he never bothered to find out where I had gone or whether I was still alive. He made no attempt to send anyone to Magina to find out if they had heard of or seen me.That was bestial.Aoyi died in May 2011 and I attended the funeral.Death is the final equaliser.

In the preceding background, Miguna clearly says it wastwo cousins(not his uncle Aoyi) that had a physical altercation with him. From what he writes, he provides no proof Aoyi never bothered to find out if he was alive.Sending someonewasn't the only way of establishing that. Aoyi may have just - through word of mouth - learnt that his nephew Miguna arrived home safe and left it there. Such is a typical assumption Miguna throws around liberally in this book.Quick to find-fault, pin blame - then exaggerate its emotive effect!Finally, he wouldtypically exact revengethenwait for a final laugh.Well, he better watch out for these laughs...his might not be the last. Tossing a nuclear bomb upon his late uncle Aoyi's tomb (in this memoir) while acknowledging continuedfriendshipwith Aoyi's sons (likely to read the memoir) is bizzarre to say the least. Besides, the chronic-persistent bitterness is worrisome. Even upon death!Gud lawd!

PART II

Lying by omissionis a tactic applied abundantly in this memoir. The question is – was it deliberate or done sub-consciously through dissociation. Having combed through this book, I find enough reason to suggest both. Miguna deliberately omits to qualify certain riders in this memoir.

While angrily lamenting how much he spent on Raila’s trip (& delegation) to Canada in October 2006 (which heclaimsis$ 47,800), he is definitely omitting a couple of details. The most significant omission is that Miguna was investing into his relocation plan to Kenya through Raila Odinga. He was not handing some charity contribution to Raila Odinga’s campaign. He was very likely angling himself for either of two opportunities – to beshoe-edinto Nyando’s Parliamentary seat (by Raila); or whichever of the Attorney General (AG) or Solicitor General (SG) positions. Miguna himself inadvertently hinted at all this.

His Nyando bid failed miserably. Don't know the grounds upon which theMajestic People of Nyandorejected his bid - whether it had to do with his political acumen, inter-personal skills, or other factors. Miguna eventually viewed his landed position (Senior Advisor to PM), as a temporary ladder through which he was being propped into a bigger perch (AG or SG).

In his own words:

But his ‘plans’ (if he indeed did have them) for me to be the Solicitor General fell through.Moreover, it was obvious that Caroli and Isahakia didn’t want me and other members of the Pentagon technical team to work near or around the Prime Minister. Caroli seemed jealous and insecure of any competent lawyer with integrity being close to Raila. It wasn’t just me. He behaved the same way towards Mutakha Kangu and Otiende Amolo.

By extrapolation, it is clear Miguna had discussed with Raila plans to be appointed Solicitor General and/or Attorney General. This blatant job-canvassing and self lobbying by Miguna, and discussions about the morality behind them, is conveniently and deliberately overlooked in this memoir. There's not just this one lying by omission (or concealment) but more.

The author comes out as a restless guy - impatient he wasn’t ascending the career ladder fast enough (as apparently promised). But before he could come to terms with the disappointment, he was abruptly suspended. Then hell broke loose. The mask covering Miguna’s super-ambition – even into positions I now frankly believe he doesn't possess the right temperament for – was duly peeled in this memoir. All Kenyans must not forget that both the AG and SG positions are important positions in the country. Even temperament alone, should be a factor to consider when vetting applicants seeking these positions.

Miguna seems to have also misrepresented certain things sub-consciously. I guess the author's memory auto-deletes all good and positive interactions with people at the mere click of a button. Just where is the balance? This extreme one-sidednessmay signal psychological splitting (by dissociation). This involves completely blocking out (erasing from memory) any positive thing someone ever did. I also involves hyping the good you did to them. I suspect that the more folks try to suppress free interrogation of the author's thinking - the more attention will be directed just there.

Careful reading between the lines exposes that in Miguna’s world, truth seems terribly skewed. He seems to only recollect bad things folks did to him. It is unbelievable that one can coexist and tolerate only people who do terrible things towards them. I mean, how can you coexist for so long around the evil squad of Raila, Lone, Caroli, Isahakhia, Orengo, Nyong’o, Elderkin et al?

Thus, Miguna was entitled to get chaperoned into a top government post byevilRaila. Miguna was entitled to be taken-in by hiseviluncle Aoyi. Miguna chose to hang out almost daily with theevilwimpsOrengo and Nyong’o. Prof. Ngugi wa Thiong’o was revered by Miguna until he demanded to be paid his honorarium – thateviland greedyleech! Despite honoring Miguna’s invitation and travelling thousands of miles across the border into Canada (leaving behind all assignments and possible earning opportunities) Prof. Ngugi turned evil by merely asking for a small honorarium promised by Miguna. Holly Molly! The author needed to come to terms with reality.

Ironically, this same pattern is replicated for virtually all friends touted by Miguna (Prof. Oyugi, Sarah Elderkin, Oduor Ong’wen, Adongo Ogony etc.) save for Onyango Oloo. Does anyone notice the unusually high turn-over of friendships-cum-fallouts? Under circumstances that don’t square with reality! The memoir makes it very clear – “it’s all, their fault!” To punctuate the fault-finding and blame-pinning, Miguna colourfully juxtaposes a comparative contrast between all these folks (on one hand) and himself (on another). He drums it in the memoir that all these folks aren’t his match – they can’t rival his ‘super-man’ abilities, gifts, and gazillion skills.

So folks, if you were only expecting a tongue lashing of Raila Odinga, brace to read Miguna’s fury and slanderous jabs towards many others including: his own brother Eric (whom he charges for negligence in his sister’s death); his late uncle Aoyi; friends and colleagues like Sarah Elderkin, Salim Lone, Oduor Ong’wen, Wafula Buke, Prof. Edward Oyugi, Nduma Nderi, James Orengo, Prof. Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Prof. Anyang’ Nyong’o et al. I guess he believes this memoir is peeling back very many masks. I frankly conclude that the biggest mask being peeled here is Miguna’s own!

It's also embarrassing when one stumbles on obviousmisrepresentationsbordering on lies. Here is what Miguna says about one Obel Nyanja:

Obel Nyanja was for many years a one-man Raila ‘diplomat’. From his New Jersey base he spent millions on Raila’s numerous US tours. Then, after more than 20 years in the US, he decided to relocate to Kenya. Obel came with a well developed business plan to manufacture medicine. He wanted land and finance in order to construct a factory. He had lined up US companies he could collaborate with. Raila, who by then was Prime Minister, expressed interest and offered to assist him. But once Obel had arrived in the country, he couldn’t secure an appointment with Raila. Thrice, I helped him meet Raila, who in turn handed him over to Caroli. Caroli met Obel once, but then never answered his calls again. After eight months of Obel struggling to track down Caroli and Raila, his savingshad run out and he had to abandon his planned project and look for a job. He moved to Kisumu. Luckily, he eventually found gainful employment with a private company in Nairobi. He forgot about his dreams for a factory – at least for a while. It is alleged that in the meantime, however, Raila had his sisters registered as directors in Obel’s company and as of the time of going to press, credible rumours which I have not yet been able to substantiate have it that he has approached some Italian investors and is proceeding with the plans of starting the factory without Obel’s knowledge or involvement.

Fact:I have personally known Obel Nyanja for many years. I speak with him regularly.

Fact:Obel never spent millions on Raila’s numerous US tours. He in fact says he has never had such kind of money. He takes credit for largely coordinating diaspora fund-raisers alongside many other Kenyans.

Fact:Obel confirms he has always enjoyed access to Raila (& still does) – without requiring Caroli’s assistance.

Fact:Obel makes it certainly clear he has never been employed with any private company in Nairobi since his return to Kenya. He is currently employed as a Director in a public (government) parastatal.

Fact:Obel confirms he is in fact the one who has met a number of foreign (including Italian) investors regarding his business plans. The plans are very much alive - into the future/ not currently.

Fact:Obel suspects Miguna is trying to drive a wedge between him and the family of Raila Odinga. He promises to tackle the issue of these ‘baseless’ rumours directly with Miguna himself.

Fact:Obel promises to address all these lies, in his words, "at the right forum" and "at the right time".

You need a keen eye and sometimes happenstance to stumble upon and peel out such misrepresentations. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that (out of sheer vindictiveness), Miguna may have randomly picked up names of persons known to Raila, then concocted spicy propagandist tales based on baseless rumours and unsubstantiated gossip. He then probably went ahead to dupe the public he would publish a ‘volcanic’ tell-all exposing Raila Odinga. Combing the book only yields a street tabloid set out in a bitter and angry tone.
PART III

Ineffectiveness or Delusion?

I paid a lot of attention to Book Five which the author particularly titled“Standing Tall in the Corridors of Power”– whose time span starts shortly after Miguna was appointed by Raila into government. After blaming Raila, Orengo, Caroli and Isahakhia for extremely “poor negotiation skills” that led to ODM’s short-changing (and continued frustration) in the coalition government, the hard-working Miguna had a fantastic opportunity to now showcase how negotiations should be done. He details in the memoir how he came in to rescue the Prime Minister. Miguna writes about one of his initial priorities in government – defining the terms under which they were going to work in the Permanent Committee on the management of the coalition. This committee was co-chaired by Kibaki and Raila, who had now agreed to have Kibwana and Miguna serve as joint secretaries. At its very crucial first meeting, here is what happens in Miguna’s own words:

I drove in Raila’s official limousine to the President’s office at Harambee House that morning. The meeting was on the third floor of the same building. When we arrived, we could see the presidential motorcade and a beehive of security swarming around. The President was clearly in. As soon as we approached the President’s boardroom adjacent to his office, Muthaura emerged and requested that the Prime Minister should go into the President’s office. Caroli, Isahakia, Orengo and I entered the conference room and waited. Within minutes other members of the Permanent Committee also arrived and joined us.

There were only two things on the agenda: introductions and agreeing on the terms of reference and modes of working. When Raila, his nominees to the committee and I arrived, we found that Muthaura and his group had arranged the President’s conference room, with Kibaki’s chair sitting right at the head of the table with all the other seats lined on both sides. As soon as the ODM team entered, they sat on the seats presignated by Muthaura. I was aghast.

First, I placed my documents on the spot I had been reserved. Then I moved back to where the Prime Minister and the President were seated, positioning myself between them. I cleared my voice and announced that the joint secretaries needed time to “arrange the room”. Muthaura said everything was in order.

Orengo glanced at me and smiled slyly. That day Isahakia and Caroli had accompanied us even though they weren’t members of the Permanent Committee. “Excuse me sir, I hate to do this but the table hasn’t been properly arranged. We would require just five minutes to put everything in order before the meeting commences,” I addressed the President, while fixing Raila with my gaze, trying to tell him not to say anything.

The President stood, followed by Raila, then everybody else. As soon as the President’s chair was vacant, I got hold of it and carried it to the middle of the table on the side that the PNU were seated. I moved the other chairs sideways and created space for the President’s chair as Raila, Uhuru, Saitoti and Wetangula followed Kibaki into his office. I then created space for Raila’s chair across from where Kibaki’s chair was as I moved the other chairs around in the same manner I had done on the opposite side.

The other members of the committee were speechless. Isahakia and Caroli slithered away quietly. They knew that I was ready for war – both intellectually and otherwise. Nobody dared mess with me on such occasions. Muthaura, who had run off after the President, returned and started protesting that I had no authority to rearrange the seats.

“With all due respect Ambassador, I am a joint secretary to this committee; you are not even a member; so, you shouldn’t even be in this room, let alone dictating to me how seats should be arranged. Secondly, Sir, this is the Permanent Committee on the Management of the Grand Coalition Affairs. Both President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga are co-chairs of this committee; they are also the two Principals in this Governmnent. Unless you want to suggest, Sir, that you don’t recognise the Accord and the Constitution which put this government together…” That shut him up. I continued to shuffle chairs around as I spoke. After three minutes, I was done and said to Muthaura: “Please you may invite them back in.” I had set the tone for the meeting.

Consequently, the ensuing discussions were civil and productive, resulting in the ratification of the “Terms of reference and working modalities of the Permanent Committee on the Management of the Grand Coalition Affairs.” It gave the Permanent Committee responsibility for resolving disputes within the coalition and any other matter referred to it by the two principals. The Committee confirmed that all its meetings would be co-chaired by the President and the Prime Minister and that its membership would be limited and restricted to “nominees from each grand coalition partner appointed by the two principals”… neither party could impose its will on the other. Equality in form and substance was reaffirmed… the Committee would hold monthly meetings…the Committee was authorised to appoint task forces to deal with any specific grand coalition issue…decisions of the Permanent Committee would be by consensus…the budget of the Permanent Committee was to be sourced from the Exchequer.

Depending on how one views the above, some people could easily conclude that Miguna had a blitz of a great start. That’s until they read more to found out what Miguna’s approach eventually yielded. The truth that can’t be sugarcoated even by the author himself is that his interventionbackfired terribly.His gang-ho tactics proved to be worse for ODM and the PM. If Raila, Orengo and Caroli’s earlier negotiations gave ODM a short end of the stick, Miguna’s yielded a shut door on ODM’s face.

Immediately after that first encounter, head of civil service Francis Muthaura stone-walled the funding of the Committee’s secretariat – the one loftily negotiated through Miguna’s input. Miguna was to later realize he fared no better (in negotiations), if not worse. In his own words:

Even though the document stated that funds were to be “sourced” from the Exchequer,the mechanism of doing that wasn’t spelled out.Neither Professor Kibwana nor myself had authority to incur expenditure andthe instrument granted none.This meant that to perform any of the duties itemised above, the joint secretaries had to rely on the head of the civil service and President Kibaki’s permanent secretary, Francis Muthaura. More than anything else, this onerous task given to us – and not to the cabinet office where Muthaura held sway – would soon put us on a collision course with the senior bureaucrat

.
The negotiated document under Miguna's starting blitz fell short. Besides, he had literally stepped on the toes of both the President, & head of civil service (in terms of protocol). This was to be the same Remember this is the same Muthaura who was to later participate (cooperate) in the mischievous suspension of Miguna. After all, Miguna had literally showed him insubordination on day 1 of the Permanent Committee’s meeting. This incidentally is also the same Muthaura who had earlier signed Miguna’s employment letter – the same Muthaura who had earlier asked Kibwana to share his pay-slip with Miguna to give the latter a clue how much he was to earn.

In my view, Miguna deluded himself he had a fantastic start in government.His assessment was far off the mark. He had actually shot himself in the foot – leading to the eventual stonewalling and ultimate death of that Permanent Committee.To evaluate effectiveness of any intervention, one has to look at results.The results speak for themselves. Miguna himself laments about the state of the coalition right after his ceremonious entrance:

Thepersistent wrangles, the parochial disputes, the constant sabotage of rival parties and the confusion and lethargythat engulfed the government could and would have been avoided. Ultimately, with Raila’s position strengthened,there would have beenan effective check and balance at the executive level.

Chaos andshould'a, could'a, would'a(s)...In other words, Miguna clearly admits that theposition of the person he was advising (PM) was weakened;besides the perennial disputes, sabotage and overall ineffectiveness of government. What is again almost unbelievable is that despite these developments, the author still goes ahead to blame the Prime Minister for “not insisting on providing autonomy to the joint secretaries”. Wasn't it supposed to be Miguna, the superior negotiator - to chime in new (negotiation) expertise that Raila, Orengo and Caroli lacked?Ama?Didn’t Miguna tout himself as Raila’s supposed savior - who would strengthen his position? Wasn’t Miguna the one to tactfully and effectively “stand tall in the corridors of power”?

Yes, Miguna literally stood tall in front of Francis Muthaura – who eventually participated in the author’s (frankly callous) cut-down. Folks can sometimes delude or shoot themselves in the foot without even realizing. I am not in any way trying to claim Miguna got what he deserves. I still insist to this date that his so called suspension was not only malicious, but totally cruel and inhumane. However - thanks to Miguna’s own account of hisstyle of interactions within the corridors of power- I doubt whether his interventions would have produced positive results not just for ODM but for the country. Yes, a lot of “intellectual and other wars”mayhave been waged – some through the press; a lot of memosweredrafted - then soundly ignored; a lot of midnight-oil was burnt in ‘strategy’ sessions; but what did it all achieve in the end?Stalemate and confusion!

If you though Miguna was only derisive and hostile to the PNU coalition partners, you were wrong. He spared no contempt and barbs for his ODM side. There are a couple of instances to illustrate this, but here (below) is an example of how he describedODM Minister Mohammed Elmi:

Any perceptive person who has worked closely with Elmi knows that he is generally clueless. He tends to ramble over everything. He is incoherent, confused and shallow. Above all, he is desperate to be liked and appreciated. Elmi didn’t care about PNU’s repeated infractions.

Is Miguna really a team player who appreciates the various roles each individual brings to any group? Was Miguna really a good fit for what he calls ‘corridors of power’? Probably a more quiet and diplomatic study may have picked up tangible evidences of corruption for future action. That would have been one heck of a contribution towards real reform.

Coldness or over-sight?

Coming back to my earlier reference to a preponderance of bar room and street rumours in the memoir... I suspect in a dash to release the book prior to (Kenya’s next) campaign season, the author did not take time to reflect on consequences of many of his scandalous conjectures. It is fair to state that Miguna treats the many subjects of his sensational allegations rather cold-heartedly.


There is absolutely no sensitivity for instance to the family of Nduma Nderi whom he colorfully portrays as a fright-freak, stage-urinating, & state-imposed student leader (in the 80s) - a characterization already in dispute (see Wafula Buke’s Face-Book response). Whereas such talk may have easily been concocted campus tittle-tattle of the student campaign season, Miguna flamboyantly expresses it as a (disturbing) fact. Then there’s the other unsubstantiated depiction of Mrs. Rachel Wambui Shebesh as a treacherously adulterous woman running concurrent extra-marital affairs with more than one politician. I suspect there was not a thought of what such careless hearsay might have of the Shebesh household – which has both young and grown (university-level) offsprings. What of Mrs Odhiambo Mabona and Anne Kariuki’s families? Even to Dr. Sally Kosgei whom he regards as a friend, Miguna portrays her as a chronic originator of gossip and rumours – such as the Caroli-bought-Heron-Court-Hotel myth. She is quoted quite a bit in such matters.

There was also another bizarre accusation by the author regarding Odhiambo Mbai’s death. He pitilessly accuses Raila of shedding crocodile tears when the latter rushed to Nairobi Hospital and found Mbai dead. His reason – because Raila (whom he eloquently derides for having no power over the police) has so far done nothing to find Mbai’s killers! Good gracious! For someone (Raila) he describes as an emotional weakling, I find this not only contradictory but also cold. The fact is – Miguna controlled no monopoly over friendship to Mbai. The latter was in fact Raila’s trusted advisor on devolution matters. There’s a trend of casual heartlessness by the author – even towards his family. A brother is blamed for a sister’s death and an uncle’s death is callously celebrated.

This is just an observation – there seems to bevery little sensitivitywhile peddling these tales many of which are obviously (mere) rumours. It seems the allure to cash-baiting (but unemotional) sensationalism was a big factor in penning this memoir. One lesson that political parties (and aspiring female politicians) must take from this memoir is that party decisions to redress gender parity in representation could be terribly mistaken (or misrepresented). It seems many folks give credence to spicy rumours of amorous relationships between party leaders and (most) women nominated to parliament – something quite unfortunate.

My final verdict: What was set out to be a thrilling memoir (judging from its beginning) ended up a train-wreck - following the suspension saga. Rage and fury took over - reflected more towards the later portion of the book. Street gossip (bad-mouthing erstwhile office rivals and the employer) found its way into, and eventually clogged the memoir. A rushed finishing (with no researched collection of substantive or actionable evidence) was executed - probably to beat the publisher's and electoral deadlines. All these diminished the book's cumulative value. The author came out as bitter, angry, unforgiving, and incapable of controlling emotions when severely tested. I wish him (and his family) well though!

Read more:http://jukwaa.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=7183&page=11#ixzz22LWy83Ji