[ad_1]
By MACHARIA GAITHO
Other words by this author
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr. Raila Amolo Odinga, let me address you as UhuRao.
This is a practical nickname that avoids the need for a mouthful at every reference. Mr. Kenyatta also echoes the reference to the UhuRuto partnership with your Vice President William Ruto.
If you take out your calendars and you count, you'll see that it's been 20 weeks since you were on the steps of Harambee House and exchanged a handshake that reverberated through the landscape.
Many of us were fascinated and captivated by your joint promise of ending a generation of family and community political animosities and by launching a bold new initiative aimed at settle the source of suspicion, hostilities, grievances and conflicts. Kenya is a powder keg of ethnic conflagration.
We were filled with hope and optimism that, eventually, Kenyans stopped burying their heads in the sand, seized the opportunity to exorcise the demons of the past and finally began to lay the foundation for a peaceful, stable and united nation where all individuals and communities can claim equal ownership.
Unfortunately, he's starting to look like a postponed dream, another of those fraudulent political bridges to nowhere that we've been sentenced to for so long.
Dear UhuRao, 20 weeks have been ample enough for your Building Bridges initiative to show real signs of progress.
After the announcement of the new movement, you also named your hand-picked cohorts – Martin Kimani and Paul Mwangi – to jointly lead a secretariat that would chart the way forward.
But after that, the couple seemed to have fallen asleep for seven weeks – before you unveiled a team of 14 "drivers".
This was not an inspiring team, dominated by early-stage church leaders for their self-proclaimed spokesman and elder roles for your respective ethnic political formations rather than for fidelity to the proclaimed faith. They simply do not look like the kind of personalities who can chart new, progressive, imaginative, courageous and daring paths, outside the direction established by the appointing authorities.
Equally disturbing, UhuRao, your initiative Building Bridges seems to have come back deep sleep since the bargaining team was unveiled at the end of April
This was another 12 weeks wasted. In the meantime, brutal and selfish policies around delinquent political alliances and premature campaigns for the 2022 elections have diverted the attention of two of the most important issues
including Building Bridges initiative. from the usual path of destructive ethnic competition to a brave new world of lasting peace and shared prosperity. The other is the revival of the war against corruption.
UhuRao, you proclaim unfailing support for the campaign to eradicate institutionalized corruption. The rampant theft of public resources by those occupying positions of power and authority has been the cornerstone around every Kenyan's neck since independence. Corruption diverts money from education, health care, water, roads, law and order, social services, food security and other critical public investments to fuel the pockets of some destructive political campaigns. the very heart of the government resisting and sabotaging the anti-corruption war.
They play the old map of political and ethnic victimization, inciting their followers with retrograde and dangerous narratives "our people are finishing up," which can easily trigger ethnic conflict.
UhuRao, you can only stop these reactionary elements by lending unwavering political support to the war on corruption.
Together, you can mobilize your legions of supporters to recognize that the war on corruption is a war to safeguard their own resources; and a war that mercenary parliamentarians can only sabotage at the risk of losing their seats.
Of course, this crusade must be conducted fairly without any hint of political victimization or favoritism
. 1 agenda, so it must be paired with the Building Bridges initiative.
Dear UhuRao, it follows that now we must hasten to shoot the building bridges out of hibernation. Those you have entrusted to drive must wake up and be seen as worth the heavy task.
Building bridges will also make more sense when it will extend beyond a "private" UhuRao family and a national conversation community conversation.
This is the only way to triumph the reactionary forces of corruption and ethnic incitement and to fulfill its sacred mandate.
[ad_2]
Source link
