Michael Mundia Kamau
P.O. Box 58972
00200 City Square
Nairobi
Kenya

23rd April 2004

          aNARChy

The refusal by Kenya's Information Minister, Raphael Tuju, to heed a
court
ruling halting the proceedings of the committee he instituted to probe
the
conduct of radio station Kiss 100, is catastrophic. Raphael Tuju ought
to be
dropped as a government minister immediately and arraigned in court for
contempt proceedings. This will not however happen and obscurely worded
government statements will be used to dispatch this grave matter into
oblivion. The public will also read in the press about how President
Kibaki
summoned Raphael Tuju to State House Nairobi, for reprimanding.

Raphael Tuju's disastrous action is being made in the midst of another
shocking revelation that the NARC government irregularly approved the
implementation of a project to provide Kenyan passports at a cost of US
$
33,750,000, when a much less costly venture costing US $ 10,000,000,
was in
the offing. The blunders by Tuju and the Kenyan Treasury are being made
in
the wake of the appointment of four new acting judges of the High Court
of
Kenya by President Kibaki, the appointment of a new Police Commissioner
and
the concluding stages of the Goldenberg Commission of Inquiry into the
massive misappropriation of state funds during the Moi era. One wonders
whether the appointment of the four judges should be put on hold to
allow
for Raphael Tuju to be arrested and arraigned in court, or whether the
Goldenberg Commission of Inquiry should be temporarily halted to allow
for
the establishment of an inquest into the scandalous passport contract
award
of US $ 33,750,000, or whether the new Police Commissioner should
temporarily halt his number one priority to tackle crime, to enable him
personally prosecute Raphael Tuju for contempt of court.

NARC's post-Moi Kenya has become a bad dream and will surely become a
nightmare even faster. Parallels between NARC and Fredrick Chiluba's 
Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) in Zambia, can be drawn.
Parallels
between NARC and Bakili Muluzi's Malawi, can also be drawn. Both are
cases
of dashed dreams in which the purported reformists became despotic
tyrants.
Sound judgement, political acumen and foresight are lacking seriously
in
NARC and when this dawns on them in the coming months, panic and
desperation
will take charge to the detriment of all else. The law will be
fragrantly
broken and altered to protect individual interests. Fredrick Chiluba
unlawfully declared former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda persona non
grata asserting that Kaunda was Malawian, unlawfully incarcerated
Kaunda and
unlawfully and unsuccessfully tried to alter the Zambian constitution
to
grant him extended rule. There is no difference between this and
Raphael
Tuju's action.

A government is not judged by the content of it's credentials but by
it's
ability to connect with the people. A people friendly government may
not and
will not necessarily deliver on it's pledges, but it's presence in the
community will continually be felt. Human Beings appreciate this
regardless
of what may be the prevailing difficult conditions. Argentina's Che
Guevara,
Cuba's Fidel Castro and Tanzania's Julius Nyerere stand out in this
respect.
Unexpectedly, President George Bush of America also features in this
category, if only for his surprise 2003 Thanksgiving day visit to
American
troops in Iraq.  The world makes plenty of jokes about George Bush but
his
was one graceful act of leadership that will not be forgotten soon. The
Commander-in-Chiefs bear hugs with his troops were certainly no joke.

NARC has and is not making any effort at people friendly governance.
Attending a function at the Export Processing Zone (EPZ),  Labour
Minister
Ali Mwakwere "clarified" that the NARC government did not make a pledge
to
create 500,000 thousand jobs a year, but rather said that it would
create an
enabling environment for individuals to prosper in business. This is
not
people friendly. Transport Minister, John Michuki, has instituted
sweeping
and beneficial reforms in public sector transportation, part of which
has
resulted in the arbitrary and punitive increase in fares, at a time
that the
Kenyan economy is in recession. The government pledged to contain this,
but
has not. This is not people friendly. Roads and Public Works Minister,
Raila
Odinga, began a spirited campaign to demolish all structures on land
set
aside for road reserves and halted this exercise in between in public
interest and like Raphael Tuju, in defiance of a court order. This is
not
people friendly. Local Government Minister Karisa Maitha, was
implicated in
a tendering scam for the provision of insurance coverage and has not
satisfactorily cleared his name from the scandal. This is not people
friendly. Trade Minister Mukhisa Kituyi, Planning Minister Anyang
Nyongo and
Transport Minister John Michuki once again, were implicated in a
tendering
scam to supply cranes to the Kenya Ports Authority and like Karisa
Maitha,
have not satisfactorily cleared their names from the scandal. This is
not
people friendly. The very first business of the ninth parliament that
brought in NARC rule, was to increase the parliamentarians' salaries
and
emoluments. This is not people friendly.

NARC appears to have been a terrible mistake that Kenyans will live to
regret. It's near loss in the just concluded Kisumu Town West
parliamentary
seat by election is manifestation of people's disaffection with the
establishment. The low turn out and near victory by KANU was a protest
vote
whose implications should not be treated lightly. The KANU loser has
threatened to take the matter to court, citing several election
irregularities, the very courts that Raphael Tuju has defied. It is
pretty
obvious how the government will treat the verdict, should the court
rule
against NARC.



Michael Mundia Kamau