Of Kibaki, Raila, Marende and Sex Boycotts

2009 started with the usual posturing among the greedy lot of politicians. With each claiming to be the legitimate force, Kibaki and Raila made a mockery of the National Accord. Both have apparently forgotten that they stand indicted for massive rigging of the 2007 General elections.

Parliament endorsed, without contest, the Kriegler report, whose finding was that neither Kibaki nor Raila could claim a legitimate victory. Neither of them, the report said, could escape blame for massive rigging and manipulation of the electoral processes. Neither was found innocent and most importantly, neither one of them could be declared to have won the elections! Both are in power illegitimately, with only the National Accord to assist their hold onto the reigns of government.

Despite the shaky ground upon which the two principals stand, their absolute lack of shame and minimal sense of decorum has treated poor, unemployed and starving Kenyans to yet another circus with parliament being the venue.

222 pirates in Parliament
The sea of Kenyan politics has been invaded by 222 pirates sailing in a ship called Parliament, and who are bent on stealing and destroying the wealth of Kenyans who at present are too weak to fight back owing to hunger and extreme poverty brought on by poor governance, corruption, state-sponsored violence and an assortment of other evils made in Parliament.

The 222 pirates are split into two gangs, each with a leader who is fighting tooth and nail for territory and clout. Captain Emillio's gang claims exclusive use of a weapon referred to as "presidential powers" which they say is kept in a warehouse called "the Constitution". They insist that this warehouse is the only depository of weapons and no one should claim to have any other weapons. If a weapon is not in this warehouse, it does not count.

Captain Tinga's gang considers this argument to be a lot of hot air. They insist that there is a new weapon, the "Prime Minister's powers" stored in another warehouse called "the National Accord" whose control they have because they signed for the keys to that warehouse in 2008. Thus, they insist, Captain Tinga should decide which way the ship called Parliament should go.

Short memories
Both the PNU and ODM operatives have forgotten that the Grand Coalition government was not formed by the people. It was formed without any reference to the people because the country was on the verge of war. It is not the people's choice. The people of Kenya endure it under great duress.

When the issue of the leader of government business became the arena of power struggles between Kibaki and Raila, the people's disgust was palpable. Who cares, we wondered, who is more powerful than whom? Does it matter to any of us who presides over our misery? When the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Marende, ignored the wishes of both Raila and Kibaki and appointed himself the interim leader of government business in parliament, the people quickly lent him their support. Perhaps the two principals are not smart enough to read the writing on the wall, but the people's anger is real.

While Marende temporarily calmed the seas and helped the political class save face, the clowning around and posturing for power continues to irk the people. There are real problems facing Kenyans and they are grave. Precisely why we were astonished when a group of women declared that women should boycott sex to force Kibaki and Raila to work things out. ???!!! ** Huh?!!**&*??! What hogwash!

The serious problems that Kenyans are facing must not be trivialized by anyone. {{Kenyans are dying of hunger}} and preventable diseases like cholera. Children are malnourished and starved. The internally displaced people (IDPs) have yet to find refuge. The number of landless and jobless Kenyans continues to grow. The government is broke and rather than cut the luxuries of the political bigwigs, the government is cutting into the development budget. The money allocated for roads, schools and hospitals is now being used to meet the expenditure of a bloated coalition government that has no credibility.

{{Insecurity is increasing}}. Instead of dealing with violent gangs decisively, the government is legitimizing vigilantism, conveniently forgetting that the violent gangs terrorizing the people were once vigilante groups. Who shall rescue the people?

In response to the emerging vacuum in leadership, a small group of women operating under the banner of G7 declared that women should boycott sex. Drawn from the middle class, they forget that sex is the last thing on the mind of any parent who has to watch his or her children starve to death. Ladies, at least 10 million Kenyans who starving are already on a forced boycott!

Without consultations, a few choice representatives purport to speak for and to instruct millions of women about private matters. What cheek! Were members of Maendeleo ya Wanawake to be consulted, they would tell their purported leaders that there are more pressing matters concerning women at the moment. Unemployment, disease, hunger, land..... They would tell the fewer than 20 women involved in that desperate call that women have been fighting and will continue to fight the tendency to depict women as sex tools. They would tell them that it matters not that the perpetrators of this stereotype are female, they are enemies of women!

This country needs to be rescued from the leaders whose solutions seem only to be the simplest and the easiest AND wrong options available.

God save Kenya from Kibaki, Raila, Marende and the G-7!