UNIVERSAL LESSONS IN DEMOCRACY FROM KENYA'S CHAOTIC PARTY NOMINATIONS

 From missing ballot papers to delayed voting by up to seven hours the nominations were simply a sham and a shame perhaps a true reflection of the leadership we expect to derive from such a process.

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000075266&story_title=Kenya-Kenya%E2%80%99s-sham-nominations
Apart from laughs,surprises and some genuine shockers our recent party nominations revealed the underlying ugliness of democracy as a system of government. No process will ever guarantee morally upright leaders.No magic formula exists to make a saint out of an ordinary individual aspiring to leadership. Democracy by its nature can't manufacture such an undemocratic process. Therefore we will continue to suffer the sight of clowns,comedians and criminals and fools feted as democratically chosen leaders.
This isn't mutually exclusive to Kenya,Africa or indeed the 3rd world;contrary to the unformed notions of first year political science students its a worldwide phenomenon. The 'mature democracies' in Europe and N.America also experience political conmanship. The people project all their hopes onto cardboard characters ,charlatans & ruthless mind controlled candidates and suffer the consequences-again and again.

This is Rod Blagojevich.Until his arrest in 2008 he was the Illinois governor. This 'reformer,'allegedly attempted to sell his seat for 6 mn $. Here is his charge sheet:wire fraud, attempted extortion, bribery, extortion conspiracy and bribery conspiracy. The charges involved a series of situations in which, prosecutors say, he tried to gain campaign contributions or other benefits for enacting legislation, for releasing grant money and for appointing a new senator, as Illinois law requires the governor to do, after Mr. Obama was elected in 2008.

 http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/rod_r_blagojevich/index.html

But this is small potatoes compared to the shenanigans of the patriarch of the foremost political clan in the US,toasted by all as American Royalty. Joseph P. Kennedy,father of Ted  and the famous martyrs to secret oligarchy JFK and RFK was widely reported by researchers and criminals to have been a bootlegger in prohibition days. Unlike his confreres,his drive and education enabled him to reinvent himself and go completely legit.

 In 1973 mob boss Frank Costello said he and Kennedy had been bootlegging partners. Other underworld figures have also claimed Joe was in pretty deep. At least one writer (Davis, 1984) thinks bootlegging enabled Joe to earn his initial financial stake, but that's hard to believe; he had plenty of chances to make money more or less legally.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/716/what-is-the-true-source-of-the-kennedy-familys-wealth

By the mid 50s,Forbes declared his net worth to be roughly 300 mn $. He was able to use his influence with hoodlums to get JFK elected.
Even China's burgeoning mega rich show that politics,big money and shady life styles are inextricably linked . No less an authority than Forbes recently stated 90% of the riches are Politburo members.
So,Dear Reader,the next time a youngster in the diaspora lectures us on the unsuitability of our leaders buy him this special brew-on me.

ODINGA'S ODYSSEY TO INEVITABLE IRRELEVANCE...

is unfolding to a familiar pattern. From a strong front runner a few months ago,polls now conclusively indicate he will lose the expected runoff. His once nearly invincible Rift Valley support base of 2 mn voters has diminished to the extent he'd be lucky to get 10%; the 5 national regional bosses of his Orange Democratic Movement  have left with their solid local vote banks bar 2;his right hand man Miguna Miguna,resigned in a huff last year and published a book filled with embarrassing detail that confirmed what informed Kenyans knew of the PM's business dealings;the September by elections are seen by many as a precursor to a coming electoral disaster come voting day, March 2013.

How did this come to pass? What caused such a spectacular slow motion self destruction? With even only a scant knowledge of Raila Amolo Odinga's history,it was only to be expected. As scion of Luo peoples' would be saviour,the left wing Jaramogi Oginga Odinga,Raila fell into the role naturally embodying all their hopes ,however unrealistic. His first appointment with the Kenyan public was in the Kenya Airforce coup of August 82-this was Raila par excellence!
A group of Air force corporals and NCOs were supposed to capture strategic state buildings presenting the government with a fait accompli,preventing any serious counter measures. But any reasonably intelligent analyst could have told him 1 or 2 things wrong with such an operation: Air force personnel are primarily non combatants. Not for ordnance technicians,mechanics,aircraft refuellers and radar engineers the sound of battle. These were the guys supposed to resist trained infantry in urban warfare in our capital city.
Within hours most of them were KIA and captured-but not before an orgy of looting,rape and death that killed an estimated 1000.
It was with the democratic gains of multipartyism that we saw his true nature-love of grandiose gestures gave him a slavishly loyal semiliterate slumteriat in the infamous Kibera in 1992, an ever growing parade of once faithful upper level activists who want nothing to do with him and warn all and sundry of Raila. For a case study,lets look at a man who would have once willingly taken a bullet for him-Miguna Miguna,former aide for 3 years.
He was sacked August 2011,but says he resigned. He wrote a book of the goings on in the PMs office with his insiders knowledge as Raila's personal assistant. A litany of family corruption,dirty business deals,nepotism,betrayal,broken promises,lethargy,pettiness,dishonesty and love of other people's wives,ohh and whisky filled the detailed 500 or so pages.
Now the PM's once most loyal servant has a new function-ensuring his bete noire doesn't approach even shouting distance of State House.Here he is in Mombasa being subjected to the usual crude attentions of his former bosses admirers at the launch of his expose ,'Peeling back the Mask'.

Kenyans know that Raila may at best pose presidential and pull of the requisite gravitas for a short while,but beyond that he turns into a professional comedian or active saboteur of our vital interests. He inserted himself into the Ivorienne crisis demanding 'Gbagbo must go!,' with the fervour of a pro Outtara youth leader helping legitimise violent French overthrow of a democratically elected leader.
Early this year,he went to Tel Aviv and announced important new security deals with Israel and in an unheard development was immediately contradicted by both Netanyahu and Peres! "We never discussed anything of that sort ,"declared Netanyahu bluntly .
This then is the man whom some would have take up residence in State House;the Kenyan Yeltsin has already reached a dead end. His hangers and 'advisers' are too busy hogging the gravy train to tell him.Thankfully,for Kenyans we won't have to endure such sights suffered by Russians in the Yeltsin era.

http://karanjazplace.blogspot.com/2012_12_01_archive.html