Raila in the Heart of a MEGA Circus

Raila has come to terms that he can never be the President of Kenya without the Mt Kenya communities in his political bag. To this end he has started courting the populous Kikuyu community in preparation for a possible shot at the presidency in 2012.

Of course this is not the only cat in Raila’s bag who is becoming to be known as the next professor of politics after former president Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi. In his bag is the derailment of the grand opposition spearheaded by Cyrus Jirongo and Ababu Namwamba who swore in the name of Raila during the swearing in ceremony of the current parliament.

His resolve to retain the opposition seats vacant was demonstrated during the reading of the budget. Raila sat in the seat reserved for the leader of official opposition. The opposition benches are Raila’s plan B.

The other option is hedged in the derailed constitution review process. That is a story for another day.

Back to Raila courting the Kikuyu community, it started with Raila extending an olive branch to the outlawed Mungiki sect. This is an idea that has not seen the light of day.

The current talk is on Raila becoming a Kikuyu elder at Ruring’u stadium something some section of the Kikuyu community considers as a sacrilege.

This is a mega project of the MEGA chairman Peter Kuguru. Following this development an exchange between some sections of the Kikuyu community has elapsed in the media.

*******************Letter by MEGA done on 09/06/2008 ***************

MEGA Initiative Welfare Society: MEGA Press Release

MEGA initiative Welfare Society (MEGA) refutes the contents of the press reports published on 5^th June 2008 and 8^th June 2008 attributed to Mr. Peter Kuguru. Mr Kuguru has no mandate to represent or speak on behalf of MEGA in any forum including the Meru GEMA meeting held on 31^st May, 2008. To put he record straight Mr. Kuguru officially relinquished his position as chairman of MEGA in June 2007 when he decided to contest for the Mathira Parliamentary seat in last year’s General Elections. This was in accordance with MEGA constitution Section 2 (3), which states: “The society will remain non-political and shall not allow any of its office bearers to hold an elective political office.”

Under Mr. Kuguru’s chairmanship, the much publicized MEGA bank mentioned in the press reports failed to see the light of day. Afterwards, the Bank promoters unanimously resolved to shelve the project and start MEGA Microfinance Institution, which is soon to open its door with the aim of growing into a fully fledged bank.

It is worth mentioning that MEGA as an institution operates strictly in accordance with the Kenyan law and although a community based welfare society, MEGA serves all Kenyans without discrimination and has no preference or any arrangements with any particular group or groups as the press reports tries to imply.

While MEGA supports all genuine efforts to unify the Kenyan people, the sentiments expressed by Mr. Kuguru on GEMA and the installation of the Prime Minister as a Kikuyu elder are not those of MEGA.

It is therefore incorrect for Mr Kuguru and any newspaper to link MEGA with the 20^th July 2008 function in Ruringu stadium and the supposed rivalry with GEMA. As already pointed out the GEMA Constitution bars the organization and its officials from engaging in active politics. Mr Kuguru is himself a victim of violating that position.

Finally, MEGA-National Executive Council (NEC) publicly demands that:

Mr Kuguru desist from purporting to represent MEGA.

The publishers of the offending articles issue an immediately apology for publishing damaging and malicious articles, bringing

Kamau Mucuha

Chairman

MEGA Initiative Welfare Society

******** Letter dated June 12, 2008 by Kuguru ***********

Clarification to Members of MEGA Initiative Welfare Society

Following the press release in the Nation Newspaper of 11^th June 2008 I feel an obligation to clarify the following:

After my voluntary resignation as National Chairman of the society in June 2007, I hav never purported to present my views or opinions as those of the society in any forum. In my view, any publications and news articles that seem to depict this are drawn from the fact that I was highly visible in my role as National Chairman during my tenure.

During my tenure as National Chairman of the society I was head of a team that included Mr. Mucuha who at that time was the National Secretary. As is the case in all corporate organizations the successes and/or failures of any initiatives the society is and was involved in can therefore not be attributed to any individual.

All the sentiments on the need for the Kikuyu community to reach out to members of other communities following the violence early this year that I express in all the forums I am invited to attend are made in my capacity as a member of the Kikuyu community.

Neither the right to be involved in initiatives that seek to bring reconciliation between communities across the country at this time, nor the desire to honor those who have played a role in bringing back peace we nearly lost can be claimed as a monopoly by any single group from any part of the country.

The key objectives of the planned event to honour Honourable Raila Odinga are to enable national unity and reconciliation, to reach out to elders from other communities, to build capacity for a strong national spirit, and to lobby for similar recognition of our elders by other communities. We also expect that the event will enable us to rebuild social networks across communities, and possibly steer national politics toward issue-based politics rather than personalities and ethnicity.

Finally, I would like to point out to my colleagues in MEGA that my involvement in this event is as part of a greater group of progressive members and leaders of our community who recognize the importance of such a gesture in the current environment of a Grand Coalition Government – in fact, just yesterday H.E. the President, during the unveiling of The Vision 2030, also thanked Hon. Raila Odinga for his role in reconciling for his role in reconciling the country. There is room for everyone to play a part in such events which I hope will be replicated in other areas as well.

Hon. Peter Kuguru