Every morning, he would cross the border to Yugoslavia by bicycle and be subjected to a thorough search. The authorities at the border believed that he was smuggling stuff into the country.

They would, therefore, undress him and disassemble his bicycle hoping to find something. For years, the routine continued without success.

After the liberation of Slovenia from Yugoslavia, one of the border guards saw the man in a cafe and introduced himself.

He said to him: “… I used to check you every morning at the border. We were convinced that you were smuggling something, yet we found nothing when we searched you. So, what exactly were you smuggling?”

The man replied: “The bicycles I rode, of course!” Because they were conditioned to think in a certain way, the border guards missed the point.

And this is exactly what we have done with our leaders. We do not judge them as they are; we judge them as we are! The result:

We cannot tell the thugs from the visionaries. Let me use Mr Daniel arap Moi, the former president, as a reference point.

The record must reflect that we misjudged Mr Moi on three accounts. The first regards ‘‘Project Uhuru.’’ On this one, we were wrong and Mzee Moi was damn right.

And not because of one Mr Uhuru Kenyatta; this Kenyatta guy was just a symbol. We were wrong because we rejected an idea whose time had come. At the core of the project were two fundamentals.

One, to retire the likes of Mr Mwai Kibaki and Mr Raila Odinga. These politicians were part of the old vision that needed to give way to a new one.

Two, to effect a generational change from the independence politicians to the ‘‘Obama generation’’ in its 40s. And if America is considering the idea today, Mr Moi had seen it for Kenya five years ago.

But because we disliked him at the time, we rejected the man and his visionary project. In its place, we chose an inferior idea sold to us by the political twin brothers: Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga.

Working together or separately, the idea of the two has been a disaster for Kenya.

The second area in which we misjudged Mr Moi regards integrity. I was convinced that Mr Moi would be the one to plunge the country into civil war.

And opportunities to do so were made available to the old man. After the NARC victory in 2002, he could have rejected the results like President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe did.

Similarly, he had the option of handing over the government to the armed forces, an idea entertained by some of his cronies.

And either way, he would have emerged the winner as we have seen with Mr Mugabe. But given all these options, the former president chose the country over self.

The same cannot be said of President Kibaki. Faced with a similarly difficult situation in December last year, he did not exhibit statesmanship.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga should stop behaving like President Kibaki’s ‘‘house girl’’. The good president is taking it easy in his typical ‘‘kuji-enjoy’’ style, but this PM guy is too intense about work.

He is everywhere, doing everything. What is more, no body asked him to: It is not part of his brief as PM or as MP for Langata.

The man is just a restless being who has to keep busy. And the problem with his higgledy-piggledy style is that it exposes him. The more I reflect on Mr Odinga in ‘‘power,’’ the more ‘‘Moi-sh’’ he looks: selfish, unreliable and a turncoat.

Today he supports the opposition, when in ‘‘power’’ he tells us opposition is bad. When in the cold he supports civil society, when in ‘‘power’’ he tells us that civil society cannot be involved in constitutional review. The man is swinging like a pendulum!

But is this deliberate or is he doing it sub-consciously? I want to believe that Mr Odinga is looking for balance in his new role. And anyone in his position is bound to act like him -- higgledy-piggledy or ovyo ovyo (in Kiswahili).

However, and as he looks for balance, the PM’s problem is that he is unable to keep his mouth shut.

The confusion he is going through is, as a result, broadcasted to the public everyday to the horror of some of us.

And this is why the PM should borrow a few tricks from his political twin brother -- the President. Not because President Kibaki is better than him, but because of what one philosopher said: “… a wise man benefits more from his enemies than a fool from his friends.”

The first thing Mr Odinga should learn from President Kibaki is the politics of silence and scarcity.

When looking for balance, silence is a powerful political tool. In fact silence does not only aggravate your enemy, it annoys even the devil. Each time an opportunity is given to him to shut up, the PM should therefore grab it.

The Holy Bible says that “…even a fool, when he keeps quiet, appears wise”. In the case of Mr Odinga, his wisdom is becoming questionable because his mouth is all over. And the same can be said about his everyday appearance in the media. According to the law of supply and demand, scarcity increases the price.

The more you are in supply as a politician, the lower your price and the lesser the respect. Because he is in the media daily, this ‘‘tinga’’ man is losing the magic and the mystique. In fact, each time I see him on TV, I switch channels to avoid his government small talk.

The second trick regards the acquisition of an enemy. Every good politician has a worthy enemy. And, in the absence of one, you should create an enemy from nowhere.

President Kibaki understood this principle early and, today, he is a creation of high quality and hardworking enemies. The same testimony can be given by Fidel Castro who believed that the bigger your enemy, the tighter the bond between you and your followers.

In fact Castro believed that there was only one device for “keeping the spirit of the revolution alive.” That tool: a worthy enemy! If the PM is to make it as the fourth President of the Republic, he needs a good strong-headed enemy.

His father, the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, had T.J. Mboya as the enemy who built him. With such an enemy on your heels, you cannot afford to be lazy. He will sharpen your skills and keep you focused.

My hypothesis is that Mr Odinga is currently sloppy because he does not have an opposing force to energise him since he joined Mr Kibaki. And, unless he gets one, he is likely to grow lazy and unfocused.

In my view, Mr Odinga’s worthy enemy is not the VP, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka. The opposing force for Mr Odinga will come from the Kalenjin. And the person to lead it is likely to be Mr William Ruto.

When I was a boy, I was taught that whenever a village elder sat with his legs apart, I must not look. But if I was overcome by curiosity and looked, I must keep my mouth shut.

Mr John Githongo must be one of those naughty boys who always looked and could not keep his mouth shut. And this is exactly what he did at State House.

He was invited into the ‘Chief’s court’, and held in absolute trust by President Kibaki. After a short while, young and ‘shocked’ Mr Githongo took off to London. Reason? He had seen ‘something’ and was itching to tell.

In the company of curious aliens abroad, he dropped the bombshell: the fellow told them that our Chief was sitting with his legs apart. The world loved the drama, but we shrank with shame at home.

Back with a mission

Now Mr Githongo is back with a mission. And before we give him ‘air time’, we must rebuke him for behaving like a drama ‘queen’.

Yes, he fought the right battles at State House, but his approach was all wrong. Like a worthy drama ‘queen’, he won the fight but exposed our nakedness.

And this is why we must question his current mission. Is he doing this for the love of mother Kenya? Or maybe he is doing it for the love of the poor? In my opinion, John Githongo is in this thing for John Githongo.

He is a self-appointed high priest whose campaign is about ‘me, myself and I’. This is why when I listen to him keenly, I hear nothing new. Nothing inspiring, and nothing visionary; just whining about the past.

Anti-graft high priest

In my view, we do not need an anti-corruption high priest. And anyone eyeing the position is a false prophet. What the country needs is an anti-poverty crusader.

This is the guy to give us a new hope and vision for the future. In fact, we should abandon the fight against corruption and fight poverty instead.

If we tackle poverty first, we will eliminate corruption from its roots. And my point here is that grand corruption is not where the crisis is located. Evidence shows that there is no significant relationship between grand corruption and poverty.

The country loses more money to inefficiency and systems failure than to corruption. Fighting grand corruption is, therefore, like playing a sport; fashionable alright, but not effective in terms of poverty reduction.

If we fight poverty instead, we would empower people to resist corruption. This is so because a people free from poverty are likely to vote for a more accountable government. Similarly, better paid civil servants are less compelled to support corruption. Take the police for instance.

A while ago I was stopped by a traffic policeman for driving without a road licence and insurance. I was exercising my right to civil disobedience when this happened. Knowing I was on the wrong, the policeman got to the point and asked for a bribe. I informed him that I was broke at the time, but he suggested that we go to an ATM.

As we drove around, he apologised for bullying me and begun to narrate his existence. The guy lived in a single room which he shared with another cop. His main agony was when his wife visited from upcountry and he was allocated the night shift.

If his roommate was doing the day shift, he would have to leave his wife in the same room with this guy. Although the room is divided into two by a curtain, the idea was still repulsive. That evening he had left his wife in such a situation.

Instead of a vacuum, there is a leadership saturation. We have a bloated cabinet and a ‘matatu presidency’.With power sharing, the presidency has been split into two.

If you are to add the vice-president and the two deputy prime ministers, what used to be the presidency has a crowd of five occupants now.

But leadership is not position only; it is action. This means that the ‘matatu presidency’ must have a driver.

Decides to sleep

If President Kibaki decides to sleep, someone in the crowd of five will take over as driver. With this arrangement, there can be no leadership vacuum; only a power vacuum.

And if the grand coalition has a problem, it is because of this power vacuum. But what is the difference?

Leadership is positional, while power is personal. From leadership you get allegiance; from power you get loyalty.

Jesus Christ for instance, did not hold a public office like that of a party leader or a cabinet minister. He was just a lumpen carpenter with revolutionary ideas.

And from his personal mission, he wielded power. Today, half the world is loyal to him.

To the contrary, President Kibaki has no power — just authority arising from his position. As a result, he does not attract loyalty, only allegiance.

Loyalty is an expression of love and commitment; allegiance is a dry act of duty. This is why Ms Martha Karua will defend him vigorously one day, and then ditch him the other.

The girl was just doing a job, fulfilling a duty: No love, no passion, and no commitment. But what does this have to do with a power vacuum?

Human beings have a desire to believe in someone. And the person they believe in is the person who wields power.

In politics, this person is usually a symbol; an icon that will attract devotion and hate at the same time. One that will inspire some people and make others perspire.

Former president Daniel Moi was such a person. We loved and hated him at the same time. And to those who disliked him, he still remained a symbol of national unity.

In other words, he wielded power over his enemies and followers alike. The same cannot be said of President Kibaki.

Our good president has not attracted serious loyalty and devotion beyond my relatives from Nyeri. As for his opponents, he has absolutely no power over them.

This is why he had to invite Mr Raila Odinga into government to contain them. In sum, the country has no centre and no symbol of power. The ‘matatu presidency’ has created a power vacuum