Kenya Stockholm Blog

New Book On Kenya 2007 Election Crisis Launched In Stockholm

BRIEF REPORT FROM THE RAILA BOOK LAUNCH IN STOCKHOLM

The book, “Raila Odinga’s Stolen Presidency: Consequences and the Future of Kenya” by Mr. Okoth Osewe, was launched in Stockholm on Saturday January 31st 2009 at Tensta Kultur Kaffe. The event, which was attended by about 40 people, saw Mr. Osewe present the book to the audience after which the author fielded questions. The event was organized by a Committee headed by Mr. Martin Ngatia and which was specifically set up to oversee the launching of the book and other events.

In giving a summary of the book, Mr. Osewe, said that part of the inspiration behind writing the book was his burning desire to put events which led to the rigging of the December election into context and to document what had happened during the tragic moment when the Electoral Commission of Kenya headed by Samuel Kivuitu stole the vote in favor of Kibaki.

Mr. Osewe said that when Kibaki took power in 2007, he was largely considered a transitional President to help defeat the Moi/KANU dictatorship. He said that after Kibaki’s regime began to entrench tribalism especially in the appointment of top Civil servants, failed to deliver a new Constitution and after the regime began to sink deep into corruption scandals because of activities of the thieving Kikuyu ruling class, his thesis is that Kibaki was persuaded to stand in the 2007 election by a group of Mount Kenya Mafia cartel which stood to lose if power slipped from the hands of the Mafia group.

The writer said that the book he was launching contained details why Kibaki’s government failed to deliver on its election promises, a failure which, he said, led to the loss of popularity of Narc and its subsequent defeat at the December 2007 polls.

For example, Mr. Osewe said that Narc was not in a position to fight tribalism because the Party was ideologically bankrupt. He said that it is impossible to eradicate tribalism in Kenya without putting forward a political alternative to tribalism.

He argued that Narc failed to fight corruption because corruption is part and parcel of the capitalist system of government that has crippled Kenya for the last 45 years, adding that unless the system is changed, fighting corruption in Kenya will remain a distant mirage.

United States Wanted To Work With The Devil It Knew
Mr. Osewe also gave an outline of documentary evidence referred to in his book about the stealing of Raila’s Presidency and which supported his position that the December 2007 election was rigged in favor of Kibaki. He said that findings by the Kriegler Commission was a clear distortion of Kenya’s history, partly because the Commission was working with a pre-determined outcome that was designed to ensure that the fragile Annan mediated peace that was in place did not collapse so that agents of capitalism exploiting the country’s resources could continue doing so without interruption.

Mr. Osewe said that the consequences of the Kriegler Commission coming up with a conclusion that Raila had won the vote were too serious because such a conclusion could have meant that Kibaki was in power illegally. He said that the Orange Democratic Movement accepted the Kriegler Report with little reservations because the Party was not yet ready to face a new election before reforms within the Electoral Commission were completed and before a new Constitution was also put in place.

According to Mr. Osewe, the American government supported President Kibaki soon after election was rigged because the Bush Administration was uncomfortable with the Presidency of Raila Odinga due to reasons outlined in the book.

He said that for the United States, Raila was unacceptable as President of Kenya because he had signed a deal with Kenyan Muslims that once he seized power, Kenyan Muslims would never be taken to Guantanamo for torture. The writer said that the US government could not afford to allow a person who was opposed to US foreign policy in Kenya to take over the country’s leadership because Kenya was a playing ground of the United States and other Imperialist powers.

He said that the United States also fears a democratic Kenya because of the risk of serious ideological parties emerging to challenge capitalist policies which, he said, had failed the country. According to Mr. Osewe, the US government was not yet convinced that Raila had cut off his “Communist past” and that under the circumstances, the US government was more interested in working with the Devil it knew instead of opting for the Angel it didn’t know.

Asked by Mr. Milton Muigai, a Kenyan, whether opposition politics had died in Kenya and whether Raila Odinga had ceased to be the doyen of opposition politics, Mr. Osewe said that real political opposition has never existed in Kenya because although there are numerous political parties, all existing parties have been practicing politics from the point of view of capitalism.

He said that a real opposition should be able to oppose the deformed system of capitalism in Kenya and that what Kenyans have is a situation where opposition politics is centered on “opposition to individual politicians” and not opposition to political ideas.

Responding to another question from Arne Johansson, the Editor of Offensiv Weekly who wanted to know the possibility of the Kenyan left emerging to take up the ideological challenge to capitalism, Mr. Osewe said that there are rudimentary forces on the ground whose level of mobilization has been hampered by different factors.

Raila Odinga and Kenya Opposition Politics
He said that political consciousness within the working class has been lagging behind and that this weakness had braked the process of political mobilization of workers by different groups. He also said that the tendency of NGOs surfacing to try and fill the vacuum within the opposition in times of need has historically created illusions that an opposition existed even when it remains known that NGO’s cannot compete for power.

On the question of Raila Odinga’s status as an opposition politician, Mr. Osewe said that Raila has gone through “a process of bourgeoisification” over the years and that as a millionaire member of the Kenyan ruling class, his role if he were to be in the opposition, would be limited to seizing power by exploiting the existing ethnic alliances to maintain the capitalist status quo and not to question or change the system.

At the moment, Mr. Osewe said that Raila is not in a position to oppose the same government he is serving although he did not rule out the possibility of Raila resigning from his post at a later stage to precipitate an election if he believes that he has a chance of winning the Presidency.

Mr. Osewe also outlined the consequences of the rigged election as contained in his book and his perspective of the future of Kenyan politics following the rigged election. He said that the Coalition government will not be able to address the thorny issue of landlessness in Kenya although he said that the government will be able to deliver a new Constitution.

He however pointed out that a Constitution is a piece of paper that will not be able to put food on the table, create jobs for the youth or address the political and economic crisis facing the country.

Dr. Jared Odero congratulated Mr. Osewe for a work well done and said that after looking at the book, Mr. Osewe had provided the basic framework for future research especially in the field of elections and democracy in sub-Saharan Africa.

Other speakers who addressed the audience were Mrs Prisca Forsman of the Maendelo ya Wanawake, Mr. George Obol, a researcher from Uganda, Mrs Hellen Opwapo, the Chairlady of ODM-Scandinavia, Mr. Charles Otieno Owiyo, the Secretary of Africa Maisen,  Mrs Sarah Wamaitha, member of the Outreach Ministries, Pastor Beatrice Kamau, Mrs Jane Atieno, Chairlady of Organization of Kenyan Women in Norway, Mr. Mark Gaya, Committee member of ODM-Scandinavia, Mrs Josephine Kirigo, Committee member of Voce of Women (VOW), Colonel Samson Mande from Uganda, Mrs Grace Nyambura, Mr. Joseph Munene, Committee member of Making a Difference (M.A.D), blogger Munala wa Munala, among others.

Others who were in attendance were Mr. Joseph Goga, Cameraman Keegan Kagwe, Lillian Mbova, Mr. Oti Goga, Mr. Ken Aroka, Mrs Caroline Odhiambo, Mrs Ann Wambui, Dr. Otieno Wariaro, Mrs Jane Chege, Mr. Rombo, Mr. Kip, DJ Jimmy nyakwar Oyundi, Mrs Nancy Osumba, Mr. Bamba from The Gambia, Mrs Anna Okoth among others. Those who attended the launch congratulated Mr. Osewe for having taken the initiative to write the book.

Responding to a question from Mr. Mark Gaya, Mr. Osewe said that plans were underway to launch the book in Kenya where, he said, is the home of his main target audience. Pastor Beatrice, Mrs Wamaitha and Mrs Kirigo concluded the event with a word of prayer.

After the book launch, Mr. Osewe signed autographs and later, members of the audience retreated to Sollentuna for an all night Party which was organized by the Network for African Unity in Sweden. Discussion about the book continued at the Party which was attended by over 200 people, majority of them Africans.

Mr. Martin Ngatia,
Chairman,
Raila Odinga Book Launch Committee,
Stockholm, SWEDEN.

February 1, 2009 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis, Raila Odinga's Stolen Presidency | 16 Comments