For a group of Kenyans who have decided to take political action on Jamhuri day against Ambassador Purity Muhindi, enough had eventually become enough. After committing a series of mistakes viewed by many Kenyans as signs that Ambassador Purity is not fit for the job, what was supposed to have been a quiet kidnap operation of former diplomat Raphael Cheruiyot from hospital to be deported to Kenya has turned into a Frankenstein that Ambassador Purity will have to deal with.
Led by Mr. Tarus Mbugua, an official of Narc-Kenya Scandinavia, a group of Kenyans who rescued Mr. Cheruiyot from deportation by camping at Karolinska hospital have upped the ante in their struggle against Ambassador Purity. Plans to disrupt Jamhuri reception at Scandic Plaza Hotel have reached fever pitch, heightening tension and increasing the general flow of adrenalin among top apparatchiks at the Kenyan Embassy in Stockholm.
As per tradition, very important dignitaries have been invited to this function. From Intelligence so far gathered by KSB, there are high possibilities that the Jamhuri day may be very chaotic because some Kenyans involved in the action will first enter the Hotel as “innocent citizens”, mingle with the crowd then suddenly, begin to confront the Ambassador with the issue of ailing diplomat Cheruiyot. They think that there is no reason why people should gather to drink tax payer’s money when the Embassy tries to kidnap a sick Kenyan to be deported to die in Kenya because the government has no money.
If other dignitaries will be present, they will not just be surprised with the sudden turn of events but will also come face to face with some of the hidden struggles against the Ambassador being waged by Wakenya in Stockholm.
In the past, what is scheduled on December 12th at Hotel Plaza used to be an exclusive “Diplomatic affair” save for a few Kenyan sycophants whose selective invitation to the function depended on both their proximity to Embassy staff and level of boot licking of the Ambassador in particular. After repeated struggles that Jamhuri day be open to all Kenyans, victory came this year when, for the first time in more than two decades, no cards were sent to Wakenya because everybody had been invited through the Internet.
One could have expected that this change of tact by the Ambassador could have had a soothing effect on Wakenya who could have, in turn, allowed Ambassador Purity to host a problem-free Jamhuri reception and with as little stress as possible. Instead, the Ambassador has been given a dose of sleepless nights in the run up to Jamhuri. The crisis is exacerbated by the fact that the event cannot be postponed under any circumstance so the Embassy will just have to deal with it.
AFTER DUMPING NARC-KS, PURITY IS “POLITICALLY NAKED”
From our view, Ambassador Purity deserves to be kept on toes because she has been very uncooperative with Kenyans in Stockholm. On each and every occasion when she has been on the firing line, she has failed to use her diplomatic skills to “put off the fire”, choosing instead, to add petrol and other inflammables.
Secondly, she has not been so lucky because Josephine Vivian Awuor (who is her assistant and who should have been helping with strategy to prevent crisis) is herself having an overblown ego that cannot allow her to employ logic to avert a looming Public Relations disaster. As a consequence, she tends to egg the Ambassador along when the boss is wrong, sometimes even leading her by the nose into a ditch before she shouts “Oh my God!” when the Ambassador is already trapped.
Other Embassy staff are terrified with the style of the two Madams at the Embassy. It is rumoured that when Josephine coughs at the corridor, supportive staff surface in seconds to find out what she wants.
In short, the worker-Boss relationship is very poor at the Embassy and whenever the Ambassador is facing a crisis brewed by Wakenya, the small men and women at the Mission routinely celebrate, praying that the crisis deepen even further so that the bosses can have something more serious to disturb their brains. The ill treatment of the support staff surfaced in public at Kenyatta day reception where they were never introduced because as far as Madam Purity is concerned, they are not worth being introduced in public.
Nothing exposes the insensitivity and lack of skill on the part of the Ambassador than her inability to work with Narc-Kenya Scandinavia, a Party that supports the corrupt government of Mwai Kibaki who appointed her. Purity has not only ditched Narc-Kenya Chairman Mr. Daniel Mwaura but also kept other top Narc KS officials like Mr. Peter Gitau, Mr. Wamburi Munge (the Secreray), Ms Ann Njenga (Vice secretary), Mrs Jacinter Njoroge and others at a safe distance. The current action being planned at Jamhuri reception has been masterminded by Mr. Tarus Mbugua, a Narc-Kenya official, while other Narc KS members are crowding in the background.
After ditching Narc-KS, the Ambassador is “politically naked” because there is no political force that could provide her with cover in times of politically related crisis. She has no alternative Network of Kenyans around her because she carries herself with the elegance of “Top class” Mercedes riding Queen of the Kenyan embassy. To her, Kenyans are just odiangabuks whom she would rather meet twice a year – at Kenyatta and Jamhuri day receptions.
She has so far boycotted all Kenyan functions since she came to Sweden a year ago. When the Ugandans had their independence day celebration at Kista this year, she was invited and she was the first to arrive! At the function, she refused to talk to a Ugandan who knew her and who approached her in Kiswahili. She told the guy that she speaks English. If you invite her to a Kenyan function, count yourself lucky if she sends Mr. George Kinyua, the outgoing First secretary, to represent her. She cannot send Josephine either because they share the same philosophy of “what is good for the Boss is good for the Deputy”. Both Purity and Josphine are said to be birds of the same feathers and at the Embassy, when Her Excellency (the cat) is away, Josephine (the mice) runs all over the place.
AMBASSADOR HAS BEATEN HERSELF INTO A TIGHT CORNER
Instead of working with Narc-KS, the Ambassador has been sabotaging activities of the Party. The latest is when she hijacked a group of dignitaries to her residence during the summer of this year when they were supposed to have been meeting Wakenya. She told them that there is no need of meeting Kenyans because they are alcoholics who will begin to ask them useless questions after getting drunk! The dignitaries never appeared although Nyama Choma had been prepared by a top Narc-KS official who wanted to use the occasion to introduce members of the Party.
Another group that could have come to the rescue of the Ambassador is the Muirani-led Kibaki Tena Lobby group. Unfortunately, the group is not in talking terms with the Ambassador because she is “unapproachable”. Besides, the public gaffes she has become identical with scares “Kibaki friendly” groups from being near her. Responding to a question from KSB, Mr. Githuku wa Muirani, who leads Kibaki Tena Lobby group, fell short of saying that his group supports the Jamhuri action. His group “believes that every Kenyan has a right to organize an action” against the Ambassador, be it at Jamhuri or other days.
The main complication is that the planned Jamhuri action puts Narc-KS in an awkward position because under normal circumstances, members of the Party could have been in the front lines in defending the Ambassador but they cannot because the Ambassador has rejected them. Another problem is that some top Narc-KS officials were at the action at the Hospital to save Cheruiyot.
If they now try to oppose an action at Jamhuri aimed at defending Cheruiyot, the same person they defended a few weeks ago, they will be seen as traitors. If, on the other hand, they attend the action and participate in trying to bring down Purity, it will be like they are opposing the government of President Kibaki whom they want re-elected in two weeks time.
Whatever happens, the planned action promises fireworks. We have information that many Kenyans who are behind it do not care about Party affiliations because they are tired of the antics of Purity Muhindi and they just want to tell her off.
A possible scenario is a situation where the anti-Purity activists find their way into the main hall then begin to make life difficult for Purity. If she is planning to give a speech (she gave one at Kenyatta day so why not at Jamhuri, the big day?), observers will only have to cross their fingers and pray that hecklers do not make it inside the venue because if they do, there will be no speech. Professional hecklers have been practicing at Vasa, rehersing some of the phrases and composing new ones. An idea that someone carry a rotten egg is being worked on. If the lady in charge of the operation succeeds in throwing the egg on Purity’s face, it will be a total disaster. Carl Bildt, the former Swedish Prime Minister, once had an egg thrown at him and nothing happened to the attacker even though police were present so who is Purity?
Purity has never dealt with a crisis of this magnitude before and it will be very difficult to contain the situation if majority of those who enter the hall are anti-Purity. There could be a shouting match which could turn really ugly.
Worse still, there is no way of preventing anybody from entering the venue because there are no invitation cards. There could be rival groups who could begin verbal exchanges inside the venue and practically “turn the tables upside down” in a moment of rage.
Because of the uncertainty surrounding the reception, the event could even be boycotted by neutral Kenyans and diplomats alike, leaving poor Purity with an empty hall or space filled up with activists who are against her. The Cheruiyot thing is very hot and many Kenyans are just burning to “Tell Purity off” in her face. As the time continues to tick away, possibilities of what could happen also continue to widen. Ambassador Purity has beaten herself into a tight corner and it will be interesting to see how she wriggles herself out of it.
Okoth Osewe
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