Who Stole Miguna’s Book?

4 thoughts on “Who Stole Miguna’s Book?”

1. Folks, that’s the true Miguna behind the mask
   By KIPKOECH TANUI

   I have been victim of Mr Miguna Miguna’s aggressive spirit, discourteous and unbridled tongue, and fast temper but I will defend his freedom to write what he wants. You ask why? We shall come to that shortly.

   In a fit of anger at us for declining to carry his right of reply the way he wrote, complete with the insinuation retired President Moi, who wasn’t even the author of the piece that offended him, had threatened him with death, Miguna magnanimously doled out epithets at me I dare not repeat for the sake of my children. Suffice to say the matter is now subject of his complaint against us at the Media Council.

   Though I had never met him, having just seen him in 2007 on television at the KICC vote-tallying centre, I just admired the way he bluntly wrote his newspaper pieces, and the ‘unbwoggable’ demeanour with which he blurted out his protests.

   But with time, as I came to know from those who knew Miguna better — a conclusion vindicated in his new book — he holds very strong opinions which are fairer about himself but condescending to those around him. He is democratic and non-discriminating in his fury and protestations. It does not matter to him who you are; his opinion should carry the day.

   If he believes he was the right choice for Nyando Constituency in 2007 and spent — in his own words — millions, including selling his house in Canada, then it must be because of vote rigging that he was not elected. But even more important, they are the losers, not him, for they bartered the political cornerstone that would have saved them for the effigy-burning Fred Outa.

   I often get the feeling Miguna not only went into law with zeal and enthusiasm, but in whatever capacity life put him, he takes the adversarial contest of the courtroom. In this regard, it is always your word against mine, and it is where there must be a winner who is smart, and a loser who is idiotic.

   True to this looking at life through the lens of a legal mind, you would understand why Miguna’s SMSes — for those who have received any — are longish and bear the ring of a legal brief. That is also why in his book he exhibits dexterity with figurers, be it of dates and numbers, as well as archiving of documents.

   televangelist-like

   This also explains why those who know will tell you Miguna is so litigious so much that I fear he may sue me if I say he bathes himself while stark naked.

   But give it to him, he fights for what he believes is right or is his right with the consistency and precision of the Mara lion. To make sure his point sinks in your head and the imagery of the emphasis with which it were told dangles before your eyes always, he speaks with a booming voice, and gestures with the hands, and if onstage, moves quite a bit like the televangelists.

   His towering frame, huge hands, and unnerving swagger come in handy here.

   Now here is why I support Miguna on the decision to write a book, which strangely I got for free Online and this makes me wonder how he paid off his research, writing and publishing overheads.

   It may be too personal on Raila, but he declares in the book why it is so; betrayal!

   I must say I wish others could write about the leaders they work with and know better than we do. They include those who deny secret polygamous liaisons, and the other one whose friends fear to introduce their wives and daughters to because his anti-lust brakes failed long ago, and he is literally a loose cannon without care for such preferences as age, character and beauty.

   What Miguna has done is what Mr John Githongo did; instill fear in our leaders that a secret is only such if it is with one person. Though their motivation was different, the end result is the same.

   Githongo bugged Kibaki’s conspiring cabal, and Miguna stored enough on what he heard from and about Raila in his generously mega-byted brain, to run over 300 pages, the rest of the pages reserved for himself, his travels, experiences and opinions.

   I believe our politicians, apart from vetting their hirelings more rigorously, will have to learn to behave better, knowing their friends can actually chop their feet off as they run to State House, and tribal loyalty at times matters little.

   Again, as a student of Literature, I believe Kenya’s story would be told better to our children and posterity if we irrigate the literary desert that is our country with the written word.

   For the written word is the only link that could remain between us and our children after we are gone, and accurate account of our lives would be something they will have to get from reading widely and discerning their own opinions.

   selective peeling

   Miguna has also showed us who are aspiring to write that all you need is a kick in the crotch, or is it from the back, and the pen flows. Well, it may not be exactly that, but anything that gives you the kick can make you a prolific writer.

   If Raila did not ‘betray’ Miguna’s expectations, he would not have selectively peeled his mask. Of course I know for a fact this was Miguna’s fourth publication, but it is the most known so far.

   Also, in Miguna’s lamentations, we see the folly of throwing oneself in the bosom of politicians, along with your spouse and children forgetting that the only interest that rules their hearts is their own, and you are just pawns in their game of numbers.

   The writer is Managing Editor, Daily Editions, at The Standard.

   Loading...

   Reply

2. Where is Miguna Book ?Is it the first time to read a book ?What does the book saY?
   >Former Egyptian spy chief dies
   Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s former intelligence chief and a close ally of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, dies in hospital in the United States
   Thats how traitors die!
   >

   Loading...

   Reply

3. Miguna Miguna, while you were away…
   By Wafula Buke The Standard, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010

   The Party of National Unity’s contestation of the citizenship credentials of Mr Miguna Miguna, the PM’s advisor and the protest by a section of Luo Nyanza MPs at his commentaries, bring into sharp focus, not just the quality of his political analysis, but also the authenticity of the moral ground on which he claims to draw inspiration. It is apparent that he overrates his patriotic credentials and contribution to political change.

   Despite Kenya having gone through many national political phases, Miguna’s 1987 student days are not just a highlight, but a full stop in his presentation on his CV as far as the struggle he lionises himself for is concerned. This is what one gathers when he delves into his role in the struggle for change in the piece in which his subject was Agriculture Minister William Ruto.

   Let Miguna and the rest of the later day returnees from Western capitals as refugees learn from the first lesson of released long serving prisoners from their wives or fiancÈs. They are summons titled While You Were Away. They are stories too painful to be penned in most biographies of the freed. Imagine your sweetheart confessing that she aborted many times and decided to carry the last pregnancy. She then proceeds to introduce a baby whom you must accept as your own.

   From that point on, you introduce her or him as your son or daughter. She further tells you that all your friends abandoned her and that it is only enemy so and so who paid school fees for the children. She may add that a stranger gave her the job she has. In short, new relationships emerged to address new contradictions.

   Miguna needs to be told that while he was away, the nation did not wait for him. New challenges emerged and with them new strategies, new alliances, new forms of sacrifice and new heroes. Our generation of strugglers sacrificed studies, life, freedom, and jobs, among others.

   After the removal of section 2A, new forms of sacrifice emerged, namely: Business, jobs, friends, money, history and time. Comrades joined Kanu and risked their patriotic credentials in the old school definition in readiness for the famous implosion in 2002. Others joined the NGO sector as new platforms. While he was away, a monster called Wako Draft nearly consumed this country and had it not been for those he contemptuously criticises, this country would be worse off than it was when he left in 1987. Miguna would still be a practising barrister based in Toronto, Canada. While he was away, we forged a united front under the leadership of Raila Odinga and won the 2007 General Election.

   Let him know that we did not achieve all these by manipulating history and maligning those he perceives to have fallen short of glory in the past. We did it through open re-alignments based on national priorities of our time.

   Even as we disagree, we do so with mutual respect due to the trophies we share. As things stand today Miguna remains “a cut and paste civil servant” from Canada who does not understand the rocks on which the office he serves stands.

   Human experience

   When those who have walked the trajectory of the struggle in Kenya hear words like “revolution” and “reform” used by Vice- President Kalonzo Musyoka, we call it progress for the nation. Behold the only permanent thing in human experience is change. All I ask from him is humility as he enjoys the fruits of the change he mainly observed and occasionally wrote about in our local dailies when continuing with his studies, practising law and “struggling” in Canada.

   Miguna’s ‘better than thou’ psyche puts into focus the patriotic credentials of those who flew out into exile and stayed on for years. I became part of that past after being elected 1987 as chairman of the Students’ Organisation of Nairobi University, while Miguna served under me as finance secretary.

   As told by Miguna, a few days later, we were expelled and we, their leaders, ended up in Nyayo House; the bit he left out was that I, his chairman, was jailed for five years while he and the rest were released.

   What many do not understand is that being in exile is not synonymous with being in the struggle. Exile in practice offers continuity to dissidents to dissuade them from their revolutionary commitment, if any. Those who come back with PhDs and careers in readiness for absorption in the system as privileged labour, fall in this category.

   Exile therefore had two categories of people. There were those who perceived exile as a disorientation from their career pursuits locally and hence considered an opportunity to carry on from where they left a windfall to grab and abandon or relegate the struggle to the secondary plane.

   This category exaggerated their profile to the UNHCR as targeted dissidents to win priority for relocation to ‘lands of opportunity’. It is a cocktail of careerists, job seekers, citizenship seekers, fortune seekers and half-hearted strugglers. In the Kenyan context, they were the externally based version of opportunists.

   The other category was composed of men and women who left for exile bitter that they were delinking with the struggle for change. They crossed the borders weeping for a lost opportunity to institute change from within. They lobbied for accommodation in the neighbouring countries and whenever they were relocated to the West, they found their way back to guarantee a more relevant struggle. Mr Koigi wa Wamwere stands out as a remarkable illustration of this patriotic spirit having been arrested in Nairobi in 1990 despite being the most high profile freedom fighter and anti-establishment leader then exiled in Norway.

   The contrast, on the other hand, were the likes of a top ranking diplomat, who rejected pleas from Prof Micere Mugo and Dr Adhu Awiti in early 1992 that he joins us in the struggle.

   Air transport

   Efforts in getting comrades from Europe failed despite funds for their air transport being available. We only got some from Tanzania.

   With due respect, Miguna was never in this category. He still pursued his personal dreams in Canada.

   I find Miguna’s belligerency and self-righteous evil in our efforts to re-invent the nation — the principal contradiction of the moment. Why does he accuse the others of being opportunistic when he came back because of spotting opportunities brought into existence by those he recklessly dismisses? By the way, the late Mukaru Ng’ang’a and George Anyona returned and contested for the presidency in 1992. What patriotic duty was Miguna doing between 1992 and 2007 in Canada?

   —The writer is a political activist

   Loading...

   Reply

4. Miguna Migun a >Why should Kimunya/Ndungu resign from their positions while both comes from the Chosen Kikuyu tribe that owns Kenya >Kenya is Kikuyu And Kikuyu is Kenya KenyaLast Updated:
   20 mins ago Follow us on Facebook Watch us on Youtube Follow us on Twitter
   PAC orders probe on Kimunya, Ndung’u over Sh1.8bPAC orders probe on Kimunya, Ndung’u over Sh1.8bRelated News
   Cotu calls for thorough probe of NHIF saga SHARE THIS STORY

   Updated 1 hrs 2 mins ago
   By PETER OPIYO and ALEX NDEGWA

   Transport Minister Amos Kimunya is again faced with a parliamentary probe with the potential of forcing him to step aside for the second time until cleared.

   Also tied to him on the hip in this latest Sh1.8 billion De La Rue money printing payment query, just like was the case with the controversial sale of Grand Regency Hotel to the Libyan government, is Central Bank Governor Njuguna Ndung’u.

   The MPs also want the minister who recently was on the dock in Parliament over highly tribalised appointments at the board of Kenya Ports Authority surcharged.

   Kimunya, who is no stranger to controversies in his Cabinet portfolio, starting off with his 2003 declaration as Lands minister that title deeds were mere pieces of paper, is on a spot over claims he facilitated suspect money printing deals through which the taxpayer lost Sh1.8 billion. Parliament’s top watchdog — Public Accounts Committee (PAC) — has also recommended that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) investigate Kimunya and Ndung’u over the cancellation in 2006 of a cheaper long term contract in favour of expensive single-sourced multiple interim orders to print Kenyan currency.

   PAC recommended their removal from office saying they are “not fit to hold public office” following their conduct in the deal.

   PAC also called for the termination of the appointment of Ndung’u and a tribunal set up by the President to investigate his conduct over the deal for the supply of 1.71 billion pieces of banknotes.

   Ndung’u was, however, not the Governor when the deal was signed between CBK and De La Rue. “The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission should investigate the former Minister for Finance Amos Kimunya over his conduct in the loss of Sh1.8 billion with a view of taking appropriate legal action against him and recovering lost funds,” the report recommends.

   Treasury portfolio

   The team led by Ikolomani MP Dr Boni Khalwale found out that both Kimunya and Prof Ndung’u are responsible for the loss of the money and acted in contravention of the Constitution and the Public Procurement and Disposal Act.

   The probe rekindles the dramatic duel in Parliament between Kimunya and Khalwale in July 2008, which led to his stepping aside and, when reinstated, he lost the Treasury portfolio.

   Kimunya has further been involved in controversy over the appointment of the Kenya Airports Authority MD and later the constitution of its board.

   In the latest saga, the Committee was probing the printing contracts between Central Bank of Kenya and De La Rue Company from which a joint venture agreement for acquisition of 40 per cent stake in the Company’s Ruaraka, Nairobi plant by the Government of Kenya was conceived.

   >

   Loading...

   Reply