Why Did US Imperialism Congratulate Kibaki After Raila’s Presidency Was Stolen? Part 3

Generational Revolt Could Topple Imperialist Status Quo

Leaders since independence: Since independence, Kenya has been led by an old generation of politicians at both the Presidential and Parliamentary level. Traditionally, the practicing of politics has been the preserve of the old with the common adage mouthed across the country being that “politics should be left to politicians” even in the face of abuse of power, mass subjugation, human rights violations, promotion of poverty and other unacceptable vices by old guards who have come to power. Kenyatta, the first President of the Republic, was surrounded by a clique of old guards who conspired closely to loot and plunder the country’s resources until the “Founding Father of the Nation” passed away in his sleep in Mombasa. A takeover by Kenyatta’s old guards was foiled when Moi took over and ushered in a new breed of geezers who were beside Moi for twenty-four years as the former dictator ran down the country with an iron fist.

When Moi’s attempt to maintain his boys was defeated in December 2002 by NARC, which rode to power on a platform of change, the country’s leadership was taken over by another breed of old guards who quickly surrounded Kibaki and set up a Mafia cartel that derailed the aspirations of the Kenyan people. Kibaki summoned his golf buddies of the 60s to be in charge of the State, opening the way for yet another round of misrule that was responsible for the defeat of PNU, forcing this group to rig the election through ECK when they discovered that power was too sweet. Kenyatta, Moi and Kibaki all entered into active politics in the early 60s, a time when the majority of the youth who voted for ODM had not even been born. On the contrary, Raila Odinga and many of his associates who congregated around him, entered into active elective politics after 1990 following the reintroduction of political pluralism in Kenya. The ODM “Pentagon member” such as William Ruto (who was destined to become Prime Minister, Musalia Mudavadi (Raila’s running mate) Henry Kosgey, Najib Balala and Charity Ngilu including Raila himself, were all absent on the political scene in the 60s. Western imperialism has mainly been used to dealing with the predictable old guards who have been delivering the country’s resources to the West without fail and loyally obeying orders.

The massive election victory of ODM and the possible power takeover by Raila Odinga was a representation of a serious generational revolt in Kenya. I wish to argue that the main reason why the US government hurried in recognising Kibaki was because the new breed of young leaders who were poised to take over power in Kenya made the US government uncomfortable. The unpredictability in the event of an ODM power takeover by a gang of “young Turks” and in a country that is central to US interest in the region was too risky for the US government and something had to be done at the initial stages. To some extent, the US succeeded because ODM never took power. But the message had been sent — that time for the old guards had expired and Kenyans were not just seeking political changes but were also up for a generational change in leadership. The new generation of leaders in ODM represented a generation that read about the struggle for Kenya’s independence in history books and they were determined to sweep the old guards out of the scene because since independence, the youth have failed to experience the so called fruits of this independence.

Inspiration of the youth: Getting new and younger faces in government was going to provide a new inspiration for the youth whose political lives have been dominated by rotten old guards bent on stealing public resources at the expense of millions of suffering Kenyans. The ODM victory was a clear signal that if organized, the youth can seize power and control government, put up a new political agenda and lead the country using new ideas. Throughout the world, governments fear youth rebellions and when examined from the point of view of Kenya that has been ripe for a political and social revolution for decades, any power takeover by youthful leaders could inspire the youth to aim for even greater heights in politics with the consequence that Western imperialism would lose its monopoly of control since the West is mainly used to controlling the old guards. The Kenyan youth are growing up at a time of great awareness, especially on the methods used by the United States and its allies to control Kenya.

Naturally, it is the interest of the US government to maintain the status quo in Kenya’s leadership as this is the only viable way to pull the strings from behind. What could happen if a youthful leader who does not listen to the United States seizes power in Kenya through a mass movement of the ODM type? The answer is that there could begin a process of radicalization of the youth that could turn Kenyan politics away from the West, and congratulating Kibaki at the earliest possible time and just after election rigging was a way of sending a strong signal to Kenyan youth who had voted for ODM that the US still preferred the old guards to be in control of the country’s politics regardless of whether or not the Presidential election had been rigged.

Raila Odinga Stolen Presidency pages: 316-318

RELATED:

• Why Did US Imperialism Congratulate Kibaki After Raila’s Presidency Was Stolen? Part 1

• Why Did US Imperialism Congratulate Kibaki After Raila’s Presidency Was Stolen? Part 2

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