Follow the conversation on twitter and Facebook #RailasHouseOfLies
There’s something about Kenya that makes you feel there’s magic in the air, wonder at every turn, and an ever-present sensation of oneness with nature.” Richard Branson, 2015. In an article he penned in May 2015, Billionaire Richard Branson spoke intimately of the magic of Kenya and sort of personal and spiritual transformation that takes place in this country. Indeed, Kenya is the land where a man can change, reinvent himself, and redefine his destiny.
However, try as he might a man cannot erase his past;well, not unless you are Kamlesh Pattni, or Raila Odinga.
Brother ‘Paul’ Patni had, during his youth, been known as Mr. ‘Saul’ Patni. Under that earlier identity he is alleged to have masterminded one of the greatest economic swindles ever carried out in Kenya, through Goldernberg. However, after a very short stint in jail, where Kenyans were informed that he had encountered God; Mr. Patni became Brother Patni; a pastor and man of God. Today Brother Paul Pattni runs a church, and even attempted to run for public office a few years ago.
Brother Paul Pattni has done an impressive job in obscuring his past. In fact by taking up the identity of a born-again Christian no man can judge him for the things he did before he came to the ‘light’. The idea of becoming a saved Christian provided the public with a way out of a conundrum; and is consistent with the “forgiveness” narrative where those who have committed incredible crimes simply ask for forgiveness, and all is forgotten. Today Kenyans have been forced to accept that Pattni is now forgiven, at least by God. When Pattni committed himself to “serving God” by opening a church and preaching, it signified the transforming power of God.
To fair there are some Kenyans who find this narrative completely distasteful; even amongst the Christian community. However it has successfully diverted attention from Pattni’s economic crimes past and completely overridden the fact that public money stolen. It has also made It easier for him to claim dues owed to him after that period, without blinking an eyelid.
I get the feeling that Raila Odinga has watched Pattni’s successful rebranding with envy. I also suspect he has decided to borrow the play-book Pattni used, and just removed the aspect of religion. And it is working. Like magic Raila Odinga has somehow reinvented himself into the epitome of the solution to Kenya’s entrenched corruption problem!
Why I find this feat as admirable as what Pattni has achieved is because somehow Kenyans now believe Raila Odinga when he points out Kenyans who are corrupt. A man with a history of allegations on the acquisition of molasses; whose office as Prime Minister was accused, by his own close advisor, of being a den of corruption, is now the man offering solutions on how Kenya can fight corruption! It is unbelievable.
Of course just like in Pattni’s case there are some of us who find this process of the rebranding of Raila Odinga distasteful. Some of us have not forgotten the tragic events of 2008; the pictures of marauding youth screaming ‘No Raila, No Peace!, and the fact that the success of these gangs in causing violence is what led to the formation of the Grand Coalition government in which Raila Odinga became Prime Minister. We have not forgotten scandals involving oil, sugar, maize, youth funds, etc; that Raila’s own advisor Miguna Miguna placed squarely in Raila’s office.
We have also not forgotten corruption allegations on land titles, healthcare funds and immigration documents; all which were associated with his political allies and people who he had personally nominated to head the respective ministries. Today we are suffering due to a proliferation of fake identity documents alleged to have been sold during the term of a departed minister associated with Raila Odinga.
But somehow … like Brother Paul Pattni, Raila Odinga presents himself as the ‘The People’s president” who is ‘mweupe kama pembe’ (white as cotton). This is despite accusations by his former advisor Miguna Miguna who actually publicly an aptly titled book ‘Peeling back the Mask’ about Raila. In the book Miguna suggests that Raila Odinga orchestrated the illegal transfer by Moi’s government of the Kisumu Molasses plant at a fraction of its actual value. Miguna further alleges that Raila Odinga, as Prime Minister during the grand coalition, supervised while his lieutenants conspired and executed scams involving several of ODM’s ministries; Maize, Oil, Immigration, land, and social security institutions such as the NHIF.
Kenyans are supposed to be okay with Raila Odinga leading the war on corruption. We are not to ask where he acquired his substantive wealth from, despite claiming to have spent most of his productive life in jail ‘fighting for Kenyans’. Today this man who prides himself on being tortured by the corrupt Moi regime is richer than key leaders from that regime!
The sort of ingenuity applied when reinventing oneself in such a way should become part of the annals of the Guinness book of world records. Certainly it is an award-winning illusion to on one hand claim yourself pure while at the same time doing everything you can to protect the likes of Evans Kidero who has been accused of bribing a Supreme Court Judge; Kalonzo Musyoka who has been implicated in grabbing NYS land, and Moses Wetangula who has corruption allegations involving BAT. This is while insisting that political opponents with such accusations resign from public office!
As Billionaire Richard Branson says; Kenya truly is a magical place.
The post Raila’s House of Lies appeared first on The Kenyan Herald.