Waiguru Must Go: So Says the Pharisees –The Irony of Democracy

Following the Waiguru debate and her crucifixion reminds me of two events; the execution of Ken Saro Wiwa the author of Africa Kills Her Sun and the betrayal and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth by the Pharisees.

And if it mounts for anything I advise her to read these two accounts to understand her fate- Waiguru you will not survive and it is upon you to carry that cross. 

Resigning is not an option –its like Jesus refusing to “drink from the cup” prepared for you to drink from. I advise that you make the prayer Jesus made at Gethsemane.

I will jot it down for you, just as a reminder “Aba Father. Everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Before you declare fire upon my head for blasphemy, let me explain. You see, the accusations, betrayal, and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth is elaborated in details in the first four books in the New Testament according to the Christian faith. 

But I see a great resemblance with the Anne Waiguru saga and the life of Ken Saro Wiwa. Before you condemn me, give me a minute to explain.

The Accusations

We all agree that Anne Waiguru hasn’t done anything wrong. But she should bite the bullet since her juniors have done bad things and money has been lost. We understand that Anne has been trying to fight graft. But she’s so much tainted that we can’t tell how far she’s involved.

At this point I must say when fighting corruption, you are in the ring with the corrupt. You will scratch them and they will scratch you back. So as a country, we must understand that at some point in this fight we will get confused as we are now.

But that’s just what fighting graft entails; being close and personal with the corrupt. So the accusations started that she’s corrupt since she has corrupt people in her docket –who she’s trying to fight FYI. 

They couldn’t rally enough support for her ouster, so they needed something bigger, and something that will stick. They needed to drop poop right on her doorstep. That way nobody will refute the “unrefutable.” 

But they needed somebody to betray her, and in Eng. Peter Oganga Mangiti they found one.

Jesus suffered the same fate, at some point, he was accused of dining with the corrupt, working on Sabbath and many other accusation including declaring himself the king of the Jews. 

But for a long time they couldn’t pin him down with an elaborate accusation to put him to the cross. They needed somebody close to him to betray him, Judas was the man they Identified. 

In the case of Ken, he was a strong man, an activist and a protector of the right of the Ogoni people. The government of the day threw numerous accusations his way. Even jailing him for a month, but they could not get a perfect way to kill him. They had to make some accusation stick.

The Betrayal

Africa Kills Her Sun is largely acknowledged as a foreshadow for the death of Ken Saro Wiwa the author. So let’s stick with Ken’s accusations, betrayal and death. 

Ken started non-violent campaign against the degradation of environment caused by the dumping of toxic waste from the extraction of petroleum in the Ogoniland. The government felt threatened so they had to accuse him of something. 

After the death of chiefs in the Ogoniland, the Military had a perfect opportunity to fix the murders of these chiefs on Ken. Men close to him falsely testified of his incitement and he was sentenced and executed in 1995. Reading Africa Kills Her Sun, it is clear the kind of corruption that prevailed in country. 

In the case of Jesus of Nazareth, one of his closest allies, a person he himself had chosen, was corrupted into giving him to the Pharisees. One account states that “…Judas went to the Chief Priest and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus….. they were delighted and gave him money.” Later Judas kissed Jesus and the guards took him away.

In the present case of Waiguru, the script is the same. And here is my take of what has happened. In this account, I must let you know that misuse of power is not a preserve of the high and mighty in the ruling class and government, but it is for the high and mighty in the society. 

So while the previous cases were orchestrated by the people in the governing class. Our case is a case of the new form of democracy, it is the irony of democracy. First the high and mighty in the society needed a script, and array of accusations. 

When these accusations failed to take root in the country’s psyche, they needed something more elaborate, something believable. 

They needed a man to betray Waiguru, so in an action that is unfathomable anywhere else in the world apart from Africa, a PS endowed with all government resources makes the most outrageous and shocking mistake a person of his caliber can be expected to make. He “mistakenly tables a document showing massive corruption in the office of the CS.” 

What a revelation!!! The PS then indicates that the document was not right and tries to withdraw it, after 72 hours of tabling it. In a twist of events, the information is leaked to the media and picked by international media. Now the case is sealed Anne Waiguru Must Go for “Judas” has spoken.

So the nation is treated with arguments of all sorts, KOT says Waiguru Must Go, Jeff Koinange brings it on the Bench, message, Waiguru Must Go, the Newspapers print Waiguru Must Go, on Prime Time News Waiguru Must Go, so the mood of the Country is Waiguru Must Go it doesn’t matter whether she stole or not, but she must step aside. 

As a nation we adopt the “witch-test” with the mantra burn them if they don’t burn they are witches. What a nation, where institutions are right and independent only when they can give judgments favorable to me otherwise they are compromised and corrupt. If the EACC indicates that they have no case against the CS we say she has pocketed the commission.

The Death

In the case of Jesus and Ken, these two exceptional guys died. So in the case of Waiguru, she must “die” (“die” here means impeached –don’t want to be charged with hate speech and incitement). That is the fate of those who stand for the rule of law and for the right of the poor and the impoverished. 

There is no doubt that she will not come out of this one, the “evidence” is there and the people supports it. When she is taken to “Pilate and Herod” in our case the EACC they “found no basis for a charge against this” lady. 

Now they’re calling upon the President and Deputy to remove her from office, they are crying Crucify Her! Crucify Her! 

But of course the president will say he has no charge against her since the EACC has found as such –up to this point at least. However, they will continue shouting how other CS’s are out for far lesser crimes –that they are accused of committing and the EACC has said as much. 

The president and the deputy will try to plead with the people to allow the due process to take its course but people will insist Waiguru Must Go. In Jesus’ time they said crucify him despite Pilates plea to allow him to just punish Jesus and let him go. 

Just like in the time of Jesus, the shouts of the teacher of the law, in our case the makers of the law will prevail, and the president will surrender her to them.

Her ouster will be as riveting as the crucifixion of Jesus and the execution of Ken. 

The parliamentarians will strip her and strike her with strips of allegations of corruptions, high handedness, arrogance, and all other manner of accusations –of course with no credible evidence adduced. 

We will stay glued to our TVs and scrolling up and down our TL to learn what KOT is saying. Everybody will have something to say about it. 

Few will talk of her astounding performance, the award-winning huduma center, the effective slum upgrading projects by the NYS, the fast action of the CS in investigating corruption claims in NYS, the effectiveness of the IFMIS system and many more, but just a few people will talk about it. 

The majority will say she is the special one in the jubilee government, they will say she’s the president’s side-chick, they will –and they have- call her all manner of names. But just because people are shouting, the facts will not change, she has done no crime and she has acted swiftly in all occasions. But in a country so corrupt, the corruption fighters seems corrupt –ask PLO Lumumba he has drunk from the same cup.

In the case of Jesus, they mockingly wrote a notice above him saying “ THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS”  but in Anne’s case they will mock her with the phrase “THIS IS THE BEST PERFORMING CS IN THE JUBILEE GOVERNMENT.” 

She will then be impeached and disappear to oblivion. However unlike Jesus case, she will not “resurrect” her fate will be sealed just like that of Ken, and the few of us who have seen her work and her "demise" will remember her in articles and discussions. And then THEY WILL PICK ANOTHER CS or PROBABLY EVEN THE PRESIDENT.

In my conclusion I’ll say this about African leadership: it is not about having the right government, but rather having the right people in leadership positions whether in Government, the opposition, religious institutions, and mostly the media. 

But in all cases, our level of gullibility will determine who we give power, and how we’re governed by those we give it. I say Waiguru must not go, she must stick it out until the end when the parliament will push her out. 

This will be a good lesson for us, as well as a mark in our history, of how Africa Rewards Hardwork and Diligence. Also as Ken says in African Kills Her Sun, she will be proud of her fate since she chose not to entertain corruption and let impoverished youths be. It was her decision to clean up kibera and other slums, it was her decision to make service delivery efficient, it was her decision to investigate NYS. So it is only fair that she is rewarded with the fate that befits her actions.

Anne did you really believe that when politicians say we will fight corruption and eradicate poverty they are genuine? Which Kenyan politician in his/her right mind would want such a captivating mantra to end, just because a self-driven technocrat wants to show that it is possible to actually do it? What do you expect the politicians to sell in 2017? 

It is important that politicians fight all efforts to fight graft and poverty lest they lose their positions as leaders of the most impoverished continent in the world.

But honestly speaking I thought Uhuru and Ruto would be those African leaders who are out of their mind to actually do it. You Mrs CS have done great in leading us towards that direction. But I am sorry, Africa Has to Kill Her Sun.