Magoha’s Life a Reflection of Human Decency

TRIBUTE

OMWENGA: Magoha’s life a reflection of human decency

Let us all be reminded being a good man or woman is a virtue within the reach of everyone

In Summary

• Magoha was a good man in the sense that he did not come across as someone who now having been given a plum appointment, his priority was to eat.

• A good man in the sense that rolling up his sleeves and going to work to improve education in Kenya was his one and only mission.

In his message of condolences, President William Ruto said the late Prof. Magoha was a “towering giant of our time, a great man who stood tall in the academy, where he excelled in learning, teaching and research, as well as in administration, where he led robust turnaround interventions at the University of Nairobi and the Kenya National Examinations Council.” The president also lauded the good professor’s accomplishments as Cabinet Secretary for education.

Messages from other leaders, family, friends, and ordinary Kenyans in social media poured all day following the announcement of the sudden death of this towering giant. Each one expressed the same sentiment the president expressed in one form or another and one common denominator in all of them was what a good and decent man the good professor and doctor was.

Death is inevitable but what others say about you when you’re long gone is something that should encourage everyone to live a life that will be missed because you were exemplary and caring in every respect.

The late Magoha was that and more. As is often the case with public figures, Prof. Magoha was unknown to many outside his academic and professional circles before former President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed him as cabinet secretary for education. It is said never to judge a book by its cover but seeing the photo of the man in the news splash gave me a good vibe that this could not be but a good man.

A good man in the sense that he did not come across as someone who now having been given a plum appointment, his priority was to eat. A good man in the sense that rolling up his sleeves and going to work to improve education in Kenya was his one and only mission. A good man in the sense that hungering for more power and not minding one bit stepping over others or running them over to get to this wicked objective was not in his bone. A good man in the sense that the success of others, including fellow colleagues, is something to be happy about not to undercut or try to prevent.

Those are the qualities of a good man and of course a good woman.

They are qualities wanting in many a cases in public service going back to our independence and even more acutely so in politics and specifically in political appointments. Magoha represented and epitomizes what a true civil servant should be and that is one solely focused on delivering for the good of the people and nothing else.

Our country would have gone far in economic prosperity but for the presence of men who lacked Magoha’s qualities. Men who were, in fact, the opposite of what Magoha represents as a good man. I am deliberate in saying “men” because at least in my experience I have never come across where that was true of any woman.

Okay, one case comes to mind but that was more about a relatively junior officer, broke so she stood in the way of the implementation of a certain project that could have created many jobs because she was more focused on eating than getting that project off the ground. This is usually the province of men, meaning, eating without doing anything to get a project done but don’t count men like Magoha in that crowd.

As we mourn this good man, let us all be reminded being a good man or good woman is a virtue within reach for everyone. If you are or become one, you can count on being remembered as one and that alone is the best way to say thank you to God for the life He has given you.

It is unfathomable for those who are good men and good women to understand how one lives a life where power has gotten into their heads and uses that power to frustrate or undercut others in achieving their own success. Jealousy and envy may explain it in part, but it is also another added quality for Magoha as he had neither.

May the good professor and doctor rest in peace.

 

Ruto’s Nyanza Visit Historic and Shaffles the Deck

My Star column this weekend for those unable to get past the paywall:

With the ace card in his pocket, President William Ruto both made a historic visit to Kisumu and Siaya counties while shuffling the political deck at the same time.

In late 2001, a good friend of mine Prof. Ruben Marwanga approached me and wanted to know if I could join a small team being assembled to advise the now late Simeon Nyachae in his quest for the presidency. My friend told me the team included a then little-known Dr. Fred Matiang’i and a couple of other individuals.

Nyachae was a household name in Gusii growing up and equally so across the country, having been a powerful PC in Central Province and later chief secretary in the civil service before delving into politics. It was therefore an easy decision for me to join my friend and the team being assembled to help our mzee in taking a stab at the presidency.

Nyachae would since then become a great friend and mentor and he came to mind as I was watching the president’s visit to Kisumu and Siaya.

When Nyachae was vying in 2002, I was home just before the campaigns went into high gear and in one of my visits to Kisii, a relative who was well tuned politically told me Nyachae had no chance of being elected president, let alone getting any votes in Gusii. I asked him why; he told me because Nyachae “tari gokonya onde” (he doesn’t help anyone).

This is a rap every politician gets and even though mostly accurate, there are many cases it is not, and this was one of them. I knew then and ever since that Nyachae, in fact, helped many not just in dishing public goodies, but personally in their struggles.

I have said many times had then LDP leader and later PM Raila Odinga declared “Nyachae tosha,” Nyachae would have been elected president in 2002. On the other hand, had Kibaki toshad Raila, Uhuru Kenyatta would have been made president in 2002.

You can quibble with that, but that is neither here nor there as the facts are there to back that conclusion.

Why is this significant? Because it points to a hold Raila has had not just among his supporters across the country and diaspora, but more so in Nyanza and part of Western.

No other politician in Kenya has had that kind of hold and, no, the Mt. Kenya region voting to a man for one of their own for decades until Ruto broke that doesn’t count because, in that context, it has never mattered who the candidate was.

Speaking in Homa Bay during his historic visit, Ruto, in jest, said he camped in the county during the campaign period asking for votes prior to the August 9 polls, but the region’s electorate gave him just one percent of the votes.

To his credit, Ruto never shied away from seeking votes in Raila’s backyard. Many dismissed his efforts as an exercise in futility, but the now 5^th president of our republic knew what he was doing.

He was just planting the seed and in his recent visit as president, he watered the now germinating seed and in doing so, Ruto has shaffled the political deck in a manner that cannot be undone in as far as the outcome goes.

With the deck shaffled, Ruto will now distribute the cards and when the 2027 game is done, no one but him will be the winner.

The only question now is will Raila be in the game? The odds are yes but only as a kingmaker for 2032. In establishing the official opposition office with its perks and privileges, Ruto is making sure the only politician who can give him a run for his money will be content in letting the new professor of politics do his thing.

The second question is who would Raila hand over the mantle to as Luoland’s leader?

It will not be someone trying too hard and going about it the wrong way as a good case can be made one is already doing.

It will be someone deftly meek, and one Raila likes.

Update: Azimio has announced a rally in Kamukunji grounds on Monday in which its leader Raila Odinga is to address claims by an IEBC whistleblower that once again pits Raila against the president who has promised to firmly deal with whatever Raila and Azimio have in mind. Does that change the analysis in this piece? No and if so, only peripherally.

 

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

Today is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Day, a national holiday celebrating the birthday of the civil rights legend who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Preaching a message of nonviolent resistance, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. became enshrined in American culture as the leading voice of the civil rights movement.

Sadly, his life was cut short by an assassin, but his legacy shall live forever. His “I have a dream” speech at the U.S. capitol grounds is stuff legends are made from.

On Sunday, President Joe Biden delivered remarks from Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, becoming the first sitting president to deliver a Sunday sermon from the historic church where King served as pastor until his assassination in 1968.

In honor of MLK Day, many government agencies, post offices, banks, and corporate offices will be closed today. US National Parks are waiving entrance fees today, and many people are also expected to flock to his memorial sites to pause and remember his legacy.

God has gifted us with many legends in history, but MLK was one of a kind. His legacy shall live on forever and in so doing shall infinitely continue to inspire those who heed his message of love and compassion for others regardless of their color and eradicating racism and, by extension, discrimination of any kind.

 

Gachagua is Treading Water in Unchartered Territory

My Star column this weekend for those unable to get past the paywall:

The position of deputy president has historically been deliberately made weak with those holding that position being there to be seen and not to be heard. In the United States, for example, vice presidents there were for centuries given no serious roles and nearly all of them were relegated to attending funerals of dead country leaders across the globe. Former President Bill Clinton changed all that by giving his vice president Al Gore real and substantive roles in his government.

When George W Bush succeeded Clinton as president, his deputy Dick Cheney became the de facto president because Bush was mostly clueless as to how a government is run but those who pushed him to the position made sure Cheney was there to take care of business, and he did.

The U.S. has never had a more powerful vice president than Cheney and it’s doubtful it ever will. When Mike Pence became vice president to the most unqualified president in American history even less qualified than George Bush, the man was effectively absent as vice president and is remembered for his standing as a stooge next to Trump and covetously staring at him at public events.

The current Vice President Kamala Harris may have helped propel Joe Biden to the presidency, but hardly any serious analyst and observer thinks she has a chance of succeeding him. In fact, Democrats are in trouble as they may lose the presidency in 2024 because Biden will be too old and presently there is no serious contender who can lead Democrats to victory though that may change in good time.

The story in Kenya is no different. Historically, our presidents have traditionally been there to be seen and not to be heard. Our first and second presidents had the power to sack their vice presidents at any time and they did so each respective vice president toed the line or was sacked.

That changed in 2010 when the drafters of the constitution decided to entrench the deputy president in the constitution such that a president cannot hold a threat of sacking over their heads. A deputy president can now be removed from office only by impeachment and that is no easy walk on the park.

Now retired President Uhuru Kenyatta and his henchmen realizing how impossible it was to impeach his deputy, came up with a Plan B to frustrate the deputy to the point of forcing him to resign.

But now President William Ruto was too smart for them. Ruto not only weathered the onslaught and the man who was supposed to lead in those efforts, former CS Fred Matiang’i miserably failed in those efforts and will mostly be remembered as being one of the most overrated cabinet secretaries in Kenyan history.

While Ruto strategically used his office as deputy to brilliantly outwit and outmaneuver Uhuru and Kenya Kwanza leader Raila Odinga, it is doubtful Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua will be as effective in using his office to succeed Ruto.

There may not be an ugly fall-out between Ruto and Gachagua as there was between Uhuru and Ruto, but the underlying dynamics are the same.

Anyone who has been following closely and listening to what Dr. Ruto has been saying would have no doubt but conclude that Ruto is determined to end tribalism as a determining factor in our presidential elections.

In addressing Kenyans in Washington during his recent visit, the president said and reiterated that this is what the voters proved when he was elected as president.

Another way to read this is, if in doubt as to whether the president is right about tribalism and ethnicity not being a determinative factor in presidential elections, sit back and watch how the president makes the calls and has his team execute the plays from his new playbook for 2027.

These are plays Gachagua is better off just enjoying the perks and privileges of being a deputy and leaving aside scheming to challenge or succeed Ruto.

If there is one thing Ruto has thus far proven, it is if Moi was the professor of politics, Dr. Ruto will relegate what Moi did to the junior league.

 

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Gives Eloquent and Historic Speech

I must admit much as I am a law and politics writer and write speeches for politicians as part of the professional services I offer, I don’t like listening to speeches. I prefer reading them—except my own which I hardly read over after drafting them. And that’s only rarely as I prefer to read summaries of the speeches as covered by media or by good political analysts I follow.

The last speech I watched in its entirety as it was happening was by then Illinois senator and later President Barrack Obama in 2004. Obama’s speech that year at the Democratic Party National Convention birthed the political star he became which propelled him to the White House as president.

Prior to that, I watched many former President Bill Clinton’s speeches, usually State of the Union speeches but even then I did so while doing something else so not fully paying attention to everything he was saying.

I was not too much into politics before then even though I occasionally briefly watched with annoyance when the late former President Ronald would give his State of the Union speeches—but must give it to the man much as I never liked his policies, the man had such an imposing stature you would not but give him his kudos as an effective president which defined American politics in the modern era.

When Reverend Jessie Jackson was vying for president for the first time in 1984, I attended one of his political rallies in Dallas held at now-closed Bishop College—a college I owe my coming to America as that is where I first attended before transferring to University of Texas and later University of Maryland.

Jessie Jackson became the first African American to stand at a podium of a major party convention as a presidential candidate. The man could give electric speeches to black audiences but perhaps a reflection of where America was in race relations in the 80s, his speeches at both the 1984 and 1988 conventions great as they were, did not propel him to the White House as Obama’s did 16 years later.

Historians and rhetoric analysts agree Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington on August 28, 1963, tops the list among the greatest speeches on American soil and in American history.

I still get goosebumps whenever I listen to the speech, especially its ending.

I came close to having similar goosebumps when I watched Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries deliver his concession speech before inviting the near mortally wounded now crippled Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

That happened yesterday when Congress finally elected a speaker after the 15^th ballot—the longest in more than 164 years. To get there, Kevin McCarthy gave away the store to the extreme-right fellow Republican in name members of the Freedom Caucus—an extreme wing of the Republican Party that held McCarthy hostage until he gave them everything and more they demanded before finally letting him have the speaker’s gavel.

And that is all the unprincipled man from California has after giving away nearly all powers even the weakest speakers before him had: a hallow speakership.

More on that in another piece I intend to write but, for now, back to the speech Hakeem Jeffries gave yesterday.

It was both eloquent and historic.

Eloquent because Jeffries articulated his vision for America and what the Democratic Party stands for or against. It was King, Clinton, and Obama’s speeches wrapped in one.

Though it would not rank as high as King’s speech for reasons I need not get to now, it will certainly be ranked in the Top 50 and a serious case can be made in the Top 10 of the greatest speeches in American history.

It is a speech that will also likely propel Jeffries to the presidency for the speakership is on hand to happen when Democrats take back control of the House which they stand a good chance of doing in 2024, given the ugliness, and tilt to the extreme right by the Republican Party as evinced in the circus we witnessed in the speaker election drama.

The Republican Party stands not for anything but power and their full embrace of Trumpism and its disdain for rule of law and democracy which voters rejected in November by bucking the historic trend of the party in the White House losing majorly in off-year elections and nearly giving Democrats control of the House all but assures Democrats they will regain control of the House in 2024 and most certainly in 2026 God willing.

That happens in 2024, Jeffries will become the House speaker and if not, president in 2028.

This is my prediction but in the meantime, let’s all get ready to see how he performs as leader of the Democrats in the House as they mount a campaign to keep the dwarfs in check. Yes, the Republican Party has reduced itself to a tail being wagged by the dog and therefore a dwarf compared to the united, people’s affairs and policy-oriented Democratic Party.

Fascinating days ahead, indeed.

God bless America!