Shida ya Kenya ni mtu mmoja tu!

President Uhuru Kenyatta was once an antagonistic Opposition chief who led demonstrations against the State and skipped national holidays and other government events.

He forced his stand on a new electoral agency and almost brought the Mwai Kibaki regime to its knees.

While serving as Opposition leader, Mr Kenyatta defied government orders barring lawmakers from demonstrating on the streets.

The son of Kenya’s founding father, who once said the police will never muzzle the power of demonstrators fighting for a just cause, is using the same means used on him against his critics.

It was between July and December 2006 that Mr Kenyatta transformed from a once-upon-a-time fumbling protégé of former President Daniel arap Moi to a furious antagonist who took on both Mr Moi and President Kibaki.

During this period, Mr Kenyatta accused the government of refusing to listen to the Opposition over the issue of constituting the electoral agency, sponsoring coups in political parties, stifling dissenting voices and failing to provide leadership to the nation.

Mr Kenyatta further said the then Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs Martha Karua had refused to accommodate the views of Opposition leaders in the appointment of electoral officials.

“What Kibaki and others are doing in encouraging coups is promoting mistrust in political parties, which are basic cornerstones of our democracy,” said Mr Kenyatta.

“This is sad, coming from somebody who since 1992 claimed to have been fighting for democracy. Now that he is president, is this the democracy he was fighting for? To misuse government office to deny others their voice?”

The Kibaki regime sponsored a move by MPs to dethrone Mr Kenyatta as the official Opposition chief. When the issue was brought to the floor of the House on December 1, 2006, Deputy Speaker David Musila saved the embattled Kenyatta.

Mr Musila told the MPs that despite the action by the government to recognise the new Kanu leadership, the party’s group of MPs had not removed him as its leader.

This fight would go to the streets a few days later, on December 5, 2006.

Mr Kenyatta led former Kanu officials William Ruto, Henry Kosgey and Kalonzo Musyoka in demonstrations that were stopped by police, who fired teargas and beat up the protesters.

As a result, Mr Kenyatta announced that he had drafted a Motion of no confidence in the government, which he was to present on the floor of the House on December 7, 2006.

He forced his stand on a new electoral agency and almost brought the Mwai Kibaki regime to its knees.

The writer of that article conveniently forgets to indicate that in 2006 we did not have a mechanism to remove the electoral agency and that the removal of such was a prerogative of the president then unlike now.Kweli propaganda ni kali. Oranges to apples.

(4) Subject to this section, the office of a member of the Commission shall become vacant—
(a) at the expiration of five years from the date of his appointment; or
(b) if circumstances arise that, if he were not a member of the Commission, would cause him
to be disqualified to be appointed as such.
(5) A member of the Commission may be removed from office only for inability to exercise
the functions of his office (whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or from any other
cause) or for misbehaviour, and shall not be so removed except in accordance with this
section.
(6) A member of the Commission shall be removed from office by the President if the
question of his removal from office has been referred to a tribunal appointed under subsection
(7) and the tribunal has recommended to the President that he ought to be removed from
office for inability as aforesaid or for misbehaviour.
(7) If the President considers that the question of removing a member of the Commission
under this section ought to be investigated, then—
(a) the President shall appoint a tribunal, which shall consist of a chairman and four other
members selected by the President from among persons—
(i) who hold or have held the office of judge of the High Court or judge of appeal; or
(ii) who are qualified to be appointed as judges of the High Court under section 61 (3); or
(iii) upon whom the President has conferred the rank of Senior Counsel under section 17 of
the Advocates Act; and
(b) the tribunal shall inquire into the matter and report on the facts thereof to the President and
recommend to him whether the member ought to be removed.
(8) If the question of removing a member of the Commission has been referred to a tribunal
under this section, the President may suspend that member from the exercise of the functions
of his office, and any such suspension may at any time be revoked by the President, and shall
in any case cease to have effect if the tribunal recommends to the President that that member
should not be removed.