We all know one thing about handshakes. When you shake hands with the devil you have to count your fingers to see how many are left. If Raila was to have a handshake with William Ruto he will not need to count his fingers. Raila will need someone present at the handshake to see if his head still stands on his neck after the handshake.
The politics of handshakes has become a rallying cry of the failing Ruto regime. Oh Raila handshake with Uhuru stopped all the jubilee grand plans all of which failed. Remember the dams costing hundreds of billions that the Uhuruto government borrowed and then the likes of Henry Rotich a Ruto appointee stole all the money. All that was due to Raila having a handshake with Uhuru.
And the national debt crisis in Kenya is all about the handshake. That is what Ruto keeps yapping about. The truth is that in less than one year in office, Ruto has accumulated Sh. 1.2 trillion in debt. I am sure that is all because of the Raila and Uhuru handshake. In fact, the Raila and Uhuru handshake is what stopped Uhuru and Ruto from delivering the laptops to school kids which was their biggest promise to Kenyans in 2013.
Damn Raila, how can he ruin so many things. Eventually, on the failed laptop lies from Ruto, the Jubilee government ended up giving some tablets to schools and the latest report this week is that 200,000 of those tablets are missing having been stolen by government officials.
Now you see how bad that Raila and Uhuru handshake has been. Right?
So there it is. If Raila wants a handshake with the devil he can go ahead. The real issue is whether Kenyans will accept it. Things may be reaching a point where the citizens are ready and willing to take matters into their own hands and would care less what Raila and Ruto agree on.
But as a country we have to face the reality that the country cannot survive the way we are right now. Kenya is at a breaking point. Today some Ruto and some KK leaders are yelling around that the country is back to normal and they have defeated the Azimio rallies. That is nonsense.
If normalcy in Kenya means the government has not killed or shot as many people as they did yesterday then we are deluding ourselves. Kenya is at the brink of a complete disaster and a return to the 2007/8 nightmare breakdown and war in the country.
The difference between what is happening in Kenya today and what traumatized the country in the 2007/8 violence is that nobody except the instigators saw the 2007/8 nightmare coming and when it started with that ominous massacre at Kiambaa Church in Eldoret it was a shock to the country and then it just rolled on from there until the international community with Koffi Annan stepped in and saved us from destroying the whole country.
This time in 2023 Kenyans are walking into this disaster with our eyes wide open and the national government is cheering Kenya to get into it and have that war thinking they will win that war. We are going there and we know where we are going as a country and once we get there Kenya may not get out of it. The consequences could very well be the end of the country called Kenya.
That has to be stopped and will not happen. Kenyans are smart people and they love their country.
I am not sure that is what William Ruto wants to achieve for the country he claims to lead but if he gets the country there then the citizens and not just the political leaders will have to deal with the situation on the ground.
The reality right now is that the present conditions are not sustainable for the country. The final rally for this week will be today on Friday, July 21, 2023. Nobody knows how that will go but one thing is for sure. The three-day resistance rallies called by Raila and Azimio this week have devastated the Ruto regime who threatened to stop them completely and failed miserably to do so.
We had a dead country as from Wednesday and Ruto must have been completely embarrassed that it was exactly on that day that he was selling his idea of Kenya as an investment kingdom for American investors who were in Nairobi with the US Trade Representative Catherine Tai.
The US was supposed to build some special bilateral investments package with Kenya, something that member countries of the East African Commission (EAC) have been worried about but after the US Trade Representative witnessed live what the investment opportunities in Kenya look like with murder and mayhem in the streets of Kenya I am sure there is a breath of relief to those EAC member countries.
“Kati ya mwezi wa May na Juni, tumepokea wawekezaji wengi mno. Lakini ukitizama sababu ni nini. Sababu ni kwamba kwa jirani kunawaka moto (Between May and June, we received many investors like never before. As you can see, the reason is that the neighbour’s home is on fire),” said President Suluhu.
The question is if you are an American or any other foreign investor now and you look at Kenya and Tanzania where would you put your money and investments? It is kind of obvious, isn’t it?
Does the country need dialogue and some handshake? It is obvious we do and it is inevitable at this time and the only issue is how it is done and what are the achievable objectives.
First Kenya has to ignore the political diarrhea from the likes of DP Rigathi Gachagua who seems to think Ruto is his new Moi for whom he was a D.O killing Kikuyus opposed to Moi in Nakuru. Ignore such fools completely.
The horror on Kenyans is already ICC case by every definition. It is too much even to look at for any person but it is the reality Kenyans are facing right now. It is so painful to see but how about those who went through these Ruto murders and violence against Kenyans. These are now historical records for ages to come in our country.
Here are live videos that just make every Kenyan sick to the stomach but for Ruto and his mob this is great success for Kenya. Really?
Kenyans have to note that the last ICC after the 2007/8 PEV was based on witnesses most of whom were just killed to stop them from appearing at the ICC.
This time the evidence is the cell phone that almost every Kenyan has. It is live video of gross murder and violation of any human rights. It is live on video. It speaks for itself.
The dialogue for uniting the country must first of all be based on what is good for Kenyans and not what is good for the political leaders.
The two sides can start with simply withdrawing the Finance Act 2023/4 which is now stuck in the courts and agreeing to redo the whole process with focus on what is best for the Kenyan public and specifically the hustlers and poor folks in the country.
Develop an inclusive Finance Act that addresses the needs of Kenyans and have a commonly agreed on act presented to parliament and passed by all sides. That would be an overwhelming success for everybody.
Step two would be to address this cost of living business and come up with practical and doable solutions. William Ruto says the demos will not reduce the price of unga or the cost of living. Killing Kenyans and arresting demonstrators will not reduce the price of unga either. So what do we do?
Let Ruto and his KK team as well as Raila with his Azimio team come up with real and practical solutions to reduce the price of Unga and the cost of living and then let that be implemented and see what impact that will have on Kenyans trying to make a living under hard conditions.
Just start with those two issues that are right in the face of every Kenyan and let the country move from there.
There are two problems for national dialogue. There are those in the Ruto regime who think that such a process would be a gift to Raila and he will be the winner. The truth is that the stubborn behaviour of Ruto and KK driving the country into total chaos is the best gift Ruto can give to Raila and Azimio.
There will be others in Azimio who may think that making a deal with Ruto who is now in a total mess will be a gift from the opposition that will stabilize the Ruto government and save them. That is irrelevant.
The next four years are critical for the survival of our country and Kenyans by 2027 will know who they can trust with the leadership of their country. That battle is four years from now and we should just leave it alone for the sake of the country.
If only the national leaders and the international community can come to a national reconciliation agreement that honours Kenyans like this young man, Kenya and the world would be happy.
