OUR CASE FOR RAILA 2007

OUR CASE FOR RAILA ODINGA FOR PRESIDENT 2007


It’s been more than forty seven years since our freedom fighters died for our country. But since then our freedom fighters dreams have been turned into nightmares by the last corrupt regimes. The experience of Kenya since it gained independence can objectively be called a failure. Kenyans have gotten poorer year after year since independence and the human rights crises that have been occurring are almost unspeakable. Events in post-colonial Kenya have followed a disturbingly predictable path. After independence, which was achieved with blood and sweat by our grandparents and eviction of white settlers who lived privileged lives, our former leaders assumed power and they turned into despots. They imposed draconian rules, ruthlessly silencing dissent and using the national treasury as their own personal bank account, paying off the tribal chieftains for protection and building worthless monuments to ego. Meanwhile the people starve, taxes are obscenely high. At this point our fellow countrymen, two routes can be taken. We can choose the easy wrong, just keep quiet burry our heads like ostriches and hope that fate will take care or we can choose the harder right, take the law into our own hands during general elections vote our conscience and elect a revolutionary, Raila Odinga.
It is with profound sadness that our fellow Wananchi have been conditioned to believe that the only trust that can be relied on in Kenya is to trust in one’s own tribal region or ethnic group. People are extremely reticent to believe that anyone from outside their ethic, tribal, religious, etc. group can be trusted. Unfortunately people feel this way because it has been cultivated by former leaders and perfected by Kibaki regime. If you are not a member of the ruling tribe you will not be showered with the ill-gotten perks of the state. Your region will not receive massive building projects, the leaders in your area will not be given blank checks to spend as they please, and you will stand a much lower chance of receiving some sham state job that sustains you and your family. Corruption runs rampant partly because it has to. There is no way you can trust the state so people start looking out for themselves at all costs. It is time to break this axis of evil my fellow Kenyans.
This election year is another window of opportunity for all Kenyans who seek liberalization, security, respect and prosperity. We call upon you to join us on this course to steer our country towards that dream. It is the calling for our generation to change Kenya into a country of all Kenyans but not for those who were born to privilege only. It is for this reason that our organization, Kenyans Abroad For Raila was born. Dr Martin Luther King JR once said, "Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." This is our time to demand that freedom.
There are questions that we as like minded Kenyans here in KAFR have been pondering. These questions are: Did Koitalel Arap Samoei die so that President Kibaki's wife gets the freedom to slap journalists with impunity? Did Kapenguria six languish in jail so that some few people get the freedom to rape the Kenya treasury and siphon off money abroad while average Kenyan live in abject poverty? Was the second liberation of Kenya nothing but a mirage? Did Mzee Mekatili wa Menza take the mantle and fight against the colonialists so that Mungiki can roam free mutilating our women and children? If your answer is yes, vote for Kibaki and Moi
My answer to these questions was categorically NO. And thus we came up as Kenyans of diverse backgrounds and ethnicities and resolved to volunteer to be part of change for Kenya . We believe that if you don’t like the way things are done change it. We also believe that the only person who is able to bring positive change for Kenya is Hon. Raila Odinga. He has talked the talk and walked the walk about this change for the last twenty five years. He has spent more than seven years of his life in jail so that you and I can exercise our God given human rights. Raila is both Nelson Mandela and Dr. Martin Luther King JR for Kenya. Honorable Odinga has a dream for all Kenyans irrespective of age, tribe, race and culture. He is a leader who has transcended bitterness and crossed monumental bridges in his fights for democracy and progressive politics in Kenya.He has worked with those who detained him and political opponents without malice. He is the only Kenyan leader who commands respect all over the world. He is the only Presidential candidate who has pledged to introduce dual citizenship for Kenyans abroad and Federal System of Government. . He is the leader who will put together a government of the people but not government of rattle snakes as John Michuki once said.
There is a wall which has been separating people in Kenya. That wall separates the few megarich from the majority poor. Honorable Raila Odinga is the only leader who has the will to tear down that wall. The wall was erected over thirty years ago by the past brutal leaders. As you have been reading on the press those brutal leaders have joined hands, they want to maintain the status quo. Moi and Kibaki as you know them are nothing but two sides of the same coin. They have nothing new to offer but to scare you to retreat into your tribal cocoons. As you might remember Moi’s favorite catch phrase has always been, kaeni hivyo hivyo. That simply means may the status quo remain the same. They will tell you that don’t judge Raila by his leadership potential but by his foreskin. My fellow countrymen I call upon you today to tell the status quo enough is enough. The time for trusting on human genitalia is gone. It is the time to judge our leaders on their cognitive abilities and the content of their character. It remains true to date as MKL once said no one can ride you unless your back is bent. My fellow Wananchi, my back is not bent and I hope yours is not bent too. And for that reason no one should ride us again after this year’s elections. I thus call upon you to join hands and help elect Raila Odinga for President 2007. Thank you and God Bless You.


Samuel Cheraisi