Check out the words, harder than physical slap!
RIGHT OF REPLY
By DS
MUNYORI BUKU’S LAME SWIPE AT RAILA ODINGA
Presidential communiques used to be well thought out, coherent and succinctly crafted to give a clear position of the officialdom on a given issue or development. All serious press shops vet, filter and disseminate coherent material to media houses. Having said that, one senior Statehouse mouth piece decided to unleash what can only be described as a half-baked, grammatically wanting, unprofessional communique directed to the person of Raila Odinga. Munyori Buku, a long time Presidential aide, crafted the infamous ‘response’ to the opposition leader and as if on cue, Kenyans of goodwill, went to work on the preposterous piece. And to them, I say good job! It’s my turn.
For starters, the writer, plunges into the gutter with colourful language that is fit for inebriated sailors than political leaders. He goes on to liken the Right honourable Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya to a warthog! The last time I checked, the executive’s official domicile should always represent what’s good about us not what’s nasty and filthy about us. The writer’s disrespectful lingo and metaphors throws that unwritten rule right into the dustbin.
He lurches onto what appears to be gist of his piece by bemoaning RAO’s call for the resignations of those adversely mentioned in corruption. Munyori is not happy with an opposition leader’s call for accountability. He wants Raila to sit and watch corrupt individuals loot the country’s coffers empty. Instead of thanking Raila for unearthing the NYS scandal, Mr Buku chooses to regurgitate political throwbacks that were litigated and decided eons ago!
And what are Munyori’s ‘bombshells’ to counter RAO’s charges? You guessed it! Wetangula’s BAT case! Nevermind that BAT issue was debunked and settled way back in the 19th century! He then slides in Martha Karua’s name with a cheap slight as “Odinga’s new catch.” I will leave the misogynistic connotations for another day, but its obvious that the BAT issue is a Tony Blair ploy to curry favor with his new client and it doesn’t take a genius to add one plus one. Nice try anyway.
Since this was a Jubilee political hit job, it wouldn’t have been complete without mentioning the name of their current target, Governor Ali Hassana Joho! Munyori blindly dives into the deep end of the allegations levelled against the companies linked to the Joho family and castigates RAO for defending his deputy! How that is a crime, remains a mystery to me. No court of law has decided that Joho is guilty of any crime and I don’t see anything wrong with RAO standing with his deputy. The last time I checked, this is supposed to be a free country! Unless Munyori has other ideas.
He goes on to state correctly that “the Nairobi Governor was alleged to have given a Supreme court judge a mind boggling Ksh 200 million to save himself from an election petition.” The word ‘allege’ has never and will never mean guilt and if Mr Buku has invented his own custom-made Constitution he should say so. On this one too, RAO was in order when he said that they should let the law take its course. What’s wrong with that statement? Buku appears to establish separate rules for RAO and he seems to use those rules as a shillelagh against the person of RAO. Tough luck sir.
By choosing to engage in this misguided diatribe, Mr Buku appears to be gagging the leader of opposition. In case he missed the memo, its incumbent on the opposition to play the watchdog and keep the government on its toes. What the so called senior director is doing is essentially attacking the opposition for doing its job.
It’s absolutely in order for RAO to call for Duale and Rotich to resign. Duale is a star in a major corruption scandal and Rotich is the custodian of the nation’s purse. When the purse starts leaking, Rotich must be held accountable. Mr Buku wants the opposition to turn a blind eye or look the other way. Not a chance.
Lastly, I am embarrassed that Statehouse has a department known as “Pubic Communication” (sic). The writer refers to himself as the “Senior Director” of that department. No wonder, Kenyans are being inundated with gibberish!
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