By Wafula Buke
The killers of JM Kariuki are alive and in power
1. JM has been described as a populist, but when he appropriated part of his land to the poor, a man described as the Chief land grabber by the TJRC report, Jomo Kenyatta ordered for his execution. Uhuru does something similar years later by rigging elections to prevent land reforms. Like father Like Son?
2. The government sponsored TJRC Report Names the state (read Jomo Kenyatta) as the assassin of JM but when it was presented to President Uhuru Kenyatta for implementation, Uhuru amended the law to allow parliament to re-write the report. He then apparently ordered the speaker to parliament to shred it. What stake does Uhuru have in the JM story?
3. After JM was killed, University Of Nairobi students took it upon themselves to organize annual anniversaries through demos and lectures till 1980. President Daniel Arap Moi then decided to pre-emptively change the university calendar so that March 2nd finds students on holiday. That halted JM Kariuki’s memorials. Was JM’s assassination a ruling elite conspiracy?
4. In 1999, Otieno Aluoka, Kabando wa Kabando, myself and others did a fundraising to re-launch commemorations of JM. Hon Shill gave us Ksh 500, Dr Athu Awiti , Ksh 5,000, Hon Kiraitu Murungi gave us 1,500. Kiraitu Murungi then asked me to accompany him to see Kibaki for further financial support.
“The Democratic Party has no money and by the way, what is Human rights about JM’s Killing” he told me in his Official Opposition office at Parliament.
“The right to life is a basic human right and you are quoted to have said at the funeral of JM that even if it takes 100 years Kenyans will be told who killed JM” I replied.
“But a hundred years are not over” Kibaki concluded as I walked out without a coin. We got no money from a member of the Kikuyu nation. The anniversary however took place at the Hilton Hotel- the very venue where JM was arrested from. Is it the fear of his partners in politics or it the case of being an accomplice?
5. We organized yet another high profile anniversary at All Saints Cathedral in the year 2000 that made headlines. This time round it attracted participants from most elected leaders and the entire civil society. Imagine! All elected leaders from the Gema nation didn’t turn up led by Mwai Kibaki himself. They were instructed to keep off. Was it a communal project to eliminate JM?
6. More recently, 25th Sep 2015, the Mau Mau (JM Kariuki was Maumau) were honored with a Monument at the Freedom Corner in Uhuru Park. Raila Odinga turned up as the only dignitary. Once again the entire Kikuyu leadership kept away led by Uhuru Kenyatta who while delivering the State of the nation in Parliament in January 2015 had apologized for historical injustices. Was it a PR Gimmick?
7. In the year 2013 Raila Odinga became the first dignitary to plant a tree at the site where Dedan Kimathi was arrested in Nyeri. The tree was later on vandalized by Kibaki operatives. The same thing happened to the tree that marked the site where JM Kariuki’s Body was discovered in Ngong during the Kibaki regime, 2005. Why so much fear for historical symbols?
8. A drunk assassin of JM was overheard in a Buruburu estate bar in the 80s saying that JM pleaded to be spared so that he could educate his children. The children eventually schooled successfully and got degrees but they have all never gotten jobs from either Moi, Kibaki, or Uhuru administrations. At one time, we camped at Kiraitu’s Energy office at Nyayo hse on appointment with a member of the family to plead for their case but Kiraitu refused to see us despite staying there till 8.pm. The first Kenyan job for a family member was given to them by Raila Odinga through Rosemary Kariuki. They are apparently set to retire before they get jobs. How callous?
9. The legal battle for the JM Kariuki estate is perhaps the longest in East Africa’s legal history (42 years) due to state machinations and is yet to be concluded. Is this a plan to exterminate the re-generation of his legacy through his children?
10. The late Hon Mark Mwithaga often said that when the Parliamentary Select Committee presented the JM Assassination report to Kenyatta, he read through and spotted Jeff Koinange’s Uncle Mbiyu he said. “Why don’t you just put my name there now that you are mentioning Mbiyu Koinange” The name was removed. Like father like son (read TJRC)?
11. Kenya has had 42 years heroes’ celebrations SINCE JM died yet at no time has ANY president mentioned the name of JM Kariuki as a liberation hero despite his global profile. Uhuru has avoided him for all the four years he has been in power. Who are Uhuru’s version of Kikuyu heroes?
12. The Killers of JM Kariuki may have terrorized the political psyche of the Kikuyu nation to a level where we as a people need to sympathise with them as they play survival games rather than patriotic politics with their crooked leaderships.
13. Between Uhuru Kenyatta and raila Odinga, who is a true extension of the heroic history of the Kikuyu nation in moulding project Kenya?
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