By Scophine Otieno
“Marehemu J.M.Kariuki aliposema Kenya ni nchi ya mamilionea kumi na mafukara milioni kumi hakukosea, kwani huko ndiko tuliko
Limekuwa nchi la mtu mle mtu, taifa ambalo limegeuzwa na wachache na kutoa wakenya katika lindi la umaskini hadi ufukara…”
These were the words of Mohamed Ali best known to us as Jicho Pevu in an investigative piece dubbed “zengwezengwe Bandarini that ran on KTN in July 2016.
Like a rainmaker in Umuofia, he needs no introduction for his deeds are conspicuous both to allies and foes. This is a man who changed the way Kenyans viewed journalism and Television, many stayed up late to catch up on his bold, captivating well executed stories delivered with unfettered conviction.
While many of us chew Swahili like a mouthful cassava, his tongue dribbles over the same with admirable ease. I hear the cougars in Parliament with a penchant for bonny guys-read Chacha- cannot get enough of his Swahili submissions in the House.
But politics has turned the first time legislator, wet behind the ears in political parlance from a defender of the defenseless to a plaything of deep pockets. Well, Politics in Kenya is an avatar of treachery-we are used to being hurt, from handshakes to everything but this seems to have touched a number of us more.
His latest camaraderie with DP Ruto which I believe informed his public support for the hustler’s 2022 ambitions bespeaks of everything that is wrong worth Kenyan politics.
In an interview on Churchill show in October 2017, he averred how difficult it was for him to win his seat and quote ‘being the son of a peasant.’
Moha has taken a huge bite in the bread of jingoism and capitulated to political skullduggery served on the whims of peasantry and humble beginnings, a narrative that touches deeply on the souls of many a gullible Kenyans drowning in years of dynasties and looking for a way out.
The peasantry story is nothing but a straw.
Many politicians have joined the 2022 debate and it is nothing new because the kind of cloth they are made of cuts them just for that. But Moha’s case is different, here is why.
A good number of Kenyans harbored this sentiment that Moha represented a breath of freshness in regards to the caliber of the buffoons who are in the 12th Parliament.
By the virtue of being a youth, his election gave us hope that youthful leadership can make a difference.
But last I checked, he has allegedly misappropriated some cash and is suing the Star for running the story. I guess he has leant from the best.
He is not the only disappointment; the Meru University student who could barely afford a modest wardrobe and campaigned with one sweater is now practicing armature Tae Kwondo skills on constituents who demand for services. That is an angle for another day.
The crime and corruption buster as we had come to idolize him epitomized the kind of politicians we craved for. Men and women of integrity who know what it feels like to have an inept system and were out to serve the country, having used his voice as a journalist to unmask the ills in the Government, a better platform we hoped would make him speak even louder.
Just how is he going to demand accountability from the executive when he has already taken sides? How will he seek answers over the sh10 billion NYS money, grabbed land, unfulfilled Jubilee manifesto, lack of opportunities for the youth, ethnic bigotry prominent in the circles he now profess undying love for.
Moha, you promised to be Jicho Pevu kwenye bunge, an irredentist seeking to restore the country to its ebbing glory but what we see is an ex Robin Hood recruited as a lieutenant by a shrewd general in his self-centered war.
That we bear disappointment, one that we wear like talisman around our anklet is no secret.
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