By Mukurima X M
Jubilee dispute resolution committee has awarded musician Charles Njagua (Jaguar) the Starehe constituency ticket after a successful appeal. Nothing beats that feeling when you get justice. It’s like the first taste of wine after traversing the desert for a hundred miles.
In Mwea, Kirinyaga County, there are two families who perhaps don’t know the meaning of “justice.” It is alien to them. While most in society celebrate and coast in Jaguar’s imminent procedural justice, no one is speaking for the two families whose loved were killed in a car accident driven by Jaguar.
I get it. See, Peter Mugo who died in the accident earned his livelihood as a boda boda rider. I doubt his family has the financial muscle to compete in a legal system where politicians have made it clear that because they have the money and the influence, they can buy justice. Sinfolian Maingi, the second victim, worked as a bar attendant. In a society that denigrates bar attendants, I can bet on my loins that many would find it sacrilegious, heck intoxicating, to stand up for her justice ! It becomes a class warfare. We want to roll with the high and mighty. If the roles were reversed, and God forbid that it was Jaguar who was the victim, either Peter or Sinfolian would be in a tough spot.
See, it beats me that Jaguar is on the campaign trail seeking votes after what happened in Mwea. One must be so emotionally disconnected to forget such a tragedy. But life has to go on, right? Accept and move on.
Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing preventing Jaguar contesting the Starehe parliamentary seat. But off the blocks, I can tell that he doesn’t have an iota of integrity-that moral uprightness. The ability to humanize the political process. All that matters is the contest. The essential thing is not the process but the outcome. Meanwhile, a father in Mwea has lost his son. A mother in mwea is crying because her daughter is no more. A young kid has been left fatherless and those around the child have to concoct answers to feed the curious child on why daddy is not coming back home.
You all know Ted Kennedy; the youngest brother to JF Kennedy. He also served in the US senate. Ted Kennedy died in 2009 and in his funeral service, Barack Obama couldn’t hold back tears from both eyes (mostly he only sheds tears with one eye-hehehehe). Ted Kennedy was beloved all across America and the world. You know why? Because of integrity.
See, in July 1969, while Tom Mboya was being killed in Kenya, Ted Kennedy accidentally drove his car off a bridge and into a tidal channel. His 28 year old female companion did not make it. She died on the spot. In America they call it the “Chappaquiddick incident”
Ted Kennedy was favored to do well if he ran for president in 1972 and 1976. But he did not. Pundits say that he couldn’t face America with the guilt of Mary Jo Kopechne’s death hanging around his neck. He needed time to heal.
Ladies and gentlemen, that’s integrity right there.
Then come next year, we shall start talking in terms of how politicians are eating. I wouldn’t blame them. Are we even querying their behavior and source of wealth?
A few days ago I was talking to a first time voter in Kirinyaga. She has lived all her life in Kirinyaga and knows the goings-on in the county. In the recent Jubilee primaries, she voted for Ann Waiguru. I couldn’t help, but ask why. Her answer:
“And why not? Is it because of the NYS scandal? Wasn’t she cleared by institutions that have been set up and with salaried employees? How come no one is saying that those institutions be disbanded, if the belief is that they did a shoddy job? Do you think those Kenyans who seem shocked by Waiguru’s nomination, at the height of the scandal she was embroiled in, spoke to their respective member of parliament to make a case for why Waiguru must be found guilty? Above all, do you think these belligerent Kenyans would dare come to Kirinyaga so that we can hold a mother of all demonstrations like they do in other countries when a leader is accused of corruption? All these Kenyans are hypocrites, and are only concerned about Waiguru because she is a woman. How come no one is talking about the men who have been implicated in Anglo Leasing and Goldenberg scandals and yet they are contesting for various seats? “
Then came the dagger.
“No one is complaining about Jaguar. Let’s assume Waiguru stole millions. And Jaguar killed two people. Money comes and goes. But life once lost can never be replaced. But look at who is being sacrificed!”
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