As the country burns, Kibaki buries his head in the side thinking that the fire will die out on its own. A leader whose government cannot restore order has no business being a leader. If Kibaki has failed to safeguard the sanctity of human life, he should go home. He has abadoned the voters who supported him, as well as dissapointing those voters who voted against him.

It is time peace loving Kenyans gave Kibaki this ultimultum'

You claim to be the "duly elected president" of Kenya. One duty of a "duly elected president" is to safeguard individual rights and freedoms as guranteed by the constitution which you swore to protect. You hold the ultimate power to enforce compliance with the law. Preaching and pleading for peace will not do. You have a responsibility to provide that peace and security. You have all you need. Do your work, Spare no effort, otherwise, simply go home. The buck stops with you

Sajini
Amen to that! Kibaki is a TOTAL FAILURE with his hands-off style of governance.
Michuki on the other hand is SMART. Planned to put Kibaki in power through a little rigging, expected violence, ran away from Internal Security! he should be my MP!!
They hurriedly swore in Kibaki so that he can hide behind constitutional protection, what good that that done to him? To solve the crisis, we must all come together and share everything - good and bad!

1. Order MPs to go out and PREACH peace while promising the people that the govt is about to be shared equally.
2. Share the govt with ODM getting VP, some powerful dockets like Finance, Parastatals, High commissions, PS...
3. Fix the constitution to clip presidential powers
4. Fix the judiciary.
5. Any changes to the govt MUST involve votes from parliament. That means it will be expensive to fire a rogue minister.

Kibaki will never allow anyone to rig elections under his watch. Don't believe me? Go ask him!

I feel sorry for Kibaki. He was pushed by you know who to be sworn in haste. But it should not stop him to be man enough to step down.

Ndugu Sajini,

While the buck of Leadership-failure from 2002 stops with Kibaki, lets not forget that he did not act alone. Both sides have spectacularly failed Kenyans. So while KIBAKI has his share of blame, the opposing side is not blameless either.

But KIBAKI (as the President-Leader and buck stops with him) and his ruling group alone mis-Led the country from 2002 politically.

Many sober people are now coming to the conclusion that:

IT WAS A GRAVE MISTAKE FOR KIBAKI/KIRAITU/KARUA/OTHERS TO HAVE DEBUNKED THE POPULAR BOMA CONSTITUTIONAL DRAFT.

If that BOMAS draft had passed into Law, a lot of the political problems we had between 2002-2007 would not have existed. And the election of 2007 (even with its riggings) would still have provided a system to share the spoils and hence STABILITY and sense of INCLUSION to ALL.

THE FAILURE OF CONCLUDING SUCCESSFULLY THE BOMAS-LAW POLITICAL PROCESS DUE TO MISGUIDED AND MYOPIC VISION OF THE FUTURE (BY KIBAKI'S TEAM) HAS NOW LED TO KENYA'S SOCIAL AND POLITICAL DESTRUCTION.

There is no proof as yet that Kibaki rigged the elections. Indeed last week ODM presented their proof of the rigging with what one would term as ridiculous figures. A 33% turn out in Juja and a 40% in Kandara. All this while they have 95% turn outs in Nyanza. People and especially those in Juja who came out in drove to vote should be really mad at such figures. They are insulting their/our intelligence. Don't forget there were 3 elevtions on that day and in Juja, the turnouts were 113 000 + parliamentary, 120 000 +(this is an elecion that had a total of 215 candidates all with an agent or 2 to confirm that they got the right results) civic and
119 000 + presidential. There is a simple enough explanation for the rigging, which is that the returning officers read incomplete results. The figures announced make much more sense than the ones presented by ODM. What we have is a government that has lost the PR war, right from when ODM entered into a shouting match b4 the results were announced.

To the topic at hand, the situation should have been arrested in ELDY. That would have made this whole saga easier to contain. That was a huge strategic mistake although one has to consider that at that time ODM wanted to go to Uhguru Park by all means, and that had to be stopped, especially in view of what had happened in Kisumu. Anyway, Eldy gave everyone the licence to ethnically cleanse. Right now this thing has taken a life of its on and Kibz can't do much.

Sajini,

see the calibre of people we have here.

People are dying on both sides and we have here a fella still on that "nobody rigged story".

Its very hard to develop Kenya to a 1st world when you have myopic diaspora members like these/.

Dude the reason why people are dying at least in Kibich, Mathare, Huruma, Dando and Kisumu is because allegedly Kibaki rigged the election. The Rift is another animal altogether. That is primarily a fight for resources with the Kaleos laying stake on 'their' land and evicting everyone right left and centre who is there. Kiuks, Kisiis and I now hear Luhyas can attest to that. Naivasha is a the equal and opposite reaction that was bound to come, which will also set off reactions and counter reactions. A vicious cycle. The Kaleos are probably mad too at the alleged giging but I can almost bet that no matter what out come the elections would have had, this was bound to happen. Back to the elections. What proof is there I ask. Objective proof. None. The figures are in the public space, it's not hard to do that math for yourself and see who is kidding who. www.eck.or.ke. Just because someone can shout louder and more eloquently should not mean tht what they say is right unless backed by solid proof. This people (ODM) had the constitutional option of going to court but the chose instead to bring their fight in the public domain (including messy mass actions etc.) and let that be the arbitar. Having seen their proof, I say try harder, which is the danger of the public court. You'll convert no one at the end of the day. This election issue will have to be resolved and a solution like a re run or some coalition govt won't do it. The air has to be cleared on it, that's is the only way forward.

Of course this now has gone way past the question of who rigged what, as old scores are settled.

Worryingly, Kibaki maintains a rather low profile at a time when he needs to be leading from the front. This is certainly no time for hands off government.

Odinga also needs to stop bleating about his 'stolen' chance at presidency. One wonders whether either of these ultra wealthy individuals really care about their country, its citizens and its future.

Yes it has gone beyond theat but everything being done now has that as the trigger and the genesis. The single one event that gave people the licence to kill, maim, loot, rape and burn. That is our 911 and until that is resolved and addressed, the country will not come to rest.

KIBAKI IS A BIG FAILURE full stop! He is no leader!that fibre doesnt exist in him.He makes Moi look like an angel! He should just step down before Kenya dies. We are in High Dependency Unit at the moment.

Kibaki must step down!!!!!

Every patriot knows that this is not the time for chest thumping. It is not the time of deciding who won and who lost the election. It is the time for, first and foremost securing our country. Ensuring that every Kenyan, irrespective of ethnic background lives in peace, enjoys their god-given right to life and constitutionally guaranteed right to ownership of propperty anywhere in the country.

I do not understand how militias armed with stone-age weapons should bring the cou8ntry to a standstill when the military, maintained by tex-payers money continue stays idle in their barracks. During the El nino floods in 1997, we saw the military stepping in to reconstruct a broken bridge so that the national lifeline remained operational. I do see why the military should not step in to guarantee the safetty of Kenyans and ensuring that the critical national infrastructure like railway and road system are operational.

Kibaki has failed the leadership test. He is not up to the task and the honorable thing for him to do is to give way to a man with guts to end the madness.

-
Daily Nation Editor piece- Jan-30-2008

In the crisis, the buck stops with Kibaki

http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry...._id=24&newsid=115693

Whether the killing on Tuesday of Embakasi MP Melitus “Mugabe” Were was an assassination or — as the police put it — pure murder, it will certainly complicate the state of national insecurity, which threatens to turn Kenya into a failed state.

It comes as the country grapples with national unrest in which 350,000 people have been displaced, at least 800 have died and property worth billions of shillings has been destroyed.

Such is the cycle of violence that has poisoned ethnic relations that the fear of civil war is not far-fetched and the prospect of healing wounds and reconstruction is simply daunting.

Every image of a razed house, every shot of a drying patch of blood is a chilling reminder of the deep fissures which have turned Kenya’s fabled unity into a mirage. Eldoret, Kisumu, Nakuru, Naivasha — it’s all a tale of blood-letting and destruction on a scale never envisaged in our beloved country.

We have now reached a stage where we must wonder whether the Government has been absent or has been unable to function since President Kibaki was declared elected for a second term and sworn in under a cloud of controversy.

Yet we are nowhere near resolving the dispute: Opposition presidential candidate Raila Odinga claims that the election was rigged and has refused to accept President Kibaki’s victory; The President insists he was fairly elected and duly took up office. The standoff has precipitated the worst crisis Kenya has faced since Independence.

This is not about who won or who did not win the presidential election. It is not about who is responsible for organising or fuelling the violence. This is about the simple and indisputable fact that, whatever the circumstances of his victory, President Kibaki now occupies State House and owes this country a responsibility. Granted, the legitimacy of his presidency is in question, but nobody is better placed than he to deal with the daily slaughter of innocent Kenyans and the rancid climate of ethnic distrust.

For now, he controls the instruments of State.

If then there is a government in place, why has the situation been allowed to get out of hand? The killings and evictions in northern Rift Valley, the revenge attacks in Nakuru and Naivasha and the ethnic fighting in Nairobi slums all indicate an abysmal failure of government.

The diplomatic effort

Yes, the formal mediation by Mr Annan’s team has started, but the public’s confidence in the diplomatic effort is continually dampened by jarring remarks — bordering on the insensitive — from Cabinet Ministers and Opposition hard-liners harping on the legitimacy of their cause. How, for instance, does Mr Amos Kimunya propose to push ahead with the Safaricom flotation with internal refugee camps full and some mortuaries overflowing with strife victims? How callous can one be, Mr Otieno Kajwang’, to dismiss the fate of innocent women and children burnt to death in a church as a “wake-up call”?

Then there are the politicians and businessmen who are fuelling a frightening new conflagration. Impatient with what they see as President Kibaki’s inability to handle violent dissent, they are reported to be raising funds and mobilising militias to counter what they see as the targeting of their community. The attacks in Naivasha and Nakuru may be part of this strategy, which may also include leaflets by a shadowy group containing a hit list of alleged tribal “traitors.” The list includes politicians, civil society activists and journalists.

Much of what has befallen Kenyan indicates an absence of leadership. No one can dispute the fact that in many of the worst hit areas, particularly in the Rift Valley, the government’s security and administrative organs fell flat on their faces.

In Nakuru and Naivasha, the world watched in horror as police stood by while armed mobs set up illegal roadblocks and killed innocent people.

Whereas in Kisumu and Nairobi police were accused of using excessive force against rioters and demonstrators, in Nakuru and Naivasha the force appears to have done exactly the opposite: It was ineffective against murderous mobs who killed and maimed in full view of television cameras. Mr Kibaki has at his command awesome powers that can be called upon to restore sanity before things get out of control.

This should not be about using the full might of the security forces against the opposition; this is about applying lawful force to counter all troublemakers, whatever their political or ethnic affiliations. It’s about defending the Constitution and protecting life and limb; it’s about enforcing peace; it’s about statesmanship.

While all sides in the political divide bear responsibility for what has happened to Kenya, it ultimately falls on the President to exercise his authority and do what needs to be done. He has to restore law and order and drive the pursuit of a just political settlement.

That is what occupying the Top Office is all about, Mr Kibaki, and there can be no evading that responsibility.

If Kenya disintegrates, history books will record that the collapse of a once great, united and prosperous country happened on your watch.

Guys, you are forgetting one thing. That the Kenya Government cannot fight its own people. That those guys who are lynching and maiming people are Kenyans.

Imagine the situation if the govt fired live ammo on the crowd of demonstrators in Naivasha. It would be its Achile's heel that made it fall. Marauding thugs can evict people, block roads and raze buildings, but as long as they do not recognise Kibaki and his govt, there is nothing he can do.

But sooner rather than later, they will come to their senses. When they discover these marauding youths are a life on their own, like a growing cancer that destroys even normal, healthy tissues, they will realise they need a govt to protect them. Thats when they will start wanting, start co-operating with the security forces. And it will the only time you can accuse Kibaki of not doing his work.

Was Kibaki's work to RIG (or allow to be rigged in)? elections?

quote:

Originally posted by bcc2502:
KIBAKI IS A BIG FAILURE full stop! He is no leader!that fibre doesnt exist in him.He makes Moi look like an angel! He should just step down before Kenya dies. We are in High Dependency Unit at the moment.

Kibaki must step down!!!!!

BCC, The truth is we are all FAILURES you included. Lets try and give solutions and stop failing others. If Kibaki steps down, then what?? Another election coz according to the constitution, that would be like desolving the already blotted MPs...We go for elections again and vote in the same same MPs minus Kibaki. Then there comes another Kenyan leader who would claim that there is rigging...

Kenyans..what is the way forward??

1. Lets call the Almighty God for intervetion.
2. Lets stop butchering one another.
3. Lets bury the dead collectively.
4. Lets forgive each other for displacing, killing and injuring a jirani.
5. Lets rebuild houses for jirani that we burnt down and welcome them back.
6. Lets hold hands and sing the NATIONAL ANTHEM all the three verses.
7. Lets demand for a new constitution which has 90% of our tradition values.
8. Lets show this leaders that we are not going to be incited again against each other.
9. Lets preasure ALL of them to seek fresh mandate from the people.
10. And finally LET KIBAKI AND RAILA NOT RUN FOR PRESIDENCY.

lets pray for PEACE....
Its bad my dear Kenyans...its bad...
I come from Molo and i know if we don't have a lasting solution.....kwisha Kenya.