Coast could be 'the biggest loser'

In the United States there is a reality television show called ‘The Biggest Loser.’ In this show participants, men and women all of them fat (overweight individuals), compete in reducing (losing) their body weight in the presence of all kinds of enticing eatable niceties such as cakes, sandwiches, chocolates et al. The whole idea of this show is that every participant endeavors to become the winner by being the biggest loser in losing their weight. Hence the winner of this TV reality show is the “the biggest loser”. A loser here is in fact a winner.

I bring this to light because in Kenya politics as it unfolds, albeit slowly, the biggest loser in the incoming yet to be formally announced Grand Coalition Government cabinet will be Coast as a province and as a community, the Kenyan Muslims. Separately ‘Coastarians’ and the ‘Muslim Umma’ are all scared to speak out and would rather keep quite and keep the peace.

Although the cabinet is yet to be agreed and formally announced as I penned down this commentary, Prime Minister-designate Raila Odinga in his many press conferences and releases told Kenyans that he conceded to the formation of an extra ordinary bloated 40-member cabinet in order to deflate anxiety and avert a repeat of the post-election mayhem that rocked the country where thousands of our compatriots paid the ultimate price. Although ODM has since changed course and now they are for a 34-member cabinet or less.

One would have thought that with the forty-member cabinet contingent, Raila and his ODM organization couldn’t have been happier because it will accord them the chance and wide latitude to please and appease a wide variety of peoples and regions. But what stunned me and I am sure the Coast voters is that in appeasing ‘their supporters—tribes and regions’—Raila as the appointing authority here saw it prudent to give Coast and North Eastern provinces one cabinet position each from his share of twenty slots. A combined of two cabinet positions for two provinces.

The Prime Minister-designate then had the audacity to tell Kenyans, specifically the people of those two marginalized provinces that: "Kenyans should not look at ODM ministers as those coming from a given tribe or region, but as people ready to offer services to all." What a double standard here for Raila and his cronies. When former president Moi did it and filled the many cabinet positions with his homeboys Kalenjins, it was wrong but now being done by Raila people should accept it to be a cabinet ‘of people ready to offer services’.

As I have pointed out earlier, when penning this commentary the cabinet had not yet been formed, why then I am jumping the gun? I am doing so on the premise of ‘Dalili ya Mvua ni Mawingu’. The comment is based on the information derived from ‘the ministerial list of names’ released a couple of days ago by the ODM illustrious Director of Communication who doubles as Raila press secretary Mr. Salim Lone.

In the bonafide list of ODM ministerial appointees, the breakdown gives Nyanza the lions share of seven and Rift Valley six cabinet posts; the former being the Langat’a legislator’s native province hence also bags the premier’s post. Western province is given four cabinet positions, counting Fred Gumo as one of the four members since this is his native province. In addition Western province also bags one of the deputy premier’s posts and already occupies the Speaker of the National Assembly position.

The remaining four positions left to share between Eastern province that gets two and Coast & North Eastern provinces each gets one each. What amazes me most is the fact that, even ‘the Abagusii Nyanza’ has an equal number of ministers that the party gave to Coast and North Eastern provinces combined. It gets better, the district where Henry Kosgey and Sally Kosgei come from, has double the number of ministers than the entire Coast province.

The Coast people need to do the math by themselves, no one is going to do for them. Notwithstanding the mass support they gave to ODM, their so-called party feels the province is worth only one cabinet position and the beneficiary being Najib Balala and Balala alone. Talk of misplaced leadership priorities, the Mvita MP perhaps couldn’t be happier because being the only ODM minister from the region there will be no potential of anyone threatening his closeness to the party’s ‘great leader’.

One would hope that Coast ODM supporters, the biggest losers here, are not confusing themselves with the American TV reality show, where being the biggest loser is in fact being a winner. I could be wrong, they are not perplexed with the reality show, they are perhaps only heeding their great leader’s advice to the letter when he told them they should not look at ODM ministers as those coming from a given tribe or region, but as people ready to offer services to all.
Boldly speaking, the Coast ODM sympathizers need to wake up and accept reality and stop not daydreaming. The reality is that from the look of things in wider picture, President Kibaki has consistently been very fair to the region and the Muslim community whichever way one looks at it. He has two Ministers from the Coast (from his 17-member mini cabinet) as opposed to one proposed by ODM, this is despite the fact that the president’s party and its allies have less MPs from the region than ODM. In addition the president has three Muslims ministers in his cabinet as opposed to ODM’s two. And there is the potential that the head of state could spring a surprise and appoint a Coast legislator and perhaps a Muslim as his party’s choice for the deputy premier position.
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SUNDAY TIMES
April, 13, 2008