Of Githong'o and the Kibaki Briefs

I have made it a habit to avoid garrulous people. Chronic loquacity has generally not dented my resolve to say what I have to say in the fewest words possible. I say this, because I am afraid that this post might appear to be the product of unnecessary verbose. It might initially even appear to be a rough guide to meandering.

Maybe we should begin meandering with a mind travel to the Galapagos Islands. This is the only place on earth inhabited by the rare blue-footed booby - a sea bird whose 'nest' is a ring of its own guano (birdshit). What makes the blue-footed booby a peculiar bird is perhaps its strict application of the rule: 'if a chick is inside the ring, care for it; if it is outside, ignore it'. A booby chick which has flopped or been pushed outside will simply be ignored, no matter how much it struggles and twitters, even if it is less than a centimeter away from its parents. Unless the chick finds its way back into the ring, it will be left to starve to death while its parents feed the other chicks that have obeyed the rule.

From the Galapagos Islands, I suggest we meander to the movies. I suggest we grab popcorn, a big cola and seat back to watch the thriller the Pelican Briefs. For those of you who have seen it, it is a tense, mind-boggling cliff-hanger. A young and smart university law student is in love with her lecturer. Both lecturer and student are top--of-the-range 'Whodunit' investigators'. So, when two court of appeal judges are assassinated, the girl does her thing. Her findings open a can of worms that opens the flood-gates to government sanctioned killings and assassinations. Her boyfriend is blown to pieces and a hit is ordered on her. The CIA want her dead. Her only link to exposing the Pelican Briefs is a fearless journalist. CIA agents hunt her down but she is smart and manages to escape many of their dragnets. By careful planning - and being extremely smart - she manages to bring to justice one of the most powerful man in the USA and changes the country's course of history.

In Kenya, the booby rule applies. Senior civil servants have to join in the corruption games or they will be hang out to dry. Kenyans who dare the government on corruption are ignored. The king of thieves is known for his deafening silence even when the country seems to be on the brink of collapse. His pre-occupation is how to feather his nest with ill-gotten wealth while his 'error' lasts.This is what Githong'o discovered. You don't oppose the system. He attempted to fight corruption only to realize that he was all alone. The government was determined to silence him. He wasn't just a mere citizen or university student like in the Pelican Briefs. He had access to the most powerful men in Kenya. He is believed to have recorded not only most of the ministers in the last regime - but the most damning evidence is reputed to have been tapes of president Mwai Kibaki ordering him to lay off any corruption-related investigations.

If Githong'o had the interest of bringing the government down, he had enough ammunition. Githong'o is no fool. He knew what he was getting himself into. So why did he start the tapes leaks only to stop before releasing the bombshell? Was he helped back into the 'ring of guano' and paid his price? Did we over-estimate his resolve to fight corruption? Why did he develop chicken feet in December 2007 when he had promised ODM to unleash the 'Kibaki Briefs'? Had he ever intended to unmask Kibaki or was the released tape a warning that he would release the Kibaki tapes if his demands weren't met?

You be the judge.