Biwott candidacy

Looking at the pictures and reading reports of Nicholas Kipyatur Kiprono arap Biwott, The Total Man, The Auckland Bull, running away from the KANU elections, sulkily coming back and then running away again when it was clear he was going to be trashed is hilarious. As Wambua Sammy writing in The Nation notes,
“Yesterday’s polls were a new experience for Kanu’s bigwigs, unaccustomed to the rigours of democracy and its attendant encumbrance.”

Lakini Biwott himself is a joker. You have to wonder if the legendary sense of realpolitik was nothing but a rumour. He was running for chairman of the biggest single party in Kenya yet refused to engage with the press, refused to engage with the party membership and refused to engage with the party leaders. In addition by standing against Uhuru he was going against Moi’s chosen heir. Biwott’s power stemmed from Moi. Now Moi is gone he thought he would stand on his own, yeah right. He has managed to isolate himself in his party, managed to isolate himself in the country, managed to isolate himself from Moi. All in all this has been a disaster for him.

But in the back of your mind you always have to wonder whether this is a massive smoke screen designed to fool us all. Why would Biwott stand when he must have know he had no chance of winning, why would Biwott go against Moi, why would he look so reluctant showing absolutely no interest in campaign for the job if he really wanted it? Could it be that the Biwott candidacy was masterminded by Moi to ensure that no serious challenges to Uhuru surfaced; by standing against Uhuru Biwott virtually guaranteed him victory.

There is a school of thought that claims that Njenga Karume’s last minute defection to KANU before the last election was masterminded by Kibaki and his election strategists. This was to ensure that just in case Uhuru won the election Kibaki would have a strong ally in the Uhuru camp. Of course if Uhuru didn’t win then Karume would be rewarded after a suitable time. A win - win situation. Two years down line no prizes for guessing who was appointed Minister for Special Projects.

Our veteran politicians are extremely streetwise if nothing else. Something smells fishy in this whole Biwott candidacy.