[wanabidii] WHY A VOTE FOR RAILA IS NOT GOOD FOR MUSLIMS

KENYA MUSLIM YOUTH FORUM

Why a vote for Raila is not good for Muslims
"A believer is not bitten in the same hole twice," so goes the sayings of Prophet Mohammed (P.B.U.H).
The Prophet (peace be upon him) made it clear in this narration that the believers are not to be fooled more than once by anyone, and that they should learn from their past experiences in order to ensure that no-one else is able to dupe them again by deception and sweet-talk.
During the 2007 election campaigns, Raila Amolo Odinga was the darling of Muslims when he promised that he will exert all efforts to fight against the injustices being meted upon Muslims under the Kibaki leadership. He bought full page space in the main national newspapers emphasizing on this fact and it is no wonder that   Muslims from across the country overwhelmingly voted for him believing that he would live up to his promises to end the injustices.
But as it turned out to be, immediately he got his "half share of loaf" in the coalition government where he became a co-partner with Kibaki in the government, the Prime minister quickly reneged on his promise and after the betrayal and without any sense of his regret, he still wants Muslims to again vote for him!
Before casting your vote for the CORD leader and ODM candidate, read the points below carefully and the clear conclusion will be that a vote for Raila will not bring any good for Muslims in Kenya.
1.      In 2007, Raila signed an MoU with Muslim leaders whose basis was to ensure that the rights of Muslims were protected and they too also have a fair share of the national cake. As it is well known to all and sundry, he trashed the MoU the moment he gained political power. To put it clear he used and dumped Muslims.
In his first cabinet appointments,   President Kibaki who had been shunned by Muslims went on to appoint more Muslim ministers in the cabinet compared to those appointed by Raila. Out of 20 ministers appointed by Kibaki five were Muslims while Raila managed only 2 out of 20!!

2.      When he was campaigning against President Kibaki in 2007, Raila bought full page advertisements in the Standard and Daily Nation newspapers where he consistently attacked Kibaki for the injustice against Muslims and demanded for the release of Kenyan Muslims who had been renditioned to Ethiopia. Upon being appointed Prime Minister, he quickly forgot his pledge to fight against injustices and maintained silence while the rights of Muslims were trampled upon in the war on terror campaign. In fact, it was the Kibaki's PNU side of the government which eventually brought back the Kenyans who had been deported to Ethiopia without Raila playing any role.

3.      One of the key components of the MoU reached with Muslim leaders stressed that Raila would establish a close working relationship with the leaders where regular consultations would be made. After he came to government, for six months, he deliberately refused to meet Muslims leaders and when he eventually agreed to do that, he told them off on their face by saying "I am not a beautiful woman you should wish to see all the time."

4.      The rendition of Kenyan citizens was a among the most horrendous acts of injustices against Muslims by the Coalition government and it attracted heavy criticism from human rights agencies locally and internationally, the High Court, Parliament and Muslim leaders from the various organisations.   While he passionately talked about fighting for the rights of Kenyans, the Prime minister did not see this as an injustice and on the contrary he came out to publicly to support these injustice referring to those who were illegally renditioned as terrorists who don't deserve any justice and to add salt to injury, he made these remarks at a gathering of Muslims. Despite several letters to his office to intervene and petition the Ugandan authorities to bring back the Kenyans back home and have them tried locally according to the law, Raila has not even found it important to reply to the letters.

5.      In August last year, the Prime minister sacked Najib Balala who was the Minister of Tourism and he went on to replace him with Dan Mwanzo, a non-Muslim from Taita Taveta. This was the first time that Mombasa in several decades lacked a Muslim minister. When complaints about his action heated up, he promised that he will appoint a full cabinet minister from Mombasa to replace Balala but to this day, his promise remains up to date empty air.

6.      Raila sacked Balala on the basis that he was not subordinate to him. But a closer look reveals that he took the action because he does not care about Muslims whom he takes for granted. The accusations he made against Balala were not different from the actions by   the minister of Agriculture Sally Kosgei , the Roads minister Franklin Bett and the minister of Cooperatives Joseph Nyagah who publicly denounced the Prime Minister but he never took any action against them. Kosgei infact told Raila to take back his ministerial flag while Raila referred to the Roads minister as "an inciter" after his constant attacks against him but he never took any action against but by sacking the only Muslim minister he appointed from the Coast province, he did not care that this would not be taken lightly by Muslims. Even after Nyagah defected to TNA and has been outspoken against the Prime Minister, he comfortably continues to serve in office as a cabinet minister.

7.      In the present campaigns, virtually all candidates have been personally going to the various communities to seek support from voters. On his part, Raila has not seen it important to look out for Muslims to explain to them why they should support him. It is rather a strange occurrence that those who are expressing their support for Raila have been the one to look for him and while others are making putting forward what they expect the candidates to do for their community once in office, those who claim to be their supporters have not even bothered to put forward the Muslim agenda.

8.      In November 2011, Raila travelled to Israel where he signed a security pact with Israeli affirming that Israel's enemy is also his enemy and both pledged to fight "Islamic fundamentalists" in Kenya. Every Muslim is fully aware that Israel holds an antagonistic view of Muslims and it has featured prominent in the torture of Muslims in Kenya.   Even after the minister of defense Yusuf Mohammed Hajj distanced the government from the agreement and Muslims condemned him for his statement, he never bothered to make an apology. This clearly shows that a vote for him will further cement his relationship with the illegal Zionist entity and this will mean more victimization of Muslims.

9.      It is open fact that Raila has the strong backing of Western states like the United States and Britain, countries which for the last ten years have been instrumental in ensuring that Muslims are victimized. These two countries are also known to play a vital role in the illegal arrest and rendition of Kenyan Muslims to Uganda. With his "brother" Barrack Obama at the helm in Washington, the violations will continue as he will have a strong backer at the White House.
There is no doubt that Raila Amolo Odinga has shown his open contempt for Muslims and perhaps the fact that he did not ascend to the presidency in 2007 was better for Muslims as this would have brought about worse times for Muslims.
We have to be cautious and take lessons from the warning from Prophet Mohammed that allowing to be stung twice from the same hole is something unfitting for any Muslim and indeed any rational person.
Let us not follow the whims of those who would want Muslims to be bitten again and ensure that our votes do not go to Raila Amolo Odinga. We should not repeat the same mistake and in it is necessary to learn from past experiences in order not to fall into similar error.
From the above experience, a vote for Raila Odinga will only portend worse times for Muslims.

Kenya Muslim Youth Forum

MKATABA (MOU) 2007 BAINA YA MHESHIMIWA. WAZIRI MKUU RAILA ODINGA NA NAMLEF

KWA NINI RAILA ODINGA HAFAI KWA WAISLAMU NA WAKENYA

1.       Mwaka wa 2007, NAMLEF (Muungano Wa Viongozi Wa Kiislamu Kenya) ulifanya mkataba (MOU) na aliyekuwa, wakati huo, mgombea uchaguzi wa ODM, Mh. Riala Amolo Odinga. Kama NAMLEF, Tunajukumu kwa Wakenya kwa ujumla, Waislamu mahsusi, kutathmini na kueleza kuhusu MOU hiyo na utekelezaji wake. Mh. Raila, bila kuulizwa, aliapa mbele ya viongozi wa Kiislamu, kwa njia ya kitamaduni ya Kijaluo, ya kuwa atatimiza ahadi yake na kuleta utawala bora na tofauti Kenya.

2.       Kwa vile MOU ilifanywa wakati wa uchaguzi wa Rais wa 2007, huu pia ni wakati muafaka kuutathmini, kw vile Mh. Raila tena yuapigania Uraisi. Na kwa vile MOU ilikuwa jambo la wazi iliozungumzwa sana na Wakenya, ni muhimu NAMLEF iwe ndiye yenye kuielezea. Twamkaribisha Mh. Raila pia, kuchapisha tathmini yake.

3.       Jukumu la NAMLEF, katika MOU. ilikuwa kuhamasisha umma wa Kiislamu kumpigia kura Raila za Uraisi na Raila akaahidi kutekeleza, katika miaka ya 2008 mpaka 2012, mambo kadha kutokana na MOU hiyo. MOU hiyo ilikuwa na vipengee muhimu, ikiwapo:

a.       Kudumisha uongozi na taifa uliwo wa ukweli, sawa, wa haki na demokrasia.

b.      Kuwaregesha vijana wa Kenya Waislamu waliofurukishwa na serikali na kutupwa Somalia na Ethiopia; kufuatilia na kuwezesha kuwa wale waliohusika na njama hizi watashtakiwa kisheria. Na muhimu, kuhakikisha ya kuwa hakuna Mkenya yeyote atatendewa matendo haya ya kinyama, uvunjaji wa sheria na utawala wa mabavu.

c.       Kuboresha hali ya maisha kwa sehemu zilizotengwa hasa mikoa ya Pwani na Kasizkazini Mashariki (North Eastern). Kwa hili, kuhakikisha kuwa kutatengwa kiwango maalumu cha fedha kurekebesha hali hizo zilizo mbaya, kiuchumi, kielimu, kiusalama na kijamii.

d.      Kuifanya NAMLEF kuwa mshiriki wake Mkuu katika utawala wake, na hasa mambo yanayohusu Waislamu. Kwa hili, kudumisha mawasiliano wazi na kuwepo mikutano rasmi na makhsusi iliyopangwa ili kutathmini utekelezaji wa MOU na kuboresha uhusiano.

e.      Kutenga asilimia ishirini (20%) za nafasi kwa Waislamu katika uajiri na uteuzi za kazi ya serikali kwa ngazi zote.

4.       NAMLEF walitimiza ahadi na kuhamasisha Waislamu, ili Raila apate kura nyingi Desemba 2007. Hili jambo lilifaulu mno.

5.       Mh. Raila aliteuliwa kuwa Waziri Mkuu (WM) katika serikali ya mseto. Jee Raila alitimiza ahadi zake kwa Waislamu na NAMLEF?

6.       Katika kuangalia swali hili, tukumbuke ya kuwa Mh. Raila alikuwa katika msitari wa mbele na mkali mno kumshtumu Rais Mwai Kibaki miaka 2003 hadi 2007, yakuwa alitupilia mbali MOU baina yao. Tukumbuke pia ya kuwa Mh. Raila, katika serikali ya mseto (2008 hadi 2013) amekuwa kinara pamoja na Rais Kibaki, kila mara akidai kutekelezwa kwa Mkataba wa Kitaifa (National Accord) uliofanywa na Kofi Annan. Jee Mh. Raila ni kiongozi mwenye uadilifu kutimiza mikataba na ahadi, au yuajitetea wakati maslahi yake peke yake yameathiriwa?

7.       Baada ya uteuzi wa Mh. Raila kuwa Waziri Mkuu April 2008, kuwasiliana na mashauriano naye ya kawa magumu mno. Hakuona umuhimu kushauriana na viongozi Waislamu katika uteuzi wake wa Baraza la Mawaziri, afisi za serikali, mabalozi na nydhifa zengine. ikawa ni vigumu kuwasiliana naye wacha kumuona, licha ya kuwepo kwa MOU.

8.       Baada ya jitihada za kudhalilisha, viongozi wa NAMLEF wakakutana na WM, kwa mara ya kwanza-na ya mwisho!- mwezi wa Agosti 2008 katika ofisi yake. Mkutano ulikuwa mzuri hadi wakati WM alipokumbushwa vipengele vya MOU kuhusu kudumisha mawasiliano na kuwepo mikutano rasmi na makhsusi iliyopangwa. WM alijibu na kusema kuwa " Mimi si mwanamke mrembo wa kuonekana mara kwa mara!". Kauli hii ilitushtua.

9.       Jee Wakenya na Waislamu waweza kumuamini Mh. Raila?

10.   Tangu kikao hicho cha April 2008, mpaka leo, hakujakua na kikao baina ya NAMLE na WM, kwa kuwa hapatikani, hana ushauri na ni wazi kuwa aliitupilia mbali MOU. Badili yake, WM akaanza mawasiliano na makundi mengine ya Waislamu katika njama za kukiuka MOU.

11.   Kuhusu vipengee vya MOUm WM, Mh. Raila kama kinara wa serikali, katika utawala wake, amesababish hali na wakati mgumu sana kwa Waislamu Kenya, ambayo hatujawahi kuikabili, mbali na kuwa kuna katiba mpya:

a.       Mashekhe wa Kiislamu wamenyanyaswa na kuuliwa ilhali yeye ni WM bila kuchukua hatua zozote, wala hata kutoa pole!

b.      Mashekhe na vijana wa Kiislamu wamenyakuliwa nje ya misikiti na nyumba zao na kufurukishwa hali Uganda zaidi ya miaka miwili iliyopita. WM, anapoulizwa, hujibu sihusiani na magaidi !

c.       Hali ya usalama katika sehemu na miji ya Waislamu imezorota sana, ikiwa Mh. Raila ni Waziri Mkuu. Hafanyi mawasiliano au mashauri na viongozi wa Waislamu kuvumbua suluhisho.

d.      Ni Mh. Raila, kama Waziri Mkuu aliyesimama bunge na kusema kwa ukali kuwa lazima serikali itapitisha Mswada wa Ugaidi. Hili halikuweza kufanyika tangu wakati wa Raisi Moi, lakini amelifanya WM Raila! Ilibidi Waziri Metito kuliingila jambo hili kupunguza makali na athari mbaya ya mswada huo.

e.      Uteuzi katika tume za kikatiba wafanywa na jopo ambalo WM anawakilishwa sawa sawa na mtu wake, na kupata sehemu yake ya uakilishi kwa wanatume na wenyekiti. Katika historia ya Kenya, Waislamu, Wanapwani na Watu wa North Eastern hawajapata kutengwa katika tume zozote kama wakati huu chini ya WM Raila Odinga.

12.   Sisi kama NAMLEF jopo lilokuwa na kumuunga mkono Mh. Raila mwaka 2007, kwa niaba ya Waislamu ambao kwa kura zao (na kura za Wakenya wengine) walimuwezesha Mh. Raila kuwa Waziri Mkuu, tunawajibika mbele ya Allah, kutoa ushahidi kwa Waislamu na Wakenya, kulingana na uhusiano wetu na Mh. Raila, ya kuwa ni kiongozi ambayo hana ahadi, hana ukweli na anakiuka mikataba bila kujali athari zake. Mh. Sasa twajua ahadi na kiapo kwa Mh. Raila ni maneno tu, na hayana uzito unaotarajiwa kwa kiongozi..