There is something very fishy going on.
Those in the know are fully aware that the Safaricom sale of shares to the public was bitterly contested by ODM last year in the run up to the General elections. And with good reason. For example as you read this we still do not know who the mystery owner of the 5 per cent stake in East Africa’s most profitable company is.
Jimmy Kibaki yesterday visited Hon Raila Odinga at Orange House where the two are said to have had tea. Amazingly had this photograph appeared here just 2 short weeks ago everybody would have said it was fake.
If truth be told, between last year and now, absolutely nothing has changed. Except that ODM leader Raila Odinga seems to have changed his mind.
Raila met yesterday with Finance Minister Amos Kimunya and even the finance minister who barely 4 months ago said that the Nairobi stock exchange was not a fish market in a thinly veiled personal attack targeting Hon Raila Odinga is now all of a sudden talking very respectfully about Raila. He referred to Raila and President Kibaki as “our two leaders” in a press conference where he appeared to be in a jovial mood, yesterday.
This is hardly the time for hero worship, but it is important that Hon Raila Odinga explains to the public what has brought about this change of heart. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy about the new found unity and co-operation between these two leaders who brought Kenya to it’s worst crisis yet and to the brink of civil war. Under these circumstances peace is very desirable above anything else, and I mean anything.
Still the public needs to know. If Hon Raila Odinga’s opposition of the Safaricom IPO last year was just mere politicking, he needs to tell Kenyans and then he also needs to apologize to the good people of Kenya.
This is also not the time for partisan politics because we are dealing with public property here. The Kenya government owns a large stake in safaricom on behalf of the Kenyan public and now it is about to sell what belongs to the good people of Kenya to individuals within the public.
What I can tell readers here authoritatively is that there is a very bad smell emanating from the Safaricom IPO. There are leads that I am currently following that could link the mysterious strengthening of the Kenya Shilling to the upcoming Safaricom IPO. In fact so far everything I see about this IPO points to the Kenyan ordinary folk being short changed.
It seems that the price Kenyans will have to pay for peace will be pretty high, at least in the short term.
Still my final word on this issue is that whatever the price, I am sure it is worth it. Better peace and let us pay it. After all one can never compare human life (which is priceless) to anything else under the sun. Still, I just thought that Kenyans should be informed.
I thought I would publish my short comic which was featured in Africa e Mediterraneo’s Award for best unpublished comic strip by an African author. 
14:48
