Of Martha's walk..

You know, there is only one soap opera on television that will constantly have twists and unexpected turns, Kenyan politics.

So the iron lady of Kenyan politics, Martha Karua, quit the other day, just tendered her resignation and did her press conference ( you know how they do it in politico land) and she was done with the coalition government. I have to admit I am one of those people who are skeptical about the integrity of such actions but I am also an admirer, to an extent, of such a bold action!

We had a lecture by the one Tom Namwamba the other day, and he was telling us of the many people in governments who are frustrated by the inaction on policies and the immense corruption but at the same time, these persons are unwilling to quit because they are unsure of whether they will make it into government again!

So when I look at what Martha Karua has done you have to give her some credit. She got frustrated and left. I mean we might all debate the motives behind her actions or even whether it is an intelligent move or not, but the fact remains she actually quit! She did not stay in government then spent her time lynching it in public. I am so tired of politicians and ministers at that, crying of how the government is doing nothing for the people, it is not respectful of 'mavericks' and it is corrupt; excuse me....YOU ARE THE GOVERNMENT!

If anything Martha just gave Kenyan politics a drop of credibility!

I went for a training programme the other day on sexual and health rights and one of the trainers a PHD holder in sexuality mentioned a headline in one of the Kenyan newspapers in the lines of ' Martha is the only man in politics'. He was of the opinion that that was a demeaning and the most gender insensitive statement to make.

But is it? I mean i get the gender insensitive part, equating the strength to a form of male behavior and not just giving due to a strong woman. I get that! But lets stop reacting for a moment here and just look at what the statement means in the political environment we are in.

So is Martha the only man in politics?

Well there is Mungatana! i am not his biggest fun but I respect loyalty. So Mungatana, thank you for standing up for your political ally,by action.