Mudavadi could be a safe pair of hands

So, Twitter and Facebook have suspended Donald TrumSo, Twitter and Facebook have suspended Donald Trump’s accounts and folks are out here celebrating because they don’t like Trump and they don’t like what he says. Hey, I don’t like Trump either, and there has been so much peace in the world since he got his finger off the caps lock key. But its unnerving to watch private corporations use their power to shut someone up because they disagree with his politics.

It’s easy to gloat when the tables turn on someone with opposing political views, especially when the person has been so unapologetically delusional as well as loud and obnoxious. When the mighty fall, the temptation to dance on their graves is often too hard to resist. It’s so satisfying to watch opponents get what we feel they deserve, but in this case, the celebration is misplaced.

Private tech companies that control the world’s largest communication platforms should not have the power to hit the mute button on voices they disagree with. Today, it might be Trump, and tomorrow it could be Biden, who knows? And the same, same people who are doing a victory lap now will find themselves trying to defend things like freedom of speech and expression because it will be their guy on the wrong side of big tech.

It’s a slippery slope and the descent has just begun. The day will come when it hits us that we slept on our rights, and by then the landlords of the internet will have more power than all of us combined.

Speaking of sleeping, the Hustler Movement is stealthily gaining momentum. The DP’s underdog rhetoric is resonating with a constituency of Kenyans who are tired of being underserved by the government. It seems unlikely, to me at least, that a Ruto candidacy is viable, but remember, many Americans thought the same of Trump.

Depending on who was holding the mic, he was either a wild card or a clown. Even his own party underestimated his appeal. They slept on his MAGA movement and only truly awakened to reality when it was way too late to counter.

The DP might end up being our Trump with his disingenuous push to ‘make hustling great again’. He’s playing the cash card with such amazing finesse that his supporters have forgotten that he hasn’t been broke since the 90s. You have to give it to him, though.

Pitting the haves against the have nots while excluding himself from the dynasty equation is genius. He has created a narrative that has grown wings and flown away on the winds of aspiration. He has convinced the constituency of the disenfranchised that he is on their side, and that my friend, is nothing short of magic, ‘ama namna gani?’

Anyway, folks are snoozing as this saga unfolds. Barring an act of the other dynasties, we might wake up on the second Tuesday of August 2022 and find that a Ruto presidency is imminent. A groundswell of voters could pull off a 2002 by deciding that they’ve had enough of old money, and would like to lust after the new instead.

I have nothing personal against the DP, you understand. But ironically, regardless of his eight years in office, he has become a political wild card. Unlike Donald Trump, he’s too slick to be called a clown, which is worrying. No one can predict what Kenya could become with the good doctor at the helm, and this is why talk of a compromise candidate is gaining currency.

A safe pair of hands to move the country beyond the Jubilee train wreck. It is often said that Musalia Mudavadi has the safest, and least threatening pair of hands in Kenya’s modern history. He’s the vanilla essence in Kenya’s political fruitcake. Non-obtrusive. Gentle on the senses. Unadventurous.

Who knows, the gentleman from Maragoli might just be the man for the job. And heck, I’m not just saying this because I’m a Luhya because as we well know, Luhya unity is “elusive”: If a Samia candidate was running maybe then I could be accused of bias, but in this case, the tribe has nothing to do with it. And to make matters worse, MaDVD is a Manchester United supporter and that is just pure sacrilege.

The truth is that Kenya needs a break from politics as usual. We need to go to half-time for a while. To drink some water and recharge our batteries away from this theatre of the absurd to which we have become forcibly accustomed. We need a period of rest, and who knows? Mudavadi might just be able to make rest a reality. Happy New Year, fellow Kenyans.

Ms Masiga is Peace and Security editor, The Conversationp’s accounts and folks are out here celebrating because they don’t like Trump and they don’t like what he says. Hey, I don’t like Trump either, and there has been so much peace in the world since he got his finger off the caps lock key. But its unnerving to watch private corporations use their power to shut someone up because they disagree with his politics.

It’s easy to gloat when the tables turn on someone with opposing political views, especially when the person has been so unapologetically delusional as well as loud and obnoxious. When the mighty fall, the temptation to dance on their graves is often too hard to resist. It’s so satisfying to watch opponents get what we feel they deserve, but in this case, the celebration is misplaced.

Private tech companies that control the world’s largest communication platforms should not have the power to hit the mute button on voices they disagree with. Today, it might be Trump, and tomorrow it could be Biden, who knows? And the same, same people who are doing a victory lap now will find themselves trying to defend things like freedom of speech and expression because it will be their guy on the wrong side of big tech.

It’s a slippery slope and the descent has just begun. The day will come when it hits us that we slept on our rights, and by then the landlords of the internet will have more power than all of us combined.

Speaking of sleeping, the Hustler Movement is stealthily gaining momentum. The DP’s underdog rhetoric is resonating with a constituency of Kenyans who are tired of being underserved by the government. It seems unlikely, to me at least, that a Ruto candidacy is viable, but remember, many Americans thought the same of Trump.

Depending on who was holding the mic, he was either a wild card or a clown. Even his own party underestimated his appeal. They slept on his MAGA movement and only truly awakened to reality when it was way too late to counter.

The DP might end up being our Trump with his disingenuous push to ‘make hustling great again’. He’s playing the cash card with such amazing finesse that his supporters have forgotten that he hasn’t been broke since the 90s. You have to give it to him, though.

Pitting the haves against the have nots while excluding himself from the dynasty equation is genius. He has created a narrative that has grown wings and flown away on the winds of aspiration. He has convinced the constituency of the disenfranchised that he is on their side, and that my friend, is nothing short of magic, ‘ama namna gani?’

Anyway, folks are snoozing as this saga unfolds. Barring an act of the other dynasties, we might wake up on the second Tuesday of August 2022 and find that a Ruto presidency is imminent. A groundswell of voters could pull off a 2002 by deciding that they’ve had enough of old money, and would like to lust after the new instead.

I have nothing personal against the DP, you understand. But ironically, regardless of his eight years in office, he has become a political wild card. Unlike Donald Trump, he’s too slick to be called a clown, which is worrying. No one can predict what Kenya could become with the good doctor at the helm, and this is why talk of a compromise candidate is gaining currency.

A safe pair of hands to move the country beyond the Jubilee train wreck. It is often said that Musalia Mudavadi has the safest, and least threatening pair of hands in Kenya’s modern history. He’s the vanilla essence in Kenya’s political fruitcake. Non-obtrusive. Gentle on the senses. Unadventurous.

Who knows, the gentleman from Maragoli might just be the man for the job. And heck, I’m not just saying this because I’m a Luhya because as we well know, Luhya unity is “elusive”: If a Samia candidate was running maybe then I could be accused of bias, but in this case, tribe has nothing to do with it. And to make matters worse, MaDVD is a Manchester United supporter and that is just pure sacrilege.

The truth is that Kenya needs a break from politics as usual. We need to go to half-time for a while. To drink some water and recharge our batteries away from this theatre of the absurd to which we have become forcibly accustomed. We need a period of rest, and who knows? Mudavadi might just be able to make rest a reality. Happy New Year, fellow Kenyans.

Ms Masiga is Peace and Security editor, The Conversation