When self proclaimed National Resistance Movement (NRM) General Joshua Miguna Miguna announced, via his social media handles, that he had left Toronto, Canada for Nairobi, on Sunday evening last week, one outcome was certain; his return would definitely not be minus a showdown, especially considering the manner in which Miguna was deported early this year, and the circumstances surrounding his deportation.
We all knew it would not be smooth.
But that notwithstanding, no one ever imagined that, Miguna’s return would fast mutate into the ugly one week standoff, that it has turned out to be.
No one thought that this story would take the ugly twists and turns it has now taken.
Yet, as I pen down this piece, the drama appears to be far from over.
Actually, it is getting uglier as each day passes by.
Six days later, a brilliant son of our motherland is holed up somewhere in a Dubai Airport, stateless, broken & totally uncertain about what tomorrow has in store for him, the status of our main airport has been lowered, the professional conduct of our police officers has been put to question, a showdown between our Judiciary and the Executive has been reignited, journalists are nursing injuries and our international image has been substantially hurt.
Either way you look at it, this is one story that we need to be all ashamed of, as a country.
So, how did we get here? Who is wrong and who is right in the entire argument?
Personally, I believe that every player in the debacle, is quite right in their own way; and equally wrong.
Everyone, from the Immigration Department, the Police, online and offline supporters from across the political divide, Miguna Miguna, the media and Justice George Odunga are all right yet so wrong.
How?
I will explain my argument in a series of articles, the first one being on the man of the moment, Miguna Miguna.
To begin with, no one needs a narration of how trouble began for Janyando. We all know how he came to be the number one champion of the now outlawed NRM, his brief moment of glory when he purportedly swore in Raila Odinga as ‘People’s President’, the inflammatory remarks he made thereafter and his eventual arrest.
And at that point, all over sudden, the politics of the day miraculously jogged our memories and we realized that Miguna was actually not Kenyan. He had denounced his Kenyan citizenship in 1998 and then fraudulently reacquired it later during the Grand Coalition government.
Miguna was thus booked into the next flight to Canada, where he belonged.
Fast forward this week, after the historic Harambee House handshake, Miguna assumed that the politics that had made his Kenyan citizenship get questioned were no more and thus decided to return. After all, the man he was fighting for back then, was
now in government.
But it seems Miguna was wrong. His case file was still open as is now evident.
So, how right or how wrong is Miguna?
If we were to remove the political angle of this story and think soberly, we would not need an immigration expert from the moon to ascertain whether Miguna is a Kenyan or not. It just goes without saying that Miguna is Kenyan, born and brought up here.
On this one, Miguna is right. We all know it. We can bury our heads in the sand as much as we can and cite Articles and Articles of immigration laws, but deep down, we know that Miguna is Kenyan. No two ways about it.
Actually, someone trying to convince you that Miguna is not Kenyan is like a poacher trying to convince you that an elephant ceased to be an elephant simply because the poacher removed one or both of its tusks. Doesn’t hold any waters at all.
However, as much as Miguna is right about him being Kenyan, he needs to acknowledge that he made political mistakes that have left him a cornered man.
He took a path that has left him a single man fighting a battle against a system, one that he has minimal chances of winning.
And in such circumstances, wisdom dictates that a man makes a tactical retreat. Wise Generals, like the one Miguna claims to be, opt for this.
Sadly, this is where Miguna is getting it all wrong. Instead of accepting his mistakes, he is insisting on fighting and fighting to no end.
Mark you me, the issue at hand cannot be solved by the unnecessary shenanigans and sideshows he is putting up.
Dear Janyando, Kenny Rodgers once argued that, sometimes, it doesn’t mean you are weak when a man slaps you on one cheek and you go ahead to give him the other. It’s a tactic of war and your lawyers seem to understand this way too well. That’s why they had advised you to fill the citizenship application forms you were given, which you arrogantly refused.
I hope Miguna will come back to his senses soon enough and do the necessary. On this one, I wish him all the best.
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PART TWO, on why the Immigration Department, the Police and Justice Odunga are all right but equally wrong, later.