WYCLIFFE MUGA / STIFLING DEMOCRACY
Nyong'o's revealing new garb
The story is that such a newly-minted tycoon will soon be found complaining that it is his friends who have changed. The claim will be that his friends, who used to seemed like regular guys, are really just a bunch of leeches.
They constantly seek to borrow things from him � one of his limousines for some wedding and cash for an emergency. Worst of all, he has learnt that they laugh at him behind his back. They say his money has got to his head.
The point of the story is that the great change that has occurred is not in the rich man�s friends but in himself. His friends probably borrowed things from him even more frequently in the old days.
But he did not notice it then because he, too, frequently borrowed from them. But, now that he is rich, he no longer needs their support. And, because they have known him for too long to be intimidated by his newly-acquired wealth, he finds them disrespectful.
The many stories of this type I have heard over the years came to mind as I read a Special Report in the Sunday Nation of September 21 headlined, Media and Challenges for Narc by by Prof Peter Anyang�-Nyong�o, the Planning and National Development Minister.
The theme of his piece was brought out fairly early in the article. "Nine months have now gone, and an interesting phenomenon is taking place in our mass media. This is the phenomenon of increasing sensationalism."
He then went on to state that the mainstream dailies were now really no different from the tabloids of the gutter. "Whether one is reading the tabloids or the upmarket dailies, it is quite clear that one will not read about the serious things that are happening in government."
And yet it is perfectly clear that it is not the mainstream media which have gone into irreversible decline, as Prof Nyong�o suggests. Our mass media, with all their failings, are much the same creatures that they were last year.
It is Prof Nyong�o whose circumstances have changed greatly. He now earns a princely salary and fat perks. He has grown accustomed to brand new limousines with a flag.
He travels abroad and wines and dines at the expense of the people. With all these wonderful improvements to his lifestyle, he is bound to find it disrespectful that his old colleagues in the media are not in the least intimidated or impressed by his new position.
On the contrary, they criticise him freely as he once criticised the Moi regime.
Indeed, it is a media pundit who ought to have come up with a column starting "Nine months have passed and an interesting phenomenon is taking place in Prof Nyong�o: his increasing sensitivity to criticism."
Kiambaa MP Njenga Karume recently felt obliged to remark that it was quite remarkable how a few months in high office can change a man. And truer words have never been spoken.
In President Moi�s time, it was frequently noted that some of the most virulent critics of his Government, once elevated to the cabinet , suddenly did a 180-degree turn and praised the very same Government with equal vigour.
In the Narc Government, what we have is largely a group of veteran oppositionists who, when out of power, found in the media useful allies in their efforts to expose the failings of the Kanu regime.
But now that it is their failings that are being mocked by the same media, they are quick to accuse the media of drifting into sensationalism.
It all goes to show just how right American founding fathers Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were when they repeatedly asserted that a free and virile press is the only real defence against tyranny.
Indeed, in a situation such as Kenya finds itself in now, the only clear beacon of hope amid the surrounding gloom, is that we still have a free and forceful press.
The state of political affairs up to the end of last year could be summarised as follows: Kenya had a corrupt and inefficient government. But it had an effective opposition in Parliament and a free and vibrant press.
Today we could say: Kenya has a governing party which does not seem to know how to govern. And we have a parliamentary opposition which does not seem to know how to oppose. But at least we have a free and vibrant press.
For it is from the mass media that we have over the past months seen the most precise and articulate criticisms of the new Government. A leadership that wishes to learn and improve should welcome such criticism, and seek to profit by it.
When such well-intended criticism is dismissed as sensationalism by one of the leading intellects in the Government, what we have here is the beginnings of intolerance to opposing viewpoints, and with it, incipient tyranny.
It is impossible to deny that Prof Nyong�o, along with many others now in Government, made great sacrifices to bring about a more democratic Kenya.
But what we must not forget is that history is replete with instances of leaders who began as liberators and ended up as despots.
Dr Robert Mugabe was once one of Africa�s most inspiring figures. This was partially because he was imprisoned for many years for his role in the fight for Zimbabwe's independence. But look at him now.
In his autobiography Sowing the Mustard Seed, President Yoweri Museveni gives details of the great risks he took and the personal sacrifices he made to bring an end to despotism in Uganda. Now this former champion of liberation is second only to President Mugabe in his opposition to a free and independent press.
Freedom of the Press is indispensable for all the things that Kenyans hope for, like a new political dispensation, economic growth, greater personal liberties, an end to arbitrary rule and, of course, 500,000 new jobs a year.
Provided the Press remains free and independent, the country will continue to move forward because there will be democratic space for free _expression_.
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