How much did Khamisi betray?

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Once a journalist; always a journalist. So Joe Khamisi a veteran journalist has decided put pen on paper and blow the whistle about what he calls the politics of Betrayal in Kenya: Diary of a Kenyan legislator. I have not had a chance to read the book but I guess the whole thing smacks of sensationalization of betrayal by a betrayer. But, again, are we not all betrayers at one time or another?


I know that by writing this piece I am bound to be accused as a betrayer to Khamisi’s betrayal of the betraying political class. I first came to know Khamisi while serving as a junior information officer with the Ministry of Information and Communication at the Mombasa Provincial Information Offices which are housed at the Kenya Broadcasting corporation Mombasa offices. Khamisi was then the Managing Director of the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.

Most of the employees working for KBC felt betrayed by Khamisi who was supposed to be their key to Canaan. Under his non betraying eyes, Khamisi who was supposed to improve their well being both in terms of earning as well as perceptions. However, he never did none of that and instead engaged in acts of betrayal. A friend of mine who worked at the Station told me that at his time pump fuel attendants were employed to fill non existing vehicles. In fact some of them had to be laid off when Khamisi left for lack of a job description.

Khamisi who has never betrayed anybody would later also use his position as MD to campaign for the Bahari parliamentary seat. He would actually order one of the reporters who now works for a leading private broadcaster to give him television coverage which would be aired by the national broadcaster whether his speech was newsworthy or not. When Khamisi left, the state of well being of the employees was probably worse than he found them.

Khamisi would probably say that he worked for KBC in a time when the country was in all intents and purposes under the grip of KANU. Even though it was no longer a single party state, the expectation of the people was that the state broadcaster would accord all the parties equal airtime in their news broadcasts. But guess what, the citizens and the political class still cried of betrayal by KBC under the watchful eyes of Joe. Despite the crafting of the Inter Parties Parliamentary Group that advocated for more opportunities for al parties, news of Mtukufu Rais Daniel arap Moi was still given priority no matter what roadside declarations he made. Opposition politicians were still battered by the police and the national broadcaster would give it a betraying twist to show how unpatriotic the opposition leaders were.

The residents of his Bahari constituency might also have a say in the politics of betrayal. Khamisi was elected on a NARC ticket in the 2002 general elections but when 2007 approached, he was first in ODM that was led by Raila Odinga and then moved with Kalonzo Musyoka to ODM Kenya when it split from ODM. For that move Khamisi has accused Musyoka of having cut a deal with Kibaki to block Raila from winning the 2007 general elections. If moving from NARC to ODM and then ODM Kenya is not betrayal then I do not know what betrayal is. If he did not betray his constituents by shifting parties for expediency purposes, then Khamisi must be as white as snow.

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