On March 23, The Star carried an op-ed piece by Kenyatta University's Political Economy and Political History lecturer Dr Edward Kisiangani, in response to my column of the previous day.
The don blasted me because, he claimed, I had, inter alia, launched an attack on Deputy President William Ruto in the column. He variously described the attack as blistering, reckless, malicious and unfair and ruled me out of order.
Readers of The Star who do not read my column run the risk of getting a one-sided perspective of the said article, my position on Dr Ruto, and the presidential succession. Let me set the record straight.
First, Dr Kisiangani alleged that I wrote that Dr Ruto had deliberately and insubordinately absented himself from the President's address to the nation on the Covid19-causing coronavirus.
I did not even imply that Dr Ruto had turned down the President's invite to the event. I wrote that all noticed the DP's conspicuous absence. And that, I wrote, spoiled a good thing.
I said the President and cabinet passed the test of addressing an existential crisis with distinction, but for skipping the event, the DP earned a huge haircut. That is, his stock lost value.
Dr Kisiangani then charged that it was reckless of me to say that the DP had self-quarantined. I never wrote that. I reported that Dr Ruto was being mocked (on social media) as having self-quarantined.
Dr Kisiangani created a false prospectus then used it to attack and accuse me of having arid thinking, lacking reason and devoid of warmth.
Second, Dr Kisiangani wrote that I complained about the President being flanked by Cabinet Secretaries Fred Matiang'i and Mutahi Kagwe. Then he claimed that I wrote that Dr Ruto's insubordination had dented the DP's leadership mettle.
No. I wrote that the President showed off his dutiful Cabinet led by Dr Matiang'i, his enforcer, and Mr Kagwe, the new safe pair of hands at Health. And the words leadership, dent and mettle appear only in the headline. They are the editor's rendering of my digression to the DP.
Third, pivoting from my piece, Dr Kisiangani tied me to those he accused of diminishing Dr Ruto's chances of becoming President and prophesying that he will not be on the ballot in 2022.
It was organised labour boss Francis Atwoli who predicted late in 2018, and has since insisted, that the DP will not be on the presidential ballot. He says the next president will be chosen in a boardroom.
I opposed selection of the president by boardrooms immediately Mr Atwoli floated the idea. I opposed boardroom contracts between politicians on Kenya after the 2017 General Election and before the rapprochement between President Kenyatta and Mr Raila Odinga.
I remain increasingly critical of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), an issue of the Handshake. Why? Because boardroom deals are exclusive, elitist and anti-democratic power grabs.
I have robustly defended Dr Ruto's right to run for the presidency, writing that the constitution must not be changed to stop him from succeeding President Kenyatta or to perpetuate the President in power.
Indeed, in the piece in question, I write that Kenya is host to the most rotten relationship ever between the President and his Number Two. In fact, this was the reason I digressed to talk about Dr Ruto.
I have typified the DP's trials and tribulations as a deliberate and determined war of attrition meant to reduce him to a political shell, eunuch and skunk. Nobody has defended the DP's office, person or ambition, more consistently or forcefully.
Last, abruptly, Dr Kisiangani attacked me for not using my column to highlight dumped reports on misuse of public resources such as the Ndung'u report on land and Truth and Reconciliation on historical injustices.
He said I have instead persisted in constricting discussion to Dr Ruto. Wrong. In my criticism of BBI I have argued that if the above reports were implemented, there would have been no need for the Initiative.
So who is out of order? Dr Kisiangani. He created false prospectuses from which he attacked me. Did he read my column? He did not have to.
And did I launch a blistering attack on the DP? Zilch. I wrote not a single harsh word against him, his office or ambition.
