Columnists expect something more than slander in official rejoinders

Someone was furious with my column last week. He sent out tweets in response. I did not immediately place the name Munyori Buku when the tweets came to my attention.

I was surprised to discover from the account profile that he is in fact Senior Director of Public Communication at State House. I assume, then, this is the capacity in which he tweets on this account. What a rare honour.

You would think the position denotes expertise in research and communication and, given the demonstrated exuberance, that Mr Buku would construct a rebuttal; one that ensures that the political coalition he serves takes the edge on the inescapable fact of the persisting illegitimacy of the IEBC in the eyes of most Kenyans. Wouldn’t Kenyans want to hear a cogent argument beyond the dizzying references to legality?

Instead, Mr Buku started by doubting my credentials, tweeting that ‘Every time I read Godwin Murunga, a columnist with the Saturday Nation, I am surprised with the signature at the end of his commentary.’ Further on, he challenged me to ‘just confess’ that I am ‘an orange blooded ODMist. Everything else, Godwin Murunga, is crude pretence.’

These tweets reveal that Mr. Buku is incapable of basic comprehension. Obviously, he read the column as a collection of words but failed to understand the logic threading it together. So his response is a collection of words that are unrelated to the logic of my argument.

I doubt he grasped the distinction drawn between legality and legitimacy. Unlike Dr Collins Odote who cogently reflected on this issue, Mr Buku underwhelms. His inability to conduct serious reflection worries.

Am I an ‘orange blooded ODMist’? If you ignore the meaningless reference to ‘orange’ blood, I am for sure an Odingaist. I am not a member of ODM, though. I first declared my support for Odingaism and for Raila Odinga in a national newspaper in 2005 and have repeatedly declared my support in this column. No pretence here, Mr Buku.

STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION

My reasons are many. Mr Odinga’s historical trajectory and sacrifices in the struggle for liberation confirm his love for Kenya. As a historian I would argue that he is unmatched in his sacrifice for this country; few politicians hold a similar enviable record. His philosophy of leadership pays attention to equality and promises something beyond the current banal governance system whose cornerstone is corruption and nepotism.

That said, though I support Hon Odinga, I reserve the right to be critical of him as I did when he fired Miguna Miguna. If Mr Buku had cared to do his research, he would have noticed it on page 499 of Peeling Back the Mask. That is what columnists do; just look at unapologetically conservative columnists of the New York Times and note how they have recently become critical of the Republican Party.

Finally, it is not surprising that Mr Buku doubts my academic standing. Partisanship and political office in Kenya imposes enormous constraints on objectivity. Yet the little I have read from Mr Buku, including a piece in The Star’s January 25, 2014 edition titled ‘Githongo anti-Uhuru torrents rooted in politics of serial defeat,’ also suggests that he would perform very badly in my class on basics of writing.

His writing is characterised by really bad prose, verbiage, misplaced words and sentences that pile on each other without logical sequencing. It is hilarious he questions my position.

Well, unlike the professors who cannot tell us where they earned the title, let’s make it easy. Mr Buku would know Prof Jacob Kaimenyi; former DVC at University of Nairobi. He is trusted enough by the Jubilee government to be Cabinet Secretary.

Well, Mr Buku, Prof Kaimenyi chaired the appointment committee that made me Senior Research Fellow. If you have any questions about my qualification for the position, he is a phone call away.

Godwin R. Murunga is a Senior Research Fellow in the Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi.