Economist David Ndii has dragged political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi into the bitter spat between him and city lawyer Donald Kipkorir.
In a long thread on Twitter on Wednesday, April 8, Ndii described lawyer Kipkorir and political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi as people whose actions were informed by power and money over common sense and understanding.
"The Kiprorir’s and Mutahi Ngunyi’s are the court poets of mediocrity on a mission to privilege money and power over reason and competence. To let them be is to fail to learn and act from the lessons of history," Ndii wrote.
He further described the two personalities as people being used to sing to the tunes of a dictatorial regime in the same way former President Daniel arap Moi used intellectuals to advance his own personal agendas.
"The African dictator’s dilemma is that they sometimes need intellectuals, especially when they are in trouble if only to impress donors. So in the 80s, Moi figured out how to square the circle.
"He learned to seduce gullible intellectuals to work for him, and simultaneously deploy the lowliest political hitmen to stalk them. Josephat Karanja’s takedown by David Mwenje and Kuria Kanyingi is the most famous," he opined.
Ndii further drew the examples of Mulu Mutisya, Kariuki Chotara, and Ezekiel Barng’etuny who he claimed were deployed to cheapen public discussion with the knowledge that intellectuals wouldn't participate in the exchanges thereby leaving Moi unchallenged
"Distinguished scholars like Phillip Mbithi, William Ochieng, Henry Mwanzi and Eshiwani were reduced to sycophants. Philip Ochieng, a world-class journalist, also succumbed. Before he knew Oloo Aringo, a brilliant radical politician was exalting Moi as the “prince of peace," he wrote.
Ndii further dismissed people who were asking for a truce between him and Kipkorir as people who had no ability to distinguish adversarial debate from conflict.
He insisted that there needed to be a battle of minds and ideas if new knowledge was to be perpetuated to the world as shown by previous historical arguments.
"Knowledge advances by means of fiercely adverserial “paradigm shifts” —new ideas battling established ones—Corpenicus vs Ptolemy, germ theory vs humorism, Luther vs Infallible Popes (Re:Thomas Kuhn. Structure of Scientific Revolutions)," he compared.
David Ndii and Donald Kipkorir's spat began when Kipkorir suggested that the government prints Ksh750 billion to counter the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy.
