In a bid to concentrate on his literary work, Former Bahari MP, Joe Khamisi has confirmed quitting active politics.
Speaking during a
private interview Khamisi said his time in active politics is over and he has
nothing to regret about as he successfully fulfilled his duty when he was the
Member of Parliament for Bahari constituency.
“I joined politics
because I wanted to serve my people in a more pragmatic way and I did that
successfully for 5 years for Bahari. My
basic interest however is in writing. I have exited politics permanently to
become a full-time author,” he said.
Joe, who splits his
time between US and Kenya, is currently in the country preparing to launch his
second book next month. “The Dash Before Dusk” published by
the East African Educational Publishers is an autobiography. It is an account
of his life history experiences as a journalist, diplomat and politician.
In his first book “The
Politics of Betrayal” he made use of his diary by putting down
everything political in it into a political narrative. As he says “it is a
narrative of his observation of the Kenyan politics for the period 2001 to
2008.”
In the book are
scathing descriptions of politicians’ track records with information on the
scandalous antics of Kenyan politicians. It focuses on the period starting 2001
when president Moi and Raila Odinga ventured into a tricky alliance until
opposition against Moi peaked following the declaration of current His
excellency president Uhuru Kenyatta as Moi’s successor.
As he puts it 2001 –
2008 were the most critical years in the country's history when President
Daniel Arap Moi's dictatorial rule ended, the country saw massive corruption in
the public sector and Kenya was engulfed in post election violence, in which
more than one thousand people were killed and tens of thousands of others
displaced. It is during this period that Kilifi County experienced its first
terrorism attack- bombing of paradise hotel in Mtwapa.
After launching his autobiography,
Joe is planning to return overseas to embark on his next book. As a former politician in the country, he
said he finds a better writing environment outside the country and that is why
he splits his time between Kenya and the US.
When asked why he had
not opted to stage opposition to the current County government. Joe was quick
to defend his move and threw the ball to the voters.
“As far as the current
leadership is concerned, I don’t want to make any judgment. They were elected
by the people and people are the right ones to comment but I wish them well.”
He concluded.
