Men who shaped our politics and are likely to continue

Their names easily ring a bell in people’s minds. They have been and are involved in a thing or two concerning Kenya’s politics. And in 2010, they are expected to feature prominently in the unfolding political events. Mention Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Raila Amolo Odinga, Kenneth Otiato Marende, William Samoei Ruto, Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, and Peter Kenneth and what comes to mind is how they are shaping the country’s politics.

For instance, when Moreno-Ocampo, the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor, visited Kenya recently, Kenyans saw his coming as a sign that perpetrators of the post-election violence would be brought to justice.

Tourism assistant minister Cecily Mbarire was quoted at a rally in Meru shortly before Moreno-Ocampo’s arrival as saying, “I am very happy to know that Ocampo is on his way here because we need justice”. Ocampo said his task was to hold to account people suspected to have planned and financed the 2008 post-election violence.

On the spot

Prime Minister Raila Odinga is again at the centre of national attention especially in the face of the unfolding political alliances, with a section of his Orange Democratic Movement party led my Agriculture minister William Ruto publicly criticising him.

The two have been pitted against each other by key national issues including their positions on how suspects of the post-election violence should be handled as well as the eviction of people from the Mau Forest water tower.
Both are on record as successful political fighters. The PM has previously been quoted as saying he was committed to keeping the grand coalition alive until the 2012 General Election, an indication that he is ready to battle it out for the top job again.

Mr Odinga’s landmark moves include leading his National Development Party (NDP) into a shortlived marriage with Kanu, which saw him become the ruling party’s secretary-general before he staged a walkout with several ministers.
His task now involves cultivating a national image while maintaining his grip as the ODM party leader.

In September 2002, Mr Ruto, then minister for Home Affairs, called on Mr Odinga, then his Cabinet colleague who was leading a rebellion in the ruling party, to resign as Kanu secretary-general. Mr Ruto told Mr Odinga to pave the way for then minister Julius Sunkuli to take over since his (Mr Odinga’s) subscription to the ideals of the National Rainbow Alliance showed he had no confidence in Kanu.

Mr Ruto was backed by Kanu legislators dubbed “Young Turks” who included former Comptroller of State House Franklin Bett, minister William Morogo, assistant ministers Musa Sirma, Raphael Kitur, Christopher Lomada, Samuel Poghisio, Samuel Moroto, Mohammed Shidiye, Mohamed Affey, John Marimoi, David Sudi, Stephen Mukangu, and Ekwe Ethuro.

Rebels asked to quit

Today, it is the Prime Minister asking Mr Ruto and other disgruntled ODM members to leave the party and even the Cabinet. Tourism minister Najib Balala is also in the mix. Mr Ruto has had his political fights. He was to part ways with Kanu and then party chairman former president Daniel Moi and go ahead to campaign against the Moi family and friends with convincing victory.

In the last elections, Mr Ruto led an ODM political campaign in the Rift Valley that saw the defeat of Mr Gideon Moi in Baringo Central and other candidates thought to enjoy Daniel arap Moi’s backing. This, and the role he played during the negotiations following the disputed presidential election results in 2007, earned Mr Ruto a place of honour in the country’s national politics. He galvanised a huge part of the Rift Valley vote in support of Mr Odinga’s presidential bid.

Jurist of the Year

Another person to watch is the Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr Kenneth Marende, whose election on January 15, 2008, after three rounds of voting, was celebrated countrywide. Mr Marende has not disappointed.

In October this year, he was elected President of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) at a conference in Arusha, Tanzania. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association brings together MPs from the Commonwealth to discuss issues of good governance, human rights and democracy.

Besides, Mr Marende was named this year’s Jurist of the Year by the Kenyan chapter of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). The ICJ gave Mr Marende the coveted award, perhaps because of his outstanding performance in leading Parliament and enabling it to achieve a high sense of independence from the Executive.

He has displayed leadership in making crucial decisions which are perceived to be non-partisan, pragmatic, objective and mature. Such instances include the way he handled the swearing-in of Members of Parliament without favouring any side and his ruling on who should be the Leader of Government Business in the House and the Chairman of the House Business Committee (HBC) after he received two different letters from President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga on the positions.

The President had nominated Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka while the Premier wanted to be the head. In his ruling, Mr Marende temporarily appointed himself the chair of the HBC and asked the Executive to put its house in order. Meanwhile, Chief Whips from both parties would assist him. He still holds that position.

Presidential ambition

Mr Musyoka made his first bid for the presidency on December 27, 2007. He declared his presidential ambitions after parting ways with the larger ODM to form ODM Kenya. He later joined forces with the Party of National Unity to form government, thus giving PNU a lifeline. He came in with 18 MPs, two of whom were nominated.

In March 2002, Mr Musyoka was elected National Vice-Chairman of the ruling party Kanu, which many considered launched him into presidential succession politics. After being elected to this position, he was touted as the possible successor of then president Daniel Moi, who was retiring after ruling the country for 24 years.

Indeed, successive media opinion polls picked him as the most popular presidential hopeful. His presidential ambition, however, hit a snag when the ruling party finally settled on Mr Kenyatta as the preferred successor to Mr Moi.

This led to a fallout that saw Mr Musyoka and other senior party politicians jump ship and begin another initiative aimed at taking over the country’s leadership. The opposition united under the auspices of the Rainbow dream that led to the formation of a coalition between the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and National Alliance Party of Kenya (NAK) popularly called the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC).

Devolved funds

Mr Uhuru Kenyatta is on record as the Finance minister who managed to devolve a lot of funds to the grassroots through a budget. Mr Kenyatta made his first appearance in public through appointment by Mr Moi as chairman of the Kenya Tourism Board. In politics, he rose to become Kanu chairman and was Official Opposition Leader up to the last General Election.

But when he sensed defeat in Gatundu, perhaps for supporting the opposition in the November 2005 referendum, he made history by supporting the sitting President in the elections. That helped him recapture his Gatundu South constituency seat despite the view that his party, Kanu, was now a shell that could not field a presidential candidate after losing power for only one term.

Mr Kenyatta surprised many when he gathered the party’s 4,500 delegates at Kasarani for the National Delegates’ Conference without involving the party officials or using party resources. It was at this conference that he was declared the party chairman. Today, Mr Kenyatta is aligning himself in an emerging alliance with his Rift Valley counterparts and those from Eastern Province.

New entrant

Gatanga Member of Parliament, Mr Peter Kenneth, who is also an assistant minister for Planning, is believed to have achieved more in his constituency in the last seven years than his predecessors over a period of more than 35 years. He is a new entrant on the national stage.

Elected as MP for Gatanga in December 2002 with 26,000 votes against his closest rival at 6,000 votes, Mr Kenneth promised to empower his electorate and systematically set about to achieve this through professional management of the Constituency Development Fund.

Gatanga has become a model constituency, voted as having the best managed CDF in the country. The CDF concentrates on improving education standards, health care, water management and distribution. Mr Kenneth embarked on an aggressive re-afforestation programme and assured the residents and visitors of security.

Five years later, in December 2007, he was re-elected with 58,000 votes, trouncing his rival who stayed at 6,000 votes. The people had voted for empowerment. He is the first MP to secure a second term in Gatanga for the last 25 years.

Public resources

Many agree that he has achieved unparalleled success through efficient management of public resources and an effective management style that allows the communities in Gatanga a say in how the resources are managed. He has been instrumental in the improvement of infrastructure and the constituency now boasts 78 kilometres of tarmacked roads. He is on record as saying that all homes in the area have access to electricity.

Over the last six years, as a result of this success, Gatanga has become the destination of over 30 delegations from other constituencies seeking to study this model of success. Earlier this year, Mr Kenneth hosted the British High Commissioner and a group from the Namibian government – both seeking to understand the CDF model in Kenya and how successful it is.

He is said to harbour presidential ambitions although he has not declared it publicly. The question is: Can Mr Kenneth replicate this success on a national level? The steps that these individuals take in the new year are likely to shape the country’s politics as we inch closer to the next General Election in 2012.

skumba@nation.co.ke