Moi and Thatcher shared some uncanny peculiarities

Former President Daniel arap Moi and former British Prime Minister Margaret Hilda Thatcher shared uncanny characteristics.

They both wielded immense power and used different symbols to exercise it, instilling fear and authority in their respective Cabinets.

Moi had the rungu (club), and Thatcher, the handbag.

But first, the two went to parliament in same year, 1958, stayed there uninterrupted and rose to the pinnacle of power — Thatcher till 1990 and Moi until 2002.

Coincidentally, Moi became president in August 1978 and a few months into 1979, Thatcher became the first British woman prime minister.

The coincidence does not end there — they were born just a year apart. Moi, the son of a peasant was born in 1924 and Thatcher, the daughter of a grocer, in 1925.

Both were given labels by foreign media.

The then Soviet Union (Russia) press gave Thatcher the moniker “Iron Lady” for her hardline stance at the height of the Cold War between the communist East and capitalist West.

The Western media labelled Moi, together with Mobutu Sese Seko of the Democratic Republic of Congo and others, “Big Men of Africa”.

This was during the one-party state rule that most African countries slid into after independence.

But it is the manner in which the two exercised power through symbols that will forever be baffling.

The rungu ruled and the presence of its “rest box” beside the Head of State at public functions and Cabinet meetings signified the power of a man who ruled Kenya for 24 years.

And Thatcher would reach for her large handbag at Cabinet meetings to intimidate ministers — they never knew what scandal she might pull out of that bag.

It is said that at one time, ministers entered a Cabinet meeting to find only the handbag at the front table.

When one suggested they should start the meeting in her absence, another exclaimed: “The handbag is here!”

Symbols of power have been common among powerful rulers elsewhere.

Founding President Jomo Kenyatta had his fly whisk, which symbolised his authority.

Mobutu, who ruled DRC with an iron fist for 37 years until his overthrow in 1997 had a bakora (walking stick) made of mahogany with a top that was often unfurled into a stool.

He added a leopard skin cap to complete his symbols of power.

Founding Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda had the white handkerchief.

It was synonymous with the man who often waved it and wiped tears to bemoan Zambia as a country whose citizens had become drunkards during the economic hardships of the 1980s.

In Germany, Adolf Hitler had the swastika, which still haunts the world as a symbol of the holocaust.