On election team, buck stops with Uhuru

The statements coming from both sides of the increasingly hostile political divide were firm, categorical but strikingly conflicting.

From the opposition coalition came the news that a deal of sorts had been struck at a brief State House rendezvous that could see the dangerous and potentially bloody confrontation over Cord’s demand for the removal of the current poll commissioners.

That was after the country was treated to a surprise high profile photo session between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto on the one side, and Cord co-principals Raila Odinga and Moses Wetang’ula on the other, when the latter two visited State House on the eve of Madaraka Day.

Soon after the Cord duo left State House, Mr Wetang’ula who is also the Senate minority leader, went straight to Parliament where he declared to the hushed House: “We have had good but inconclusive discussions with President Kenyatta and the Deputy President at State House on national issues, including the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.”

But Cord went further to indicate that an agreement had been reached to start talks with Jubilee on the thorny issue of the commissioners’ removal. The opposition intimated that the two sides had agreed to pick a five-member team from each side to handle the issue.

The following day, President and his deputy made it abundantly clear the matter of the polls commission had not featured during Mr Odinga and Mr Wetangula’s State House visit.

The President went on to tell the country that any action targeting the commissioner’s removal must be channeled through the legal and constitutional route. Mr Ruto took a more confrontational stance declaring boisterously that “those telling us that we should go back and have weighty public issues decided by a few people over a cup of tea in a tete-a-tete are taking us backwards”.

But the President trod more consciously stating he was ready to support any petition on the polls team that came through Parliament. Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesman Manoah Esipisu said the issue never featured during the State House rendezvous.

So then, why did Mr Odinga and Mr Wetang’ula go to State House? Before heading to the house of power, Mr Odinga had told a funeral meeting in Narok that he had been called to State House to discuss important national issues, among them the polls team, and promised the crowd that he would communicate the outcome as soon as the meeting was over.

At State House, it was clear from the leader’s body language that behind the veneer of smiles remained deep-rooted antagonism and mutual mistrust. That fact became clear when Cord principals declined an invitation to join the President and his deputy at the Madaraka Day celebrations held in Nakuru on Wednesday.

Instead, the opposition leaders secured State approval and security to hold their own rally at Uhuru Park in Nairobi that had been firmly opposed by the government. As it turned out, the two meetings resembled campaign platforms with each side using the occasion to lambast the other. More significantly, the two meetings spoke volumes about the increasing schism the country has been thrown into over the electoral team’s issue. The meetings seemed to overshadow the significance of the traditional Madaraka Day celebrations that served as symbol of national unity.

Further, the two meetings served as springboards for renewal of political grandstanding.

While Cord won the battle to hold its Uhuru Park meeting that left the Interior Cabinet Secretary with a red face, the overall scenario seemed to drive the country further down the road of uncertainly. Cord renewed its commitment to return to the Monday protests.

In all these, Uhuru, as the President, not his deputy or Cord leaders, remains the ultimate authority over the country and the arbiter of national political conflicts. It, therefore, behoves him to walk the tightrope of balancing the partisan interests of his party and those of the country taking into considerations what all sides want. The President knows he is in charge and will ultimately not blame Cord or anyone else if this country blows up in his face.

Vitalis Musebe is a media consultant; v[email protected]