Doubts as to what the true Uhuru stands for

In the past eight months, Uhuru Kenyatta has been undertaking a momentous, smart and historic reconstruction of how government runs.

Many Kenyans may not have seen the fruits of his endeavours, but the work entails a seismic shift and a grand reconstruction of government.

Rightly, he sees the old structures as archaic, inefficient, prone to capture by vested interests, middlemen and corrupt government officials.

The landmark state corporations restructuring is a vital component of that scheme.

In terms of the smooth running of his government, apart from the runaway insecurity, Uhuru has done fairly well. He is still charting the historic trajectory of his presidency and place in history. But in the past two weeks, his governmental project has veered off his well-planned flight plan and might have imploded.

He committed three monumental blunders that painted him as a poor reader of politics, damaged his credentials and raised doubts as to what the true Uhuru stands for.

These three missteps are his clumsy handling of the Judiciary, the unnecessary Media Bill and the attempt to run NGOs out of town.

Endless demands the Kalenjin elite

Uhuru will overcome and learn from his misadventures. But the challenges he faces in the near future will have much greater impact than the blunders he has committed.

First, the biggest challenge his government faces is the endless demands the Kalenjin elite make on his government. The community played a critical role in Uhuru winning the presidency and is rightly entitled to have its say. But the demands by its elites for goodies, offices, free land, tenders, concessions, etc, are infinite. No human being, no matter how powerful, rich or generous, can satisfy the appetite for free, stately things. Ask Raila Odinga!

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The ruinous step Uhuru took against the Judicial Service Commission was a reckless attempt to satisfy one such senseless demand on him.
Kenyans have heard the chorus that Uhuru’s appointees have fixed Ruto at The Hague. We have heard the 14-day ultimatum given to Uhuru and the cries that members of the community have not “benefited” from the government. Uhuru, unfortunately, must get used to this. He is facing a sector of a society with a different cultural ethos, spoilt by the kleptocracy of the Moi regime and kept at bay for 10 years by the resolute determination of Mwai Kibaki to keep them out of state affairs. They are hungry and determined to lay their hands on state goodies.

The second challenge Uhuru faces is posed by a rudderless Parliament. Uhuru never needed a friend to run Parliament. He has the numbers. He simply required an average Speaker to manage the affairs of the House.

In the past few months, Parliament addressed trivial side-shows akin to a popular road show, thrilling at that time, but useless in the long term. Five years down the road when Uhuru realises that his legislative agenda is thin and barren, he will realise that it was his choices and the general mandate he gave to his people in Parliament that let him down.

Security

The third problem is posed by top security officers. Uhuru is behaving like the proverbial ostrich. He is refusing to see the national imperative to fire all the top officers in the army, police and national security intelligence.

They are clueless. Yet Uhuru has decided to retain them. When he sees Kenyans killing one another in outer districts in northern Kenyan, he cannot afford to ignore their cries. Will he only act when the killings reach Nairobi?

There’s a fourth challenge posed by a combination of civil society, political parties and disenchanted Kenyans. Uhuru is not mortally wounded by the three events of the last two weeks.

He is badly bruised. He lost the shine and gloss of his presidency. These forces will seek their revenge; how Uhuru responds will define his presidency.

Ahmednasir is the publisher, Nairobi Law Monthly [email protected]