Uhuru should obey own good nature, reject dictatorship calls

President Uhuru Kenyatta attends the launch of one of his campaign brigade, at State House, Nairobi, on October 2, 2017. Already, we are seeing worrying signs of Jubilee abusing its parliamentary majority. PHOTO | RAPHAEL NJOROGE

What you need to know:

  • We are seeing a president who will contemplate misusing the State security apparatus to persecute political foes.
  • It increasingly looks as if the President is warming to the idea of destroying other arms of government.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is essentially a good man. He is pleasant, warm and friendly, always with a ready laugh, an engaging smile and a twinkle in his eye.

The high-fives, bone-shattering handshake delivered from a distance not unlike a haymaker, and the shoulder- and fist-bumps for everybody reveal a person at ease with himself.

One feels he genuinely cares for this country and is well meaning in his politics.

POWER

He comes across as a reluctant politician, one who’d rather be out there living his own life and having fun far away from the shackles and burdens of high office.

Unlike many of those around him, he does not sound like one who sought high office as an avenue to rip the public coffers for personal gain.

He does not appear consumed with the sheer arrogance of power.

Along the way, however, we are witnessing disturbing tendencies in a president who, when under threat, will lash out angrily.

ICC CASE
The irrational tantrums since the setback of his re-election victory being nullified by the Supreme Court indicates that beneath the gentle and agreeable veneer lies a fragile and insecure individual who would readily destroy the country rather than see his authority challenged.

It is for others to judge whether that is his real nature, or borne out of the need to conform to the no-holds-barred approach to political competition in Kenya.

We saw an angry candidate in 2013 when Mr Kenyatta and running mate William Ruto first sought election while facing indictment by the International Criminal Court over their roles in the 2007-2008 post-election violence.

We are again having to endure a mean, angry, vindictive president who will make decisions in fits of anger.

ELECTION LAWS
We are seeing a president who will contemplate misusing the State security apparatus to persecute political foes — as is being proposed by his key advisers, cheerleaders and rabble rousers such as Jubilee Party chairman David Murathe, Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and greenhorn MP Ndindi Nyoro.

It increasingly looks as if the President is warming to the idea of destroying other arms of government, particularly the Judiciary, oversight constitutional commissions and statutory bodies, as well as independent watchdog organs such as civil society and the media.

Neutering bodies that call power to account is what will open the way for the President to rule by dictatorial fiat.

Already, we are seeing worrying signs of Jubilee abusing its parliamentary majority to unilaterally amend election laws that were the product of a negotiated compromise.

PROTESTS
We are seeing security agencies look the other way as ethnic vigilante groups, the so-called “Nairobi Business Community”, purport to secure the capital city against opposition demonstrators.

We have seen all manner of pro-regime irregulars violently block roads with burning tyres as police look on while opposition marches are met with instant tear gas and truncheons.

The police and lawless Jubilee mobs react fiercely to the infantile rantings of newcomer opposition legislator Babu Owino, who ends up facing ridiculous charges borrowed direct from repressive colonial statutes.

Nobody in authority lifts a finger when Nyoro and Governor Sonko pollute the atmosphere with their own sick verbiage.

HATE SPEECH
President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto also have a well-documented history of constantly hurling insults at opposition leader Raila Odinga yet act like cry-babies when they face some of the same.

Respect begets respect.
A vernacular radio station associated with the First Family every morning spews out violent ethnic bile, as do Jubilee social media ‘warriors’.

Unless he is completely out of touch, the President cannot be blind to all the atrocities — if not yet bloody — being committed in his name.

He is being egged on by supporters and advisers, who exhort him to toughen up and deal decisively with the opposition.

DISSENTERS
His closest advisors openly call for establishment of a dictatorship so that he can deal with troublemakers in the fashion of his father and his mentor — late President Jomo Kenyatta and successor Daniel arap Moi.

We all know that means jailing or even eliminating political competitors and all discordant voices.

God forbid that President Kenyatta should act on such retrogressive advice from the hard-line inner circle of family and close friends.

He should resist the temptation to assume dictatorial powers and act within the dictates of his own appealing nature.

[email protected] Twitter: @MachariaGaitho