Why handshake needed protection from 2022

President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition chief Raila Odinga at Harambee House on March 9, 2018. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Politics is governed by pragmatism, and astute politicians ought to know and predict the repercussions of the decisions that they make at all times.
  • The signs were all clear that anybody who bore presidential ambitions of 2022 could only complicate matters around Kenya's stability.

On March 9, President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition leader Raila Odinga executed the now famous handshake at the doorsteps of Harambee House in Nairobi.

That occasion signified different things to many people. It is still incomprehensible to many more.

What is perhaps most striking about it was the recent revelation by Mr Odinga that the handshake was crafted to exclude the contentious politics, and the political players of the 2022 presidential contest.

If that is the true position, and we have no reason to doubt it so far, then the handshake was a well thought-out development that requires serious support from across the board.

First, from a political perspective, it is crucial to appreciate our antagonistic politics that had seriously polarised the country after the tumultuous elections of 2017.

Kenya had emerged from one of the most divisive elections ever. It was clear that the political climate was polluted beyond belief.

POLITICAL EXCLUSION
There was a pervasive sense of social, economic and political exclusion across the country. It didn't help matters that politicians were already positioning themselves for another gruesome journey towards 2022 when President Kenyatta would not be running.

The signs were all clear that anybody who bore presidential ambitions of 2022 could only complicate matters around Kenya's stability, because their political lenses were squarely focused on the envisaged contest. Therefore, it wasn't rocket science that the designers of the handshake project had to devise a way of excluding the different competing interests of the 2022 elections.

It would, therefore, be unfortunate if this exclusion could be interpreted as a slight on anyone.

Apart from the fact that President Kenyatta and Mr Odinga are bound by the patriotic desire to promote the national good, they aren't on the other hand limited from entertaining their own perspectives of Kenya's politics.

SERIOUS DISTRUST

And this shouldn't imply serious distrust between the two towards their respective political acolytes and erstwhile loyalists.

Politics is governed by pragmatism, and astute politicians ought to know and predict the repercussions of the decisions that they make at all times.

Besides, it made perfect sense that everyone else got locked out since most political transactions can be excruciatingly delicate, beginning with creating a rapport, eliminating suspicions, building confidence and consolidating trust.

All these are easier to achieve with smaller groups. Big groups of negotiators are very susceptible to the machinations of infiltraters, propagandists, power brokers, influence peddlers and all shades of purveyors of mischief, whose singular motive would be to derail the process.

It is also in the public domain that some politicians from both sides of the political divide had crafted lives and careers out of buccaneering, divisive and antagonistic politics that was widening the political chasms with each passing day.

UPHILL TASK

It would be an uphill task to persuade such politicians with nefarious motives to welcome the handshake or any other initiative that would deny them their means of livelihood.

Such political detractors deserved no place at the hallowed table of negotiations.

It is critical to note that once the handshake was executed, then it became relatively easy to think about rolling out the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).

And, with the recent appointment and gazettement of eminent persons who will help in steering the BBI, Kenyans should now prepare to participate fully.

Mr Oliewo is the director, Public Research and Development Consultants (PRAD) Email; [email protected].