On the handshake, one is either with the country or against it

What you need to know:

  • It must have taken the President a lot of sacrifice, humility and a sense of patriotism to extend a hand to a bitter rival.
  • One cannot pretend to love the President and be seen to be going contrary to his professed position.
  • Uhuru loves the spirit of the handshake and we expect everyone who supports him to stands by it.

That a good number of political brokers and politicians have been confused, inactive and apparently irrelevant in the last two months is not in doubt. That a good number of these and others who make their living off the political instability and competition are virtually starving owing to a poor “business environment” is an obvious fact. And, naturally, they are not happy!

But this group is a tiny minority. The majority of Kenyans and Kenyan-based foreigners earning and living an honest life are happier now than it was in the period preceding the beginning of March.

UNHAPPY LOT

Ideally, a country is better off if everyone is happy. But an ideal world is one humanity is yet to witness, and there is little indication it will manifest in any foreseeable centuries. Whenever there is a sign of absolute security looming, thieves and murderers are an unhappy lot. They will pray and do all they can to ensure a chaotic, insecure environment is restored so they can have a chance at their normal life, abnormal as it may be to the majority.

Late February, the shilling was exchanging at Sh102 to the US dollar. Today, it is going at 99, a three-point improvement in barely three months. Foreign investors have started trooping back after months of exodus and timidity that characterised last year’s electioneering period. The businessman on the streets says his trade is doing far much better. There is renewed hope palpable in the country.

BUILDING BRIDGES

And it is all about March 9. It is all attributable to the famous handshake!

On Tuesday some people, leaders who should know better, were quoted throwing cold water on the spirit and letter of the March declaration by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition leader Raila Odinga that they had resolved to work together and reunite the country following the chaotic election and a history of ethnic suspicion. In what was billed “Building Bridges Harambee House Declaration”, the Head of State and his Opposition counterpart made it clear that the country’s future should not be held ransom by a single election. They started a process they believe would, in the long run, make Kenya one again. And the fruits started ripening a few hours later. 

Now some leaders have started cutting the tree down!

WITHOUT PORTFOLIO

Cabinet Secretary (without portfolio) Raphael Tuju was reported to have dismissed the noble act by his boss as inconsequential as far as the achievement of the Big Four agenda, also propagated by President Uhuru is concerned. Mr Tuju argued that the handshake, just like a similar one executed by Mr Odinga and former President Mwai Kibaki in 2008, has no effect on the economy.

“We have had handshakes before. In 2008, Raila and Mwai Kibaki shook hands; but did it reduce the rate of unemployment? No. The debate we should be having now is how to create jobs for the youth,” Mr Tuju is quoted as telling the Nation arguing that any deliberations would only be beneficial if they would help in expediting the attainment of the Big Four.

The Big Four is a popular reference to President Uhuru’s declared priorities of providing adequate and decent housing for all, universal healthcare, food security and improved manufacturing in his second term.

TWO POSITIONS

It is strange that Mr Tuju cannot see job creation and the Big Four in the handshake. It is not clear whether Tuju was expressing his personal thoughts or speaking on behalf of the Jubilee Party. The two positions can be confusing sometimes. But there is no justification either way not to see a good thing when looking at one. The handshake is undoubtedly a good thing and should be encourage at both personal and party levels.

It is a fact that politics is a full time occupation, one whose practitioners cannot take a complete break from regardless of the circumstances. It is also factual, however, that there comes a time when, to paraphrase another politician, leaders must be reminded that the country is always more important than an individual, any individual.

NATIONAL APOLOGY

And such time is now!

It must have taken the President a lot of sacrifice, humility and a sense of patriotism to extend a hand of reconciliation to a hitherto bitter rival and political enemy, a rival he had had to spend a substantial amount of personal fiscal, physical and emotional resources to neuter just days after he achieved victory. To drive the point that he meant everything he said during the handshake ceremony home, the President followed it up with a national apology and a call for forgiveness. One cannot pretend to love the President and be seen to be going contrary to his professed position. Uhuru loves the spirit of the handshake and we expect everyone who supports him to behave in a manner that supports what the handshake stands for.

HARD CHOICES

While at it, I think it won’t be long before the patience of Kenyans who value stability and progress come across those who thrive in chaos. When that time comes, and it seems nigh, it may not matter how important the role anyone played, or thinks they played, in political contests. Hard choices have to be made.

For now, one is either with the country’s good, the stability and peace embodied in the spirit of the handshake or against it. It is in such times that we need to appreciate that an enemy of the country becomes the enemy of the people. And that of the President!

Mr Mugwang’a is a communications consultant based in Nairobi. [email protected]; Twitter: @Mikeysoul