President Daniel arap Moi’s ascension to power in
1978 was a breath of fresh air for many Kenyans. He was everything his
predecessor Jomo Kenyatta was not: Young, outgoing, and accessible. He
visited the remotest and most marginalised — both politically and
geographically — areas of Kenya, preaching unity.
He even coined the slogan “peace, love and unity.” But Moi’s actions belied his words. He quickly became the master of divide and rule, interpreting unity to be about him, rather than the country, embarking on a crusade of detentions without trial, sham trials for supposed dissidents, and harassment and killings of anyone suspected of dissent.
His regime was behind the massacre in Wagalla in 1984, and behind the violence in the Rift Valley from 1991, seeking to instil fear, divisions and intimidation so as to maintain power.
Today, Uhuru Kenyatta seems to be taking a leaf out of the Moi playbook, emphasising, that his biggest task will be to unite Kenyans, and that he would have done this even if he had not been declared President by a compliant IEBC and Supreme Court. He has cited his visits to areas that are opposed to him as symbolic of his desire to build unity.
But, like Moi, we need to look at his actions rather than his words and the in-out trips he makes to “opposition” areas. And these actions, sadly, belie his words.
Take the Makueni Senate poll for starters. While this was an opposition seat, TNA has every right to contest it. But the amount of effort, money, and influence expended on keeping out Cord from the seat is startling. Kenyatta’s TNA has rolled out all the tricks, but in the process they have alienated the Akamba, as we see from the heckling that TNA is getting.
To be sure, this growing animosity is not just against TNA or Kenyatta, but also against the Gikuyu community who are seen as “wanting it all.” And notice, incidentally, how silent William Ruto has been in this?
I don’t know which strategists are behind all these manoeuvres, but they seem to have lost sight of the forest for the trees, consumed by their recent successes in getting what they want. But I know that this sort of arrogance — reminiscent of the Jomo Kenyatta days — only creates more divisions and not unity in a country that is already deeply divided.
Then take the Eliud Owallo saga. He writes a column questioning the impartiality of the IEBC, predicting that it will send us into chaos — and thereby echoing the sentiments of more than 60 percent of Kenyans, going by the most recent polls. He is hurled in for police questioning.
That is simply harassment and intimidation. And it adds on to the growing divisions, especially when it turns out that he is being linked, and no one knows how, to a new, above-board initiative by someone else. It all seems an effort to dominate and intimidate Raila Odinga and his supporters, but it has the impact of contradicting Kenyatta’s unity calls.
Third is the issue of devolution. There is nothing as crucial to Kenya’s sustenance as one nation as devolution. Its implementation has clearly reduced the tensions expected after flawed presidential elections.
But the Kenyatta regime remains hostile to it, despite its rhetoric, putting into place all sorts of hurdles and conditions to getting devolution operational. The appointment of County Commissioners — who wield delegated presidential powers — is the most obvious sign of the regime’s disaffection with devolution.
It is not enough to argue that the Constitution mandates devolution. The Kenyatta regime must go beyond this and facilitate the transfer of power, capacity and responsibility to the Counties, without trying to supervise or undermine them.
Ultimately Kenya’s unity will be determined by how well the devolved system works and unless Uhuru Kenyatta is seen as working fully for its success, even the self-induced failures by many governors will be attributed to him.
mkiai2000@yahoo.com
There's too much talk of unity but very little action to match the talk by Maina Kiai
He even coined the slogan “peace, love and unity.” But Moi’s actions belied his words. He quickly became the master of divide and rule, interpreting unity to be about him, rather than the country, embarking on a crusade of detentions without trial, sham trials for supposed dissidents, and harassment and killings of anyone suspected of dissent.
His regime was behind the massacre in Wagalla in 1984, and behind the violence in the Rift Valley from 1991, seeking to instil fear, divisions and intimidation so as to maintain power.
Today, Uhuru Kenyatta seems to be taking a leaf out of the Moi playbook, emphasising, that his biggest task will be to unite Kenyans, and that he would have done this even if he had not been declared President by a compliant IEBC and Supreme Court. He has cited his visits to areas that are opposed to him as symbolic of his desire to build unity.
But, like Moi, we need to look at his actions rather than his words and the in-out trips he makes to “opposition” areas. And these actions, sadly, belie his words.
Take the Makueni Senate poll for starters. While this was an opposition seat, TNA has every right to contest it. But the amount of effort, money, and influence expended on keeping out Cord from the seat is startling. Kenyatta’s TNA has rolled out all the tricks, but in the process they have alienated the Akamba, as we see from the heckling that TNA is getting.
To be sure, this growing animosity is not just against TNA or Kenyatta, but also against the Gikuyu community who are seen as “wanting it all.” And notice, incidentally, how silent William Ruto has been in this?
I don’t know which strategists are behind all these manoeuvres, but they seem to have lost sight of the forest for the trees, consumed by their recent successes in getting what they want. But I know that this sort of arrogance — reminiscent of the Jomo Kenyatta days — only creates more divisions and not unity in a country that is already deeply divided.
Then take the Eliud Owallo saga. He writes a column questioning the impartiality of the IEBC, predicting that it will send us into chaos — and thereby echoing the sentiments of more than 60 percent of Kenyans, going by the most recent polls. He is hurled in for police questioning.
That is simply harassment and intimidation. And it adds on to the growing divisions, especially when it turns out that he is being linked, and no one knows how, to a new, above-board initiative by someone else. It all seems an effort to dominate and intimidate Raila Odinga and his supporters, but it has the impact of contradicting Kenyatta’s unity calls.
Third is the issue of devolution. There is nothing as crucial to Kenya’s sustenance as one nation as devolution. Its implementation has clearly reduced the tensions expected after flawed presidential elections.
But the Kenyatta regime remains hostile to it, despite its rhetoric, putting into place all sorts of hurdles and conditions to getting devolution operational. The appointment of County Commissioners — who wield delegated presidential powers — is the most obvious sign of the regime’s disaffection with devolution.
It is not enough to argue that the Constitution mandates devolution. The Kenyatta regime must go beyond this and facilitate the transfer of power, capacity and responsibility to the Counties, without trying to supervise or undermine them.
Ultimately Kenya’s unity will be determined by how well the devolved system works and unless Uhuru Kenyatta is seen as working fully for its success, even the self-induced failures by many governors will be attributed to him.
mkiai2000@yahoo.com
There's too much talk of unity but very little action to match the talk by Maina Kiai
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