The Covid-19 pandemic may have stopped the public sound of “reggae”, but the beat and deliberate moves are still very evident at Capitol Hill and State House dancehalls, with another show opening at a hitherto unknown location in Kilimani called Jubilee Asili Centre.
The country is divided right down the middle, as the chief choreographers orchestrate moves with an eye on the 2022 presidency. The irony is that the judges who will vote in the winner are desperately trying to survive a myriad of challenges. They would rather have a different conversation, but that is a pleasure they will not have.
Raila Odinga, the chief guest at most of the past Building Bridges Initiative rallies that made reggae the anthem of the change-the-constitution wave has opted for boardroom games at his Capitol Hill office. From there, he is acting as the chief sanitiser of some not-so-clean political comeback kids, and the evil hand disrupting the confused peace of western Kenya politics.
The drama in Senate on Tuesday during debate on how to handle the impeachment of Governor Anne Waiguru is illustrative. The intense lobbying and public pronouncements that dominated political discourse in the lead-up to the debate played out pretty much the way Capitol Hill wanted it, despite denials.
Ford Kenya leader Moses Wetang’ula is, in the meantime, trying to rise from the dizzying body blow he believes Mr Odinga has landed on him. He probably did not know, but in the winner-take-all reality of Kenya’s politics, a shot at the back of the head is an admissible tackle. So, just like that, Governor Wycliffe Oparanya and Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa seem to be running away with Wetang’ula’s place at the high table. It is not all quiet either with Musalia Mudavadi — a party member has petitioned the Registrar of Political Parties over failure to hold regular elections according to party laws.
At State House, the knives that have drawn blood at the Jubilee Party leadership in Parliament are being sharpened to slice and dice Cabinet to create a “winning team” that should, in the minds of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his backroom staff, score the decisive goals in the last quarter of his presidency.
While it is his prerogative to substitute his dancers, it is dubious logic to argue that politicians will be more effective in helping the President achieve his legacy because “they have a better connection with the people” than private sector operatives. I believe that their non-effectiveness is because of being attuned too much to the political beat and less to the dictates of public office. It is astonishing that the President would have us believe that appointing politicians like Kalonzo Musyoka, Isaac Ruto, Gideon Moi to Cabinet is the magic wand he needs to secure his legacy!
And now we have the new Jubilee Asili arena where Deputy President William Ruto has retreated to recalibrate and continue the dance to his cherished trophy. After re-energising from a dawn sojourn to the fount of Kalenjin nation leadership, he feels ready for the final jig. And he has seen a potential dance partner in the splintered Luhya nation.
So, the masters continue to dance to a beat that is completely removed from the reality of the people they wish to impress. A people whose woes the pandemic has compounded exponentially. A people who, almost 60 years after independence grapple with hunger, disease and youth unemployment. A people whose girls and boys are walking blind into a future being fabricated by leaders dancing on their own, to their own beat.
The writer is the Managing Partner at Blue Crane Global Consulting. [email protected], @tmshindi
