{UAH} Edmund/Pojim/WBK: In 2016, Uhuruto will have to reinvent themselves in post-Moi, Kibaki - Comment
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In 2016, Uhuruto will have to reinvent themselves in post-Moi, Kibaki
By all reasonable accounts, 2015 was generally a failure for the Jubilee administration.
There were a few bright spots, like the opening of the National Theatre and the commitment to support the arts, important symbolic acts of moving past the Nyayo era suppression of the arts and artists. One could also say that Kenya increased its diplomatic power, especially in the region. But on urgent issues, the regime prevaricated, tottered or just failed outright.
Two issues especially proved to be the Achilles' heel of the regime. One was tribalism. A crucial responsibility of any government is to make all people feel part of its agenda. This is especially important for countries like Kenya still struggling with ethnic hostility and violence.
In Kenya today, many communities feel left out. Whether this is merely perception or reality does not matter. It is part of the regime's duty to remove any sense of alienation, real or perceived.
One way of dealing with this problem is to not only share resources and jobs equitably, but to be seen to do so. Another, of course, is to bring to heel the hate mongers who seem so influential in the ruling coalition.
It is a dangerous contradiction for the regime to speak against tribalism, yet be seen to be tolerating tribal demagogues in its circles. Such demagogues must be isolated as part of a serious and sustained effort to ensure that tribal demagoguery ceases to be a profitable enterprise; that practising it does not advance one's political or economic interests.
This, however, is not just a failing on the part of the ruling coalition; opposition ranks, too, are rife with dangerous tribal theorists. Many commentators, including Kenya's Chief Justice, citing our history of ethnic violence, argue that tribalism poses an existential threat to the Kenyan nation-state.
It is significant that important world leaders such as Pope Francis and US President Barack Obama pointed out tribalism as a serious problem that Kenya, and by extension Africa, need to take very seriously.
The other failure of the Jubilee government was in tackling corruption. The president himself has conceded that the vice is deeply entrenched in his government, singling out the Office of the President as a major corruption hub. Corruption extends to grabbing of public spaces, school fields, hospital grounds, etc.
And just as in the corrupt regimes of Daniel arap Moi and Mwai Kibaki, it also involves mega scams that rob the country of billions of shillings worth of development.
The problem became so entrenched and endemic in 2015 that representatives of foreign governments issued a joint statement, urging the leadership to move decisively against corruption. Again, Pope Francis and President Obama both decried the deleterious social and economic effects of corruption.
Several steps need to be taken. First is to isolate, without favouritism, the corruption kingpins within or close to the regime. The other is to strengthen the administrative and investigative capabilities of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. Giving the Commission prosecutorial powers should be considered.
One weakness of our Constitution is that the decision to prosecute is in the hands of one person — Public Prosecutor Keriako Tobiko. Other measures, such as revaluation of the selection and structure of the EACC leadership, with a view to making it totally independent, can be taken.
Obviously, some in government would be nervous about a proactive and independent EACC with prosecutorial powers, for it would immediately place key people in this and previous administrations under investigation for corruption.
Therefore, whether it is fighting tribalism or corruption, half-hearted measures will not do. Action on both vices will have to take on the urgency and radicalism that characterised the "radical surgery" of the Moi judiciary after the defeat of Kanu in 2003.
Frantz Fanon once wrote that if the African ruling elite (part of the burgeoning middle class at Independence) were to drive a post-colonial transformation, it would have to commit class suicide. Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto will have to sever all ideological links with past regimes.
Moi or Kibaki-lite cannot drive a transformative agenda. The duo will have to reimagine governorship in post-Moi and post-Kibaki terms.
Tee Ngugi is social commentator based in Nairobi
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