IN 2008,Gitau Warigi responded to an email I wrote to him this way:The correct question should be, who in Kenya needs the beastly attitude from the North Rift? The rest of the country can do pretty well without it Unless Uhuru Kenyatta comes up with a Plan B, he risks being a one-term President. The latest split in the TNA-URP coalition over public sector appointments is not the last such drama we will see in Jubilee. This marriage of convenience is highly prone to instability, partly because each of the partners approached the union with different expectations. The history of poisoned relations between the constituencies the two parties represent is not encouraging either. Both sides of the coalition must understand that the State jobs they are fighting over are not their exclusive property. There is a bigger country beyond that is angry at being left out of the feast. Appointments are the big carrots Mr Kenyatta should be using to broaden the support base of his coalition and to insure against continuous blackmail by the JUNIOR PARTNER. Some months back, a “goodwill” delegation of big name Maasai leaders from Narok sought to meet the President. They wanted to declare their wish to work with Mr Kenyatta’s TNA. State House made a huge political blunder to snub the group. It is claimed the cold shoulder was instigated by URP elements who imagine Narok County is part of their fiefdom and are uncomfortable with TNA taking over there. Mr Kenyatta’s casual neglect of his own party is a major mistake on his part. In large measure, Mwai Kibaki’s failings as a politician arose from his inability to build a strong party base. I hear of a mooted plan to merge the two main Jubilee parties into one ahead of future elections. I strongly doubt this will ever work, or even whether it is desirable. Even if it worked, it is very unwise of Mr Kenyatta not to seize the opportunities that present themselves to bolster his camp. The narrow focus on Jubilee as it is presently constituted obscures the larger picture. Somebody like Musalia Mudavadi has a considerable constituency. Better still, he is not a temperamental man given to throwing tantrums at public barazas and shouting how useless you are. Other fast-rising stars like Governor Alfred Mutua of Machakos have raised the bar of politics to one of efficiency and service as opposed to crude sharing of material spoils that is causing trouble in Jubilee. Such are the leaders the President should be engaging with more. Kenyans should learn from the Asian community about how to be very successful without having to depend on State jobs. It just shows how lazy some of us are. Yet State jobs are only one part of the story. The real problem is when some of us persist with a filthy sense of entitlement as if the universe revolves around the North Rift. It is evident the hangover from the Nyayo years has yet to clear. If the President wants to keep his head buried in the sand, that is his business. Does he recall the weird chorus when he was being pestered to fire his top aides on the accusations that they had “fixed” the Deputy President at the ICC? I have even heard of grumbling from one Jubilee partner that the other is not helping them access “business opportunities” (read corruption)! Raila Odinga has been through all that before, prior to the 2013 elections. There was the alleged “collusion” with ICC. Then came the Mau Forest noise. Endless, incomprehensible vilification. It was useless trying to make sense of what crime he was supposed to have committed. Mr President, you have a problem. It’s not Cord. Don’t waste your time trying to talk reason or to make concessions. The demands will keep piling on. Devise a radically new game plan. There are three years to 2017. Time is running out. * * *
Posted on: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 09:24:03 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015