If I have to Blame Uhuru Kenyatta

If I have to blame Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta on his role in misdirecting Kenya’s political destiny it will not be on the reasons Nick Salat and his close allies in Kenya African National Union (KANU) may be thinking about.

The fact that Uhuru may be holding KANU at ransom and that Salat and group will want us to rally behind him so as to save the ‘father and mother’ of all political parties in Kenya will not form the basis for my argument.

Rather, if I have to blame Uhuru, then it will be on his role in the death of opposition politics in Kenya. But not on the alleged murder of KANU. NO! I say if I have to blame him because there may not be substantial reasons to blame him after all, apart from looking at the whole issue from a much more objective view.

At this point it is then important to set the record straight for KANU; that it was not the ‘father and mother’ of all political parties in Kenya. By the time KANU was being formed in 1960, the Kenya African Union (KAU) had been in place since 1944. In real sense though, the Kikuyu Central Association (KCA) had been in place since 1924. Thus KANU is in this simple history a third generation party in Kenya since KCA is the one that gave birth to KAU which gave birth to KANU.

This history has been told in many forums but should you insist I will refer you to at least Cherry Gertzel’s The Politics of Independent Kenya: 1963-8, in which she also applauds the Kikuyu for setting the pace in political emancipation in the East African region. She refers to them as “the earliest and the most politically conscious section of the African population.”

Again were it not for the political wit of Kenya’s founding father the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, KANU would have ‘seen dust’ out of the competition it received in its conception days from Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) led by Ronald Ngala. 

In his book Political Parties in Kenya: Formation, Policies and Manifestoes, Nick G. Wanjohi elaborates how KADU was formed as a cluster of the parties that had been formed by communities that saw themselves as minorities. He points out that KADU received big support from the colonial government and was almost viewed as a colonial outfit as opposed to KANU, a nationalist party, at least by the time Kenya was attaining independence in 1963.

Kenyatta’s political moves then saw the absorption of KADU into KANU “for purposes of forging ahead with a common ground,” as Oginga Odinga argued but also a decision that KADU leaders agreed at after being assured of their future in KANU so explains Wanjohi. Of course they were awarded heavily with ministerial positions. That was in August 1964. 

So you see? All this hullaballoo by KANU is a misrepresentation. KANU was not the first political outfit in Kenya. It only realized early enough that it would not stand alone. Kenyatta knew better that for the rooster to crow and be heard clearly every day all other competitors had to be silenced by hook or crook. May be its true what they sing of Kenyatta in that patriotic song…Kenyatta mwerevu sungura mjanja ooi oooii… (Kenyatta is a chirpy cunning hare ooi oooii).

Skip the times and let’s have one Uhuru Muigai in the picture. My generation – the generation that is turning thirty…thirty one…thirty two this year – started seeing Uhuru in 2001 or there about. That was however not the first time he was getting into public service if not politics. It is reported that in 1997 he had contested a parliamentary seat at home but he lost. In 1999 then President Daniel Moi appointed him to be chairman of the Kenya Tourism Board. From then on we can say everything about him took a quick twist, all happening within a short time and before we could take time to meditate what was happening. 

Here is a quick update from that moment on to the present times. Within a short time Uhuru became a nominated Member of Parliament. Within a short time Uhuru became Minister for Local Government. Within a short time Uhuru became one of the vice chairpersons of KANU. Within a short time Uhuru became a presidential candidate. Within a short time Uhuru lost in the 2002 general elections to Mwai Kibaki in a big margin he conceded defeat even before the official count was released. All this was courtesy of Moi. 

Before we said aaa…eee…Uhuru was the official voice of opposition in parliament. All this from a man who had almost ran away from politics after the defeat in 1997. 

Then came the Uhuru Kenyatta of Kibaki’s epoch. We must admit it was beautiful to have him as the voice of reason countering the government. But that was short lived when we woke up one day to the news that he had backed Kibaki for 2007 general election. Several things happened, also in a flash, but the most crucial is he would never speak against Kibaki thereafter.

Uhuru’s stature as a respected Kikuyu elder started gaining ground. He became a critical power broker among the Kikuyu. If you watched the live transmission of the burials of the late John Michuki (aka ithe wa Martini) and the late Njenga Karume (aka charcoal dealer) you know where he is placed. Actually there are enough reasons to believe “Uhuru is the chosen guy by Kibaki insiders to inherit him,” as Joseph Omondi of Youth Reconciliation Awareness Forum (YRAF) Nakuru puts it. Even the late John Michuki is quoted as having passed him as his “choice”. 

But Uhuru has a case before the International Criminal Court (ICC) which is sinking him underground if not grounding him as the GADO cartoon has been insinuating of late. Omondi says “in the event he is blocked from vying, he is tasked to get a team to stop Raila (Odinga) getting the throne.” Here Omondi is merely trying to connect the argument around the Raila-Kenya’s ICC suspect’s link with the succession politics at the moment.

Anyway now you see how Kenya killed its opposition and went back to an ideologically de facto one party state just before the elections in 2007. The coalition government we formed in 2008 then went further to formalize that situation. Although the Parliamentary Select Committees (P.A.C’s) have been trying to fill the void together with some alleged ‘no-none -sense’ parliamentarians of the Bony Khalwale type, they have not been successful. Their members are in the coalition block.

Uhuru then is the man who initiated this period of no opposition. Whether this was his own idea or it was someone else’s is also debatable. After all even his entrance into politics has been widely viewed as a tactic of the political professorship of Moi. May be Moi merely wanted to give back to the Kikuyu or directly to his predecessor Jomo Kenyatta. Some people have argued he envisaged a safer retirement period under Uhuru’s reign. 

Still does Uhuru have a political future? Yes and No. the Kikuyu seem to have decided he is the one for them but first the ICC case looks to put a good number of people including those who back him in a catch 22 situation and second that feeling that he has never stood on his ground without a patron. Masese Kemunche of Center for Democracy and Good Governance (CEDGG) Nakuru, sums up Uhuru’s future as one that “is in limbo,” for he has “never been his own man, always doing other peoples’ bidding.”

I finish by saying that I don’t blame Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta for his alleged role in the alleged death of KANU, but for the second death of opposition politics in Kenya. I also urge him to aid KANU’s survival in these turbulent political times. He may be resuscitating what he killed.