• President Uhuru Kenyatta has on several occasions said his agenda is to leave behind a united country.
• But DP William Ruto has vowed to oppose the Building Bridges Initiative, terming it dynasty agenda aimed at creating jobs for a few in the political class.
Image: DPPS
President Uhuru Kenyatta faces an uphill task of uniting the country and winning the graft war before he exits office as internal strife rocks his Jubilee boat.
Uhuru has singled out national unity and the war on corruption as key planks of his legacy, with 21 months left to the end of his second term.
Consequently, the President has given the anti-graft agencies more powers and banks on the Building Bridges Initiative to unite the country.
However, the anticipated release of the BBI report is likely to heighten tensions and put his unity bid in danger.
Deputy President William Ruto and his troops have promised to mobilise and oppose a referendum should changes proposed by the BBI require one.
National Assembly Minority Whip Junet Mohamed told the Star should Ruto oppose the plebiscite, Uhuru should have him fired as the country's second in command.
“The person who is creating this anarchy and division is William Ruto. The President should just look for a way to fire this guy [sic],” Junet said.
A post-referendum purge like the one Junet proposes has been used in Kenya’s political history.
It was the tactic used by former President Mwai Kibaki after he lost the 2005 referendum on a draft Constitution to the ODM brigade led by Raila Odinga.
Kibaki engineered a ruthless reshuffling of his administration and dropped the NO team from his Cabinet.
In Uhuru's case, he cannot fire Ruto and must seek an impeachment process – a tedious mechanism as Ruto's Tangatanga faction claims to control the National Assembly.
With rebellion building within Uhuru’s government and Ruto leading the revolt, the President’s legacy agenda is in jeopardy.
Ruto and his troops in the Tangatanga faction of Jubilee have already launched aggressive and frenzied campaigns against the BBI initiative.
On Tuesday, Uhuru will once again rally the nation behind his unity and cohesion agenda at the Mashujaa Day celebrations in Kisii.
There are widespread expectations that the BBI report could be unveiled any time from Tuesday.
At a meeting with parliamentary leadership on Saturday, Uhuru urged the leaders to focus on “immediate issues such as BBI” before embarking on 2022 election campaigns.
“I am not against anyone’s ambitions but let us deal with the immediate issues such as BBI so that we can get our country on a sound political and economic footing before we start engaging in 2022 politics,” Uhuru said.
And while the President makes the calls, the DP has been on back-to-back campaigns, attacking the BBI as work of ‘dynasties’ out to preserve and create positions for the political elite at the expense of the ‘hustlers.’
The DP has signalled that he would lead his troops in opposing the initiative born out of the handshake between Uhuru and Raila after the 2017 elections.
“There are those who want us not to talk about the needs of ordinary people. But we will not stop. We want to change our leadership approach to be heavy on the lower part of the wealth pyramid,” Ruto said in Embu on Sunday.
On Monday, Uhuru and Raila’s allies clashed with Ruto’s lieutenants over the DP’s resistance to the BBI.
Makueni MP Dan Maanzo accused the DP of jeopardising the President’s peace and unity bid with his presidential ambition and called on the Uhuru to tame him.
“Two years before the next general election, he (Ruto) is causing much turmoil in the whole nation. The President needs to tame this man. His [DP’s] ambition is putting the country in a bad state, why is it that it must be your way or nothing,” he said.
But the DP’s confidants castigated Raila and Uhuru for sidelining the country’s second command in their unity bid.
Soy MP Caleb Kositany said the DP was pushed to the periphery the moment the President and Raila shook hands.
“The unity that is there is between Uhuru and Raila. Ruto is not part of that unity. It is not an inclusive unity. So, us we are doing unity of the people,” Kositany said.
“Ruto is not scuttling Uhuru, Raila unity. They are building their unity and we are building our unity and the people will decide in 2022 which unity pact is good.”
Kimilili legislator Didmus Barasa said the President cannot impose BBI on Kenyans, adding that Uhuru has never told his deputy to tone down the 2022 campaigns.
“William Ruto is not people. Saying people [should stop campaigns] is generalities. He may be addressing anyone if he tells people to stop early campaigns. Those are general statements. We would want to spot the President saying I want to ask my DP to stop early campaigns,” he said.
Bishop Mark Kariuki, the head of Deliverance Church of Kenya, said the President must bring the warring factions around him to a negotiating table if at all he wants to leave a united country when he retires.
Kariuki noted that the church is in constant prayers for a united country, especially now that the country is facing a decisive general election.
“We are praying for him (Uhuru) for God’s wisdom. His position is not an easy position, considering the people that he is working with. The best thing we can do is to pray for him so that God can give him the wisdom to bring the country together,” Kariuki said by phone.
“Because of his position he has the right to call the warring factions and sit them down. For real bridges to be built then it is between those who have a rift and the rift is between the former Prime Minister and the DP because of 2022.”
(edited by o. owino)