- Only two communities have produced presidents, and most of the vice presidents since 1963.
- Kenyans outside these ethnic conclaves will have lived the pain of the ‘other Kenya’ for 60 years by 2022.
The ‘dynasty-hustler’ propaganda disguises documented historical injustices. It also seeks to exclude targeted individuals from the centre on account of the social status of their parentage. The claim that Kenya has been a captive of ‘dynasties’ is deceptive. The other claim that it’s time for a ‘hustler regime’ rides on the gullibility of voters.
Mkokoteni pushers of Karatina, maize roasters of Kibuye and kahawa tungu vendors of Kisumu Dogo are being told, ‘Arise, your time has come!’
There is no uniformity among hustlers: There are hustlers of the front and hustlers of the back. Some chance on multibillion-shilling tenders, others break their backs with spades and wheelbarrows. Others are billionaire hustlers – a semantic contradiction.
Peddlers of the lie count President Uhuru Kenyatta, whose father was founding President Jomo Kenyatta, as a dynast. Raila Odinga, whose father was Vice President between 1964 and 1966, is supposed to be royalty. Gideon Moi, whose father Moi was the second president, is supposed to be a prince, waiting for the crown.
Kenyatta II arrived through the vote in 2013, with the assistance of Deputy President William Ruto, 35 years after the death of Old Jomo. Uhuru, with the help of Ruto, lost the seat to President Kibaki during the 2002 general election. Raila has sacrificed personal comfort to be what he is. But revisionists of history refer to him as a dynast because they suspect he would be running for president in 2022.
Senator Moi is among the beneficiaries of the Moi estate, but he did not inherit the presidency. He has to sweat to rise beyond the Senate. Moi I was Ruto’s mentor and benefactor for decades. They shared everything except a bloodline.
During the second term of UhuRuto, the words ‘dynasty’ and ‘hustlers’ have crowded political parlance. DP Ruto, the self-styled patron of hustlers, hopes to drill the self-serving meanings into the national psyche.
Common dictionaries define dynasty as a “line of hereditary rulers of a country”. The dynasty-hustler propaganda seeks to perpetuate a ‘tribal dynasty’. Only two communities have produced presidents, and most of the vice presidents since 1963.
Kenyans outside these ethnic conclaves will have lived the pain of the ‘other Kenya’ for 60 years by 2022. But excluded are still being asked to learn to live with this injustice for another decade, even longer, beyond 2022 general election.
Ruto, a presidential aspirant, is scouting for a Kikuyu running mate, to bait the Central vote. A win for the ticket would add another 10 years of a Kalenjin-Kikuyu alliance, after a decade of a Kikuyu-Kalenjin presidency. The hustler propaganda craves State House, and Karen, the official residence of the DP. The running mate would be DP. This DP would also want ‘President’ Ruto’s support to roll ethnic democracy into another decade.
Kenyatta-Moi-Kibaki-UhuRuto regimes have run from 1963 to 2022. Moi, a Kalenjin, replaced a Kikuyu president in 1978. Then Kibaki, a Kikuyu, replaced a Kalenjin in 2002. Uhuru, a Kikuyu, succeeded a Kikuyu in 2013. Ruto, a Kalenjin, wants to replace a Kikuyu in 2022.
Referring to Kenyan leadership as dynastic is propaganda. The historical constant in the presidency is tribe. Family comes in only because Kenyatta II became president three decades after the founding Head of State. Attempts to impose other families is a ploy to legitimise ethnic democracy. Forget demographics. Numbers have always been muddled to produce a politically-correct win.
State power has changed hands between two of 43 Kenyan communities. For the excluded others, dynasty refers to Kikuyu-Kalenjin monopoly. The injustice percolates to other public institutions, where homeboyism rules.
Kenyans outside these ethnic conclaves will have lived the pain of the ‘other Kenya’ for 60 years by 2022. But excluded are still being asked to learn to live with this injustice for another decade, even longer, beyond 2022 general election.
After the 2013 general election, Cabinet appointments were reserved for the Kalenjin and the Kikuyu owners of the Jubilee regime, in a 50-50 ratio. Other communities did not matter. The UhuRuto era has been a contest of plunder. It’s been about who ‘eats’ more as peripheral Kenyans salivate.
The Tangatanga faction of the duopoly now wants to discredit ancient order, to get a foothold in the future. The rant about hustlers is an attempt to disown history. The populism is not defined by any known ideology. Unless ‘hustlerism’ has been upgraded into a self-serving ideology.
To the excluded Kenyans the Building Bridges Initiative makes sense for as long as its shall reconstruct the face of Kenya. Hustlers who should embrace fairness oppose BBI because it is a threat to a two-bribe dominance of State power.
English Oxford Dictionary defines hustler as an aggressive seller, or illicit dealer, and a prostitute. The Collins English Dictionary defines a hustler as a prostitute, especially a male prostitute. For Cambridge English Dictionary, a hustler is someone who deceives people out of their money.