Deputy President William Ruto's choice of Ichaweri village in Gatundu to step up his cry of betrayal was isolationist. The recollection of 1969 oathing was divisive.
Cantankerous Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria's spew of ethnic jaundice, to sell fear in the same village, reinforced a message right-thinking Kenyans detest.
Ichaweri, a small village with a big name in Gatundu South, is the rural home of two presidents–a father and a son. The generational chasm underpins the thinking of power brokers around founding President Jomo Kenyatta's court, and those of his son, Uhuru Kenyatta.
Old Jomo was divisive in private, but nationalist in public. Kenya lost the unity of the pre-Independence generation because of these contradictions. Betrayal of the hopes of freedom fighters was brewed in Gatundu.
Jomo's scion is reconciliatory in private. He is also a 'Kenyan' in public. The scion is true to the constitutional expectations of the hallowed office – a symbol of national unity.
The president wants a Kenya where each of the 42 ethnicities has a chance of producing a president. The office has been confined to leaders from two communities – the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin – for about 60 years.
The President wants an alternative leadership trajectory. The DP and his courtiers want continuity of two-tribe dominance.
Daniel arap Moi, a Kalenjin, replaced Old Jomo, a Kikuyu, in 1978. Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu, replaced Moi in 2002. Jomo's son replaced Kibaki in 2013.
Ruto, a Kalenjin, wants to succeed Uhuru. Ruto has been co-president for a decade. Five of the 10 years have seen the co-presidents drift apart because of their clashing visions of Kenya.
The spare president won't resign, even after disagreeing with the President. The DP says they were elected as 'UhuRuto' for a full constitutional term.
President Kenyatta's legacy is unitary. Critics consider this a betrayal of history, for which Old Jomo would curse the scion.
The stage of betrayal was Gatundu. The chief cast was Jomo Kenyatta. The ritual was used to fight then vice president Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Raila Odinga's father. This was a betrayal of the freedom movement.
Ethnic supremacists around Old Jomo plotted an oath that would ensure presidential power did not leave the House of Mumbi. The Presidential Standard was also not supposed to cross River Chania. Raila Odinga broke the barrier when he declared 'Kibaki Tosha!' ahead of the 2002 general election. Moi's ascent on the death of Kenyatta in 1978, also broke the oath.
The Gatundu ritual ushered in the age of betrayals; it was the peak of assassinations. It was an era of forced disappearances, abductions, oathings and forced circumcisions.
The uncircumcised weren't supposed to lead. Power wasn't supposed to leave Kiambu, then synonymous with the House of Mumbi, the cradle of the Agikuyu.
When the historic handshake between President Kenyatta and the ODM leader happened in 2018, after a divisive election, cynics saw it as an attempt to weaken Raila Odinga.
Handshake cynics were largely from the DP's court. They had internalised the 2017 Jubilee campaign statement' 'Uhuru Kumi, Ruto Kumi'.
The DP's allies consider the amity, which has opened national leadership possibilities, a betrayal. They take umbrage in history to justify the cry of betrayal. It's bait for sympathy.
Betrayal is sonorous in the psyches of rabid politicians. Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua loves the tune. The chorus dulls their consciences and excites the villager in them.
The battle for presidential running mates exposes the unmoderated villager in Moses Kuria and Gachagua. The prejudice mongers want presidential running mates to come from the Agikuyu. It's a desire to continue the Kalenjin-Kikuyu presidential power tango, while hawking fear of the 'uncut'.
Kenyans outside this tribal cabal think differently.
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