It says in the Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1 verse 9, that “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”
This certainly applies to Kenyan politics and is the source of deep frustration to many Kenyan readers. For we often find that when events taking place in our country are reported on foreign media platforms, there is a tendency to sensationalise mundane events by claiming that they are “historic” developments rather than just the latest confirmation of a long-established pattern.
Maybe foreign correspondents have no choice but to sensationalise their reporting in this way as perhaps their articles would never be published if they did not attain the requisite levels of satisfying drama about events in poorer nations.
But now with the proliferation of online platforms desperate for “clicks,” much the same kind of reporting is to be found on sites staffed entirely by Kenyan writers.
The recent presidential election provides many examples of this trend in reporting.
For example, much has been made of the new president, Dr William Ruto’s, early years as a barefoot schoolboy. But while this may be true enough of Dr Ruto, it was equally true of our founding president, Jomo Kenyatta; and also, of Presidents Daniel Moi and Mwai Kibaki.
All these previous presidents grew up in the colonial era when “native” schoolchildren generally did not wear shoes. Indeed, by some accounts, a boy turning up in school wearing shoes would have been punished for his impertinence, in “competing with teachers” by wearing shoes to school.
Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta is in fact the sole exception to this pattern, as he grew up in the lap of luxury.
It has also been reported that Dr Ruto has an achievement without parallel, in his unbroken record of electoral victories. But while it is true enough that he has never yet lost an election in which he was a candidate, much the same is true of the late President Daniel Moi who in his 50-year political career, did not once lose an election either.
Dr Ruto will have to extend his winning streak for at least 20 more years before he can catch up with Daniel Moi’s record in this regard.
And speaking of Daniel Moi, two of his sons – Gideon and Raymond – who were candidates in the recent general election, lost their seats, falling victim to what was described as the “UDA wave” that Dr Ruto and his political allies rode to victory. This has led to declarations that the “Moi dynasty” has been “wiped out.”
But this is not the first time that such claims have been made. Back in 2007, in an election that pitted the then opposition leader Raila Odinga against the serving President Mwai Kibaki, the retired president Daniel Moi threw his weight behind Kibaki. And he also had two sons running in that election – Gideon and the late Jonathan Toroitich Moi.
Both lost, and this led to some writers declaring that this was the end of the Moi dynasty. But come the next election, it turned out that the reports of the death of the Moi political dynasty were somewhat exaggerated as two of his sons, the same Gideon and Raymond, found their way back to parliament.
Hence, I am inclined to suspect that the recent losses were more in the nature of a setback, rather than a terminal blow for the Moi family.
Speaking of the 2007 election, it also reminds us that the 2022 election was not the first time that a well-defined regional vote bloc rebelled against their acknowledged “kingpin”.
For even in retirement, Daniel Moi remained the Rift Valley kingpin, and conducted himself as such – making it clear what his wishes were, and what direction that vote bloc, which had been loyal to him for decades, should follow.
Turning their backs on Daniel Moi and his preferred presidential candidate, Mwai Kibaki, the Rift Valley voted overwhelmingly for Raila Odinga.
Just as Central Kenya in the recent election, spurned the direction offered by Uhuru Kenyatta, and voted massively for Dr Ruto.
There is nothing new under the sun.
