• Any move by Uhuru will be under scrutiny
The week that preceded President Uhuru Kenyatta’s State of the Nation Address witnessed sustained media predictions of the looming Cabinet and senior government officers’ purge, akin to the 2015 one.
There had been a narrative weaved by Opposition figures that President Kenyatta would only be seen to be fighting corruption if he sacked ministers and senior officials of his government. But after the backlash of 2015, Uhuru seemed to be wiser this time around and not allow gut feelings to cloud his decisions. The hollow demands by his new-found comrades counted for nothing when it came to observing the law. To say that the Opposition was disappointed is an understatement.
Infact, it is becoming clearer that the unspoken condition for supporting President Kenyatta by the Opposition is that Ruto’s prospects at presidency be deemed. And what better way than using corruption as a tool of choice? By allowing the Opposition friends to weaponise the war against corruption, Uhuru has put himself in a tight corner because any move, or lack thereof, will not go unscathed. He is damned whichever way. The comments by the Opposition at the foot of Parliament soon after the address showed a group that had pegged its hopes on what they could not control. Their body language was at odds with the facade they displayed in their ‘praise’ for the speech.
Their unstated stances were soon to find expressions in their lieutenants attack on the same speech they were praising.
President Kenyatta: those belatedly trooping to your corner are not genuine, but have seen a loophole they want to exploit to propel them to power. They have figured this is your last term and think that by masquerading as your saviour, they will up their ratings.