Upon beginning his second and last term in office and in the wake of handshake between him and Opposition leader Raila Odinga, President Uhuru Kenyatta's rallying call has been against early politicking. Instead, he has been reminding the leaders to concentrate on development; whether the two are separable is a debate for another day.
But what has caught everybody's attention is the heightened political activities and undertones by state officers masquerading as the President's lackeys. Influential ministers and PSs are organising tribal meetings to talk about how to stop or support so and so.
In turn, their community leaders are egging them to go for the 'big seat'. Others are openly campaigning. What's curious is that State House, that has in the past been quick to correct certain impressions that don't sit well with political persuasions of some mandarins, has kept a telling silence.
If civil servants and state officers are allowed to play politics, and this may be an early warning of state involvement in the next election, what will happen come campaign time? Again, why talk about things we don't believe in or practice?
When state officers are allowed to do partisan politics, then the country is in a serious crisis that the current debate propagated by the same people whose names are flouted by those supposed to work for the entire country in a non-partisan fashion reek of hypocrisy of the hightest order.
It is becoming difficult to believe what the government stands for due to such blatant breach of law by people who should be the first to uphold it. If the President does not sack those officers then it will be clear he subscribes to their politicking thus his earlier stance will fly on the face of an otherwise well meaning declaration.
It will also undermine any effort the government puts in place to rid Kenya of the triple vices of corruption, negative ethnicity and non-constitutionalism.
Economic and political analyst
