It used to be that those who sought power in an anticipated election went out of their way to assuage the fears and insecurities of those who wielded it. This is especially in Africa, where a political transition usually means an entire tribe’s industrial complex giving way to another.
There is an unsaid and unwritten rule in Africa that an outgoing regime holds the aces and determines whether a winner gets sworn in or not.
We rarely get carried away by the exception, like the recent case in Zambia, because the norm still remains that state machinery plays a heavy role in electoral transitions.
It is because of the foregoing that I am gobsmacked when, in opposing President Uhuru Kenyatta and his political choices, Tangatanga politicians from his own Central Kenya backyard have launched vicious attacks on his family, and crossed what you would consider red lines. Like the sensitive issue of “stolen Mau Mau land” and the curious mention of the location of the mausoleum of the founding father of the nation, Jomo Kenyatta.
Many people have opposed governments in this land for decades, but the Tangatanga brigade is reaching levels of disrespect that we never thought possible. Perhaps we can revisit the hottest topic in the country last week for good reference.
On a bright sunny day, Kenyans were treated to the rare sight of security officers manning the DP’s residence changing hands from the dreaded GSU to the Administration Police’s Security of Government Buildings Unit.
Overenthusiastic Tangatanga politicians immediately threatened to summon Interior CS Fred Matiang'i, while demanding that the GSU be returned.
Surprisingly, the DP, in a show of lack of coordination within his own formation, asked MPs to find better things to do with parliamentary time rather discussing his security arrangements. They clearly didn’t find those things, because they hosted Matiang'i alright.
The story gets a little hazy here, because the DP’s people say the CS “summoned himself”, even though he found the entire committee waiting.
Whatever the case, Matiang'i seems to have waited a century for that opportunity. He embraced it like a photogenic young bride, soaking in the attention with much gusto.
And to add to the colour, he brought along all his security commanders, all in uniform, including DCI boss George Kinoti, who rarely wears one.
It was such juicy TV viewing it could have hit top spot on the Netflix platform. But serious allegations about the DP’s alleged properties were soon flying, large security contingent at his service and the possible misuse of specialised security officers by the DP.
You would think such revelations were so grave that the DP’s side of the political divide would take time off to fashion out a proper response.
However, on the day newspapers were running with reports that the full catalogue of Matiang'i's revelations may have included allegations that the DP “loaned” some of his presidential escort guards to political friends who had lost their own security after being charged in court, the Rutocasually dismissed the CS claims.
He arrogantly offered that the CS should have mentioned how many guards had posted to guard his (DP’s) Safaricom and Kenya Airways shares!
In my books, this ranked as the lowest the DP had allowed himself to sink.
An aspiring Commander-in-Chief, accused of misusing members of the armed services, even before the country can give him full authority over the instruments of state violence, does not have the luxury to joke about it or treat it as casual politics.
When the Constitution makes the armed forces subservient to civil authority, it envisages a civilian commander-in-chief whose fidelity to the law and mental capacity to govern are beyond reproach.
Any serious presidential candidate accused of loaning out security officers like private guards would stop politics for one moment and deal with this. Not just to assure the civilian population, but most importantly, to pass a message to the armed forces that he would never commit them to unnecessary wars or use them in pursuit of personal interests.
It is easy to understand why the Tangatanga wing of politics is so prone to gaffes.
Right from the top, their leader, the DP, appears more than ready and willing to respond to everything said by everyone, even in cases where surrogates can competently speak for him.
As if on cue, politicians on his side pick it up from there, and follow the wind like ageing flags. In that crazy cacophony of sounds, you can’t pick up a coherent message.
Simply put, Tangatanga is a cesspit of messaging chaos, which is strange for people who brag so much about political and strategic superiority.
I am not sure why, after they identified UDA as their new political house, they don’t let whoever is the secretary general or chair of UDA issue focus-centric statements and political responses the way Edwin Sifuna and John Mbadi do for ODM, or Raphael Tuju and David Murathe do for Jubilee.
In politics as in government and all other organisations, the structure and the chain of command are king.
But there is a greater matter hardly ever mentioned when it comes to the DP and his presidential ambitions. He and his people have to understand that he is not just one of the many presidential aspirants in this country.
He already holds an office that puts him just one step away from being President if, God forbid, a vacancy were to arise in that office before the next general election. Because we have no control over God and his plans, we, like the Constitution, must live with that possibility every day.
The DP, therefore, has a higher responsibility among all presidential contenders, for he has a window into that office that does not involve our vote.
His words and actions cannot consistently be the type that sow division and create fear. It is already too much that we wake up to allegations against him on a daily basis, even before we deal with the perennial problem of speak-first-think-later doctrine from his surrogates.
It is easy to dismiss all these as propaganda from opponents, but the longer the list of accusations grows, the more one wonders, “why always DP Ruto?”
Even more comical is the attempt to gain sympathy from such grave accusations, by drawing parallels of alleged persecution mirroring President Moi’s own persecution under President Jomo Kenyatta.
Except Moi wasn’t a vice president accused of all sorts of unlawful acts daily, and at any rate, Moi took office on the death of the president, while this one of today is alive to influence his succession.
I agree with CS Matiang'i that the Sympathy Industrial Complex must close down after outliving its usefulness.
I submit that if the Tangatanga wing seeks to take over government in next year’s polls, they must urgently take the foot out of the mouth, refine their messaging and speak to the aspirations of all Kenyans, including those who wield power now.
If they don't, they will see power on TV next year when the new commander-in-chief inspects his inaugural guard of honour!
