Kindiki has hard task to prove he is right choice for deputy president

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki during swearing-in at KICC, Nairobi, on November 1, 2024. [File, Standard]

Several things stood out in the intrigues that led to the appointment of Kithure Kindiki as deputy president. Foremost, there is a need to re-examine the concept of running mates. While drafters of the Constitution 2010 envisioned a cohesive presidency, we ended up giving room to an imperial presidency and reduced the DP post to a decorative appendage.

The DP serves no purpose except to chorus and echo what the big man says. Events of the past few months also amplify the Executive’s siege on Parliament and prevalence of the Stockholm Syndrome among MPs. The system frowns on a DP who can tell the king he is naked, even when it is right to do so.

We forget that the presidency does not bestow a super brain or give a monopoly of knowledge to the holder. Secondly, we should re-look at the provision on public participation. The public has no wherewithal to ascertain the veracity of the aggregate result of countrywide public participation exercises, especially when Parliament serves as judge, jury and executioner.

When Parliament avers impeachment is a political, not Judicial matter, there is an element of mischief. Laws are derived from politics and laws shape our politics as a demonstration of their inseparability. The hastily convened public participation exercise in the impeachment of Gachagua did not only feature questions predisposed to a certain outcome, what MPs finally declared was suspect.

Third, we should give the President a free hand to hire and fire the DP and Cabinet Secretaries to save Kenyans time, money and the shame of the charade that we just witnessed. Technocrats fished out of private practice to serve as Cabinet secretaries often feel indebted to the appointing authority, and nothing commands subservience more than indebtedness.

It is the reason picking CSs from elected leaders would give them a level of confidence, aware their power comes directly from the people. Fourth, vetting should be taken away from Parliament. The august House has proven incompetent in this aspect.

There are cases Parliament gave some individuals clean bills of health only for it to censure the same individuals a few months later over incompetence. Moreover, Parliament has demonstrated it is easily compromised, especially when some legislators, who know better, claim their colleagues get bribed to influence how they vote on critical national issues.

After his swearing in, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki was effusively thankful to President William Ruto, promising to be loyal and to never let him down, notwithstanding that his brief is to serve Kenyans, not Dr Ruto.

Kithure spoke of his new responsibilities as "a heavy burden on my shoulders," signaling, perhaps, that he was not up to the challenge. Interestingly, he later urged Kenyans to honour their tax obligations, a call that earned  Ruto the moniker 'Zakayo' and put him on a collision path with Kenyans.

It's early days yet, but we should watch out to see whether the Peterson Principal is true of the DP. The principle states that some people rise up the hierarchy to a level of incompetence. For instance, a very good actor can rise through the ranks to become a Director and Producer only to fail because he lacks managerial skills.

Thus, hemmed in by a combination of logical and illogical expectations of what he should or should not do, Kithure might find it hard to distinguish himself, more so when he has to overcome the perception he didn't deliver as Interior CS. It was under his watch that extra-judicial killings, abductions and disappearances peaked. Insecurity at the Coast and Northeastern Kenya remains a headache.

Gen Z is yet to forgive him for the police’s high handedness during the June demos in which more than 60 unarmed youngsters were killed by the police. More recently, it was under his watch that four Turkish nationals who had sought refuge in Kenya were abducted and repatriated to Turkey to face charges.