NAIROBI: Reports have trickled in through the media that President Uhuru Kenyatta has appointed the former British Prime Minister, presently Special Envoy of the Middle East Quartet, as his advisor.
It is not clear if the decision to employ Tony Blair is the President's personal one or that of his party.
There is some talk that the decision may well be a charitable one, emanating from Blair's organisation, Africa Governance Initiative.
The legality and constitutionality of employing a foreign national by the President in whatever capacity must raise eyebrows.
Why should the President seek political-oriented advice from a person whose human rights track record is questionable on a global scale?
READ MORE
Why Uhuru and Riggy G are joined at the hip
Ruto, Gachagua meet for the first time since impeachment
Mr Blair is faced with several serious allegations of disregarding the rule of law and getting involved in other serious controversies which cannot be ignored when it comes to his role in advising Kenya or any Kenyan.
It is perhaps contrary to the national values and principles of governance as enshrined under Article 10 of the Constitution that Kenya should even think of soliciting advice from an individual whose integrity is in doubt and whose image is tainted.
An objective review of Blair's track record is called for.
During his more than 10 year's tenure as the ninth longest serving prime minister at Number 10 Downing Street, UK witnessed most of the Union's greatest scandals in its history.
Upon him taking up the role of Special Envoy of the Middle East Quartet in 2007, replacing former World Bank president James Wolfensohn in efforts to bring peace to the Middle East, eight years down the line nothing has changed.
If anything, the Israeli-Palestine conflicts have run from bad to worse.
Of grave concern is Blair's indecisiveness and failure to observe the rule of law and adherence to internationally set legal benchmarks regarding right to war and humanitarian law regulations before invading Iraq.
This serious violation of the law is not only against the founding constitutional documents of Kenya but in certain jurisdictions an international offence.
Ironically, it is alleged that Blair and even George Bush broke international protocols by invading Iraq without any valid justification for the crime of aggression as voiced under Article 5 of the Rome Statute as a core crime under the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction.
Others argue that crime against peace as defined by the Nuremberg principles was committed upon Iraq invasion - clear violations of Articles 33 of the UN Charter on securing the world's peace and security through peaceful means.
For those of us who know history, the 1990-2003 unjustified sanctions against Iraq which Blair as UK Prime Minister rallied for were a near-total financial and trade embargo with close to half a million children dying of diseases and starvation.
His stand on gay marriages and on gay rights will bring the people of Kenya into conflict. On a number of occasions, Mr Blair has challenged the Vatican indeterminate attitudes on homosexuality.
He defied Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 asserting his strong support for gay marriages.
As history continues to haunt Blair who on several accounts has misjudged public anger, the repercussions of his unfortunate fate were hugely felt in 2014 after the outrage and condemnation that rocked the world following a high-profile anti-poverty award given to him by a Save the Children charity organisation in the name of championing children's rights.
Thousands went online to petition the revocation of the award on account of his bad legacy.
It is also incomprehensible that Blair blatantly halted a probe into alleged fraudulent and corrupt arms deal between Britain's biggest defence companies, British Aerospace (BAE) Systems on purchase of 72 Eurofighter jets by Saudi Arabia.
The arms deal dubbed "Al Yamamah Arms Deal" involved serious allegations of fraud by British Aerospace Company which could have led to the prosecution of many corrupt individuals involved during Blair's reign.
For Blair, what did matter the most in the BAE Systems-Saudi Arabia arms deal is what he called "strategic interests", not the rule of law.
Such advice seemed pervasive and unreliable.
Upon his advice, the Serious Fraud Office which is the office responsible for dealing with corruption in UK, stopped its probe in the name of "national security concerns."
This has been a dangerous path and a wrong precedent for the UK to set.
National and security interests and constitutional provisions of good governance, it would appear, militate against the Immigration Department, giving Tony Blair a permit!
Perhaps there is one qualified Kenyan somewhere who can be hunted to do a better job than the former UK Prime Minister.
