Uhuru bit off more than he can chew

A retreat for President Uhuru Kenyatta is well in order. It has not been a smooth last four weeks for the Head of State, who is still smarting from several bungles that appear to have dented the image of his administration.

Let’s recap. There was the horrific Garissa University attack, coming just days after Mr Kenyatta poked fun at the travel advisory issued by the UK Government and joked that Kenya was safe and that “even Obama is coming”.

Hours later, the Garissa attack unfolded. We learnt there was credible and actionable intelligence provided of the impending attack.

And like Westgate and Mpeketoni, the intelligence was ignored and the poor security response to the attack mirrored both bloody attacks. It was awful, pitiful and unacceptable. Lives could have been saved.

The President opted to be photographed signing condolence letters to the families, then left it to the First Lady to visit Chiromo Mortuary to console the anguished families.

The nation waited for heads to roll in the security apparatus. Nothing happened.

The President abruptly directed that recruits hired from a process suspected to have been tainted to report to Kiganjo for training and that he would take personal responsibility, effectively ignoring an existing judicial process.

The fiasco was extinguished only when he was forced to rescind the executive order and allow the IG to announce a new recruitment process.

Yet the damage had already been done. The Head of State’s actions looked contradictory. Was he getting poor legal advice?

It did not end there. The President opened Parliament and presented a list of 175 persons facing accusations of graft and asked that they step aside.

The intentions were good but names of others accused of graft were missing and his own action to set up a tribunal to probe the integrity of EACC chairman and his deputy effectively rendered EACC work as toothless.

Did the President play into the hands of graft architects? The jury is still out.

Then came the cancelled US visit that has baffled many. To cap it all, his appointment of 302 citizens into various state corporations that was littered with recycled politicians, the President’s personal friends and Kenyans in their sunset years.

All at the expense of young people who formed the bulwark of his election machine in 2013. Save for Jaguar’s name, the appointments were received with jeers by young Kenyans on social media.

We recognise that nobody goes into the job of Head of State with experience. It is the kind of assignment that you accept and learn on the fly.

We recognise there are many pitfalls. But Mr Kenyatta ought to use the retreat in Sagana to reinvent his Government amidst floundering and diminishing pubic goodwill.

Kenyans are rapidly becoming impatient with the Jubilee administration’s ability to deliver on its promises. A recent opinion poll showing the majority believe the country is heading in the wrong direction is disconcerting.

But they are also united in their continued support for his Government, with 66 per cent approving his job performance.

Still, it’s time for the President to shift gears and most importantly, demonstrate leadership in important and critical national matters.

The year 2017 is not far away and voters will judge him by his performance thus far. It is clear the President values trust and friendship above all in those who he relates to. Therein is the problem.

The President must embrace the rule that to make informed decisions, you must surround yourself with all shades of opinion – even your harshest critics.The problem with surrounding yourself with friends is that they always pat you on  the back even when you are making bad decisions.

He must avoid the mistakes made by his predecessor Mwai Kibaki. Despite the enormous economic gains under the Kibaki administration, he failed to build national cohesion and stay in touch with the common man.

And we all know how the 2007 elections turned out.

The President has kept his appointments in attending national events countrywide but needs to embrace open rallies that allow him to interact and hear directly from voters.

It is a trait retired President Moi mastered so well and allowed him to project himself as a man connected on the ground with Wanjiku, Atieno and Chebet.

Finally, the President must learn that not all critics wish for him to fail. There is a cabal of critics and analysts who are constantly offering advice not to bring him down, but to lift him up. They recognise that his success translates into success for Kenya.

The President needs to embrace all shades of opinion - even the ones he dislikes.

It is this strategy of leadership that has made US President Barack Obama successful in making tough decisions.

He puts everyone in a room, even his fiercest critics and picks their brains and finally makes the call. National cohesion is still the crucial missing link in Kenya.

The nation is still ethnically fragmented two years after elections and public appointments appear to represent two major provinces.

The wounds of PEV are still waiting to be healed and there are no better leaders than the President and his Deputy to lead the crusade.