How president Uhuru should have dealt with Raila Odinga ‘swearing in’

There’s a unanimous decision, among right-thinking members of the society, that the country can perfectly function with two presidents (one ceremonial and the to the other il/legitimate).

Two, that Luos/NASA supporters are generally peace-loving people only when the media has been gagged.

Lastly, anyone can swear themselves in as president. It's, of course, the reactions of the powers that be that made all the difference.

As far as I am concerned, the legitimacy of Raila’s swearing-in wouldn’t even be discussed based on any parameters whatsoever. I am speaking as someone who has been an admirer of Raila Odinga for close to a decade now.

What struck me during the swearing-in ceremony, which had been conveniently postponed a couple of times, was that Raila is trying too hard to remain relevant to his supporters. And having exhausted means, he resorts to sweating himself in.As such Uhuru should have treated the ceremony as any other political rally, whose significance did not in any way amount to a threat of our national peace.

Instead, the powers that be decided to let the ceremony go on in order to have a valid reason to crack down the leaders, in exception of the main man, resorting to gimmicks that reflect on their draconian ideas masked as democracy, and outright disregard to the rule of law.

As a progressive country, shutting down the media would have been the last thing on the minds of people tasked with ‘dealing’ with opposition leaders. It reflected on the kinds of people ‘Kenyans’ have entrusted with leadership.

If I had been Uhuru, I would have allowed Raila to remain relevant to his supporters by making sure that security forces were around the clock to provide security to the people gathered in Uhuru Park.

After all, Uhuru has the instruments of power, and it would soon dawn on the opposition supporters that the purported swearing-in was a mere plot to keep their minds busy.

The aftermath of the ‘swearing in’ has revealed hidden characteristics of the government we have today. It is no wonder the fight against corruption, tribalism, and whatnot receives lackluster attention from the powers that people.

Complete disregard to the rule of law is akin to living in a jungle, where life is for the fittest. And message being subtly sent to the hoi polloi is that ‘we may act like we care, but in the real sense, we don't, and there's nothing you can do about it.