Why we had to drop the divisive ‘big 4’ for the new Big Four agenda

President Uhuru Kenyatta shakes hands Raila Odinga as Deputy President William Ruto (right) and Kalonzo Musyoka (left) look on during the National Prayer Breakfast in May. [File, Standard]

For the past decade, Kenya has been obsessed with the ‘Big Four’ – Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto, Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka.

Ever since the 2007 post-election violence, these four men have dominated our politics, our news and our society. In two presidential elections, like a tennis doubles match, the four have faced off against one another, but that doesn’t tell even half the story.

Every day, political pundits, commentators and analysts are speculating how these four titans will line up – will Ruto back Raila or Uhuru? How does Kalonzo fit in? Could Raila and Uhuru really team up to push out Ruto?

This has been our life for the past 10 years.

And so, was it really a surprise that after Uhuru and Raila’s famous handshake finally brought the 2017 elections to a close, the same pundits started speculating what this would mean for 2022? Whether Uhuru will back Ruto has become the main question.

But while this may be an interesting question for journalists, Kenyans could not care less about 2022 at the moment. Not after a campaign that lasted well over a year, including two elections, huge economic damage and tens of deaths.

No, while the pundits were filling their airwaves with baseless speculation, the people were focused on a different Big Four. Uhuru’s Big Four: Food security for all; universal healthcare; increasing manufacturing to cover 20 per cent of our GDP, in the process creating millions of new jobs; and building 500,000 affordable new homes. And underpinning these four policy priorities is a reinvigorated anti-corruption fight, which will help provide the resources needed to achieve these bold goals.

In contrast to the political foursome, this quartet is about development. It is about our lives. Finally, this is an agenda that we can get behind. The remarkable thing about the Big Four agenda is that it has united our political Big Four. For the first time in a decade, these four men seem to be on the same side.

Raila, following his handshake with Uhuru, has enthusiastically embraced this new direction. Speaking at Labour Day celebrations, Odinga drummed up support for the Big Four agenda, stating, “We have a big workforce in our country and most of them are youthful and looking for jobs. This is why we in Nasa are in agreement with Jubilee on matters job creation, universal healthcare, poverty and food security.” Anyone who has witnessed the vast gulf between these two men and their supporters over the past decade will know what a significant endorsement this was.

With Raila on board, the support of the Deputy President would be straightforward, one might think. Not so, say the armchair analysts, who have spent much of the post-handshake period looking for fissures in the relationship between Uhutu and Ruto. Yet the reality is that Ruto is in firm agreement with his President’s agenda. Time and again Ruto has come out to bat for the Big Four agenda, spending much of the past few months travelling the country to encourage people to get behind it.

Of course, sensationalist stories about a rift at the heart of Jubilee are much better for ratings, but the reality is much simpler. Kalonzo too has been supportive. After much speculation about his plans, he gave the Big Four an unequivocal endorsement just a few days ago, stating “My resolve and that of the Wiper family, to be fully behind Uhuru to achieve his four-pillar development agenda as he concludes his 10-year tenure in office, is sealed and final.”

This prompted the previously unthinkable scenes of his erstwhile rival, Willian Ruto, hailing Kalonzo for his support. “The decision by Wiper leaders to work with Jubilee is important,” he said. “We welcome them so that we serve Kenyans together.”

What we have therefore, is a new era in Kenyan politics. Uhuru has somehow managed to unite these political rivals behind his agenda for Kenya. The fact that it may not last forever, and that as 2022 approaches, cracks will begin to appear, should not take away from this achievement.

For the time being, we have moved away from the divisive Big Four of the past decade, and towards a new, united Big Four, that aims to build a better future for the Kenyan people. That is something we can all get behind.

Ms Munuhe studies International Relations at the University of Nairobi