Will history be kind to Uhuru Kenyatta for backing Raila?

President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga during a past meeting at State House, Nairobi. [PSCU]

The two presidential elections of August and October 2017, no doubt left Kenya torn in the middle. There were unrelenting demonstrations by supporters of the then Nasa coalition.

The brutality meted on them by the police was unfortunate.

The emergency of criminal gangs posing as members of the Nairobi business community plunged the country, especially the capital city, into political chaos. Businesses were in ruin.

The rule of law was in peril as the same cannot thrive in a violent environment. As a country, we dearly needed a leader who would rise above petty party politics and restore civility. The nation needed a leader who would override the parochial party interests in the honest pursuit of peace, harmony and stability.

It is said that when one takes a position politics asks the question is it popular. Cowardice asks the question is it safe. But conscience asks the question, is it right.

Therefore, despite a barrage of political attacks directed at President Uhuru Kenyatta by his critics, methinks the action of embracing his archrival ODM leader Raila Odinga, should be lauded by all Kenyans.

The act of rising above selfish political interests by a sizeable section of a party that sponsored him to power, is no mean feat.

The act of risking popularity among the very constituency that propelled him to power, for purpose of ending hostility between the two antagonistic and warring divides of the nation, can only be described as statesmanship.

Peace supersedes and overrides the political ambition of any single person. As such, I am persuaded beyond doubt that the act of President Kenyatta, who was politically controlling virtually half of the nation, deciding to reach out to his nemesis Raila, who was commanding the other half in a historic handshake, is something that history when written, will be kind on him.

All along since its inception back in 2018 and contrary to the expectation of its numerous critics, the President has remained true to the spirit and the letter of the 2018 Handshake.

Peace is key to the prosperity of any nation. Businesses cannot thrive in a chaotic and violent environment. No meaningful economic prosperity can be realised when people are at war. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict is a perfect example. A leader who champions peace and unity regardless of his shortcoming, deserves credit. We need a peaceful environment to do business, and change the quality of our lives and that of our loved ones. It is all upon us.

If we don’t know anything else here is what we know, politicians cannot save us. Regardless of our individual political persuasion, it all starts and ends with us. As American statesman Jim Rohn would say, all of us are self-made but only the successful will admit it. All a good leader can do, is create that conducive environment for us to achieve our greatness, and the key is by creating a peaceful environment as done by President Kenyatta. His legacy will be secure.

-The writer is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya. 

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