Petty political fights meant to divert public attention from serious issues

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua addresses a past function. [File, Standard]

Leaders behave in strange ways and still think they make sense. They utter irrelevancies and at times entertain the public with calculated insults that are meant to divert public attention from serious problems afflicting the country. This happened when two men in Mount Kenya worked hard to undermine their own offices by ferociously going for each other’s throats. This helped to divert public attention from the fact that Kenyan officials were helping Gautum Adani to take Kenyan airports and energy sector. The Adani saga is a national embarrassment that first undercuts President William Ruto’s desire to lead and be seen as promoter of African interests and, second, it encourages extra-continental predators to pounce on Kenyan resources with impunity.

Deputy President (DP) Rigathi Gachagua and the National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah compete to be leaders and undermine their own offices with unbecoming utterances and behaviour that raised doubts about their maturity. Ichung’wah is bright, having gone to Alliance High School before national schools were adulterated with administrative slot allocation quarters that undermined merit. He knows he is bright and occasionally reminds listeners that he went to Alliance.

In contrast, Gachagua admits limited brilliance but adds that he is not stupid. Although he did not go to Alliance to study like Ichung’wah, he quips, he went to Alliance to get a wife, Pastor Dorcas, which proves he is not daft. Of the two, Gachagua was the first to display immaturity with his inappropriate statements and bulldozing efforts to demand recognition as leader, not just of the Mountain but also of all those with Mountain lineage. His reasoning, that he deserved leadership acceptance because he holds a high office in government, was illogical and seemingly deluded him into believing he can whip others into compliance. He in the process displayed immaturity and fell into a trap.

The impression that the DP fell into a trap comes from Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga, a dedicated Gachagua promoter. President William Ruto, Kahiga fumed, told Gachagua to do ridiculous things including attacking Uhuru Kenyatta. He enthusiastically asserted that Kenya was a two-party shareholding company, announced his appointing powers, and seemingly took pleasure in deciding who from the Mountain to fire from government. He lost credibility as Mountain people grumbled that the visible ‘firing’ was not matched by equal ‘hiring’. He talked of putting traps around the State House to stop Raila Odinga from getting in only, as Kahiga put it, to find Raila sleeping in the State House. He repeatedly talked of finding the national coffers empty only for ‘Hustler’ officials to indulge in inexplicable extravagances. His rush to comment on everything inappropriately undermined his claim to leadership which internal critics like Ichung’wah jumped on.   

Ichung’wah, seemingly Ruto’s point man in the Mountain to contain Gachagua’s leadership ambitions, was similarly obsessed with Uhuru. Having contained Uhuru, he asserts, containing Gachagua would be easy. He enjoys pointing out that there is little ‘truth’ in Gachagua’s claim to be a truthful man and calls the DP a ‘snake’ undermining Ruto. He would not, he asserts, succumb to Gachagua’s bullying tactics. Ichung’wah has some supporters in Parliament as MPs abandon Gachagua. The purported infighting is all a charade.

Part of scheme to divert public attention from serious national concern is for politicians to engage in unbecoming behaviour. The purported Gachagua-Ichung’wah infighting on leadership in the Mountain is one such attempted diversion. Both key players in government, they have not been impressive in their respective high offices except by being silent as the country sinks. As the country sinks deep into depravity of both the material and the mind, due to bad economic and geopolitical decisions which end up surrendering Kenya’s interests to entities like Adani, petty feuds about leadership ensure that organised looting is safe. Although both aspire to lead the Mountain, they lack leadership qualities.