Why a week is a long time in politics: Lessons from Mwai Kibaki, Uhuru Kenyatta

Retired President Mwai Kibaki when he posed for a photo with Deputy President William Ruto and President Uhuru Kenyatta after their swearing-in ceremony at Kasarani Stadium. [File, Standard]

It is former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson who uttered the often quoted line that a week is a long time in politics.

He had been in the hot kitchen of British politics long enough to learn that early start and lead doesn’t necessarily end in victory and that it isn’t over in an election until the last ballot is counted. Wilson was the come-from-behind candidate in his first election as Prime Minister in 1964. Every poll indicated the incumbent, Alec Douglas-Home,...