Deputy President William Ruto put a strong case for his position on the Building Bridges Initiative report as it was launched at the Bomas of Kenya, Nairobi. – By Enock Mukoma.

Ruto was jeered as he expressed his reservations on the document, castigating the BBI team for trampling on the independence of key institutions in the BBI report.

While laying his ‘humble submissions’ in front of the overly pro-BBI audience, Ruto contested the establishment of the office of Ombudsman, which will be appointed by the Executive.

“On the matter of the judiciary allow me to say that there is a huge space to have an improvement on the proposal that has been made… Having an ombudsman appointed by the Executive into the Judiciary is a derogation from the independence of the institution.”

“We need to operationalize the Judiciary fund that is already in the Constitution so that the Judiciary can establish more courts, hire more judges and more staff so that more Kenyans can have access to justice,” Ruto said.

He went on to further oppose the idea of political players nominating commissioners to IEBC wondering how participating football teams could choose impartial referees.

“I have my reservations,” he said.

The DP then weighed in on Raila’s turf, using football narrative to illustrate the winner takes it all, which almost brought things to a standstill at the Bomas.

“How fair will a league be, where a referee is appointed by teams, and not all the teams but some teams?”

“…unless you tell me that it is okay for some teams to appoint the referee…and if that is what you are saying, I have my reservations.”

Ruto also expressed his fears over changes in the National Police Service and the National Police Commission.

 “To recommend that we will have a police council, chaired by a CS is actually a derogation from the independence of the police.”

And despite the heckling, Ruto sojourned on, challenging the role of the Prime Minister and two deputies.

“The questions is: Have we sorted out the winner-takes-it-all question,” he asked adding that “We must have a candid discussion on millions of youth locked by poverty.” 

On BBI’s recommendation of increasing budgetary allocations to the counties to 35 per cent of the national budget, Ruto said he had no problems with it as long as the Senate was made the upper house with more powers to oversee the usage of the funds.

His speech ended with those in attendance jeering loud ‘’Respect the president”

Civil servants found participating in the Msambweni by-election political rallies should be sacked, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party has said. 

With increasing fear that public servants might take party in campaigns, ODM the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to make sure that such people are sacked. 

The party’s Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna has also called for the investigation of state officers using government resources to campaign.

“The party will not sit back and watch politicians go unpunished while violating the law. It is unconstitutional for such people to entrust with public offices to engage in politics,” he said.

His sentiments followed claims by Kwale Senator Issa Juma Boy that some county government officers have been seen campaigning contrary to the law.

“We have concrete evidence of county workers doing campaigns; let them desist from such behavior or else we shall report this,” he said.

Mr. Sifuna spoke when he met party officials in the county to drum up support for their preferred candidate Omar Boga. Mr. Boga will battle it out with other eight candidates for the parliamentary seat left vacant by the demise of the late MP Suleiman Dori.

Speaking during the meeting, Mr. Boga said his commitment will major on women empowerment, youth and create employment opportunities for the people of Msambweni.

“We will strive to bring change the people deserve in the constituency by empowering them and creating the much-needed job opportunities for the youth,” he said.

Among those Boga will compete against in the by-election include Feisal Bader, an independent candidate backed by Deputy President William Ruto.

Other independent candidates include Sharlet Mariam Akinyi, Charles Bilali and Mansury Kumara. 

Party sponsored candidates apart from Boga include Marere Wamwachai (NVP), Hassan Mwakulonda (Party for Economic Democracy), Khamis Mwakaonje (United Green Movement) and Shee Abdulrahman (Wiper).

March 9th 2018 was President Uhuru Kenyatta’s first state of the nation address after 2017’s disputed national elections which went into a re-run. Kenyatta reemerged victorious. But it was a pyrrhic victory as his main challenger Raila Odinga had boycotted the rerun.

With both men at the head of their ethnically aligned coalitions, Jubilee and National Super Alliance, the 2017 electoral season was highly charged and polarising. Odinga refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of Kenyatta’s victory and threatened disruption. One of his actions was being sworn in as the people’s president. The mock swearing-in ceremony escalated tensions, culminating in threats of arrests, arraignment and deportation of opposition leaders. The press and civil society were also targeted.

Kenya’s politics has broadly been dominated by two families, the Kenyattas from the Kikuyu and the Odingas from the Luo ethic groups. Uhuru, son of the founding president Jomo Kenyatta, has gone head to head with Raila for the presidential vote twice – in 2013 and 2017. Both elections were marked by ethnic coalition building in which Kenyatta led the most demographically dominant coalition, Jubilee.

On both occasions, the outcome was a kind of ethnic census because Kenyan politics is highly charged along ethnic lines.

Since the tensions, there’s been a visible rapprochement between the two men. Does this signal a broader bottom-up reconciliation process?

Perhaps the reality is that the momentum has started from the top but will take time to get to the bottom. Kenyan politics is notoriously tribal, in part because the system is built for zero sum gains in that it creates winners and losers. As long as this remains the case, Kenya will always remain susceptible to ethnic entrepreneurs as politicians seek to play the ethnic tramp card.

The rapprochement

The first sign of rapprochement between the two men took the country by some surprise. A staged handshake in March 2018 signalled a dramatic change of tone and de-escalation of tensions.

Government immediately mellowed its tone towards the opposition, signalling a willingness to engage in constructive dialogue. Within days, Odinga was serving as official government emissary to South Africa to attend Winnie Mandela’s funeral. And a joint team to oversee dialogue was announced.

But what does all this rapprochement mean? The joint statement following the first meeting sought to strike a new political tone. On the surface, it signalled the willingness of both men to draw a line under the acrimony that had emerged from the electoral crisis.

This perhaps points to Kenya’s politics as not only complex but also unpredictable. The country has been here before – after the 2008 elections of Mwai Kibaki thousands died in inter communal post electoral violence. Undertakings were given and efforts were made to build national unity. Yet a decade later, Kenyans are witness to more of the same, albeit on a lesser scale.

Questions are therefore being asked if there is any depth to the Kenyatta-Raila “handshake” beyond portraying both leaders as magnanimous and willing to compromise for the national interests. Their joint statement sought to heal divisions and open a new chapter of inclusiveness and security for all.

Kenyatta’s public apology to those he “offended” was meant to portray him as a conciliatory statesman.

On the other hand Odinga had more political capital to gain by seeking compromise as a way out of the impasse. His defiance campaign was always deemed more disruptive and a political nuisance than strategically meaningful as the Supreme Court had validated the elections.

Much more is needed

What Kenya needs is transformative change, including constitutional reforms. This should include strengthening structures in which everyone feels represented. And the country needs to design a formula to provide a competitive but an embracing political framework that can deliver enduring peace and prosperity for all Kenyans.

Many lives were lost in the post electoral violence. The two leaders bear special responsibility and should therefore lead efforts to help heal and bridge communal divisions. The recent warming of relations between the two protagonists point to this effort.

But they are not the only players. Others that would be equally important in bringing their communities on board in the broader effort of reconciliation. they include:

• William Ruto, current deputy president and an ethnic Kalenjin,

• Kalonzo Musyoka, former vice president, wider democratic movement leader, co-principle of NASA and an ethnic kamba, and

• Musalia Mudavadi a co-principal of NASA, former vice president and deputy prime minister, leader of Amani National congress and an ethnic Luhya. The role of civil society and religious leaders is also indispensable as partners in reconciliation and rebuilding inter-communal and institutional trust.

In the short and medium term, it’s overly optimistic to expect ethnic politics to dissipate in Kenya. This requires institutional change as well as a shift in attitude, values and culture like belief in collective prosperity, non-violent settlement of disputes and inter communal trust. For this Kenyan communities and their political leaders still have a great deal to do.

David E Kiwuwa, Associate Professor of International Studies, University of Nottingham

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.