Mukhisa Kituyi. Photo/FILE
By MUKHISA KITUYI
Posted Saturday, December 22 2012 at 20:00
Posted Saturday, December 22 2012 at 20:00
IN SUMMARY
- Legacy: He was a leading economist who deserved early recognition but came in sunset years
This past week, President Kibaki bid farewell to Members of Parliament as he brought to a close a parliamentary career spanning nearly half a century.
Members paid him tribute for the contribution he has made to parliament and national leadership over the 50 years since late Tom Mboya pulled him from Makerere University and set him on a political routing.
Politicians are hardly ever appreciated while in office. So Kibaki will be most remembered once he walks away into the sunset. Hence the outpouring of gratitude and recognition during the brief session on Wednesday afternoon was a rare event by our standards.
Unfortunately, unlike key leaders in Western democracies, our leaders do not write about their experiences and thoughts. Hence our reflections about them remain fractured by subjective renditions and incomplete historical accounts.
Over the half century of public life, one characteristic that stands out about Kibaki is his patience. At many critical moments in his career, there arose challenges calling for decisions that could have appeared heroic at the moment, but which could easily have derailed his slow but eventually successful ascent to power.
Some have called it indecisiveness, others, cowardice. But on reflection, the patient hand he played may represent a characteristic of leadership that prepared him for the way he has handled his tenure at the helm of the country.
As the leading economist and a leading member of the elite who crafted the governing agenda at independence, Kibaki deserved early recognition and high office. Yet Kenyatta’s first Cabinet effectively had him as a junior minister. His progression to the ministries of Commerce and Finance was much slower than one would have expected.
When his close friend Tom Mboya was gunned down in the street, many in his position could have walked out in anger. A unique opportunity for that arose with the offer of a senior appointment with the World Bank.
Years later, President Kibaki shared with me his reflections on these events.
President Kenyatta had a strategy of bringing those he most suspected of mischief close to himself and in high positions to closely oversee them. Trusted lieutenants could hold relatively lower profile positions and on a slower progression course knowing that they could require little perfecting, and their ultimate triumph would come to pass.
Kibaki seemed to be self-assured about his triumph in the fullness of time.
The assassination of JM Kariuki, the machinations of Charles Njonjo and GG Kariuki which eased Moi into power after the demise of Kenyatta, and the humiliating demotion from Finance to the Health ministry were all trying points that could easily have elicited rebellion from others. Indeed the difference between Kibaki and Simeon Nyachae stands out on how they handled demotion.
When he joined the ranks of the opposition, Kibaki took his backbench position calmly and for five years played a loyal support role for a disjointed opposition leadership. His years as leader of the opposition in the Eighth Parliament between 1997 and 2002 saw him exercise effective yet laid back leadership on parliamentary business.
While many younger leaders grabbed the headlines for populist actions, Kibaki offered a stabilising hand.
He could listen carefully at the many caucuses he hosted, but always offer the most effective sledge hammer when matters had to be brought to Parliament.
His role in those years in the creation of a united opposition front on constitutional amendments and eventually knitting together the fledgling opposition coalition remain under-acknowledged.
Those who have worked closely with him attest to a style of knowing clearly what he wants, but encouraging others to co-own the decision of going there. This characteristic has been both his strength and weakness. He has been a good leader but a bad politician. He knew the results he wanted, but did not play up the political significance of the route he was going.
Kenyans are used to a leadership from the front where the leader displays his bravery, audacity and risk. They love the movie star ruler who keeps them glued to his theatrics.
In Kibaki they confront a boring type with half a century of audition buried in near stage fright. A consummate schemer who exudes a sense of disinterest and aloofness; he has allowed those seeking to amass political capital to undervalue his efforts.
In the end Kibaki’s achievements in turning around agriculture and infrastructure as president will be an enduring source of proud memory.
But similarly, his failure to strike a clear exchange rate between good economics and good politics will remain a bloat on his legacy and the source of continuing anxiety about the low pace of national integration.
Dr Mukhisa Kituyi is a director at the Kenya Institute of Governance mukhisakituyi@yahoo.com
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