Uhuru's Gaffes Will Destroy His Career

When you are a public figure, you are prone to public gaffes every now and then. It comes with the territory and is a result of the stress of being constantly in the public eye. We all remember the cost of former Labour minister Peter Okondo’s statement warning the late Bishop Alexander Muge not to set foot in Busia. I am sure the former government spokesman Alfred Mutua still cringes whenever he watches the world’s most powerful man on television, after he once referred to him as "just a junior senator from Illinois". This came to mind when I watched Uhuru Kenyatta tie himself up in knots recently as he tried to explain what happened between him and Musalia Mudavadi. Uhuru is a man prone to few gaffes, but when he does make them they are the kind that cause people to wonder whether he understands the ramifications of his words to the rest of the country. First let us look at his reasons for working with William Ruto. A few months ago I shared my experience at an interview on Kameme FM, a Kikuyu language radio station. I had been invited to speak on issues related to Kenya and the ICC and in the midst of the interview Hon Kenyatta called in and asked me a series of questions around some of the positions I have taken that are at variance with his. A key issue was why I do not believe that his political ‘friendship’ with Ruto is really about mitigating against a recurrence of violence between members of his Kikuyu community, and Ruto’s Kalenjin community. Uhuru has spent a lot of time selling his alliance with Ruto to our Kikuyu community. He argues that peace and inter-ethnic harmony between Kikuyus and Kalenjins in the Rift Valley is only possible if he and Ruto work together. What he does not understand is that this statement is very dangerous when associated with two individuals who are suspected by