By MURIITHI MUTIGA
Posted Saturday, March 9 2013 at 17:53
Posted Saturday, March 9 2013 at 17:53
IN SUMMARY
- This unlikely union between Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto has been one of the main reasons this election has passed off largely peacefully
This will be remembered as the William Ruto election. The question on every analysts’ mind on March 4 was how much clout Mr Ruto truly wields among the Kalenjin, whose numbers were always going to have a decisive effect on the outcome.
The returns from many polling stations in his stronghold showing support for Uhuru Kenyatta standing at over 90 per cent meant that arithmetically, the Cord alliance had no realistic path to victory.
This unlikely union between Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto has been one of the main reasons this election has passed off largely peacefully.
But things could also go very badly wrong if these two strong-willed, dynamic but unpredictable characters don’t manage their victorious coalition better than President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga did theirs.
People attribute the post election violence to many actors. Enough attention is not paid to the allies of Mr Kibaki who converted the great success which was the 2002 election into a party where only the Mt Kenya elite were invited.
They sidelined Mr Odinga from the word go and made a series of appointments – most notoriously the first list of Permanent Secretaries – that alienated the Gema from the rest of the nation and turned the 2007 election into a referendum on the question of ethnic inclusion.
Mr Kenyatta and his key allies must not repeat these mistakes. Mr Kenyatta must govern with a great deal of humility. He must in effect commit class and ethnic suicide and show that he can rule for the whole nation.
Mr Ruto will have to play his part. Can his ego be contained? We had a fascinating conversation with some analysts the other day about two of the most prominent leaders that have emerged from the Kalenjin community in the last half century: President Moi and Deputy President William Ruto.
The consensus was that Mr Moi was an excellent Vice President. Humble, loyal and a steady hand but the presidency was a bridge too far for him.
Mr Ruto is the opposite. He has everything it would take to be President. But the Vice Presidency is not made for a restlessly ambitious political bruiser like him.
But that is his position now and he should accept it and find a way to work with Mr Kenyatta without upsetting the delicate union that has handed both men victory.
Beyond that, both Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto must show that they are leaders of the whole nation and seek to foster greater ethnic cohesion, despite the fact they have clinched the presidency mainly on the back of their supporters tyrannical numbers.
The new President and Deputy President must seek an accommodation with the West.
The campaigns are over. The major Western nations will certainly find one way or other to live with their victory. But it won’t serve any purpose to continue taking on the West head on.
Just as important, the victorious alliance must not repeat the blunder that the Narc team made in their treatment of President Moi.
The Jubilee alliance has run a brilliant campaign. But they must never forget that their main competitor Raila Odinga is one of those whose sacrifices meant that Kenya could have a competitive and reasonably free and fair election in the first place.
They should find a way to accommodate Mr Odinga in one way or another even if it means using him as a special envoy in the region.
Mr Keyatta and Mr Ruto are from a ‘digital generation’ that has grown up in post colonial Kenya. They can govern in an inclusive and dynamic fashion that can help take the nation further than the analogue generation they are replacing.
Murithi Mutiga is the Special Projects Editor, Sunday Nation mmutiga@ke.nationmedia.com
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