WHAT KIND OF PRESIDENT DOES KENYA NEED?

By Chebusit Marindany Laboso
Dec 28, 2013

It is important to remember that Kenya will need a president who is focused, least embroiled in corruption, brave and even willing to lead a national referendum to remove some excesses in the constitution, such as the additional 80 constituencies. Kenya needs a president who will fight corruption to its logical conclusion, fight tribalism in the government, restore confidence in the public institutions, spread development resources and government services to all parts of the country, effectively deal with the problem of land and historical injustices and be willing to re-look at the resettlement of IDPs, particularly in Nakuru and Laikipia counties with a view of dealing with the problem of “political IDPs”, among a battery of other issues.

Kenya needs leaders who are issue-oriented and not those interested in raw power.
Why are some people on a number of social media forums and some on the ground so fervent about Uhuru’s presidency? What is one unique thing that Kenya will benefit if Uhuru is elected the next president? I think we have failed to focus on issues that will move Kenya to the next level of development. I have not heard of any strategy that Uhuru has talked about to help unite the country coupled with the fact that he has been reluctant to bring the issue of historical land injustices to the table for a sober discussion. In fact, he avoids the critical issue of historical land injustices like a plague yet this is the single most important thing that will either unite or break the country…somebody once joked that security is to Israel and land is to Kenya!

How can Uhuru’s presidency unite all the 42 ethnic communities of Kenya when he is but busy alienating almost every other community other than his and some members of the Kalenjin community? Is that uniting the people of Kenya? Uhuru may not be aware that even the community that Ruto comes from is sharply divided and very critical of Ruto’s approach to entering into a coalition that the community does not know what is in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) and without a clear road map of: 1) how to deal with historical land injustices; 2) how to bring national healing, cohesion and integration and permanent peace among all the 42 ethnic communities of Kenya; 3) how to fight the cancer of tribalism and impunity that the current leadership has not only perfected but has taken to a whole new level; 4) how to re-look at the resettlement of IDPs in Laikipia and Nakuru with a view of maintaining the original ethnic demographics. The resettlement of “political IDPs” in these two counties has caused another historical land injustice that could burn the country in future if not address by the next president not through the National Land Commission but by engaging the communities involved and guided by history, TJRC and NCIC; 5) fully implementing the new constitution; and 6) fighting the impunity and corruption with a zeal that has never been seen before.

Kenyans will do themselves proud by helping their sons, William and Uhuru, by not overburdening them with demanding leadership responsibilities but give them time to prepare for the most serious international criminal court cases and by praying for them and the victims that were most affected by the post-election violence (PEV) in 2008. It will prudent for William and Uhuru to deal with these ICC cases first, come clean and try the presidency in the years to come rather try to drag the country into cases that may take several years to determine and complete.

Kenyans have also had a feel of how a Kikuyu president operates when in power…Jomo Kenyatta’s 15 years and Kibaki’s 10 years making a total of 25 years of Kikuyu’s presidency. In these 25 years, the major drawback has been that of TRIBALISM. Jomo Kenyatta and Kibaki have been completely unable to fight the cancer of tribalism. Then the time came for a Kalenjin leadership of Daniel Toroitich Araap Moi who led the country for 24 years. Kenyans are fond of Moi’s leadership style, particularly when it came to ensuring that Kenyans enjoy peace, unity and security. When he took over the reins of power, he was categorical that he was going to follow Jomo Kenyatta’s leadership footsteps and whatever Moi he did while he was in power; Kenyans knew where he was coming from. However, one thing that Kenyans will forever remember about president Moi’s presidency is his ability to hold the 42 ethnic communities together. He ensured that the country enjoyed peace, love and unity while his major strength was that of ensuring that Kenyans had security (external and internal). Moi also ensured that communities that were victims of drought and food shortages were protected and provided for.

It is therefore natural that Kenyans give the mantle of leadership to somebody else from any one of the remaining 40 communities to try his or her luck on March 4th, 2013. As Joshua Araap Sang (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2i8IrPn4ug&feature=share ), a former radio journalist stated, a NEUTRAL leader is needed to unite the people of Kenya particularly those communities that have had historical land disputes (in Rift Valley, Central and Coast provinces). A Kikuyu or a Kalenjin presidency will not be a neutral arbiter since there will be a conflict of interest. We have already seen this when thousands of “political IDPs” were brought and settled in 17 blocks of land in Nakuru County during Kibaki’s presidency. Giwa alone (an IDP center in Nakuru County) has over 3,000 people! Now all the 11 national assembly constituencies in Nakuru, except Kuresoi South are likely to be under the lock and key of one community that benefit from the influx of political IDPs. Thousands of other political IDPs were settled in Laikipia County creating another complicated historical land injustice that will not be addressed if we do not elect a neutral person as our president to bring soberness and freshness into finding a long lasting solution that is fair to all affected communities!

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