Backslapping president has abandoned Kibaki stiff style

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By NG'ANG'A MBUGUA
Posted  Wednesday, July 17  2013 at  21:55

Urban legend has it that guests were unlikely to be offered a cup of tea at State House when Mr Mwai Kibaki was the President. The same, however, cannot be said about his successor, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, who is now marking 100 days in office. It is entirely possible that “karibu chai” (welcome for tea) is one of the most repeated phrases in President Kenyatta’s State House.

Twice, the President has made the invitation on national television—first to reporters when they went to cover the unveiling of Cabinet Secretaries in April, and last week when editors went for a palaver at State House.

Not afraid to engage

This is just one of the pointers of how different the presidency has been under Mr Kenyatta compared to his predecessor.

Uhuru comes across as a man who is not afraid to engage. He enjoys mingling and — probably because of his background as a rugby player — he is not averse to body contact, even with the holloi polloi.

A witness says that in June, when he went to Nakuru to open the ASK show, he found the police straining to restrain a huge crowd that had turned up to see him land at the open space near State House. When he alighted from his plane, he beckoned them to join him in a moment of handshakes.

President Kibaki would not have indulged in such public engagement. Rather, he would have waved from a distance and ambled to his limousine before being whisked away to conduct the serious business of State. But then again, Mr Kibaki was known for his passion for golf, a no-contact sport for the well-to-do. The only place for the lowly in such a sport is as supporting cast, mainly as caddies.

On many occasions, Mr Kenyatta refers to his deputy, Mr William Ruto, simply as William. Once too often, the two engage in banter even on solemn occasions like the national prayer breakfast when they went at each other while reminiscing about their very first days in office. Mr Ruto started it by revealing that the Chief of General Staff had flatly refused to kneel besides the newly-installed Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces for a prayer on their inauguration day.

Too early for prayers

When the President took to the podium shortly after Mr Ruto had spoken, Mr Kenyatta revealed that when “William” wanted to start working from his new office, he woke up the President rather too early for prayers. Mr Kibaki would rarely engage in banter with his vice-presidents and not once did he refer to them by their first names.

But Kibaki’s tenure was marked by greater freedom of expression. On the contrary, those who disagree with this administration, even on social media, are quickly assaulted with a barrage of counter-criticisms, some of it far from modest. And the phrase “tyranny of numbers” has been putting more emphasis on the “tyranny” and less on the “numbers”.

It could be the best of times, it could be the worst of times.