The Hague trials cannot affect State business

By Fredrick Muteti

Early this week, the International Criminal Court (ICC) made a ruling that was of proximate interest to Kenya.

As part of its so-called status conference ahead of the actual hearing of the cases which are supposed to start on September 10 for Deputy President William Ruto and radio presenter Joshua arap Sang and November 12 for President Uhuru Kenyatta, the court decided that Mr Ruto would have to attend court continuously until his petition asking for intermittent hearings is determined.

The DP had presented a petition asking the court to space his appearances at The Hague, to allow him to attend to matters of State. His favoured modus would be to make his appearances in two-week intervals. There was also an attempt to ensure that the two cases do not run concurrently, so as to avoid a situation where both the President and his deputy are in the Netherlands at the same time, an occurrence that could create a “perception of a vacuum” at the very pinnacle of the country’s political leadership.

I have used the word “perception” quite deliberately. It is my considered opinion that even in the absence of both Jubilee leaders, there would be no vacuum; at least not to an extent that would adversely affect the running of the state.

As would be expected from a bankrupt and increasingly rudderless opposition, the ruling was greeted with glee in those quarters, with purveyors questioning the ability of the Jubilee duo to exercise the duties demanded of their offices in the face of the looming ICC appearances. Anyone adopting such a posture has to be either uninformed about how government works or is living in a land of fantasy. While our bungling opposition was fixated on putting roadblocks in the path of the government, to the extent of trying to hijack initiatives they can barely implement like the Governors’ and Senators’ push for a referendum and generally moaning at every opportunity, including burials, about a ‘stolen’ election, something very fundamental has shifted. If there is something Uhuruto have done with such charm and panache during the few months they have been in charge of state-craft, it is demystifying the presidency, a project whose initiator, former President Kibaki, is sometimes not given the credit he deserves.

The presidency is no longer the omniscient, in-your-face, all-knowing, all-powerful and omni-present institution it used to be during the Nyayo era.

We have a president who is as much at home donning the national Rugby 7s team colours and practicing a scrum as he is attending an album launch by an upcoming singer. But he can also go on national TV to offer direction and leadership on a critical issue. He slips into these roles with such ease. He is never intrusive. During his recent tour of China, Mr Ruto has been very much the able assistant that he is.

The long and short of it is that even if the UhuRuto pair found themselves at The Hague at the same time, on account of the hearings, it would be naivety on stilts to actually think that the running of the state would grind to a halt. The uncertainties around the last elections are firmly behind us. Apart from a small intransigent minority that will soon find itself as desolate as Lot’s wife, the rest of the country has long accepted the verdict of the majority and moved on. All levels of government are in place. The Cabinet Secretaries and Principal Secretaries, most of them technocrats who do not need supervision to do their jobs, have hit the ground running. The Judiciary, the Legislature and even the County governments are fully constituted and discharging their mandates as per the Constitution.

Secondly, the “dynamic duo” as President Kibaki referred to the UhuRuto pair during the inauguration has shown that, besides being the youngest combination to ever rule this country, they also have very fresh ideas on how a modern government should be run. So, forget the imaginary vacuum and get down to work. Life will still go on.

The author is a businessman and political activist