Our ‘dynamic duo’ discover saying is not same as doing, but image is everything

The image of Prezzo UK test-riding a police bike, rather ill-clad in his suit and tie, was followed by yet another picture when he was certainly better prepared for the field trip. He was in a long, Mandela shirt.

The latter image captured him somewhere in Kakamega County where he had gone to inspect a road project. His able deputy, Man Ruto, stood by in a sharp suit and red tie.

Those who know something about fashion etiquette say one shouldn’t wear a red tie when dealing with their bosses as the colour is considered the ultimate symbol of authority, but when one is dealing with political alliances one can never quite tell who is calling the shots.

But that’s not my problem; I was more intrigued by the sartorial disconnect between Prezzo UK and his able deputy, or our Dynamic Duo as former Prezzo Kibaki called them.

This time last year, they were stepping out in matching suits and ties, sleeves folded to demonstrate they were steeped in toil, or readying to.

This week, none had their sleeves folded precisely because they had no intention of soiling their hands.

That’s not to say they have been doing so in the past; when they launched the Jubilee administration, Prezzo UK and his able deputy declared their Government would be about saying and doing. And say they did; what have been missing are the much-promised deeds.

Man Ruto has been the master of roadside declarations that end where they start, the most recent being that the police chiefs at the Coast had only two days to nab – dead or alive, Man Ruto declared – the crooks behind Lamu atrocities.

The two-day deadline came and went, and I’m yet to hear of any police chief who has been fired for failing to apprehend or produce the said crooks.

As a matter of fact, some police chief reportedly interdicted in the aftermath of the first attack in Mpeketoni has resurfaced in another county in the same position, which is to say we are simply devolving incompetence, rather than routing it out.

Man Ruto’s other roadside declaration came this week when he declared no student should suffer the indignity of having his testimonials withheld by school authorities because of fees arrears.

The certificates should be issued and the small matters of fees left to the Government, Man Ruto declared. I was at once touched and moved by his generosity. After all, this is a Government that’s averse to debts – remember the alacrity with which they sorted Anglo Leasing crooks – so I have no doubt that the school arrears will be dealt with promptly.

Only that Man Ruto’s record of matching rhetoric with action is mismatched; those who heard him declare costs of power connection fees would be remain at prevailing market rates, with the promise of lower tariffs in the foreseeable future, must know they were taken for a ride, and the prices have gone up instead.

That’s not to say Man Ruto is a liar; it is not humanly possible to predict how everything will pan out tomorrow, unless one is a magician.

Which is why our dynamic duo is devising a new strategy. Rather than commit in words what they intend to do in the future, they have discovered that image is everything, and Prezzo UK isn’t that bad looking, especially when he’s had a good night’s sleep and the eyes are not red.

But then, what you see is not always what you get.