Kuria’s elevation signals new era in national politics

There was a time, now long gone, when getting elected to Parliament unopposed was a common occurrence. With the advent of multi-party democracy, this became quite the rarity. Yet, this is precisely the feat achieved in Gatundu South.

It was a master move since word around the campfire was that the election was going to embarrass some people had it been allowed to proceed. There is no doubt only those who wield immense power and wealth could have arranged events in such a manner as to deprive an entire constituency of its suffrage.

The question I have been asking is why the powers-that-be in central Kenya politics thought it imperative that the outcome in that mini-poll be guaranteed, you know, apart from the need to stem potential embarrassment. Had this happened in Bondo we would not hear the last of the “dictatorial tendencies” of the local power elite, but different rules apply there.

Honourable Moses Kuria is many things, not least among them an apparently ingenious political animal. Unrelenting, unafraid to rub against the grain, he strikes one as a ruthless hatchet man and enforcer, perhaps the very qualities that have endeared him to the TNA elite.

His public comments leave no doubt as to his skewed sense of balance in a multi-cultural society like ours. As a regular citizen, the threat of legal sanction for his utterances did not deter him. But apparently he expressed views many close to power shared and wanted to hear more of, so it was thought wise to free him from pesky concerns about the law and give him parliamentary immunity so he could speak freely.

In the pre-Saba Saba panic that characterised the Jubilee camp, he alongside former Member of Parliament Ferdinand Waititu showed us the sort of environment in which they thrive. In something akin to a magician’s trick, they conjured up receipts showing they had booked and paid for the Uhuru Park venue. They were present on Saba Saba eve to “inspect the ground” escorted by “their youth.”

He demonstrated he was a man whose effectiveness is directly proportionate to the amount of entropy around him. Indeed, when the country’s leadership was at a loss as to how to defuse the tension, this is the man who proposed to march to Raila’s home with 300,000 youth to ‘initiate dialogue’. They simply do not come better.

So Jubilee finally have their man.

Not hamstrung by undue consideration, it is believed he will now be a most valued asset available for deployment in situations where the theoretical types like Senators Kipchumba Murkomen and Kithure Kindiki can only wring their hands. As vociferous as he is visceral, he will quite literally translate doctrine to deed.

Those who criticise the administration and a particular community in Kenya have been promised bare-knuckled beat downs. Just like in the Saba Saba instance, he can be relied upon to be an all-weather man who will come up with the most astute explanations as to why the government cannot deliver on its promises.

Yet there have been many in his form who played this role to perfection before. Ultimately they all fell from grace. A man of his intelligence must have by now worked out just how short and fleeting the window of opportunity can be. He will do well to remember that there is only one side to a circle.

In a perfect world, his single-mindedness and indefatigability might actually have benefited the country as a whole. But ours is far from a perfect world. At a time when the fabric that holds our society together is as frayed as ever we have somehow deemed it fashionable to create a need and a space for the more radical elements on both sides of our political divide and that is the tragedy of politics in Kenya today.