Opinion divided on whether President should don military uniform in public

President Uhuru Kenyatta,left, with the Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces Julius Karangi salute in the honour of those officers who perished in Somalia during the KDF day at Lanet in Nakuru on 14-10-2014.

Nairobi; Kenya: When photos of a beaming President Uhuru Kenyatta walking in State House corridors clad in military gear were splashed on social media on September 5, Kenyans were awed and mesmerised.

Some, hypnotised by the allure of the five-star jungle green Commander-in-Chief uniform, hailed him as “the liberator”, “digital prezzo”, “new Rambo”, “president with a swagger” and all manner of praise.

On the opposing end, however, Kenyans who did not appear impressed likened him to other regional “strongmen”. Commentators from both sides of the political divide had a field day discussing the significance of the rare show. No one had seen it coming.

Exemplary role

At the time, he was attending a “validation exercise” of Kenya’s pledged force to the Eastern African Standby Force at Archers Post in Isiolo County. One month later on October 14, Uhuru showed up at the KDF Day celebrations in Lanet donning a different set of his C-in-C uniform. The debate was re-ignited again.

But was the decision to wear military uniform a strategic and well-thought out one for the President or not?

President Kenyatta’s immediate predecessor Mwai Kibaki never wore military attire for the 10 years he commanded the Kenyan armed forces. The two other independent Kenya Presidents Jomo Kenyatta (Uhuru’s father) and Daniel arap Moi only wore their ceremonial red-tunic “C-in-C” uniform. They never appeared in events wearing military fatigues.

Kenyatta’s spokesman Manoa Esipisu told The Standard on Sunday that indeed the decision was strategically arrived to espouse values the president holds dear.

“Our military is the best example of the mosaic that is our Kenyan nation. People of all walks of life are to be found in our military. Ethnicity and other sectarian interests are alien there. The President recognises this exemplary role of our military and would want to be identified with it,” Esipisu said.

He said the military is a very disciplined society where the values of dedication, planning, execution and review are cherished: “These values are very important in the management of public affairs and the President as the commander in chief wants to espouse these values.”

Besides these values, Esipisu said, the military has a set of clear virtues which the President is keen to be associated with. He said military people espouse honour, integrity, accountability and discipline.

“People also tend to forget that our troops, under his able command, are in Somalia in our nation’s best interests. By wearing his C-in-C uniform, the President is also honouring our brave men and women. As their commander, he is ready to stand by them, and inspire them to victory,” the spokesman said.

Esipisu denied the narrative of “militarisation” of the country which has emerged since the President wore the gear. These include appointment of Major-General Philip Kameru to the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and Major-General (rtd) Gordon Kihalangwa to Immigrations.

“Other than these two appointments which were done purely on merit, nothing else can support the so-called militarisation narrative. You are forgetting that he has only worn the uniform at military functions,” Esipisu told The Standard on Sunday.

Still, the question of the timing remains unanswered. Why now after more than one year of commanding the Kenyan military? Has demystification of the Presidency gone past the mark, hence the need to bring people back to the reality of the seriousness of the office?

Esipisu had only a cryptic answer to this: “He is the Commander-in-Chief. He decides what he decides when he decides and how he decides it. Now, unless you are a Commander-in-Chief you may never understand these decisions and their timings.”

Moi and Kenyatta wore their ceremonial attires on special occasions. For instance, on the Jamhuri Day of 1980, two years after succeeding Mzee Kenyatta following his death in 1978, Moi appeared at Jamhuri park in the ceremonial C-in-C uniform, complete with a hat and a sword.

Moi had ascended to the presidency under difficult circumstances, particularly the change-constitution campaigns mooted to block him from succeeding Kenyatta in the event of his death. The formative years of his presidency were spent on consolidating his power and regaling his enemies with impressions of power.

Before him, Jomo had donned his ceremonial C-in-C uniform while conducting a military parade at a Nairobi street after the aborted 1971 coup.

Dr Francis Owaka, a cultural and value analyst, says the fact Uhuru is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces automatically makes him a military man. Owaka, who teaches philosophy at the University of Nairobi, however, cautions that the military symbolism will be Uhuru’s undoing in the long run.

Divided society

“The danger with projecting the military image is the impression created to the people, especially in a divided society as ours. Some will see him as ultimate protector, a hero. Others on the other side of the schism would look at it different. And the schism exacerbates,” Owaka says.

He says the show of might may afford the President and the people around him a measure of false pride. “Unfortunately the Kenyan society, especially the common man, and those who have not had the benefit of quality education remain vulnerable. They succumb to symbolism. You can see leaders abusing the ICC at a time when an important decision is awaited. You have heard certain leaders going categorical that they will not obey court orders,” he says

Owaka adds that the projection of military image is not compatible with constitutional values of democracy and rule of law. He says in the military, people obey orders as and when given. They do not question them.

The lecturer says he has noticed that Uhuru is not only donning military fatigues, but also appears to lay a lot more trust in the military than the police.

“It looks like he has been told that ‘if you want to be secure, act democratically but show your might.’ So that if you turn out in Migori again in full combat mode, people might want to think twice on whether to throw stones at you or not,” Owaka adds.

He says Uhuru’s perception to power is distinctly different from Kibaki’s, who did not care a bit about wagging instruments of power.