Let Uhuru and Raila dialogue bring transformative change

Last week, ODM’s Raila Odinga and Jubilee’s Uhuru Kenyatta stepped out of Harambee House to a stunned nation. After a year of the bitterest rhetoric between the son of the Burning Spear and the scion of Jaramogi, the two key princes of Kenyan politics displayed a choreographed bonhomie.

They called each other “brothers” and told an exhausted and deeply divided nation that they had “a come to Jesus moment.” They said – after all – that none of them was bigger than Kenya, or each other. They vowed to stop Kenya from descending into dystopia. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating. The spectacle didn’t shock me – you make peace with your foes and enemies, not friends.

Raila drew both praise and opprobrium from his supporters. Jubilee universally hailed him and Mr Kenyatta as statesmen. Raila’s NASA co-principals initially felt blindsided. But Wiper’s Kalonzo Musyoka later said he was “at peace” with the Kenyatta-Raila détente. However, in a NASA summit in Athi River this week, the entire NASA leadership endorsed the Kenyatta-Raila parley. ANC’s Musalia Mudavadi, who read the summit’s joint statement with Raila, Kalonzo, and Ford-K’s Moses Wetang’ula by his side, appeared to heal any rift. Still, one must ask – will the principals, whose ship has been rickety lately, hang together, or hang separately? One curious and intriguing factoid – the Raila-Kenyatta détente coincided with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit.

It’s been clear since the October sham elections that Kenya was careening down an irreversible path of self-destruction. Kenyans have no other country to call home. If Kenya collapses – as it might – its people will bear the brunt of a failed state. Look no further than Somalia or DRC and you get the point. But the fear of a failed state shouldn’t stifle, or stunt, the fight for a democratic state. That’s why Raila and his NASA co-principals have been right to press Kenyatta. However, if the state collapses because of the myopia of the political class, everything will be lost. That’s why a responsible elite pulls back from the brink before a match is lit.

There’s been an impossible stalemate – a total checkmate. Kenyatta controls the state and its instruments of violence. Raila controls the hearts of many – if not most – Kenyans. Kenyatta can’t be a legitimate leader of the country under this status quo. He can harass, persecute, and seek to marginalise Raila and his NASA brigade. But that won’t buy him legitimacy. He will be a failed CEO if he continues on the current path. On the other hand, Raila can’t forcibly pry power out of Kenyatta’s hands. There’s only one choice – dialogue to address the structural and normative problems Kenya faces.  It’s time to put the country – and not personal interests – in front. Everyone must swallow their pride.

I know this – the Kenyatta-Raila détente won’t work if it’s a narrow selfish deal by the two of them. Raila has a legacy to protect. He can’t promise Canaan and deliver Sodom and Gomorrah. History doesn’t suggest he will betray the people. Kenyatta on the other hand had better heed the good book in Mark 8:36 – “For what does it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul.”  Except Kenyatta stands to lose more than his soul – he could lose even the country. That’s why the sons of Kenya’s most famous political antagonists need each other. The sun won’t rise in the east unless they make peace with justice.

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Let me say this to the naysayers. In history, only foes and enemies make peace. Nelson Mandela embraced F W de Klerk, the man whose party unjustly jailed him for decades. Yasser Arafat shook hands with Yitzhak Rabin. Both pairs of foes and avowed enemies shared the Nobel Peace Prize. Today Donald Trump is planning to meet with Kim Jong Un. Let’s remember that Raila put the nation first to end the bloodshed in 2008 when Mwai Kibaki robbed him of the 2007 elections. He agreed to be Prime Minister under Kibaki. He’s proven time and again that he can take a blow for the home team. He’s done it again.

It’s not a secret I refused to recognise Kenyatta as president in 2013 and 2017. My position remains unchanged. However, I am not a nihilist. I love Kenya and I am willing to give genuine attempts at reconstructing the state – and restoring legitimacy to power – a chance. That’s why I support the Kenyatta-Raila détente. Let’s help them. However, the discussions must bring deeply transformative changes that address – finally – the illegitimacy of the state. The parley can’t be about sharing the spoils of power.

-Prof Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of KHRC.  @makaumutua.