Uhuru’s remarks spark fears about the future of civil rights

Kenya does not have to go before the International Criminal Court again. Yet, we might just end up there. Our present trends and tempers are pre-Hague. Listening to the political top dogs and watching the social media, you hear the sound of tragedy. You see a nation cuddling and fondling disaster.

Our people say that those who refuse to know when they are still standing will know when they are flat on the ground. And if you can’t see that the ground is sinking, it will go with you. President Uhuru Kenyatta holds the keys to the door of hope and to the temple of doom. The choice is his. He leads a country on sinking ground, even as he slouches towards Bethlehem hoping to be reborn on October 26. Yet we can’t help but reflect, “Beware, the Ides of October.”

The President’s handlers only exacerbate the situation. They lack the will to tell the king that he is naked. They see him angrily pounding water in a mortar, in a tragic obsession with the Supreme Court. He expects that the water will soften. They clap and cheer him on. His lawyers talk of overturning the annulment of his election. Sponsored demonstrators call for his inauguration, regardless of the court decision.

The matter of the August 8 result is as dead as the dodo. It died on September 1. To try to flog it is to place a corpse on life-saving machines. The fury and demos against the Supreme Court can only work up an already polarised electorate. If the President does not stop this line, he is likely to lead the country back to The Hague. Mark these words.

Just now, President Kenyatta’s foremost focus should be to look pleasant. He needs to go on a charm offensive. While smarting inside, outwards he should be stoic. He needs to wear an amiable, affable and august bearing. The President’s demeanor since September 1 is not flattering at all. He has looked and sounded irritable and bee-stung. It makes him unappealing.

The President’s anger thrives on an erroneous obsession with numbers. The Supreme Court has explained this. When you have certain numbers, the process whereby you got them is equally important. You may return from the shops with ten packets of flour, where someone else has one. Clearly, you have more. But it matters, too, how you got the ten. It is not enough to say, “Count. See? I have more.” Yes, of course. But how did you get them? If you cannot account for your numerous assets, there is a name for you — the world over.

The court has not disputed President Kenyatta’s huge numbers. But it has said they are suspect. It has also noted that the electoral authority suspiciously refused to have its servers looked into, contrary to a court order. The guilty are afraid. The court put this refusal to guilt conscience and consciousness on the part of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

Hopefully, the country could begin moving on to the repeat poll with reduced bile. A real danger of explosion resides in the angry words that leaders trade. Could Jubilee and NASA take an equal beating? I am not so sure.  The Jubilee leader is the President. The onus of holding the country together remains with him. Whether children will do exams or not is his headache. Weather public servants will be paid or not — at National Government and in the Counties — is his business.

President Kenyatta is at once holding a tiger by the tail and riding another. He has heavy responsibilities. But, he asked for them and is paid for them. Regardless that he secures a fresh mandate or not, he has the burdensome task of holding the country together till he hands it over to the next President, either this November, or in 2022. Quite often, you get the impression that the country could sink under his watch.

His words augur frightfully for a possible second term. He roars like a caged tiger, waiting to pounce upon the country and its institutions. The only thing standing between him and his prey is the repeat election. President Kenyatta needs to assure us that he will not eat up the country, the people and the institutions, if he is re-elected.

The President’s pronouncements blend with his majoritarian numbers in Parliament to generate anxiety about the future of civil rights and liberties in Kenya. His attitude towards the Supreme Court and the Constitution over the next few weeks will either reaffirm emerging fears about a nascent dictatorial drift, or — conversely — reassure the country about a continued constitutional order. Yet a dictatorship will not thrive in Kenya. The people have already sampled the benefits of freedom. History teaches us that they will die for their freedom. Kenya’s leaders will want to walk softly and drop their big sticks. Of course, I don’t expect the President to be happy about the turn of events. Yet, he swore to protect the Constitution. You cannot protect the Constitution while also running it down. President Nyerere famously said that we make you swear to protect the Constitution so that someday we will hold you to account. Does President Kenyatta risk being held to account, someday, about his treatment of the Supreme Court? He will, if the country explodes.

In my estimation, the ire against the Supreme Court is, in fact, overdone. I consider that the court bent backward over, ‘to fail to identify specific culprits in IEBC.’ If illegalities were performed, they must have had agents. In its wisdom, the court turned a blind eye on this. Similarly, IEBC was not a candidate in the elections. If IEBC officials engaged in illegalities, there must have been a beneficiary in mind. Again the court advised itself to ignore this. Cut it some slack and save Kenya.

- Mr Muluka is a publishing editor, special consultant and advisor on public and media relations [email protected]