Beware of public handshakes that lack commitment

After a lot of debate and uncertainty, the scheduled rendezvous between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in Singapore eventually happened.

What exactly transpired is difficult to ascertain but both men regarded it a wonderful success and a breakthrough meeting and, of course, the convivial handshake was recorded for posterity by the world’s media houses. 

Mr Trump is clearly much more at home with dictators than American’s traditional democratic allies.

Nowhere in the skimpy agreed statement was reference made to the estimated 150,000 political prisoners in North Korea nor a failed economic order that left up to three million starved to death in a recent famine. Famines are only found in dictatorships as Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen pointed out. 

But Trump’s lavish praise for the once pariah Kim elevated the dictator to the status of a world statesman and gave him the legitimacy to continue to trample on the rights of his 25 million citizens.

Trump even committed himself to withdraw the 30,000 American troops from the Korean peninsula without any apparent consultation with South Korea.  

Lacked substance

Most observers – desperate for good news – have focused on the commitment of ‘complete denuclearisation’ deeming it a major step towards world peace.

However, closer examination of the text reveals that North Korea ‘commits to work towards complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.’

This is clearly fudging language designed to deceive since there is no reference made to a timetable or the role of any international body in the exercise.

Kim did not even commit himself to reveal the extent of his arsenal. Besides, his ‘work towards’ suggests that he will get rid of his nuclear weapons when the other nuclear powers of America, Russia and China get rid of theirs. Not in the foreseeable future!

Of course handshakes are better than war, but legitimising dictatorships are the price. Trump made the greater sacrifices and he was just rewarded with the inflation of his ego.

So the whole exercise appears like it was all about the two men and not their citizens and we are left wondering what next. Put another way, this meeting and agreement lacked substance and direction and the major beneficiaries are the egos of the two men.

Trump declared ‘he trusts me and I trust him’ but tell that to Iran who know all about his withdrawal from their agreement. Americans, too, have learned that they should be wary of their president’s promises.

Similar sentiments have been expressed about handshakes that happened more locally. The message is the same; handshakes are better than violence.

But just as in the Singapore meeting, the State House one is just as vague on content and direction as Kim and Trump’s one. Their handshake did give the nation a sense of relief even without any resolution.

However, like the June 12 handshake, it does appear that Uhuru and Raila are the major beneficiaries and the benefits to the nation are vague and remote.

Raila has found a platform and a yet to be discovered role in public life. Uhuru has silenced his nemesis and can now proceed with his Big Four legacy, whatever that means.

Sanctioned corruption

While Kim and Trump are focused on denuclearisation, our gentlemen claim that they are waging a war on corruption. Just as the devil is in the details, we must presume that both men are ‘working towards’ eradicating corruption rather than eliminating it.

But both sets of handshakes are a blow to the values that we associate with democracy. Kim’s handshake gave him legitimacy to carry on with his dictatorial ways.

Raila’s handshake signalled the silencing and demise of the Opposition in Kenya. We are quickly reverting to a de facto one-party State. 

Kim is saying that he will get rid of his nuclear weapons when the other global powers do. Uhuru and Raila will face a similar dilemma when the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Judiciary point fingers at their closest allies.

It is not rocket science to suggest that both the ruling party and the once Opposition are the primary agents of the mega and officially sanctioned corruption that has bedeviled the nation.

Are they likely then to commit political suicide or can they sacrifice their friends as well as their foes in this new found energy to promote integrity?

Time will tell but, meanwhile, vigilance is required because the soul of the nation and its destiny are at stake. The great fear is that the handshakes in Singapore and Nairobi will come to nought.

- [email protected] @GabrielDolan1