President’s silence now fuels public speculation

President Uhuru Kenyatta when he arrived in Beijing, China last month. (File, Xinhua]

President Uhuru Kenyatta has not appeared in public engagements for two weeks, while his deputy William Ruto has stepped up hosting of delegations and nationwide tours.

Uhuru left the country on April 23 to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in China. He quietly returned on May 3. 

However, Dr Ruto has at least one public function daily, from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday, Ruto was in Kakuma, Turkana for an inter-denominational service, an later launched Turkana East Technical Training Institute. On diverse dates last week, he was in Karen meeting online content creators, members of African Divine Church and Embu leaders.

He also visited Wajir and All Saints Catholic Church in Komothai, Githunguri in Kiambu.

Uhuru’s absence from the public limelight has set tongues wagging, with politicians offering different explanations on what they think is the cause.

Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua defended Uhuru, saying “a president is a manager who needs time to hold office meetings, get briefings and manage the economy. I have heard people ask why he has not been seen in public since he returned from China. Uhuru is not quiet, he is busy. The work of a leader is not to just go everywhere, finding every excuse to campaign and politicise”.

“Uhuru is busy working because he has to do double work. Some of those who should be assisting him are busy playing politics, whereas our youth are struggling at home. Kenya needs managers who can change our country. That’s why it is time for a generational change and a new way of doing things,” Dr Mutua added.

Lawyer and global business expert Alutalala Mukhwana said the President and Opposition leader Raila Odinga owed Kenyans an explanation on what transpired in China when both went there recently.

“Public debt is the biggest problem in Kenya now. Uhuru needs to explain to us what happened in China in view of the rebuttal by China. We need to know how this will affect our economy and well-being,” Dr Mukhwana said.

He wondered why the President had not uttered a word on the conspiracy by MPs who awarded themselves millions of public money in house allowances and condemned his “inability to contain his Jubilee Party members”.

Hand in cancellation

“We heard that he had a hand in the cancellation of Ruto’s much-publicised Mt Kenya rally organised by some religious leaders. His inability to rein in the defiance by Mt Kenya MPs is baffling,” he said.

Constitutional expert Bobby Mkangi said Kenyans were used to having their President in their faces or in news every day. “In other jurisdictions, Heads of State and Government sit on the periphery and do their administrative work and have no incentive to make public appearances. I believe Uhuru has changed tack and might be busy doing his desktop job,” he said.

In the political context, the lawyer thinks Ruto has capitalised on the President’s absence and is using it to campaign. “The President is doing his last term and the DP has taken over the space and wants to be omnipresent, to be out there campaigning so that he is seen and heard to his political advantage in the 2022 presidential race,” he said.

Frank Matanga, who teaches Political Science at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, said Ruto was campaigning without Uhuru’s blessings, and that the President might have thought it wise to change his style of governing.

“He has been away and might be having a busy schedule. He has realised that he has to work to deliver on his pledges,” Prof Matanga said.

Nyeri MP Wambugu Ngunjiri, a member of the Kieleweke team that supports Uhuru’s call to stop politicking, said the President had chosen the right direction by reducing the communications around himself.

“As a country we had gotten to a point where whatever Uhuru said was interpreted politically. It did not matter that he continued to insist he wanted politics to stop until the right time. He has “logged out” of the noise. It has stopped. At least around the President,” Mr Ngunjiri said.

The MP said Raila and his 2017 presidential running-mate Kalonzo Musyoka and other Opposition leaders had taken Uhuru’s cue and reduced their political engagement so that Kenyans could focus on what was important.

“Unfortunately, in what must be seen on how far apart the President and the DP now are, and as yet another slight and act of rebellion against his boss, the DP has actually intensified what are clearly political engagements,” Ngunjiri said.

Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa, an ardent supporter of Ruto and a member of the Tanga Tanga team, said the President was in an awkward position “and that’s why he hid himself.” “Uhuru is Ruto’s best friend, but he has found another friend in Raila, who keeps accusing Ruto. He can’t appear in the public because he seems not to have the courage to tell Kenyans what is happening,” Mr Barasa said.

Uhuru blamed

Kitutu Chache South MP Richard Onyonka blamed Uhuru for the silence. “Uhuru is in hiding so that he can have time to reflect and rethink where our country is at right now because we have over-borrowed, over-stolen and made Kenya a broke country,” Onyonka said.

Gem MP Elisha Odhiambo said Uhuru wanted to focus on development and knew he was elected not to loiter but to develop the country. 

Makueni MP Dan Maanzo said Uhuru was busy working, leading by example after telling his people to focus on serving Kenyans rather than politicking.

“I know he is working. When Kenyans go to sleep, the international community is awake. Ruto and his team are scared and are moving all over discrediting Raila, who has even said he might run for presidency in 2022. Ruto is scared of Raila,” said Mr Maanzo.

Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jnr said though those handling the President had kept Kenyans abreast on his activities, it was not out of the blues that people were asking about Uhuru’s whereabouts. “The heightened activity by the DP may mean he is stepping in as expected of him by the Constitution,” he said.

Former Imenti Cemtral MP Gitobu Imanyara said Uhuru was using his absence to take a hard assessment of where he had failed and determining what he could do to salvage the situation.

Former Kajiado West MP Moses ole Sakuda, an Uhuru ally, said the President had taken time to strategise and scrutinise policy documents.