The
handshake came into play because sections of the country had refused to move on
after the 2017 elections, according to Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu.
He believes that before the handshake, Kenya
was facing serious civil unrest. We had weekly demos; some county governments
were threatening to secede, some people wanted to stop paying taxes, we had
some leaders saying they did not recognize Uhuru as President, NASA MPs and
Senators were boycotting Parliament, a ‘swearing-in’ etc.
The
handshake was supposed to unify Kenyans after a divisive election, move the
nation forward, ensure everybody accepted Uhuru Kenyatta as the only president
in Kenya, and legitimize Uhuru’s government. It was meant to consolidate
government operations and ensure ease of public service operations. It was
meant to remind us that elections come and go.
Today - 2
years later - every single objective behind the handshake has been achieved.
The country has moved forward; everyone accepts and recognizes Uhuru Kenyatta
as the President of Kenya, and that he runs the government. Kenyans are also
living together with no hang-ups from 2017. The 2017 election is done &
dusted.
The
handshake achieved 100% of its objectives.
However,
the handshake also birthed the BBI process. The BBI process is meant to ensure
that what happened after the 2017 elections and has happened over and over
again, in varying degrees after many other elections, never happen again.
The process
is going on. People are speaking. Not everything they are saying is palatable
or unifying - but this is what the BBI process is. For we must listen to each
other, then decide what to do with what each person is saying if we are going
to live harmoniously together under one nation-state, after every election.
Again this process is moving along perfectly, and we should be able to have
made firm decisions by 2022 when we face the test of another election.
There are
new problems that have emerged since the handshake, and related to the
handshake. However, the reality is that they aren’t about the handshake or BBI
directly; they are about how it affects the political ambitions of some
individual politicians that hope to run for president in 2022.
So 24
months later, I personally give the handshake 100% success rate. I also
appreciate the BBI process. As for the challenges - I do not see any outside
the future political ambitions of one man, and these ambitions cannot determine
how we engage on a national issue, whoever he is.