Comeback kid: Uhuru rolls with the punches in rollercoaster career

President Uhuru Kenyatta when he met a delegation of leaders from Mt Kenya Region at Sagana State Lodge in Nyeri.[Kibata Kihu, Standard]

The last two weeks have not been particularly pleasant for President Uhuru Kenyatta after the High Court derailed the BBI train and his party lost two by-elections in his strongholds. But he has been through worse. We trace a string of setbacks that dogged his early career to see if he can apply what he learnt to pull himself out of the present muddle.

Christmas of 1997 was perhaps the worst ever for Uhuru. It was his first attempt at electoral politics when he vied for the Gatundu South parliamentary seat.

It was one of the most-watched contests, not least because the son of first president Jomo Kenyatta was on the ballot. He was also doing so in a hostile environment where the opposition held sway against ruling party Kanu on whose ticket he was vying. To spice things up, President Daniel Moi had gone flat out to campaign for him.

The election was scheduled for December 27. The ground appeared to have softened for Uhuru and it looked like he might pull off a surprise despite earlier predictions.

But a last-minute spanner was thrown in the works and his goose was cooked. On Christmas Eve, there were reports that his opposition rival had been kidnapped by State operatives. A vehicle supposedly belonging to the rival was found abandoned near the Kenyattas’ rural Gatundu home with blood all over (It would later emerge it was animal blood secured from a local butchery).

The news was splashed in the leading newspapers as Gatundu residents rioted and burnt Uhuru’s effigies. The rumour was that State operatives, determined that Uhuru must win at all cost, had assassinated the opposition candidate.

But come polling day and the candidate showed up alive and kicking, spinning a cock-and-bull story on the alleged kidnapping. The die, however, was long cast. Uhuru lost resoundingly.

It was a baptism of fire that made young Uhuru rethink whether he was cut out for politics like his father. Many wrote him off, advising that he tries his hand in the corporate world or farming.

Gone underground

For two years he rarely appeared in public. Then, out of the blue, he was nominated as MP. Within three years, he had risen to a powerful minister for Local Government before being picked to be the ruling party’s presidential candidate in the 2002 General Election when President Moi’s term ended.

After a high-profile campaign that pitted him against joint opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki, and despite having State machinery at his disposal, he still lost by a wide margin. To his credit, he conceded defeat without bitterness.

Once more, Uhuru was back to the drawing board and doubting his future in politics. Many declared him politically damaged beyond repair.

To add to his misery, the new Narc administration was determined to destroy all avenues for his comeback by killing Kanu.

The party was kicked out of its historical KICC headquarters and told to operate from the streets if it so wished, as State organs encouraged coups and counter-coups in the crumbling ruling party.

On good reading of circumstances, Uhuru did not contest the 2007 presidential election, sensing he stood no chance. But he cleverly used the opportunity to position himself in the emerging power matrix.

Limping comeback

He threw in his lot with President Kibaki who was seeking a second term in an election that turned tragic. In the coalition government formed after the 2007/8 post-election violence, Uhuru bounced back as deputy prime minister with influential portfolios of Trade and later Treasury.

Once again his political sails were full and the winds on his side. It was clear he would be in the presidential ballot come the next election.

But not so fast. His name was in a list of six people–which was slipped in an envelope addressed to Luis Moreno-Ocampo–alleged to have played leading roles in the bloody post-election chaos, and who were to be prosecuted at the International Criminal Court.

It was back to square one. First, he had to step down from Cabinet to face his accusers at The Hague. At the same time, he had to launch a presidential campaign, even as doubts mounted over his marketability. Would he even be allowed to contest? And if he won, how would he govern from the dock?

Not many saw any light at the end of the tunnel for him. A section of the ‘Deep State’ even actively lobbied against his candidature. But Uhuru would overcome with a string of victories.

Local courts ruled he could be on the ballot even as the ICC trial went on. He won the 2013 election. His victory was challenged at the Supreme Court.

The judges returned he was validly elected. Two years on, after making history as the only serving Head of State to appear at the ICC in person, he was let off the hook.

With the ICC behind him, a string of achievements in his first term and the collapsing of 13 political parties into one behemoth called the Jubilee Party, Uhuru’s re-election in 2017 looked a done deal.

One-term president

He was declared the winner with comfortable numbers. As predicted, the opposition contested the results at the Supreme Court. To the consternation of many, the court returned a verdict that the presidential ballot was marred with irregularities and illegalities and ordered a repeat election. It was the first time in Africa that a presidential victory had been nullified by a court and the only fourth in the world.

Momentarily, it looked like Uhuru would ignominiously go home a one-term president. But he was declared winner in the repeat election. Once again the opposition went to the Supreme Court but lost.

But there still wasn’t room to rest easy. Opposition leader Raila Odinga rejected his presidency and went ahead to swear himself in as the ‘People’s President’.

Uhuru looked set for a turbulent last term when, suddenly, the ‘handshake’ happened, leading to the advent of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).

But even as he mended fences with political foes, his Jubilee ship began to leak as his deputy, William Ruto, pulled in the opposite direction.

The BBI bandwagon rolled on and when it appeared that Uhuru had the upper hand after the majority of counties and two-thirds of both Houses endorsed the BBI Bill, the High Court last week upset the apple cart. Quick on the heels this week, the Jubilee lost two by-elections in its strongholds.

Former US President Bill Clinton was referred to as the come-back kid. Every time it appeared to be smooth-sailing for him, something cropped up. But he bounced back stronger. Today, he is remembered as one of the great US presidents in recent history.

Can President Kenyatta overcome these latest setbacks to prove he is indeed the come-back kid of Kenya politics?

Postscript: Among plotters of the 1997 ‘kidnap’ drama that did in candidate Uhuru was a youthful opposition activist who, years later, became Uhuru’s buddy and supporter. But down the line, they fell apart and he switched loyalties to Ruto. Well, as Otto Berman said, “It’s nothing personal. It’s just business.”