Why Uhuru should tread with great caution

President Uhuru Kenyatta with outgoing Attorney General (AG) Prof. Githu Muigai. [Photo/Standard]

Are we beginning to see a new President Uhuru Kenyatta in tandem with the promise of his stalwarts on the man in his final term? That is the burning question both within and without Jubilee, popping up in small ‘siasa’ talk shops. Speaking to a Jubilee political diehard this week after this week's session between the President and Jubilee MPs, he was clear that their leader was breathing fire and brimstone. He admonished the over 100 who did not attend and even vowed punishment, arguing that these party meetings are mandatory, not obligatory. He also asked them to extend their generosity to the party by giving money. Then he asked them where they think he gets money yet he survives on salary just like them.

The question whether we are beginning to see a new Uhuru is important for our political discourse in many ways. At the outset it rides on the revelation by one of his aides in an interview with KTN News that Uhuru will be a different man in his last term. Which really is the nature of leaders at the sunset of their presidency; free of limitations of pleasing and vote-seeking strategies. We saw this in Barack Obama in his last term as US president.