Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua the other day said he and President William Ruto were agreed on the need to ensure that the capital city of Nairobi retain its standing as the most important commercial and communications hub for the East African region.
The DP expounded on the importance of Nairobi as the seat of government and Kenya’s economic nerve centre and also emphasised that he is a bona fide stakeholder as a ‘cityzen’ of the capital, where his official residence is located, as are his private residence, rental houses and business holdings.
That all seems good as the central government, must, indeed, have an interest the capital city that runs smoothly and efficiently with all infrastructure, services and utilities at par with global standards.
One thing struck me, however, on Riggy G’s (to use his popular nickname) otherwise noble sentiments.
Against a background where the DP is widely reported to be sponsoring his own slate of candidates at the ongoing UDA party polls, that sounded like justification for electoral mischief.
In Nairobi, in particular, Mr Gachagua is said to be supporting Embakasi North MP James Gakuya for the branch chairmanship against Governor Johnson Sakaja.
Of course, there is nothing wrong, in any electoral contest, in leaders looking to cement their positions having their own line-ups.
Even Mr Sakaja must be having his own grouping for the Nairobi UDA elections. There is cause for alarm, however, when the referee is also a player and working hard to influence the outcome to his advantage.
Gachagua has previously been at the centre of orchestrated attacks on Sakaja by a group of MPs from the Mt Kenya region apparently keen to restore ethnic hegemony over the capital city. It is also apparent that he loves taking digs at the Nairobi governor, as with his recent public declaration on government resolve to remove from office those with fake degrees.
Mr Sakaja managed to get his name on the ballot in the 2022 General Election despite questions over the legitimacy of his qualifications from a degree mill in neighbouring Uganda. He was seated uncomfortably behind Gachagua as the DP, in President William Ruto’s presence, talked of fake degrees.
When he consciously inserts President Ruto’s name into the mix, Gov. Sakaja should be a very worried man because the suggestion is that even the President might want a change of leadership in Nairobi.
Of course, Sakaja has not exactly been a stellar governor. He came into office big on glitz but the capital city remains mired in rot and corruption. A case can probably be made for his removal. But if the sole purpose is to replace him with a political hireling who might be an even worse city manager, there would be no point.
There is another small but disturbing element around the whole saga: Gachagua can hardly utter a word in public without mentioning that he and the President were in agreement. He did so on the matter of Nairobi leadership and the degree issue. “The President and I” has become his mantra, as it was with a number of cabinet ministers who are inclined to cite the President for every decision, good or bad, that they pronounce.
We are regressing to a Moi-style personality cult where cabinet secretaries cannot run their dockets without reference to the President and with every pronouncement must give credit to the Alpha and Omega. If they are compelled to exhibit blind faith and loyalty, it can only be counter-productive because the President will not only take credit for the good outcomes but also blame for the failures.
“The President and I” mantra is a reflection of insecure leaders who want to flatter the boss but also shelter behind him. It must cease before we are all compelled to display lapel badges with the presidential portrait.
This fawning and groveling attitude of court jesters and praise singers is what is prompting some to the excess of proposing removal of presidential term limits. Trial balloons are already being floated by ignorant sycophants who have no sense of the history of dictatorship that determined we limit presidential tenure.
We all laughed when the national census enumerators asked if we had a boat in our household. The deluge we are witnessing reminds us that having a boat in storage for a rainy day is not a bad idea.
We are actually seeing some wiser residents of Nairobi using boats on flooded roads. I’m in the market for at least a canoe.
