Day of reckoning for Jubilee Party’s top politicians

It is unlikely that Deputy President William Ruto will be attending the much awaited Jubilee National Delegates Conference that is planned for later this month, not so much because it is likely to endorse his expulsion as a member of the party, and therefore his removal as deputy leader.

Rather, he said last week that the meeting was a waste of time as the party had been auctioned to Mr Raila Odinga and he has moved on to the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), under which he promises “fellow hustlers” a victorious wheelbarrow ride to State House.

It is a fantastic thing that finally, this bizarre charade of a ruling party in an intimate tango with an erstwhile sworn enemy, while the legitimate partner is left on the roadside screaming betrayal comes to an end.

The irony is that this distractive and destructive political conundrum will be resolved not for the government to concentrate fully on serving the taxpayers, but rather to clarify Kenya’s political construct as we head into the 2022 polls. It is being done for politicians and not for Kenyans.

Jubilee will confirm it has no presidential candidate in 2022, and that it will be an appendage of Mr Odinga’s Orange Democratic Party, who has, interestingly, planned a major rally in Nairobi in early December during which he is expected to announce his candidature for the presidency. Don’t be surprised if he is the VIP guest at the Jubilee NDC meeting to announce its self-immolation, or when you see President Uhuru Kenyatta applaud and cheer the proceedings at the ODM rally endorsing Mr Odinga’s candidature.

Opposition became government

After the NDC, the path will be clear for Dr Ruto to run his campaigns formally under the UDA banner. He can then stop living the double life of a ceremonial Deputy President forcing himself on a party where he is not welcome, while criss-crossing the country purporting to be executing duties of the Deputy President at forums where he is excoriating that same party and its leadership. He can finally live an honest life as an opposition candidate.

President Kenyatta will finally be forced to confront the confusion in the house he once was happy to call home. The fallout from a well-meaning handshake has been extraordinarily calamitous.

Politically, the BBI, initially seen as the handshake’s silver bullet solution to Kenya’s multi-layered political and economic challenges, could not have misfired more horribly. It is cold ash now, whichever way the Supreme Court rules.

Within the party is barely controlled bedlam. A gaping fissure between supporters of the President (Kieleweke) and that of the deputy (Tangatanga) has paralysed operations and it is not even clear who is or is not welcome to attend party meetings. Even the secretariat is divided with the President’s men lording it over those supporting Dr Ruto.

Parliament too suffered, badly. The Opposition died, or rather, became government. Mr Odinga became a bosom buddy of the President, with generous access to military helicopters, comprehensive security, high-level consultations, ministerial briefings, etc.

Political party hypocrisy

The MPs Kenyans relied on to defend them against unreasonable decisions of the government went quiet. And in that quiet, they let Covid-19 thieves get away, others with additional rewards of appointments to more lucrative board positions.

They watched as Kenyans starved in the face of severe drought, and looked away as the electoral agency’s pleas for resources to prepare the country for the 2022 General Election were drowned in the political din. Many rue the handshake for this one reason: disfiguring the political landscape and facilitating impunity.

Jubilee’s NDC may reset the political settings somewhat but only to allow the shedding off of political party hypocrisy and lies. We shall know what party they stand on and who supports whom. That clarity will not extend to what they will do for the country. Everyone seeking the presidency now has been around the power block several times but they did not deliver then. It is unlikely they will deliver now.

They all condemn corruption, pointing fingers at one another, but they know they are being hypocritical. Even the President, who swore to tame corruption, can only revert to his mother tongue to plead to his people not to elect thieves (whom he seems to know but is helpless to confront)!

The Jubilee NDC may be the day Dr Ruto loses his party (and maybe even his executive) position if he does not heed common sense and leave before then. Some will applaud, some will lament, not knowing that they will be weeping more for themselves than for him.

The writer is a former editor-in-chief of Nation Media Group and is now consulting. [email protected], @tmshindi