Fitting send-off for one who would have chosen a quiet exit

For a man who loved simplicity and lived his life largely in service than in being served, departed President Mwai Kibaki must be shaking his head in wonderment about the pomp and pageant that his death has triggered.

But it is not up to him to decide what we do with his body or say about him now. We will celebrate him the way we want and say all that we want about him. The spectacle of a full military burial is the icing on a really good funeral!

He did not die a young man, so Kenyans are really not mourning. He died a retired President. It does not come any better than that. But the extraordinary thing for me is that a huge amount of what is being said about President Kibaki the man and as Kenya’s third President is true. There are not many African presidents, dead or alive, that can tick half the boxes that the late Kibaki did.

Highly intelligent, suave, exposed. Self-effacing but prone to witty sarcasm. He was all those and more. He enjoyed a round of golf before his near-fatal accident on the eve of his election as President in 2002 and enjoyed a glass of beer or two. He loved his family and took responsibility for most of his actions, unless his late wife Lucy disagreed! Which is the case for most married men.

Gentleman-politician

In politics, he was the oxymoron gentleman-politician and often gave the impression that he was in the wrong place as a politician. At one time described as a coward for not coming out aggressively against President Moi in the thick of the struggle for the Second Liberation, he bid his time and struck when the elements were aligned.

He was a practical politician who wanted power to serve, not for self-aggrandisement. That is what he did as MP, as a minister, as Vice-President and as President. But it was in the latter role that Kenya really appreciates him. Although ailing for the better part of his first term, he trusted his lieutenants to do the right thing and allow government to do its work of creating and sustaining an enabling environment for citizens to do business.

His second term started calamitously with the infamous 2007/2008 ethnic clashes. The chaos was a reaction against his victory, which Mr Raila Odinga’s supporters claimed was stolen.

Dusk swearing-in

President Kibaki’s hurried dusk swearing-in lent credence to the suspicion and the subsequent carnage saw more than a thousand people killed and hundreds of thousands displaced, many never to return to their homes. There is legitimate criticism that had he acted decisively as head of the armed forces, he could have saved many lives. He did not and that remains one of the indelible dark stains on an otherwise remarkably successful presidency.

His management of the economy is correctly cited as exemplary. He inherited a shell but bequeathed his successor a veritable nest egg, with all indicators looking up. Those who worked for him attribute this to a very simple fact – he listened to experts, questioned assumptions, verified statements and once convinced, allowed people to work.

We did not see motorcades following him. He loathed vacuous expeditions to State House because he had no time for handouts, even if he was not a poor man. Because he did not loot state coffers, he had no money to buy support.

A lot of the infrastructure projects that the Kenyatta/Ruto presidency have executed were planned under the Kibaki administration. The 100 per cent school transition and the free primary education were also his projects. There was no fanfare about how he did things. Even his quarrels with the media were not dramatic and he largely left us free to enjoy media freedom, again apart from the state-sponsored attack on the Standard Group printing press in March 2006.

Wiped out

Corruption may not have been completely wiped out but it was not celebrated with the vain aplomb and abandon we continue to see under the current regime. His heart was in the right place as signalled through the appointment of an anti-corruption champion. That did not end well though, restating the resilience of the vice.

He left office quietly, letting Kenyans choose who they wanted as successor and stayed away from politics.

He probably would have loved to leave this stage in his trademark quiet way, but one can’t have it his way all the time. We shall celebrate a good human being, an honest politician who did his best and did not pretend to hide his warts!

The writer, a former Editor-in-Chief of Nation Media Group, is now consulting. [email protected]; @TMshindi