They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned — except in this case we aren’t talking about a woman, but a man. That man is Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, Kenya’s fourth President who exited State House in 2022 after completing the maximum constitutionally permitted, or limited, two terms, for a total of ten years.
It’s a privilege and the highest honour for a citizen to rise to the presidency, even if that person was born, or raised, at the most powerful address in the country. In this case, Mr Kenyatta is the scion of Kenya’s founding President, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, the Burning Spear himself. When Mr Kenyatta speaks, the rest of us mere mortals are likely to catch a cold.
That’s why it behooves Mr Kenyatta to speak with the dignity of his status and political pedigree. While he hasn’t attained the moniker “father of the nation,” he is the only living Kenyan former president. That title must mean something, and must carry the weight of Mount Olympus. You might wonder why I’ve taken the cudgel to Mr Kenyatta. It’s because former African presidents, unlike their peers elsewhere, shoulder a more serious responsibility. The only trouble they are allowed to make is good trouble, not bad. While “good trouble” may not always be music to the ears of the state, it is considered constructive criticism. “Bad trouble” is, however, corrosive and toxic, even destabilising. Which one is Mr Kenyatta curating?
Let me open your eyes. It’s fact that the United States has the broadest practice of free speech. Virtually anything goes. Even hateful racist speech. Censorship is anathema to the American legal and social culture. “Talking back” to power or even to superiors and parents is normal. To use a tautology, it’s not abusive unless it’s abusive. As for the state, you can be abusive and vituperative every day of the week and twice on Sundays. There are no legal consequences. But most other states have hate speech laws that draw a closer line between incitement and free speech. Kenya is one of the latter. In my view, that’s a line a former president must never approach, or cross.
I remember President Joe Biden being taunted as “Genocide Joe.” I recall President Barack Obama mercilessly teasing Citizen Donald Trump at a White Correspondents Dinner in Washington. Mr Obama was President and the main act and Mr Trump was just a guest. I don’t think Mr Trump forgot that ribbing. A year later he was elected president for the first time. His jawing back and forth with President Obama predated that moment and has continued to-date. Mr Trump defeated Mr Obama in the election when he beat former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton in 2016. Mr Obama got his revenge in 2020 when he defeated President Trump through Mr Biden. In 2024 Mr Trump floored Mr Obama when he vanquished his protégé Kamala Harris.
I give the American example to show how presidents – former or sitting – can fight proxy battles. But that game of politics must remain exactly that – a game. It cannot be waged as war against the foundation of the state, the nation, or even the government. America is not a young state like Kenya. It can withstand supremacy battles between leaders. But African states, of which Kenya is one, must be nurtured by former presidents. We are still building a nation and we need to nurture what we have, because if not we can push our state towards fragility. We know of examples in our neighbourhood where this has happened. Our blessing has been that former presidents didn’t go after their successors hammer and tongs.
Mr Kenyatta has speech rights guaranteed by the constitution and the laws of Kenya. He owes Kenya a duty of care. He’s monstrously wealthy and sits atop a family business empire. His word is taken seriously in many parts of Kenya. These are powerful tools at the disposal of one man. He must not play with them like a child clutching a real gun, and not a toy. I get the impression that Mr Kenyatta has personal beef with President William Ruto. It’s true President Ruto vanquished Mr Kenyatta’s presidential candidate, the iconic Raila Odinga, in the 2022 elections. And he did so as Mr Kenyatta’s deputy. That must sting. It’s not a reason for Mr Kenyatta to want to burn down the whole house.
Former African presidents must put inferior emotions like jealousy and hate in check. It’s right to counsel successors, but do so without public incitement. I’ve seen Mr Kenyatta practically asking Gen Z to cause bad trouble. That’s irresponsible. He shouldn’t seek to use our youth to fight his battles with President Ruto. He should leave our children out of it. And our children would be boneheaded to allow themselves to be used by a dollar billionaire to fight his personal wars. Nothing good could come out of this misbegotten venture.
Makau Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor and Margaret W. Wong Professor at Buffalo Law School, The State University of New York. On X: @makaumutua
