President William Ruto (left) and Democratic Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua.
I woke up with a deep craving to start the week. No, I’m not after spoiling myself with some juicy nyama choma washed down with a refreshing cold beer, just something much simpler: political hygiene.
I may be longing for the impossible, but I woke up dreaming that in the period leading up to the 2027 elections, our sorry excuses for national leaders will replace hateful attacks and insults with much more edifying conversation.
From the anger and bile being witnessed, it is obvious that neither President William Ruto nor his nemesis, former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, have the temperament to be entrusted with the nuclear codes, so to speak. The impolitic and bitter words exchanged on public platforms have exposed leaders who have lost all semblance of self-control.
The words hurled across political platforms might well dictate that television stations exercise extreme caution when covering the president and his arch foe. Live transmission should be out of the question, while even recorded broadcasts might have to be heavily censored and limited to late hours so that our children and grandchildren are spared material that is not suitable for tender ears.
Cheering squads
It may well be true, as he and his cheering squads maintain, that President Ruto was provoked by constant jibes from Mr Gachagua. That cannot be a good enough excuse, for we expect that one entrusted with the onerous responsibilities of leadership always displays a level of dignity and self-control.
President Ruto may have excited his base with demonstrations that he will not be cowed by Mr Gachagua’s attacks and that he can give as good as he gets. However, that ignores the fact that he is the president, and gains nothing by rolling in the mud with every village madman who hurls some his way.
Kenyans saw a president losing not just his temper, but his dignity. It is not comforting that the person who wants to project himself as a father of the nation, a symbol of national unity, can be so easily goaded into intemperate public displays.
When the president makes all manner of unverified accusations, some suggesting high crimes, against political rivals and threatens to have them jailed, the country has reason to be worried. This is especially so in a system where the custodians of the law and order machinery—notably the Director of Criminal Investigations, Mohammed Amin and the Director of Public Prosecutions, Renson Ingonga—have reduced themselves to willing tools of the political establishment despite constitutional provisions that shield them from undue influence from any other power or authority.
It might not have struck the president that, as he was displaying his manhood in taking Mr Gachagua head-on, the latter was in a celebratory mood, boasting that he had achieved his objective of provoking him into public displays of uncontrolled temper.
A president who loses it in public does not present a very good picture, but Mr Gachagua should have little reason to claim victory as his own public displays hardly indicate a leader and statesman. He has hurled all manner of accusations against the president, many of which cannot pass scrutiny. While there may be kernels of truth in what he says in regard to blatant corruption in high office or President Ruto’s accumulation of property, some of the accusations can be called out as idle rumour and misinformation, wild exaggeration and outright falsehoods.
Political competition
Maybe anything goes in our vicious brand of politics that respects neither decorum nor truth, and where it is expected that one must play dirty to stand any chance of winning. However, it is time we demanded leadership that shows respect for the people, and elevates political competition to ideology, policies and principles instead of just insults, mudslinging, lies, incitement and ethnic mobilisation.
We deserve a president who can rise above the cheap displays we have seen, but we also need to weigh his competitors on that same higher plane.
The tragedy is that the more viciously President Ruto and Mr Gachagua go for each other’s jugular, the more they incite their respective bands of loyalists into hatred and anger, which, if left unchecked, could easily spiral into violence as the 2027 elections approach.
As it stands, it is apparent that the two leaders are intent on dividing Kenya into deeply hostile camps grouped around nothing more honourable than base ethnic loyalties.
We deserve better. We must resist being herded into hostile groupings by fellows who seem to have personal beefs; and look out for a new crop that will elevate political discourse to a higher level.
Follow our WhatsApp channel for breaking news updates and more stories like this.
Mr Gaitho, an independent journalist, is former NMG Managing Editor for Special Projects. [email protected]
