Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has rekindled the politics of betrayal in the country after launching a scathing attack on traitors in the political scene.
Mr Kenyatta, not mincing his words, took on some political leaders whom he termed as traitors, lamenting how the political field in Kenya is full of betrayal.
The development comes at a time when the fourth president has for the past months steered clear of politics in the country.
Mr Kenyatta was attending the Episcopal Ordination of the auxiliary Bishops-elect Simon Peter Kamomoe and Wallace Ng’ang’a Gachihi at St Mary’s Msongari Grounds in Nairobi on Saturday.
Riding on a sermon by the bishop who talked about betrayal in the church, Mr Kenyatta lashed out at unnamed individuals warning they will not go far with their betrayal.
“The Nuncio has talked about betrayers in the church, but I want to say that I don’t see a lot of betrayal in the church. Betrayal is on the other side (as he pointed to the side occupied by political leaders),” said Mr Kenyatta.
“To the traitors, I want to tell them that even Judas (Iscariot) betrayed Jesus, but he later left the pieces of silver and hanged himself. Everything will all come to an end,” he added.
Proceeding with the veiled attack, the retired president said that people have for long taken leadership to mean “your capacity to lord it over everybody else”.
“…but as the Nuncio has reminded us today, the job of a shepherd is not to direct, but to guide and lead and bring everybody along with you,” said Mr Kenyatta.
The event was attended by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, Chief Justice Martha Koome, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, Cabinet Secretaries Moses Kuria and Susan Nakhumicha, former CS Monica Juma and a host of Kenya Kwanza and Azimio politicians, including Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, Beatrice Elachi and Tim Wanyonyi.
The veiled attack comes at a time when the country’s political landscape is changing with President William Ruto and Azimio leader Raila Odinga having struck a close political working relationship after a hotly contested August 2022 elections.
President Ruto has been making a pitch for the Azimio leader across the continent in his bid to become the African Union Commission chairperson.
The two archrivals appear to be enjoying some form of ‘handshake’ after Mr Odinga stood down anti-government protests in favour of bipartisan talks.
Mr Kenyatta backed the former premier after breaking ranks with his deputy over the March 2018 handshake.
Then-President Uhuru Kenyatta signs into law five parliamentary bills, among them the 2021 Copyright (Amendment) Bill, in April last year.
Photo credit: File
MP Elachi, who was in the event, said many people have betrayed the former president and so it is difficult to know who he was talking about.
The Dagoretti North lawmaker observed that without Mr Kenyatta saying much, he left people guessing. “It was a sermon and he was trying to use the same sermon to give examples. But I think he was speaking in general because many people who had worked with him were there,” said Ms Elachi.
The former president has often spoken of political betrayal after a bitter fallout with his then deputy, now President Ruto, before the 2022 elections.
The two had fostered political camaraderie before 2013, riding on their bromance to win the presidency that year against Mr Odinga. They trounced Mr Odinga again in 2017.
However, the 2018 Handshake, which saw Mr Kenyatta join forces with the ODM leader, saw the two fall out.
“It is better to support an honest person who will protect the country and its resources instead of backing an individual who will only look at himself,” said Mr Kenyatta then in one of his speeches as he denounced Dr Ruto.
Consequently, Dr Ruto formed a new party that would propel him to the presidency, winning with a slim margin.
The UDA party leader would also hit back at his former boss, accusing him of betrayal for supporting Mr Odinga.
Further, Mr Kenyatta has also come under scathing attack from his former aide and now Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
It is also not lost on the public that a number of Mr Kenyatta’s political friends are now working closely with Dr Ruto. Nominated MP Sabina Chege and East Africa Legislative Assembly MP Kanini Kega are some of leaders who broke ranks with the former Head of State immediately after the 2022 elections to work with President Ruto and his deputy.
Recently, DP Gachagua apologised to former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta for what he termed as bad politics during the 2022 General Election.
