This article was published in the The Star, on Monday, September 19, 2022, under the link:
https://www.the-star.co.ke/opinion/columnists/2022-09-19-ondeng-what-does-new-order-herald-for-kenya/
The election of Dr William Ruto as the fifth President of Kenya has disrupted and upset the political establishment. His victory, affirmed by the Supreme Court, came as a shock to those who had placed their bets on “the system” to deliver the presidency to Raila Odinga.
Perhaps more than any other Kenyan, President Uhuru Kenyatta is perplexed by the outcome of the polls.
In many ways, the 2022 general election was about him. Raila’s inability to make serious inroads into the Mt Kenya region was because of and not in spite of Uhuru. His famous “handshake” with Raila backfired badly and inadvertently handed Ruto the opportunity he needed to craft his anti-establishment “we-the-people” campaign.
Some analysts have drawn comparisons between the Ruto victory and that of Mwai Kibaki. In 2002, Kibaki overcame some serious obstacles, including the state machinery of then outgoing President Moi, to clinch the presidency.
Against many odds, Ruto has similarly emerged victorious in a contest that many thought he could not win. Like the Kibaki victory, Ruto’s triumph marks an abrupt turn in the country’s political trajectory. The old order is passing away before our very eyes, and in so many ways, a new order is emerging. What this new order heralds for Kenya is the big question.
When Kibaki came to power in 2002, a wave of optimism swept across the country. Kenyans were expectant. The new government had goodwill and the trust of the electorate. Unfortunately, that window of opportunity did not remain open for long. The hopes and dreams of millions of hapless Kenyans came crashing as it became clear that the change they had voted for and believed in was just a mirage. Nothing had changed.
Others who are more optimistic will stretch their faith beyond what they have experienced in the past and will try to believe that Ruto’s unbelievable victory could well be a breakthrough moment for Kenya. I have a feeling that it is.
The twin demons of corruption and tribalism that had ravaged Kenya from Independence were still alive and kicking. These two evils would leave a horrible stain on the Kibaki era and eventually combusted into a national crisis in the aftermath of the 2007 general election.
Since then, Kenya has made some significant strides forward, including the promulgation of a new constitution that introduced a devolved governance system. But even so, as the saying goes, the more things have changed, the more they have remained the same.
In spite of all the good that has been realised over the past decade, corruption remains rampant, and tribalism and nepotism seem to continue unabated.
During the poll campaigns, Ruto’s main opponents – including Uhuru – tried to paint him and his Kenya Kwanza team as the coalition of the corrupt. Ruto, on his part, accused his boss, the President, of interference with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the Directorate of Criminal Investigation and other arms of government that are charged with the task of investigating and prosecuting corruption.
He went on to promise that, if elected, he would depoliticise these institutions and usher in a new dispensation in the fight against graft.
Whether Ruto will live up to this and many other campaign promises remains to be seen. His slim 50 per cent plus one victory does not compare with Kibaki’ landslide victory, but this is where numbers are neither here nor there.
It is a sad reality, nonetheless, that more than 10 million Kenyans who could have participated in the election either did not bother to register or chose to stay at home on Election day.
As the new President settles into office, a new generation of Kenyans is watching him carefully, with a mix of hope and doubt. Many of them have lost faith in government and do not expect that any good can come out of politics.
Others who are more optimistic will stretch their faith beyond what they have experienced in the past and will try to believe that Ruto’s unbelievable victory could well be a breakthrough moment for Kenya. I have a feeling that it is.
Pete Ondeng is the Founder of Christian Alliance – pete.ondeng@christianalliance.net