The fatal error of H.E Uhuru Kenyatta

The fatal error of H.E Uhuru Kenyatta.

In 1978 Bill Clinton was elected governor of Arkansas at the tender age of 32 becoming one of the youngest governors ever in US history, a position that he quickly lost in the subsequent election in 1980 following several political missteps largely attributed to his naivety and overexuberance of his youth and in the process becoming the youngest ex-governor in the US history. He was in and out quick. Upon reflecting on why he failed in his first term in office he came to a rather sober conclusion: ‘I had good policies, but bad politics.’ He picked the lessons from his mistakes, maintained his good policies while improving on his politics, and asked the great citizens of Arkansas for a second chance. He was elected governor yet again in 1982 a position he never lost until he became President of the United States.

His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta the outgoing Kenyan president in his second term in office made a bold move. He unilaterally decided that for his legacy, he wanted to leave behind a more united Kenya where post-election violence would be a thing of the past. Where elections will not have to be a matter of life and death, and the Kenyan economy does not have to suffer every five years on account of the election. A noble pursuit for which he must be lauded regardless of which side of the political divide we pledge allegiance. It is in that regard that he extended an olive branch to his longtime political nemesis Right Honorable Raila Odinga resulting in the now famous Handshake. Courtesy of the handshake peace and stability returned and has extended to the 2022 general election.

That move however has come at a high political cost for the President if the results of the 2022 general election are anything to go by. He has seemingly lost the support of his political bastion in the shape of the Mount Kenya region. As a matter of fact, many political pundits have intimated that the pattern of voting exhibited by the people of the mountain was a message of defiance and a revolt against President Uhuru. The president’s party, Jubilee has been condemned to political damnation in Mount Kenya. How could that be yet H.E Uhuru had nothing if not the best interests of his people at heart? How could they turn against their very own? Don’t they see what he was trying to accomplish in the long term?

When a leader casts a vision he is likely to be met with one of these reactions from those that he leads: They will either attack the vision, ignore the vision, abandon the vision, adapt to the vision, champion the vision or add value to the vision.?It is a matter of public knowledge that his vision that necessitated the handshake was vehemently resisted by his closest lieutenants and has been publicly attacked by those who were his closest allies for the better part of his second term in office going as far as using the handshake as a campaign tool against the President’s preferred successor. He became the target of attacks by now his friends turned foes on the campaign trail and the handshake was at the center of their arsenal.

Why do people attack a vision? There are many reasons why people attack a leader’s vision. One is because they don’t understand the vision. Two they don’t agree with the vision. Three they are not ready for that vision either resource-wise or competency-wise. Four they were not involved in the building of the vision and five and most probably the most fatal is that they do not feel needed in the realization of the vision.

There are two attitudes when it comes to a leader enlisting people to help fulfill a vision. The first attitude is where a leader tells his people ‘We’re going to do this with or without you’. The second attitude is where a leader tells his people ‘We can’t do this without you. You can guess which of the two inspires people to give their best. H.E President Uhuru Kenyatta seemingly chose the former approach and told his lieutenants that he is going to pursue the handshake with or without them. He decided to build new bridges by demolishing old ones. ?In return, they (his lieutenants) did not feel needed in realizing this vision and the effects of that have been far-reaching.?They attacked the vision relentlessly and ruthlessly and opposed everything that was meant to see to it that the vision is realized and BBI was the first casualty. President Uhuru Kenyatta, just like the young Bill Clinton, had good policies but his politics failed him. He had good intentions but ultimately you learn that it is your execution, not your intention that determines your destination.

I have seen many commentators labeling the people of the Mount Kenya region as myopic for voting against the wishes of H.E Uhuru Kenyatta, it is as though they (Mt Kenya region)don’t realize that they were going to be the biggest beneficiary of the President’s vision.?But if you understand anything about human behavior you will know that emotions drive actions. Rationality only leads to conclusions but does not drive action. Policies appeal to the rational mind but politics appeal to the heart and in Kenya seldom do people vote with their minds, they mostly vote with their hearts no wonder there are a lot of tears and heartbreaks when their preferred candidate doesn’t emerge victorious. Whoever appeals to the hearts of the masses carries the day.

The President did not appeal to the hearts of his supporters, on good days he tried to rationalize his actions to his people. He focused on the long-term benefits of his vision to the people but forgot to pay attention to their short-term needs even if that meant emotional comfort. On the other hand, his opponents understood the assignment that politics is about the heart and they executed their messaging to perfection. They took upon themselves the identity of victims of the Presidents betrayal. He could have done it better and achieved his vision without necessarily antagonizing and leaving those who had stood by him ‘feeling’ disenfranchised. His poor politics and poor stakeholder management may have not only lost him his support base but also may have cost Hon Raila Odinga the Presidency just by association.

History will be kind to the son of Jomo but the present is not nearly as kind. To lead effectively you must balance good policies with good politics. You must appeal both to the minds and the hearts of those you lead and carry them along with you on the journey.

The End.