Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto's Race for the Presidency of Kenya: What kind of Politicians would pursue their Presidential Ambitions even when it means Jeopardizing their Country's Social, Economic and Political interests?
By
Meshack Owino
With the presentation of presidential nomination papers to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) having been done, it is now clear that there are some Kenyan politicians who are stubbornly determined to capture the presidency of Kenya even when they know -- or should know -- that if they are elected to the presidency, they will seriously jeopardize Kenya's social, economic, and political interests. Indeed, the narcissistic self-interest exhibited by some of these presidential candidates is shocking and sad.
I am referring here specifically to Uhuru Kenyatta and his running-mate William Ruto, two candidates who are on trial for committing crimes against humanity, but who, ironically, have decided to go the whole hog for the presidency of Kenya (no matter what happens to Kenya in the process or after), trying to lead the very same country they are accused of subjecting to atrocities during the post-election mayhem of December 2007 to February 2008. These two politicians, it is now clear, have decided to do everything in their power to safeguard their interests at the expense of their country', even when they claim that everything they do is out of 'love' for their country.
It is important to note that in most civilized societies, when leaders are accused of questionable moral, ethical, and legal conduct, they immediately step aside, and clear their names before resuming public service. That is what leaders in civilized societies do. They do not position their interests above their country'. They subsume them.
When, for example, the US Congressman Anthony D. Wiener was caught exchanging randy pictures with a woman who was not his wife in 2011, he quit his post as a US Congressman because he knew that his misadventure would undermine the interests of his congressional district. That was the sensible, reasonable, and judicious thing to do.
Even Dominique Strass-Kahn knew what to do when his private life started clashing with his public responsibilities. Accused of rape in 2011, Dominique Strass-Kahn not only resigned from his position as the Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he also quit the race for President of France. That, once again, was the right thing to do; putting his institutions' as well as his country's interests above his personal life.
When you are accused of conduct unbecoming, civilized people expect you to step aside, deal with your problems, clear up your name, and only then do you resume your public career.
So, why are Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, international criminal suspects with serious criminal offenses hanging over their heads, doing the opposite of what most sensible, civilized people do when they come under serious moral, ethical, and criminal accusations? Why are they digging in their heels, determined to capture the presidency of Kenya, daring the country to stop them at the ballot box? Why are they taunting Kenyans: "We have the numbers … if you don't want us to take over the presidency, meet at the ballot box?" It is sad and scary.
It is not as if the criminal suspects don't know the consequences of taking over the presidency of Kenya. With all those serious crimes against humanity cases hanging over their heads, brought against them by the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, they ought to know by now what their impact will be if they are elected to the presidency of Kenya! Many commentators have already told them what will befall Kenya if they win the presidency.
The two international criminal suspects know that if they win the presidency, Kenya will inevitably be known as a country run by international criminal suspects. Their leadership will leave international observers in no doubt about the sorry state of leadership that has afflicted Africa since independence. Under their presidency, Kenya will become a pariah nation. Kenya's image and pride will go to the dogs. Everywhere Kenyans go, they will be ridiculed as a backward people who elected international criminal suspects as their leaders.
One would have expected the international criminal suspects -- if they truly loved Kenya -- to withdraw from the presidential race and focus their energies on their criminal cases instead of dragging the whole country into their own personal problems. But that is not what the suspects are doing. They are selfish, egocentric, and narcissistic.
They are concerned only with their own interests. They have convinced themselves that their right to the presidency is more important than the rights of the 40 million Kenyan people, that their ambitions supersede the adverse consequences that will no doubt befall Kenya if they are elected to the presidency. It is very sad, indeed!
Of what value is it to be insistent on pursuing one's dubious claims to the presidency of Kenya to the bitter end even when it conflicts with one's country's interests? Don't these two presidential candidates care about how their ambition will affect Kenya? No, they don't seem to care. They don't seem to care whether Kenya regresses into darkness on the altar of their ambitions. They appear more interested in their own personal survival than Kenya's future.
They know fully well what their presidency will do to Kenya, that it will ruin Kenya's social and political standing, and that it will destroy Kenya's economy. But they don't care.
On January 30, 2013, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto were cleared by the IEBC to run for the presidency and vice-presidency of Kenya, undoubtedly signaling the duo's readiness to pursue their presidential ambitions to the bitter end, even if it means visiting death and destruction on innocent Kenyans.
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