Kenya’s political scenery has taken an unexpected toll for the last few years. Although it is not new in the world, close political allies in the country differed while still running the government. The country’s deputy President got over-ambitious and fell out with his boss, the President.
The duo took the country with a landslide when President Uhuru Kenyatta took power in 2013. They did the same again when the President retained his position in 2017. Their public agreement was for the President to also support his deputy in the 2022 Presidential elections. However, the deputy went his own way burning bridges he would need for his 2022 bid.
Their once-strong partnership has proven some-what irredeemable. In building a better Kenya absent the loss of a thousand lives during every general election; and also absent economical degradation after every election; the country’s President employed a task force to come with measures to save the country’s life and economic losses.
The task-force came up with the ‘Building Bridges Initiative’ famously known as the BBI.
Why Building Bridges?
In Kenya, as much as the country enjoys an influx of information, millions of people are still in the dark about where the BBI came from. Forces against President Kenyatta politicized the BBI saying it was a way for the President to stay in power. The forces, led by Deputy President William Ruto planted negatives ideas against the BBI report way before it was released.
However, the document is named ‘building bridges’ for a reason. The reason why the country plunges to losses and devastation in every election period is mainly because of the bridges Kenyans burn during campaign periods.
It is known Kenyans are naturally strong-willed people. During campaign periods, politicians take advantage of this trait and exaggerate political differences. Lines are drawn based on party, tribal and regional differences. What starts as a simple quest for power ends up causing the loss of a thousand lives. The situation escalates and pulls Kenya behind Socially, Economically, and Financially.
Thus, to mend the differences already planted for decades based on political ideologies, President Uhuru Kenyatta decided to take action and save the country. Although Kenyans are presently being misled, the effectiveness of the BBI will be felt when it is implemented.
Kenyan political campaigns are endemics that take a thousand lives every election period. The BBI comes as a much-needed vaccine. The vaccine will save thousands of lives for many years from now. It will also save the country from development backwardness and elevate the country forward.
Fear of the unknown
The lead man going against the BBI is not actually “against the BBI”, he is afraid of losing his standing come 2022. When the BBI is implemented, the winner of the presidential election and the opposition leader will both get leadership positions. As such, under the BBI, if the Deputy President is defeated in the 2022 elections and comes number two, he still gets a position.
However, under the current constitution, if the deputy losses his 2022 presidential bid, he gets nothing. As such, there is no way the Deputy President can oppose the BBI. What he actually opposes is a possible scenario where he might find himself in a position of not becoming the President nor the number two in votes; the automatic opposition leader.
The deputy thus looks to renegotiate his position as a possible President or a possible Opposition Leader. In either position, he ends up strong with a future career. After falling out with President Kenyatta, it has dawned on him that he might find himself with nothing come 2022. This reality has hit even harder after the President together with Opposition Leader Raila Odinga collected millions of signatures for a BBI referendum in only a week’s time.
In practicing what he preaches, President Kenyatta is actually implementing what the BBI proposes by working with the country’s opposition leader. Normally, the President would be in bad blood with the opposition leader, Raila Odinga. However, the current peaceful atmosphere is the President’s example of the future of Kenya as a country.
Absent political losses every year, Kenya will save trillions of shillings in the future. Kenya will also save thousands of lives.
