The ground is shifting beneath William Ruto's feet. It is unclear how his new-found friendship with Uhuru Kenyatta and Kalonzo Musyoka will play out in the run up to the 2012 general elections, which is well underway. Mr Musyoka has began the tiresome job of dissociating himself from the two and his stock, in turn, has sunk even lower. One is hard-pressed to identify a single initiative with his name on it. Mr Ruto too has began to re-think his place in the triumvirate, lashing out at one thing or another in recent weeks, most notably, stridently echoing the misgivings of evangelical and Pentecostal bishops about the nominations of Willy Mutunga and Nancy Baraza for the positions of CJ and DCJ. Meanwhile, Raila Odinga is discovering that his personal charisma is insufficient to guarantee victory at the hustings.
The changes the country is undergoing during this transition period, between the promulgation of the new Constitution and its full and final implementation raise many issues that require the fullest of faculties to navigate them. Our political class bar none has not risen to the challenges. Instead, they have made their plans and their calculations based on past patterns of behavior, both among themselves and their electors. Nearly all of them refuse to admit that their time at the trough is up and that it is no longer business as usual. Unusually, the chiefs of some of the Commissions meant to keep an eye on the implementation process have failed in their duty to properly advise the political classes, instead fomenting trouble where none existed. A good example is the kerfuffle surrounding the reading of the Budget between the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution and the Minister for Finance. Charles Nyachae and his Commission are wrong to make a mountain over the molehill of Article 221. The Commission is incompetent to interpret the Constitution; that is the preserve of the High Court. When the dispute became apparent, the proper course of action would have been to petition the High Court to interpret the Constitution, and both the Government and the Commission would have been given an opportunity to state their case. (Of course, there is the little matter of the vetting of Judges, isn't there?)
The uncertainty surrounding the implementation process and the transition period is also a pointer to the impatience that Kenyans are demonstrating regarding these issues. For years during the Moi Era, Kenyans were programmed by his opponent to believe that change would be instantaneous and that all that ailed the nation would be wiped away by the promulgation of a new Constitution. The reality has proven to be something else entirely. No nation on earth has changed its constitution in peace-time. Ever. What Kenya achieved was unprecedented. Not even the United States has ever managed this. It is this that should have cautioned Kenyans to temper their expectations. Change will come; it will not come today or tomorrow. There are many tomorrows ahead for this nation and it is our responsibility to take each day as it comes while keeping a vigilant eye to ensure that no one monkeys with the process or the gains achieved.
This does not mean that we should not do what COFEK and Ndung'u Wainaina have done; all it means is that we must choose which battles to fight and which ones to abandon. Simply marching at every instance the Government does something that does not gel with our inflated world view is wasting time and resources and distracting us from the vital task of quickly building new institutions to manage our public affairs effectively. Regardless of their misguided opinions, the bishops are right to challenge the nominations of Dr Mutunga and Ms Baraza; but, they must be prepared to accept the verdict of the courts if it goes against them. This is the essence of the democracy that we bequeathed ourselves on August 27, 2010. It is time that the Uhuru-Kalonzo-Ruto alliance reviewed its strategies with this in mind. It would also do Raila Odinga a power of good to take the same lesson. Otherwise, they may all find themselves unsuited to lead this country after 2013.
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