This week marks the second anniversary of the historic handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition leader Raila Odinga. So much water has passed under the bridge.
Given the circumstances that birthed the handshake, it is acknowledged that it was a desirable development. At the time, the country was hurting as it hurtled down a cliff. It was the consequence of months of violence and acrimony that arose from the disputed results of the 2017 presidential elections. Divisions, hatred and vengeance were suffocating the country.
The most tangible outcome of the handshake was the Building Bridges Initiative committee that was tasked with the responsibility of conducting public engagement to gather citizens’ views on strategies to end the cyclic violence that attended every election. Many things have happened since.
Last November, the BBI committee released the initial report of their findings, which was launched in public by the two principals. Consequent to that, the BBI team was given a fresh mandate to carry out further consultations to enrich the report and, importantly, provide context for implementation.
Yet, the BBI report has emerged as the single divisive element in the country’s sociopolitical landscape. Essentially, the BBI recommendations are evaluated along the lines of the impending transition in 2022. Both the ruling Jubilee Party and the Opposition have been bruised. Jubilee is suffering internal haemorrhage, with the party sharply divided into camps, one revolving around President Kenyatta and supporting the handshake and the other coalescing around DP William Ruto, stridently opposed to it.
Conversely, the rapprochement between Mr Odinga and President Kenyatta has defanged the Opposition, which no longer plays its watchdog role in checking the government.
But what the BBI debate has brought out is that the country has critical unfinished business. There are pertinent issues that have never been resolved. And the reason is that at every juncture when the country faces difficult situations, it opts for cosmetic solutions. When in 2007/8 the country was thrown into turmoil arising out of bungled elections, other than the political truce, long-standing and historical injustices that induced the clashes were never dealt with. The 2010 Constitution that followed was pivotal but never tackled all the challenges.
Which is why the BBI is now being loaded with all sorts of recommendations. Kenyans should seize the BBI moment and seek resolution to these outstanding matters. Deceit and political grandstanding must cease if the handshake and BBI are to make a difference.
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