Kenyatta's Boy May Be A Good Reader But He's No Leader

The man is a drunkard.

I never cease to be amused by my fellow Kenyans, especially those in the press. Reading the newspapers since that superb reading of the budget by Uhuru, you'd think the press just discovered the existence of a masterful politician in our midst. You'd think that reading, in and of itself, constitutes what makes one great. No, it doesn't. But lest I be accused of diminishing the value of oratorical skills in leadership, let me say that such skills are very necessary for an effective leader to possess.

So, has Uhuru's oratory washed away his glaring weaknesses?

For those who are easy to hoodwink, it seems like that one reading was what it took. For folks like me who consider the totality of a man's character, based on his history, I find the sweet music we are playing close to Uhuru's ear appalling. This is the man who grew up under the protective walls of the State House, mansions in Gatundu and who knows where else, then he went to the States to study political science, right? So what's wrong with that, you ask? For starters, I know that such overfed, blissful sons of big shots cannot feel my pain. They have never had to fight to be where they are. They are always handed everything under the direction of Mama or Papa. There is no difference between Uhuru and that fat boy president of North Korea who inherited the presidency from his dad...and is now set to slap it on his son. Talk of stench!

But that's not what really bothers me.

The biggest fear in me is that Kenyans can be hoodwinked into supporting a man who has not be sufficiently investigated and cleared of his alleged involvement with the Mungiki. Weren't questions raised about his presence at a State House event where plans were hatched to use that violent organization to spread terror in Kenya, ostensibly to help Kibaki retain the presidency? Wasn't his presence in Naivasha at the height of the clashes read by some as a general out in the field to bless his soldiers? And isn't this the same dude who has been accused of being perpetually drunk? How can he now be a politician reborn just by reading a budget?

Fellow Kenyans, we must not allow folks like Uhuru reinvent themselves as great leaders when their past actions tell a story so different from what they try to bring to us now. Before we glorify this man, we must remember that he has questions to answer. Was he tied to the Mungiki? Is he a drunkard? Does he feel the pain of the little man? And what qualifies him to be president other than his being a son of a former president?

Until Uhuru answers those questions and dispels the fears of those of us who suspect him to have a hidden agenda in seeking the presidency, I want to remind my fellow countrymen that all Uhuru did was read. Now let's watch him implement what he read. If he can turn Kenya, over the next three years into a version of that rosy picture he painted in the budget, he just might be the guy to watch.

Until then, I have to wonder.