NZAU MUSAU: Kasmuel in Addis - What not to do in diplomacy

Two weeks ago, Kasmuel McOure ambled his youthful frame to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and boarded an airline to Addis Ababa.

Like most people do, he must have said something to his family or friends about his mission.

What could he have told his loved ones about what he was going to do in Addis Ababa? What did the hordes of Kenyans who landed in Addis tell their families as they left them in Nairobi? You would want to believe that Kasmuel was escorting, nay, giving “moral support” to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga ahead of the African Union Commission elections.

But is that a plausible explanation to book a flight out of the country, go through airport security checks, and devour plates of injera days on end?

One, what moral support can Kasmuel offer Raila, a doyen of opposition politics who has braved electoral victory and losses a number without count? When Raila was braving the worst of the country’s repressions in the 80s, Kasmuel was probably not yet born.

Two, did Raila need any moral support, least from the likes of Kasmuel and ilk? I would hazard a big no since he was in great company with his adorable, and supportive wife Ida. He was also in good company of other close family members, state officials attached to his secretariat, and senior government officials, including the President.

Three, Kasmuel and his band of noise makers were neither delegates at the AU meeting nor were they invited observers. Many of them watched the proceedings from their rented, dingy apartments or hotel lobbies where they drowned the rest of the guests in noise, drink and political theatrics. They could not see it coming.

Four, their loud presence in Addis was not going to add any value to the outcome of the vote, as was later evidenced by their hollow reactions in the aftermath of Raila’s loss. If anything, in their din and anticipation, the opportunity for last-minute manoeuvres to save the day was lost.

Five, there is a good basis to believe that the Kasmuel band of Addis joyriders do not care a thing about Raila. They were in it all for themselves and their future political prospects. Like the freeloaders of Hague Airlifts of 2010-2015, they cared less if Raila won or lost.

All they cared for is the political optics of being seen “to be there” for their political god when it mattered. As a matter of civic awareness, there are many things to glean from the Addis debacle, but I want to pick on only two:

The first is the danger of politics of illusions and visuals. They are cheap but expensive in the long run. For a whole decade, Kenya’s momentum for progress has been slowed at every level by a band of loyalists who played the Hague visual cards over the ICC period.

Already, the Addis freeloaders are routing for new political momentum to emerge from Raila’s loss. There is a whole lot of political deadwood and rejects baying to transform this debacle into a 2027 electoral moment for them, and their families.

Two, exhibitionism in diplomacy counts for little or nothing at all. It did not work in 2012 when Kenyans jammed the AU and Assembly of State Parties to pressure the deferral of Kenyan cases.

The highly visible shuttle diplomacy conducted by former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka came to naught, as was the highly publicised shuttle campaigns for Raila led by Prof Makau Mutua.

The views expressed here are my own and do not represent the views of any organisation I may be affiliated to.