I was surprised to learn that Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is younger than me. I ordinarily would not personalise anything I write, but it’s relevant in this case because people my age were raised a certain way (not all, of course) such that there were and still remain things we cannot say or do. For example, hurling insults at an older person, let alone an elderly person. That is a no, no.
Over time, and especially with the proliferation of social media beginning in the mid-2000s, those ethos and mannerisms were thrown out the window for nearly everyone. It was not just sad but horrifying to see young boys hurling and continue to hurl all manner of unprintable insults at people old enough to be their parents.
To be sure, insults are not a modern-day phenomenon. Curses and insults are found in the Bible and the Quran, and ditto in other religions and non-religious societies going back centuries. So, insults and curses are nothing new in that sense.
However, what is new is how vile these insults have become over time, and one can say they have become even worse just in the last 10 years.
Worse, it now doesn’t matter one’s age, gender or even status in society; there’s a carefree hurling of insults flying all over the place even where adults are sitting such that it makes not a difference whether one is an uncouth, illiterate character or the most informed and educated.
There is an equally alarming explosion of general lack of manners and ethos if not checked, that alone will sink the country or drive it to a point of where everybody hates each other or someone and is ready to kill them for no reason, not that there is any reason to kill anyone.
It was therefore refreshing for Gachagua to apologise to Mama Ngina Kenyatta for dragging her over mud in the period leading up to and including during the campaign.
Few saw that one coming; correction, ever since the raiding of Kenyatta’s property and stealing of goats there, and aided by an even more disillusioned population in Mt Kenya, it was only time for the reality to sink in the Kenyatta family is no pushover, and certainly not one to insult with impunity.
Had President William Ruto delivered for Mt Kenya as he promised during the campaign, then for sure the Kenyatta family would have been cut to size but still remain around kicking everything within reach when not exacting loyalty and favours from those who have most benefitted from their existence—and there is no shortage of them both within deep in government, and outside of it.
But Ruto has thus far failed to deliver for Mt Kenya, and worse, his fortunes seem to have depleted, akin to driving a car whose fuel indicator is on E for empty and the nearest gas station is miles away.
One has only two choices when that happens: keep driving until the fuel is finished and the car stops in the middle of nowhere surrounded by man-eating animals, or start making frantic calls for help, including flagging down total strangers in the hopes one of them can bail you out.
Gachagua is a passenger in that car and his first SOS has gone to Mama Ngina but ultimately, he wants to see fuel pumped into the car and returning to safety. That fuel is former President Uhuru Kenyatta. For more than 18 months, the DP has conducted himself as the new sheriff in town when it comes to Mt Kenya.
The seasoned politician he is, he has suddenly realised the carpet being slowly yanked from underneath his feet both relative to his standing in Kenya Kwanza, and even more critical for him, his standing among the people of Mt Kenya.
Rather than finding himself isolated and taking all the blame for everything that has or could go wrong in Mt Kenya as things stand now, Gachagua has found it fit to eat humble pie and reach out to Uhuru.
Question is, will Uhuru come to his rescue?
Yes, but at a price more than swallowing one’s pride.