One of the ceremonial functions of a head of state is hosting state dinners and banquets. This is the reason why the presidency is allocated over Sh200 million annually for entertainment and hospitality.
A banquet of this kind was once held in the court of Dionysius the Elder in the Greek colony of Syracuse in Italy. Damocles, a courtier, adored the extravagance and pomp he thought Dionysius enjoyed.
During the banquet, Damocles sat on Dionysius’s throne with a single horsehair held above his head. At that time, Dionysus understood that power is not always pomp and colour but more often it is treading over fires hidden under a treacherous crust of ashes.
This treacherous crust of ashes is what the President, speaking ex cathedra, told persons of the Muslim faith on why they should pray for leaders during an Iftar banquet at State House.
He told those present that behind the veil of power and the titles they hold, they are human and contend with the same problems as anyone else.
He also subtly informed them of Lord John Dalberg-Acton's view that "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," and therefore, some kernel of nourishment bestowed by the Almighty would go a long way in restraining human conduct when in power. From that speech at the Iftar, we learn a few lessons about power.
Most people in power lead lives of quiet desperation. When they taste the cup of power, it tastes sweetest at the brim; however, the flavour is impaired as they drink deeper. The contents taste bitter the deeper the cup, so that they don’t struggle when the cup is taken from their lips.
These contents in the drink that make power bitter are inevitable. That is why Article 141(2) of the Constitution provides a person shall not hold office for a term of more than two terms.
One has to constantly live in the centre of storms such as fighting bandits in the North Rift, tackling the menace of road accidents, dealing with striking doctors, waging war on al Shabaab and a thousand such storms. Such ills make the cup of power unsuitable for the palate of a single person for a long time.
Another profound lesson we can draw from the President’s speech is that it is not always easy to do the right thing without intervention from the divine while in power. Sometimes, one will have to break some eggs in order to make an omelette. That is the whole truth, naked, cold and fatal like a patriot's blade.
A fitting example is El Salvador President Nayib Bukele’s fight against gangs in his country. If he had not taken the step to arrest the gang members in the way he did, that country would no doubt be in a state of nature, as is Haiti, where lunatics have taken charge of the asylum.
Many English phrases are attributed to the Bard of Avon (William Shakespeare), and one of those that he gave to the world is: 'Uneasy lies the head that bears the crown.’
William Ruto's head is not easy despite him on some occasions flauntingly explaining why he was given a sword during his inauguration. He knows that all problems that reach his desk daily cannot be solved by that sword and that sometimes the sword may cut down the wrong tree in the forest.
And that is why during his inauguration, the Bible and the Constitution formed part of the core documents used to usher him into power.
And that is why he asked us at Iftar to sometimes treat him as a mortal man with corporeal constituents. And as a human being, he is prone to do good and bad.
In the words of Wallis Hoch, "There is so much good in the worst of us and so much bad in the best of us that it hardly becomes any of us to talk about the rest of us." This does not mean we don’t hold the President accountable, but only that sometimes we treat him as a fellow human and understand him.
Managing partner, Kaaya & Memba Law Chambers. [email protected]