At the height of its premier position as largest empire, Rome stood as the citadel and symbol of world’s civilisation. To contain the wild spirits and excitement of the independent self-centred citizens, the aristocrats established the senate and the army. The army was used to expand the empire by conquest and subjugation. Every time a general retired, a new one had to prove his worth by going on an expedition. Senate had to approve appropriation by allocating the necessary provisions and appropriate numbers in legion.
The unwritten rule was that once an expedition was accomplished, the returning general had to disband the troops before entering Rome. The general had to report to senate and account for his exploits and share the bounties collected in the wake of the conquest. This tradition was followed until Pompey returned with a bunch of his solders and demanded to be made a senator. But the turn of the clock was made by Julius Caesar.
Having come from a humble background, Julius worked his way up the scales by sheer determination and skilful calculation. He manipulated the system and got people who mattered to his side by establishing blood relationships and intimidation. He got his daughter married off to Pompey and married himself to the daughter of an influential senator.He learnt the art of oratory and became very persuasive to the Roman audience.
To prove his valour, he decided to lead the Roman army in battle with Gauls, currently Germany. Once he succeeded, he decided to continue his expedition and opened wars with nations not considered enemies of Rome. In fact, he went further and declared some allies of Rome enemies just to find cause for war. When he felt he had accomplished his first part of the mission, he decided to return to Rome. He determined to the senate that the general mattered more than the debates in the august House.
Caesar crossed the river Rubicon and conquered the Senate. But he refused to be crowned emperor even though he ruled as emperor until his assassination by his protégées, led by Marcus Brutus. Other than the Senate and the army, the third most important activity of the empire was the games at the stadium. The games were mostly violent and bloody. They involved able-bodied men fashioned and trained to warfare but tamed for the enjoyment of the aristocrats.
The gladiators, as they were known, would fight to death for amusement of their owners in the arena known as the Colosseum. Bets would be made and the royals made money from the proceeds of their exploits. The citizens remained happy and the leaders felt safe. The relevance of this history is the political porker game at play today in Kenya.
The senate of Rome was the Cabinet. They were also the representatives of the people and discussed matters of the state and made resolutions on behalf of the people. Caesar was the sovereign and head of state. He was considered wise but relied on the counsel of the senate for his decisions. Senate was expected to give Caesar unbiased advise solely on behalf and for the absolute benefit the people.
When President William Ruto assumed the reins of power, he formed his committee of advisers, commonly known as the Cabinet. However, events would soon demonstrate that what he had was anything but a Cabinet in its true sense. The men and women were more of operatives than a committee of wise advisers. Most appeared to be hatchet men, buccaneers and transactional leaders. Instead of providing policy guidelines for the presidency, they relied on the wink of the President to know which direction to follow.
Instead of working for the government of the republic, these operatives engaged in partisan politics and pushed brinkmanship as the hallmark of leadership. The tipping point was the brazen push for the infamous Finance, Bill 2024. They ensured the Bill was passed by Parliament in spite of its punitive and prohibitive tax measures. When hell broke loose and the Gen Zs overtook the country, they scampered and retreated to their respective tribal and provincial cocoons.
The worst episode was when the Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua chose to address the nation just minutes after the President in Mombasa. No Cabinet works that anywhere in the world. My former treasurer at SONU’92, Moses Kuria, had the audacity to tell his boss and Kenyans at large that they own 80 per cent of the country and were ready for elections anytime anywhere. Sheer bravado and unbridled pride tinged with a sense of self-entitlement. The shareholder mentality.
The currently reconstituted Cabinet seems to address the misadventure of the previous conglomerate of grandiose self-serving individuals who went by the ragtag of shareholders. The current nominees include people who can offer objective counsel to the President. Their history demonstrates fidelity to the people's agenda above their selfish pursuits.
A brief background of some of them will give a glimpse into the workings of the future government of Kenya. James Opiyo Wandayi joined the University of Nairobi to study agriculture in 1992. It was at the height of the clamour for multiparty democracy. He soon closed ranks with older student leaders to push for the restoration of a unified student voice. The university succumbed to the pressure and re-registered SONU’92.
Events would later conspire and lead to proscription of SONU once again. He remained steadfast and pushed for the inclusion of young people in political party leadership, especially, Ford-Kenya. He was not your ordinary student leader. Together with John Mbadi, the nominee for the National Treasury, they pushed for the restructuring of student financing. This led to establishment of HELB in 1995.
They further organised for the restructuring of the Student Welfare Authority into 10 Strategic Management Units. This ensured that the cash-strapped SWA regained its autonomy and glory. It began to offer better and quality services to students. I am happy to have been part of the team. As Wandayi joined the private sector where he rose to very senior ranks at the British American Tobacco, Mbadi joined the University of Nairobi in finance department. In spite of being relatively, junior in university administration, he leveraged on his youthful energy and student networks to influence key changes in the finance management.
This led to establishment of UNES Ltd and an autonomous student finance section. He would later prove useful in turning around the fortunes of the almost collapsing staff SACCO, Chuna. Both Wandayi and Mbadi continued with their active political engagement through the National Development Party, Liberal Democratic Party and later Orange Democratic Movement. Their performance in parliamentary debate was exemplary and demonstrated rare gifts of the garb combined with deep intellectual insights.
They have both served as Minority party leaders since the implementation of the new constitution. Ali Hassan Joho joined opposition politics when then coastal supremo, Najib Balala, began to play flippant politics. He came strongly and championed the agenda of the coastal people as a key national agenda. He became one of the celebrated governors when many pioneer governors were more known for ineptitude, corruption and nepotism.
The same has been said of Wycliffe Oparanya during his stint as Kakamega governor. If they remain true to their past and history of commitment to public service, then a lot more can now be expected of the government. Like in the Colosseum, skulls will continue to be bludgeoned as people fight to their death while others gain their freedom by fighting in the same arena. The hatred for Raila continues to ruin careers as it pays dividends almost in equal measures to others pronto.
Political and public policy analyst