IN AFRICA , WHAT IS GOOD FROM FAR MOSTLY TURNS OUT TO BE FAR FROM BEING GOOD.

 There is a famous phrase that is always coined by our political elites that , we are Africans and Africa is our business. Off course , truly Africa is our business. We must sweat and moil under it. It is hard to survive in Africa and infact, you need to have a big heart. From civil wars , corruption and misrule , coup d'etats , imperialism and neocolonialism etc. Infact , Africa killed its son long time ago. I am very optimistic that the new goverment Kenyans installed through the ballot will live to our expectations. Yes!! Since , things aren't good especially economically. The much hopes Kenyans had especially those who rioted in the ballot to elect the Kenya Kwanza Alliance are now becoming jittery. I don't know why but it seems they feel they were politically conned. 

Kenyans must brace for tough times ahead but one thing is , on Sunday, in the Sunday Nation newspaper opinion section, Mūrang'a County Governor Dr Kangata penned an article titled ; "Signs that Ruto will make a good President." This article attracted my attention and I combed it through. There was a cleae clarity of thought from its author and he gave clear pointers but from my end , I found that , there was no nexus between the title and the body. The signs domiciled in that article to show that President William Ruto will become the best president , better than his four predecessors wasn't convincing at all. Not that I have very low opinion about Ruto as a person but because , you can't judge  or rate someone for a task that he hasn't performed. Even in human resource , you cannot appraise a worker before doing the task designated for him/her. Or simply , you can't reward a student a prize before him/her sitting for an exam.

To support what I am saying , I will give two examples drawn from leaders in Africa. First , I will pitch my tent in Tunis , Tunisia. For those who can remember , the Arab spring that occured in 2011 swept the Dictator president Ben Ali into political oblivion. Since then , the country plugged into Political upheaval they led to many social, political and economic suffering. The political leadership that took over became even worse than Ben Ali regime. It is after that suffering that Tunisians decided to open a new chapter for the political direction of their Country. They elected Prof. Said Saied , a law professor and a constitutional lawyer as their president. In him , they saw a becon of hope and a paragon of virtue. A leader who will return the glory of the cartheges. They saw a bright social , political and economic future. They saw a country where democracy will open and pluralism will lead to create a society that very citizen will live in peace.

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The Tunisians were wrong and damn totally wrong. The former law professor who had never held a political office in his entire life since he has spent it in the legal field and academia is now their worst nightmare. He is now transmogrifyimg himself into an African pariah. He has totally strangled Democracy , freedom of expression. Strangling the Country's constitution and placing more power on himself. Trespassed on the independence of the legislature and judiciary. Abolished the judicial council that protects the security of tenure of the supreme court judges. Purging those judges he feels aren't reading from his script and using the police to suppress the demonstrators and cracking down opposition leaders. The fellow is worse that former strongman President Ben Ali. President Said Saied is asserting a dictatorial , authoritarian and despotic regime. He is taking Tunisia shere it was 11 years ago. Someone who was seen as a beacon of hope , peace and tranquility has now turned against his citizens. He is making their lives unbearable and economically , Tunisia is on the periphery.

The situation in Tunisia got the international community and Africa in general by surprise. It was the last thing Africa was expecting from him since , we hadn't classified him in the same category as that of Presidents Paul Mbiya , Theodore Obiang Nguema , Abdel Fatal Al-Sisi etc. He was classified as a person who will be good for Tunisia and Tunisians in general. There are those who showed him with alot of accolades after winning the presidential elections. They also gave an account and Zero benefit of doubts that , Saied will make a good President for Tunisia. He has now reminded us that , he is in Africa and not in Europe. As an African leader , dictatorship is the only way for one to remain in power and rule for many years as well as amass wealth illegal as your citizens are languishing in abject poverty.

My next stop over is Addis Ababa , Ethiopia. Here , I meet Prime Minister Abbiy Ahmed , an Oromo by ethnic from the region of Oromia. He replaced former PM Hailemariam Desalegn. Ahmed came to power when millions of Ethiopians had lost trust and faith in Desalegn regime. Abbiy won the hearts of many Ethiopians at home and in diaspora. He too was quick to charm the international community. His campaign promises were centred in opening the Country economy and investment , bringing back democracy , resolving a decade long conflict with their northern neighbors Eritrea, creating more job opportunities and uniting all the ethnic communities in Ethiopia. This led in, 2019 , the Norwegian Nobel peace prize to award him that coveted prize based on his campaign promises and not by how he implemented them. The Committee was duped. Now , they have been left with an egg on their faces. They are at pains on whether to revoke it or not. Abbiy has now become a pariah. He has completely negated from the many promises he made to the Ethiopians back in 2018. He has become an incarnate of former dictator Megistu Hailemariam. The Tigray conflict has exposed him big. He is determined to exterminate and obliterate TPLF and Tigrayans from the Ethiopian map. He wants that ethnic community to seize from existing there. Women , children and men who are innocent aren't spared. Blood is in his hands. Someone who presented himself as a prince of peace. Someone who didn't shown character traits of even hurting a housefly now , he has turned himself into another Bokasa in the making. 

Before we accuse former President Uhuru Kenyatta from jettisoning himself from the mediation talks between Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and PM Abbiy Ahmed goverment , there must be something that isn't adding up. The world was shocked when Abbiy attacked a convoy of UN's World Food Programme ( WFP) and Red Cross and other humanitarian organisations taking food aid , medicins and other assortments to the Tigrayans. That showed someone who harbours deep contempt and hatred towards that ethnic Community. Infact , even a rebel group , Oromo Liberation Front which has been fighting the Tigrayan regime in the past are fighting against Ahmed. This is because, he is commiting atrocious and brutal acts against innocent Tigrayan population something they have never done. Abbiy is using innocent civilians from that region as human shield. Since he has been in the military , that's why he has no space for humanity in him. Everytime TPLF asks for a peace settlement , he bombs the innocent civilians. Sad!!!

In the end tail , what I am trying to say is , as Kenyans , we won't judge a book by its cover. It is the leaders actions that should speak for them loudly and not coining hypocritical statements because , what Dr Kangata raided is a hypothetical statement that only time will define whether it is true or not. It is said and a common phrase in Africa , that , if you want to know the true character or a man , give him power. Today , Ruto is the president of Kenya. Much is expected from him. That's inalienable fact and Kenyans are waiting to see what he will do different from his predecessors. Will he open the open the democratic space even further? Will he respect and uphold the constitution he vowed to protect? Time will tell.