The Science And Art of Managing The Political Transition In Kenya

Seven weeks have passed since we held the national elections. Of course, another month was spent around the Supreme Court. We have a cabinet but the state departments under Principal Secretaries are yet to be filled in through substantive appointments.

What makes this particular transition interesting is the fact that the government-backed side lost the presidency. This makes it clear that nearly all top positions will be filled by new people.

Several things must be considered.

First, the generals of the winning campaign must be considered. They come in many forms.  The potency in their ability to command a constituency of voters is a reality that must be accommodated. And closely following this is the technical team behind the scripting and research. Are they the dark room type who are to be felt but not seen in public or are they also able to hold their own space and stake a claim on a piece of the national cake?

We then have public reactions to the appointments to face. If a certain critical constituency feels shortchanged, then they will voice it and must be accommodated in the matrix of political power play.

In the current setup, the president comes from the political Nandi hotbed, a community that made its presence felt in colonial Africa when the British could not penetrate Nandi country via rail to Uganda. They offered the greatest and longest resistance to British rule anywhere the empire expanded.

But only after Koitalel Samoei's murder by the British did progress in favor of the colonial power materialize. The Nandi have voiced themselves on radio and have indicated that the president is the symbol of national unity and as such, is there for all and not exclusively for the Nandi, they need their own in the cabinet having contributed the most votes in two counties facing trying cosmopolitan challenges.

The science here is in the numbers, and they don't lie. The art is in the considerations relied on in rewarding the campaign time generals who were indisputably loyal. In politics, loyalty supersedes numbers. So, we are set to see if science shall prevail over art.

Several other regions have staked their claim to a seat at the high table and are equally agitated. Some candidates that never made it in gubernatorial races feel that their numbers for the winning team helped get the mandatory 25%+ threshold in swing vote counties. They are now in the cold staring at five uncomfortable years in political Siberia.

We are in the thick of the woods economically as has been analyzed at length by experts. The government must have turn-around experts who never brought the political numbers but will help bring the much-needed economy resuscitating numbers. This aspect will make expectant regions miss out on their anticipated slot entitlements.

In the midst of all these, the charisma and promises that glued together a formidable team must be sustained. The picture of what was sold to the team must not vary from the picture on the wall after the conquest.

We have covered the immediate situation.

How about strange bedfellows glued together by the need to defeat what was billed as the assembly of the dynasties? With that now achieved, was there extra glue to keep them through the journey?

Will the new team put in place a dependable dispute resolution mechanism at the backend to ensure that government operations run smoothly? Will raw ambitions for high office by those who needed just that one step higher in the pecking order be contained quietly or will the famous words: "it will be noisy, messy and painful", come to pass?

Finally, you have a very expectant electorate to contend with. When will they access the millions of acres of land promised alongside the hustler fund? The electorate will oscillate between science and art depending on what tickles or pinches them.

The unlucky side had promised the electorate a free ride to Canaan. The winning side promised something akin to New Canaan, a place where dreams and real freedom come true. Will the team in transition settle down to commence the transition to New Canaan? The next few weeks will give us those clues. All the best in putting together an effective government Mr. President. We are watching keenly.