President Uhuru Kenyatta. PHOTO | FILE
By GEORGE OMONDI
In Summary
President Uhuru Kenyatta
Just eight months to the next polls, President Uhuru
Kenyatta is a man struggling with the burden of incumbency. He romped to
power about four years ago on the promise of — among other things —
spearheading a digital revolution and modernising agriculture.
He has made some progress. The government has
digitised a lot of services. His pet laptop project is being piloted.
The promise to put one million acres of land under irrigation however
remains a distant mirage. Only 0.003 per cent of the one million acres
that he pledged to irrigate in Galana-Kulalu has been put under crop.
He has only covered half the distance in his
promise to pull down electricity cost from Sh20 to Sh10 per kilowatt
hour. His big bet on infrastructure projects has pushed public debt to
record levels.
He will be asking Kenyans to elect him for the
second term in August. While he remains the opinion polls’ favourite,
critics see his administration as one that has been riddled with
allegations of high-profile corruption, some of them affecting his close
associates.
His crackdown on civil society groups ahead of
polls has also raised eyebrows. The eight months ahead are particularly
crucial as he strives to change the image of his government amid threats
of industrial strikes and ethnic division.
Raila Odinga, Cord leader
In spite of the stint served in the Moi and Kibaki
governments, the former prime minister easily comes across as an
intransigent oppositionist. As de facto leader of the opposition, Mr
Odinga has been keen to score quick points by rejecting nearly every
government initiative.
Supporters regard him as one man who has fairly
done his bit in keeping the Jubilee administration on its toes. When he
is not opening a lid on major corruption scandals, he is leading street
demonstrations to force the government to a negotiation table.
Though it is still not clear whether he’ll be the
Opposition’s joint candidate, Mr Odinga is definitely a man to watch in
2017. Opinion polls suggest he is currently trailing President Kenyatta
in the race to State House.
His supporters think he is the most experienced of
the opposition leaders to deliver the presidency. The next eight months
will be crucial for Mr Odinga as he leads the push for free and fair
elections from outside Parliament.
Pundits believe his action with regard to
contentious electoral laws can either tone down the political tension or
aggravate it ahead of polls.
Justice David Maraga, Chief Justice
Justice Maraga has been the country’s Chief Justice
for four months but expectations are rising as the New Year begins.
Kenyans expect him to clear a backlog of cases that has chocked the
judicial system and help improve Kenya’s Doing Business ranking.
Special attention, however, turns to his role as
president of the Supreme Court. With a closely fought election in the
offing — and with an opposition coalition that has questioned the
integrity of the electoral process — he could as well end up as the
final arbiter should IEBC fail to determine the winner. He will be
exactly one year old in office by that time.
During his interview for the job, Justice Maraga
hinted at his desire to cut the workload of the highest court in the
land. He said the Supreme Court under his stewardship will only handle
presidential petitions, leaving the Court of Appeal to resolve
gubernatorial, senatorial, parliamentary and ward election disputes.
“Otherwise, petitioners can just drag us for the entire life
of Parliament,” he told the interview panel set up by the Judicial
Commission Service. To come out of the electoral process unscathed, he
needs to win the trust of both sides of the political divide.
Ezra Chiloba, IEBC Chief Executive
The heightened political activity in the run up to
next year’s elections presents a huge risk to the business community. If
Kenya is to avoid the kind of skirmishes touched off by past elections,
voters must have confidence in the ability of the Independent Electoral
and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to deliver credible elections next
year.
In the absence of commissioners, Mr Chiloba, head
of the IEBC secretariat, is the man to watch. Just eight months to
elections and the Opposition appears to oppose plans that he has put in
place to deliver elections.
Procurement of key materials is yet to commence at
the IEBC over claims of underhand dealings. The court has stopped a
tender awarded to advisory firm KPMG to audit the voter register.
Without doubt, Mr Chiloba has a full in-tray as he
awaits the new commissioners. How they navigate the storm ahead will
determine how election outcomes are viewed.
Amina Mohamed, Foreign affairs and international trade secretary
Mrs Mohamed is obviously a person to watch in the
year ahead. Kenya has nominated her to replace Dr Nkosazana Dlamini
Zuma of South Africa as the next chairperson of the African Union
Commission.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William
Ruto, have taken the front seat in pushing her election bid. South
Africa as well as blocs such as the East African Community and Comesa
have also endorsed her for the position.
She is arguably Kenya’s most decorated woman
working in public office. During the short stint she has served as
Foreign Affairs secretary, she has literally been on top of her game.
Should she clinch the AUC job she will be expected
to lead efforts to promote unity within the continent even as she
cultivates solidarity among African states. She will be the woman to
watch whenever member states gather to coordinate their development
efforts.
Above all, the job would make her the go-to person
whenever issues of safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity of
any member state crops up.
Whether she has the mettle to confront the
presidential term limit that has been a major talking point in the
continent is another issue.
Patrick Njoroge, CBK Governor
This is the first full year for the banking sector
regulator to test the efficacy of a law that controls interest rates.
The year 2017 is therefore set to test his mettle to apply the law that
favours the consumer but threatens thousands of jobs in the banking
industry.
With election-linked political volatility and drought
expected in the early part of the year, it remains to be seen how Dr
Njoroge uses monetary instruments to boost economic stability.
2017 will also be the year when bankers and bank
customers will be watching to see how he navigates the controversies
that have arisen out of a number of banks that he put under
receivership.
Lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi has already asked the
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate Dr Njoroge over
abuse of office claims arising from his handling of Dubai, Imperial and
Chase banks which he placed under receivership.
Michael Joseph, KQ board Chairman
The next six months represent the do or die period
for Kenya Airways. The company’s executives had in the run up to the
June budget asked for one year to return the business to profitability.
With the pending exit of current CEO Mbuvi Ngunze, Michael Joseph is the
man at the helm.
He not only has the immediate task of overseeing a
transition but also to restore the ‘‘pride’’ of the national carrier. He
has already intimated about his wish to hire an expatriate aviation
expert for the job. “I honestly do not think we have a local person with
the experience we are looking for,” he said.
The team he puts together has to inspire confidence
in order to persuade Sh60 billion bailout cash out of government
coffers. Above all, eyes are on him as the yet to be reconstituted board
begins to re-negotiate what can pass as a symbiotic partnership with
Dutch airline KLM.
Donald Trump, US President-elect
Kenya’s commercial and diplomatic relationship with
the US is headed for a radical change as President Barrack Obama’s term
ends this month. Mr Trump moves into the White House on January 20.
He has indicated his intention to do away with most
of his predecessor’s policies. At stake is the African Growth and
Opportunity Act (Agoa) which was extended for 10 years by the Obama
administration in September 2015.
The Trump administration could initiate amendments
to the law. His buy-America-Build-America clarion call threatens the
Agoa exports and also business process outsourcing that has taken route
in a number of developing states.
It also remains to be seen whether Mr Trump will
still be keen to follow through Obama’s $20 billion Power Africa project
which seeks to improve access to electricity in the continent.
Kenya will also be curious to see whether Mr Trump
retains US’ financing of Kenya’s counter terrorism operations, food
security and health.
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