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| President Uhuru Kenyatta. (Photo/Facebook) |
For starters, whataboutery or whataboutism, is the technique or practice of responding to an accusation or difficult question by making a counter-accusation or raising a different issue.
It is a logical fallacy that attempts to discredit an opponent's position by charging them with hypocrisy without directly refuting or disapproving their argument.
Whataboutism, Wikipedia documents, was particularly associated with Soviet propaganda machinery when criticisms were leveled against the defunct communist superpower during the Cold War. The Soviet response would often be "What about ..." followed by referencing an event or situation in the Western world.
According to Russian writer Garry Kasparov, it is a word that was coined to describe the frequent use of a rhetorical diversion by Soviet apologists and dictators, who would counter charges of their oppression, 'massacres, gulags, and forced deportations' by invoking American slavery , racism , lynchings, etc.
So, as you may have already realized, whataboutery is among the tools despots and dictators employ to counter a well-intentioned debate like the 'hustler versus dynasty' narrative in a desperate attempt to score points, if any.
Yes, President Uhuru Kenyatta and his fellow demagogue, ODM leader Raila Odinga, having realized that it will be an uphill task for them to counter DP William Ruto's dynasty-hustler rallying call, have resorted to a dangerous and vitriolic rhetoric of a rotational presidency, not based on meritocracy, but ethnocracy.
With the latter, the deep state hopes it can be able to dissuade Kenyans from making Ruto's 2022 State House ambition a reality.
Even though it is a weak whataboutery, considering that Kenyans have since gotten tired of useless and divisive politics of ethnicity, UhuRaila's rhetoric still has a great potential of sliding Kenya into a political abyss similar or much worse to that of 2007 (41 against 1). Coincidentally, it was hatched by the same Raila, Uhuru's new-found bedfellow.
What anyone would have expected of a responsible president to do even at his lame-duck period, is to abandon his frivolous and doomed BBI project and begin addressing Kenya's widespread economic inequalities which form the basis of Ruto's dynasty-hustler narrative.
However, aware that tribal politics are at the nerve centre of Kenya's political equation, he and Raila are fast to capitalize on it without considering the dangerous consequences it may have to the country as 2022 edges closer. But it is doomed to fail!
If Uhuru, who has been speaking from both sides of his mouth about the so-called building bridges, truly believes that the tribal debate he has ignited is what we should be debating then he should do two things first.
One, save Kenyans from the expensive, unsolicited BBI balderdash because he will have no moral authority left to preach to us about the so-called buiding bridges, while at the same time pushing for a divisive tribal agenda.
Two, he should resign the presidency and hand it over to a non-Kikuyu/Kalenjin tribe. How he is able to do that constitutionally is none of my concerns. After all he has shown us that he doesn't give a hoot about the rule of law. Or isn't he the third Kikuyu President?
It is only after Uhuru do the two things stated above, that Kenyans can take him seriously. Otherwise, his whataboutery to Ruto's dynasty-hustler debate, is and will remain to be empty populist rhetoric destined to nowhere!