WANJURAH: Let leaders be, their pasts are glaring!

Two incidents that are currently occupying British politics have potential lessons on the wisdom of letting sleeping dogs lie for Kenyans.

Both are about the peccadillos of a distant past by politicians. In the first incident, David Cameron, the Prime Minister, is accused of indulging a pig in a vulgar act as a part of an initiation ritual to a secretive campus society. The second is of a graver nature and involves a yet-undisclosed politician who is alleged to have been part of a teenage sex pest gang that defiled young girls.

Cameron minders have so far declined to officially comment on the ‘revelations’ by his confidant-turned-bitter-foe, Lord Ashcroft. But a British newspaper, quoting an ally of the Prime Minister, said Downing Street was not overly bothered by the lurid allegations. Apparently, the only learnt lesson for Cameron is that from now henceforth, he cannot afford to be seen holding a pig or looking at it with, well, keen interest!

The other guy is promising to move heaven and earth to prove his innocence. But at least one victim has waived her right to privacy, and if her recollections are anything to go by, then an epic legal battle is in the offing. Members of the rape gang reportedly grew up to be worthies in society with a judge and five senior government officials said to be among its graduates.

Were Kenyans to dig into the teenage and college lives of their politicians, the country would either have to call for snap elections or set up a truth and reconciliation commission. Or perhaps in typical Kenyan fashion, there will be consensual inaction because all tribes and political parties will be well represented.

At a workshop on human rights organised by Kibisu Kabatesi in the late 90s (yes he used to do such things before converting to MM political gospel), yours truly shared an evening with a young man who was aspiring to be the MP for Mukuruwe-Ini Constituency.

Then, like now, he was an animated speaker who tended to let his hands do most of the talking with exaggerated gestures. That particular evening, he was regaling his bar audience with recollections of his own campus life.

There happened to have been this particularly beautiful lady he liked. She apparently also liked him, or so he imagined. One day, they found themselves alone on an evening the lady was wearing a short dress that showed lots of flesh when she sat down. In his own words, the lad checked his palms, and having established beyond any doubt that they were free of nettles, thorns or nails, placed one of it on the lady’s thigh, first hesitantly, and then with the firmness of lust.

She went quiet for a few seconds. He read this to be game on and so he laid his now sweaty other palm on her second thigh. But what followed was a stinging slap, a sharp rebuke for indecent contact and the lady took off!

The now not-so-young man whose dream for Mukurwe-Ini has since come to pass swore the incident taught him long-lasting lessons on respecting women and the wisdom in not pushing friendship boundaries.

But can you imagine the number of skeletons in the closet that peeping into our leaders’ student days would unearth? Perhaps, it would also be manifestly unfair. Isn’t student life essentially a period of licensed debauchery? Of course there are few exceptions such as Danson Mungatana, who in his early Parliamentary life, used to swear he left campus and married while still a virgin!

Deputy President William Ruto was also reportedly a staunch Christian Union leader who presumably turned more bible pages than girls’ hearts.

When Uhuru Kenyatta first declared his interest in the presidency in 2002, one Peter Odoyo threatened to spill the beans on what the KANU candidate allegedly did in his US student days.  The backlash was fast and furious. Perhaps there were some uncomfortable truths. But then, Uhuru was in Amherst and not a monastery or some ascetic hamlet, and as a son of former President, presumably with enough cash to paint the town red.

Similar controversies routinely emerge over Raila Odinga’s college days. In his case, there isn’t even consensus on which college he attended or even whether he attended one – at least in the conventional ways. But so what? Unless the alleged act is egregious enough – such as rape or sex crime – we should live and let live.

The memories of college and youth life shenanigans should be rightfully abandoned in their distant past. Unless in a vote for a college union leader, why does it matter today what a guy did with a dead pig or a live snake 20 or more years ago?

wanjurah.j@gmail.com