Uhuru Kenyatta

Prior to him becoming president, Kenyatta was named as a suspect of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, for planning and funding violence in Naivasha and Nakuru.[53] This was in relation to the violence that followed the bungled national elections of December 2007. In furtherance of his political support for Kibaki's PNU at the time, he was accused of organising a Kikuyu politico-religious group, the Mungiki, in the post-election violence. Overall, the post-election violence of 2007 is said to have claimed about 1300 lives. Uhuru maintained his innocence and wanted his name cleared. On 8 March 2011, while serving as minister in Kibaki's government, he was indicted after being summoned to appear before the ICC pre-trial chamber. He was to appear at The Hague on 8 April 2011 alongside five other suspects.[54] On 29 September 2011, while seeking to exonerate himself, Uhuru Kenyatta put up a spirited fight as he was being cross-examined by ICC Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo in The Hague, denying any links with the outlawed Mungiki sect. He said Prime Minister Raila Odinga should take political responsibility for the acts of violence and killings that followed the 2007 presidential elections in Kenya. He told the three judges that "by telling his supporters election results were being rigged, fanned tensions and then failed to use his influence to quell the violence that followed the announcement of the 2007 presidential results."

Though Uhuru had previously dismissed ICC summons,[55] he changed his decision along the way. Together with his two other co-accused suspects, Head of Civil Service, Ambassador Francis Muthaura and former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali, the trio honoured the ICC Summons that sought to determine whether their cases met the set standards for international trials.[56] On 23 January 2012, the ICC confirmed the cases against Kenyatta and Muthaura although the charges against Muthaura were subsequently dropped.[57] Serious concerns about the case have been raised, particularly the nature of the evidence being used against Kenyatta. There are also serious concerns about witness tampering and indeed, a number of witnesses have disappeared or died,[58] which is the reason cited by the ICC for dropping charges against Mathaura.[59] On a 12 October 2013 speech to the African Union in which he set a belligerent tone, Uhuru accused the ICC of being "a toy of declining imperial powers".[60]

On 31 October 2013, the ICC postponed Kenyatta's trial for crimes against humanity by three months until 5 February 2014 after the defense had requested more time.[61]

On 8 October 2014, Kenyatta appeared before the ICC in The Hague. He was called to appear at the ICC "status conference" when the prosecution said evidence needed to go ahead with a trial was being withheld. In a speech to the Kenyan parliament Kenyatta said that he was going to The Hague in a personal capacity — not as president of the country — so as not to compromise the sovereignty of Kenyans. Kenyatta did not speak in court, but denied the charges in comments to journalists as he left the court to catch a flight back home. "We as Kenyans, we know where we came from, we know where we are going, and nobody will tell us what to do," he said. The judges adjourned the hearings and charges were dropped on 13 March 2015.[62][63][64]

On 17 September 2012, The National Alliance party had its first real test when it contested various civic and parliamentary positions in a by-election that covered 17 seats in total; 3 parliamentary and 14 civic. Overall, 133,054 votes were cast in the by-elections and TNA led the pack after it garnered 38.89% or 51,878 votes, followed by Orange Democratic Movement with 33.7% or 44,837 votes, Party of National Unity with 4.46% or 5,929 votes, Wiper Democratic Movement with 4.44% or 5,912 votes and United Democratic Forum with 4.15% or 5,520 votes.

TNA won civic and parliamentary seats in 7 different counties while its closest challengers, ODM won seats in 4 counties.[67] The National Alliance Party remained a strong contender for the following year's general elections, having received major defections from other big political parties of Kenya. The successful election of TNA's main candidates (Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto) continued to enhance TNA's viability.

In January 2013, however, TNA merged with URP to form the Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP).

There was some discontent with the official results, as would be expected in such a hotly contested election, especially in Raila Odinga's strongholds. The inordinate delay[76] in releasing the results and the technical failure of some safeguards and election equipment deployed by the IEBC did not help the perception that the election had been less than free and fair.[77]

Further, an exit poll conducted by UCSD Professor Clark Gibson and James Long, Asst. Prof. and University of Washington suggested that neither Odinga nor Kenyatta had attained the 50% plus one vote threshold.[78] Analysts have contended that even though elections for five other levels were held in Kenya at the same time, their national turnout levels and total vote tallies were about 16% less than the presidential total; e.g. while 10.6 million voters elected candidates for member of the National Assembly, the Senate and the 47 gubernatorial seats, almost 2 million more voted in the presidential election. This has fueled concern and speculations of vote manipulation in President Kenyatta's favor.[79]

Two groups disputed these results and filed petitions challenging various aspects of it at the Supreme Court of Kenya to contest the result. The groups were the Coalition For Reform and Democracy, CORD, led by Raila Odinga, and the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AFRICOG). Uhuru Kenyatta and his running mate were respondents in these cases and were represented by Fred Ngatia and Katwa Kigen respectively.[80]

The Supreme court judges unanimously upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya's fourth president after rejecting Raila Odinga's petition in a verdict delivered on Saturday 30 March 2013. Chief Justice Willy Mutunga in his ruling said the elections were indeed conducted in compliance with the Constitution and the law.[81]

U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greet President Uhuru Kenyatta in the Blue Room during a U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit dinner at the White House, 5 August 2014.

After the Supreme Court dismissed the petitions the swearing in ceremony was held on 9 April 2013

at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, Nairobi, in accordance to Article 141 (2) (b) of the constitution which stipulates that in case the Supreme Court upholds the victory of the president-elect, the swearing in will take place on "the first Tuesday following the seventh day following the date on which the court renders a decision declaring the election to be valid".[82]

The major challenges his administration faced included high cost of living, rising public debt, a high public wage bill and allegations of corruption among people within his government.[90] The 2017 general election and its violence is also a challenge that threatened not only his presidency but also the future of the East African Nation.

The high public wage was a headache to Uhuru's administration.[91] At the start of his term, the President decried the high wage bill which was at 12% of GDP (as against a recommended 7%).[92] In 2015, the President stated that the wage bill was at 50% of the total annual revenue collection of government.[93] In an attempt to curtail it, the President announced a pay cut for himself and his Cabinet in March 2014, reducing his salary by 20%.[94] It was hoped that the high earners in government would follow suit but this did not materialize.[95] Another measure was the newly created constitutional Salaries and Remuneration Commission which it was hoped would regularize salaries but it has faced an up hill battle against Members of Parliament, who wish to protect their earnings and labor unions.[96][97] The President thereafter ordered an audit of the government payroll so as to flush out ghost workers.[98] The audit identified 12,000 ghost workers.[99] In the meantime, lower cadre government workers have demanded pay rises, more so by teachers and health workers, who have gone on strikes at various times to demand the increase.[100][101] The strikes in the health sector mainly affect the counties, Kenya's other level of government, as it is managed by the devolved units.[102]

Kenyatta at the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, 2015

On 28 June 2018, Kenyatta declared a major crackdown on corruption and stated that no one was immune from corruption charges in Kenya.[103] Kenyatta also stated his own brother Muhoho, a director in a company that had been accused in parliament of importing contraband sugar, should be charged if there is clear evidence against him.[104]

On 11 August 2018, Mohammed Abdalla Swazuri, the chairman of National Land Commission, and Atanas Kariuki Maina, managing director of the Kenya Railways Corporation, were among 18 officials, businesspeople and companies arrested on corruption charges involving land allocation for the $3 billion flagship Nairobi-Mombasa railway.[105] On 7 December 2018, Joe Sang, the CEO of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), was arrested with four other senior officials in connection with the loss of an unspecified amount of money during the construction of an oil jetty in the western city of Kisumu.[106][107] On 22 July 2019, Kenya's finance minister Henry Rotich became the country's first sitting minister to be arrested for corruption.[108] 27 other people were arrested with Rotich as well.[108] On 6 December 2019, federal authorities arrested Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on corruption charges.[109][110][111] On 14 January 2020, Kenyatta replaced Rotich with Labour Secretary Ukur Yatani[112]

On 28 May 2020, a breakthrough in Kenyatta's pledge to combat corruption in Kenya occurred when 40 civil servants and 14 private sector officials, including National Youth Service (NYS) Director General Richard Ndubai, were arrested on charges related to the National Youth Service scandal.[113][114]

On 9 December 2020, it was confirmed by the Kenya News Agency that the National Anti-Corruption Campaign Steering Committee (NACCSC) was in the process of strengthening its collaboration with other crime fighting agencies, including those in Kenyatta's government.[115] The group had National Government Administrative Officers (NGAO) in hopes they would support the County Anti-Corruption Civil Oversight Committee (CACCOC).[115] The day before, Winnie Guchu, who serves in Kenyatta's government as the Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, confirmed in a press conference that she had met with members of CACCOC to strengthen relations.[115] On 11 December 2020, the Kenyan government's Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) released a statement confirming that Robert Pavel Oimeke, the director general of Kenya's Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, was arrested and taken into police custody on charges of demanding 200,000 Kenyan shillings ($1,795) to approve the re-opening of a petrol station that had been shut down over violations.[116] On 21 December 2020, Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Benson Mutura replaced Sonko, who was removed from office four days prior, as Governor of Nairobi.[117]

In October 2021, his name appeared in the Pandora Papers, among more than 330 current and former politicians and senior officials using hidden accounts in tax havens. He and six family members, including his mother, a brother and two sisters, have at least $30 million in several offshore companies. He also owns a secret 'foundation' in Panama, holding over $30 million.[118]

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, and Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia to discuss the situation in South Sudan at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on 5 August 2014.

U.S. President Donald Trump with President Kenyatta in Washington, D.C., on 27 August 2018

As the President, Kenyatta'a foreign relations were dominated by the ICC question.[119] His relations with the West were expected to be cold, more so after the West warned Kenyans not to elect him as president.[120] The United Kingdom promised to have only essential contacts with him if he were elected.[121] However, his relationship with the West thawed significantly and he participated in the US — Africa summit[122] as well as a Somalia summit in the United Kingdom.[123] The ICC accused his government of frustrating its investigation efforts into the case,[124] although it absolved the President personally of any involvement in the frustration.[125]

His activities, however, were more robust at the African level where he has pushed more intra-Africa trade and economic independence of African nations.[126] In November 2014, he launched consultations to reform the United Nations Security Council to expand the voice of Africa in the council.[127] He successfully rallied the AU against the ICC culminating in an Extraordinary Summit of the African Heads of State which resolved that sitting African Heads of State should not appear before the ICC.[128] The AU further asked the Security Council to suspend his trial at the ICC; for the first time ever, the Security Council resolution was defeated by abstention with 9 members of the Council abstaining rather than voting against so as not to offend Kenyatta.[129] The Assembly of State Parties of the ICC would two days later amend the ICC statute to allow for one to appear by video link, a proposal President Kenyatta had made when he was Deputy Prime Minister.[130]

Kenyatta led and negotiated peace agreements in South Sudan[131] and in Democratic Republic of Congo.[132] At the East African level, he developed a close relationship with the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Rwanda President Paul Kagame, creating the Coalition of the Willing, a caucus within the EAC[133] that has signed on to more joint development and economic agreements than the other EAC partners, including a joint tourist visa.

He attended the funeral of Nelson Mandela and was received warmly by the crowds.[134] He also attended the funeral of President Michael Sata of Zambia in November 2014. However, it had been perceived that his administration's relations with Botswana were strained due to Botswana's support of the ICC process. He visited Botswana to remove this perception and Botswana voted in favor of the AU's ICC Resolution.[135]

As expected, his government had closer ties with China which was funding most of his infrastructure projects.[136]

President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta with the British Foreign Secretary William Hague at an international conference in London (May 2013)

•  Kenya:
  • Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya

•  Barbados:
  • Honorary Member of the Order of Freedom of Barbados (FB) (6 October 2021)[148][149]
•  Namibia:
  • First Class of the Order of the Most Ancient Welwitschia mirabilis (21 March 2019)[150]
•  Serbia:
  • Order of the Republic of Serbia, Second Class (2016)[151]
•  Burundi:
  • National Order of the Republic (7 July 2022)[152]

• 2013, Youngest Kenyan President, Guinness World Records
• 2015, Africa's President of the Year 2014–2015, African Union
• 2015, ICTs in Sustainable Development Award, International Telecommunication Union[153]
• 2017, Most Severe Plastic Bag Penalty, Guinness World Records[154]
• 2017, Mandela Peace Prize, Mandela Institute of Paris
• 2018, Babacar Ndiaye Award, Africa Road Builders[155]
• 2018, World 1st Blue Economy Conference Award, African Union Commission[156]
• 2019, Political Leadership award for universal health coverage, African Union Access Challenge
• 2022, African Gender Award, African Union[157]