Kabs Kanu takes an in-depth look at the Kenyan charade
Social media is buzzing like a busy beehive as indications sink in that President Maada Bio may not have been invited to Nairobi to attend the inauguration of the new President of Kenya, Mr. William Rutto. Standing publicly on the podium, acknowledging and thanking the invited heads of state who were in attendance, the new Kenya president made no mention of President Bio from Sierra Leone.
It was after he had finished and was addressing the nation that somebody came and informed him that President Bio of Sierra Leone was at the program but his name had not been mentioned. Surprisingly, the Kenya president did not apologize that he had mistakenly omitted the name of one of his invited guests. Rather, he apologized for not seemingly knowing that there were other guests, including the Sierra Leone President, Maada Bio.
PRESIDENT BIO BATTLING SHAME AND EMBARRASSMENT
The fact that I worked as a diplomat in a very senior capacity for 9 years makes it even more possible for me to spot out the anomaly and shame . I know how the system works.
Protocol officially compiles all the names of invited guests to such a big occasion . There is no way they could have omitted President Bio’s name from the list the President read from if he was invited. The president does not write his own speech. It is not one person that writes the president’s speech. It is team work. Even we at the UN Mission in New York also used to do the compilation and help in writing of the speeches. Bra, cuss me all you want but this is shameful. How could the new president have omitted to mention President Bio’s name while reading the list of invited guests from his speech ?
And look at what the President said: he did not say he omitted to mention President Bio’s name. If he did, he could and should have apologized because it is a grave protocol and diplomatic blunder . The new president rather said he had just been informed that “our friend and brother from Sierra Leone ” also attended . Why did he not say “I omitted to mention the name of an important person we invited ” ? And then he went on and completely mispronounced President Bio’s name.
I worked for the Foreign Affairs in a very senior capacity for 9 years and we here in New York, State House and the Foreign Ministry in Freetown worked together in everything, even in preparing statements, speeches and talking points of the president and misters . We made sure that the talking points were well produced and rehearsed to avoid blunders etc. How could we have prepared a presidential statement and completely omitted one of the names of the invited presidents ? Somebody here or in Freetown would have picked it up that the names were incomplete.
We received special training on our appointments about how to make sure that we did everything right in protocol and diplomacy. We were taught that in diplomacy, you cannot even say mistakes are negligible because even a 1% mistake would hurt the president or the country. Rather, we were told ” mistakes were a no no. No mistakes. Not a single nuance that would raise any red flag “. Nothing. I am sure other governments gave their State House and Foreign ministries the same training on protocol.
This is a big embarrassment to our country and there is no way to patch it up through the usual propaganda. And the Kenya president did not even treat Bio with respect during his explanation. He treated our President just like a common guest. I am sure the cocktail will taste bitter in President Bio’s mouth today.
And let me tell you who will take issue and be hurt most : The wife. Wives do not take lightly their husbands being slighted in public , let alone be embarrassed . Whenever we go out, my wife quickly notices if I have been disrespected even in a speech where my name is mentioned and she demands immediate correction. When somebody fit to be my daughter repeatedly referred to me as Kabs , she had somebody go to remind the speaker immediately to refer to me as either Rev. KABS Kanu or Mr. Kabs Kanu. That is what wives do. They get hurt more when the husband is not treated right.
The whole incident should be investigated by both the Kenya and Sierra Leone State Houses , if SLPP spin masters ( and mistresses ) are absolutely sure that the President was really officially invited. There was a major goof somewhere. The Kenya President was not aware that President Bio attended his inauguration.
The new Kenya President did not help matters when he tried to rectify the snub. He should have apologized that he did not name one of his invited guests. Saying that he has just been told that President Bio too was present was very disrespectful to our president and our country. He said it as if he did not know that President Bio was invited.
Poor SLPP spin masters and mistresses. You are ruling an intelligent Sierra Leone at a new era when knowledge and understanding have increased due to a combination of Information Technology and social media. The intelligence of our people has become sharper than normal and today people read even body languages , tones of voices and even nuances of statements. This is no longer the old era of passive participants. Today, everybody, even the palm wine tapper at Leymbema Village, is an active participant in the decoding of social media communication and nuances . You can no longer fool even him.
President Bio endured a very embarrassing day in Kenya today . People would seem inclined to believe from the interpretation of what happened at the Kenya stadium that the name of an uninvited guest was forced to be mentioned in the presidential introduction of the invited guests.
LATER IN THE NIGHT, SLPP SPINMASTERS AND MISTRESSES CAME UP WITH WHAT THEY SAID WAS THE INVITATION LETTER SENT BY PRESIDENT RUTO TO PRESIDENT BIO. HOWEVER, IT TURNED OUT THAT THE LETTER WAS FORGED. THE SIGNATURE OF PRESIDENT RUTO ON THE INVITATION LETTER IS DIFFERENT FROM THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICIAL SIGNATURE. SOMEBODY OBVIOUSLY FORGED THE LETTER, PUTTING PRESIDENT BIO IN MORE SHAME AND EMBARRASSMENT.
