The best leader for Kenya could be hidden among the despised lot

Some 2,000 years ago in Rome lived a man called Claudius. He was extremely overweight, he limped, he was sickly and he stuttered. Even his wife was so embarrassed of him she jeered and made fun of him.

Claudius sought solace in mediocre academia as he wasn’t intelligent. But a twist of fate would, however, make Claudius emperor.

On assuming leadership, he would, unimaginably, expand the Roman Empire in a way never done before, from Europe to North Africa. Despite his harsh upbringing, he became a benevolent ruler and the economy prospered. He did more than expand the empire; he allowed slaves to become full citizens and let the downtrodden became senators. That was unthinkable!

But despite his power, Claudius’s life was fragile and had been plagued by disloyalty by those he often assumed friends and relatives. He had his wife executed for disloyalty. When he announced that he wanted to remarry, all the women of Rome sought to be his wife because of his newfound power and wealth. Strangely, he chose to marry his niece Agropina.

Agropina had steely resolve and was conniving, of questionable character, masculine and would dominate her husband. She had a boy from a previous marriage known as Nero. She also had a “close” relationship with another man known as Seneca. She would wickedly convince Claudius to turn back on his children from the previous marriage, who were the designated heirs, and make his stepson Nero heir to the throne. Agropina’s only next obstacle was her husband.

She used an eunuch (people then assumed eunuchs to be harmless, often to their peril) in the palace whose job was to taste the emperor’s food and also incorporated his own (his very own) physician to poison him. Nero ascended to the throne.

Even in our own land, where some are ambitiously plotting for power in 2022, we do not know the twist of fate that may portend.

A Claudius could be in the making. It might be someone not yet noticed in the current political scene that fate will prop up to the highest political seat, which could change our land forever. I call it the “black swan” lurking in our midst.

We need to give a chance to the unknown, un-moneyed. They, like Claudius, may now limp but have the vision to push us to the next level. The person may not be of our blood or tribe (Claudius was betrayed by his own niece). Let’s cast our tribal chauvinism and rivalry aside and smell the coffee. Agropina also ended getting killed by her very own son.

Nero would in his reign carry out mass terror and genocide of Christians and other Romans.

A Claudius will request your vote in 2022; he is not a political front-runner and doesn’t hold any position of power. Give him or her a chance? It’s in your power.