Five things that will happen in 2021
2020 is behind us.
Here comes 2021.
Kenyans will be hoping for better fortunes this year but that ain’t a given, considering lessons from 2020 despite a promising start.
And while we cannot tell the future, we can, at the very least, attempt to predict it.
This is what’s is likely to happen this year.
1. Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto to go separate ways.
The next general elections will take place in just under 20 months, and it is increasingly looking like President Uhuru Kenyatta will not back his Deputy William Ruto to succeed him as he’d earlier promised. But Ruto appears determined to become the country’s next Commander in Chief, with or without his boss’s blessings.
This sets the stage for a political fallout between the pair. Our hope is that if or when the divorce comes, it will not be noisy and messy.
2. Kenyans to shine at the Olympics.
All matters remaining constant, the Olympic Games will be held in Tokyo come August. These Games, the biggest in the world, were pushed from last year after the coronavirus pandemic struck. As always expect Kenyan athletes to dominate the middle and long-distance races at the competition, including the men and women marathon. The Ethiopians and Ugandans will offer Kenyan athletes stiff competition but it won’t matter. The pride of Africa in athletics, as Kenyans have always been known, will remain. That said, our hope is that the government and sports administrators will enable team Kenya athletes prepare well for the event.
3. Harambee Stars continue to disappoint.
Not much should be expected from Kenya’s national football team. That’s partly because Harambee Stars have consistently disappointed on the pitch in recent times. The team was booted out of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt at the first hurdle. And last year, the side lost to lowly Comoros, a result that complicates its chances of qualifying for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
The 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers are around the corner, with Stars pooled against Mali, Uganda, and Rwanda but with a consistent change in coaches and squabbling among officials not much is expected.
4. The ‘new normal’ to continue
The coronavirus is not going anywhere, atleast not now. The pandemic could, infact, if now carefully managed, get worse, amid reports of a new wave in England and South Africa.
The government has put in place a raft of measures to contain the disease and stop the wave. But that may not be enough yet. With schools opening and life having to move on expect the new normal, with people moving around in masks, social distancing, curfews, etcetra.
5. BBI to sail through
The Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) will pass through via a referendum. The initiative has the support of both outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga and there is no way it will not be successful whichever way you look at it. Deputy President William Ruto has called for an uncontested referendum, complete with multiple choices, but he may or may not get his wish. It appears, for now, that, indeed, nobody will stop reggae.