The world on Thursday woke up to news of South Africa's President Jacob Zuma's resignation.
Zuma was one of President Uhuru Kenyatta's close friends in the international diplomatic circles.
Interestingly, Kenyatta had recently visited his South African peer ahead of a planned state visit whose fate now hangs in the balance.
Zuma's exit, however, adds on to the list of Kenyatta's allies in the international world who have recently lost power or are on the verge of losing it.
In May 2016, then South Korean President Park Geun-hye visited Nairobi.
While the visit was mainly for diplomatic reasons, it was also personal since Geun-hye's father Park Chung-hee, who served as South Korean President from 1963 to 1979, had been a great friend to Jomo Kenyatta.
A year after the visit, Uhuru's friend had already been bundled out of office on claims of corruption. Incidentally, it was in the same year that Zuma made a state visit which Uhuru had planned to reciprocate later in 2018.
A month after the South Korean President had visited, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu In the same year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a historic state visit to Kenya (first one by an Israeli head of state).
Netanyahu would demonstrate his friendship with Uhuru when he attended the Kenyan President's inauguration in November 2017.
Three months later, the Israeli strongman is on his way out of office after the Israel Police Israel Police this week recommended his indictment for bribery and breach of trust in two cases.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey similarly paid President Kenyatta a visit in 2016 but was lucky to survive a daring coup that came only a month after his Nairobi tour.
Also in the list of Uhuru's disgraced friends is Zimbabwean octogenarian Robert Mugabe who visited Nairobi in August 2016. Late last year, he was recently unceremoniously hounded of office after more than thirty years in power.
While all these international incidents could be coincidences, the Swahili were not mistaken when they advised: "ukiona mwenzako anyolewa, chako tia maji".
As President Uhuru prepares his second term, he would do well to learn from the mistakes of his disgraced friends who were tainted with claims of corruption and dictatorship - accusations that he likewise faces.
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The writer is a political commentator.
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