The news that Kenya is slipping in governance rankings published by Mo Ibrahim's foundation, read together with the statements made by Martha Karua (Narc-K, Gichugu), should compel Kenyans to re-think their stances on the vexed question of the kinds of leaders we allow to stand for elections. The recent elections of Margaret Wanjiru (ODM, Starehe), William Kabogo (Narc-K, Juja) and Gidion Mbuvi (Narc-K, Makadara) are instructive if only for the fact that these candidates spent millions, perhaps hundreds of millions, of shillings to secure victory at the bye-elections. The sources of their campaign funds remain a mystery and this is reason enough for Kenyans to interrogate the role that political parties play in nominating men and women to stand for elective office.
Martha Karua writes, "Whereas a political party cannot be expected to answer questions about its candidate’s source of funds, such questions must be asked of all candidates and all leaders." We should all question the idea that a political party cannot demand information regarding the source of political campaign funds of its candidates. To surmise that the reason is that the relevant laws have yet to be passed is the height of buck-passing. Parliament is not responsible for the management of the affairs of political parties; party officials, of which Hon. Karua is one, are. She is solely responsible for giving the nod for her successful candidates to stand for elections. She made the conscious decision to allow them to have their names put forward under the Narc-Kenya brand and she basked in their glory. She stood shoulder to shoulder with the winning candidates when they were sworn in as MPs by the Speaker of the National Assembly. In short, she is intimately involved with the decision to permit these 'businessmen' to stand for election. Or she should be.
The requirement that officials of a political party should not be serving members of the government, that is, they should not belong to any of the three branches of government is long overdue. The corruption that is endemic in government is partly as a consequence of party officials doing everything in their power to leverage their positions of power and responsibility in government to raise funds for their political parties (and themselves), especially around election time. Politicians in Kenya have made an art form out of the use of money in place of speech to inspire their supporters. When MPs and other government officials exempted from paying taxes on their allowances were informed that they would have to do so, they protested vociferously claiming, among other things, that their salaries and allowances were used in satisfying the myriad personal needs of their constituents including paying for funerals and school fees of the less fortunate members of their constituencies. Not one of them suggested that the reason they had been elected to Parliament was so that they could work hand in hand with the Executive to reduce their constituents' dependency on hand-outs from politicians and other philanthropists. Indeed, the National Assembly, in the form of the Speaker, came out strongly against the suggestion, accepted by some of its members, that MPs must pay taxes on all their earnings stating that until a law is enacted to compel them to do so, they would have to abstain. Does anyone believe that these MPs will permit the publication of a Bill that seeks to reduce the amount of money available to them at the end of the month?
The Iron Lady of Kenyan Politics is fast losing credibility. One has to admire her zeal in pursuing the presidency come 2012. However, this is not enough. She must separate herself from the pack of hyenas that are running besides her and declare unequivocally that she is against all forms of political corruption. She must admit that she was not in charge when Mike Sonko was nominated by Narc-K for the Makadara bye-election. Alternatively, she should admit that the difference between her and her fellow-competitors is that she is female. In all other respects, she is one of 'the boys'.
Hon. Mbuvi has declared his intention to stand for the Nairobi Senate seat in 2012. Does this reflect the wishes and priorities of the Flower Party? In the 2 years that he will serve as Makadara's representive, is he confident that he will have achieved his dreams for the resident's of Makadara so much so that he should offer to represent the entire Counrty come 2012 and does the chairman of his party share his bold ambition and vision? Martha Karua has the right to defend the reputation of her party, but she should not think that we are blind to the machinations she is engineering to secure victory come 2012. Gone are the days when Kenyans would be cowed by strongly worded letters to the editor. This is our time and we will be damned if we allow our politicians to deprive us of the right and opportunity to comment, however unfavourably, on the manipulations that are being perpetrated against us. Like PLO Lumumba may put it, the forest may have changed but the monkeys remain the same. Change or suffer the wrath of our pens!
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