If this were the United States of America, presidential aspirants would be setting up campaign offices in the 50 states, putting together campaign staffs, identifying potential donors, and gearing themselves up to contest nominations from the various parties. If you believe the USA has only two parties, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, you will not be the only one. Barack Obama started running for the US presidency as soon as it appeared that the nation was ripe for a black president. He ran what has been acknowledged globally to have been a disciplined campaign, not allowing stumbles to prevent him from seeing the big picture. When he captured the Democratic Party nomination in the winter of 2007, not even John McCain could have predicted that Barack Obama would win with such a commanding mandate.
Kenya goes to the polls in the second Tuesday of August (or is it December?) 2012. The intervening period should be used by the aspirants to establish themselves as potential presidents. However, given the fluid nature of the political parties we have now, it is anticipated that they will seriously start campaigning only in the latter half of 2012. So far, Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, Martha Karua, Uhuru Kenyatta, Bifwoli Wakoli, Eugene Wamalwa, Moses Wetangula, William Ruto, and George Saitoti have declared their intention to stand for the Presidency in 2012. None, however, has began laying the ground work for a successful stab at the presidency. Instead, all are concentrating in cutting the legs from under their potential opponents, using their high offices as weapons to undermine their rivals in the hope that by the time the elections are held, they will be the last men (or woman) standing.
The Constitution and the Political Parties Act envisage a situation where the political parties are professionally run, professionally and transparently funded, and where they give the ordinary rank-and-file members an opportunity to weigh in on the potential candidates. If it had been the USA, a series of party primaries would be held between ow and the end of the year to nominate candidates for the various offices under the Constitution. This being Kenya, a facade, instead, will be perpetrated to hoodwink ordinary Kenyans that they have had a say in the manner in which candidates have been nominated to stand for elections. The fiasco that was the 2007 elections was marred partially by the fact that the so-called primaries held by the main parties were anything but democratic. Many of the members of the top organs of these parties have had spectacular falling outs and it is a toss-up that the parties that went to the polls in 2007 will be in existence in 2012.
Again, in the United Sates, the Democrats and Republicans are easily identifiable. The Republicans are the party of God, Guns and against Gays. The Democrats are the party of Big Government, believing that the Federal Government is a force for social change and should be used to level the playing field for all Americans regardless of class or talent. In Kenya, the political parties cannot be identified with any ideology or policy. Neither can the men and women who lead these parties. Other than the usual rhetoric of 'good governance' and, now, 'implementation of the Constitution', what rally do we know know of the political, economic or social philosophies of these men and women? It is this opacity of our political parties that ensures that when they finally reveal their campaign manifestos, they might as well be the same document. They will use different rhetoric, but the manifestos will be the same. This lack of creativity or imagination is the bane of our politics today and explains to a large extent why the political aspirants tend to revert back to the age old banners of tribe and self-flagellation that they have perfected over the course of 47 years.
We keep living the lie that we are a democratic country when everything that we do politically is anything but. Despite the exhortations of the Registrar of Political Parties, none is yet to hold internal elections or fill vacant party positions. None has compelled its officers serving in government to give up their party positions. None has opened up themselves for subscription from members of the public. All continue to operate as the personal vehicles for the leaders; they are used merely as a means to an end, namely, the capture and retention of political power at the expense of national cohesion. Or development. Not even the self-confessed devout Christians serving in government will give up their party positions if it means that they will not be in a position to challenge for the presidency. Until we admit to ourselves that true democracy will only arrive at the expense of our so-called leaders, we will continue to be held hostage to their wishes and desires. We will never move forward, and while a considerable minority will climb up the ladders of financial and personal success, a majority will continue to live in squalor and poverty.
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