I do not care that you are a Kamba, a Luo, or a Kikuyu when you come to my door and ask me to vote for you. I do not care that your father, uncle, friend, brother, whatever, was a Minister in Kibaki's, Moi's or Kenyatta's government. I do not care whether you are married to one or multiple wives, or whether you are a serial monogamist. I do not care whether you drive around in a Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Passat or a humble Nissan 1200 pick-up. I do not care that you were jailed for umpteen years by Moi or Kenyatta, or that Kibaki authorised the ransacking of your home or office on one trumped up charge or another. I do not care that you are the chairman or leader of your party, or whether you have been indicted by a local or international court.
I care very much whether you display qualities that befit those of a President or Member of Parliament. I care very much that if you are elected Counsellor, Member of a County Assembly, Senator, Member of Parliament, Governor or President, you will serve your constituents with dedication and honour. I care very much whether in your current situation you have made life-affirming decisions that improve the lot of your constituents, employees or shareholders. I care very much that you believe in the rule of law, and that no law is too 'small' for you to obey. I care very much that when you look at your constituents, or potential constituents, you see them as part of a nation and not as an ethnic vote-bank that will bankroll your ascendancy in politics.
I do not owe you loyalty or fealty. You must earn my loyalty by your works and not simply because you and I speak the same language or come from the same backwater. You are not contesting the chairmanship of a club; you want to be my leader in one capacity or another. You want the power to allocate resources ad to determine the pace and direction of development of my fair country. If you are incapable of separating your tribe or personal connections from the loyalty and fealty you ask of me, I am afraid, I shall look elsewhere for a leader. Our relationship is not based on blood or culture, but on trust. If I vote for you, I do so knowing that you will not steal from me and my fellow Kenyans, but that you will do everything in your power to protect my interests and my rights.
So far, you have been responsible for misery and death. Why would I repose faith in you when I cannot trust you to do the right thing when called to do so? You occupy your high office by my largesse, yet you are content in trampling over my rights and imposing terrifying taxes on my income. You have done nothing to ensure that my children eat and sleep in comfort. Yet you swan around in a multi-million shilling limousine, paid for by my hard-earned taxes and sleep in a comfortable home. You are content to claim that because of the demands my fellow Kenyans place on you, you should not pay tax on your enormous earnings, yet you will not extend the same privilege to me and mine own when we support families and friends on one pretext or another. You children study in the United States, or the United Kingdom or any of a number of foreign schools, colleges and Universities, yet my child studies in a half-built, mud shack, taught by an under-paid, under-motivated teacher whose only interest is his paycheck and not the quality of education that my child receives. Your child will go on to be a captain of industry while mine will push a wheelbarrow or eke out a living as a lowly clerk. And for all this you will demand my fealty and loyalty!
"My vote, my right!" or so I was told during the 2010 Referendum. I am putting you on notice. It is not business as usual. For you to get my vote, you must satisfy my every demand. I am not asking you to give me the moon, or heaven; I am demanding that you will play by the rules, live according to a code of conduct that separates you from the weak and he mendacious. My vote is not for sale so do not offer me money or material for it. Show me that you are capable of trust and trust I shall repose in you. Show me that you place the law above petty tribal or personal interests, and I shall vote for you. Show me that you are capable of understanding my life's struggles and that you are willing to alleviate the toil, and you will sit in that high chair. If you are incapable of living according to these simple demands, you are no better than the thief who robs in the dead of night. You deserve the worst that I am able to give you. You deserve to be shunned and ignored. You deserve the death of a thousand cuts. Listen to me for I hold your future in my hands. Ignore me, and you shall forever be dead to me!
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