Stop treating us like fools

President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga need to stop treating us like idiots. When the PM was away in Addis Ababa giving his report on the Ivorian crisis, the President unilaterally decided to nominate Visram, JA, Prof. Githu Muigai and Kioko Kilukumi as the Chief justice, the Attorney-General and the Director of Public Prosecutions respectively. The PM stated that he had not been consulted. The President ignored him and forwarded the list of nominees to the Speaker of the National Assembly. The Judicial Service Commission, and other civil society groups, protested the President's move. His supporters, all drawn from the PNU, argue that the President acted within his mandate under the Constitution. They were joined by ODM rebels who have their own axe to grind with the PM. The PM's supporters have vowed to scuttle the attempt to appoint these three men by defeating the President's plans using 'political and constitutional means' at their disposal. The nominee for the position of Controller of Budget is the innocent bystander who will be taken down by the war between the President and the PM.

But, it is the manner in which the two principals take us for granted that is particularly galling. These two men have done nothing to empower their subjects to become partners in governing. They instead, have elected to make politics the preserve of politicians. We are left to decipher their maneuvers through the prism of statements and exhortations from men and women we have long considered to be the lowest of the low when it comes to honour or respect. The 2012 general elections are fast approaching and these two men have done nothing to ensure that Kenyans are prepared to make judgments and choices from positions of knowledge. Instead, they are content to leave us ignorant of our roles as citizens. We are yet to start joining political parties in droves. We therefore, do not have the opportunity to start vetting the potential candidates for high office. If this is the way they want us to behave, they should not be surprised when come the day we resort to ignorance-fuelled violence and mayhem.

In their private battles, the President and Prime Minister behave as if we have no say in who becomes CJ, A-G or DPP. They behave as if we are incompetent to determine whether or not a person is competent to hold such high office. They believe that we are not ready to take on the role of the final arbiters of the dispute between them. The PM goes around the country with this hangdog look as if we should sympathise with him simply because Kibaki is being mean. Someone should remind him that life ain't fair, and political life in Kenya is especially unfair. People are always going to be mean to him and if he wants us to sympathise with his plight, it is imperative that he makes us his partners, rather that treat us as a vote bank that is withdrawn only on the day of elections. President Kibaki needs to leave his cocoon, surrounded by his cronies from the business world. The men (and it is always men) he surrounds himself with are in the twilight of their lives and they do not want anything that will rock the boat and jeopardise their financial and political empires, empires they have built to serve their own interests at the expense of the national interest. When the history books are written, while we may proclaim his foresight in building roads and telecommunication links, we will remember him more for his political cowardice and weak-kneed response to national crises. No one will call him a hero, save maybe his immediate family.

For far too long, we have been treated as if we were an irritant to be scratched once every five years. The Constitution has changed the relationship between us and the politicians. It is time they started learning that when it comes to matters of national importance, we are no longer content to be informed of decisions already made or deals already struck. We are ready and willing to take up our roles as mediators and decision-makers. If only they opened up the doors to their little kingdoms called political parties, they would have nothing to fear from us. If decisions are to be made, we demand a seat at the table. If deals are to be struck, we demand to be involved in the negotiations. If anyone is going to appoint the next CJ, it will not be simply because the Constitution says so; it has to be because Kenyans have the confidence that the next CJ is man 'they can work with'. Keep treating us like morons, and when we burn down your house, you will have no one to blame but yourself.