A dose of sanity

Paul Mwangi in today's Commentary injects a dose of sanity in the debate over the dismissal of Najib Balala from the Cabinet (Balala's firing part of established democratic practice, Sunday Nation). In detailing the reasons for Mr Balala's dismissal Mr Mwangi demonstrates that in his service to the Prime Minister intelligence matters almost as much as clout or loyalty. Whether the rest of the political commentariat follows his lead is something else entirely. The poisonous air that Miguna Miguna injected in political discourse during and after his service for the PM is something that needs to be jettisoned for the benefit of all. The tone taken by Mr Balala too, especially in his roping in of the 'Muslim community' places the political discourse in Kenya in jeopardy as seeing that religious passions tend to be almost as poisonous as ethnic passions.

Mr Balala not only displayed disloyalty for his political party but for the political policies of his political boss, the Prime Minister. In more mature democracies, as Mr Mwangi points out, the honourable thing for the Minister would have been to resign not just from the Cabinet but also from his constituency seat and seek a fresh mandate on the basis for his political convictions. That he refused to do left the Prime Minister with no option but to relieve him of his duties as Tourism Minister, his excellent record notwithstanding, as well as strip him of his privileges in the party. It was the only thing that could have been done.

Mr Balala and Mr Miguna Miguna forget that in the light of the leadership and integrity principles enshrined in Chapter Six of the Constitution, political leaders must embrace a new culture that is bereft of the old style of operation. President Mwai Kibaki has encouraged his ministers to spread their wings as far as they could and t run their portfolios as private fiefs for their and their benefactors' benefits, and to treat the principles of collective responsibility and party loyalty with complete disdain. This explains why MPs and Cabinet members spend more time attempting to cross over to new parties without necessarily leaving their parties or resigning from the Cabinet. This level of indiscipline has ensured that party development has been stymied and the development of grassroots institutions has been short-circuited.

The poison that has been injected in political discourse, especially since prominent members of the Gang of Seven were indicted by the ICC, has ensured that reasonable debate is sacrificed at the altar of ethnic chauvinism. With Mr Mwangi's cogent explanation of the grounds for Mr Balala's dismissal, it is now clear that all is not lost. If only the rest of the political establishment follows suit we will be halfway to sorting out the implementation of the Constitution.