2013
opened in characteristic fashion. Dozens of Kenyans died on our
highways. We shrugged our shoulders, made some empathetic noises and
went back to our daily grind. If there is an analogy to the manner in
which we consider whom we will elect and whom we will toss by the
wayside, it is in the manner with which we treat the escalating cost in
lives, property and time that our highways claim every year. There is no
big switch that we can push to stem the flow of blood loosed on the
roads. There is no magic wand that we can wave that will ensure that
everyone survives a road journey in Kenyan. All the wishful thinking in
the world will not reverse the trend in lives lost on our roads. All the
finger-pointing in the world will not lay the blame on anyone else. If
we were to stare in the mirror, we would know who is responsible. On
December 1st, a Saturday no less, the amended Traffic Act came into
force. All that we had hoped it would address it did not. And we are to
blame for that sad state of affairs.
On December 4th, the nation was treated to one more spectacle on the road to the general election: alliances and coalitions were mooted, formed, broken and reformed. Who will forget the image of a non-committal Charity Ngilu at the signing of the CORD alliance agreement, or that of a beaming Musalia Mudavadi at the Jubilee jamboree? We are fast approaching another milestone; on January 17th, parties and alliances are set to nominate men and women who will fly their flags at the March 4th general election. There isn't a soul alive in Kenya who is not alive to this fact. We are told that Kenyans are waiting with bated breath to see the list each party/coalition/alliance will present to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and which parties/alliances/coalitions will suffer the biggest number of disgruntled elements claiming they have been "rigged out" of their preferred parties.
Dim slivers of concern can be discerned from the punditry on the nominations. A minority of pundits has opined that without the active participation of party ranks-and-file, the nominations will be shams. This is at the core of the kind of democracy Kenya will be after the general election. In mature democracies, mainly Western European ones, the United States and India, political parties are defined by the active membership of their members. Parties that have active members demonstrate that it is not just about the party leadership; the party must stand for something and represent the will of its members. Obviously, in Kenya this is not something that parties advertise. In Kenya, the party is a reflection of its leadership and is a demonstration of the financing that the leadership can raise for the party's activities. It is true of TNA, ODM and all the briefcases advertising in the papers for "direct nominations" for a fee.
Kenyans have turned whingeing against politicians into high art. We do not bat an eyelid when we call the members of Parliament names and accuse them of usurping the will of Kenyans. We see no contradiction in ignoring our responsibilities in the political sphere while placing all of it on the politician. On Thursday as parties nominate their candidates to various elective posts, we will do what we have always done: shrug our shoulders, make some sombre statements of regret at the poor state of affairs, and go about our business as if nothing momentous is occurring. But should things turn sour, and we revert to our instinctual habit of blaming the politicians and party leaders, we would be advised to look into the mirror at whom to blame.
Kenya's transition from KANU hegemony to mature democracy has always suffered because the hordes on the streets demanding change have frequently been paid agents of one politician or the other. They have rarely expressed the will of the masses. If it were not for the monies that the likes of Raila Odinga or Uhuru Kenyatta poured into proving their political superiority, we would have a very different political system. But Mr Odinga and Mr Kenyatta and their fellow travelers are not interested in numbers for the development of their parties; they are only interested in numbers that will serve their selfish interests. Their parties are not a reflection of the needs of Kenyans, but of their own only. They can get away with this because Kenyans do not participate in party activities, and are not interested in building parties into institutions. We are only active when we get paid to be active. For some of us, the money is never enough so we never even bother to answer the call when it comes. An ideology, for example, cannot be built by the party leadership alone. The leadership can offer direction, but the ideology can be shaped only by the members. If the members do not participate, their manipulation is inevitable.
We can no longer afford to blame the politicians for the sad state of our politics. If we do not take an active interest in the management of the affairs of the political parties that will nominate our government in March, then we have given up our right to complain and whinge. We will have only ourselves to blame if the likes of Mike Sonko, Ferdinand Waititu and Margaret Wanjiru trounce Jimnah Mbaru, John Gakuo and Evans Kidero at the nomination stage.
On December 4th, the nation was treated to one more spectacle on the road to the general election: alliances and coalitions were mooted, formed, broken and reformed. Who will forget the image of a non-committal Charity Ngilu at the signing of the CORD alliance agreement, or that of a beaming Musalia Mudavadi at the Jubilee jamboree? We are fast approaching another milestone; on January 17th, parties and alliances are set to nominate men and women who will fly their flags at the March 4th general election. There isn't a soul alive in Kenya who is not alive to this fact. We are told that Kenyans are waiting with bated breath to see the list each party/coalition/alliance will present to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and which parties/alliances/coalitions will suffer the biggest number of disgruntled elements claiming they have been "rigged out" of their preferred parties.
Dim slivers of concern can be discerned from the punditry on the nominations. A minority of pundits has opined that without the active participation of party ranks-and-file, the nominations will be shams. This is at the core of the kind of democracy Kenya will be after the general election. In mature democracies, mainly Western European ones, the United States and India, political parties are defined by the active membership of their members. Parties that have active members demonstrate that it is not just about the party leadership; the party must stand for something and represent the will of its members. Obviously, in Kenya this is not something that parties advertise. In Kenya, the party is a reflection of its leadership and is a demonstration of the financing that the leadership can raise for the party's activities. It is true of TNA, ODM and all the briefcases advertising in the papers for "direct nominations" for a fee.
Kenyans have turned whingeing against politicians into high art. We do not bat an eyelid when we call the members of Parliament names and accuse them of usurping the will of Kenyans. We see no contradiction in ignoring our responsibilities in the political sphere while placing all of it on the politician. On Thursday as parties nominate their candidates to various elective posts, we will do what we have always done: shrug our shoulders, make some sombre statements of regret at the poor state of affairs, and go about our business as if nothing momentous is occurring. But should things turn sour, and we revert to our instinctual habit of blaming the politicians and party leaders, we would be advised to look into the mirror at whom to blame.
Kenya's transition from KANU hegemony to mature democracy has always suffered because the hordes on the streets demanding change have frequently been paid agents of one politician or the other. They have rarely expressed the will of the masses. If it were not for the monies that the likes of Raila Odinga or Uhuru Kenyatta poured into proving their political superiority, we would have a very different political system. But Mr Odinga and Mr Kenyatta and their fellow travelers are not interested in numbers for the development of their parties; they are only interested in numbers that will serve their selfish interests. Their parties are not a reflection of the needs of Kenyans, but of their own only. They can get away with this because Kenyans do not participate in party activities, and are not interested in building parties into institutions. We are only active when we get paid to be active. For some of us, the money is never enough so we never even bother to answer the call when it comes. An ideology, for example, cannot be built by the party leadership alone. The leadership can offer direction, but the ideology can be shaped only by the members. If the members do not participate, their manipulation is inevitable.
We can no longer afford to blame the politicians for the sad state of our politics. If we do not take an active interest in the management of the affairs of the political parties that will nominate our government in March, then we have given up our right to complain and whinge. We will have only ourselves to blame if the likes of Mike Sonko, Ferdinand Waititu and Margaret Wanjiru trounce Jimnah Mbaru, John Gakuo and Evans Kidero at the nomination stage.
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