There are few institutions for the mediation of conflict that have the potential to do so much yet achieve so little as political institutions. Their remarkable record of failure in Kenya can be attributed to the relentless hollowing out of the State and its institutions by a political and corporate elite that placed power and money far higher in the national list of priorities than true political and cultural integration. To them, stability came from the force of arms that the State could deploy to quell any unrest than from a true integration of the disparate communities, interests and peoples of the nation.
In 2014 the theories that sustained an entire autocratic system for forty years still prevail, whether one is a luminary of the "conservative" or "progressive" school of thought. Power flows to he who wields absolute control of the political environment. Take the Coalition for Reforms and Development, for example. While Raila Odinga has proven to be the national political bellwether, he has consistently failed to articulate a political vision that would unite large swathes of even his own political constituency, other than that One Side has always ruled. As a result, he is not seen, even by his supporters, as a national saviour but merely as the one who would replace the side that is eating with the side that should eat, in Kenyan political parlance.
The Jubilee, on the other hand, are no better. The relentless and sub rosa concentration of coercive power in the hands of a few has raised alarm bells among the intelligentsia though this alarm is yet to spread to the general populace. President Kenyatta need not have the command of the disciplined services directly in his hands; but in retaining the power to limit the men or women who could deploy that power at short notice is almost as good. Tweaks are made to statutes, ostensibly for efficiency and effectiveness, that have ensured that offices like that of the Inspector-General of Police or the Chief of Defence Forces are subject to the least degree of civilian oversight as possible. We have kept the appropriations made to the security sector a secret for all of independent Kenya's history without justifying the grounds for the secrecy. As a result, we still do not have a comprehensive knowledge of how many men and women under arms are deployed in Kenya's various disciplined services.
We have been unable to discuss these matters in public because we are still held hostage by our mindsets that privilege the men in charge and ignore the voice of the man on the street. Decisions are made without proper consideration of the people's needs. It is why there is no sense of shame among the elected class every time it squanders our taxes on boondoggles of little financial or social value. It is why the National Assembly's members can feel confident in insulting the voters with Bills such as the Order of Precedence Bill or the National Flags, Emblems and Monuments (Amendment) Bill which do nothing to put food on our tables, lessen the degree of youth unemployment or guarantee that each boy and girl can attend school up to secondary level without bothering with the payment of "fees".
Kenyans have suffered terribly since September 22, 2013. Many have been murdered since that mall was attacked by men who have never been caught or prosecuted. Those that have carried out attacks on innocent Kenyans since then continue to rampage in the forgotten bits of the nation, forgotten by their own government and forgotten by their fellow Kenyans. But the only important question that occupies the minds of the men and women of the presidency and the opposition's ranks is whether Kenya can afford a referendum. If we ever integrate, if we ever unite, if we are able to act as a nation and not as collection of ethnicities and religions and political avarices, maybe we may yet salvage our future. But the Jubilee and the CORD, being a reflection of our base thoughts, have set us on a path of utter destruction.
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