This is not Britain

Before it gets out of hand, let us remember that a Kenyan general election is a different beast altogether compared to a British general election. I don't know if in the British isles there are "incidents" of poll-related violence and rampant accusations of "rigging" but on this side of the Sahara, these are;common occurrences. I don't know what happens when Tories are replaced by Labour or vice versa or a combination where the Tories must take in the strays that are the Liberal Democrats, but over here, when the results are declared that is usually the Curtain Raiser to what might turn out to be a six-act play that may or may not end in tears.

Anyway, back to what I was about to type. This is Kenya. This is not Britain. It is entirely normal for that lot to take things will a little less wild-eyed, white-knuckle-grip-on-sanity when they lose elections. Gordon Brown, who was Prime Minister, resigned his leadership of the Labour Party when he led them to electoral defeat in 2011. His successor will follow suit soon enough. Even the leader of a nutty party, the United Kingdom Independence Party, is expected to resign because he couldn't even get into Parliament.

In Kenya, I am still not sue Charity Ngilu resigned the leadership of her party when she was appointed a Cabinet Secretary. We know Eugene Wamalwa announced that he was resigning from his party's leadership, though I can't quite recall what party it was, when the President nominated him to be a Cabinet Secretary last month. Definitely Martha Karua did not resign after her ham-fisted attempt to become President came a cropper. I can only speculate whether or not Paul Muite, James Ole Kiyiapi, Peter Kenneth and Musalia Mudavadi resigned. Raila Odinga definitely did not.

Before someone comes down hard on this blog with the rational and logical argument that Kenya has very little experience with multiparty democratic elections, I'll beat them to the punch and agree with them. That is my point. Our political leadership might be sophisticated enough to seek our votes using money, multimedia presentations and good old-fashioned canvassing, but they are at heart, tinpot dictators unwilling to let go of their One Chance at Power. They are modern-day faded copies of Shaka of the Zulu and they can't wait for that day when they will be vindicated for their tenacity.

They will never resign the leadership of their parties unless it benefits them. They won't mind poll violence so long as they can exploit it for their own benefit. They won't guarantee that rigging is eliminated at the next election because they might need the same system in place for their own benefit. So while the Anglophiles celebrate the British civility in the face of defeat, remember, please, this is most definitely not Britain.