An election is a political battle whose aim is to win the mandate of the people and have the power to govern. Political power is critical and can be a double-edged sword for the general good of the society or lack thereof because whoever has political power controls the distribution and allocation of resources. But unlike other battles, an election is a battle of ideas on how best to serve the interest of the citizenry in a democracy. It gets ferocious in Kenya because we live in a fledgling democracy where the holders of power are perceived and believed to have the privilege of serving more of their partisan interest rather than the general citizenry interest, especially if the oversight mechanism is not as strong as the people who hold political power. The perception of partisan interest or even non-state-centric interest may not be true, but it is essentially what the citizenry perceives, and unfortunately, even political leaders seem socialise in fashions that entrench such perceptions. The exodus to the winner in the just concluded presidential elections suggest that not even political leaders with clout can survive without the patronage of the powerful winner who takes it all.
Nonetheless, the campaign battles are always very bruising in Kenya and the ferociousness of the campaign battles speak of a contest for a very powerful or maybe highly coveted seat of power. Interestingly, given the small margins of victory against the backdrop of the large chunks of the registered voters who almost always keep off the voting process; the outcomes have been subjects of much debate along issues of legitimacy and popular mandate. It then does appear that the slim margins are sort of falsely allayed by leaders who co-opt all the leaders who in the political battles were conspicuously influential in the opposing political formation.
These realities of co-opting leaders from the opposing political formations contradicts the fact that during the bruising campaign period different political heavyweights in both Azimio and Kenya Kwanza had very strong beliefs and convictions on how their formations would change the lives of Kenyans. They knew that in a battle there can only be one winner and only one formation would form government. Granted, Kenya Kwanza is poised to form the next government and the number of leaders trooping at their doorstep is symptomatic of our leaders’ gullibility. Gullible fellows who have no strategic foresight and you wonder what value they added in Azimio if in a huff they change political allegiance because of self expedience. Some of these fellows are selling themselves cheap and I’m sure the president elect probably has very little regards for them. You see, the president-elect has pronounced himself on the need to have a robust opposition that provides checks and balances to his government, yet some of the alternative voices of reason including governors who have served two terms and carry the weight of solid leadership succumb to self-seeking. Based on their campaign agenda, the new government has a lot on its plate and some of these folks trooping in are only going to ferment confusion, add very little value and probably weaken alternative thoughts needed to oversight the Kenya Kwanza government.
These leaders are letting Kenyans down and at the end of the day it will not be so much about whether the Kenya Kwanza government delivers as it will be about the silence of the authoritative voices that are busy getting swallowed by the allure of being in government. Government business is to serve the people and leaders regardless of their privileged positions in government or otherwise are supposed to support the initiatives that address the plight of the people. To support people-driven initiatives -meant to help the people – occupation of the top echelons of power or even joining government is not obligatory. Things will get complicated; the government will need solid voices to offer constructive critique and when things don’t work out those busy joining the winning team will seek to offer alternative voices from within. They will be seen as enemies, rocking the boat from within and woe unto them, if they get no reprieve from within because moving out, will reduce their credibility to zero. Today, we may not agree with the turn of events, but we have a government, and the president-elect does not need sycophants. It is time for smart and brilliant Kenyans within the winning team or even outside to either deliver on the promises made during the campaigns or provide robust oversight in the interests of the citizenry. Certainly not all of us have to be in government to have a better society, but the business of the government is our business. To those who believed and supported the Azimio course, we have a greater calling of offering alternative thought leadership in our evolving political dispensation. We must stay the course. It is the course that will keep the government of the day on toes in the interest of the common mwanainchi. Stay the course, it portends a brighter future for all.
