On Kenya’s Oligarchy, Twisted Democracy & Dashed Hopes of the Third Liberation

Kenyans queuing to vote in the 2017 elections
Photo Courtesy: CNN 

A year after Kenyans took to the polls, a number of political events have occurred, and have shaped the country’s political landscape in some respects.

From nullification of the outcome of the presidential election, the repeat presidential election boycotted by Raila Odinga, the historical swearing-in of Odinga as the people’s president, the muzzling of dissenting voices by the administration of the day to the unexpected handshake, it’s been a political melodrama of sorts.

Reflecting on the pre-election and post-election happenings, Kenya comes out as a flourishing oligarchy and a failing democracy, a twisted one for that matter.

Fundamentally, a democracy is a political system characterized by a free, fair and credible electoral process. On the other hand, the electoral process in an oligarchy comes out as fraudulent, fake and crooked.

Basing on the credibility of the electoral process in the lead up to the 2018 general elections, it is correct to assert that Kenya’s trajectory towards a vibrant democracy is twisted.

Historically, Kenya’s political system, and extensively the economic system, only benefit few individuals who control the means of production and the balance of power. This is an explicit manifestation of an oligarchy.

Kenya’s pre-supposed democratic tendencies, to say the least, are far-fetched and illusionary. Politically and economically, the majority, whom democracy accords the right to call the shots, have never had their way in the country with the exception of the formation of the NARC administration and the institutionalization of the current constitutional dispensation.

An honest rumination in view of Kenya’s political and electoral malfeasance wouldn’t take place without weighty consideration of the compromised Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the role and influence of the Western states – the so-called masters and defenders of democratic ideals, the excessively irrational average voter, the highly deceptive public relations (PR) and political consultancy firms, and the Third Liberation whose conceptualization is fast waning.

Basically, an institution is as good or bad as the people charged with the mandate to steer it. From the family – the basic unit of social organization, a school, an organization, a football team and a government, competence is a tenet necessary for the success or failure of an entity.

In the run up to the 2018 general elections IEBC’s senior officers proved to be partisan and compromised thus jeopardizing the independence of the electoral body.

Independence of an electoral body is the foremost step in having a free, fair and credible electoral process. The independence of the IEBC is interfered with right from the appointments of the commissioners and other senior officers of the country’s electoral body.

The embattled chair of IEBC Wafula Chebukati has proven to be quite incompetent but this is not a surprise anyway given his subpar performance while being vetted by Parliament for the hot seat. He was not the best out of the other candidates and being appointed to chair the IEBC fixed him in a corner.

Other commissioners were clearly partisan and their political intentions well known. We can’t have a clean electoral process with such poisoned minds running an exercise that determines the fate of Kenyans economically, socially and politically.

Western states – the masters of impunity and double-standards – supported a corrupt regime out of geo-political and geo-economic interests. Led by the American government, they pronounced the legitimacy of an administration which they were not in favour of in 2013.

Who offers support and confers legitimacy to a regime whose rogue police officers killed and injured innocent Kenyans including harmless children?

Setting the record straight, political correctness is the language preferred by the governments of the Western states. Kenya’s case and other immoral governments across Africa being cheered on by the West is largely informed by their (Western states) intentions to counter China’s influence on the continent.

If the likes of the American, British, French and other Western governments are champions and crusaders of democracy, then it would make sense if they were not funding undemocratic regimes and toppling legitimate governments around the world.

As matter-of-factly, Western governments have never condemned the rogue and undemocratic regime in Saudi Arabia. They wreaked havoc in Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Syria and other nations but only as a divide and rule scheme driven by paranoia and economic interests.

Apart from the political relief offered by the West, the deception and destruction caused by the global political consultancy firms such as Cambridge Analytica should never be forgotten going forward.

The political consultancy firms are in pursuit of profits, economic capital and economic power as the political parties and formations are hell-bent in pursuit of political capital and political power. But to what extent is the price to be paid for the trade-off between business profits and political power?

Apparently, the price is costly and takes the form of a disintegrated country. These firms pursue their profits by optimizing on the structural weaknesses of a country.

For instance, in Kenya, Cambridge Analytica which was responsible for running the Jubilee Party’s political campaign ostensibly capitalized on the ethnic fault lines that are highly visible in the Kenyan society.

So far no serious step has been made in banning such firms from operating in Kenya especially in running political campaigns. This country is a joke. Pressure from various entities eventually forced Cambridge Analytica to shut down its operations.

In South Africa, PR firm Bell Pottinger, known to work for despots, was chased from the country after running racially charged campaigns especially on economic reform and the prevalent socio-economic inequalities in the country.

But unlike in Kenya where the public never protested about Cambridge Analytica’s divisive campaign, the publics in Britain and South Africa were vocal on the firms’ PR gimmicks.

Involvement of these firms in Kenya’s political space with the intention of driving narratives that are misleading and dangerous casts the country as a twisted democracy.

Embers of the Third Liberation that flamed up following the flawed electoral process flickered out as soon as the ‘handshake’ between Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta came to the fore.

Doubts have been cast on the supposed Building Bridges Initiative and yours truly is among the doubters. Judging from Kenya’s political history the ‘handshake’ is as good as any other political deal and its abandonment would not be a surprise.

Political (electoral) justice and economic justice should be the key drivers of the Third Liberation. But with political interests taking centre stage the hopes for a new Kenya are dashed.

Failure to address injustices committed in recent times and long before that will not actualize building bridges on the social, political and economic issues that divide Kenyans. Ignoring the implementation of the recommendations put forth by the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) only sets the country on a path for intensified calls for secession, massive socioeconomic inequality and electoral skullduggery in the near future.

In view of the aforementioned weighty issues, where does the Kenyan public stand? There is no hope for a better Kenya considering the dubious electoral and political decisions made by majority of members of the public.

Can the Kenyan public dislodge the oligarchs that have patronized the country’s politics and economy since the dawn of independence? This is a question of fundamental importance. But with a significant number of Kenyans voting in an unintelligent fashion and being unapologetic about their ethnic political ideologies there is no hope of Kenya transitioning to a nation.

Kenya has never been a nation. All the episodic moments of nationhood – independence, the Second Liberation, dethronement of the rogue and despotic KANU regime and promulgation of the current Constitution – involved elements of disenchantment with individuals at the centre of the government preferring to subscribe to the ideals of an oligarchy.

Let’s not pretend to pursue national unity in the spirit of the ‘handshake’ and the doctrine of accepting and moving on while escaping from addressing the country’s problems. That is not how a nation is built.

Attacks against the Judiciary Denigrate Institutional Independence

Supreme Court judges during court proceedings
Image: Courtesy

The last three weeks have been characterized by infantile political scenes and irritable political episodes following the landmark ruling by the Supreme Court to nullify the outcome of the presidential election. The scenes and episodes in question are nonetheless hypnotized political rhetoric that outrightly negate and demean the spirit of constitutionalism.

Honchos, the rank and file, sympathizers and the passionate supporters of the Jubilee Party and its candidate, Uhuru Kenyatta, feel aggrieved by the majoritarian decision of the Supreme Court. In any polity that fashions and attempts to emulate the ideals of democracy, criticism is certainly warranted. The criticism, however, ought to be constructive and positive and not destructive and negative. For President Kenyatta and his camp, negative and destructive criticism of the Supreme Court is indeed supreme than the otherwise ideal constructive and positive criticism.

In understanding the vile and bile meted out to the so-called architects of the ‘Supreme Coup’, it is fundamentally important to revisit the institutional history of the Kenyan polity. As a country, we are still nursing hangovers of institutional complicity and conspiracy between the arms of government despite transiting from the retrogressive Lancaster constitutional doctrine to a more progressive legal dispensation.

Ideologically, we are accustomed to the evil antics of the Judiciary shielding the Executive without the requisite adherence to the rule of law. This culture was engendered by Jomo Kenyatta, perpetuated by Daniel arap Moi, observed by Mwai Kibaki and now being affirmed and cemented by Uhuru Kenyatta.

There is no doubt that the president and his associates are the unrivaled masters of double speak going by the black and white sentiments uttered in regard to the functions as well as importance of institutions. On several occasions, the president and his troops are on record urging members of the opposition to address their grievances through the courts. In fact, following the opposition’s dispute of the now annulled presidential election results, Jubilee’s leadership was categorical in persuading Raila Odinga and his compatriots to seek the intervention of the Supreme Court.

What changed? Is it that the Jubilee Party expected the Supreme Court to rule in its favor? I find it an extreme act of political destitution and constitutional disrespect by individuals who took an oath of office to protect the values and ideals of the constitution to constantly attack the four judges of the Supreme Court without any legal merit.

Threats by Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto and the Jubilee Members of Parliament to whittle down the powers of the Judiciary are a subversion of the constitution and more precisely, a plan to carry out a constitutional coup. Issuance of threats by the Executive directed towards the Judiciary is an antiquated political antic that invalidates the maxim of the rule of law. Politically liberated and conscious citizens should not allow such a warped legal precedence to define Kenya’s fledgling democracy.

Political propaganda continues to take centre stage with various plots hatched to oust the four judges who declared the presidential results null and void. Fallacies by the Jubilee side of the political divide indicate that there was connivance between the four Justices and the Raila Odinga led NASA coalition. Propagators of this supposed golden propaganda are inherently hell bent and selective with facts. In any case, the actions of Jubilee’s leadership and its proxies amount to fashioning the doctrine of alternative facts.

At this rate, we are headed towards a direction where the Executive will be dictating the order of business in Parliament and what judgments are to be made by the courts akin to the dubious political games witnessed during the Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Moi’s administrations. As a matter of fact, there are two instances under the Jubilee administration in which the Executive has convoluted with its “tyrannical” majority in the National Assembly to legislate fishy pieces of legislations. These tyrannical episodes were during the passage of the Security Amendment Act and the Election Laws Amendment Act. We should carefully read between the lines.

Independence of the Judiciary is at stake with judges expected to rule in favor of the Jubilee Party. This certainly doesn’t observe and adhere to the sanctity of governance institutions. The Jubilee side of the political divide should stop these juvenile sideshows laced with outbursts of anger. Remarks made by Jubilee Party’s leadership on the conduct of the Supreme Court are notoriously dangerous in view of the spirit of constitutionalism. The president, his deputy and other Jubilee supporters must demonstrate in deed and not just in mere words that they respect the verdict of the Supreme Court.

Going forward, Kenyans of goodwill should not allow the political leadership to suppress and stamp out the fundamental ideals that informed the genesis of the Second Liberation. To this effect, institutional independence in accordance with our national constitution must reign supreme.