By: Oyamo Richard
If
the recent admitee to the world of the dead from Kenya gets to meet my
grandfather who died in 1999 and my grandfather asks them to give him an update
of the political arena. He will be shocked. Wondering how is it that we are
still stuck in the murky waters they left us in. He will wonder why, even with
the potent new constitution and with the population of the public more educated
than it was in their time, even with AI and all these developments, the
political arena has hardly changed.
You
wonder why I would think so? well, let us travel down the lane about three
decades ago. To be precise, the year is 1992. It is an election year. Section 2A of the constitution of
Kenya had just been repealed in December 1991, ending the long monopoly run by
KANU and the people now had the multiparty democracy they had been fighting
for. The fruits of the infamous Sabasaba, among other agitations. The country was
breathing an air of hope. Presented was a chance to finally vote out KANU and the
dictator in the name of Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi.
Even
the devil himself has followers, so it will be naïve to think that Daniel Moi
had no genuine supporters, the same mistake one would make to think His
Excellency president William Ruto who is very unpopular has no genuine decent
supporters. The opposition largely led by four ‘donkeys’ namely: Jaramogi
Oginga Odinga, Kenneth Matiba, Mwai Kibaki and Masinde Muliro had to unite and
make one ‘horse’ for them to win over the ‘horse’ that Moi was. However, none
of them was readily willing to be selfless enough for the better good of the
country. They all wanted to be the main character. Tell me you don’t see the
similarity of this being displayed currently. Fortunately, after much
persuasion, Masinde Muliro accepted to step down for the better good. The three;
Jaramogi, Matiba and Mwai Kibaki maintained their resolute. Muliro vowed to
unite Jaramogi and Matiba so they make one ‘horse’. As fate would have it,
Muliro died mysteriously at Jomo Kenyatta Airport on his
arrival from the UK. The death of Masinde Muliro in tandem with shrewd interference by Moi rendered the
hopes of a united opposition (this name rings a bell, right?) futile.
Fast
forward, Moi wins the presidency. The country is back into the same chocking
hands. In January 1994, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga dies. He leaves his solid
well-built party FORD Kenya up for grabs. His immediate deputy had been Kijana
Wamalwa, so it was given that he should be the one to take over the leadership
of the party. Did his son Raila Amolo Odinga who was a Deputy Director of
Elections of the same party concur? No, he didn’t. He refused to let Kijana
Wamalwa take over the leadership claiming that the party was ‘theirs’. It
became a two-year period of tussle for the leadership of the party. A copy-cut scenario of what is
currently happening in Orange Democratic Party (ODM). Do you know what
eventually happened to Ford-Kenya? Scramble and partition. With Raila choosing
to join another less prominent outfit called National Development Party. Think
of the Linda Mwananchi and Linda ground factions
at this point.
With
all these glaring re-occurrences, one cannot fail to ask themselves, will the
youths fail to vote again come 2027. I ask this case despite the brilliant Niko Kadi campaign, history has it that young
people do not vote. However, we of this generation have proven severally that
we are and we want to be different. From the Gen-Z protests to now getting
registered as voters. I am an optimist but also a realist, and thus I can’t
fail to ask myself, what is it we should do to ensure that we don’t fall for
the seduction of not voting. How do we keep this burning momentum alive till
the casting of votes? What must we do to ensure that history does not repeat
itself?
We
must keep creating content, art and music that aims at civic education. The
kind of art that keeps reminding us our civic duty to vote, and vote well. More than 80% of Kenyan youths own a
phone. This means spreading of information has never been easier, and this is
evident from the organizing and mobilization of the Gen-Z protests back in 2024
and the Niko kadi initiative. We must be proactive enough to be the drivers of
the trending themes in the online space. We must be keen not to fall into the
trap of rogue politicians by being reactants to their propaganda spread by
hired bloggers. The Power of social media cannot be emphasized. We have seen
suggestions and attempt by some politicians to regulate and in deed thwart
social media spaces even as we approach the 2027 elections. This alone is an
indication that they feel threatened as this is a new thing to them. The use of
social media does not exist in their political history playbooks.
We
must organise gatherings, rallies, concerts and barazas that are free from the
hands of the politicians. Events like the Mashujaa festival and the Niko Kadi
concert. Let’s have events that have being registered as a voter as the entry.
Thespians have to write and stage plays that aim at civic education. Theatrical
shows that will not only remind us of heroes and heroic acts in our history but
also what we must do to shape our today and tomorrow in the right direction. The
potency of theatre is very explicit. In the 70s we had plays being banned and
or censored, where one had to submit a script for approval before staging, this
shows how influential theatre is. Mainstream artists have to be vocal with
civic education in their concerts.
Soon
enough we will need to figure out who our preferred candidates in the different
positions are. We need to figure out who and who holds our visions. If there
are none among those who have presented themselves then we have to find them
among ourselves. Once we have found our North we shall need to campaign and
rally for them fearlessly. We shall need to work to convince those who are yet
to be convinced to vote for these leaders. The history of Kenyan politics
dictates that you need to have millions of monies to vie for a position. This
has been clearly perpetuated by the older politicians who are still active.
Unfortunately, those who have such budgets are the same guys who have been
stealing from us. To liberate ourselves from this shackle of history we shall
have to forego the handouts mentality for good. We shall have to campaign for
and vote for people who carry our visions without considering how much they
dish out to us, without even expecting it. Let us create merchandise with
messages and images of these candidates and walk around as living billboards
for them. What is the reason to keep who you vote a secret? We cannot be
employing people in public offices and we want to keep the decisions private.
We have to run away from the bypassed statements lie kura yangu, siri yangu.
Your vote will determine my future so I have reason to know who are voting for.
Allow me to convince you why that is right or wrong as you also do the same to
my choice. This is a communal thing and not an individual as we would like to
think.
The
campaign period has historically always had ugliness here in Kenya. It is
already showing even as we head to 2027. Already the use of goons has re-emerged.
A thuggery system that politicians have been using since the 1990s. In June 1999
for example, goons operating in tandem with the police officers attacked theologian and
activists Rev. Timothy Njoya. These goons were arrested and confessed to having
been hired by a known politician. Recently the senator for Vihiga Godfrey
Osotsi was brutally attacked in a restaurant in Kisumu by goons
whose trail also leads to politics. The current government has expressed unconvincing
intent in dealing out with these goons. One wonders what kind of country we are
grooming. How myopic are we not to see that this is one of the ways in which militia
groups are born? Clearly, we the citizens are on our own. We have to deal with
this evil. Let us begin by deplatforming any and every politician associated
with these goons. Let us demand for their resignation and investigation. These
goons are also people who live among us, we need to treat them as outcasts in
the communities because they are clearly enemies of the society. These goons
should also be alert that they will not escape a taste of their medicine if
they are captured in these rallies.
When
all is said and done, we have to turn up and cast our votes. We must not allow
this democratic opportunity to shape our country slip from our hands. We must
not allow the shame of vindicating those who keep beating their chest that we
the youth all we do is talk and record TikTok videos but we do not vote. If we
don’t get to vote then all the other things we have done will be futile. We
would have failed ourselves. It is not going to be an easy task but
fortunately, we are very much capable. Today and tomorrow is ours to mould.
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