IS KENYA'S DEMOCRACY ON A PERILOUS PATH?

 Kenya is a democracy and as such , we have come a long way to be where we are. In the larger East Africa region , Kenya is the only country that can give the best definition of the word democracy. The rest of its counterparts are military, autocratic and authoritarian regimes. Some are in the hands of military leadership like Rwanda and Burundi, others are in a pseudo democratic leadership like Tanzania and others are in the hands of authoritarian, despotic and dictatorial gerontocrats who believes that , unless the law of natural attrition knocks at their doorsteps , they will still hold on to power. To them , the word democracy is foreign concept and an understatement. They only organize for elections for cover up. Only a senile and nitwit brain can stand up to cheer them for embracing democracy. They have converted their countries to be their personal fiefdoms. To them , the law starts where they stand and ends at exactly the same spot.

Kenya transitioned from autocracy to democracy in 1991 after a protracted war and battle not of weaponry and heavy artilleries but that of intellectualism, activism and international pressure to allow the then President Moi to repeal section 2A and allow democracy and pluralism to pitch tent in Kenya after the wind of change blew from Lusaka all the way to Kenya. Even as the pluralism was allowed in Kenya legally, President Moi didn't shed his dictatorial and autocratic characters. He embarked on using the divide and rule inorder to weaken the opposition especially after the first multiparty elections in 1992 and the subsequent one of 1997. The introduced the politics of horse trading targeting the opposition inorder to weaken democracy. In those two democratic elections which were not really democratic because, Moi was both a player and a referee, he divided the opposition. They didn't sing one song and he used the Fifth Column to disable and disorganize the opposition from within.

Many opposition party MPs drawn from Democratic Party, National Development Party, Ford Asili , Ford Kenya , Safina , Social Democratic Party etc were bought in horse trading kind of politics. They were even paid to skip crucial sittings where motions to pass crucial bills that touched were to be debated and voted on. This was to ensure the opposition will not vote in larger numbers and that the ruling party KANU was in a position to raise a good number of MPs to pass the bill with no qualms. In most cases , this laws which were passed were on constitution changes to cement KANU's grip on power or about taxpayers monies aimed at not helping the citizenry but the political elites. It was sad state of affairs and what is happening in Kenya is exactly what happened then during the Moi regime. I wonder why many goverments in Africa are allergic to opposition politics? Why should they call themselves a democracy but what they practice is purely autocratic and dictatorial? Where do we draw the line because, during campaigns , this very people now defiling our democracy were on the podiums and rooftops of their guzzlers promising Kenyans how they will create a country which will be a beacon of democracy. That the police won't be used to settle political scores and that the Montesquieu principle of separation of powers between the three arms of the government will be adhered to , that is , legislator , executive and judiciary. What we are being treated to is something different. 

President Ruto was very categorical and he said it unequivocally that he doesn't want to create a mongrel of a goverment where , you don't understand who is in the government and who is in the opposition. Sometimes back while in his tour in the United Kingdom, he attended the Chatham House. A public policy institute in the UK which is revered and respected by many not only in Europe but also in the world. He spoke disgruntledly on how he was irked by his boss the former President Uhuru Kenyatta for entering in a handshake with his political rival ODM leader Raila Odinga. He said since that happened, it was difficult to understand who is in the government and who was in the opposition. To put it better , the opposition was in the government and the government was halved and one part remained and the other formed the opposition. Hilarious. Immediately when he was sworn in , President Ruto vowed and in broad daylight that , he will not enter into any form of handshake with the opposition. He doesn't want Kenya to have a mongrel type of government. He wants the opposition to offer oversight to his goverment. That was a good statement from the Head of state and goverment and someone who truly believes in democracy not religion since Kenya is a secular state.

Even before the barrels of ink dried after a section of his factionaries inside Kenya Kwanza Alliance praised him for that through acquiring hectares of space in our local dailies to pen articles in praise of him for that move, we saw him luring a section of ODM party legislators to who visited him at State House. This visit was christined as a "development tour" and we were left wondering, from when did resources stopped from being shared in the National Assembly and started to be shared in State House? Pundits opine that this is a plot to undermine and kill opposition. A day before that visit, a section of Jubilee Party honchos were too invited in the house on the hill. Their visit was christened also as a bold step towards "uniting" the nation. Who said Kenyans are divided? Infact , the high cost of living has united Kenyans more than a leaked sex video from a political honcho or a celebrity. This is where the coup d'etat which was being staged in the party was mooted. ODM leader Raila Odinga yesterday avered that , a section of ODM MPs who visited State House were slapped with sh 5 Million and were promised more development projects rolled out by the government if only they abandon their opposition roles. Really??? Is this proposal coming from someone who believes in democracy?

What even shocked me is the kind of jubilation and hysteria a majority of Kenyans had especially those who voted for this Government. To them , the opposition in Kenya is akin to a rebel movement aimed at toppling the government of the day. That shows how Kenyans are alienated on the functions and roles of the opposition. Once the opposition is killed , then , I don't know who will speak for them. The government must be out on check. That's the function of the opposition. But the gullible polity see it as a nuisance and an entity that should be done away with. So far , no one is spared as our economy is nose diving in an alarming way. The cost of living has hit all time high and the strength of our shilling against the dollar is in high dependency unit (HDU). Kenyans should note this , that when opposition is killed, it is their voices which are being killed. It is will be a sad state of affairs because no one will speak for the when the government in power goes rogue in trasgressing on their rights and freedoms. A dictatorial regime can creep in slowly but veiled and wearing the religious cloak. What will kenyans do then? That's when they will ask , where is the opposition? But then , why will they be crying when they are celebrating now when it is being trampled on?