Kenya’s experiment with the democratic project.

Take a breathe and wait for it. We have become a nation of liars. And the account for boys and girls can be found opined by professor here. https://nation.africa/kenya/blogs-opinion/opinion/kenya-s-political-eclipse-part-iii-4153232

The democratic project that Kenya is experimenting in is a Kleptocracy say Makau. And since we do not wish to delay him in getting hold of President Ruto, we shall let him have him and hope to see what sense he can make of it. And so professor says, Kenya isn’t a democracy, we may never become one if a democracy is a state in which the values and tenets of liberalism – equality, equity, the rule of law, liberty, freedom, autonomy, separation of powers and checks and balances – are used to create a society of economic and social opportunity for all.

We may need to ask ourselves why professor revelation is rooted in depth of the previous elections but as he avers from his front seat, mostly that of 2022. But we must understand that professor is unhappy man battling with a great sense of loss to let the end result to be the happiness of the largest majority of the people. In must curbing political and economic despotism, Makau has betrothed himself and kind to illiberal democracy where Kenyans are cut off from knowledge about the activities of those who exercise real power because of the lack of civil liberties and urged to subscribe to whistleblowers in favor of their established institution.

The Carnist vs The Vegan

If you look at all these indices of democracy, you can’t argue with any credulity that any – a single one of them – is present in the Kenyan zeitgeist. Ours is a voracious culture of mutual cannibalisation and the crudest of materialism.

It wasn’t always this way and doesn’t have to stay this way. I remember a time when Kenyans had a softer heart and an Ubuntu sensibility. But those days are long gone. In my view, we have entered the “door of no return” in our politics. We have become savage beasts in human form.

Most Kenyans get whatever they can get no matter the cost to the next guy or the society. Our political elite aspires to state power, not for any other reason but to steal from us. If you listen to UDA’s Rigathi Gachagua, or his boss William Ruto, you know what I mean. Their disdain for citizens who will not cave to them is gargantuan. 

Importantly, Kenya’s democracy has died because of the calibre of leaders and the corruptible nature of the institutions that are central to it. Key among these is the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

That institution is rotten through and through to its innermost core. Most senior officials who have worked in it – and its predecessors – are some of the most corrupt Kenyans alive or dead. The IEBC in the last election was a feeding trough for the most piggish officials. The truth is Kenyans know this and yet go along with the theft.

Today, some Kenyans tell me Azimio should’ve been a smarter thief than UDA. They believe you must steal elections to win, or you are the fool.

Lastly, one cannot discuss the death of Kenya’s democratic experiment without defrocking the intellectual and moral midgets at the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of Kenya is where democracy goes to die. In spite of the David Maraga Court in 2017 which made history by calling out the theft – a clear aberration – the Supreme Court is possibly public enemy number one.

Its ruling in 2022 giving the IEBC the legal fiat to rig elections will live in infamy. The last institution that could have saved Kenya’s democratic experiment has not performed as expected. That’s why I say without equivocation that Kenya’s democratic experiment is buried – entombed – at the Supreme Court.