These three are the enemies of our republic

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By MAKAU MUTUA
Posted  Saturday, March 3  2012 at  16:28

Today, I am writing about the three “Kenyan traitors”. I know what you are thinking.

But take it from me – you are dead wrong. I don’t mean “them”. I am writing about some of you, the enemies of the republic.

I want to tell you why we are a nation of underachievers, citizens who keep on doing the same thing – over and over again – and expect different results.

This isn’t only impossible, it’s thoughtless. We are like an abused spouse who keeps on rushing back into the arms of the batterer.

Which begs the question – how can we break this vicious cycle of abuse? Are we forever doomed to be slaves?

Alexis de Tocqueville, the famous French political thinker, once said that “in a democracy, people get the government they deserve”.

Deeply flawed system

But, as we know, democracy is a deeply flawed system. None other than Winston Churchill, the towering British statesman, opined that “democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others”.

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You might be forgiven for despairing if you combine the two expressions.

But read the statements closely and you realise that only you – the citizen – can make the difference. That’s why you’ve no choice but to exercise “democratic vigilantism”.

Give up your “agency” to the politician and he will turn you into a slave. That’s what politicians have turned Kenya into – a nation of slaves.

What meanest thy? I have given this a great deal of thought. My unfortunate conclusion is that it’s we – the citizens, and not the politicians – who are to blame for our woes.

We have allowed the political class to enslave us. We have turned our lives over to them and given them permission to (expletive) dominate us. Then we turn around and blame them for our abdication.

Let me tell you something – we are a sorry and sad lot. Why would you meekly turn the other cheek if you’ve been slapped on the other? I’d say you deserve to be slapped again if you do.

I think wolves exist only because sheep do. We’ve dug our own graves. I have identified three “Kenyan traitors” that have turned us into slaves.

These traitors aren’t individuals per se, but typologies of “citizens”. There are three types of “citizens” who are the cause of our problems.

And don’t say I am blaming the victim because then you will be one of the three types. The first type is the tribal chauvinist. This is the benighted, willfully ignorant, and unapologetic tribal demagogue.

This type could have a Ph.D in philosophy, and he would still be an irredeemable tribalist. He’s often worse than the villager who wasn’t fortunate to get an education.

The educated tribal chauvinist forms the backbone of virtually every senior politician. He’s responsible for mobilising the tribe.

The tribal chauvinist pretends that the 42 Kenyan ethnic groups are in a deadly zero-sum game for power and resources.

This is the only way he can justify the tribalisation of politics to himself and his kinsmen. The core of the chauvinist lie is that “our people” will have “nothing to eat” unless “our man” is in power.

It’s sad that most Kenyans joyfully drink this Kool-Aid. Shockingly, it’s the poorest members of the tribe – who will never “eat anything” – that are virulent chauvinists.

The tribal political elites orchestrate this charade although they know it’s hogwash. They are cynical, hypocritical, and demonic manipulators of “their own people”.

Political ralliesBut it’s the “small people” who willingly allow themselves to be manipulated.

The second traitor is the “political rally attendant”. It’s true that political rallies are indispensable to a democracy. In fact, political rallies are the opiate of the masses.

But it’s the masses at the rallies that swell the heads of politicians. The voice of the people – vox populi – is appropriated by the political class at these mammoth rallies.

Politicians use rallies to bamboozle citizens and confound them with false hopes, hateful propaganda, and power trips.

Take, for example, the G7 rallies that pivot on the Ocampo Two – Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto.

Stunningly, the two have been indicted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity on “each other’s people”. Just fathom that.

Kenyans can free themselves from the political class by denying it oxygen at the cynical political rallies.

Just how naive are we to believe that the Ocampo Two are really conducting “prayer rallies” to seek the Lord’s blessings?

Take this to the bank – every Kenyan who goes to political rallies disguised as “prayer meetings” or tribal alliances – is a traitor to the republic.

I will cut you some slack. I ask that you leave the rally immediately in protest if politicians start hateful propaganda and excrete other verbal diarrhoea at a political rally. Withdraw your consent to be enslaved.

No politician can address an empty stadium. That’s how you can force politicians to address real issues.

The last traitor is mass media. The press – print and electronic – acts as though Kenya belongs to 10 political leaders.

Same politicians

You can’t turn on the TV, radio, or read a newspaper without hearing or seeing the same 10 politicians.

The press should pay attention to new faces in politics. Why keep on building up the same tribal chauvinists who have nothing new to offer? The press shouldn’t be one of the three traitors.These people suck up all the oxygen in the country thanks to the press. The press doesn’t seem to know that Kenya has 37 million people.

Makau Mutua is Dean and SUNY Distinguished Professor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of the KHRC.