The tragedy of 2013 is that many leaders will betray us

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By DOMINIC WAMUGUNDA
Posted  Saturday, September 1  2012 at  18:40

IN SUMMARY

• A conversation with a former parliamentarian I had a chat with who was part of the 1992 crop left me feeling betrayed.
• After the 2002 elections, some of them became Cabinet ministers and their nationalistic ideals were quickly thrown out the window.
• From then on to the present, the reformers of the past had joined hands with the reactionaries they had been fighting.

When I look at the political developments — particularly the current pre-election activities — and the key actors at the centre of such goings-on, it is clear to me that there is a lost generation in the development of authentic leadership in this country.

After talking to a former parliamentarian of my generation who is eager to get back to leadership come next elections, I am convinced that ours is indeed a lost generation.

The multi-party elections of 1992 brought into the limelight a group of energetic, seemingly focused young parliamentarians.

For once since independence, we felt like we were taking charge of our collective destiny. This group of younger leaders seemed to have a national outlook and were an 
inspiration to others.

Many of them had grown up in ordinary homes and were educated through the ordinary Kenyan school system.

This is the crop of leaders who represented the reform that Kenyans had been looking for and for which many had suffered and even died.

Indeed, it is the activism of some of them — among other efforts — that has seen us get to the current constitutional dispensation.

Coming back to the former parliamentarian I had a chat with who was part of the 1992 crop, I must say the conversation left me feeling betrayed.

I was addressing issues that affect Kenya but the man was discussing individual human beings and tribal blocs and that sort of thing.

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I came to the conclusion that we Kenyans have really tried to move towards becoming a democratic nation but our history holds us back.

Whichever way one wants to look at it, 1992 — with the YK92 phenomenon — marked a turning point in the way politics will be done in this country for a long time to come.

After being in the opposition for 10 years, some of the leaders I am talking about learnt how the “government” is run and the gains therein.

After the 2002 elections, some of them became Cabinet ministers and their nationalistic ideals were quickly thrown out the window.

From then on to the present, the reformers of the past had joined hands with the reactionaries they had been fighting.

Their only focus is the “cake”. For most of these, the next elections are not about Kenya. It’s all about them.

Father Dominic Wamugunda is the dean of students and sociology lecturer at the University of Nairobi. wamugundaw@uonbi.ac.ke