Sunday, October 14, 2012

Presidential debates good but will not end tumbo, ukabila democracy


Kudos to the Media Owners Association for offering to sponsor presidential debates to give us the opportunity to hear what those who want to lead us have to offer.
Debates have influenced voter opinions in mature democracies and in many cases can decide the fate of presidential hopefuls. Back in Kenya, however, we have to contend with different sets of conditions that may limit their effectiveness.
How do you get the most from as many as ten presidential candidates at one sitting?
For example, in America such debates are limited to two presidential candidates, representing the Democratic and Republican parties.
Unlike here, the two parties stand for relatively different ideologies and practices while most of our presidential candidates have had similar political backgrounds and differ largely because of their ethnic origins.
Tribe is the dominant ideology in our politics, making it hard for the common mwananchi to bother about what candidates stand for; what is important is their ethnic identity.
Other considerations for most Kenyans are; gender (our women will have it rough irrespective of their good ideas); income (the poor care for that packet of unga more than a great idea they cannot eat now); ability to entertain (this is often more popular than a good manifesto); and, the inability of some politicians to stomach public criticism (some media talkshows have resulted in physical confrontation).
Remember that only one out of 54 Kenyans have access to a television set. Although the debates will also be on radio, body language can differentiate between one telling lies or the truth, or is not confident about what they are saying. But it must also be confusing to follow a debate of ten politicians on radio. I wonder if media owners could partner with other well wishers to sponsor news/entertainment centers with large TV screens for the general public, especially in rural constituencies.
It is the poor who need to follow these debates the most. It is also a good idea to limit debates to the top two or three contenders based on the opinion polls of the week. Let us hear the serious contenders. Whatever the number of candidates, I hope the moderators will be completely non-partisan for the debates to be considered credible.
Debate topics should be narrowed down to what concerns Kenyans the most: unemployment, corruption, tribalism, education, insecurity, and social and regional equity.
In addition to asking candidates to give us their ideas for Kenya’s development, and how they hope to go about it, viewers should use the opportunity to interrogate: the political backgrounds of contenders; their record in development; their fulfillment of what they have promised before; and, their record in matters related to corruption, tribalism and other criminal behaviour.
Those who pass the test in terms of having the best strategy for development, untainted careers and proof that they can unite Kenya should be taken seriously for the important job of leading Kenya. Good thing is; if it is clear that this is the way presidential debates will go, some of the candidates will opt not to participate in them, and by extension will be giving up any pretensions they may have had on national leadership.
Good riddance indeed!
The writer is MP for Tigania West and Assistant Minister Higher Education, Science and Technology

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