Sunday, November 11, 2012

Party ideologies on death bed as political alliances take centre stage


By JUMA KWAYERA
Ambiguity in political messages has discoloured ideals majority of presidential aspirants stand for, the talk of ‘hygienic’ election campaigns ahead of the March 4 polls notwithstanding.
Instead, ethnic rhetoric, which takes the form of ‘like-minds’ or the more banal our ‘time to eat’, has successfully erased whatever residue of ideology or political philosophy that still exists as parties scramble to form tribal unions that once again threaten to dismember national fabric as the country edges closer to the next polls.
With the benefit of hindsight, critics who witnessed Kenya dangerously transit through political chaos now say the so-called alliances of ‘like-minds’ are a replay of the past.
It is a rehash of the Kanu days when the terms wanaojitakia makuu (disgruntled elements) or wasiotosheka (insatiable individuals) were deciders of one’s political destiny.
“Language is performative. In Kenya political discourse, it is used to hide insincerity. When expressions such as like-mind alliances are used they are intended to create doubts about other communities. Our politics is organised in such a manner that politicians manipulate people by creating a sense of insecurity,” says Kiswahili scholar, Prof Kimani wa Njogu.
Recent attempts by Prime Minister Raila Odinga to create an alliance with Eldoret North MP William Ruto was seen as a contradiction in terms given that the two are hewn from different wood ideologically.
An alliance of the like-minded is in the works involving Ruto, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Justice minister Eugene Wamalwa and Water minister Charity Ngilu. In the latter, the like-minds have even struck a deal to share power irrespective of electorate opinion.
Dangerous
Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni, says some like-minded alliances are inspired by spite and therefore potentially dangerous for national reconciliation after a tumultuous 2007 General Election. Mr Kioni says the alliances are about who is able to attract perception that his support base is big and diverse.
“In reality, the sentiment of like-minds is being promoted by the feud between the Odingas and the Kenyattas. Politics should be anchored on principles, not ethnic alliances that put the future of the country at risk,” argues the MP who is founder member of the United Democratic Front (UDF).
According to Prof Njogu, in place of ideology, political persuasion or party manifestos that help define a party to would-be supporters, politics is now laden with expressions that stoke ethnic hostility, raising fears of another round of vicious violence that could tip the country over the cliff of nationhood.
In the just-concluded US presidential election the economy, immigration, unemployment and fiscal prudence defined the campaign discourse about big versus small government, but the debate in Kenya is benchmarked by which ethnic communities “have the numbers” to “share power on a 50-50 per cent basis.”
Since the formation of the Grand Coalition Government, the principals (President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga) and their surrogates face accusations of promoting hate, which has seen ambiguous expressions such as ‘like-mindedness’, ‘power-sharing’, impunity, become the currency with which ethnicity is traded.
Less than five months to the next election, save for Peter Kenneth’s Kenya National Congress party, the United Democratic Forum (UDF), the Orange Democratic Movement and Ford Kenya, which have made public the ideologies on which their respective candidates will be soliciting support from voters, the bulk of political parties are seemingly tribal associations.
Vision
During the launch of his presidential bid last Sunday, Kenneth, the Planning Assistant minister, spoke in detail about his fiscal austerity plans. ODM on the other hand has anchored its vision for Kenya on social justice and reforms.
The centre-piece of UDF’s manifesto is cheap power to spur job creation through a competitive manufacturing sector while Ford-K has made food security and affordable housing for the urban poor its principle theme. The rest of the political parties thrive on like-minded, which essentially according to former Nyeri Town MP Wanyiri Kihoro, is nothing less than a conclave.
“They are not like-minded, they are a conclave. When it comes to corruption, they know the crimes they have committed and the use the conclave to marginalise other communities. The end result is ethnic hostilities that have become apart of every election. The rest of us are pandering to their whims.
It is a competition between victors and victims. The politics of like-minds is built on a common lie — the lie presidential candidates who looted the resources of the country and want to hold onto what they stole,” Kihoro, the author of Never say die: The Chronicle of a Political Prisoner, says.



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