Listening and seeing what we are turning ourselves into, as 2012 elections (or before) draws ever nearer, I’m forced to react to try and argue for sanity. Am particularly irked by the name dropping for potential presidents, which has been going on. This to me shows we are yet to learn vital lessons about leadership selection. After all wasn’t the current president name dropped and adopted without scrutiny? So I want to give my view on the where I think we are going wrong hoping it would inspire some positive response. I also know a lot of us love to look at someone’s reasoning just to find some slight fault with it and use that as an attack on it instead of reinforcement so it will not surprise me one bit if this turn out to be controversial.
We all know we have a leadership problem in Kenya. And it surprises that we can say this after nine elections span over 46 years and with a major opportunity to change course in 1978 when Mzee Jomo Kenyatta passed away in office. We fell for the Nyayo zake Kenyatta gospel spread by Moi. We now realize those fuata nyayo were not what we wanted.
For me this significantly clarifies what our problem is. Our problem is systemic. We have allowed the proliferation of system less or negative systems that masquerade as political parties to select for us leadership. Nay, we cheer them on by feigning helplessness. Our society has this laziness of sitting through a problem to a point that they can clearly see the right solution and implementing that. And the sad thing is our politicians know this and use it to the maximum for their advantage.
The constitution will not resolve our leadership selection crisis. Not as long as it remains a document and its spirit is ignored. First of all it must pass the hands of the same politicians. The movers and shakers in the political divide have all declared interest to occupy the much converted position of president. How then do we expect then to allow the position to be diluted? And second, we are the ones who do the election/selection of leadership and not some document called the constitution. We are the ones who give the constitution life. We have done poor in that so far, as even the current constitution has not respected. So what is that devil cheating us that the new one will be respected if and when it appears? It’s a smoke screen and should it appear, please look at the details for the devil and I promise you as long as this clique is calling the shots, it will bear their hall marks, bad clauses and articles, hidden.
This leads me to the next issue, so what is the solution according to me? First I want to issue a disclaimer. I do not have the monopoly of rightness in any issue, but I put this up as one way we can look at our problem and effectively deal with it in our leadership selection troubles.
We love to make reference to the US president Barack Obama. After hundred days of Obama presidency at least we are more sober and can look at it from a more objective standpoint. We only love to look at such references when we feel they favour our argument, usually Young people arguing for youthful leadership. Obama is a system. For me, the person Barack Obama happened because there is a well established and credible system of leadership selection, first in the Democratic Party and finally in the US through campaigns and finally elections. Obama had to be put into a telescope for more than four years, most of them as a potential Democratic party Flag bearer and finally as the potential president. he was subjected to more than 4 years of interrogation, participated in almost 30 debates, answered thousands of questions, responded to hundreds of quarries and faced millions of voters and had to beat a fields of over 100 potential candidates at the very beginning of the race before finally being installed as president.
Our problem is systemic and must be resolved by refining the system. We need institutional leadership not personality leadership. We have been duped that there is a messiah out there. Take the example of a Manchester United football Club, or Arsenal Football Club. There was George Best, Eric Cantona, David Beckham, and now there is Cristiano Renaldo. In Arsenal there was once Tony Adams, Martin Kewon, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Hendy Dennis Bergkamp, and now Cesc Fabregas. Though out there career these players were at their prime in their teams but at times they got injuries and could not be brought in, in many instances they have moved and left the teams where they had a talismanic association with, but that never stopped Man United from being Man United or Arsenal from Being Arsenal. In fact even when a string team is fielded it will still be the representation of the team in question. Tells you where the messiah comes through, within a set of specific mechanisms, not without.
There is an institutional culture created and sustained where the hierarchy is the country, the Organization and finally the individual in many world class political organizations. For the sake of keeping the organization going, the individual is not indispensable. In fact, dispensability is a sure avenue to the highest levels of heroism in such organizations. Mandela is an example of such sacrifice. He could have denounced ANC to get his freedom but refused to do so and insisted his release will be unconditional. Many a times such sacrifice is recognized. In fact such leaders are trained to spot of new leadership and help nurture it to take over for purposes of continuity. If such talent proves to be more talented than the current leaders, giving way to this new leadership is a natural course of action. John Kerry spotted Obama and handed him the Platform in the 2004 National Democratic Convention. Just four years later Obama is President. And he (Obama) did not have to reward Kerry by making him his vice president or some powerful guy in his government as would have been here! By that action, Kerry was looking beyond his campaign win or loose. The Conservative Party has just 350,000 members in a nation of 100 million. These 350,000 come up with policy positions based on their shared ideology, ideals and objectives and sell them to the public who support them by voting.
We have an easier more controllable recourse that is more closed to abuse of reforming this country yet we overlook it capacity to deliver us to Canaan. We should agree that at least 5Million vote holders should resolve to join an existing political party and become active members in such parties or form new more progressive ones. We must agree to get there and lay down the rules, mechanisms and processes of leadership selection in those vital souls of leadership selection and control that we have ignored for so long, to our detriment. The Political parties are such great vessels as they can be controlled by the members of the party, making the political leaders accountable to the members of the party and by extension, the members of the public. There are about 40 parties. That means 125,000 members per party. This is a number that they can fund all party activities should each member part with Kenya Shillings 100 annually.
Once we have in place reform inspired rules and regulations in these organizations we can be sure that leaders selected will be taken through some high level interrogation processes to test their suitability to hold public office based on our shared national values.
By taking over all the parties in the country and forming others that are reform minded, we can guarantee ourselves good leadership without breaking a sweat. We will block bad leadership from the root and ensure that we can control political reform. Don’t be fooled that for you to be active participant in apolitical party means you have to go to rallies and demonstrations. You can support a party from the background by giving ideas and memoranda to express you positions. Again do not be lied to that politics is a dirty game. It is painted dirty so that you and I, who consider ourselves clean, may not dare engage in it. That reduces competition for the status quo tremendously. Again do not be cheated that to go for political office you must have finances to match. The example above tells us that the public can effortlessly fund our political activities as long as they are inspired enough. The fundamental institution in the country is the political party institution which begets the president and the parliament. Once we have good hygienic political processes going on here, it follows that we will have good hygienic political engagement in the country. And by the way it is not youth, men, women, elderly, this or that tribe. Such are products that a good political party system will point at.
This process has allowed Americans to be sure that this was the man/woman that their situation called for at that moment in time. They have the right information about what he and his family owns, they are certain that he pays his taxes and they can rest easy that in the event that he is not what they thought he was, they can always impeach him/her. Still they took a whole 72 days to swear him in just to be sure nothing was amiss, through an elaborate process planned to the minute.
Stop this name dropping and start registering as members of political parties. You will help this country more from that station. Individuals may change and abandon promises but well ran institutions will not run away from principled positions. So if you are whining and you do not belong to any political party, you are our first problem. Shut up and let us build our country.
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Date: Tue, 5 May 2009 01:38:25 -0700 [03:38:25 AM CDT]
From: nicholas oyoo
Subject: . We Need to Make a Mass Flooding into Political Parties for Our Own Sake as a Nation
Thank you Mr. Oyoo for well thought out post. Thank you gain for bringing out President Obama’s relationship with John F. Kerry in 2004 at Democratic party convention in Mass. From here in my State. My main goal in this campaign was to learn and like Kenya. The people in Kenya need to start thinking “out side the box” like your takes in this post . Relying on these tribal political parties, political cult following of tribal leaders and political corruption in this country will not move Kenya forward no matter how many elections the country can host. In the 2012 election: Kikuyus, Luos, Kambas, Kalenjins and other tribes will vote for their owns no matter how incompetent and corrupt these their leaders are!
My hope after working in Obama’s campaign is to develop “Grass root movement” in Kenya with no: tribal, regional and party affiliations. For this Grass roots Party/movement to be effective, all national political parties must have sponsor candtates running for national office in every district in the country . For example, PNU, ODM, ODM -Kenya must fill candidates not only in their tribal base as they are doing now but every where in the country.
The ” GRM” Grass Root Movement” will be able to support or not support candidates based on the issues. In the US where there are only two dominant political parties, every district always has Democratic and Republican candidate’s and the tie breaker is ( independent voters) who decides most of the raises. The same concept can be developed in Kenya politics with stronger indepedent grass movement/party. Those people who still want to vote for their tribes will have the freedom to do so but the grass roots will also have a say in the election contest out come. My take, it is not necessary to form another party but to organize the actual voters in individual block of independent voters in each distric in the country. In the long run the political parties will be forced to fill /sponsor qualified candidates whom the grass roots movement can support regardless of their party
The public has power and the answer unfortunately they have been ” brain washed” by these crop of current political leaders who demand blind following and unlimited loyalty from” wamainchi in their districts. Imagine how much leverage the voters could have if their district have at least three different political party candidates to choose from during general elections! In this scenario, these three candidates may come from the same tribe but they will be forced to sell the merit of their political parties to the voters.
I agree wholheartedly that we need to step away from personality cults built around so-called politicial parties, to start genuine parties and to institutionalize them. I also think there is great value in appealing to the youthful types, as there are a good number among them who hunger for meaningful change outside of tribe and wtih sufficient idealism for money/wealth to not be the number one motivator.
How can we help : youths, non tribal/partisans populace develop “Grass Root Movement” in their communities to affect political change?. It is solution “stupid”! which is needed to improve the current corrupt political system in this country. Let us all focus on finding solutions whether: be organizing the youths or educating the actual voters in their respective villages/districts on political and economic issues that affect them in every day lives. Just to give you and other readers “head ups” watch out for the additional provinces being proposed…ask yourself what will be gained by further dividing this country into tribal enclaves?