From: dick.aduonga

It is an elections year and the country is abuzz with all manners of political activities. At this time of the political cycle, we witness some of the most colourful characters in our political life. Going by the just concluded party primaries, one would be tempted to be excited at the prospects of Kenya becoming a thriving democracy but when you pause for a minute; you again wonder if that is really a correct observation of our current political development.

For the past 40 years we have had a grudging political system with the political class taking little interest in the rights of the citizenry. By nature politicians seldom favour change in the interests of the working class and for many years they got their way in an ethnocentric Kenyan politics, sometimes through brutal force irrespective of the wishes of the majority.

Now Kenya has a new dispensation through its new constitution which compels all citizens to play fair and develop governance institutions that support the growth of democracy in the country. Leaders use political parties to ascend to power through the people and this means the people ought to be empowered to elect or deselect those leaders they deem unfit to lead them at a particular time. The price of democracy is that when one engages in a competition with fair rules and loses or wins, we expect them to accept such an outcome.

Kenya as a young democracy has the signs for a brighter future. The last party primaries even though in some cases was shambolic, the fact that majority of the contestants were happy with the outcome is great. To depart from the past ways of doing things has not always been easy. Most of these politicians have often survived political onslaught from their competitors through political patronage. So it was not a surprise that the party prodigal sons did not want to play fair.

It is important that as Kenya moves forward in its political, social and economic development, politicians understand that an empowered citizenry engages and contributes positively to the holistic development of the nation. Their wishes should be respected when they deselect or elect a leader of their choice because there is no reasonable logic in a party forcing a leader on the people. In future parties should ensure their rules of engagement are clear so that all potential participants can robustly evaluate themselves before seeking clearance for the party nominations.

Have a very peaceful elections

Dickson Aduonga