Kenya's middle class must seize national agenda from politicians

Satirist and philosopher Thomas Carlyle once said: “Teach a parrot the terms supply and demand, and you have a political economist.”

In Kenya, everyone who goes into politics becomes an expert in virtually everything, a mheshimiwa par excellence. This unchallenged assumption has made our politicians the most powerful social category.

Today, they solely drive the national agenda. From whether we need a constitutional change to who should pay or not pay taxes, our national conversation has, essentially, been left to the whims and eccentricities of the political class.

And what is wrong with that? Well, everything.

Granted, politicians are a part of Kenya. Given that ours is a representative democracy, they represent the common mwananchi who elected them to Parliament, county assembly and other constitutional forums. Their voice is the voice of the voter and, to apply a simplistic logic, the voice of God.

Be that as it may, my worry is that the criteria for winning political office has nothing to do with skills. Many politicians owe their careers to hues of old money and influence, and nothing in terms of altruism or ability to lead. Tragedy is that over the years, the whims of the political class have mutated so much that they are today sharply at variance with those of the hoi polloi.

So much that the political class no longer makes any bones about the fact that they need more bodyguards, cash and other trapping that essentially draw a line between them and the rest of society. In plain terms, they need to be cushioned against the same people whose interests they are paid to champion.

The church, whose leadership was this week overheard telling politicians they have no monopoly over the impeding referendum, are just about the only social category that has raised its voice against the hijacking, as it were, of the national agenda by politicians.

For me, the middle class – which has the best brains, skills and ideas – is best suited to drive the national agenda. If you were to talk to a land economist or surveyor, probably in a bar, you hear the best ideas on how to solve the land crisis.

The quiet doctor on the last pew at the estate church may have all the solutions on how to tackle the scary Ebola threat, or devolution of health, but many such professionals seem to have boxed themselves into a long-suffering, defeatist fate. So we sit and watch as the politicians drive the country on a wild goose chase.

If I had my way, I would ensure every ministry, immediately below the Cabinet and principal secretaries, has an independent-minded think-tank of technocrats who determine what the Cabinet Secretary says at the next seminar. That way, the country may be under the stewardship of political appointees, but the policies and visions are shaped by expert thinking.

But what do we see? A couple of years ago, a friend joined a ministry as a communications expert. He had to quit in a huff one morning after he reported and was told there would be a press conference in a few minutes, which he was supposed to address on some undisclosed matter.

What was the conference about, and what was he going to say? Well, he would find out. It turned out there was a big scandal he knew nothing about yet it was his job to tell the media “something”.

While we blame politicians for everything wrong, I think middle-class silence and hypocrisy should shoulder a larger chunk of the blame. Our professionals, instead of stepping up to the plate and preparing memoranda for formulation of national policies, prefer not upsetting the apple cart.

So long as there is a monthly salary to cushion us from slum life, and a pension to eventually build us a small house in Utawala at the end of the rat race, we see no evil. Yet this country educated us and is expected to take care of our progeny.

I think instead of abusing our education by taking sides in the ego battles of our politicians, besides secretly writing ethnic graffiti on social media, the middle class must stand up for this country.