Political parties have the right to kick out rebels

Internal political party upheavals are a manifestation of anarchy in a political environment gone wild. Politics in Kenya is guided by avarice rather than ideology, ample explanation for the stunted growth of democracy which, to all purposes and intents is a concept that we have totally failed to assimilate.

By our very own social orientation dating back to the pre-colonial era, African societies were more amenable to Autocracy. In clan groupings then, a dominant male held sway over everybody else. Women had no say. They existed solely for purposes of procreation and children were considered assets; the yardsticks by which a man’s wealth was measured. That has been so internalised that even today women still play second fiddle to men. Karl Marx explains our lack of progress thus; ‘anyone who knows anything of history knows that great social changes are impossible without feminine upheaval. Social progress can be measured exactly by the social position of the fair sex, the ugly ones included’.

If, simply put, democracy means ‘fair play by set rules’, who, in any political set up is expected to propagate democracy? Party adherents and stalwarts are quick to demand that party leaders exercise democracy. Conveniently forgotten is the fact that the principles of democracy apply uniformly across the board and that members too, must exercise it. In a nutshell, respect is mutual; the reason why party membership must be informed by nothing short of conformity to party ideology. Political parties are primarily alliances of compatible people working together with the sole aim of winning elections to control government.

Many politicians don’t subscribe to party ideology. Once elected, they become intent on fulfilling personal ambition oblivious of their obligations to the electorate and forgetting that their actions must be guided by laid down rules. Despite that, it would be naive to expect that a grouping of people would agree on principle all the time. Differences emerge. As John Adams, America’s second president once noted; ‘democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There is no democracy yet that did not commit suicide’.

Dissent, if properly channelled, can positively change perceptions. In organisational set ups, dissent is classified either as articulated, latent or displaced. Articulated dissent is when the aggrieved face those in authority and ventilate their concerns. Latent is when a worker continually complains to fellow workers, people who are ineffectual in offering solutions. Displaced dissent occurs when the aggrieved neither turns to the authorities or colleagues, but rather to ‘outsiders’. The biggest drawback with elected leaders is that they resort to displaced dissent. Notably, TNA, URP, ODM, Wiper and UDF have trouble with discipline. Though the question of moles has featured for a long time, it’s not a new phenomenon.

Competition is about strategy; outwitting opponents in guile. There is no level playing ground in politics, the only rule being that one must never get caught. As such, exposed moles should stop throwing stones. If, while living in a glass house one feels brave enough to throw stones, then he must be strong and smart enough to acknowledge some will boomerang and shatter the glass. Those finding themselves in this predicament should realise that multi-party democracy offers a choice. They must be bold enough to test their popularity by resigning from those parties they no longer identify with and subject themselves to the electorate for a fresh vote. This will preclude the necessity for violence, for, when reason fails the masses, the alternative is violence.

Since Political parties’ are structured entities, they retain the right to get rid of members who distract them from achieving their desired goals. Parties cannot afford to hide behind niceties and the need to grant rights to individuals who have long ceased to lay claim to them by their very actions. In the book of Mathew 5:30 it is written; ‘and if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your whole body than go into hell’. Which political party wants to go and languish in political hell?