Forget the sideshows, focus on what really matters to Kenyans

Quite unfortunately, the ICC has returned to haunt the country yet again. President Uhuru Kenyatta’s assertion during Jamhuri Day celebrations that Kenya was considering withdrawing from The Hague-based court for “mistreating” the country has opened the Pandora’s box. CORD leader Raila Odinga, a probable candidate in the 2017 election, in a rejoinder said he believes the court was lenient to Mr Kenyatta.

And therefore, Raila said, Mr Kenyatta should be the last to take Kenya out of the court. And that Kenya would remain a signatory to the court that was formed in 1998 to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Kenya has ratified the Rome Statute that led to the formation of the court.

And in what has become common with our divisive politics, Jubilee party leaders quickly rallied behind the President, castigating Mr Odinga and unnamed foreign benefactors for viewing “the ICC as an instrument for regime change”. Still on Jamhuri Day, President Kenyatta accused foreign governments of funding NGOs so as to influence the election outcome. Had the comments not come from the President, we wouldn’t have been obliged to comment about them. Sadly, they are.

Those pronouncements matter because in an electioneering period like the one we are getting into, words matter. And who says what determines the importance that is ascribed to those words. As we head into the homestretch of the 2017 General Election, politicians seeking high office owe it to Kenyans to ensure that the contest is about issues rather than sideshows that are irrelevant.

The ruling party candidates ought to elucidate their policies by presenting their successes and the Work in Progress. On the other hand, the Opposition should present to the people a real alternative. Kenyans deserve real choices at the next election. The 2013 election went down history as a referendum on the ICC. The eventual winners from Jubilee coalition led by Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto whipped up anti-imperialism fervour. The crimes against humanity charges the duo faced in relation to the 2007/08 post-election violence where 1,000 people got killed were dismissed as trumped-up charges meant to lock them out of the race. For lack of evidence, those charges have since been dismissed.

Be that as it may, there are growing fears that history could repeat itself: once again, issues will be pushed to the back burner. This time, the guise is to discredit media, NGOs and other independent organisations that educate the public on electoral choices and which form a key ingredient in democracy. It could well be that some NGOs want to institute regime change by encouraging voters to vote in a particular way. Those ones ought to be isolated and sanctioned lawfully.

The ping pong that is playing out between the ruling coalition and the Opposition does little to ‘issuefy’ the debate. In fact, it degrades it. It is an abuse of the people’s trust and confidence in the leadership.

Yet so much holds back Kenya’s promise.

Sadly, we haven’t seen much in terms of concrete strategies on what the leaders will do to improve the lot of the poor.

Most certainly, a discussion on why despite the economy registering growth, Kenyans are losing jobs and livelihoods. Put it another way, rising poverty, corruption, health and education should top the news headlines. Not whether or not to leave the ICC.