By Okech Kendo

Idealists claim there is no such a thing as negotiating democracy. To think of it, they say, is to manipulate the will of the majority to accommodate public perceptions.

Perception is everything for a political party posing as a future engine of governance.  Managing public perception determines whether a party and a presidential candidate loses or wins.

Democracy, on the other hand, takes care of the minority, even as it respects the will of the majority. Since it is not possible to keep your ugali and eat, some concessions are necessary for the common good.

Losing strategy

Any other way would be a losing strategy: Democracy could easily give you Embakasi MP, Ferdinard Waititu, as Governor of Nairobi County, Makadara MP Gideon Mbuvi as Nairobi County Senator, or former councillor Opete Opete of Kibera as Governor of Nairobi.

Democracy needs to be tempered with reason so that parties place individuals where their special ‘talents’ can best be exploited.

There seems to be no better way of serving clashing party, ethnic interests, while respecting the rights of individuals to seek offices of their choosing.

The National Alliance party, and the Orange Democratic Movement especially, should confront these issues in their nominations for various seats, especially in Nairobi County.

Raila Odinga, a Luo, and Uhuru Kenyatta, a Kikuyu, are targets because they are opinion pollsters’ front-runners in the presidential race. The two will win or lose the contest depending on how they manage public perceptions and negotiate democracy. 

Raila and ODM, like Uhuru and TNA, shall be judged by their leadership packages for Nairobi. Their alliances shall give a clue to the kind of government they would form.

As the capital city, Nairobi is a miniature Kenya, with 42 or more communities seeking political representation.  More, Kenya advances only if Nairobi works because it is the engine of the national economy. If you cloud Nairobi with ruffians and tribal allies then you flop the perception test.

Not many right thinking Kenyans would vote a Nairobi with Raila as a presidential candidate, and a Luo as ODM candidate for Governor of Nairobi. And not many would want a Nairobi with Uhuru Kenyatta as TNA presidential candidate, and a Kikuyu as Governor of Nairobi.

Perception

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with Uhuru as TNA presidential candidate, and Waititu as TNA bidder for Nairobi Governor, but public perception deserves some respect. Waititu’s activist side aside, the two are Kikuyu. In the public perception, it would be a Kikuyu takeover of Nairobi.

Perhaps aware of this, TNA and Uhuru are already alienating Waititu, as a possible party candidate for Nairobi governor.  They understand Nairobi requires leadership, under a technocrat much more refined and connected than the Embakasi MP whose forte is populism of a lower threshold.

Leverage

Similarly, a Raila for president and Evans Kidero for governor of Nairobi would fail the test of public perception. Candidate Raila, who wants to become president of Kenya, may not earn leverage from a Kidero bid for Nairobi governor.

Kidero may be a fine technocratic, but his party, ODM, may flop the perception test: The package may be viewed as a Luo ‘takeover’ of Nairobi.

Uhuru with Kidero or Raila with, say, the refined technocrat Jimna Mbaru, the gentleman who nurtured the Nairobi Securities Exchange to its current regional acclaim, is a possible combination. Nairobi needs leadership from hands with proven financial management credentials. The package can give Nairobi leadership, with a face of Kenya hue. Doing it any other way would be routine ambition without reason and caution.

Getting a working combination for Nairobi County leadership is for parties and presidential aspirants to ponder, but they should be conscious of public perceptions.

A Raila for president with Philip Kisia for Nairobi governor is another struggling pair: Critics will say it is ‘too western’.  The same thinking faulted a Raila-Musalia Mudavadi ODM ticket because the two come from western Kenya.

Moreover, Kisia, a former Nairobi Town Clerk, is standing on shaky platform. Kisia shall have to explain the ISO certification backlash for Nairobi City Council under his watch.

Uhuru and TNA, like Raila and ODM, would have to negotiate what to do with Waititu, Kidero, and Kisia, while giving Nairobi and their parties a national combination that could stand the public perception test.

Favoured

TNA and ODM are targeted not to spite other parties, but to give perspective to demographics of Nairobi. The Kikuyu make up about 40 per cent of Nairobi population, and TNA is associated with Uhuru, so far the community’s favoured presidential aspirant.

ODM is pollsters’ most popular and national party, and Raila is by the same opinion polls, so far, the front-runner for the presidential race. Such standing give ODM and Raila, TNA and Uhuru the onerous task of managing public perception, even as they plot their strategies for winning the hearts and votes of Nairobi electorate.

Above all, it is the Nairobi County electorate to decide whether they want the city to function so that Kenya can advance.

Finally, democracy is like an untrained dog. Your send it out to hunt and it can bring back anything – even a skunk.

The writer is The Standard’s Managing Editor Quality and Production.

kendo@standardmedia.co.ke