As it is, a non-Kenyan could easily mistake the Opposition for the Government. Why? The government is oozing negative energy into the public. This is something any government should never do if it understands its mandate well. Never!
Recently, I was in a function where government senators and MPs were officiating a fundraiser. Each of them spent at least 85 per cent of their time attacking the Opposition. They had almost rehearsed lines that ran something like this: We will not be threatened! We do not want to go back to 2007/08! What is this mass action about? The government of President Kenyatta is in power legitimately! We will not sit and watch one or two individuals drive the country into chaos! And so on, and so forth.
Pensively I listened. What surprised me is that none of these government representatives had a slightest indication of awareness that basically what they communicated was panic, helplessness, anger, fear which, in sum, only assisted to radicalise Jubilee supporters.
Add to this seemingly scared government mindset, the fact that the government is spending most of its time defending itself against this or that. Senior government officials who have of late appeared in the media have hardly explained any government project that significantly resonates with either its own manifesto or public expectations. Everything seems to be in piecemeal as a good chunk of the time and energy goes to Opposition bashing. Meantime, whatever the Opposition means by National Dialogue, it has packaged it more positively. The Opposition appears to defend why we need to speak with each other, why reconciliation is important, why and how national healing and cohesion can be achieved and why we need to speak about the rising cost of living.
Ideally, all the Opposition is talking about is government agenda. How roles have reversed!
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The government ought to respond to issues raised by both the Opposition and the civil society and not the other way round. Lest we forget, negativity is the cause of radicalisation. If the government keeps bombarding us with the “evils of the Opposition” we will soon forget about what it is doing. Its own supporters will become too radicalised and prepare to “fight the enemy”.
