I am not sure what national contribution the 13th Parliament will be remembered for. It has goofed quite a bit. Take the example of the court ruling that the Azimio Coalition had the majority members in the House. But who cares about the law at that highest level when it’s not in their favour?
As we head to the next general election, I propose that Parliament, for once, acts with the interest of future generations at heart. Specifically, Parliament has compelling evidence that voter bribery is one of the major causes of violence during elections. Voter bribery comes in several forms, from the most dehumanising, like lining up people to give them money, to subtle indirect “contributions” attached to a cause and skewed public appointments.
I am particularly concerned that the role of Parliament, that is, to represent, oversight and legislate, has by and large been reduced to House Committee businesses that just keep the Executive financially oiled and politically in power. I know this has been going on for the last two decades. It is now a culture. Parliament has become an extension of the Executive.
We need to go back to the core mandate of Parliament. To be independent of the Executive, Parliament needs to deal with voter bribery once and for all. How?
First, just decree as elected leaders to uniformly refuse to bribe anyone for votes. Use your parliamentary powers to ensure that no candidate bribes even a single voter. If this were to happen, and it is possible, those who will come out to vote will do so from a position of inner freedom. The danger is that the devil may enter candidates with deep pockets and itchy fingers to dehumanise the poor by giving them Sh1,000 or even Sh2,000.
Second, at the prompting of inner freedom to make a choice of the best candidates, many voters would start to understand the role of an elected leader and demand quality representation, oversight, and legislation for the public good.
Third, if Parliament ensures there is no voter bribery in all its forms, still, voters will come out to cast votes. Perhaps some voters would not show up because they are used to bribes as justification to vote. Bribes destroy conscience. The one who gives more money tends to win, although, as we know, this doesn’t always happen.
Fourth, by killing the culture of voter bribery, candidates do not have to steal to competitively campaign. As long as they have resources to pay for their campaign logistics, they are good to sell their agenda to the voters. Many candidates, especially those in government, are aware that campaigns are very expensive. For them to make an impression on voters used to bribes, they have to spend big.
To get that kind of money, they have to get into dirty business, including stealing from the public coffers. Surely, we stretch ourselves too far for a behaviour we can stop. Bribery is a violation of the law. We have the capacity to stop it and still have decent campaigns.
Finally, parliamentarians and indeed all elected leaders at the county level will have no reason to implement projects for their re-election. Legally, they have no business managing bursaries, building market stalls, boda boda pavilions, and God knows what. We need people whose mandate is to ensure justice, peace, and development in the country. Mixing mandates between Parliament and the Executive confuses voters.
If we get Parliament back on its feet, the glaring ethnicity in public appointments, impunity, including ignoring court rulings, and decisively dealing with looters of public funds will end. We need Parliament to focus on generating progressive laws and policies that build a strong economy, ensure fair leadership, and a peaceful environment, including during electioneering.
The consequences of the culture of voter bribery are dire. We do not want to pass on the normalised yet misleading belief that to win an election, one must bribe voters.
-Dr Mokua is the Executive Director, Loyola Centre for Media and Communication
