Kenyans must reject bad governance, regardless of who is in charge

CAMPAIGN GOODIES Leaders should be held to account for writing off debts and issuing title deeds to win support

Let’s reject bad governance, regardless of who is in charge

Something is awfully wrong when a suddenly generous president goes into overdrive with official charity in the election campaign season. This begins bordering on unduly inducing voters. Any politician who baits voters in this manner commits an election offence. Second, it is ethically offensive when a leader dressed up in party regalia goes about dispensing title deeds, writing off loans, and engaging in sundry acts of generosity, all in the name of the State. Stripped off party props and propaganda, it is ordinarily the role of government to do the kind of things the President is assiduously engaged in. Yet, the timing is important, as is the occasion too. He has lost four years when he could have done these things without raising eyebrows. The present timing suggests the President is exploiting public resources in a one-sided campaign. We have seen TV footage of military helicopters and sundry state paraphernalia in this campaign.

To what extent is the National Treasury being tapped for the Jubilee campaign? Could there be Treasury officials cutting across the country with bags of public funds to facilitate this campaign? And when loans are written off, is this a Cabinet decision or is it an impulsive political decision? Is it the government or Jubilee writing off debts? Have correct procedures of debt write-off been followed? What is the wider relevance of the write-offs for taxation and for the economy? We could ask many more questions. Going forward, however, official audits will be necessary. It will be critical to draw a line between Uhuru Kenyatta the President and Uhuru the Jubilee Party politician. Where debts were written off irregularly, it may be necessary to surcharge either the President in his personal capacity, or his party – or both. It is known that in the US, for example, a sitting president seeking a second term cannot use public resources for his political campaign.

Even where the President may appear to use such resources, internal audits will bill him. He will settle the bill to the last coin. Kenyans must similarly hold their leaders to account. Public funds spent irregularly must be refunded. Future regimes may have to open up the books afresh. The law also needs tightening to explicitly inhibit the president from using public resources to campaign.

Yet the mire is not restricted to the Presidency. Governors have straddled the counties with official charity, mirroring the president. They, too, have exploited their offices for undue advantage. Members of Parliament have abused the constituency development kitty in like fashion. Regardless of the office, this practice is odoriferous. Citizens need to wake up from the stupor of blind leader-support and worship to demand accountability.

Meanwhile, today marks exactly one month to Election Day. There is need to make this election a decision about the destiny of the country. What quality of life do we want over the next five years? What will we pass on to the next generation? These are the two questions every voter needs to answer at the ballot box.

The past five years have been hopelessly noisy and disappointing. The acrimony within the political class has been disgraceful. It drowned important questions under the partisan noise of negative ethnicity. Apart from pay perks, the people we elected in 2013 agreed on nothing outside the tribal formations. Kenya began sinking that low under President Kibaki in 2003. Ethnicity was never this commanding even in the one party days. Tragically, we are about to elect yet another crop of youthful tribal chieftains. The new season will also mark the vicious struggle for the Uhuru Kenyatta succession, regardless that Uhuru wins or loses this election. The struggle is set to begin within his own camp. Rumblings of this have already begun. Realignment within Jubilee will begin peaking soon after the elections. People will jostle and elbow each other out of the way for prominence.

There will also be the Raila Odinga succession. Once again it does not matter that Raila wins this election or not. Within the National Super Alliance (NASA) the understanding is that Raila is dancing his final dance. Whether he makes it or not, he must prepare to give way. If he does not, they will maul him before turning against one another. Alternatively, they may just agree on how to dump him and carry on without him, the way the Kanu brigade abandoned President Moi with his Uhuru Project in 2002.

There are also set to be new entrants. Kanu National Chairman, Gideon Moi, has already fired the warning shot. He is going to be worth watching. Some second term governors will also be craving future relevance. Second term senators are likely to throw their hats into the gubernatorial ring. Few governors, however, may want to become senators after all the trappings of power and the good life at the county. They will cast their sights higher. Kenya will need to watch how their fingers handle the public purse. If you think that the ending season has been noisy, you haven’t seen anything. The night of long knives is just beginning. The ending season has only been an inoculation against what is coming. There is set to be deafening political noise and horse-trading. There will be betrayal and counter betrayal. Strange bedfellows will come together in strange formations.

Tragically, the quality of life for the citizen only gets poorer in the process. There has been a frightful erosion of standards of living these past five years. The cost of living has shot through the roof. Firms have closed while others have migrated. There has been downsizing and laying off of staff. Strikes are the new normal. Insecurity is accepted as a matter of course. Things will only get worse after August, unless Kenyans reject bad governance, regardless of who is in charge.

- Mr Muluka is a publishing editor and special consultant. [email protected]