Fight for economic liberation, it's not a hand-me-down affair

Raila Odinga celebrates after the Supreme Court nullified President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election (Photo: Courtesy)

It was just one of those days! I was tired, too tired to even change the channel. I mindlessly stared at the screen, almost unaware of what I was seeing, until I heard something and thought, ‘wait a minute, what this person is singing about is worth hearing! I didn’t pick up the artist’s name or the name of the song, but basically what he was singing about was the economic state of the electorate vis-a-vis that of the elected.

The song was calling the electorate to be conscious of their individual economic state and channel their energy to changing it as opposed to grouping themselves in an attempt to empower an already economically pudgy political group.

Enthralled

I was captivated because the lyrics carried a lot of current truth. It is interesting how over the last few weeks after the elections, its nullification and the announcement of a repeat election that people have been very concerned about the economic state of the Nation and profusely lament about their own individual economic state whose deterioration is seemingly being fueled by a protracted political turbulence.

This whole political roller coaster has had a toll on individuals and businesses, adversely affecting their pockets.

There is definitely nothing wrong with politics- a need to make it vibrant and better- and a people enjoying the freedom of a thriving democracy, but if the political environment of any nation puts undue pressure on its people, it’s shrewd for them to evaluate the imbalance and make adjustments. In our case, It’s prudent for us to evaluate the effect of our politics on our economic state as individuals and establish to what extent we are willing to pay economically to empower one societal pillar or better still establish how we can co-exist so that we do not have to economically suffer for political mileage.

The truth is that we need to liberate our minds from this slavery, because it’s evident that the economic ransom demanded by this political hostage is quite high and if we cannot afford it then we are bound to economically perish.

Therefore, this kind of progressive narrative, embodied by the artist’s song is valid and long overdue for the simple reason that if our homogenisation only empowers a democratic process and political group, then it ultimately reproduces ideologies that leave our voices and identity out of the discourse.

This kind of pattern limits our individual agency as well as reinforce group stereotypes that are social constructions designed to advance political agendas.

The onus is then on us-at individual levels- to liberate ourselves at least economically, and to understand that economic liberation is never and has never been a  hand-me-down affair, it’s always a fight, because it is a proven fact that there are some social structural issues that are designed to keep people in the same state and if no one calls them to attention then people will be held hostage by this mindset of an elusive benefit of public assistance that is accrued to them only if their cultural member holds office.

There is a need to free ourselves from this fear of losing resources and benefits that we believe we collectively possess as a results of simply or complexly enthroning our cultural member and reconcile ourselves to the reality that economic advancement is about an individual solving a problem and not this collective ‘tunaomba serikali itusaidie’ narrative.

Motivation

A cry for a better economic state of a people cannot be left at the mercy of the political class. It has to be fuelled by a desire for social change and behavioural evolution, this can only be done if we as a people broaden our understanding of culture to include more subjectivities that can help us come together and drop our sensitivity, propositional attitudes and stereotype threats and engage in social interactions that are designed to chat the course for a better economic state of individuals and ultimately the entire nation.

Whether this conversation is fueled by a rap artist, a neighbor, a priest or fellow countrymen it’s important for us to get a clear picture of where we want to see ourselves economically and move towards that direction with our energy, our time and resources. We can never avoid politics, but it should not stop us from succeeding either.

Ms Omukoba is a Communications Strategist and Lecturer at Kenyatta University. [email protected]