Banish binary politics through seeking national consensus

President Uhuru Kenyatta, Ruto meet top KCPE candidate Goldalyn Kakuya at State House. (Photo: Courtesy)

The developments of the past few months suggest strongly that Kenya has a consensus challenge. The lack of general agreement between the major political movements in the country on broad issues including how to lead and govern, as well as advance the economy, have persisted.

On November 20, 2017, the Supreme Court of Kenya (SCOK) by a unanimous verdict affirmed the re-election of President Kenyatta when it dismissed petitions lodged by two coordinated actors, both pursuing the same goal. By this decision, SCOK has effectively brought an end to any questions of legal legitimacy of President Kenyatta’s second term in office, propelling the incumbent to the pole position of Head of State and Government.

The unanimous decision, a significant departure from the split 4-2 decision that nullified the initial election on September 1 represents judicial consensus on the fairness of the repeat election on October 29, despite tremendous obstacles thrown at the process by NASA’s boycott.

Best performer

Unrelatedly, Wednesday, November 22 saw Goldalyn Kakuya, the 14-year-old girl with albinism from Kakamega County, who emerged top in the country in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination, thrust into prominence, bringing optimism to a national atmosphere fraught with dark foreboding. Her victory attracted unusual attention and led to a meeting with President Kenyatta and Deputy President Ruto. On the same day, under the chaperon of the indefatigable champion of persons with disability, Hon Isaac Mwaura, Kakuya also met with the Governor of Kisumu, Prof Anyang Nyongo.

Kakuya’s interaction with the President and his deputy as well as Governor Nyong'o is important because the binary nature of our politics appears to suggest there is very little in common in the developmental philosophies of President Kenyatta and DP Ruto on the one hand, and Prof Nyong'o - and by extension, Nyong'o’s benefactor, Hon Raila Odinga- on the other. Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, as Goldalyn Kakuya has educated us, there is certainly more that binds our leadership from either side of the political divide. Apparently, disability issues, especially with regard to persons with albinism, is one such common bond.

It is under Uhuru Kenyatta that persons with disability have received significant policy and fiscal support to facilitate their personal development, including through direct cash transfers. For instance, Government allocation to the disability sector rose to Sh1.8 billion in the 2016-2017 financial year, which funded among other efforts, a Sunscreen Support Programme that benefitted over 3,026 persons with albinism. Similarly, last year, on October 21, 2016, Deputy President Ruto presided over a fundraiser for the education fund of the Albinism Society of Kenya (ASK).

Stigma

Notably, disability issues also feature prominently in the developmental thinking of Governor Nyong'o and his highly-esteemed daughter, Lupita Nyong'o. As the patron of the Albinism Society of Kenya, Nyong'o (with Lupita) have done a great deal to address stigmatisation and exclusion of persons with albinism. It is also Nyong'o, who only recently worked with his counterparts, Governors Chepkwony and Sang, to stem border disputes between communities in Kisumu, Kericho and Nandi.

Counselled by Goldalyn Kakuya’s determined example, it is my view that, perhaps our search for national meaning and consensus can be easily discerned and addressed if we allowed those easily despised, readily forgotten and often disposable, to light our path. Our national values as stipulated in the Constitution will be venerated when policy decisions of the State ensure our collective citizenship includes those who live in the margins of our social, economic and political spaces.

Consequently, in moving forward, the cries of the disillusioned and disenfranchised, disconnected from the sense of nationhood, must move leadership to action.  That way, Uhuru Kenyatta’s second term will not only light a candle to stability, unity and prosperity of the country, but will also ensure justice for the disaffected.

 

Mr Sing’Oei is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a Legal Advisor, Executive office of the Deputy President