Let’s learn from failures of 2017, do better in New Year

This being the last Saturday of the year, allow me to look back at some of the failures of the year. Here are the four failures of 2017.

The title of Failure Number One of 2017 goes to the Banks. The greed of financial institutions finally caught up with them. Even as they fight it, the banks brought the ‘catastrophe’ of capped interest rates upon themselves. It is the accumulated result of wanting to make too much money for too few people within too short a time. But also, it is simply a matter of banks being unable to cope with change.

They have failed to adjust to new realities. The bank’s fight against the rate cap is about profits at the expense of livelihoods. However, changing this law yet again will no doubt face serious resistance - even on the floor of Parliament. The banks should therefore accept the new reality and change with the times, or they will be forcefully changed by the times. After all, nothing is entirely indispensible, not even banks.

The title of Failure Number Two of 2017 goes to Raila Odinga’s political advisors. This band of counsel-givers in the name of economists, lawyers and other assorted consultants bungled Baba’s career. Raila was grossly misguided and blindly led into committing the fatal error of boycotting the October 26th presidential election.

Had he participated in the second round of elections, his supporters would have come out to vote for him with a vengeance. And if he happened to lose, and then claimed that the election was stolen once again, his argument could have been valid. This would have given him a fair basis to seek another re-run. In any case, the Constitution allows for an endless loop of petitioning. Raila would have had the ‘benefit’ of complicating the election process even further. He would have single handedly began a whole other electoral timeline.

The ‘ad- infinitum’ litigation would then have caused a real crisis and afforded him a nice, good old ‘nusu-mkate’. Just like that. But because his ‘economist advisor’ from Kiambu badly misled him, Baba is now hanging by the thread of phantom self-swearing-in ceremonies and clutching at the straws of resistant movements. Additionally, he now has to deal with disillusioned supporters who instead of heading to the ‘promised land’, had to stay home and do ‘economic boycotts.’

The title of Failure Number Three of 2017 goes to The President’s Cabinet. They have proven to be Kenya’s most underwhelming and lackluster Cabinet of the past 50 plus years. The performance of a whole Cabinet in 2017 boiled down to plastic bags and exam results. The only other obvious spectacular things were the SGR and extensive rural electrification.

This gives them a score of four results out of nineteen ministers, a measly 21 per cent. Since their deliverables were clear but the execution was weak, there must be a thorough Cabinet spring-cleaning in 2018. The President should not tolerate a waste of Cabinet space going forward, as it will only jeopardise his legacy.

The title of Failure Number Four of 2017 goes to the 2010 Constitution of Kenya. After the two elections this year, it is becoming increasingly evident that the constitutional framework was crafted using a flawed rationale. It is a case of using an old map to find new lands. We had placed all hope within the new dispensation, but it is failing us.

The ‘winner takes it all’ model is a driver of unhealthy ethnic competition and constant political and legal confusion. But more importantly, the Constitution is a reflection of its architects; it was tailored to fit into political aspirations and designs. If history is therefore anything to go by, Raila will plan for a referendum in 2019 and try to make changes to fit into his plans and ambitions.

He will propose another constitutional change to accommodate him into government. This 2019 referendum will no doubt collapse. But even then, there will be future politicians with similar intentions. This begs a re-think of what a politically weak Constitution portends for the coming years- particularly for contentious elections. Will we wait to have an election that lasts a whole year in order to address the problem?

There’s an African saying that goes something like this: those who disregard the lessons life offers them, will themselves be the lesson life offers to others. Here is to learning from the failures in 2017, and to doing better in 2018.

—The writer is a PhD candidate in Political Economy at SMC University and a research fellow at Fort Hall School of Government. [email protected]