Uhuru, Raila parties don’t inspire hope

President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Indiscipline by political parties offers the greatest reason for corruption and ethnic alienation in Kenya. No matter how worried we are about bad governance, debate about norms of our democracy that suffer every election year should trouble our conscience.

Looking at our erratic history and narrowing down to the Jubilee Party and NASA affiliates, my take is that shaky political outfits make for fairly serious problems for our democracy. Political scientists EE Schattschneider’s assertion that democracy is ‘unthinkable’ without parties to do the work of campaigning, organise stable coalitions, and help citizens make sense of political choices is exactly right.

Parties should be groups of people united by a shared mutual vision. Inspired by it, they should amplify vision and values, and building on that, field members to run for office. But in Kenya, major parties are drowned out in irredeemable chaos. 

Those who care about the political vibrancy of our nation will agree with me that each of the more than 60 registered parties has lost its social and organisational benefits, choosing instead to be tribal enclaves used to raise the political stakes. Rather than entrench political discipline where leaders take responsibility for their actions, our parties cherish bigotry that distracts members from honest service to the led. Yes, Kenya’s political parties have been stripped of the moral authority to fight corruption since they themselves are towers of jumble.

They love throwing shields around members engaged in ills. Some parties sell their tickets to highest bidders. Jubilee Party and ODM are the two largest parties today. Their modus operandi makes it hard to even imagine revitalising them some day to reflect anything away from the absurdity they are. They are less sold on the good of the country and identify more with tribes than ideologies.

I dare say that ODM and Jubilee Party have no foundational vision except to win elections. Jubilee was hurriedly cobbled up to ensure Uhuru’s re-election. That’s all. ODM’s birth came from a constitutional referendum, nothing much of a vision.

As Narc-Kenya leader Martha Karua says, a government is as good as the party that forms it. Weak party discipline has made it hard to enact public policy. There is open defiance by members. But on the other hand, a thoughtless attempt to entrench discipline has sacrificed independence of thought of the ‘sober’ minority.

They are intolerant to criticism. MPs Suleiman Dori, Asha Jumwa, Alfred Keter, Kangongo Bowen are among those in the radars of their parties now. Governor Okoth Obado is on the ODM chopping board for opposing the direct ticket handed to Ochillo Ayacko for the October 8 Migori Senate by-election.

Because of open fraud in these parties, we have dimwits holding important offices they don’t deserve. Conversely, we have those who cry wolf over stolen presidential elections but preside over malpractices against those seeking ‘smaller’ seats. It’s serious doublespeak. When parties have too much influence the way ODM towers over Nyanza, they quickly turn into monsters.

The Migori by-election has yet again exposed ODM. John Mbadi, the man who was hand-picked to chair the party, has squandered his chance to reform it. Often mistaken for a youth winger due to his outbursts, he does not carry the charisma of a leader of a serious national party.

In Jubilee Party, Secretary General Raphael Tuju is yet to impress as factions draw daggers over 2022. It is costly when partiesare built on quick sand.

- The writer is an editor at The Standard.

Twitter: @markoloo