Sharing power based on winner takes it all denies voters rights

From mid-2016, I was part of the Men in Red brigades that crisscrossed the country campaigning for the Jubilee Party, President Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto, God and Country. In August 2017, we won a titanic victory, not only winning the Presidency, but a majority in both houses.

In the aftermath of victory we resented the fact that Raila Odinga refused to accept our victory. Then the appointment of government started and I realized that Raila, who represented the collective will of 44 per cent of this country, could not even appoint a messenger in the national government.

The fact that we controlled the majority in Parliament meant we could also bulldoze almost anything we wished in Parliament. It dawned on me that we had basically disenfranchised 44 per cent of this country.

The winner take all system was not fair – not on the election losers but on the 44 percent of the country that voted for them. It was their say that we had silenced – not just Raila. Something was not right.

I sympathise with Raila Odinga because I have been in the same situation too. In 2013 I won 43 per cent of the vote in Mombasa but ended up with absolutely no authority to contribute in any meaningful way to the government of Mombasa.

Those who voted for me were effectively silenced. Perhaps if I had had the opportunity to contribute to the governing of Mombasa we would have compelled and contributed to better governance and development there.

The party

Raila is a sly political fox. All the noise about the swearing of the ‘’People’s President’’ was basically to show the government and foreign investors that a large minority must have its say; that they could not be wished away until the next election.  

This whole business of the handshake is a simple recognition that this must change if this country is to remain stable. The principle of one man one vote is sacrosanct, but the sharing of power based on a winner take all ends up robbing the voter who didn’t win. It doesn’t have to be a winner takes all. The world has moved to win-win philosophy. Let’s change our system. Let political parties campaign with their manifestos. Voters would vote for a party not for a specific candidate. The party will publish a list of candidates who it would present if it won.

If the party won 30 per cent, then it would get 30 per cent of the seats in that area. No candidate would represent any specific constituency. This applies to the national and county levels.

It is not the candidate that you vote for, but the party and its manifesto. For the party to win, it would have to present credible and capable people as well as popular people.

Let us accept that some of the best and brightest of our people and youth never enter elected public service either because they are not cut for the rough and tumble of politics or they don’t have the money to run.

Government appointments

We lose out on great people. This way, even the party with 10 per cent of the votes would be represented in government. This would end the need for nominated or women’s representatives as the party lists would have to be gender balanced. This would be a huge saving to the country. This model works well in South Africa.

After the 2017 election, we watched with dismay as the Executive appointed some people as ministers just to appease personal tribal debts. Then there were people who had not spent a single day on the campaign trail only to become ministers.

In the last seven years there is no evidence to prove that ‘professional cabinet secretaries’ which we adopted from the American model have performed better than the elected parliamentarians. Government appointments from the Cabinet, Permanent Secretaries to Parastatal appointments should be shared proportionately.

This means the return of ‘Nusu Mkate’ government. That government was the most effective and productive that this country has ever had since independence. The results speak for themselves. Many developed countries have effective coalition governments and its time our politicians learn to work together.

Year 2022 is just round the corner and we are heading towards yet another divisive election. I cannot see either side winning a conclusive knock out. Whoever wins will have a losing opponent with a huge support base that will feel disenfranchised.

We need to work out the difficult modalities for proportionate representation. Our referendum should be about this – not about creating new jobs for political big shots.  

This is the recipe for peaceful coexistence. We need to allow the majority to have their way and the minority have their say.

 

Mr Shahbal is Chairman of Gulf Group of [email protected]