Waititu ouster a blot on party leadership

On Wednesday the Senate voted to ratify the impeachment of Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu (pictured).

While Mr Waititu has challenged his removal in court, it is highly probable that the impeachment will be upheld.

Most Kenyans of goodwill are of the opinion that the courts should not delay this process on account of technicalities. Justice demands swiftness and finality.

Indeed, Article 159 of the Constitution is very clear that “justice shall be administered without undue regard to procedural technicalities.”

Readers may recall that in 2014, Embu Governor Martin Wambora was saved by the courts following his impeachment by the County Assembly and removal by the Senate.

A lot has happened since then, including the accumulation of jurisprudence on the handling of county-level politics.

For example, the courts have set a precedence, that governors accused of corruption should cease to have access to their offices and serve in substantive capacities. It is about time they also set a precedence of not interfering in the inherently political task of impeachment.

Instead, they should limit themselves to upholding constitutionalism in executive-legislative relations at both national and county levels.

More broadly, Waititu’s impeachment and removal by the Senate is a stinging indictment of our party leaders.

In a number of elections in 2017, our leading parties nominated and campaigned for candidates that were manifestly unfit for office.

These individuals had demonstrated poor judgement, had criminal records, or had integrity issues.

Nairobi and Kiambu represent the most visible egregious dereliction of duty by our ethnic chiefs that masquerade as party leaders.

This is a disgrace. One of the roles of political parties ought to be the recruitment and socialisation of leaders.

The quality of leaders therefore reflects on the quality of party leadership. This is especially true because in most counties gubernatorial elections are concluded during party nominations.

Total disdain

Therefore, party leaders have a lot of influence on who becomes governor.

Their persistent nomination of ineffectual individuals lacking in integrity is a reminder of their total disdain for Kenyans and ongoing hostility to the principle of self-governance.

This habit also contributes to the general erosion of rule of law. Increasingly, some politicians do not even hide their criminality.

They commit crimes on camera with little or no consequences – with help from corrupt elements in the Judiciary and professional malpractice in the office of the director of public prosecutions.

This should stop. Criminality must be punished and banished from public office. That said, voters have a case to answer, too.

While acknowledging the powers of party leaders to choose specific leaders, it is also important to note it is voters that ultimately cast ballots. We are the ones who every five years elect obvious unqualified candidates.

Moving forward, we must face the challenge of poor leadership by imagining creative ways of decoupling national and county elections.

We must make county elections first and foremost about service delivery. In fact, this ought to be the first agenda item of any discussions about structural reforms.

Accountable self-government in the counties holds the promise of providing a strong foundation for democracy and good governance at the national level.

- The writer is an Assistant Professor at Georgetown University