Coalitions should aim to boost development, not personal ego trips

A standard coalition government is one formed by political parties that agree on what should be done by a portion of the budget. In these coalition governments, ideas take centre stage and the debate is fueled by the desire to implement manifestos. In Germany, for example, the various coalitions formed since the end of the Second World War have built the nation to be the largest economic powerhouse in Europe. In general, therefore, coalitions are excellent ways of ensuring that governments do not focus on just one agenda. Coalition governments are not inherently bad and the reality points to coalitions as a better form of government.

But we speak here of standard coalitions, entirely different from what we consider as coalition governments. In Kenya, a coalition is about political parties on paper and about huge personal egos and patronage in practice. When we name coalition partners, we name people not parties. We name tribes, not ideas.