Why politics of 'the cousins' will not take our country forward

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua during the unveiling of his Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) in Nairobi, on May 15, 2025. He has been associated with the politics of "cousins." [Collins Oduor, Standard] 

Kenya remains stacked in a place of so much political darkness. We have dug ourselves into an economic, political and spiritual hole. We defied every logic, every good counsel and the sad reality is that, if we don’t re-examine our ways, the path ahead will still be a steep climb. Anyone who has been a consumer of this column, knows without a doubt that our weakness here remains eternal optimism. But as things stand, there is very little to be optimistic about. That the economy is in the doldrums is, to be polite, an understatement. Forget about the projected 5.4 per cent economic growth rate for 2025. The fortunes for ordinary households continue to plummet with the SMEs collapsing faster than the political class can say “Wantam”, “tutam” or “Notam”.

My heart is troubled for my country. While we can rail at the government in part because they enjoy the incumbency, the opposition as well is inspiring very little hope if any. Collectively, we remain indicted for being complicit in this collapse of our politics. See the ease with which we get distracted by the petty and the trivial? When opposition mobilises on the basis of ethnic and tribal affiliations, it loses the moral high ground to call out the government for exploiting historical ethnic grievances.