DP's utterances show Kenya Kwanza wants nation to remain in poll mode

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua at Kiriko village in Rongai, Nakuru County, on February 18, 2023. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard] The past week serves as a reminder to all Kenyans that it might take more than politicians to transform this country. On the one hand, we have now been told that Kenya is a company. But it is no ordinary company. This is a company in which preference shares far exceed ordinary shares. From this basic picture, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has shown one of his key roles as being to protect and promote those who voted for the Kenya Kwanza administration as priority preference shareholders in our national schema of development. For those who will argue that this is all politics, it is worth remembering that politics and policy are two side of the same coin. On the other hand, we have proclamations from the other (Azimio) side of the political divide who loudly refuse to recognise this Kenya Kwanza administration, beginning with Dr William Ruto's presidency. The latest news is that ongoing "barazas" (public consultations) which have been peaceful so far will now be elevated to "maandamano" (mass action (or is it protests?). While the cost of living pressures are feeding this positioning, last year's election will simply not end. Naturally, there are fears around the prospects of violence, and damage to persons and property. The tragedy here is not about who wins and loses between these political formations, but the idea that when two elephants fight, the grass gets hurt, as the saying goes. We are the suffering grass. In a roundabout way, both narratives are broadly about exclusion, the last of four interlocking opportunities (the others being gender, geography and intergenerational) that Kenyans suffer. This week I have seen maps circulating on social media which split Kenya into two republics - the central/mid-western one, and the peoples' one. So much for our constitutional dream of one Kenyan nation! We still have the hierarchy reversed; politicos-government-state-people (without a nation) rather than people-nation-state-government with politics as means and method, not end. Since we persist with 2022, it is worth remembering what the presidential vote told us. Roughly a quarter of us (age-eligible voters) voted for Kenya Kwanza, and another for Azimio with the margin between former and latter being just over 200,000 votes. Of the other two quarters (and they are actually slightly higher than that), one group registered but did not vote, while the other did not bother to register. If our numbers are correct in absolute terms, there were a few more people who didn't vote, or didn't register, than either of the two candidates actually achieved. This is the sort of background that might better inform the utterances we are hearing, particularly from a deputy president of the Republic of Kenya who actually has a job description and work portfolio that goes beyond acting as State House "watchman" on public jobs, receiving ethnic leadership delegations in his taxpayer-funded office and issuing threats and warnings left, right and centre to all and sundry in a manner more suggestive of rule by man than rule of law. I do not hold brief for either Kenya Kwanza or Azimio, but the deputy president's endless invective - whether or not this is a "good cop/bad cop" strategy agreed with his boss - suggests that Kenya Kwanza is as happy as Azimio to keep the country in permanent electoral mode. What is more worrying about Mr Gachagua's weekly proclamations is that he is actually the person responsible for devolution; the one game changer in our Constitution that was supposed to ensure that service delivery and development reached every corner of this country. To repeat, he has a job description and devolution (as well as key crops reforms) is a big part of his task order. Here's a simple one: as IBEC chair, what is the current state of the national and county equitable share discussion that was to follow the recent National and County Government Coordinating Summit? Let's get more developmental. As devolution leader at national level, what efforts is he making to work closely with governors, while linking them to national government agencies, in order to champion the economic potential of our counties and regions? Take regional economic blocs as an example from my previous article and set some benchmarks. Nairobi was a Sh2.7 trillion economy in 2020; how do we get it to a Sh10 trillion economy on the scale of Lagos? Or the Central Regional Economic Bloc (CEREB) from a Sh2.4 trillion economy to a Sh5 trillion one? We have dealt with the centre. Now, let's go to the rest of the country. How do we get the Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB) from a Sh1.7 trillion economy in 2020 to a CEREB-sized Sh5 trillion economy? Look at the other regions as well. Tripling the size of the North Rift Economic Bloc (NOREB) from a trillion shillings. Taking our Frontier Counties Development Council (FCDC) and Narok-Kajiado Economic Bloc (NAKAEB) from a quarter-trillion to a trillion shillings, and our South Eastern Kenya Economic Bloc (SEKEB) from just over half to one and a half trillion shillings. Tripling our trillion shilling Jumuia ya Kaunti za Pwani (JKP) economy. This is the lens needed to step beyond parochial perspectives about Kenya as a limited company. It is a positive approach that focuses on growing the economy in a way that puts money in people's pockets. After all, there is a limit to cutting taxes and promoting subsidies to reduce the cost of living. This is where Gachagua proactively puts the "E" back into the IBEC that he chairs. Of course, there is the whole argument about who voted for whom during the election. Let's look at our political zones. While Kenya Kwanza won the overall vote, it is instructive that the data shows that Azimio won five from eight of our former provinces and six from our nine (opinion polling) political zones (losing only Mt Kenya, South and North Rift). This is why Kenya as a company is so obnoxious. Are its only shareholders Central, Eastern and Rift Valley provinces? Or our more modern Mt Kenya, North and South Rift political zones? Remember, the numbers do not lie; 2022 produced a vote in which Azimio went broad and Kenya Kwanza went deep. And that's not the full story. In my next article, I will pursue what the picture of Kenya looks like from angles such as poverty and Article 43 items such as education, healthcare and clean water. But here's a closing point for today. Kenya is not a company (whether or not this was said in jest). Indeed, the immediate public reaction to the deputy president's statements was the suggestion of a tax boycott. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If there is a "good cop/bad cop" strategy in our presidency, then the left hand is clearly out of sync with the right one! But, here's the real irony. In these wild-eyed proclamations that Kenya is a company, questions will be asked about if Kenya is really open for business. Is this the political environment that we are selling to the world as we invite their dollars and cents into local job-creating investment? Can we really afford this interminable political cacophony, and the depths to which it is taking us? Mostly, is this Kenya Kwanza administration ready for the transformation they promised? Where is the non-ethnic, issues-based agenda? Are we being diverted? We shall be back, watch this space!

DP's utterances show Kenya Kwanza wants nation to remain in poll mode

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