No democracy in parties, candidates defend personal interests

A man holds up a Kenyan flag {Photo Courtesy}

Big names have fallen. From Governors to Senators all the way down to MCAs.

Some surprising, some, perhaps not! Most statements by various leaders are confounding!

Kitui Senator, and more importantly, chair of the Wiper party, put himself up for the party nomination for the gubernatorial seat. He lost to incumbent, Governor Julius Malombe. His reaction? Baffling.

Senator Musila expressed shock at the loss in his own words, subjecting himself to the party primaries despite being the party founder.

Oh, how very noble of him! But he went on to make some more revelations.

He said Malombe’s win was, and I quote, evident of a certain trend.

“It perfectly follows an established trend where the party leader decides who should be the flag-bearer without considering the will of the people” said the self-declared founder of the party- confidant of party leader, Kalonzo Musyoka.

Truly, loss makes a truth teller out of people but also reveals their hypocrisy. Now, Senator Musila can’t tell us of a trend in Kalonzo Musyoka, to ignore the will of the people.

Why has he not said this before? Why has he continued to chair a party, whose leader, he now says, has not been democratic?  The very same leader he was fronting to be a presidential candidate? He is not the only one.

Jakoyo Midiwo, a senior member of ODM and National Assembly deputy minority leader also had some interesting revelations about his party following his loss at the primaries.

Midiwo described ODM as a “party that has capacity wthout brains to admit that we are in the 21st century.”

Alright. Did he just realise this about a party whose positions he has vigorously defended in the National Assembly for the last 4 years?

The hypocrisy of the statements by various leaders tells us what we already know.

Parties aren’t always democratic and candidates will only defend their parties so long as they serve their personal interests.

Finally, what is party membership? Or life membership for that matter? When party chairmen, founders and life members can now leave their parties before their lives end!

Politicians should give us all a break! While at it, consider removing any hint of the word democratic in their party names.

@YvonneOkwara