Tragedy is when voters fail to connect cause and effect at the ballot

Boniface Mwangi tells a story about an encounter he had with a potential constituent. The man was married with children and the family lived in less than favourable conditions. So unfavourable in fact that the entire family had become accustomed to relieving themselves in plastic bags, which the younger children then had to dispose of. Father, mother and the kids were living in squalor, submerged in a debilitating poverty. No water, no electricity, no nothing.

So Boniface turns up at their doorstep looking for votes. He is campaigning for the Starehe Member of Parliament seat. He sits down with the father and begins to canvass for his vote, promising to make his life better once he is elected.

He is talking about the basics, you know, water, indoor plumbing, lighting etc. At the end of his spiel, Boniface is confident that he has convinced the man to vote for the opportunity to rise out of poverty and achieve some dignity of life.

But then the man looks him in the eye and wants to know one final thing. He wants to know who Boniface is supporting for the presidency. Before he buys into Boniface’s vision, he must be sure that their ideologies (read biases) align at the presidential level.

The implication being that the man would only vote in a Member of Parliament who shared his partisan (read tribal) views. And that is how Boniface lost a vote, and Uhuru Kenyatta or Raila Odinga gained one.

Political leadership

The man couldn’t see past party and tribe. He couldn’t see beyond the personality of politics. He failed to make the connection between an inadequate political leadership and a poor quality of life. And that is what is wrong with the Kenyan electorate. Every four years, Kenyan voters get into formation to toe the party and/or tribal line.

It is almost like a form of mind control that compels voters to do what they have always done. All a candidate has to do is take the same argument and present it in a different package. This rebranding exercise is tailored to create the impression that fresh ideas are being brought to the table but inevitably, it is a case of old wine in new skins. Pretty soon the new skins burst exposing the old, tired and predictable leadership for what it is – lazy, corrupt and almost completely ineffective.

Majority of the men and women in power are not about to change. The system works in their favour. In fact, it rewards them for their professional mediocrity and personal excesses. This means that for Kenya to progress in a manner that is palatable for everyone, the electorate needs to rise to the “change challenge”.

Track record

Voters need to start thinking with their wallets. And I don’t mean this in the “vote-for-the-highest-bidder” sense because there is nothing as fleeting as cash handouts on the campaign trail. I mean it in a broader socio-economic sense. At the end of the day, you are electing representatives to spend your taxes. You are employing them to manage your funds. Everything else is detail.

So when you are choosing a new leader that decision should be based on their financial plan for the next five years, and how they intend to use your money to make life better for you.

If you are settling for an incumbent, that decision should be based on their track record – what did they do with your money? Did services improve? Can you see evidence of prudent spending? Has your infrastructure been upgraded? How much money was wasted, lost or stolen?

This will require that you are involved in the political process far beyond standing in line on election day. It will require you to engage with your MCA, your governor, your MP and your senator, to participate in the processes of governance as is anticipated in the Constitution. You will now have a full time job and it will be to follow the money, not because anyone expects you to, but because it is yours. You earned it.

This is a form of economic activism that is already being practiced by citizens like Apollo Mboya, who filed a class action suit on your behalf against Kenya Power for inflating power bills. It is the reason citizens like Okiya Omtatah have become fixtures in the corridors of justice, fighting for a plethora of causes including the one to save our national parks and protect our tourism revenues.

When all is said and done, political decisions affect the quality of life of every Kenyan. Voters would do well to put self before party, and certainly before tribe. Think with your wallet and follow your money.

Ms Masiga is Peace and Security Editor at The Conversation Africa