May our gods have mercy on electorate in Kenya and SA

Some years ago, a widow commissioned me to write a biography on her deceased husband. Dead at 45, the man appeared to have achieved more in his short life than many do in several lifetimes but when one dug deeper and got to know about his character, the success became questionable.  The man in question was one of those ‘first blacks’ that seem popular in South Africa and the United States in particular but that was tempered by his blocking any other black person into the same position so that he could be the only black.

With 50 per cent down and after I had done my research, I had to tell my client everything I had found and ask her whether she wanted me to still do the biography, warts and all. For some reason, she told me in spite of that, that I should still go ahead. I wrote, edited and even edited the proofs but at the final moment, she must have changed her mind because I never saw a hard copy of the book.

I have been thinking of the subject of this non-published book lately in relation to the country which allows me to select a party or an individual to politically represent me once every five years. Since the advent of democracy in 1994, the African National Congress (ANC). This year - an electoral year for the party although the national elections will only  be in 2019 – the ANC finds itself  at a crossroads as the vice-president of the country and the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa is poised to do battle with outgoing African Union Chair, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

Mud is already being flung in the hope that some of it sticks in the direction of the female candidate. Dlamini-Zuma, some commentators have said, is unfit to govern as she will ‘protect’ her ex-husband and current head of state Jacob Zuma from possible prosecution for some of the crimes he was found guilty of by the South African law courts.

FEMALE CARD

To be fair, only two or three of these commentaries have come from columnists of leading media houses while majority have been on social media and as we all know, even a primary school dropout becomes an ‘expert commentator’ when holding a cellphone with data bundles.

Asking someone not to vote for a female candidate because of a previous relationship that they ended is as sexist as commentary gets. Can you imagine if all the male political leaders that we had were to be voted into power based on every woman or man they have had a relationship with? Well Uncle Bob would continue being Life President of Zimbabwe because Sally Mugabe was popular with Zimbabweans but where does that leave everyone else? To the argument that ‘he is the father of her children’, I have been forced to raise my eyebrows as the ‘children’ in question are all adults.

On the other hand, the African National Congress Women’s League have come out in support of Dlamini-Zuma on the basis that South Africa is ‘ready for a female President.’ This pro is as possible as the con above.  If you are asking me to vote for a candidate on the basis of their gender alone, then you are no better than the capitalists who propped up my biographical subject on several boards on the basis that he was black and would fulfill a quota of Black Economic Empowerment.

 Dlamini-Zuma has consistently failed to have her voice heard despite her prominent place in South African society on problems that affect women like rape, equal pay, social services and childcare at workplaces among other issues. The man she is contesting against is no better. Anyone  who has watched the documentary now on YouTube called Miners Shot Down, cannot, in good conscience, vote for a former unionist who was responsible for the death of workers protesting for a better wage. Essentially this means I am likely to vote for any other party than the ANC if one of these two is the candidate for the ANC. 

In Kenya now in an election year, there will be those who will be asked to be voted in because ‘the men have failed and we need a woman candidate.’ If that woman candidate has had no record of looking out for women interests, their gender will sadly not be enough and women voters must steer from such an individual. It would be ideal, of course to reach the 30 per cent gender threshold but this is only meaningful with quality candidates be they men or women. Unfortunately just like in South Africa’s governing party, no quality candidates have yet emerged. May the African gods have mercy on the electorate of the two countries.