Despise Kenyan MPs, but they are grandmasters of the political game
Ever since Parliament passed a motion asking the government to quit the International Criminal Court after it fingered five top political and government figures and a journalist for their alleged role in post-election violence (PEV), they have been beaten all over the place.
The criticism of Parliament’s move to protect “The Hague Six”, and the crusades to raise money for their defence while PEV victims are still languishing in IDP camps, were some of the best I have read in Kenyan papers for a long time.
The MPs have been accused of turning into tribal palace guards; apologists for mass murder and rape; self-absorbed and insensitive; and even downright idiotic.
Parliament is one of the least-inspiring institutions in Kenya. Nevertheless I think MPs are still the most fascinating group of politicians to observe and study in Africa.
One of the things that distinguishes the Kenyan Parliament is that it has actually hijacked a lot of power from the Executive, and even the courts.
In the whole world, the only other two groups of parliamentarians I can think of who surpass the Kenyan ones in how much political power they grabbed for themselves are American senators and congressmen and women, and the Israeli Knesset.
This power did not drop like manna from Heaven on the laps of MPs. They have it because they, and the Kenyan political class in general, are very good at what they do.
The Kenyan political class is unique in East Africa in being the least ideological. This allows MPs to change positions with the day and wind.
This “flexibility” is often driven by opportunism and lack of principle, yes, but the good thing is that any deal, any alliance is possible in Kenyan politics.
Perhaps that’s one reason the country has not had a Uganda- or Rwanda-style full-scale armed rebellion.
The second thing that Kenyan MPs teach us is that shame can be a strategic disadvantage and, in the heat of battle, can be a weakness.
As the “good” people in civil society, media, and the professions condemn the politicians for their shameless behaviour, they press on in disregard of the public outcry – scoring victories.
Lesson? That sometimes you have to win by all means, then repent for the sins you committed in the process later after you have won. The Catholics foresaw this, and provided for confession.
Thirdly, when their backs are against the wall or their interests converge, it is remarkable how united Kenyan MPs become.
If the teachers, nurses, trade unions, civil servants, business people were equally united and single-minded in protest, they would all have better wages, and would be paying lower taxes.
Kenyan MPs did not become the world’s best paid by sitting around waiting for Father Christmas. Those outraged by their pay couldn’t stop them because they were not equally determined in their opposition.
But the two related areas in which the Kenyan political class are Grandmasters is in manufacturing political heroes. Every major story of heroism in Kenya, beginning with the Mau Mau rebellion, is of politicians.
From Jaramogi Odinga, J.M. Kariuki, Tom Mboya, Martin Shikuku, and so forth, the politicians have always seized the glory.
Secondly, they are masters of political re-invention. In 2002, when Daniel arap Moi had run his course and Kanu was discredited, many politicians without a drop of democratic blood in their bodies joined the “Second Liberation” wagon and emerged in the victorious National Rainbow Coalition government, having been laundered into reformists.
These skills have allowed the Kenyan political class to totally dominate the media agenda, and therefore define public debate.
According to WikiLeaks, US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger thinks the whole Kenyan political class is wretched and the US is working to replace it. A noble wish, but he won’t succeed.
Hate them, but Kenyan politicians are a little too smart and sufficiently cynical not to be easily steamrollered.
So, here we are today after the MPs’ ICC vote. And who is the heroine? Gichugu MP Martha Karua.
She stood bravely against the parliamentary lynch mob, a woman of steel, political virtue, the only bright spot in a very dark moment.
