Lack of solid political parties our main undoing

Cord leaders Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka in Kajiado town on March 17, 2015 following the victory of Elijah Memusi in the Kajiado Central by-election. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE |

What you need to know:

  • I have said on several occasions that this fact of not having solid political parties is the undoing of our political culture.
  • For as long as our politics will be run the way it is now, we might as well forget the notion of cohesion.

Last week was a major celebration for ODM after their candidate won the Kajiado Central by-election.

The newly assembled JAP did not perform as well as one would have expected given that it is the party of the president and his deputy and that they had both actively participated in the campaign in support of their candidate.

Thinking about it, I found myself asking when or whether we shall ever have serious, focused and stable political parties in this country.

What we have for now are groupings organised and led by tribal chiefs but which have no guiding ideology whatsoever other than the ambition to ascend to power and access resources.

POLITICAL CULTURE

I have said on several occasions in this column that this fact of not having solid political parties is the undoing of our political culture.

It is this that perpetuates the culture of tribalism and nepotism.

For as long as our politics will be run the way it is now, through outfits that are crafted by individuals — who have the resources — for their own personal interests, we might as well forget the notion of cohesion.

It is my submission that the work of the National Commission for Cohesion should begin by addressing this question of political parties and how they are run.

There are two cancers that are a serious danger to our existence as a national community and these are corruption and tribalism.

If one were to examine carefully, there is a point at which these two are interrelated and in any case quite often the two are given life by the same people who claim to lead us — as has been seen in the events coming out of Parliament.

Political parties are meant to guide the political evolution and development of any nation for the overall good of its citizens.

MASS MOVEMENTS

Since the parties that exist in the country are only associations owned by individuals and not mass movements that capture the imagination of large sections of our population, we have a long way to go.

It is a great pity that Kanu was messed up because there is a sense in which it was a National party. Were it not for the dictatorial aura given to it by our first two presidents, Kanu did have the capacity to give a sense of belonging to a larger section of Kenyans and not just a small tribal group.

Even as we try to fight corruption, it has to be made clear to all that one of its worst forms is tribalism. Sustaining this culture of small groupings that are headed by some tribal chief is the most sure way of perpetuating this form of corruption. God help Kenya.

Father Wamugunda is Dean of Students, University of Nairobi; [email protected]