Nasa must hold Jubilee to account

What do you want the General Election to bring about? Put another way, why do you want to re-elect or reject her as ward or woman rep, he as senator or she governor and either President Kenyatta or challenger Raila Odinga? Why Jubilee Party or National Super Alliance (Nasa)?

Ponder these six scenarios. One, do you know your candidates? If you elect a clown, expect a five-year circus. With a resident circus in your ward, assembly and county government; constituency, National Assembly, Senate and National Government, expect make-believe performances and not delivery-based performance.

Two, by casting your vote for the winning individuals and party that form government, you confer political capital on them as you did Jubilee in 2013. Jubilee and government have spent this capital in your name. It is time for them to respectfully account to you how they spent it.

Three, governments are created to do what the citizens want done for them, and to implement what the governing party committed itself to doing when on the campaign trail. Jubilee must now be held to account and run ragged by Nasa on its campaign promises vis-a-vis delivery. But, as Nasa seeks to send its governing counterpart home, it must do so by selling its own people-centred programmes. That is, Nasa must know what the people want done for them and that Kenyans are eager to know what the coalition wants to do for them. The National Rainbow Coalition government gave Kenyans free primary school education in 2003. Jubilee boasts introducing cost free maternity services in 2013. Will Nasa unveil a bigger idea that takes off immediately and promises immediate benefits for the majority?

NOT PASSIVE

Four, the Kenyan elector must not be a passive recipient of campaign rhetoric from politicians. You must be an active participant, pointing out your needs, promises fulfilled and awaited, and the relationship between electors and elected.

Five, are you better off now than you were when Jubilee took power? If your county is run by the minority Coalition for Reforms and Democracy ask yourself the same question. Then, recall what the ward rep, woman rep, senator, MP, governor and president promised on the campaign trail and ask what each has fulfilled.

Six, carefully study Nairobi Senator Gideon Mbuvi alias Mike Sonko’s approach. He is generous and beloved of the poor. His leadership model says: I have resources. What’s your problem? I will bail you out. So, apart from handouts, he set up free ambulance, hearse, water, security and fire services. They have rivalled, and further undermined, their flailing counterparts offered by the Nairobi County Government, and Governor Evans Kidero himself.

Queues for them are unending, but Mbuvi’s resources are neither endless nor is his personal fortune a public fountain. Distribution of largesse makes Sonko wildly popular, but should this be a competence for public office?

If we ponder the foregoing, then this General Election will become a marketplace for ideas, an enabler for parties, government and citizens to shape Kenya’s future. This is what it means for Jubilee and Nasa to set out rival stalls and compete on platforms of programmes and values.

STRONG SUITS

This is what I mean when I say Nasa must differentiate itself from Jubilee and also hold Jubilee’s feet to the fire on promise and delivery, economy, creation of wealth and inclusivity. These, Jubilee promised, would be its strong suits.

For its part, Nasa must unveil its plans on the economy, creation of wealth and inclusivity and demonstrate why they are better than Jubilee’s. If Jubilee and Nasa are thinking about the people, they should detail the beneficiaries of ongoing and proposed government programmes. Programmes that do not benefit a majority of the people; that create wealth for the few and, therefore, help expand the chasm between the rich few and legion poor, fly in the face of commitments to promote inclusivity by Jubilee and Nasa affiliates.

When the few rich lord it over the majority poor, the government cannot turn a blind eye to the plight of the many to pander to the whims of the few. Increasing poverty, sense of injustice and crime make the obtaining situation untenable. Addressing the chasm between the rich and poor is urgent.

It is why Jubilee, Nasa and civil society must promote inclusivity programmes that lay emphasis on creating wealth and jobs or entrepreneurship, especially for young people, and expanding access to resources and basic services.

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