Together we can build a true democratic culture, nation

Looking at the way things are going with our political party nominations, one is forced to conclude that we are still a long way from arriving at a truly democratic culture.

No matter how hard leaders of political parties and the police try to convince voters to avoid violence we still see indications of violent behaviour.

We are often told that violence has no place in a democracy and we see it in the more civilised democracies.

All the same it seems that for a lot of us violence and rigging are always an option in any political contest.

This approach to politics as well as the calibre of people we sometimes elect to hold serious political offices is probably an indicator of how little value we attach to the process of electing “leaders”.

QUITE DANGEROUS

Elective politics for most Kenyans is just a sort of a carnival that comes every five years that has no real relevance to the way our lives will turn out.

This approach to national life is in my view quite dangerous. It is the sort of attitude that brings about experiences like we saw in 2008.

While we are going through our confusion, the rest of the world is moving on. Major shifts are happening and some of them can be quite worrying.

There is a little pocket in the Middle East where the interests of the Russians and the Iranians have converged in the protection of the Syrian regime.

The United States has also shown some interest and not so long ago they hit a military establishment to react to the use of chemical weapons on the part of that same Syrian regime.

LEAVE EROPEAN UNION

Turkey in the meantime seems to be gearing herself towards differing with some of the policies of the European Union.

While all this is going on, Britain has already voted to leave the EU since June last year and now the Prime Minister has called a snap election for June this year.

Scotland is using this occasion to agitate more for independence.

France is holding their presidential elections today and there is a lot of talk about the implications for Europe and the EU depending on who is elected.

Across the Atlantic America is now being led by a businessman who has major difficulties getting legislation done in Parliament.

While he is trying to deal with the Syrian issue, North Korea chooses to remain visible through their regular test of nuclear weapons an act that continues to irritate America.

There is a clear political wave sweeping through the world and if we want to be relevant we need to get our act together and become a nation built on a true democratic foundation.

Writer is Dean of Students at the University of Nairobi [email protected]