Here goes Kenya, from a regional gem to a political problem case

Deputy President William Ruto arrives to address a rally in Kasarani on September 17, 2017. As a country, our problems start with elections. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • What makes our neighbours flinch is the thought that we can risk without care throwing down the drain all the good things that we have because of elections.
  • When a dispute arises, it is not judged according to its merits but according to where the players come from.
  • The law is no longer a neutral arbiter. It is subject to ethnic interests who will happily subvert it if “one of their own” is indicted.

I have had occasion to visit all our fellow member countries of the East African Community at various times. I have cultivated many lasting friendships and professional acquaintances in these countries with whom I regularly correspond.

The question most have been asking me since the latest electoral cycle exploded into crisis is: What became of your beautiful country?

There is a latent respect Kenya has enjoyed across the region which is hard to deny. It is a mix of many things: The strength of our economy, the enterprising spirit of our people, our position as the lynchpin of the EAC.

The erosion of this esteem has been happening progressively.

The biggest jolt was the 2008 post-election violence, when we were left in the rather shameful position where foreigners came to dictate peace.

NEIGHBOURS FLABBERGASTED

Even little Burundi, which has steadfastly refused foreign intervention, flinched at that. For the first time in our history, we had Kenyan refugees in a neighbouring country.

Our latest judicial predicament, which President Kenyatta angrily calls a coup, has left the neighbours even more flabbergasted.

They have wisely refrained from commenting, opting to follow events closely. I am sure they are keeping their fingers crossed on how long the fissures in our body politic will hold.

It is not that our neighbours have not experienced more serious bouts of instability than we have.

South Sudan is currently a sorry mess. Uganda once underwent a long spell of civil war. So has Burundi. Rwanda went through a horrific genocide. Even Tanzania, the placid gem of East Africa, has in the past experienced troubles with secessionist elements in Zanzibar.

RISK

What makes our neighbours flinch is the thought that we can risk without care throwing down the drain all the good things that we have because of elections.

Our problems indeed start with elections. As a country, we clearly have a problem here.

These should be fairly straightforward events yet we tie ourselves in terrible knots in staging them.

Stated simply, elections in this country are no longer honest competitions for power, but do-or-die ethnic contests where rationality does not apply.

The candidate who must win is from the side we subscribe to.

INTER-COMMUNAL HATE

There is too much inter-communal hate in this country. It is like a furnace which burns everything it touches.

When a dispute arises, it is not judged according to its merits but according to where the players come from.

The law is no longer a neutral arbiter. It is subject to ethnic interests who will happily subvert it if “one of their own” is indicted.

Try and convict a cabinet secretary or any senior public officer today, and you can rest assured the sun will not set without a rowdy demonstration in his home county being organised in his support.

LITIGIOUS TENDENCY

This mix is complicated by a dangerously litigious tendency amongst Kenyans which is surely driving us to ruin.

The smallest and most frivolous of issues will attract scores of legal suits, with lawyers and judges and busybodies gleefully throwing in their two cents’ worth.

Then there is the Haki Yetu syndrome, which has seeped into all sectors of our society. It comes with a gross sense of entitlement that prompts workers unions in critical sectors to abandon work at the drop of a hat and plant themselves forever in the streets.

Recently, I took a relative to a public hospital where striking clinical officers refused to attend to him.

But they had no qualms referring him to a private health facility where I learned they had interests. I promptly took the patient to a different facility.

INSTITUTIONAL THREAT

Our institutional structure is under threat. The Executive is at war with the Judiciary. Parliament is waiting for a chance to step in.

Nasa is at war with the IEBC. Our institutions profess to be guided by the will of the people of Kenya.

They instead act on their own whims and desires.

This is not how proper democracies should be run.

Warigi is a socio-political commentator [email protected]