Our tendency to read politics in everything often blurs the truth

Kenya is probably the only country where a possible cholera outbreak becomes so political that half the country dismisses it as a witch-hunt.

That the Weston Hotel in Nairobi is associated with Deputy President William Ruto is no longer in question.

How actively involved he is in the day-to-day running is unknown, considering his other roles as a public servant and second most powerful man in Kenya.

That he and NASA presidential candidate Raila Odinga aren’t the best of friends is also a given, though pictures from chance meetings at sporting events show otherwise.

How, then, did a stomach problems affecting several participants at the hotel get blamed on Raila Odinga by some Jubilee supporters? Even asking this question will be misinterpreted as a defence of the Opposition and its leader.

TRUTH

I am not a supporter of any presidential candidate in this election and I have not been paid by anybody to promote anything.

I am just a journalist and a Kenyan concerned about the truth, not neutrality. Having said that, anybody who believes that Raila Odinga personally caused the cholera-like symptoms at Weston Hotel should have their head  checked.

When an elected member of the national assembly blames the collapse of a Sh1.2 billion bridge on Raila Odinga, you know that Kenya has lost its way.

Posting a picture of the ruins of the bridge alongside that of people damaging a railway with the text, “NASA’s economic sabotage” not only misses the point, but  is unbecoming of anybody worthy of being called a leader.

Blaming the collapse on Jubilee is also an oversimplification of a much more complex problem that cannot be addressed conclusively in 140 characters.

This is a commentary on the quality of work undertaken by some Chinese companies, yes.

This speaks to the obvious faults in “inspection tour” photo opportunities like that the President did in Budalang’i, yes.

CONTRACTORS

This reveals the glaring capacity gap among Kenyan contractors that has led to most infrastructure jobs going to Chinese companies, yes. This exposes the faults in the already complicated public procurement processes that led us here, yes.

Worst of all, the facile reactions to the crumbling of Sigiri Bridge exemplify how much our national discourse has degenerated.

Even after Infrastructure ministry officials had “ordered thorough geotechnical and structural investigations” to figure out what happened and the Chinese sort of took responsibility, the conversation was still mind-numbingly political.

It isn’t all Jubilee or Uhuru Kenyatta’s fault that Nakumatt is shutting down branches and those that remain open feature mostly empty shelves.

Neither is it entirely this administration’s fault that the drought has led to some record-high food prices, the management of the aftermath notwithstanding. Unless we’re able to give the devil his due, the quality of our national debate will continue to be meaningless and unnecessarily adversarial.

On our Sunday night Decision 2017 broadcast, I hosted a most illuminating conversation with Jubilee Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju and NASA Strategist Dr David Ndii. There was no shouting match, no name calling and no talking at each other.

HONESTY

“Its been ages since a listened to such a sober discussion; a gentleman discussion,” wrote Kibugi Kiragu on my Facebook page. “They have intellectual honesty, they did not raise their voice but improved their discourse.”

Even as he lathered praise on the interview, most of the other comments had quickly been reduced to abusive tirades by supporters of the two main political blocks. 

Even if the media have helped create this corrosive atmosphere, there are still far too many people happy to engage in the lowest arguments without bringing in any facts.

While  Tuju and Ndii were respectful to each other and even admitted to being friends, supporters of the parties they represent were at each other’s throats, as usual. If the sun rose in the opposite direction one day, Jubilee and NASA supporters would find a way to blame it on the other side for it. There is more to life than seeing a political angle to every story and reducing people to be representative of which tribal leader they align themselves with.

FIGHT

You should be able to disagree with someone on an issue, even a political one, and then go for a drink together without getting into a fight.  

The space for critical examination of the issues that divide us has thinned so much because any attempt at interrogation quickly gets derailed and becomes an avenue for personal attacks or empty rhetoric.

Politicians on both sides have exploited this to whip up their respective bases, but this weaponisation of our differences is dangerous for a democracy as young as ours.

We’ve reached a point where even solid scientific or economic facts can be twisted by whoever shouts the loudest to fit into their preferred narrative. In this time of cholera, our national discourse shouldn’t be so poisoned that the truth is impossible to tell.

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