Now is not the time for political duels, deals but for our survival
What you need to know:
Millions of Kenyans are staring at job losses on a massive scale, hunger and deprivation, and threat of the Grim Reaper.
But a privileged few are busy on their never-ending battles for control of the country and its resource.
Coronavirus forces us all to take time out and think about our own mortality.
Let us also think about how a strong, stable, united and prosperous post-Covid-19 Kenya will rise out of the ashes.
At a time when the entire nation should be united on the war against an infernal virus that threatens to decimate the population, it is unforgivable that politicians should be distracting us with their petty and selfish skirmishes.
We have seen in recent weeks Raila Odinga breaching ‘stay at home’ rules to lead a political delegation to the home of trade unionist Francis Atwoli and the Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto factions continuing their internecine fight for control of the Jubilee Party carcase.
The political jostling serves only to send the message that it’s business as usual, when the entire national leadership should be leading by example.
We have a national dusk-to-dawn curfew and ban on movement into and out of the greater Nairobi metropolis and coastal counties of Kwale, Mombasa and Kilifi. We see, however, Kenyans devising evermore creative ways to beat the curfew and sneak through restricted boundaries.
A casual visit to any population centre will also reveal widespread breaching of social distancing conventions.
The fact is that the majority of people out in public spaces may have protective face masks, but only for the purpose of avoiding attention of the police rather than averting the spread of the virus. So, they have them around the chin rather than covering the nose and mouth.
We still have the usual abundance of people idling around shopping centres, markets and bus stops, often huddling in close proximity and totally oblivious of social distance conventions.
Technically, they are not in breach of the curfew or the rules against gatherings, but they demonstrate total defiance, or ignorance, of the measures designed to protect them from coronavirus.
‘Stay at Home’ is not just some bureaucratic rule but the most basic common sense measure to halt the virus’s spread. However, it will remain impossible to spread this gospel if those in leadership positions continue with politics as usual.
When millions of Kenyans are staring at job losses on a massive scale, hunger and deprivation, and threat of the Grim Reaper, a privileged few are busy on their never-ending battles for control of the country and its resource.
Coronavirus has forced us to lock down parts of the country, halt sporting activities, houses of worship, weddings, birthday parties and other gatherings, and shut down most economic activity.
It follows that a similar moratorium on political activity should be the natural thing to do. That would be the most powerful demonstration that things have changed.
We must suspend all normal activity to join hands in the fight against a disease that threatens to kill us all and does not give a hoot about Jubilee, ODM, BBI, the Uhuru Kenyatta succession or the 2022 General Election.
If the enforced isolation should afford us any room for politics, it should not be about useless power struggles but how the survivors can craft a real nation out of the quilted patchwork of competing ethnic fiefdoms.
The inevitable collapse of Jubilee presents food for thought. I was one of those who cheered the 2016 formation of Jubilee out of the merger of President Kenyatta’s The National Alliance (TNA) and Deputy President William Ruto’s United Republican Party (URP).
Mine was not a case of political loyalties, but hope that the merger, which also included some dozen or so minor parties, would herald the growth of large national political parties based on identifiable ideologies and policy prescriptions.
I hoped on these very pages that the opposition alliance, headed by Mr Odinga of Orange Democratic Party (ODM) and partners Kalonzo Musyoka of Wiper Party, Moses Wetang’ula of Ford Kenya, and the returning of Musalia Mudavadi of Amani National Congress (ANC), would smell the coffee and similarly fold the regional or ethnic parties to counter the Jubilee juggernaut with a formidable national outfit.
That was not to be. Mr Odinga’s Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) became National Super Alliance (Nasa) and, in due course, fell apart after its 2017 electoral loss.
The Uhuru-Ruto bromance faded after their electoral victory and with that the rationale for Jubilee to stick together as the latter’s 2022 vehicle.
In the meantime, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Odinga banded together, but there is little evidence that they have any higher goals beyond stopping Mr Ruto’s ascent. The rapid creation and demolition of special purpose political vehicles has been the bane of Kenya.
Coronavirus forces us all to take time out and think about our own mortality. Let us also think about how a strong, stable, united and prosperous post-Covid-19 Kenya will rise out of the ashes.
[email protected] www.gaitho.co.ke; @MachariaGaitho
