Ruto-Moi wars political bankruptcy

The unfolding political conflicts in the Rift Valley are an unfortunate implosion born out of past and present selfish pursuits by overbearing top leaders who overlooked community interests and the common good in preference to self-glorification and survivalist tough control politics.

It would be simplistic and misleading to reduce the trending tug-of-war between Deputy President William Ruto and Baringo Senator Gideon Moi to a mere political superiority contest anchored on the Uhuru Succession. Or, as some have quickly concluded, a malicious push by a crown prince of Kenya’s political dynasty formation to scuttle the steady climb of an elite ‘hustler’ (member of Kenya’s majority peasantry, or commoner) to the presidency.

It is deeper and sad.

Both DP Ruto and Senator Moi are products and beneficiaries, but also victims, of a brand of exploitative political culture imposed on a community that has bred the confusion, hopelessness and zigzag situation it finds itself embroiled in. Therefore, unless guided out of the mess, both may not be relied upon for a sustainable solution.

POLITICAL TRANSITION

Former President Daniel arap Moi and the DP are ‘arch-culprits’ in the big sin of failure to prepare their community for political transitions nor mobilisation for harnessing and sustaining focused, progressive interests. Even when they could, neither put in an effort to ensure safe positioning of the people, mainly in the political and economic spheres.

Their reigns have brought out clear manifestations of ‘big man’ politics — which, unfortunately, led them to invest heavily in self-preservation and concentration of power and resources in themselves and their respective cronies at the expense of the community’s masses.

The much-acclaimed political influence and control by both Mzee Moi, when he ruled, and now Mr Ruto are punctuated by major similarities: Lip service to and subsequent drastic decline of their community’s economic mainstays, deterioration of security in the region, propping up of irritating and self-seeking millionaire chief sycophants and their minions on monetary retainers, entrenchment of hero worship politics, destruction of a democratic culture and the condemnation of the masses into user-friendly, unquestioning voting machines.

IMPOVERISHING THE MASSES

The failures have had the trickle effect of impoverishing the masses, converting most into helpless voters, easy to manipulate, buy, bribe and confuse by use of handouts and other freebies. Such a population can neither stand on its own nor effectively stand up for their rights and rightful share of the national cake.

Wisdom demands that any realistic, progressive, futuristic and caring leadership should have invested heavily in prioritising community interests and socio-economic enrichment. These, topped up with instilment of a strong democratic culture, would have freed the people from their current bondage of hero-worshipping pretenders to the throne and those in power. A weak and hopeless people look upon such leaders, some who may actually be demagogues, as their ideal messiahs!

Self-centred leaders who spend most of their time looking for enemies to crush, amassing wealth and creating sycophants never have time to investigate and isolate the problems of their community to fix them.

FUTURE LEADERS

They get no time to realistically empower their people and organise them into a united, focused group to face the future and grow. They never dig out and identify good, progressive, talented individuals in all age groups to mentor and strategically place as the community’s ideal pool from which to pick future leaders to sustain and promote common interests.

The community needs to regroup and strategise the way forward without being misled nor blinded by the Gideon-Ruto wars. Neither appears to have a realistic cure for the sad state of the region’s leadership and socio-economic woes.

CREDIBLE

This leadership crisis, generated by elder Moi’s failures and being replicated by the DP, has no multiple choice answers. The only solution to it is the purposeful coming together of all respected community elders, credible clergy and top professionals to an urgent crisis meeting to guide the masses and craft the way forward.

The caucus, which should be inclusive, should name and shame the political big fish propelling this messy, retrogressive commercial politics to end their manipulation and exploitation of the people. It should initiate a paradigm shift in leadership at the local and national levels and install a transformative, reformist and progressive new political order to empower and protect the community.

 Mr Kigen is the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Elgeyo-Marakwet branch chairman. [email protected]