By The Kenyan political landscape has been shaky since independence , it only became evident after the 2007 presidential elections. But recently, one would say it has reached a rock bottom. Different leaders are elected to the presidential seat, yet we see the same pattern in their style of leadership.
So why do we make the same mistake every five years?
Simple, there are many factors that influence our choices every year, at the pinnacle is tribal politics. As a political infant, Kenya as a country has a long way to go in mastering democracy and thinking together as a people, not as tribes. Tribal politics has made it easier for populist leaders to manipulate the masses.
The term “cousins” for example, as recently used by a politician to address the masses, was a fickle attempt at building rapport from a tribal-political perspective. Manipulation? We are currently confused about our political stance as a country , and some leaders have caught on to this, so the best move is to take advantage of the chaos and confusion, offering citizens a false sense of security. But one thing we have to remember is, we don’t have to settle for the less corrupt leaders, just because our current President is unpopular.
Decoding political loyalty. The Ruto -Gachagua split, caused a lot of disorientation. At least among Kenyans who still hold on to tribal politics. For a Kikuyu citizen, youth specifically, it would only be logical to support Rigathi Gachagua, as he is seemingly the lesser of the two evils. But watch out, the extra judicial killings we’ve recently witnessed were not tribal in any way, the recent case of police killing an innocent rioter was not in any way tribal. It is time for Kenyans to wake up and realize that the impunity in our country has gone beyond the tribal level, we have to rise above our tribes and think, act as one people.
See you in the ballots, come 2027.
