Delicate act balancing democracy with development
By PD columnist, October 4, 2022President William Ruto’s administration faces the daunting task of leading a divided nation after consolidating control of government and his allies capturing powerful positions in Parliament.
With both Speakers of the National Assembly and the Senate from his Kenya Kwanza coalition, Ruto has firmly placed his political rivals in the Opposition.
Azimio-One Kenya coalition presidential candidate Raila Odinga is still reeling from the shock defeat in the closely contested presidential election whose fate was finally sealed in the Supreme Court.
The President acknowledged his “worthy competitors” for their sterling electoral battle during his inauguration, but the fact is that his well-calculated moves outmaneuvered his political adversaries who enjoyed the support of his estranged predecessor.
Ruto has excelled as the best student in the faculty of elections in Kenya’s university of politics nurtured by the “professor” Daniel arap Moi, learning useful lessons from Raila Odinga, Mwai Kibaki, and graduating with top honours as Uhuru Kenyatta’s deputy!
Well, the election is history now and while pundits have offered various reasons why this side won and the other lost, citizens have accepted that there is a new national leadership they are demanding must chart the best way forward for the nation. That is the daunting task facing President Ruto. It must, however, not be lost to the new administration that its electoral victory was razor thin, confirming that the nation is sharply politically divided.
However, to the new administration’s advantage, although the political, ethnically and regionally oriented differences remain deeply entrenched, economic and social maladies unite all Kenyans of diverse origin with a malignant affliction that defies politics.
The new administration faces the arduous challenge, the delicate act of balancing democracy with development. It should shed the baggage of the previous order and images of “state capture” since it now has the power to build back better the economy to benefit all citizens.
Economists and political scientists recognise the importance of institutions for democracy and development, as defined in the principle of separation of power between the three arms of government – the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary.
Just as it abhorred past excesses of “state capture” the new leaders of a mature Kenya that has shown the world remarkable adherence to the tenets of peace, democracy and the rule of law, it must avoid portrayal as promoters of “electoral, legislative, judicial and economic capture.”
For the Opposition, literally dead in the last dispensation, resurrect to this new reality, fully alert to your role as watchdogs of society. You must keep the governing powers in sharper, constant check, holding the leadership to account for all promises and actions.
The performance of the previous parliamentarians was below par, depicting them more as self-seekers rather than representatives, nay servants of the people, a reputation they don’t seem to have shrugged off.
Democracy requires that losers accept the outcome of the political game, knowing they can participate again, and possibly win if they play well. We must, however, be conscious that vanity, autocracy, poverty, inequality and long-standing divisions can impose excessive costs for losers.
In return for losers accepting the outcome of elections, winners must commit to exercise restraint and pursue national policies necessary for inclusive, equitable sustainable development for all.
Our political maturity requires that we build institutions of democracy that promote the radical change in the control, accumulation and distribution of power and wealth vital for establishing developmental momentum.
—The writer comments on political and justice affairs – albertoleny@gmail.com