Politicians’ antics augur ill for Kenya’s image

What a week this has been in Kenyan politics! But yet, not yet. It is a given that so much is happening in the country. The education system appears to be on hold. University lecturers called off their strike only days back.

The transition from higher education is still mired in a need for more clarity while the funding model for university students is held up in court.

The health sector is yet another story. At the beginning of this month, the country moved from the decades-old NHIF insurance platform to a new one, christened Social Health Insurance Fund.

So much of the new platform is shrouded in mystery, and it does not help that even officials from the Ministry of Health can hardly explain what the change entails, leaving us all in a state of unease.

There is hardly any talk about the economy’s performance. Given the recent statements by some of the political class, it is evident that they are doing well.

However, looking at the stock market’s performance, the optimism is not that great or widely shared, and it does not seem that there is much to cheer about, even if some counters have been looking positive.

There are myriad other challenges facing the country. But for the last fortnight, we have been focused on the efforts to impeach the Deputy President. In many instances, the arguments of both supporters and opponents could be more precise.

However, individuals appear to take positions and then look for reasons to justify them.

Be it as it may, the country’s politics may not remain the same once the dust settles. In Kenya’s independence history, the nation has been ruled by the Rift Valley and Central Kenya alliance.

What is emerging is a potential rift that will leave both sides of the coalition suspicious of each other’s intentions.

Some have faulted the ODM party, which has played opposition politics since its founding, for voting in the National Assembly with the Kenya Kwanza coalition. Those who watch politics should have taken stock of the literature circulating within the ODM strongholds.

For ODM diehards, this is a fight in which they have no dog and cannot care less about which direction the voting went.

In some of these messages, a silhouette of a supposed ODM supporter sipping a drink under the shelter of an umbrella suggesting a retreat to a beach resort with the message that they are on holiday, taking leave from Kenyan politics, was telling.

During the tour of ODM’s stronghold in Nyanza, the crowds that turned out to listen to the President and his deputy cheered both leaders equally.

Nothing indicates that the stance will change today if both were to revisit Nyanza even after the leaders from ODM strongholds voted to impeach the Deputy President. These leaders are unlikely to have any emotional investment in the impeachment process.

However, the more critical thing is that a country must run in a competitive environment where nations are competing for limited resources.

People’s impressions of a country will influence their decisions on whether to visit it, invest in it, or open doors for it to contribute to discourses at the international level.

This past week, Kenya was voted to join the League of Nations and become a UN Human Rights Council member for the next two years. The former Prime Minister is gunning to chair the African Union Commission, the bureaucracy that runs the continental body, while the nation is racing against time to prepare its sports facilities for the prestigious continental football extravaganza.

These and others are hugely important opportunities to showcase and place the country on the global map. However, the home base needs to be sound to create a global impression and gain international respect.

This should be the political class’s singular task. Turning the nation’s fortunes around will start with the political class being patriotic, putting the country ahead of its interests, and ensuring that the national institutions deliver on their mandates. As of now, there isn’t much hope.
— The writer is the Dean of Daystar
University’s School of Communication