Vidkun Quisling was a Norwegian military officer and Nazi collaborator. He was the nominal head of the government of Norway during World War 2 when the country was occupied by Germany’s Adolf Hitler. It’s bad enough to turn your country over to occupiers, and totally unthinkable to be Hitler’s consort. It’s the season of the quisling in Kenya. Sellouts.
Traitors. Betrayers. In Kenya, the quisling phenomenon is a function of political prostitution. Our politicians generally lack an ideological or moral anchor. And so they blow with the wind if it takes them to the feeding trough. That is why we have seen many prominent politicians prostrating before UDA’s William Ruto whom they believe will be President.
Most Kenyan politicians do not run for office to serve the people. No – they do so to squat in office to fleece the taxpayer. It is an opportunity to steal for themselves and their families. The perquisites of office in Kenya are unlimited.
There’s virtually no accountability for high office-holders. Even when some are impeached – as was the case of several governors – they continue to live large. There are zero consequences for plundering public resources. It is the reason politicians cannot imagine being out of office. It’s a pecuniary death sentence. These are people who forgot how to work a long time ago. They only know how to steal. Last time I checked stealing wasn’t listed as work.
I won’t name and shame those who’ve crossed over to Mr Ruto, tail between the legs. I won’t because I might break my fingers in anger typing their names. Some are people I have long respected, and the country looked up to.
Then in an act of weakness, gluttony, and vacuousness they have rushed into Mr Ruto’s arms. Never mind these are folks who have nothing – absolutely nothing – in common with Mr Ruto. Okay, I suppose they are both human beings. But that’s where the similarity starts and ends. I don’t exaggerate, but some had sworn to me that Mr Ruto was the epitome of the worst excesses in this country.
Political debauchery
This isn’t new, nor is it unique to Kenya. But there are levels of political debauchery that should be beneath the dignity of some of the offenders. In a normal country at least a good number of people would be drawn to politics to vindicate an idea, not to simply fatten their bellies. It’s a sign of political maturation when political parties become entrenched instruments of ideological views, and vision for the country.
In such countries there’s usually a right/right of centre and a left/left of centre. The left has commitments to social justice and the right to versions of largely market-driven values. In the US, it’s Democrats and Republicans. In the UK, Conservatives against Labour.
Rarely will a Democrat wake up one day and become a Republican — unless that American is a rare breed who believes in nothing but himself like Donald Trump. An egotist. Most Americans have a vision of the type of country they want to live in, and politically work hard to vindicate those values.
It’s true some want a racist country and work hard for it, but even that is a belief beyond the simple plunder of public coffers. Often in advanced democracies, party affiliation runs in families for generations. It is true people will marry across party lines, but more often than not love is also quite loyal to political inclination. Orange trees tend to produce oranges, not mangoes.
Azimio La Umoja
I know of a certain political lot from a particular county that crossed wholesale to UDA although they were elected on Azimio La Umoja. They did so even though they should know that an election petition is under way at the Supreme Court with an imminent decision. What will they do if the Supreme Court declares Azimio’s Raila Odinga President-Elect or orders a re-run?
I bet you they will all troop back to Azimio, again tail between their legs. Do they have shame, or a sense of humiliation? I bet none. They will act like nothing happened. Will we ever see a day when this brazen political skulduggery ends? I think not unless political parties make it costly for the quislings to get away scot-free.
Enforcing the law against such political adulterers is a good start. It may instil some party discipline if the offenders know that they could be excommunicated and face a by-election. But ultimately, what we need to do is cultivate meaningful political parties that are larger than their leaders. Most of the parties in Kenya cannot survive their leaders.
They will die as soon as the party leader is no more, or retires from politics. We need also to decouple parties from their ethnic moors. Public funding was supposed to foster more national parties, but hasn’t. Ultimately, I think we need ideological leaders with a national outlook. Then we can politically kill quislings.
Makau Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor and Margaret W. Wong Professor at Buffalo Law School, The State University of New York. @makaumutua.
Source: Sunday Nation
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