The Chant of Savant

Sunday 25 December 2022

Why Kenya is limping into 2023


There are some years on the Julian calendar that you simply want buried and forgotten. One such year is Anno Domini 2022, which was decidedly annus horribilis, a year of disaster and misfortune for Kenya. Everything that could go wrong went horribly wrong.
        Unless Kenya changes course, historians will think of Kenya into distinct chasms – the pre-2022 Kenya and the post-2022 Kenya. But that’s not how 2022 started. In fact, 2022 was supposed to be the Year of Hope for Kenya when the country’s most important democrat – Azimio’s Raila Odinga – was going to ascend to power. However, every hope was dashed by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and then Kenya’s Supreme Court. That’s why the country’s future may lie in ruins.
        I know there’s been a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks rushing to tell the story about “what happened”.  Many of these “insiders”, perhaps all, are just quislings who are either looking for relevance, or trying to catch the eye of the UDA regime. That’s because many Kenyans – elites and wannabe elites – cannot fathom themselves outside the state. Most will sell their own mothers down the river for less than the proverbial 20 pieces of silver. Those who are talking know nothing, or very little, and those who know aren’t talking. A time will come when insiders will speak.
        That time isn’t now. But there are some things that are obvious, even to those of feeble mind. Let’s dig deeper. I won’t revert to the matter of the IEBC and the Supreme Court about which I leave to the imagination of fellow citizens.
        First, let me say that I see a UDA regime that doesn’t believe it’s in power. If you listen to the top men, they speak as though the country is still in campaign mode. Of particular note is the person who is the country’s numero dos.
        That man doesn’t know what to say, how to say it, and when to say it. He seems to speak before engaging his noggin. Or more accurately, he allows his emotions to speak for him. In a way that’s good because his mind is a window into the regime’s insecurity.
        Second, I see an UDA regime that’s a tower of babel. The country’s numero dos is already working furiously to push his boss out of Mount Kenya. Ironically, that’s exactly what his boss tried to do to his superior.
            As they say, what goes around comes around. I see a huge kinetic collision between the regime’s two top leaders. A nuclear explosion awaits. Then beneath the two, there’s internecine warfare between ministers and other factotums.
What these struggles mean is that there’s a lot of heat, and no light. Instead of focusing on giving economic meaning to the life of the most vulnerable, policy incoherence is now the order of the day.  Ministers shoot from the hip in self-aggrandisement.
        Third, a panicked regime that lacks internal and external legitimacy is in a state of hyperactivity in all sectors. The guys and gals in the regime don’t seem to be sleeping. The regime believes any motion is good for the country.
            That’s how it plans to consolidate itself in power – by being omnipresent everywhere in Kenya and abroad. I see the regime’s top leaders “commissioning” and often re-commissioning on a daily basis projects that were completed by the previous government. This is motion without movement. In the meantime, the country’s most vital needs are unaddressed and the penury of the people continues to deepen. Everywhere in this country, even in UDA strongholds, I see Kenyans with long forlorn faces.
        Fourth, most ordinary Kenyans have been reduced to beggars. Now, I am shocked if the policeman, the security guard, the ordinary public servant, and of course relatives don’t beg for a few coins from me. It never used to be like this, even before the UDA regime. Something terrible has happened to our people. Recently, in one of the most high-end restaurants in Nairobi the head chef approached me as I dined with friends.
        He pleaded that I pay the bill under the table – off the books – so that he and his co-workers could split the loot. Our collective jaws dropped to the ground when I told my friends. I politely declined his offer to “cheat” on the establishment. The first 100 days of the UDA regime have been marked by failures that have shocked the conscience of the nation.
        A basic thematic outline has emerged. The key failures are the UDA regime’s disdain for the Constitution and laws of Kenya, the contempt for democracy and its institutions, the flagrant violation of Chapter Six of the Constitution on Leadership and Integrity, the regime’s intolerance and impunity, its proclivity to run roughshod over the rule of law, the rush to destroy the political opposition and quash dissent, the crude muzzling of Kenya’s vibrant press, and the blatant attempts to reverse the gains of devolution. We are limping into 2023.
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 today.

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