KITUO CHA SHERIA BLOG

Political Parties in Kenya

While Political Parties in Kenya may be defined as loose ethnic organizations-based on personal vision and politics- that are formed as vehicles to get political power, the African National Congress (ANC) and political party politics in South Africa appear to operate on a  different tangent; an oasis in a large desert of political indiscipline, corruption, dishonesty and lack of vision. It is only in South Africa and the ANC that two Presidents have resigned, pushed out by the party due to allegation of corruption, mismanagement and abuse of office. Imagine for a minute, Kenya’s Jubilee Party asking President Kenyatta to step aside on account of failure to tackle corruption or the Orange Democratic Movement pushing for a vote of no confidence against Rt. Hon. Raila Amollo Odinga. This is not just laughable but impossible. It is against this backdrop that this article reflects on political parties’ culture in Kenya. This discussion based on five areas that Kenyan political parties may want to consider so as to be champions of democracy and good governance.

National-based Political Parties

The first thing for Kenya is to grow her national political outfits as opposed to ethnic and personality-based organization. It may be true this situation was crafted and seeds planted by the colonialist however, it is over fifty years and it is important for Kenyans to step out of the colonialist fangs. The Constitution of Kenya, 2010 in Article 91 demands of political parties to have a national character. This means that they should be inclusive and seek the common good of all Kenyans. As much as politicians may not agree, parties in Kenya are aligned to tribes. They carry the aspirations and dreams of their tribes. This takes away national unity and objectivity in political parties. No wonder in Kenya, political parties are not about intergrity, fighting corruption. They are not about the rule of law; rather, it’s about tribal interests and power. National-based political parties also mean parties that have women, persons living with disabilities and minority groups. If they were not so much engrossed in tribalism, they would be pushing the agendas for these people as they include them in their decision-making organs and policies.

Issue-based political Parties

Kenyan political parties like the ANC must be based on issues. It is hypocritical to expect candidates to campaign on issues when the parties do not have a stand on certain ideologies. Political parties should not be a difference between class or tribe, but ideologies. What is the Jubilee Party’s position on Genetically Modified Foods, or Wiper Democratic Party’s position on reforestation? What about the Orange Democratic Movement’s policy on inclusivity, healthcare, job creation and eradication on poverty.  This explains why political parties have identical yet unrealistic manifestoes every election year. Their ideas do not resonate with the citizens. They often have no clue on what the ordinary citizens goes through. A good example is the primary schools laptops project. It is very absurd to buy laptops for children who do not have books, pencils, teachers, classrooms, etc. If parties stand for ideologies that resonate with the people, it will be easy to do issue-based politics.

Issue based politics also helps cure the culture of party- hopping. Legislation attempted to help by putting a time limit for changing parties however; this gave birth to independent candidates.  The point is political parties need to cultivate a culture of ideologies upon which its members must abide by, in that way, party hopping will naturally die off.

Institutionalized Political Parties

The other thing to learn from ANC is to strengthen party structures. Strong party structures means creating leadership that is autonomous and is guided by an acceptable value system. This is opposed to personality based political parties. Institutionalization of political party helps in growing membership, creating awareness and societal values, condemning vices and cultivating party democracy. There is a live debate on the inability of political parties to conduct proper primaries and how this eventually affects the general election. The answer to this is to take political power from specific people to independent structures and institutions. The ANC has   moved from the leadership of Oliver Thambo, to Nelson Mandela to Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma and now Cyril Ramaphosa yet there are questions as to whether the Maendeleo ChapChap Party can survive without Governor Alfred Mutua.

How do political parties in Kenya discipline errant members? Kenyans have witnessed spectacular scenes from Members of Parliament and even Members of County Assemblies engaging in acts like physical fights in public and use of abusive language and hate speech, yet there is very little talk of discipline. If only this was taken as serious as it is with the ANC. Parties need to set standards for the members. It is very sad that in Kenya, politicians accused of corruption and abuse of office are protected rather than disciplined by their political parties.

Political Party Financing

For political parties to function properly there is need for financing. This however cannot be left for the elite and the party leadership. There needs to be a system that allows members to remit their contributions. In that way, all members get to own the projects by the parties. As this goes on the Government also need to be pro-active in checking their books of account and finances to ensure transparency and accountability. Legislation or Amendments to the Political Parties Act is necessary to regulate the moneys that are to be used in political activities. This is important as it helps in bring equity and equality in our politics.

Political Party Activities after Elections

What happens to political parties after elections? The ANC being majority in the House has always helped in holding the government to account, political parties in power in Kenya have always been a rubber stamp of the Government. The Constitution of Kenya, 2010 has given Parliament the power to oversight whether as a Jubilee or NASA affiliate. Political parties also play the role of pushing the agenda and representing the people’s needs, aspirations, desires and dreams. Political parties should be the avenue for citizens to speak out on governance issues. They need to be the space for a country to have dialogue. It is important for political parties to be a uniting factor rather than a dividing factor.

By:

Ouma Kizito Ajuong’-  Poet, Lawyer, Person with Disability, Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, LLB (Hon.) Kenyatta University, PGD KSL, Legal Practice.