[ad_1]
Kenyans are increasingly getting repulsed by the toxic debate about President Uhuru Kenyatta’s succession. It is hardly 15 months since the last elections yet the political atmosphere is charged with impatient politicians criss-crossing the country mobilising support to contest for the presidency.
President Kenyatta is doing his last term but he still has three years in office. Jubilee Party, which he leads, had set out its development agenda, which it has to execute to fulfil its promise to voters. Yet it is the very Jubilee bigwigs who are leading the succession campaign, tearing at each other and wearing out the public in the process. This is detrimental to national development.
We have argued before that we cannot have a situation where the country is permanently on a campaign mode. Elections are held every five years and, in-between the elected leaders are expected to work. It is never election for the sake of it. Yet that is what the politicians seem to propound.
President Kenyatta has distanced himself from the campaigns, arguing that he has work to do to achieve the goals he set out for the country. But those around him are oblivious of that. They speak at cross-purposes and irreverently at one another. That is bad for the party, the leadership and the country.
At present, the country faces a serious threat of corruption. Service delivery is severely constrained because of high-level graft in public service. Although some discernible attempts have been made in recent times at reining in the corrupt, the suspects have not been convicted and plundered resources confiscated. Cases take a long time in court while communities gang up to protect their supposed members charged with corruption.
The economy has generally stagnated and requires a kick-start. Various sectors of the economy such as agriculture, manufacturing and industry are not performing at their potential. Devolution, which promises to change governance and resource sharing, is faced with serious challenges. The health sector, although primed for transformation with the launch of universal medical care programmes in select counties, is confronted with many threats.
In sum, there are a myriad challenges that require resolution. But that is not tenable in a situation of high-octane political campaigns that we are witnessing. Elections are still far away and it is incumbent on the President to bring an end to the viciously premature political mobilisation that threatens to undermine development plans. Political leaders should focus on delivering on their promises; let them spare us the highly charged and premature campaigns that are divisive, confusing and disruptive.
[ad_2]
