A series of political events in recent times portend ill for democracy.
A section of the Jubilee Party leadership has aggressively embarked on a campaign to enter into coalition with others — such as Kanu, Wiper and Chama Cha Mashinani — with the objective of shoring up its numbers in Parliament to insulate itself against the backlash from its rebel members.
Secondly, the Opposition has been muzzled since ODM party leader Raila Odinga entered into a truce with President Uhuru Kenyatta in the March 2018 “Handshake” deal, and there is no longer a direct challenge to the government when it errs.
Last week, these variables came into play and saw 54 senators, out of the 67, unite to dethrone Senate Deputy Speaker Kithure Kindiki on clearly implausible grounds, that he had shown disrespect to the party leader, President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Broadly, the implication of the emerging realignments is that democracy is being imperiled.
Kenyans desire to have a democratic society was manifested in the long and painful struggle for multipartyism in the late 1980s and early ’90s.
The excesses of a single party then was evidence that a society cannot evolve democratically when the citizens do not have political choices.
Multiple political vehicles offer choices and empower citizens to participate in governance.
So when parties, particularly their leaders, enter into secretive deals whose covert objective is to entrench themselves in power, the citizen is the loser.
Parliament is a House of representatives. It is the duty of the members to represent the interest of voters.
When it is subdued and members’ voice muted, then the country is in great danger. The next step would be to raid and muzzle the Judiciary, the bastion of justice.
The Executive, which is headed by the President, is, naturally, neutered. Add to that the fact that the faiths and civil society long ceded their ground, went into slumber and kept off the democracy cause.
There are no alternative and critical voices and the Executive is left to do as it wishes. That is frightening.
Put into perspective, we are witnessing the demolition of a constitutional order that came into force with the current Constitution in 2010 and whose centrepiece is dispersal of powers and institutionalising checks and balances. We are fast sliding back to the dark days of single-party dictatorship.
Given the emerging scenario, it is incumbent upon Kenyans to step back, reflect on the situation and put a stop to the nation’s quick descent into autocracy.
Citizens should not watch in silence as the gains of hard-won democracy are being reversed.
