Illicit campaign cash a recipe for the erosion of democracy

A new study on the cost of running for political office in Kenya lays bare disturbing facts about political organising and implications for development.

The study by leading governance experts Karuti Kanyinga and Tom Mboya shows the more a person spends, the greater their chances of winning elections. To win a senate seat, for instance, aspirants spend around Sh35.5 million.

Secondly, many aspirants turn to politics as an avenue for personal enrichment and aggrandizement; contrary to the electorate’s expectation of service delivery by elected leaders. With 40 per cent of political office aspirants coming from the corporate world, elections in Kenya is now a matter of profits.

The findings speak to what Kenyans have been treated to by the political class: Some presidential aspirants dole out millions of shillings to interest groups and churches with little political philosophy or cogent development blueprints.

Corruption

The commercialisation of politics carries underlying undesirable outcomes that the electorate should be alive to. As competitive elections get dearer, we are likely to see more money being splashed to entice voters. The sources of funds are usually unknown, a situation made worse by lack of capping on the amounts one can spend during campaigns.

The flashing generosity is often bankrolled by proceeds of corruption, as the electorate is caught up in short-term gratification that only gives way to cyclic trepidations. This brand of politics has dehumanized Kenyans, who no longer expect organised, sustainable and fruitful service delivery from leaders.

Many politicians and state officers have in the recent past been investigated for alleged pilfering of public resources through shady contracts, undelivered goods and overpriced tenders. While some of the accused have since been pushed out of office on the weight of accruing evidence, the same faces are busy lining up for election as if nothing happened.

Asked what lesson Kenyans could learn from Zimbabwe, one of the candidates interviewed for the IEBC commissioner job simply answered that she wished less money was involved in our politics.

Tokenism

With the focus on money, more gifted and service-oriented candidates are swept under the rug with little opportunity to ascend to leadership positions. Interestingly, according to the study, while women candidates often outspend their male counterparts, fewer women are elected.

As the 2022 polls draw closer, people with questionable integrity are busy endearing themselves to the electorate by using ill-gotten wealth. Tokenism has become a modus operandi with Kenyan youth taunting aspirants for handouts.

 Once in office, the leaders use their newfound position to lobby for personal gain to recoup their campaign costs. Since most of them have no business serving the country, they continue with the culture of tokenism, which only breeds more appetite to raid public coffers.

The investigative agencies should ensure that people who have profited from public resources are held to account, as a way of creating a new discourse towards clean, productive and issue based politics.

   @Cavinceworld