Empty promises will be our ruin

  The impending exit of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson marks a stunning fall for a man who, less than three years ago, led the Conservative Party to a landslide electoral victory.

After masterminding the campaign for Britain’s exit from the European Union—commonly known as Brexit—his rise to Number 10 Downing Street seemed to signal a decisive shift to the far right and a re-emergence of an insular, intolerant regime fixated on a narrow world view.

Johnson’s ascendancy seemed in a way to mirror that of President Donald Trump in the United States, elected in 2016 on a frightening platform that pandered to the irrational fears and hatred of the uneducated white lumpen proletariat.

Birds of a feather in many ways, their politics grounded in stoking xenophobia seemed to signal growth of an ideology that would reign for many years to come within their respective domains.

But as it turned out, common sense triumphed over the blind and short-sighted allegiance to the politics of hate.

Rule of law

In the US, Republican President Trump lasted just one term before being decisively beaten by former Vice-President Joe Biden in the 2020 polls. In typical fashion, he reacted by trying to mount a coup, unprecedented in a country that prides itself as a bastion of democracy and rule of law.

In Britain, it was the governing party that itself realised it had made a terrible mistake. A spate of resignations by cabinet secretaries and other senior officials forced Johnson to last week to throw in the towel. He resigned as Conservative leader last week but intends to remain as Prime Minister until the party picks a new leader in October. Chances are, the party will be keen to get rid of him much sooner.

There is a big lesson in all this for us. We’re in the throes of an election where the leading presidential candidates are focused on populist policies and appeals to the base emotions of their support constituencies. Incitement to anger and hatred is getting much more play than any reasoned elucidation of election manifestos that are just a deluge of slogans and rash of empty promises.

Either of the two—Deputy President William Ruto of Kenya Kwanza Alliance or former Prime Minister Raila Odinga of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition—assuming office after the August 9 polls will inherit a broke, broken and divided nation.

Anger and bitterness

The new president will have no one but himself to blame for having played a key role in stoking an anger and bitterness that, if not contained, could easily lead to violence. Whoever takes office will also find that there will be no cash to throw at problems, leave alone fund all those irresponsible campaign promises. No presidential decrees will work to lower the cost of petrol, fertiliser or maize flour.

The new president will find the initial euphoria of poll victory soon overwhelmed by the stark reality of empty coffers and disenchanted supporters turning their anger in his direction instead of the presumed enemy.

It will not help that neither Kenya Kwanza nor Azimio are organised political formations with clear unifying policies and defined leadership and management structures. They both are simply special purpose vehicles for pursuit of power and, like their predecessors, destined to splinter after one electoral cycle.

Early in-fighting for power and position is likely to cripple any administration formed by either of the mongrel outfits, leading to not just a dysfunctional government but potential for state failure. You reap what you sow; both Ruto and Raila—whichever of them takes power—have sown the seeds of self-destruction.

One could argue that even if they were crass opportunists exploiting the fears of the uneducated underclass, President Trump and Prime Minister Johnson were, at least, driven by ideological platforms, however deplorable. Here, we have nothing beyond empty promises—and even emptier sloganeering.

Our next president has so far shown no inclination to rule responsibly, unite the country and heal our divides. Instead of hope and optimism, we’re being led down the path of anger and bitterness. Those emotions will become very difficult to assuage when all the heady expectations turn out to be a mirage.

What we really need now is a candidate who tempers expectations, halts the hate messaging and divisive propaganda, and campaigns on long-term policy proposals rather than mere promises of instant gratification.

That’s where my vote will go. I want a president who is not at risk of being shown the door faster than Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson.

[email protected]. www.gaitho.co.ke @MachariaGaitho