President William Ruto (left) and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
I wrote this piece assuming we have a democracy. But with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and opposition politicians now assuming powers they shouldn’t have, I guess that our democracy died when the broad-based government was forced down Kenyans’ throats.
Aside from betrayal by the opposition that went to bed with the government at a time Kenya needed a reset from the current political system, we now have to contend with impeachments that are coming in thick and fast and posing a challenge to Kenya’s democracy.
The impeachment craze has now reached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, with politicians threatening to send him packing. The overzealous campaign to impeach Mr Gachagua is gaining momentum as families who lost children in the Hillside Endarasha Academy fire were yet to bury them. Such tragic events call for empathy, compassion and sensitivity, especially from politicians. Sadly, even the politicians from where the incident occurred are prioritising the impeachment of Mr Gachagua over the burial of the school children.
Insensitive
The impeachment of the DP overshadowing the incident at Hillside Academy goes to prove yet again that politicians in Kenya are not only selfish, but deeply insensitive to the voters. The death of 21 school children in a fire should be a time for reflection for the nation and, most importantly, demands national mourning with none other the President leading this by personally attending their funerals. The presence of politicians at such a time, would not only show that they care about their voters and families, but also signal that the plight of voters takes precedence over any political events.
If it had been the death of a politician in a fire, just about the whole government would be in attendance and the world would literally stop so that the politician is given a “fitting” burial.
Impeachment has become another aspect of Kenyan law that is being abused. This could only be for one of two reasons. Firstly, it may be an attempt for politicians to get the chance to steal public funds, which are under the control of incumbent politicians, sooner. Secondly, in the case of the impeachment of Mr Gachagua, it is a way to speed up changes in the political arena to satisfy a new political order.
With the influence Mr Odinga and his ODM party currently have, this could only point to the fact that Mr Gachagua’s seat is to be vacated to plant Mr Odinga for yet another nusu mkate government. He is already half-way through the door as it is. Raila is President William Ruto’s deputy in all but name—he has accompanied the President to more international meetings despite not holding a constitutional office.
Politicians in Kenya are so much focused on derailing and impeaching opponents that development seems to have taken a back seat. Impeachment is essentially one form of early campaigns—politicians are thinking of nothing more than the next election as soon as they have been voted in. That is why I suggested in my article last week that we need laws to stop early campaigns. In fact, it should be criminalised. There is no other job that would pay workers salaries and not expect them to work but spend years focusing on their survival at the expense of the company. That is what Kenyan politicians are currently doing. They draw public funds as salaries not to develop the country but to kill it with incessant politicking.
What impeachment is not doing is getting rid of politicians who were elected off the back of poor credibility and totally failing ethics and integrity test such as the murderers and fraudsters still serving as MPs. There are instances where impeachment is called for, especially where there is clear abuse of power. These are few and far between and not exercised fairly given the many cases of abuse of power going unchecked. Had Chapter Six on integrity been adhered to during nomination, we would not be wasting so much time impeaching politicians.
Greedy politicians
A selective approach to the impeachment laws is having a negative impact on our democracy as those who were voted in fairly are being pushed out by impatient and greedy politicians after public funds and power. The unnecessary impeachments are not only hampering our democracy, but development progress, too. A lot of time wasted on impeachment issues—which should have been sorted out at nomination—could be used by politicians on development issues instead.
The lack of a properly constituted Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission means those impeached, just like the MPs who died, may not even be replaced as there is no mechanism to set up another election.
It is time to rethink impeachment; whether its purpose is to preserve democracy or create anarchy.
Ms Guyo is a legal researcher, [email protected], @kdiguyo
