Kenyans discover they have capacity that can rattle

The angry reaction to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by Kenyans online this past week has been laughed off in some quarters as a naïve, inconsequential action that will have little effect on the decision that has already been taken to lend Kenya billions more to add to its towering mountain. However, the action was neither naïve nor without consequence.

At a basic level, it gave mass expression to anger that has been simmering for some time and which, though expressed in mainstream and social media forums, has been ignored by all the key parties.

What it has elicited are the usual mumbles that the government needs to borrow to fund its development agenda as represented in the budget. That in view of shortfalls in tax revenues, the ONLY option the government has is to borrow.

The history and irrationality of the borrowing has been lost in a loathsome frenzy that has seen the government borrow to pay loans and fund corruption.

Yes, Sh2 billion is stolen daily, according to the Head of State and government.

Public debt

A directorate has even been set up at Treasury to do nothing else but manage public debt. The government is trying desperately to rewrite history and make believe that it has always been like this. But it has not been and one only need look back seven years ago when President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto replaced Mzee Mwai Kibaki!

The cacophony online shone a relentless torch on this enterprise that we are forced to live with because the immediate alternatives of not getting the loan are equally dire. But it did more. It rattled the government by demonstrating to it that Kenyans are actually quite angry at this shameless exhibitionism of larceny, incompetence and arrogance built on haughtiness that there is nothing the people can do but whine.

That whine this time forced the government to order the arrest of Mr Mutemi Kiama and at least 20 other activists who they are charging with “abuse of digital gadgets, hurting the presidency and creating public disorder”. Hurting the presidency indeed! Police are still tracking down more people to charge.

Dangerous foe

This panic speaks to several things but one stands out. Kenyans have just confirmed the unrivalled capacity of social media platforms, in this case Twitter, to mobilise and transit a message.

It is powerful, relentless and cheap. In this case, it is a big ally of the voiceless and a dangerous foe of the uncaring powerful.

It is not for nothing that the Uganda government shuts down social media in the lead up to, during and after the elections. And Tanzania too.

It has long been said that Kenyans have no capacity to rally around a cause and drive it.

The #StoploaningtoKenya hashtag demonstrates that they can if they get angry enough about something. So what is it about the moment that made it possible?

Many, many many Kenyans have been backed against the wall with the incredibly harsh realities they are confronting now.

Joblessness has led to terrifying personal and family insecurities. Tomorrow is not promising because the economy is not improving, thanks to a pandemic that has added fresh injury to the long-festering insult of corruption. For many, there is truly no light at the end of the tunnel.

More importantly, many Kenyans, denied the opportunity to continue burying their heads in the sand, can now associate the conditions they confront with the lie of governance.

Fleecing game

They can see clearly now that the past eight or so years have generally been a fleecing game where mega-projects have been used as conduits for scavenging already depleted public resources.

Calls to the President to control corruption have yielded very little, an admission he readily makes.

Inefficiencies in government remain, compounded by serious bloating.

Numerous calls to control expenditure, introduce fiscal discipline and live within its means have been laughed off with ever larger budgets and equally humongous deficits.

Until now, the calls have been isolated.

Now the anger can be mobilised and that energy can be directed at demanding real change. It is a moment pregnant with hope, and trepidation.

[email protected], @tmshindi