Voters the ultimate pawns, losers in power politics

It is too casual for the pro-William Ruto enthusiasts to cast the victory of the candidate they supported in last week’s Msambweni parliamentary by-election as an indictment on the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) referendum, just as it is a mistake to read Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko’s lynching by Senate as a victory of reason over the irrationality and clowning rife at City Hall since he became governor.

In one, people voted with their hearts, even though there were reports of bribery and intimidation.

The Deputy President and his team luckily backed the right horse, cleverly aligned their messaging with thorough ground work done by the victor’s supporters, and carried the day.

The real politics was the subtle power play between Governor Hassan Joho of Mombasa and Governor Salim Mvurya of Kwale. The former lost, not necessarily because he is a BBI proponent, but because of his boorishness and overbearing nature.

State machinery

In the Sonko case, a pack of senators were devouring their own, executing the orders of their masters. If it was left up to Nairobians that voted him in, the embattled governor would still be in office.

But he offended the system and the State machinery was activated against him. Once President Kenyatta and his principal supporter Raila Odinga agreed that Mike Sonko was a liability, the political process was triggered to merely dress up the dreary affair with a cloak of legitimacy.

Yet the two processes are postcards of the realities that define politics generally, and which, in situations where institutions are not strong and traditions respected, distort governance and trump the rule of law.

Msambweni voters have chosen from the pool of candidates that offered themselves. Debate whether Mr Feisal Bader, an assistant and relative of the late area MP Suleiman Dori, is the most qualified candidate is academic. He seized an opportunity and won the prize. What is important is how well he understands his role as a people’s representative and how effectively he executes it.

The effectiveness question in Kenya’s politics is the primary dilemma of virtually all politicians because its delivery depends on loyalty to an individual that owns a political party. Right from Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s presidency, being opposed to the political party in control of government meant that you became and were treated as a rebel. It did not matter that one was popularly elected and that Kenyans deserved services and resources as a right. The Luo community suffered most because of such profiling.

President Daniel arap Moi locked up his critics as further punishment to denying constituents resources to develop education, health and infrastructural systems. President Kibaki was largely indifferent to criticism, treating it as noise that could be disregarded. President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto cobbled together the Jubilee coalition by persuading a bunch of parties to dissolve.

The opposition came together under Nasa and after losing, disintegrated, with the leaders accusing one another of dishonesty. But at the core of the disagreement was resources and power jostling to best position oneself for a shot at the presidency.

Illusory freedom

Power here is a matter of control of the party members. In such a case, the freedom implied by being an “independent candidate” is illusory. Mr Bader is effectively in Jubilee, in the faction that is aligned to the DP.

In Parliament, he will be expected to act to meet the expectations of that faction, even if those expectations do not necessarily align with those of his constituents. This is why Dr Ruto’s team was very quick to claim him.

In Sonko’s case, we saw the power play between the two factions in full bloom. Jubilee supported Sonko to be the governor because he had grassroots support. But his erratic behaviour was too much for the President, who has made improved services in Nairobi one of his pet projects.

His solution to the impasse at City Hall was to invite the military. After Sonko withdrew his initial support for the deal, his time was up. The faction with numbers in the Senate did as instructed.

This is vintage political power play for control as an end in itself. It has not served Kenyans well at all and their pain continues – with an unnecessary referendum to add insult to the pain of more taxes, joblessness and deaths from Covid-19.

[email protected], @tmshindi)