County News
Negotiated Democracy Will Fail the People of Northern Kenya
Leader of Majority in the National Assembly Aden Duale handshakes the Sultan of the Murule clan in Mandera. (Courtesy)
With every county in Northern Kenya adopting a new political model of endorsing candidates by clan elders, uncertainty abounds as to whether this yet-to-be tested model will lead to fruition.
A close observation I made over the December holiday grants a factual evidence that this is but a primitive move anchored on tribe and clan affiliation.
This is just a manoeuvre that will disenfranchise electorates from electing leaders of their choice. Its uncivilised seeing an amorphous group trampling on the constitutional rights in the name of negotiated Democracy.
People have to contend with candidates that are not their choice and this is undemocratic move, nevertheless. Owing to the unhappy state of the local mwananchi, candidates courtesy of negotiated democracy have a daunting task in consolidating them.
After all, you can’t force a mind that yearns for a stable democratic realm to go otherwise. Its indeed, a tough decision. I’ve observed that some candidates who were nominated by elders are unable to start a blistering campaign. This is because they are conspicuously avoided by a good percentage of the electorates.
Whenever, a candidate gets endorsed by the group, they instead develop a ragtag band of loyal operatives who believe that they can give the aspirant a mathematical path to victory.
Did they forgot politics is about numbers? The fact that candidates of the elders live by ubiquitous campaign slogans like #TeamVerdict, #Tokuma etc makes an air of improbability trailing their campaign. Their political rallies are always unfiltered and the wazees have unshakable self regard.
Isn’t this democracy on trial? This type of democracy by the elders will baffle the people and agonise the liberal democrats. Its the kind of politics that is unconvincing at best and cynical at worst. Soaring inequality, favoritism and much else is malaise felt by the people.
With this and many more reasons leaving the voters doubt the elders’ sincerity, the negotiated democracy is bound to capsize. The elders have also set a groundwork for failure of their preferred candidates by acting as inexperienced political nexus between other senior politicians and their candidates.
These murky deals are meant to arrange the so called lineups for their “uniquely unqualified” candidate hence lack of trust becomes the backstage of the political sphere. If honesty blends with their politics, they’d instead execute a down to earth persona and be able to, build trust with the voters.
They should excite voters hungry for change and do away with this rotating cast of advisors serving critical campaign roles. Let the wazees concentrate settling of disputes and such prime roles. Why does liberal politician rely on the compassion of rogue wazees?
The author is pursuing Bachelor of Economics and Statistics Chuka University.
