Spare us dirty politics and deliver on pledges

The political scene is getting toxic by the day, yet the next general election is two and a half years away. Politicians seemingly have resolved that it’s politics, period. Nothing else matters. Decency and common sense have been thrown out of the window as insults, invectives and name-calling take centre stage. And, by the look of things, the worst is yet to come.

At the heart of the matter is the question of transition as President Kenyatta completes his second and final term in 2022. The ruling Jubilee Party is engulfed in a deep crisis. Its leadership is sharply divided with one group aligned to the President and its rival backing Deputy President William Ruto.

Once an oiled machine with great promise, Jubilee is now a pale shadow of its former self. President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto no longer exhibit the bonhomie and public stunts of their early years in government. The Cabinet, which subscribes to the doctrine of collective responsibility, operates at cross-purposes. There are clear demarcations of loyalties, depending on the nominee.

The National Super Alliance (Nasa), the de facto main opposition, is dead. Other opposition parties have disintegrated and cannot be placed anywhere. Loyalties have shifted so much as to lose count. Yet dearth of opposition is detrimental to democracy. Without checks and balances, a government can become rogue.

What galls is the evolving culture of extremism among the political class. In recent weeks, political players of whichever creed or shade have relished attacking and haranguing their real or perceived opponents, which is quite unsettling. The political air is foul and citizens rendered hapless watchers of unfolding duels.

In November, President Kenyatta and Opposition leader Raila Odinga launched the Building Bridges Initiative report, aimed at providing the basis for reassessing the nation’s governance structure as well as socioeconomic and political challenges and provide a foundation for reforms. But that endeavour has been lost in the political din. Whatever the two principals may think, there cannot be any meaningful discussion about the BBI report.

As politicians criss-cross the country engaging in shenanigans in a bid to pulverise their supposed opponents, the citizenry suffers. No meaningful development can take place in that environment.

When it ascended to power in 2013, Jubilee outlined a raft of programmes it sought to pursue to make Kenya great. Looking back seven years, all that remains is hollowness. Little development has been realised, prominent among them the standard gauge railway (SGR) from Mombasa to Nairobi and on to Suswa. 

Politicians must tone down the bile and tirades. We do not eat, drink and sleep politics. Let them spare us the madness.​