Articles By Reuben Kigame

It is nearly 3 years 8 months to the next General Election when we have a chance to democratically vote in a new government. The different groups are already moving around the country and will soon be asking you to vote one way or the other.

Everywhere I go I see exhaustion, apathy and a lot of disappointment. Yet, in a sense, we got ourselves this far. We deserve the leaders we vote in.

It would be naïve to succumb to the common talk of leaving electoral discussions behind when the lines for the next election are clearly drawn daily before our eyes. The question is, do we really learn anything from previous elections and how we vote as Kenyans?

Do we want a new way of doing things in Kenya? Really?

If an election was called 18 months from today, how differently would you vote?

No matter what I hear around me concerning elections in Kenya, there are 4 demons that Kenyans are too afraid to confront and, as a result, keep getting very bad leaders. This is what the 4demons keep telling you:

Demon 1: Take this money, vote for me and forget what I do to you, your children and your country. Money is the answer and whoever does not have lots of it cannot be your leader.

Demon 2: We belong to the same tribe. You will only get services from government if you think of the tribe that is in power. Unless your tribe is at the table, you will not get services.

Demon 3: We have been in government, so please believe we are experienced to serve you; just don’t look at our history of performance.

Demon 4: We lied to you a few times, but we are human, so please forgive us and forget the past and let us try again.

As Kenyans, we need to be honest with ourselves for once and admit that we listen to, and are victims of the deception of these four demons. Getting a better country begins with each of us determining to reverse those four conditions that drive how we put new governments into office.

Secondly, we need to completely stop thinking and behaving like bewitched fools. Most of us are totally bewitched by the lie that there are only two “saviours” in Kenya: William Ruto and Raila Odinga and their troops. Such thinking is retrogressive and the greatest reason for not moving Kenya to its destiny. Pastors and Imams are bewitched by this thinking. Leaders of movements and professional groups are bewitched. Civil Society no longer represents the change agenda and nearly all of them talk one thing but keep playing cards under the table in preference for one of the two. Journalists and editors – both print and electronic – are bewitched and zapped by this myopia. They are short-sighted. Nearly all bloggers who keep you busy with YouTube podcasts are victim of this myopia. They cannot help but think of Kenya Kwanza and Azimio and will soon be treating you to a two-horse race, with one of the two or their proxies in view. Woe unto those who consume their myopia. We have to think beyond this Western binary polarizations and look for good leaders among us. It is probably time to ignore Kenya’s media and binary podcasters for once.

Thirdly, it is time to actualize Article 1 of our constitution in tandem with the Preamble. Constitutional sovereign Power belongs to the people and they can exercise it directly or indirectly. It is time to unite and give ourselves something better. it is time to go beyond the inertia of talking about what or who is going wrong in the country and instead join hands to give ourselves the elusive government we have been looking for. It is time to stop sharing every imaginable Forward on WhatsApp groups and instead spend all our time organizing to get the leaders we want. If you have been in a WhatsApp group for the last 12 months and all you see is what is going wrong, no way forward, it is probably time to use your time more wisely.

I urge us to unite around four main things:

1. Identifying Kenyans of character to form the next government. Identify MCAs, MPs, Women Reps, Governors and Senators who are patriotic, without scandal, who put people first and are truly god-fearing servant leaders. Let us pray for them, encourage them to vie, fund them and vote for them.
2. Let us speak to one another in the family, at the place of work and as we travel, about the need to reboot Kenya with brand-new leaders in the next election. Talk about it daily until it becomes part of our psyche.
3. Let us not be bought on the basis of money, tribe, or so-called long experience in government. These will not put food on your table, give you jobs, build hospitals or take your children to school.
4. Let us gather around new leaders who are issue-oriented and have practical solutions to our food insecurity, debt, corruption, impunity, tribalism, taxation, and lack of healthcare, education and jobs. Ignore anyone who is not issue-oriented.

Kazi ya kubadilisha Kenya ianze. Tuunganewewenamimituanzekutayarishaserikalimpya ya utu, haki, Maadili naugatuzi.

God bless you indeed, and God bless Kenya.

By Reuben Kigame