OPINION: ODM defectors have a right to change sides

Recently I did a Facebook post on "why politicians are quite within their right to change sides without consulting voters" and boom! I was baptized all sorts of names. Some event went to the extent of insinuating that am so naive to what the law says. I felt pity we are in the generation where people are so opinionated rather than being informed.

Democracy is something that is emulated from the Greece city states. For those who might not know, democracy basically means "rule by the people." When the population escalated in the city states, they opted to practice indirect democracy which when you come right down to it meant that someone was elected to represent a larger majority. It is fabled that this person elected has the interests of his constituents at heart and does whatsoever he does for the betterment of his constituents. Political parties were fashioned on the basis of democracy. They are said to be a prerequisite to democracy attainment. 

Then one might ask a question, are members of parliament elected on grounds of their personal merit or on their stand on which party they belong? 

The twenty four ODM defectors in my verdict were elected to represent a certain majority of people. Crafting laws to send them back to the electorates is ludicrous. To me it's undermining the sovereignty of the electorates. Many might not understand but this "turn coat rule" was repealed from the Malawi constitution by the late tom Mboya to beef up the executive those days. The rule was actually meant to prep Kenyans psychologically for a de facto one party state. 

Before the repeal of section 2(a) of the constitution which had made Kenya a de jure one party state, the former president Moi gave a very crucial speech in tune to the formation of parties in Kenya. Moi felt it was better just to remind Kenyans who were craving for a multiparty system that they should form party’s whose bedrock was on ideas and principals.

This rule is justified but should apply in democracies where they have elaborate party structures not Kenya. Kenya is still lagging behind in terms of party ethics and ideologies. Most parties have been sugar coated to look nice and good like the Trojan viruses on the internet. The message on the top is different from the content inside. Kenya’s political parties are like Kenyan’s blogs. When you read the headline it’s staggering but when you get to the meat of the message it’s contrary to the message.

 All the 24 ODM defectors left due to not finding proper ideological positions/stands within the party, or they could not swallow the party management strategies. The constitution might be there but the reality is very different. You have to work out on where you are going first. If you find where you are going then you change the constitution to suite where you are going. What is the need of being a member in a party full of corruption, just because the constitution says so? Do you know corruption undermines democracy?

What ODM did the other day is telling Kenyans that its members are not elected based on the developmental record rather than the choice of party. This is the reason number one why performance by ODM members is down-and-out. 

It's even more hilarious that ODM moved to expel “people” who had seized being its members. It doesn't take rocket science to tell you that if someone is in another party has stopped being a member of your party. Why does ODM keep following them? They are gone. It's like those old days you were in high school and for example, you opted to get a transfer to another school. Just after getting an admission, you get a letter from your former school calling you back to the school to account for a book that you were given but cannot be traced in the library. Is that not a joke? Members should be expelled when they are in the party and not performing not when they have left the party and are "eating meat" somewhere else.

It should be noted that members of parliament, governors, and senators are elected as individuals. They have their own personal mandate to make independent choices because there are no ideologies in the party.

I have a problem with the "youths" of this generation that don't always ask “why” but embrace everything done and said. Let me call them "fans" not even "sycophants". It’s a fun who cheers a team when they have been defeated 8-0, 4-0, or won 1-0. Sycophants can change their stand depending on the “weather” but fans live by hope that "things will be better tomorrow." 
Elected members of the party are not delegates. 

Recently I did a Facebook post on "why politicians are quite within their right to change sides without consulting voters" and boom! I was baptized all sorts of names. Some event went to the extent of insinuating that am so naive to what the law says. I felt pity we are in the generation where people are so opinionated rather than being informed.

Democracy is something that is emulated from the Greece city states. For those who might not know, democracy basically means "rule by the people." When the population escalated in the city states, they opted to practice indirect democracy which when you come right down to it meant that someone was elected to represent a larger majority. It is fabled that this person elected has the interests of his constituents at heart and does whatsoever he does for the betterment of his constituents. Political parties were fashioned on the basis of democracy. They are said to be a prerequisite to democracy attainment. 

Then one might ask a question, are members of parliament elected on grounds of their personal merit or on their stand on which party they belong? 

The twenty four ODM defectors in my verdict were elected to represent a certain majority of people. Crafting laws to send them back to the electorates is ludicrous. To me it's undermining the sovereignty of the electorates. Many might not understand but this "turn coat rule" was repealed from the Malawi constitution by the late tom Mboya to beef up the executive those days. The rule was actually meant to prep Kenyans psychologically for a de facto one party state. 

Before the repeal of section 2(a) of the constitution which had made Kenya a de jure one party state, the former president Moi gave a very crucial speech in tune to the formation of parties in Kenya. Moi felt it was better just to remind Kenyans who were craving for a multiparty system that they should form party’s whose bedrock was on ideas and principals.

This rule is justified but should apply in democracies where they have elaborate party structures not Kenya. Kenya is still lagging behind in terms of party ethics and ideologies. Most parties have been sugar coated to look nice and good like the Trojan viruses on the internet. The message on the top is different from the content inside. Kenya’s political parties are like Kenyan’s blogs. When you read the headline it’s staggering but when you get to the meat of the message it’s contrary to the message.

 All the 24 ODM defectors left due to not finding proper ideological positions/stands within the party, or they could not swallow the party management strategies. The constitution might be there but the reality is very different. You have to work out on where you are going first. If you find where you are going then you change the constitution to suite where you are going. What is the need of being a member in a party full of corruption, just because the constitution says so? Do you know corruption undermines democracy?

What ODM did the other day is telling Kenyans that its members are not elected based on the developmental record rather than the choice of party. This is the reason number one why performance by ODM members is down-and-out. 

It's even more hilarious that ODM moved to expel “people” who had seized being its members. It doesn't take rocket science to tell you that if someone is in another party has stopped being a member of your party. Why does ODM keep following them? They are gone. It's like those old days you were in high school and for example, you opted to get a transfer to another school. Just after getting an admission, you get a letter from your former school calling you back to the school to account for a book that you were given but cannot be traced in the library. Is that not a joke? Members should be expelled when they are in the party and not performing not when they have left the party and are "eating meat" somewhere else.

It should be noted that members of parliament, governors, and senators are elected as individuals. They have their own personal mandate to make independent choices because there are no ideologies in the party.

I have a problem with the "youths" of this generation that don't always ask “why” but embrace everything done and said. Let me call them "fans" not even "sycophants". It’s a fun who cheers a team when they have been defeated 8-0, 4-0, or won 1-0. Sycophants can change their stand depending on the “weather” but fans live by hope that "things will be better tomorrow." 

Elected members of the party are not delegates.