What we learn from the Sonko-Igathe fall out

Jubilee Party made a big blunder in their Nairobi candidates line up! In as much as politics is a game of numbers and the fact that they didn't want to lose Mike Mbuvi Sonko during last year's campaigns, the lineup for Nairobi County was erroneous. Governor Sonko commands a "large" section of the electorate given his dramatic antics that won him favor and admiration by the less fortunate in the society- the poor thought that he was fighting for them but the guy was making political capital.

Before they knew it, he was their governor and they couldn't do anything about it. During the party primaries, Jubilee had progressive minds like Johnson Sakaja, Peter Kenneth, Dennis Waweru and many more but just because Sonko "insisted" that he would take nothing less than a gubernatorial candidate certificate and that "he would make a move" if the Party didn't facilitate that, Jubilee Party feared to lose him- they ensured that he got the certificate.

This shows that many parties are not in control of some of their members- weak democracy! To keep him in check, they brought on board Mr. Igathe, a technocrat and coined a narrative that Sonko would be the political face of the governorship owing to his "inadequacies" whilst the technocrat would be the manager and administrator.

This couldn't work owing to a conflict of interest between the Governor and the Party forces. There has been a rocky relationship between the Governor and his deputy which led to the resignation of the latter last week. In my opinion, Jubilee Party would have fronted youthful Johnson Sakaja as the Gubernatorial Candidate, Igathe as his deputy and Sonko as the senatorial candidate. 

Here’s why;

1. LEADERSHIP/ADMINISTRATION SKILLS

It's common knowledge that Mike Sonko came from the streets while Senator Sakaja came from the classroom. There are little management and administration taught in the streets; there's a lot taught in school. This puts Sakaja in front of Sonko. Having studied Actuarial Science and being able to chair a national alliance or party that gave the country her fourth president, Sakaja's leadership skills can't be questioned. The youthful senator also chaired the young legislators’ caucus in the eleventh parliament. Currently, the senator chairs the Senate Committee on Labor. He's always leading, little administration or leadership record is known of the Governor. 

2. BRAINS

If the lineup for the Nairobi County was conceived on merit, again Mr. Sakaja outdoes Mr. Mbuvi. The young senator has proven to have a firm tenacity of issues and a broad view of how and why things need to be done. On the contrary, the governor has distanced himself from decision making and problem-solving- during the campaigns he severally told Kenyans during rallies that would be done by his deputy who's a technocrat...the governor will be the political guy, sadly. The governor holds a Business Administration Degree from KEMU.

3. CHARISMA

Both Sakaja and Sonko have earned admiration from Kenyans in an almost equal measure. However, the impact of their Charisma is totally different. Whilst one is all talk and no action the other one talks and implements. Sakaja seems to have long-term problem-solving methods while governor Sonko employs short-term models. Both methods are good but for posterity, we'd rather the long-term solutions. Any progressive patriotic voter would opt for the long-term solutions.

4. VISIONARY

Johnson Sakaja is a young man with a vision. You can tell this through his political rise and also the bills he sponsored in the last parliament. He sponsored the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal act, 2015 which provides for a 30% procurement reservation criteria for the youth, women and disabled persons. He also sponsored the National Youth Employment Authority Bill which created an authority that keeps a database of job applicants and helps them get job opportunities locally and abroad.

It also prepares them for the opportunities through capacity building programs. The youthful senator has also received two awards; the African Achievers Award change maker Of the Year (2016) and the Jacob Well Award, 2016 which is awarded to men who impact the society differently. By the time I wrote this article, I had struggled fairly enough to tie any progressive contribution to the current governor, I gave up.

5. PUBLIC RELATIONS

It'd be a good image for Jubilee Party to have Sakaja Johnson as their gubernatorial candidate. This would have given the impression that the party is progressive, youth-friendly, merit sensitive, integrity sensitive and above all visionary. As at now, we all wait to see if something good will come out of the line up to the Party. 

Conclusion

We learn from our mistakes. There's a four-year window within which Jubilee Party can redeem itself and give Kenyans a county leadership lineup that is visionary, energetic, of integrity, knowledgeable and that is conversant with the needs of the capital. Kenyans rarely look at the candidates through such lenses. They prefer drama kings and queens over passionate leaders. The political parties know this too well hence they present incompetent but popular individuals for serious leadership positions. That is careless!

Hon Charles Bazenga