Kenya Kwanza is all politics with little to show for the people

 

President William Ruto and Impeached Deputy President Riagathi Gachagua after a press conference at State House Nairobi. [File, Standard]

As Kenyans were glued to their television sets following court proceedings of an application challenging the ouster of impeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, thousands lined up in the city searching for jobs.

The former is interested in seeing whether the beleaguered Gachagua would survive an all-out assault backed by President William Ruto.

Indeed, as many observers noted, the ongoing proceedings promise to sharpen Kenya’s democracy, and will likely establish a threshold for removing a deputy president.

Those at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) on Friday had hoped to secure a job in Qatar, while at the same venue, public hearings over a proposal to extend the terms for the President, senators, MPs, MCAs and governors from the current five years to seven years were going on.

Gachagua’s predicament was described in several quarters as a distraction to the public participation process.

Ahead of the 2022 General Election, Dr Ruto had lofty promises for the unemployed youth and pledged to steer Kenyans to economic prosperity.

Since he ascended to office, the Head of State has been more preoccupied with exporting labour, perhaps an indictment on his government’s inability to create jobs.

Ruto has argued that initiatives like the Affordable Housing and Hustler Fund programmes have helped generate employment.

Many feel the government can be more efficient in addressing pressing problems, chiding the efficiency deployed in ousting Gachagua.

In record time, MPs and senators were marshalled to impeach the Deputy President, but the National Assembly was hit by a quorum hitch a week after more than 291 MPs had voted to send Gachagua home.

The approval of Prof Kithure Kindiki nomination as Deputy President was swift, highlighting the reality that lawmakers could be efficient if they decided to be.

“The Kenya Kwanza government has committed many wrongs and wants to divert the attention of Kenyans. What did Gachagua do that warranted his removal? I think this government wants to hide its mega corruption scandals, misdeeds and other ills,” said Machakos Deputy Governor Francis Mwangangi.

Hustler hawking chicken baskets in Kakamega town on May 19,2024. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

“We cannot be talking about extending terms of elected leaders when Kenyans recently stormed Parliament. These is a misplaced priority,” he added.

Such a message was loud and clear during the public participation exercise on Gachagua’s impeachment, where many Kenyans said they wanted both Ruto and Gachagua to go, arguing that the Kenya Kwanza administration had failed to deliver for Kenyans.

Many pointed out that there were more urgent issues to be discussed than Gachagua’s removal from office, such as corruption and violations of the rule of law. Allegations of graft have rocked successive governments, with an antidote seeming beyond Kenya Kwanza’s reach. For instance, the country’s health system is in shambles as a rushed insurance scheme (Social Health Insurance Fund) leaves patients stranded and many more with significant bills. 

The nation is also staring at a looming crisis at the universities, following a strike threat by lecturers. The government has not honoured a return-to-work formula from a recent strike.

In the same sector, the new university funding model is robbing many young Kenyans of their higher education dreams.

For a man who talked big about respecting human rights, Ruto’s administration has faced countless accusations of violating them (human rights) as witnessed during bygone regimes. In recent months, State-sanctioned abductions (defended by the government as arrests) have been on the rise. Murders, too.

There has been no accountability for the tens of Kenyan youth killed amid an uprising sparked by an unpopular Finance Bill 2024, a biting cost of living and alleged poor service delivery.

Ruto has been adamant that the discontent was mostly brought about by misinformation. He recently appointed Eliud Owalo as Deputy Chief of Staff, Performance and Delivery, to be the face of the government’s service delivery.

Over the last month, Owalo has met Cabinet secretaries, highlighting their achievements and commitments for the current financial year. 

“The government has its eye on the ball, the delivery of our Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda plan. We recently released the two-year scorecard of the fifth administration and the facts of the case are available in terms of objectively verifiable statistics based on which our scorecard is anchored,” Owalo told the Sunday Standard.

“Moving forward, we have a clear picture of what needs to be delivered within the current financial year, which is already contained in the recently negotiated and validated contracts for all ministries. President Ruto will be judged based on delivery, not politics,” he added.

Doubtless, food prices that drove the cost of living high have relatively stabilised, but things do not seem to be working as they should.

County governments also face problems, occasioned by frequent delays in the disbursement of their share of revenue by the National Treasury.

“Counties lack money yet the national government has money to implement major and expensive projects that cut into devolved functions, such as in the health sector,” said Mwangangi.