Mr President, when middle class protests, push is coming to shove

President William Ruto speaks at ACK Church of Christ the King Pro-Cathedral in Nyahururu, Nyandarua County on June 23, 2024. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

To President William Ruto. Three months ago, in this column, I told you what Kenyans were saying about your government.

I told you that when you occupy space such as I do, you take tea in the smallest kiosks in Korogocho, and enjoy caviar in six-star hotels in Nairobi, and in Diani. You get to know what the people are saying, in Ematundu, near Emanyulia, and in the exclusive high-end Vipingo.

Sir, I told you that, like Joe De Graft’s Either-Neither-Man, I know what the people are saying. And it’s first hand. I understand what it all means for you. But you ignored my words, Sir. You took no notice when I said to you, “ The people are not happy. They feel cheated. They think that this hustler bottom-up thing was a hoax. A ruse to rake in the votes. After that, the hoaxers are gone, laughing all the way to the good ten-star life.”

Nor did it matter to you, Your Excellency, that you were told, “The people think Kenya Kwanza is fleecing them. It is sucking the very blood of life out of them. Making them poorer than the church mouse. Perhaps Mr. President understands these tax things differently. But the people don’t. They see lavish living and ostentation in government, amidst heavy taxes.

“The new sky team thunders across the heavens in expensive choppers, everywhere. Long gone are the times when a minister travelled by road. As they thunder through the skies, fleets of as many as six guzzlers each run ahead. They are taking the minister to a function in his village, hundreds of miles away. Recall, the minister himself travels to the same destination by chopper. The fleet picks him up from the landing pad, to take him to a village meeting, one hundred meters away.”

And you were told, “People are seeing cash handouts in millions of shillings by the politically correct. They are asking where this money is coming from, if it is not from their taxes. They are wondering how people who were so broke eighteen months ago have become billionaires.”

Now you are in a lonely place, Mister President. It is not common for the Middle Class to burst into the streets, Your Excellency. When they do, it becomes a mene, mene, tekel moment. The writing is on the wall. For, this class of professionals, skilled workers, the business community, and even government officials, is traditionally a selfish class. Throughout historical times and spaces, it has not been known to fight for common causes. Lawyers, journalists, and academics may, of course, argue about public causes from the comforts of their ivory towers. But they do so as academic exercises.

In their aloofness, these bourgeoisies seek private solutions to public challenges. For bad roads, they buy giant 4X4 private vehicles. For poor public schools, they take their children to private schools, and even universities. They even place them in foreign education systems. These kids grow up conscious that they are a special breed of human beings. They don’t identify with ‘watu wa kawaida’ problems and protests.

They attend private hospitals, drill their own water wells, or use water from bowsers. If the public electricity supply is shaky, they install solar energy and standby generators. For insecurity, they hire their own guards, fence off public thoroughfares, and install sentinels in gated communities. In summary, the middle class is always self-focused, cautious and distanced from public causes. It does not vote, or in any significant way influence who is voted for, or against.

Accordingly, when young people from this class begin protesting against you, Mr President, push is coming to shove. This is why you are sitting on a volcano. The bad news is that your retreat on the vexed Finance Bill (2024) does not end this matter. Look again at what the people have been saying about you. What are you going to do?

I told you, elsewhere, that you must stop your global itineration and holidaying. Sit down, think, consult, read, begin governing. Stop meddling with people’s cheeks and ears. Reconstitute your government. You can’t concede the Finance Bill without conceding the Cabinet and advisers that lied to you. Avoid also the IMF and World Bank liars. Listen to the truth, then thank me later. If not, your goose is cooked. Remember how Moses the servant of God once found his people worshiping a cow. Midwife your exit.

Dr Muluka is a strategic communications advisor. www.barrackmuluka.co.ke