Politics is not a preserve of politicians

Like the menu in a specialty restaurant, our print and electronic media don’t disappoint with the leading news of the day. It will always be some incendiary remarks by a functionary of political party A, directed at the opposing party B. The following day it is party B going hammer and tongs at party A.

As Winston Churchill said, in war you can only be killed once, but in politics, many times; meaning that the following day’s news will be a continuation of the same political belligerence. Clearly, Kenya does not seem to have learned much from the 2007/8 post-election violence.

Almost on a daily basis, there is some issue or other that causes confrontation and raises the emotional temperature with the singular aim of scoring over the other side. Unfortunately, it is never about political policy disagreement, but invariably a case of “Our people” against “their people”. In ethnic divisions, politicians have found a platform for mobilisation of votes.

With fierce and sometimes blind loyalty to one’s own side and the fear of wanting to stay within our comfort zones, no one dares to break ranks or offer a differing opinion from the party leaders. Instead the very fear of an attack on the bubble in which the political parties exist only causes positions to harden and the language to get more extreme.

Barely 10 years into a new constitutional dispensation, there are still lessons being learned, and a number of political, social and economic hurdles to be overcome. The danger lies in deliberating on those challenges from a purely political prism. No political camp is prepared for magnanimity or to give way to good ideas, as long they are propagated by the opposing camp.

Where political polarisation reaches such a crescendo, the nation becomes deeply dysfunctional. One half of the citizenry is driven by the pursuit of political power while the other stays awake trying to cling on to power.

Ordinary Kenyans forget to hold leaders accountable and political manifestos are promptly forgotten. Eventually, less and less gets done, as the actual work of legislating and policy-making is increasingly subordinated to the demands of permanent political warfare.

Discourse on solutions for creating jobs, reducing corruption, increased security and an improved health system is often relegated to non-prime time segments of the media. As a person whose sole job in life is to shape conversation, it is my view we cannot leave our country’s conversations to the politicians to shape.

As regular citizens we must create our own narrative. We must heed the counsel of the Greek philosopher Plato, who said that those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber. While many well-meaning Kenyans would rather stick to their professions than venture into a muck-filled political career, the current style of politics will eventually lead to less business opportunities, and stifled growth.

When political polarisation threatens to bring upheaval, people of good will, who don’t normally bother much about politics, must begin to ask what they can do to avert crisis. They can use their influence in professional bodies and other forums; they can invite politicians to their forums and urge them to improve the quality of public debate.

In the midst of political rancour, professionals cannot remain distant and disengaged; their voices must be heard through greater participation in every stage of the political process. They must remain alive to the fact that much of the messaging coming out from the politicians will almost always be polarising, and therefore we must not be sucked into its divisiveness. They must not start repeating and reinforcing the messages thus creating a vicious cycle. No one benefits and absolutely no progress is made to develop the country further.

Our politics does not have to remain confrontational, petty and trivial. We have been through too much as a nation already. We have suffered enough at the hands of divisive politics. We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow.

Politicians must now embrace the progressive vision of our post-independence political leaders. That national vision must be based on positive and uplifting conversation.

The objective must be about making the compromises necessary to uplift the lives of Kenyans rather than projecting them inward purely for the sake of blind loyalty.

Our leadership must be about something bigger than individual egos or tribal silos. It is time to open the window to let in the fresh breeze of fraternal political contests. The consequences for failing to do so are too grave to contemplate.