Jubilee merger will not kill democracy

In his address during the launch of Jubilee Party, President Uhuru Kenyatta noted that political violence across the world is triggered by parties formed along tribal, regional and religious lines.

The President cited Rwanda and South Sudan, saying loss of lives and destruction of property could have been avoided if the leaders had agreed to put aside their personal differences, shun negative ethnicity and form parties that could accommodate everyone.

Uhuru recalled the 2007-2008 post-election violence in Kenya where over 1,000 people were killed and 650,000 others displaced. The problem started after the 1991 repeal of Section 2A of the Constitution that ushered in multi-party democracy. And just before the 1992 and 1997 elections, Kenyans witnessed land clashes in parts of the country.

The killings witnessed after the 2007 elections were seen as the culmination of a build-up of tensions, ethnic hatred and enmity. Politicians from both sides were accused of sowing seeds of discord. Yet no legal action was taken against them.

Thus, merger of some political parties to form two strong ones would be a great strategy to heal and unite Kenyans. This is one reason why CORD is wrong in claiming that President Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto are out to kill multi-party democracy by merging political parties.

Kenya has 62 registered political parties so you cannot claim anyone is killing political parties simply because 14 of them have merged. Maybe the opposition should take the cue and merge to form one major party to face Jubilee in next year’s general election and even in years to come. It is clear that we don’t need all the parties Kenya currently has. Merging is the way to go.