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NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Nairobian

When political drama ends, you might find your lives dented

Elias Mokua

By Elias Mokua | Oct 17, 2024

From left: Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, President William Ruto, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua during a rally at Kapkatet grounds, Kericho county. [File, Standard]

When you attend a very important function in a public space, you must always remember the often forgotten sign; “vehicles parked at owners risk." Functions can be so much fun that by the time you come out, you are realise that everyone is in their cars except you who can’t locate where you parked yours. In the end, you realise your car is the the one in the far corner with a dent on the driver’s front side. The number plate hangs loosely as someone's car must have been stopped by yours while reversing.

At this point, you look for the guard who is 100 metres away. Even when you get hold of him, he regrets that there were many cars and so he can't tell which one hit your own. Soon, you realise he is of no much value as he makes to leave you to solve your own problem. As you start your car, he reminds you that next time you should check on him so that he commits to take care of your car.

The political drama in Kenya is a spectacle to behold. Figuratively speaking, many of us have parked our cars without alerting the guards that while we watch the melodrama in the political arena, some people might reverse and crush our cars. Because we are glued to the political sport, we might return to find huge dents; dents on our lives. And when we turn around to check who might have caused the dents, the only neighbour in vicinity will, justifiably, deny responsibility.

The person who warned 'vehicles parked at owners risk' understood one or two things about the law. With a dent in our lives, we can curse, lament, analyse day and night what might have gone wrong, condemn witnesses for not reporting about the incident, but the damage will have been done. We have to repair the car, whether insured or not, for without paying the insurer, the car will not be repaired. The culprit is the lucky one in this case. He will take off since there is no one to report possible careless drivers.

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The perceptions and consequences of driving home a dented car are many and diverse. Some people will swear that this is not the first time you have caused accidents. Others will say that you give your cars to drunkards. Still others will speak of how the world has become so inhuman that people destroying lives and the property of others don’t care.

The half-full glass minded people will say it was just bad luck. After all, such minor accidents are common. Moreover, there is no life without dents. The person who hit your car may have not known who the owner is and perhaps they were in a hurry. But, let us not miss the friends who will say we pray for such evildoers for they do not know what they are doing.

With so much political drama around the Deputy President's impeachment, critical issues like the Adani deal to supply services to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport; the big issues of our lives could be hit and damaged without our notice. With the Social Health Authority running into headwinds, the Junior Secondary School issue yet to be fully sorted out and the country recovering from the Gen Z attempted agenda-setting that turned deadly, someone could be taking advantage of our gaze at the political spectacle and dangerously reversing into our means of survival.

The point is, we, Kenyans, need to remind ourselves that there is a big difference between political drama, activism and loyalty, on the one hand, and political development on the other. Let us gaze at the political developments at all times. Our lives are parked 'at our own risk'.

Dr Mokua is the executive director of Loyola Centre for Media and Communication