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The Nairobian

Party coalitions indicate lack of ideology in Kenyan democracy

Opinion

By Njahira Gitahi | Jul 30, 2024

**President William Ruto nominated top politicians from Raila Odinga's ODM party to be part of his cabinet.** [File, Standard]

The formation of yet another government of national unity in order to quell national unrest has come as a surprise to many. Since the election results of 2022 were announced, the Azimio coalition has made known its displeasure, and organised against the Kenyan Kwanza government, claiming that the government was illegitimate.

It was therefore shocking for some to see members of the coalition happily joining forces with the government and accepting Cabinet positions. This is however not the first time that the opposition has been absorbed by the ruling power, and it speaks to a flaw in our democratic system.

The concept of a democracy that has a party in power and an opposition that keeps the ruling party in check points to a difference in ideology between the two. In Western democracies, this difference takes the form of a party of the wealthy and a party of those more disadvantaged, meaning that this difference is one of class. The policies proposed by each party conform to improving conditions for the people it represents.

Hence, a party that represents the poor would propose such policies as universal basic incomes, free education, expanded social services, and progressive taxation. By contrast, a party that represents elite interests would advocate for laissez faire trade policies, reduced social programmes, and privatisation rather than nationalisation of nationwide services in order to make profit.

For Africa, democracy as understood by the world is an adopted concept, brought to us through colonisation. The political parties originally formed in African countries came about as a means of organising to agitate for the colonising power to leave and for the national party to assume its place as a leader of the nation. In Kenya, many of these parties were formed along ethnic lines, and came forward to address the demands of a particular region.

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The more popular ones took on a national character, but nevertheless worked with the primary goal of national liberation. Today, most of the parties formed during the anti-colonial movement no longer exist, and it seems as though new ones come up with every election season. In fact, in the last election cycle, the concept of a coalition of political parties was formalised so that parties can drift apart or come together in coalitions – as they have been doing since the 2002 elections – with some regularisation.

Indeed, the formation of coalitions of national parties during every election cycle proves that the Kenyan democracy is not one of ideology. If the coalitions we have witnessed in the last five elections are anything to go by, one would conclude that political interests are wholly personal as people who vow that they are sworn enemies one day are close allies and collaborators the next, with the sole aim of winning the election. As a consequence, Kenyans have to sit back and watch whilst the very same politicians are recycled election after election, only each time under a different party title, different party colours and different slogan, and each time promising to build world-class stadiums that never materialise.

What this points to, more than anything else, is the reality that with the end of colonialism, the reasoning behind our formation of political parties has been lost. Today, political parties are formed simply to garner popularity and ensure that the election is won. Sadly, in this continued form, the ethnic feature remains, as Kenyans continue to vote for their most popular 'mtu wetu', leading to such concepts as six-piece voting.

Now that the youths are boldly stepping into the political arena, and the old guard is slowly being made obsolete, what is needed is a reworking of how we approach democracy so that it can finally begin to work for us. The youth need not replicate the broken system that they have found in place by, for instance, registering a Gen Z political party whose sole criterion for membership, one can only presume, would be the year when one was born. In this season of dreaming, we must not only dream away the oppression of old, but also dream up new ways of being and doing.

Ms Njahira is an international lawyer