Kenya risks being a graveyard of parties

Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi, Defence CS Eugene Wamalwa, Wafula Wamunyinyi (Kanduyi) and Agriculture CS Peter Munya during the launch of DAP-K, December 14, 2021. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

Kenyan politician tout power. To many of them, what counts is power, financial sway, privilege and influence.   

They will identify with Wanjiku only on a need basis. And they will go to any length to remain relevant. And now, there’s cause to believe the all-pervading big man bug has stung them. 

Last Tuesday, we saw the birth of the newest political party in the land - the Democratic Action Party of Kenya (DAPK), associated with CS Eugene Wamalwa. Word has it that it enjoys the backing of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his brother, ODM chief Raila Odinga. 

Many outfits have surfaced in the recent past. We have Governor Kiraitu Murungi’s Devolution Empowerment Party, Service Party of Mwangi Kiunjuri, Moses Kuria’s Chama cha Kazi and Amason Kingi’s Pamoja Alliance and others. The ledger is long. 

According to the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties, there are more than 80 registered parties. At least 20 are awaiting full registration. This is the highest in the region. How many parties, including special purpose vehicles, would we require to feel politically secure? Only the heavens know. ? 

While there is no reason to judge these new parties, there is much work to be done to make them consequential. Their founders are yet to attempt a principled discourse on what they stand for. All we’ve heard is that they will all be forging 2022 alliances with “like-minded” parties. They are zipping past towards coalitions. 

Truth be told. Ideological bankruptcy in majority political parties is a crisis we must confront in defense of constitutionalism and good governance. I fear for parties cobbled up around election time, only to be used as election vehicles and bargaining chips. 

These sundry political parties have long haunted Kenya but are a high sounding nothing. They will stifle our democracy. They seek to win seats by way of convenience and opportunism rather than as a matter of principle. 

In the past, some have used surreptitious means to enlist members to legitimise their very existence. According to membership data at the registrar’s office for instance, I am a member of Musalia Mudavadi’s ANC party, an outfit I know nil about.

The rate at which these outfits are formed and then dumped, I foresee, will turn Kenya into a graveyard of parties that made a few people rich but did nothing to improve Wanjiku's lot.

The few established parties, on the other hand, should not be larger than life. We’ve had grumbles of aspirants being asked to part with brides to get certificates to contest seats. Relatives and allies of some party leaders are said to be minting money from aspirants in every nominations boom. 

Informed patriotism, without which we are doomed, should compel us to push back. Parties must prove to be vital avenues for aiding citizens to make empowered political decisions, period. They must prove their worth by entrenching transparency and rallying members into a force.   

It’s not about tribes or regions these parties claim to represent. This political season, voters should not be used to further selfish interests by parties waiting to share the spoils. They aren’t a helpful alternative collective voice but platforms of deal-cutting which stifle growth. They could kill Kenya’s democratic potency.

-The writer is an editor at The Standard and a 2021 RISJ University of Oxford fellow. Twitter: @markoloo