Is the Opposition opposing itself?

The clamour for multi-party politics in the early 1990s gave us hope for a bright future. It promised us the freedom to associate with whoever we desired and to say whatever was in our hearts without fear of reprisal. This came at a time when it was a punishable crime to imagine the ill health (let alone the death) of the President. It was also gravely politically incorrect to imagine Kenya with another President when the incumbent was still alive.

Responding to the Opposition

It can be understandable that Former President Moi felt the need to respond to every whim of the opposition when he eventually bowed to pressure to allow it to operate. He had operated as the final voice on all matters in the country for a very long time. He was not psychologically prepared to listen to divergent views on matters of leadership.

Admittedly, Moi was fairly accommodative of the opposition. He had promised Kenyans that multipartyism would not increase the amount of ugali on their tables, a lesson many Kenyan politicians took a long time to learn. Clearly, having an opposition is not a magic charm to prosperity and freedom.

Okoa Kenya

The opposition is now claiming that there are many loopholes in our new constitution that need to be sealed. They are also claiming that the Government is not paying heed to the new laws yet to be passed by the National Assembly.

The government on the other hand, is up in arms calling the opposition’s bluff by answering to their every attack. It is often leading to situations where many of us are asking, who is the opposition and who is the Government? Who should be opposing who and who should Okoa (save) Kenya?

ICC

Against what many foreign powers considered a bad idea, Kenyans went ahead to overwhelmingly elect the UhuRuto duo. This was despite the ongoing cases against the two at the Hague-based International Criminal Court. The two politicians’ reactionS against any mention of the ICC reminds me of the proverb which states that, “An old woman feels uneasy when dry bones are mentioned”. They would prefer if the opposition ignored the fact that there was impending judgement against one of the leaders of the nation.

Broken Promises

It is the work of the opposition to put the Government to task on their campaign promises. It is however apparent that the Kenyan opposition has focused more on its campaign promises than it does to the Government. The one promise that is a sore thumb in the eyes of Kenyans is the laptop project. It is the one thing that gets the Government, and its enthusiastic supporters, up in arms against the opposition.

Leader of Official Opposition

The new constitution did not create a specific position of the leader of official opposition. We can therefore assume that the position is held by the runner up of the Presidential election. This person is currently Raila Odinga and he has not been having an easy time. He has been opposed more than he has opposed. It has been so bad for him that he has now opted to seek the help of the courts in getting restitution for his woes. He has threatened to take the Deputy President, William Ruto and Majority Leader in the National Assembly, Adan Duale to court for their personal attacks on him.

Uganda Sugar

When the President went to Uganda and apparently signed a trade deal with Museveni, the news was not received very well by the opposition. There were claims of personal interests taking precedence over those of the country. The opposition opposed the deal, as was to be expected. The Government on the other hand, instead of explaining what was happening, opposed the opposition. To date, I can’t exactly tell what the whole attack and counter-attack is all about.

Opposition Opposing Itself

Since the initial days of multi-party politics in Kenya, the opposition has never seemed to have any long term objectives. At first the opposition in the likes of FORD, DP, SDP, and such other now defunct parties, had only one objective; to get Moi out of power. After Moi was out of the top seat, the opposition realised that it did not have much to do and so it started opposing itself. This process has led endless break-ups, make-ups, hook-ups, and pile-ups of political parties in Kenya.