A man came into a forest and asked the trees to provide him with a handle for his axe. The trees consented to his request and gave him a young ash tree. No sooner had the man fitted a new handle to his axe than he began to use it and quickly felled with his strokes the noblest giants of the forest.
An old oak, lamenting when too late the destruction of his companions, said to a neighbouring cedar; “The first step has lost us all. If we had not given up the rights of the ash, we might yet have retained our own privileges and have stood for ages.”
Ahead of the 2013 election, we saw Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto form a political alliance that not only won but also tamed the violent nature of the relationship between those in Rift Valley and Mt Kenya.
In 2018, another political alliance was born at the steps of Harambee House and the tensions that were building up in the country following the 2017 elections were tamed.
This time the alliance was between Uhuru and ODM leader Raila Odinga and it started a conversation in the country on the need to relook at our various structures.
Coalitions and political alliances are critical to the democratic growth of the country and there is a need to mainstream them. This is the only way that Kenya can gain political harmony and ensure that every politician is held to higher standards.
Last week, parliamentarians met to discuss and pass amendments to various laws, including the Political Parties Act that many are now referring to as the coalitions Bill. The truth is that past mistrust and unhonoured Memorandum of Understandings have made it difficult to cobble up coalitions.
There was a lot of controversies but the Bill sailed through the second reading despite sustained opposition from the Tangatanga team. The Speaker has called another special sitting, scheduled for tomorrow for the Bill to go through the final stage in the Committee of the Whole House.
There is a lot of rumours and propaganda being passed around to discredit the Bill, and it’s important that its true contents are discussed openly. Those opposed to the Bill are seeking an easy pass in a dynamic political atmosphere and slow down the expansion of the political space.
The Bill seeks to reintroduce coalition political parties, where constituent parties retain identity but form a coalition party as opposed to the current situation. This will aid in the growth and expansion of the country’s democratic space.
The Bill will also allow a coalition of parties to field a candidate in the coming elections. Currently, only political parties are allowed to field candidates, which also makes it hard for coalitions to reprimand members who go against them.
The new arrangement will allow dual membership of political parties and individual membership and allow candidates to run on either coalition party tickets or individual parties, this is currently lacking.
Opponents of the Bill have been quick to discredit it, stating that there are more important issues than this change in the law. The nation can walk and chew gum at the same time. We can prioritise Covid and healthcare, while actively planning for a peaceful election.
Kenya cannot put on hold everything to deal with healthcare while the country is seeking to have a proper election. Everything must be done to ensure that the election runs smoothly in 2022.
What the opponents are not saying is that this Bill states that coalitions must be declared six months in advance – February latest – and they would like it shortened to allow for horse-trading and surprise announcements at the last minute.
This will also help the country deal with undecided and fence-sitting politicians who wait until the last minute to jump into already established coalitions. That will ensure that there is a high level of dishonesty and selfish ambition.
We must promote openness, transparency, and an open election process without deceit. The proposed amendments will help the country safeguard the election process by avoiding those mischiefs.
(The writer is a political and communications consultant. Twitter @MachelWaikenda)
