In Mbeere North, Deputy President Kindiki Kithure
frothed in the mouth as he threatened to ‘undress’ his predecessor Rigathi
Gachagua, hurling Biblical curses against him.
In the process, Kindiki seemed to confuse King Belshazzar, the Biblical figure from the Book of Daniel, with Goliath.
The DP pronounced Belshazzar’s Aramaic curse: “Mene Mene Tekel” upon Gachagua who came before him.
Yet the man the country’s number two baring his fangs for, Leonard Muthende, had been fingered by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission of graft-related offences relating to public monies.
In the days preceding the curse, Gachagua had been gallivanting in the constituency, campaigning for the opposition candidate Newton Kariuki.
He persisted in mocking the DP by his "soprano" voice, earning his wrath.
Kariuki himself was not any better behaved.
He roundly berated his own Governor Cecile “Karinda” Mbarire for gyrating around while ignoring her core functions like stocking hospitals with adequate medicine.
In Malava, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi set new lows in voter inducement and bribery.
The PCS dished out public office jobs to aspirants who agreed to back the "government candidate.”
Simon Kangwana was appointed the education attachee in the Kenyan Mission in Uganda, while Rhyan Malulu was appointed the Trade attachee in the Kenyan Embassy in South Africa.
Their appointment without any measure of competition was announced live on the podium, and their appointment letters read out to a cheering crowd.
Another aspirant in the Malava race, Leonard Shimaka, had been lured out of the race with an appointment as a commissioner at the Kenya Revenue Authority for three years.
Before these spates of appointments, Treasury CS John Mbadi’s attempt to force through the appointment of Dr Murage Njeru as acting CEO of Consolidated Bank split the bank's board and attracted the attention of the regulator.
The CS fired part of the board who were resisting his moves, and proceeded to announce Dr Njeru’s appointment before the Central Bank of Kenya raised a red flag.
According to a newspaper report, Dr Njeru’s appointment came days after he stepped down from the Mbeere North race in favour of Muthendu.
President William Ruto fired his brother Charles Njagagua
who chaired the bank’s board, and who was also gunning for the same seat, from
the board.
In Kasipul, events leading to the by-election were as disgraceful as the conduct of the campaigns.
Before he was gunned down in Nairobi,
MP Charles Were had been a regular fugitive from his own constituency,
perpetually afflicted by violence.
In the course of the campaigns featuring his son Boyd and chief rival Philip Aroko, violence broke out leading to the killing of two people.
By all looks, the new generation of aspirants in the constituency do not appear to have learned a thing from history.
Back in Malava, gunshots rent the air in a rally presided over by Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya.
Houses were pelted with
stones, and vehicles damaged.
The same situation was obtained in Narok when Gachagua landed in the town to campaign for a candidate.
In the hordes of other places
where by-elections are taking place today, opponents scowled at each other,
insulted, cursed and rained money on the voters.
Except for Kasipul where the main candidates received
a slap in the wrist by way of fines, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries
Commission has largely looked the other way as electoral malpractices flourish.
Looking at the happenings of the last two months from a distance, it is clear that the electoral code of conduct does not mean anything in these by-elections.
Not to the IEBC and certainly not to the candidates.
Civil conduct has instead been replaced by a new wave of political thuggery, which has pervaded all institutions.
The perpetrators appear emboldened by the inaction of the authorities and the people are going with the flow without knowing that they are destroying their country.
Given the corrupted process through which winners
of today’s by-elections have
gone through, it is inconceivable to expect them to conduct themselves well in
office.
The premise behind last year’s Gen Z revolution on incorrigibility of the present political systems has been proved.
After today, it will be hard to convince them to effect their revolution through the ballot.
