Political party coalitions seem to have become the way to win elections in Kenya. Political parties that are lifetime foes put their grudges aside to fight yet another coalition of different political parties. Sometimes whatever is usually brewing in these pots is a very exothermic mixture that they cannot hide from wananchi.
Coalition governments have proven they can work. Examples include Great Britain, France and Italy, to mention but a few. However, when it comes to our country, coalitions are based on greed for power, wealth and personal interests. In reality they should be formed based on the underlying party principles—what the involved parties share for the common good of the people.
Under constitutionalism, political party senior principals should form a coalition government to promote good governance, social justice, human rights, democracy, equity and the rule of law.
Miguna Miguna, in his memoirs on Kenya's corridors of power and his role during the implementation of the National Accord, recalls a colleague telling him to stop enforcing the fundamentals of coalition government creation. The reason was that their then party leader had received all they wanted—mheshimiwa title, a motorcade and a big office at Harambee House.
This is one of the many factors that keep our economy, which is always trying to thrive thanks to hard-working citizens, stagnant. The government is rooted in corrupt leadership relationships, each trying to eat a bigger cake than the other.
Meanwhile, mwananchi is constantly straining even to catch a glimpse of the cake. You have to know someone or someone who knows someone who knows someone. There is a chain. One that is not based on how the government is constitutionally structured, for equality in the national resources, but one driven by personal greed and systemic corruption.
In the August 9 general election there are rival parties coalitions, each faulting the other for ills slowly becoming a terminal illness in our nation. Individuals who have previously been in the same political camps and even at some point ruled together or shared power, shading each other over graft totalling billions of Kenyans' revenue.
Coalition governments can be an excellent momentous move for Kenya based on our current presidential system of governance. I see it as leeway for power sharing, which can help run a very smooth government that delivers to its people. It could even be our stepping stone to someday adopting a parliamentary system of governance.
I long for the day coalitions will be non-corrupt, with party principals constitutionally sharing power. A government must always serve the people and not be led by individuals with greed for power and looting of public coffers. This cow is meant to give us all milk. You cannot keep all the milk to yourself while we thirst for a sip. It is ours.
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