A call to refrain from overhasty succession politics is welcome. It is a disservice to the people who expect nothing but tangible development as a dividend for the democratic right they exercised on the ballot in August 9, 2022. Anything else is out of question, misguided and disingenuous.
The people saddled by high cost of living and onerous responsibility to keep the good country going from the yoke of debilitating debts, deserve better than the disparaging talk of chiefdoms and fiefdoms in the region or tribal enclaves.
The premature supremacy battles are a vile insult to the people who look up to the leaders, both appointed and elected, to provide guidance and leadership. Nothing could be more disdainful than the high octane tempestuous rhetoric of who succeeds the other.
Honestly, common decency dictates that the employers whom we hold public offices on their behalf need to be treated with dignity and not mocked or debased by careless utterances of succession.
History is replete with classic examples of leaders who danced themselves lame trying to undercut and run ahead of themselves in the futile attempt to grab power. Before long, the conjured narratives would be irritating to the ears of the discerning electorate and booed off the stage.
Time is nigh to roll up sleeves and get down to serious work. It is now evidently clear that Kenya Kwanza came into office and inherited a government in dire straits due to misrule and mismanagement. The pillage, dereliction, atrociously weak governance systems and burgeoning debt distress calls for concerted efforts to get the country out of the dark hole and lay strong foundations for economic take off.
It is defeatist to pull on cross purposes and hoodwink the people of a better tomorrow while there is nothing to show for today. The principle of stewardship requires that one must give account for what was entrusted to us before demanding for a second helping. The score will always take care of itself. The secret is in doing an excellent job.
Political animals would argue that they have a career in politics, hence a calculated manoeuvres to endear themselves to the electorate and stay ahead of the game. Far from it. The 2022 general election opened a new chapter in Kenyan political epoch where individuals and parties are assessed and voted for based on ideological standing and people-centric policies. The silly stunts have proven to be unsustainable and hollow political narratives falling fatally on its axe. Only sound policies fly and stand the test of time.
President William Ruto negotiated a social contract with the people with specific deliverables for five years. While he is busy implementing his agenda, leaders elected under his stable and those appointed should fall fully behind him and champion his cause at their various jurisdictions. The responsibility of transforming the country is never a one man show but calls for all active hands on deck working in concert.
A robust political discourse within the civil parameters cultivated in our open democratic space is encouraged. What need to be guarded against is inflamed passions bordering on compulsive desire to stoke animosity through aggressive political competition. What’s more galling is resorting to the tribal cocoons to as a bastion of small time fiefdoms.
In the gospels, as told in Mathew 25: 14-30 and Luke 19: 11-27, Jesus tells a story of a master with three servants, each given talents inform of money. They were all expected to account for how they utilised their talents, resources and time according to their abilities as stewards.
Two of the servants traded and made profit while one was fearful and made no interest. Contextually, we have the wherewithal to make a difference in people’s lives or return to them with nothing but litany of excuses.
Even as leaders, with dead certainty, the day of account comes at last. The slothful servants will be scolded and deprived of the privileges and powers donated by the people. We must all be reckoned with as to what good we have done as trustees of public office and by the advantages we enjoy.
We must resist the temptation to jostle and wallow into self destructive mode of political paralysis. The loser will be the common folk who expect better quality of life by attending to their pressing needs. There is only one common agenda and linear path on the grand march to economic liberation - quietening the political noise and assiduously serving mwananchi .
The writer is the Kericho senator and Senate Majority leader. @Aaron Cheruiyot (X).