Western democratic model isn't working for us; let's rethink it

What goes into the making of a functioning democracy? Among one of the most crucial factors is the running of free and fair elections. Usually, political parties are formed on the basis of ideology. Across Europe and North America, popular parties espouse conservative or liberal values, and some are even more specific, such as the Green party, which across the world is focused on ensuring that the planet is prioritised in governance and policymaking. Another internationally recognised party is the Communist Party, which works to move countries beyond capitalism and into socialism as a preliminary step to establishing communist societies.

In the context of Third World countries, things however seem to work not so seamlessly. The replication of the Westphalian model of nation-states and democratic governance, which all countries in the region have been tacitly forced to integrate as a consequence of colonialism, has often encountered challenges. One notable issue that is being witnessed in Kenya is the frequent rebranding and reshuffling of political parties. Most recently, February 27 marked the rebranding of Narc-Kenya into People’s Liberation Party (PLP). This event was graced by members across the political elite who currently identify as being in opposition, but in reality are the same old recycled faces that we see holding and losing power with each election cycle.

Ostensibly, it would appear that the reason behind this rebranding as well as the gathering of these political parties leaders at the relaunch event is to unseat President William Ruto as it is generally understood that he has fallen into ill-repute in some circles. No greater ideology beyond this is being fronted, and this would not be new or unfamiliar either, as in the years of multiparty democracy, parties have had little need to front an ideology beyond unseating the President. The National Rainbow Coalition of 2002, which can be identified as the precursor to Narc-Kenya, was formed with the sole interest of unseating President Daniel arap Moi, and was subsequently successful in doing so. At most, political parties, in the run-up to elections, provide manifestos with multiple-point agenda and a plethora of promises of what will be accomplished should they be voted in; a grounding ideology and belief system is however never established.

In essence, across the continent, the transplantation of Western-style political systems has led to the proliferation of parties that lack deep-rooted ideological foundations. Instead, these parties often function as vehicles for individual political ambitions or as representatives of specific ethnic or regional interests. Let us not forget that Kenyan borders, as is the case for all other African nations thanks to the Scramble and Partition of Africa, are arbitrary and amorphous, locking in various ethnicities that previously made up their own nations, and forcing them to co-exist.

Europe, where the idea of democracy is derived, largely does not suffer the problem of ethnicity, and so political parties can organise themselves on better developed agenda. Where ethnicity has posed a problem, as was the case for the former Yugoslavia, it was resolved by splitting each ethnicity into its own sovereign State. Here, we are still working to slay the beast of ethnic identification and discrimination, even while working to retain our borders as much as possible. As a consequence, the Westphalian model may not seamlessly align with the socio-political realities of our diverse ethnic compositions, colonial histories, and different socio-economic contexts, and may need to be rethought altogether.

What Kenya needs is not a reshuffling of the political elite but a complete overhaul of the system as it has been run so far, seeing as it has been lacking in substance and replicates the same old leadership models. In as much as new faces and ideas are needed, new ways of approaching democracy are also needed if the country is to move beyond regional and identity-based politics. Kenyans must also demand more of their leaders than that they come from the same ethnicity as them.