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The Nairobian

We should plan for proletariat electoral revolution in 2027

Opinion

By Kidi Mwaga | Mar 03, 2025

**IEBC officials inspect election materials at a polling station.** [File, Standard]

We can build a new brand of politics that can carry our common hopes and dreams. I make this assertion in the view of the heightened political activity both within the broad-based coalition and the 'Opposition-Amalgamated'. Parties are rebranding while others are celebrating anniversaries. Politicians, who have been hitherto unseen and unheard of, are suddenly coming out of the woods. I was amused when I saw Kivutha Kibwana giving us hints on how to get the President out of office. Isn't he a Kenya Kwanza insider? I remember seeing him in Karen with William Ruto as a last minute defector. Or did they ignore him?

In a conversation, my mentor told me that the only thing politicians can’t countenance is being ignored. With Hustler Fund default rate hitting 64 per cent and the health care in crisis, no one needs convincing that our friends manning the State are out of their breath and thus unable to be the custodians of our collective aspiration. This is before you turn your eyes to their human rights record which speaks for itself in the many unmarked graves that litter this Republic as a consequence of the Kenya Kwanza’s lack of restraint on the law enforcement front.

To all the families whose loved ones’ lives were cut shot by State-sponsored thugs, I send my steadfast prayers. May the peace of God that surpasses human understanding keep your hearts and minds. But this is precisely why we can’t sit back and hope that the sheep will be safe under the watch of the wolves. We must not turn a blind eye to the wisdom of Lee Njiru, the long serving head of presidential service, when he warned that the leading political names are all dangerous canines whom you can’t go hunting with and think you are safe. In his dignified poise, he cautioned that when it’s convenient, some of these people we have held in high esteem can abandon us and run into each other’s arms like long lost lovers.

The Opposition-Amalgamated must equally be seen for what it is. Past oppressors and would be oppressors posturing as saviours due to their lack of opportunity to steal and plunder. If you speak about the legacy of electoral impunity, it has a face and its perched high up within the rank and file of those cat walking as would be saviours. If you speak about unbridled ethnic contempt, it has a face and a name. If you think of political wheeler-dealing, you will find it there.

The question, therefore, is what do we do? As Moses tells a besieged people running from their tormentors in the book of Exodus 14:13, “Do not fear, be ye still and see the salvation of the Lord. For the Egyptians you see today, you shall see them no more.”

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I believe without a doubt in my heart that we, if we, young and old, develop disdain for the little trinkets from the political class, if we learn to despise the flesh pots of the kings table, then a government of the people, by the people and for the people is within our reach.

If you are asking, how? Here is your answer. In the timeless wisdom of Sun Tzu, know yourself, know your enemies, a hundred battles, a hundred victories. This will lead us to, at the very beginning ask ourselves: What is the enemy doing and why?

The same way Uhuru Kenyatta achieved his "yangu kumi, ya William kumi" (I serve for 10 years and William does the same) agenda through seamless deception, is the very same way we would be pushed into a cul-de-sac of choosing between Ruto and other inferior versions of Ruto. That today even folks who publicly spoke about killing other politicians are seen as alternatives should shock our collective conscience.

As we evolve an alternative political vision driven by the proletariats, we must remember, we have 20 million potential members out there still unregistered as voters. A number large enough to give us the 6th Republic.

Mr Kidi is the convener Inter Parties Youth Forum. [email protected]