Why politics of 'the cousins' will not take our country forward

Kenya remains stacked in a place of so much political darkness. We have dug ourselves into an economic, political and spiritual hole. We defied every logic, every good counsel and the sad reality is that, if we don’t re-examine our ways, the path ahead will still be a steep climb. Anyone who has been a consumer of this column, knows without a doubt that our weakness here remains eternal optimism. But as things stand, there is very little to be optimistic about. That the economy is in the doldrums is, to be polite, an understatement. Forget about the projected 5.4 per cent economic growth rate for 2025. The fortunes for ordinary households continue to plummet with the SMEs collapsing faster than the political class can say “Wantam”, “tutam” or “Notam”.

My heart is troubled for my country. While we can rail at the government in part because they enjoy the incumbency, the opposition as well is inspiring very little hope if any. Collectively, we remain indicted for being complicit in this collapse of our politics. See the ease with which we get distracted by the petty and the trivial? When opposition mobilises on the basis of ethnic and tribal affiliations, it loses the moral high ground to call out the government for exploiting historical ethnic grievances.

In both and every political camp and formation, we would expect, as we move towards the first anniversary of the now famous Gen Z protests, that that would be intentional national introspection. Sadly, there is absolutely no soul-searching on any side. What we see and hear instead are deflections of criticism and the usual apportioning of blame.

When Kenya Kwanza rode to power, it engaged in lots of dog whistle politics coupled with grand promises and pledges that defied reality, consequently unrealistically raising the hopes of the people and making difficult for it to govern.

The pledge to set up the State Capture Commission was construed by many as a perfect case where a thief would catch other thieves and then bring the entire country into a place where we could have a fresh start of zero tolerance to corruption. But the political fallout and subsequent realignments have given us a chance to not take the political class too seriously. The fragmentation and patch ups have not helped any side to come up with a working coalition that can meaningfully prioritise the needs of the 55 million Kenyans who look at the sky everyday and pray for a miracle.

It’s against this backdrop that the young people must continue to caucus together and effect a total revolution in the next election. When the opposition says that ethnic cousins must come to together, we must appreciate that as a call to the same old ethnic exceptionalism that has brought us to this place. What the opposition call “The cousins” are the ethnic groups otherwise known as Eastern Bantus. They include the Gema communities of Agikuyu, Aembu, Ameru and their smaller affiliate ethnic groups around Mount Kenya. Then you add the Akamba, then you add the coastal communities.

Let’s slice open this lie for what it is. The widespread poverty in the coast region is a consequence of years of neglect by successive administrations. The bulk of those administrations were led by people who are now proposing the politics of “cousins’’. We must tell them that what has opened up this country was not by playing politics of ethnic proximity but when Kenyans came together and voted for a new constitution at 67 per cent of the vote.

When we get the politics right, its trickle-down effect would be a well-structured economy. This must start first with evolving a new politics constructed from the best of our values and higher ideals while accounting for the darker aspects of our past.

In this pit of economic and political frustration, let’s not self-sabotage by cheering at outright demagoguery thinking it’s political banter. We must never forsake our common hopes and common dreams. We reject politics of ethnic identity.

Mr Kidi is the convener of Inter-parties Youth Forum. kidimwaga@gmail.com