KAIKAI'S KICKER: Dialogue or early elections?

Without a doubt, a situation of civil strife pertains in our country today. Oftentimes, we come just one word short of ‘civil war’.

If government itself called the protests of last week an attempted coup, what should the regular man on the street dodging bullets call it?

What about the 19 or so families that are burying their dead just out of last week’s protests?

Kenyans, we need a way out. But we must first acknowledge we have a problem. Indeed, we have several problems.

We have a serious national problem of injustice, as illustrated by the amount of innocent blood shed in this country.

Albert Ojwang and Boniface Kariuki are the latest cases of innocent blood spilled. And so could be the blood of the majority of the more than 50 people killed in last year’s Gen Z demonstrations. How about the abductions—some that ended in death? Injustice. So, we have a serious problem of official injustice in Kenya.

Then comes our second greatest problem—that of a serious trust deficit in government and public institutions. We may not admit it, fellow Kenyans, but the erosion of public trust witnessed within the last one year alone must be found alarming.

From grievances around the cost of living to the ever-rising rate of youth unemployment, there are strong feelings, especially among young Kenyans, that those who govern are out of touch with those they govern.

And when angry protesters raid and set a police station on fire, it is not enough to call it a terrorist attack or even a coup attempt. We must instead ask the hard questions: why are we sinking so low, and when did the rain start beating us?

Now, let’s turn to my two cents on what we can do. In developed democracies, governments respond to public trust questions by calling fresh elections. They seek a fresh mandate from voters. In other words, they call their critics’ bluff.

Is this something we can do? Ideally yes—but mentally, we are not mature yet for such sophisticated moves, and practically, we don’t even have a properly constituted body to conduct pending constituency by-elections, let alone a snap general election. So, an early election in Kenya is currently an impractical proposition.

So, how do we deal with the rage bubbling beneath the surface, especially among the youth who are now saying things like they can’t wait for elections the way Arsenal waits for the English League trophy? How do we navigate the next two years?

I see only one way out—it is time to talk. We need an all-inclusive national dialogue process that can take a multiplicity of shapes, including the failed attempts at truth, justice and reconciliation. A dialogue process that listens to the Gen Z without calling them ‘children’ or ‘terrorists’.

A dialogue process that places country over tribe, and institutions over individuals. A dialogue process that will redefine the rules and boundaries for politics and governance, and impart in both a sense of values, maturity, and accountability.

Out there, we can be loud and confident as Kenyans, but deep down, we are a broken, sick, sinful and divided country clinging to the last straws of nationhood.

On leadership—since 2013, we have been riding through the most irresponsible age in the history of Kenya’s independence politics. This is the age of politics of ‘anyone and anything goes’, and governance of ‘does it even count or matter’.

When looking for the trigger to last year’s sudden explosion of the Gen Z, the national dialogue should carry out a thorough assessment of our conduct of public affairs since 2013 in direct relation to our duty to country and posterity—including living younger generations like Gen Z and Gen Alphas.

So, what do we call it? A commission of inquiry? Another truth commission? Whatever we name it, let it be a meaningful, selfless national conversation about the future of Kenya.

I sign off by copying this, cc: President William S. Ruto, State House Nairobi.

That is my kicker.