By Eric Wamanji
Oh! the polls are here. It’s easier to view them as a fulfilment of another cyclic five-year ritual. But it’s beyond that. Their centrality to the global democratic architecture is profound. We’re voting at a time when democracy, the world over, is hitting turbulence, even regressing. Therefore, our vote, should boost, however slight, the faith in competitive elections and therefore, democracy.
And there’s a reason. In its 2021 Democracy Index report, the Economist Intelligence noted that less than half the world population live in democracies. According to the report that focused on 167 major countries, only 21 are full democracies. The rest, 53 are flawed democracies, 34 are hybrid regimes while 59, about 35%, are authoritarian regimes.
Kenya’s is a hybrid system that can easily degenerate into autocracy. Therefore, there’s need for vigilance and effort to ensure that we incline towards democracy proper.
It starts with non-violent, free, fair, transparent elections and peaceful transfer of power.
TENETS
Of course, democracy is more than elections. It’s about the rule of law, judicial independency, separation of power, transparency, accountability, respect of term limits, free and independent media, and civil liberties among host of other sacred tenets.
Thus, Kenya’s elections give us an opportunity to reaffirm our solemn conviction towards democracy. They allow us to say that even if the democratic juggernaut is creaking, we still believe in it and are ready to propagate it, because, though it may not be perfect, as Winston Churchill noted, it’s better than “all others that have been tried.”
Today, no place demonstrates the primacy, sacredness and peril of democracy than Ukraine. Under a barbaric barrage of shelling from Russia, Ukraine is protecting democracy with its blood because the alternative of fascism or autocracy is not seductive. That’s a lesson for all of us.
And Kenya has developed some admirable resilience. The election cases of 2013 and 2017 were revolutionary in their inoculative prowess. They helped to restore of some confidence in the judicial process, thereby undermining anarchy as the means to settle grievances.
Still, the next dispensation must be willing to fix challenges that frustrate our democratic ideals. For instance, it must commit to public civic education and remove barriers for civil society to operate. An empowered public is central to a vibrant democracy.
UNDER ATTACK
To make our democracy meaningful, it must be inclusive, participatory, and work for the people especially the youth whose plight is a tinderbox. If not, disillusionment will creep in and trigger populism – a dangerous precursor to failed democracies.
Democracy is delicate. Today, it’s under viscous attack. Anchored on individual choice, it assumes rationality in consent-granting. Yet, consents, Walter Lippmann noted, can be manufactured. Today, illicit money fuses with communication, to manipulate opinions. Criminals are investing in politics in pursuit of state capture hence subverting democracy. Kenya, for instance, is anxious that such money is funding elections, and that crooks will dominate the next parliament.
That justifies the need for vigilance. In the meantime, Kenya has chance to contribute to democracy. Our polls must show that. We need to be the shining lamp on the hill especially in Africa.