Kenya needs a national roundtable to address simmering tensions

There is evidently too much heat in the country. The country is tensed almost to a boiling point. Politicians are deliberately pushing Kenya to the precipice so that they can leverage citizens' disenchantment to settle their differences. Politics is about selfish interests. Politicians are preoccupied with self-preservation, and gaining or retaining power.

In this high-stakes game of politics, citizens are mere pawns. Sadly, citizens bear the greatest brunt of political mistakes made by people who rarely engage with them before critical decisions affecting them are made. No wonder, there is an old adage that depicts politics as a "dirty game". What started off as "maandamano" and "sufuria" movements to put pressure on the government to bring down the cost of living and model an inclusive government, and morphed into the Gen-Z uprising, is steadily transforming into a dangerous situation of "us" versus "them".

The binary thinking is discernible between politicians and citizens, those perceived to be government-leaning versus the opposition, communities against communities, the rich versus the poor, and citizens against fellow citizens. Something terrible is clearly visible in the horizon. Kenyans are living on the edge, not knowing when the fire will begin to burn them.

The drums of war are beating across the country. Nobody seems to be safe. The presidency has become an object of hate among a certain section of the citizenry. Judiciary seems to be reaping bountiful hate from the foul language that the Supreme Court of Kenya used while conveying their verdict on the presidential petition filed by Raila Odinga against William Ruto win in August 2022 presidential poll.

Parliament was desecrated by Gen-Zs during their June 2024 uprising, and since then, the august House has continued to be a target of citizens' ire, often on very flimsy excuses.

There is a growing ethnic balkanisation and bickering in the country, occasioning suspicions between those who are perceived to be supporting the government, and those who oppose it. Citizens seem to losing their humanity pretty fast, with growing cases of celebrations in tragic and solemn situations.

A few examples should suffice. When the former Chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Wafula Chebukati died a couple of week's ago, the social media was awash with very insensitive messages targeting his family and the constitutional body that he led. The late Chairman was accused of complicity in the bungling of the 2017 and 2022 presidential polls. Uncharacteristically, a section of Kenyans were unforgiving even after Chebulati's demise.

Before the dust could settle on Chebukati's case, the Dagoretti North MP, Beatrice Elachi, lost her son, Elvis Murakana, and the script was followed to the letter. The MP was accused of disrespecting Kenyans by telling them that those who were not happy living in Kenya should leave the country to go and search for greener pastures elsewhere.

As if that was not enough demonstration of hate towards perceived privileged Kenyans, less than a fortnight ago during a soccer match between Harambee Stars and Gabon's national team at the Nyayo National Stadium, some unknown football fans descended on Mumias East legislator, Peter Salasyia. The MP was accused of persistently showing disrespect towards the ODM leader, Raila Odinga, and deriding the Luo community for being uncircumcised.

To put the record straight, the Luo do not practice circumcision as a rite of passage, though a number of individuals from the community have been circumcised for purely personal reasons. At the same soccer event, a section of Kenyans persistently shouted "Ruto Must Go", something that pundits have argued was carefully orchestrated to embarrass the Head of State in the presence of foreign guests.

The President was expected to grace the event. President Ruto has on several occasions endured embarrassing scenes mainly in the Mount Kenya region since his disagreement with, and subsequent impeachment of former Deputy President, Rigathi Gachagua, who hails from Central Kenya.

There have been incidents in the region of shouting and mass walk-outs as the President started to address gatherings. It should not be lost on Kenyans that William Ruto enjoyed a near-frenzied support in the Mount Kenya region during the 2022 presidential campaigns. That support translated to massive votes that catapulted Ruto to the presidency. What is happening in Kenya is not normal.

Unresolved issues

The sustained tension in the country is indicative of unresolved issues affecting various citizen constituencies, including Gen-Zs, ethnic communities, political opposition, and ordinary citizens.

Youth unemployment in Kenya is rampant. Young people are beginning to question the wisdom of going to school if academic qualifications cannot guarantee them job opportunities in Kenya. I shudder to imagine what the youth would be doing with their energies if they refused to go to school.

Professionals in the Public Service have not been spared the frustrations either. Industrial actions by university professors and lecturers, medical doctors, nurses and other professionals have become a common feature in modern Kenya.

Kenya cannot realize its full potential if a cloud of uncertainty continues to hang over its fortunes. The build-up of tension in the country must be nipped in the bud if the unfortunate events of 2007/2008 are to be avoided in 2027 electoral cycle. Kenyans of goodwill must come out and deflate the tension and return the country to normalcy. There is an urgent need for national reconciliation. Kenya urgently needs to organise a national conference to allow citizens in their diversity and shades of opinion to vent out their frustrations. The government must also be given an opportunity to argue out its case to Kenyans, including how it is discharging its mandate, the achievements and bottlenecks, and how citizens can heighten their civic responsibilities as part of the Social Contract.

There is an urgency for the country to organise a roundtable through which to generate peaceful solutions to its internal tensions. Citizens are yearning for peaceful coexistence. The government should let Kenyans talk freely and openly about their concerns. After all, the government belongs to the people who created it through constitutional instruments.

Legitimacy crisis

The fact that President Ruto agreed to admit opposition party ODM members into his Cabinet is in itself an admission that there was a legitimacy crisis - real or perceived - that needed to be fixed for the country to re-focus on its "True North". The other elephant in the room is the nature of political arrangement between Raila Odinga and Ruto.

The two principals should come out and boldly tell Kenyans how this relationship is going to help the people of Kenya now and in the future. The arrangement has infused some semblance of peace in the country, but Kenyans still need to know what the ODM's true agenda is.

Kenya is at that point where a good proportion of the population is feeling uncomfortable at their corner, while another is enthusiastic about the trajectory that the country has taken.

The question is: can the country afford to bury its head in the sand like the proverbial ostrich, and ignore a section of its populace that is complaining about bad leadership? There is great counsel from the old adage, which states that in a democracy, the majority shall have their way, and the minority shall equally have their say.

Prof Ongore is a Public Finance and Corporate Governance Scholar based at the Technical University of Kenya. vincentongore7@gmail.com