Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua has dismissed the ongoing coalition building in the country, saying only a radical shift in politics can lift the nation from the current socio-economic crisis.
“It’s quiet laughable that a leader can be rewarded and invited to the table not based on his ideology, previous work or ability but because of his tribe and tribal bloc,” he said.
Dr Mutua described the leaders stampeding to enter into cooperation agreements with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party as tribal chiefs seeking a place at the dining table for themselves without any regard for the country’s development.
WHAT NUMBERS?
“In those discussions, they don’t ask you what skills and ideas you are bringing to the table, but what numbers you are coming with,” he said.
The Maendeleo Chap Chap leader said all those who are getting into working agreements with Jubilee are Kanu men whose time has passed.
Last week, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Chama Cha Mashinani’s Isaac Ruto became the latest politicians to formally go into a working relationship with President Kenyatta’s party.
Kanu, under Baringo Senator Gideon Moi, was the first to sign a coalition agreement with Jubilee, a move that enabled President Kenyatta to kick out politicians allied to his deputy William Ruto from key Senate positions.
Mr Kenyatta and DP Ruto — once bosom friends — no longer see eye to eye and have been pulling in different directions for some time now.
TOUGH LIFE
“Life in Kenya is tough and will continue to be so for a while unless we change the way politics is managed in our country. Currently, you are unlucky if born in a small tribe or from a family that is not connected,” the governor said at a news conference in Mavoko, Machakos County.
Dr Mutua, who appeared miffed by Mr Musyoka’s entry in to the Jubilee coalition, dismissed him as a Kanu hangover.
He said all the politicians jostling for space either on President Kenyatta or Mr Ruto’s side were all once in Kanu and have nothing to offer Kenya.
He called for a new way of doing politics.
OUT-OF-THE BOX SOLUTIONS
Dr Mutua noted that the current economic crisis sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic requires out-of-the-box solutions that cannot be found in tribal outfits.
“People ask me, you are running for President; which is your tribal bloc? I tell them, my political bloc is the people of Kenya. The youth who want a better life now, the mothers who are tired of pain and hardship and the fathers who struggle every day,” he said.
The governor said Kenya needs politics and political parties based on ideologies and not tribal affiliations because “poverty does not discriminate on tribal lines.”
“When you have a loved one whose life is in danger, you don’t ask the doctor who is fighting to save him what tribe he is from. So, now that our economy is in the intensive care unit, why are we looking for solutions amongst tribal chiefs?” Dr Mutua posed.
UNEMPLOYMENT
The second-term governor, who has been an ally of President Kenyatta for most of his political career, said unemployment is becoming the norm and that tribal and unfair practices reward a few as the rest who are not connected suffer.
“Like sheep going for slaughter, we sit and watch as we are placed in tribal compartments,” he said.
The county boss said only a radical political shift will help Kenya cure the ills of unemployment, insecurity, lack of money, poor standards of health and abject poverty, “ills that have dogged us since independence”.
“We are still ignorant because we think in tribal lines and reward corrupt leaders. We are still far removed from the World Health Organisation’s basic standards for a developed health care system and we are still a poor country receiving support from donors for every small calamity, while borrowing like there was no tomorrow.”