I must start this article by saying no money exchanged hands while writing on Senator Gideon Moi and former Vice President Musalia Mudavadi. It is entirely my opinion and written in the spirit of democracy. I could have asked you to elect me as President but there is a lot that goes against me.
Firstly, I am a woman in a patriarchal society still unsure whether women could be presidents. Secondly, I am of the wrong tribe. Unless they give all the cattle in Marsabit the voting rights, I won’t have the numbers to cause significant damage. Thirdly, I have no money to entice voters. Just telling you that salaried individuals stand little chance against billion-shilling entrepreneurs; if you believe all ‘billionaire’ entrepreneurs are legitimate that is with all the corruption going on.
Enough about me. I decided to embark on telling Kenyans that there are alternatives to Raila and Ruto and that may as well be Moi and Mudavadi. Why you ask? Firstly, they have shown interest in the presidency and expanded our choices. That could only be a good thing.
Secondly, the likelihood of the next president coming from among the dynasties is very high. We might as well make the best of the worst situation by trying a new pair of hands from amongst them with minimal controversy. Ruto can eat all the street maize to convince us of hustler narrative, but his billionaire status makes him a dynasty by default.
I recently suggested that Senator Moi, as one of the presidential aspirants, needed to get out of his father’s shadow and cut a niche for himself. Many thought it was an attack on him. What I meant is that, should he choose to veer off the things that made his father unpopular, and come with better solutions for the country, I see no reason why we should not elect him.
Rule of law and democracy
We elected President Uhuru Kenyatta, a son of the first President of Kenya despite all the negative stories that hanged over his father’s legacy. Kenyatta junior ended up being his own man.
Despite the hiccups in his first term, he managed to make a splash on his own terms. Whether he succeeded or failed, only time will tell. Unlike his father, he was put up to scrutiny and the tenets of the constitution was applied to check his powers.
He may not have liked a lot of the decisions that went against him such as the BBI one, however, he had no choice but to respect the outcomes. Given the current constitution, it is more about the rule of law and democracy than individuals.
We have heard more about Ruto and Raila in this campaign than we have cared to listen to Moi and Mudavadi. There has been obsession with Ruto and Raila mainly because they have not stopped campaigning for yonks. They have been pulling all levers to influence the voters. They have been making as much noise as they can, not just to win votes but to intimidate their opponents too.
The extrovert in them has given them leverage but it does not necessarily mean that they have better policies than the rest. They have been regurgitating the same manifesto since they came into power and in the case of Raila it has been a long time of promises.
Violent campaigns
These are things that should really be working against them and not in their favour. They have both been in the system with little to show for except personal development. Once bitten twice shy and hence it would be foolhardy for Kenyans to sign up to the same disappointments in 2022.
Our democracy needs to mature. The only way it can do so is by voters taking bold and brave steps to elect new people with a bit of the x-factor; those who come with achievable and altruistic promises.
Moi and Mudavadi have been going about their campaigns in a gentlemanly fashion without a hiss. That is an anomaly in a country used to violent campaigns. The quiet in the society tend to be ignored when perhaps they offer more substance than the loud and the brash who take little time to reflect before acting or blurting out insults and threats.
Moi and Mudavadi have shown us that one can campaign without having to resort to name calling. That one’s ideology of positive change can be spread quietly in the country without causing so much disruption. Ruto and Raila have offered us plenty of violence in their campaigns already. This reliance on intimidation and bullying needs to be erased from our politics if we are to build a democratic State.
Ruto and Raila deserve to have at stab at the Presidency like everyone else. However, voters need to cast their nets wider and give other contenders a chance too. They should not ignore aspirants because they don’t shout the loudest or offer T-shirts or cash handouts. Kenyan elections should now be less about materialism and violence. Let us go for substance than style. BY DAILY NATION