“Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer
A government of the people, by the people and for the people. This, in a nutshell, is the best definition of what democracy is. But I think we as Kenyans have lost sight of what it comes along with. In relation it is said, giving birth isn’t the difficult job but the raising of the child. In most cases, take example Kenya, we adopted democracy because our colonial masters probably said that this is the right way to go. If we were truly independent then we could have reverted to the system of leadership that our colonial masters found when they first visited; it worked then. The sense of community of the system of life back then was key when it came to the system of governing. There was either a group of elders or a king who was looked up to as the leader(s). I’m not saying it was perfect but, it worked and in my opinion better than democracy.
Do we need democracy & if not, then what will take its place?
Given the definition of what democracy is and in an ideal situation one can say that it is probably the best system of government there is. Everyone has a say in how they are governed instead of leaving that responsibility to a few individual(s) who govern as they will. What is disconcerting is the fact that I think Kenyans have not taken to heart the responsibility that democracy comes with. All we know of it is lining up after every five years to choose our leaders and if they fall short of our glory all we do is a lot of talking with less action. Now I’m not saying that talking is bad, only that I think we do too much of it and it is time to take action, but what kind of action? That is the question that arises.
Are we ready to bear the responsibility & do we know what it is?
President Obama seems to think so, but he’s just one man, what does he know? Especially, when the people we elect to be our leaders, in a matter of speaking go to the ‘bank’ to borrow Kshs 227 billion (2016 budget projections) while they cannot account for Kshs 67 billion (2013 – 2014 budget). In other words, that figure is close to 30% of what we want to borrow. It’s a vicious cycle, borrow, waste, borrow, waste, borrow, waste, borrow…(you get the point). But what do we expect of people who are not directly responsible for their decisions? Leaders who think the country owes them a ‘debt’, instead of thinking in reverse. Getting to parliament or the senate was always a business deal, an investment that needs to give returns and surpass them within 5 years.
Keeping hope alive for Kenyans.
The 2017 General Elections are over and as the winners take their rightful positions of leadership, our civic duty did not end on the day we voted. Have you heard of public participation? It is enshrined in law under Articles 118(1)(b) and 196(1)(b), which directs the National and County Legislatures respectively to “facilitate public participation” in its work. Also, Article 119(1) states that citizens have the “right to petition Parliament to consider any matter within its authority”. In other words, public participation. This is the responsibility that falls on the electorate, but we mostly tell ourselves that we are too busy and by the way, “Why did we hire this fellow in the first place?” The electorate must take more interest in how we are governed; we end up paying, literally, for mistakes that our leaders make. Therefore, we must be more active and play our role in this performance called, ‘Democracy’. Keep hope alive, always, let us not fall into this pit that defines the ‘Kenyan situation’ as ‘this is how it usually is’. Learn to be an idealist and always fight for it.
“Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so.”
― Naom Chomsky
MBC
mybrokecompass 