It is appalling how Parliament, and the ruling elite in general, did not take home any lessons emerging from the recent Gen Z protests.
Though ruthlessly crushed, which in itself is a huge indictment on President Ruto and his regime, the Gen Z protests’ hallmark was an impeachment of Parliament, both the National Assembly, and the Senate.
It was a verdict of no confidence on the legislators, who have, on a whole, transformed into a yes bunch for the President, yielding and handing him all his desires on a silver platter, however unpopular and harmful to the masses.
To imagine that same Parliament would gleefully expend valuable time discussing a motion to impeach the Deputy President, and resources on public participation for the same end, is sad.
The public has continued to suffocate under bad, mostly scandalous economic policies of the Kenya Kwanza regime that have been hell-bent on squeezing every of their hard-earned coin from their pockets with no development to show for it.
One hoped that coming from the national-wide protests by the youth, the Legislature would reengineer itself from being a conveyor belt for the Executive.
It was amusing watching as the National Assembly busied itself up in the past few days with discussions on how to impeach Mr. Rigathi Gachagua. To bring the same up for public participation was, however, stretching the patience of the members of the public majority of whom are angry and hungry.
How, when the masses are crumbling under the burden of an arbitral and amorphous affordable housing levy (that is unaffordable) imposed at the rate of: 1.5% of the gross salary of an employee with a matching contribution being made by the employer.
How about the messed up higher education funding that has ruined not just the education system, but thousands of poor young people’s lives?
What, in God’s name, did the National Assembly expect, when they stage public participation for the impeachment of Gachagua just after the rollout of the most indeterminate public health insurance in the name of Social Health Insurance Fund. One, the transition from the previous National Health Insurance Fund is messed up and has exposed patients with terminal illnesses.
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Two, the premiums for the Fund are exaggerated, digging a big hole in people’s salaries with no guarantee of matching services. It also comes in the background of the Airports scandal where, had it not been for a whistleblower, the Government had clandestinely leased out Jomo Kenyatta International
Airport to Adani Airport Holdings Limited with shockingly skewed terms.
Then there’s the increased police brutality and abductions meted on members of the public who voice a contrary opinion to the Government. many families are still struggling with the agony of their loved ones who disappeared in thin air in the wake of the Gen Z protests, even as hundreds of unclaimed bodies from unaccounted for deaths mostly of young people lie in morgues across the country.
On the eve of the first day of the purported public participation on the impeachment of the DP, City Mortuary declined to receive from the police unidentified bodies for lack of room.
Generally, Kenya Kwanza’s is a stagnated economy with a freeze on employment, promotions and salary review in public service even as government increases taxes. The private sector is, on the other hand, struggling under the burden of higher costs of production and uncompetitive tax regime.
Cumulatively, it all weighs heavy on the common man, yet it ranks low on the priority list of our legislators. Impeaching a Deputy President is exciting to them. What is shocking, however, is how they imagine that the members of the public, drained to their limit, would equally get excited.
Three things have strongly emerged from yesterday’s events. One, a staunch manifestation that President Ruto’s Government is on auto pilot, with greenhorns who are unable to give wise, strategic counsel calling the shots.
It is also possible that intelligence services in the country have slipped into a slumber, or the Government is not utilizing intelligence briefs. Were it to the contrary, the President, with a preeminent backlash, should not have allowed the process of impeachment of his second in command to head into public participation.
In fact, had he properly utilized intelligence briefs on the same, he would have emerged, in a church service or public rally in his Deputy’s backyard on the eve of the purported public participation and pledged to stop the process. That would have portrayed him as a savior and would have won him admiration from Gachagua’s supporters, and fortified allegiance from Gachagua himself.
The thinking would have been that had it not been for the President’s intervention, Gachagua would have been impeached. It is a political capital that President Ruto has squandered.
Besides, it would also have forestalled an embarrassing exposure of weakness in the perceived political strength of the President against his Deputy. From what is unfolding, with members of the public in all the 47 counties, including in Ruto’s own backyard vouching for the second in command’s survival or impeachment of both the Presidency in total, Gachagua will not be impeached and he may just be emboldened to deal a little rougher with his boss going forward.
Secondly, it also emerged, as alluded to afore, that Parliament never learnt anything from the Gen Z protests. The legislators are totally unaware of the disdain with which the people view them. They are unaware of the suffering the people are going through. They are still lost in their own aggrandizement.
Thirdly, and most important, the public participation endeavour was a referendum in disguise on President Ruto’s two-year rule, with a negative return. This was uncalled for, it was unnecessary, it should have been avoided. It should be yet another wakeup call that things are not normal in the country. That it may not have to wait until the 2027 General Election, any little spark can easily flare up an uncontainable implosion.
EDITOR’S NOTE: President William Ruto has unleashed his machinery to decapitate his deputy politically, setting in motion an impeachment process. Don’t miss all the drama in the October 2024 issue of Nairobi Law Magazine.
– BY OUMA OJANGO
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