Greed, fear and Kenyan politics.

Ochula Michael

Politics is an art – in form, most like music. The citizens are the instrument, played by politicians of variable skill. Some are crude exponents, performing with the delicacy of a violinist wielding a mallet. Others, the true masters, draw from us the sweet chords of electoral success by playing on themes that resonate in the deepest chambers of the human heart. Two themes in particular are the masters’ recurring favourites: greed and fear.

The leading political parties unleash these themes with equal vigour. Without missing a beat, politicians unleash the dread demon of fear during their ‘law and order auctions’, they improvise variations on the same theme-playing on risks to economic and national security. The vulnerable and the gullible are scared out of their wits by politicians who are quite prepared to stampede the mob into their side.

In most cases, the appeal to voters is far less crude than I have suggested. But if you listen carefully, then the twin leitmotifs can be discerned … present in the background for the simplest of reasons – the approach works!

Politicians shape their messages to fit the character of the electorate they seek to persuade. If they believed that the road to electoral success was paved with virtue – then that would be the basis of their appeal.

However, experience seems to have taught them to expect something less of us than we might hope for ourselves. The evidence of history is compelling – the lower road offers the most direct route to power. However, success achieved in this manner comes only at a grave cost: in the moment of our surrender to the siren song of greed and fear, we may despise those who wreck our better selves on the base elements of our character.

We may be tempted to blame the politicians for this state of affairs in the country. However, the rest of us share responsibility for the character of the political discourse we voted in during the past elections. I think Kenyans as people are of moderate decency. We don’t have much time for people who shove ‘goodness’ down our throats. However, we still have a real affection for ideas such as that of a ‘fair go’ – even if our commitment to practice is not consistent. We could (and probably should) demand more of our politicians and ourselves.

This is where leadership really counts. Those commanding the political heights affect the tone of our society by their example as individuals and through the style and substance of their politics.

All of this leads me to wonder if, in the weeks ahead, the principal players in Kenyan politics might risk taking the higher road by engaging the nobler aspects of the Kenyan character. Surely there are some things that we might choose to do (individually or collectively) for reasons other than self-interest or fear. This would be a different tune, no doubt a difficult tune, to play. But surely we have politicians gifted and confident enough to master such an art.