Kenyans love elections, si ndio? Politics is fun. The razzmatazz. Noisy rallies featuring song, dance, ululations, soaring speeches, false promises, lewd language in reference to women, name calling, taunting opponents, ethic-based mobilization, free money, stone throwing, violence. The works!
The entire nation’s eyes were fixed on Kibra last week as the constituency covering Kenya’s largest slum elected its MP to succeed Ken Okoth who died in July. TV stations camped in Kibra throughout polling day on November 7.
Reporters filled their notebooks. Photojournalists captured remarkable scenes for posterity. Former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale in Neanderthal mode hurling rocks at opponents – his contribution to building Kenya’s democracy. A voter whose trousers stretched all the way from his heels to his armpits. That tailor deserves a HSC.
Memes flooded social media. Analysts dispensed their learned insights both in the mainstream and social media. In electoral contests, practically every Kenyan becomes an expert.
The media did a splendid job, exposing the Kibra contest as having larger political implications beyond the filthy shacks and raw sewage of the slum to the South of the capital. It was, indeed, a dress rehearsal for the battle of titans expected in the 2022 Uhuru succession.
But Kenyans also got a chance, one more time, to see for themselves the desperate poverty in Kibra. Throughout the campaigns there were detailed media reports about the dismal realities of the shanty town: poor housing, high rates of unemployment, gangs, drugs and substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, poor roads, illegal businesses, high levels of insecurity and poor hygiene and sanitation.
ODM’s Imran Okoth won, unsurprisingly. Kibra got a new moniker. It was no longer the face of abject poverty and failed leadership. It was Baba’s bedroom, in reference to Raila Odinga who represented the larger Lang’ata constituency for 21 years.
As we reported last week in the Media Monitoring segment, the Kibra by-election witnessed reckless use of social media that could threaten peaceful co-existence. Despite all the rhetoric especially after the handshake, it is obvious that violence remains a feature of elections in Kenya. It is a serious matter everyone should worry about.
Media pictures of Khalwale and the harassment of Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa dramatically demonstrated to the world that it is not just the youth who engage in political violence. This provides a great opportunity for journalists and researchers to dig into the anatomy of election-related violence beyond the usual claims by politicians – some of whom are actually the perpetrators.
Prominent Nairobi lawyer Donald Kipkorir tweeted during the election: “For long, ODM was losing elections [because] they allowed others to steal them… Today, I watch coming of age of ODM supporters…. To mete out instant justice to those intent on stealing your vote is right of self defence & pre-emptive strike that law protects.”
Kipkorir baptized election violence as “instant justice”. And some of his readers were quick to disagree. Azuki Sirkal replied:
“Now you’re celebrating violence while in a very safe place far from the violence. How a lawyer is appreciating mob justice for offenders beats logic. You know anybody can be a victim of mob justice because [in] volatile places like Kibra any slight disinformation is enough to fuel it.”
Alvin Simba wrote: “I strongly believe no Kenyan has a right to take justice [in] their own hands. Rule of law must be observed at all times no matter the circumstances. This is the kind of reasoning that led to the death of more than 1000 Kenyans in 2007.”
But Kipkorir was not alone in posting views that appeared to condone violence. ODM director of communications Philip Etale posted:
“Vote buyers have retreated to Show Ground polling station next to the railway line and 42 area. Kindly vijana swing [into] action. Hapa hakuna huruma.” [No mercy.]
This message was seen by many of Etale’s readers as constituting a call to violence.
In Kenya, or in any democracy, only the security forces of the state, paid by taxpayers, have the monopoly of legal use of violence in the public interest. No citizen may deploy violence except in self-defence. The duty of the citizen in all other cases is to report breaches of the law to the relevant authorities to take action.
Well, the Kibra by-election is now history. Great fun it was. The voters made their decision. How that choice serves them remains to be seen.
