“Always bear in mind that the people are not fighting for ideas, for the things in anyone’s head. They are fighting to win material benefits, to live better and in peace, to see their lives go forward, to guarantee the future of their children…” –Amilcar Cabral, ‘Revolution in Guinea’, 1965
That, ladies and gentlemen of the Press, is the entire point of politics. You hear it daily in the desperate cry of the poor, Tunaomba serikali. It’s why Samson Otieno Odongo, aged 32, was shot dead by a policeman during a protest against eviction from Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum in Nairobi on December 27, 2021.
You’re familiar with the famous promise by Kenya’s “founding fathers” (the mathees were silent) to end poverty, ignorance and disease. The glorious struggle for freedom from British colonialism was waged to win material benefits for Kenyans, not empty “flag Independence”.
In every election, including this year’s, the solemn task for Kenyans is to select a competent and dedicated group of men and women to manage public affairs so that citizens can live better. The Fourth Estate holds power to account for that reason.
To be sure, the media is never “neutral” in politics. It is always on the side of the people to see to it that power offers them material benefits.
The Uhuruto administration completes its two terms in less than seven months. An assessment of its performance is due, as an essential part of the media’s watchdog role. Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto, Charity Ngilu and Najib Balala formed the Jubilee coalition that won the 2013 election. Their joint manifesto echoed Cabral and the “founding fathers”:
“We know that we have created the right team to not only make Kenya’s Vision 2030 a reality, but also to immediately deliver accelerated economic growth, higher living standards, better healthcare and more jobs from 2013 onwards. Most importantly, the coalition has purposed to radically address the inexcusable poverty and inequality that exists in our country today”.
The authors of these words have been in power for about a decade. What is Jubilee’s record against their 2013 promise?
“More Kenyans sink into poverty – report”, the Nation headline stated on January 11. The story reported findings of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, a government agency. Only the Nation carried this huge story. Apparently, the other media houses have no interest in gava’s mazematik.
“Millions of Kenyans have sunk into poverty during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration,” the paper reported. Citizens living in poverty jumped by 15 per cent since 2013 from 38.9 per cent to 53 per cent by 2018.
“Living in poverty is considered as more than just the lack of income, but encompasses lack of access to healthcare, education, decent shelter and other basic services,” Kimathi Street reported.
The KNBS report ought to have received detailed wall-to-wall media coverage, if our Fourth Estate fully understood its primary public role. These findings present a clear picture of the depressing state of the nation and the urgent agenda for Kenya going forward.
Not that the scandalously high poverty level is news. Everyone can name ten desperately poor Kenyans they know. Opinion polls consistently show the impossible cost of living, or “the economy”, as the foremost concern for Kenyans. Now you heard it from the horse’s mouth. These government findings should be the basis for a serious national debate in an election year.
What sort of leaders and public policies do Kenyans need at this time in order to win material benefits, to live better and in peace, to see their lives go forward, and to guarantee the future of their children? Creating such a debate is the job of a public-spirited media that has its finger on the pulse of the nation.
See you next week!
