Media back to default settings of campaign politics

Redemption, in the religious sense, isn’t an easy process or rite. It is about the individual accepting that they have crossed boundaries that they should not even have approached. It is about angering spirits, call them gods, and not realising instantly. Bad things happen to the transgressor, who on realising their capricious state, seeks to amend the situation.

Kenyan politicians have been in a transgressive mood for the past three years. They have fought among themselves. They have insulted people that they thought weren’t supporting or didn’t like them. They have promised heaven on earth but delivered minuscule projects and returns on voter investment. They have threatened their opponents and promised damnation to their critics. Manifestos sold to gullible voters during campaigns in 2021/2022 have been abandoned.

Who has kept these politicians awake about their promises and behaviour? Who has reminded them of their bad behaviour? Who has called them out when they veered off the plane of moral decency? It is not the opposition. It is not the clergy. It is not their families. It is the media. It is the radio, TV, newspapers and online media that have stopped politicians in their tracks when they have intentionally pushed the country in the wrong direction. In other words, it has been the media that has stood between Kenyans and the politics of destruction that some of our politicians thrive in.

So, it is a bit worrying to see newspaper headlines and lead stories selling narratives of political campaigns. Radio and TV stations are running stories about political formations that don’t even exist. Why are our editors behaving like magicians of the old days? Some of the stories about the 2027 general elections read like fiction; or, let’s just say, they are fiction.

The media is full of claims of formation of political alliances between the ruling coalition and the Orange Democratic Movement, or of the former Deputy President and several old politicians and retired public servants. Then there’s the former Vice President with an ever-changing assembly of politicians. Yet, all that happens when these politicians meet is a game of hedging about who will lead a particular formation against the other. The so-called ‘opposition’ alliances spend most of the time actually politicking instead of addressing issues that affect Kenyans most.

The media has consistently carried stories about the problems with school capitation, the seeming confusion in the CBC/CBE transition, the SHA conundrum, the Auditor-General’s reports on theft and misappropriation of public resources etc. This is journalism that addresses everyday concerns of ordinary Kenyans. Why would the same media want to sell its consumers political gossip about an election that is almost two years away? The media should not redeem these lying Kenyan politicians.