By: Gatehi Rebiro
For decades, Kenya has been trapped in a cycle of dysfunction, suffering from a dangerous disease that has kept the country in the ICU. Unless we cure it at its source, the virus will continue mutating by taking different forms but delivering the same destruction.
This disease is not just corruption or bad governance; it is a systemic failure, a generational betrayal, rooted in tribalism, election manipulation, a bloated government and leadership that thrives on deception rather than solutions. The disease lies in the complacency of a political playbook filled with the same tattered pages of deceit and betrayal.
If we want real change, we must dismantle the structures that sustain this disease. Some changes must be systemic, while others require a generational shift— beyond merely replacing individuals. The clarion call for change is clear: Kenya needs a factory reset.
First, tribalism is Kenya’s deadliest disease. It is the anatomy of our destruction, fueling division, political instability, economic exclusion and social fragmentation. As long as we allow tribes to define us, we will remain captives of a system that exists to divide and rule us. Ask someone about their tribe, and watch them hesitate or feel dissatisfied to respond. Why? Because tribal identity has become a burden, not a source of pride in Kenya. It is outdated and only remains a weapon for vote-balkanisation. Kenyans suffer as Kenyans, not as tribes. Does suffering know tribe?
It is time to bury tribalism forever and embrace a unified Kenyan identity. We must abolish tribal identities and create a single, national Kenyan identity, incentivize intermarriage to build a new generation free from ethnic chains, remove ethnicity from government records, job applications and national documents and criminalize political mobilization based on tribal lines.
Second, Kenya is also plagued by election locomotives—tribal-based political establishments formed for short-term electoral cycles. These formations are not fit for purpose; they simply brainwash the electorate for vote balkanisation. They are vehicles for political brokers and dealers trading favours, political entrepreneurs enriching themselves, political conmen selling false hope, political opportunists exploiting situations for personal gain, political orphans rewarded with government positions, political entertainers who turn leadership into a circus and political flowers girls who add no value to governance.
We must ban all election-driven political groupings and establish parties based on national ideology. Political parties should be driven by policy and vision, not interests and personalities. There must be an end to party-hopping and rotational realignments based on election cycles. Kenya needs leaders who serve the people, not politicians who serve themselves.
Third, electoral reform is long overdue. The notion of voter registration is in reduction ad absurdum – outdated and wasteful, serving only as an electoral manipulation tool. In the digital age, with biometrics, why do we still rely on voter registration? This system fuels electoral fraud through tampered voter registers, deliberate disenfranchisement and political tension. The solution is simple—abolish voter registration and allow all Kenyans to vote using their National ID. Implement biometric authentication to eliminate fraud and make polling stations the final tallying centres with electronic transmission and tallying of results.
This will save billions spent on voter registration—funds that could support free passports, restore education policies, fix the healthcare system and address other development needs. It will also ensure elections are transparent, fair and credible while speeding up the voting process and result tallying. Why waste resources on an outdated system when technology can guarantee free, fair and efficient elections?
Fourth, Kenya is burdened by overrepresentation, a government overloaded with too many offices, elected positions, appointees, redundant commissions and boards. This bloated structure exists to create positions for election losers, not to serve the people. The bloating has subjected our economy to skyrocketing poverty and subject us to a foreign dependency syndrome. We don’t need a battery of political appointees to fix broken policies; we need working systems and practical policies.
We must reduce elective and appointed positions, cut redundant commissions and boards, merge overlapping offices and streamline government operations. All public positions must be filled based on merit and professionalism, not cronyism. Too many duplicated offices, professional dwarfs and clueless leaders comes with expenditure demands, entitlement joyriding, corruption and wastage of public resources. We need to stop paying for empty seats and focus on fixing broken systems and restoring policies.
Fifth, Kenya is in a constant state of campaign mode. Leaders spend more time on sunroofs and podiums than in their offices, neglecting service delivery. When do they work? They are always crisscrossing the country, holding endless rallies, hijacking public events and scrambling for political mileage. When do they fulfil their promises? Perpetual campaigning in Kenya is like rotational grazing—every event is hijacked and scrambled for political gain. Public donations have become political ploys and even funerals have turned into political theatrics.
Enough with the political noise paradigm. We must ban early campaigns, political theatrics and unnecessary politicking. Leaders must be held accountable for service delivery, not succession politics. Broken promises should carry legal consequences. We need doers, policymakers and implementers—not storytellers and serial promise-makers.
Last but not least, Kenya must also end state capture. Lawlessness, political impunity, miscarriage of justice and backroom deals are the order of the day across Kenyan political pedigree. Political elites arm-twist the Constitution to safeguard their interests, undermining democracy. The regrouping of political actors leads to the tyranny of the majority, suppressing democratic principles and lacuna in checks and balances. Our democracy is under duress, hijacked by saboteurs of democracy, economic buccaneers and plutocrats exploiting government resources for personal gain.
Upholding constitutionalism and the rule of law should be paramount. We must ensure legal processes prevail—no more bending the law for political convenience. We must defend democratic institutions from state capture and eliminate the grip of economic buccaneers exploiting the system for personal enrichment while citizens suffer. Our democracy must be protected, not auctioned to the highest bidder.
The public outcry for change has never been louder, yet we remain trapped in a vicious cycle. Our political landscape is dominated by fallacies of appealing hope instead of practical solutions. Most of Kenya’s problems are human-made, facilitated by broken systems and unfulfilled policies. Poverty is used as a tool to brainwash the electorate through handouts and vote bribery with empty promises. The divide-and-rule tactics of politicians must be detected and rejected in our political ecosystem.
This deja vu of broken promises is fueled by a mismatch between citizens’ expectations and reality—leaders who masquerade as messiahs and reformers while entrenching the same broken systems. This has made our country to continue drowning in the miasma of deceit and despondency. It’s time to wake up from this illusion and demand real change. The clamour for change must translate into action. Kenya needs a factory reset.
Kenya belongs to its people, not the political elite. Let us unite, rise, and take back our country.
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