Why the ongoing Members of Parliament defection can be double-edged
By Fedinard Omondi
I am seeing wild celebrations because UDM has dumped Azimio to join Kenya Kwanza.
That’s an additional 7 MPs and 2 senators on top of 10 independent MPs who joined the coalition. UDM also has 2 governors and 40MCAs countrywide according to its party leader.
As a coalition, Kenya Kwanza can celebrate. It is now the dominant force in parliament and senate. Now Kenya Kwanza can drive ANY LEGISLATION through, easy.
As a Kenyan citizen, you might want to hold your celebrations for the same reason; that now Kenya Kwanza can drive ANY LEGISLATION through, easy.
A dominant government can push through its reform agenda and implement its manifesto through parliament by passing the necessary legislation needed to get the wheels of change moving.
A dominant government can also become a rabid dictator that passes laws to clamp down liberties or reverse the freedoms this country has achieved so far, if it deems those liberties inconvenient.
Remember Uhuruto’s dominant parliament passed laws which gagged the media, controlled the internet and threatened free speech. A lot of you would be in jail today if the courts didn’t quash some of those laws.
And so while you cheer and say Azimio imezimia, you should question what use a weakened opposition will be to you when you need someone to stand against a potentially oppressive administration. Bad laws which a dominant parliament passes will not just apply to Azimio supporters. They will affect all Kenyans.
Am I seeing the developments from a glass-half-empty perspective? Yes. One because it is my job to provide context, and two because Kenyan parliamentarians have time and again proved to serve self-interest first, and the people later.
When he was elected president, William Ruto said he believed in democracy and would work with the opposition to the extent that they provide oversight over his administration. That he never believed in handshakes.
Three days later, William Ruto saluted the United Democratic Movement (UDM) leadership, an opposition party, for abandoning Azimio La Umoja and joining Kenya Kwanza. He’s shaken hands with a part of the team expected to oversight his administration.
Some of you were angry that Uhuru and Raila’s handshake essentially dissolved the opposition and created a rubber stamp parliament remotely controlled by the executive. The latest trends, happening even before a new president has been sworn in, should get you asking whether this is the change you voted for, or whether the same monkeys have just moved to a different forest.
Start holding your leaders accountable now. Or wait until you are woken up from your euphoria with a reality smackdown.
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