President William Ruto’s economic adviser, David Ndii, sends a message to his Kenya Kwanza administration, saying, “What are the people telling us? They are telling us that we cannot demand sacrifices that we do not make for ourselves.”
“It is not what we say about debt, taxes, and austerity; it is what we wear when we say it.”
“It is the language that the monster SUVs, the helicopters, the gunny bags of Harambee cash, the nouveau riche mansions, that is speaking—all the ammunition that has been used against us, we have supplied ourselves.”
David Ndii continued, “My reading of this political moment is that it is about corruption. It is very pivotal. We have reached pivotal moments before. The 1990–92 moment was about multiparty, which is a byword for political freedom and civil liberties.
“We achieved that. For the first time in Kenya, we could caricature Moi. The 1997 no reform, no election” moment was about political reforms.
“We (and by “we” I mean the think tank convened by Willy Mutunga and Kibutha Kibwana at Naro Moru River Lodge in early 1996 that gave birth to the constitutional reform agenda) defined the maximum agenda as the new constitution and the minimum as electoral reforms.
“We demanded maximum, but we expected politicians to close ranks on minimum, and they did. The IPPG did not deliver in 1997, but it made an opposition win in 2022 possible.
“2007/8 was about tribalism. The NARC election made us the most optimistic people in the world because we thought we had slayed the tribalism demon. But Kibaki’s wealthy GEMA cronies changed the script for the economy, ring-fenced Kibaki, and went back to feathering their own nests.
“It was this betrayal that exploded in 2007. It is the political reforms embodied in the new constitution, not the overt economic legacy of Kibaki, that have enabled us to move forward as a viable nation.
“At all these moments, corruption and ethics have been salient but peripheral issues. We whine and do the opposite. Wangari Maathai tried to run on it but did not even feature in the race. Kivutha Kibwana’s ethical platform in the last election did not even make it to the starting line.
“The choice was reduced to corruption cartel A and corruption cartel B. But the corruption moment is now here. The question we must then ask is: Why are people moving goalposts? What are the people telling us?
“They are telling us that we cannot demand sacrifice that we are not making ourselves. It is not what we are saying about debt taxes and austerity; it is what we are wearing when we are saying it.
“It is the language that the monster SUVs, the helicopters, the gunny bags of Harambee cash, the nouveau riche mansions, that is speaking—all the ammunition that has been used against us, we have supplied ourselves.
“To my mind, we have two choices. We can, like Kibaki and his cronies, circle our wagons and wait for a bigger fire next time, or we can do the honest thing. We can PR ourselves out of this one, but for how long?
“The big question is: who can convene a systemically corrupt society to have an honest conversation about corruption? Let me start with who cannot.
“The clergy cannot. The church, as an institution, is the laundromat for the reputations of the corrupt. The state and its bureaucrats, past and present, cannot. The public service is the belly of the beast.
“The civil society, my erstwhile governance and anti-corruption comrades, cannot. They lost their voice in the wake of the Bomas fiasco on August 15, 2022, and its aftermath. They are still fantasising about regime change.
“Where does that leave us? Another Kriegler or Kofi Annan moment? It may yet come to that. But I would like to believe that there are still a few good men and women who have the stature and moral courage to call the nation to order.
“Let me throw my nominees. Justice Maraga certainly does. Prof. Kibutha Kibwana is an honest and wise man. He should be there. Reverend Njoya does not need to be spoken for.
“Yash Pal Ghai, health permitting. Who are the women of this stature? Jill Cottrell Ghai and Beatrice Nderitu come to mind. Who else. Who will speak for the youth? Over to you.”
