Codex

It’s yet another chance to choose our next president, and we’re not gonna let the opportunity go to waste as it only comes once in 5 years. Going home to Tach-Asis from Nairobi alongside my two kid sisters always feels like the best thing in the world but then again, there are quite a number of stuff that just work so damn hard to make the experience just a nightmare. Don’t get me started with the occasional congestion at Easy-coach stage especially during such times of campaigns/elections. Kenyan elections...A story for another day. Anyway, where was I? I get lost in my head most times. Sorry. So yea, going home for the supposed 2017 elections kicks off at 0530hrs on a Saturday morning, this is probably the only day I get to witness first hand of the existence of these wee hours of the morning since the year started, what can I say, this hasn’t really been my year. After long minutes of trying to wake Chemu up after having slept at 0400hrs in the morning in the name of you-tube videos and movies and ‘1-more-episode-then-i-gotta-sleep’ line-of-thinking the previous night. We’ve all gone been there now haven’t we? Preparation takes minutes before we’re tiredly yawning while waiting for the ‘Teachers-Transporters-Matatu’ at Ngumba to leave for town. With the pace at which guys are getting into the matatu though, we might as well have gone back for some black tea or to bed for a few more minutes. Damn, using public means utterly pushes you to the edge, psychologically. Such times, i.e. during elections, Nairobi is at its most chaotic state with loud, loud and very loud jubilations and shouts from campaigners who never cease to amaze me with the continuous energetic rigor. I mean what kind of weed-dose do these weirdoes take to make lotsa noise throughout the estate the entire night? Recalling the recent days’ phenomena; the cold, short foggy days had been accompanied by jubilant songs like “Uhuruto tano tena”, while the long, clear nights, by the soft crooning of Nasa’s singing “Mambo yabadilika” which follows you down the streets as the darkness is held at bay by hundreds of lights along Thika road, breaking the city into great blackness so close above and a sublime orangey-yellow glow so tightly around you. Thank God we are taking a break from all these insanity. Although I love home’s under populated-nature and attention from both neighbours and close relatives with their unending need for small talks, it’s purely a trade-off to essentials like reliable transport service, unlimited power supply, 3G internet network and a strong Safaricom network. Nonetheless, even at this weirdly early hour of the day, a number of urchins along Moi avenue on Tom Mboya Street are already up requesting for some sort of charity which is usually monetary, followed by countless gifted amateur musicians that are quite as old as the buildings around them and never seem to be sober irregardless of the time or weather. As we hurry, however, we don’t get the opportunity to enjoy the atmosphere or the beautiful city as it dawns that much altogether with huge crowds of Kenyans already overflowing on town especially at major stages. Unlike, my sisters though who are struggling with a number of suitcases each; I only have a single, light bag with me with only my laptop, its charger and my glasses in it. I ain’t in the mood to help out though. I mean I don’t have to, considering am the one who’s gonna suffer at home and have to rewind the few clothes I have there unlike them carrying the whole closet of duds. The long queues and huge fare-hike already at the North-rift, north-ways, shuttle,2NK to name a few stages, is a major put off to these kind of journeys. One actually end up paying 220% of normal fare price!! The hassle for a matatu finally comes to an end with Fay booking us a ‘Mbukinya’ bus, which is one of those buses to western. By the way, just a warning to guys who’ve never travelled in these buses before, never, I repeat never take this bus, no matter the height of desperation you’re in, trust me it’s not worth it. I mean a bus is definitely okay, but the experience is more than a bus-related issue, it’s people-oriented issue. This is the time the development economics 101 class comes to view right in front of my nose. I mean I am aware of the high population growth rate in the country of about a million a year, but the idea had never really sunk in my head. With approximately 70% of the passengers in the bus being of female gender, 90% of them are mothers with kids and more than one on average who happen to have one mind when it comes to fussing and screaming their lungs out. It really tests your patience especially for me who is sandwiched between two young mothers with crying machines. ‘This is gonna be a long journey’, I thought, given I couldn’t even read ‘The Last Symbol’ I’ve been trying to finish for sometime now. It doesn’t help at all when most passengers around us are eating the entire time or when the driver insists on some vernacular station, which by the constant nods, small comments and smiles from people around me, is a favourite station for our western brethren. The slow speed at which the bus is going just puts me on edge. After a while, I start to reminisce of life at home since it’s been long visiting. The first few days are like a return to your teenage years since you don’t have to do anything, no work, no rent, and no general paperwork or studies. Instead, you can lie on your parents’ couch, watch ‘Keeping-up-with-the-kardashians’, and have a nice home-cooked meal you didn’t cook yourself, since our mum is the best. Not that we take advantage though, she loves us that much. The thing that makes it better is if you haven’t been home in a couple of months or years, then, for our parents, you’re the present. Suck it siblings. Seven hours later, and then it starts, and you’re sucked into the chaos like a provincial cow in a hurricane. It seems like everyone notices our presence instantly from our mum who’s just really happy to see us to small brother, Kiptoo. Then it really starts to accelerate as the extended family and family friends enter the picture. Tea has to be cooked first, then more tea and finally dinner – it’s perfect. The anarchy of the dinner table knows no equal. It’s rapid fire – ‘Chirie, pass the peas, so how’s Strathmore, are the units nice?’ ‘Here you go, yea they are really ni-‘ ‘And the rice there, they’re alright are they, yea? How’s the job-search? This one is in the dogs’. That’s just my mum at the moment, and invariably Kiptoo and a girl staying with my mum are trying to catch up with me simultaneously and vice versa. I really do not enjoy this line of questioning, not that I ever enjoy any kinds though, unless book- or movie-related. Thanks to the election break. Everything seems to happen at super speed and things blend into one another. We just don’t have time to think of the differences and before we know it, we’re fully transformed with no thought whatsoever of anything outside home. And I think some part of us acknowledges that. It’s the best time to look back on, because it is so special and complimentary on its own. Home will always be our safe haven. The next day, we head to Tach-Asis polling station only to realize the absence of my name in the list of supposed voters. My sister’s name is there though, so not so much waste of effort, besides I get to enjoy life at home one more time other than during Christmas. I am positive this is the experience of most of my fellow country-people. Most of us spend (both time-wise and money-wise) so much towards exercising our voting right or better yet 'choosing' our own leaders, when ultimately the few who actually count, i.e. with higher vote power, spend less to nothing, infact in most cases, get paid to 'vote'. Four days later or so, the results are out after a number of IEBC-related issues arising and sometime later, the supreme court nullifies the all thing. This means another journey for us as commoners to our respective polling stations, and for guys like me to the country-side. Even after the second process, which I didn't take part in neither, the opposition claims the elections to have been compromised. Moreover, on Tuesday, October 31st 2017, Principals of the NASA laid out a broad roadmap for putting the country on the path to ending electoral autocracy and returning to democracy through free, fair and credible elections. The broad agenda the Principals rolled out include positive action programs like Economic Liberation, People’s Assembly, non-cooperation with illegal National Government and defence of the right to peaceful protest. Infact, they called on all Kenyans who believe in free, fair and credible elections to boycott products of companies including Safaricom, Brookside Dairies and Bidco Industries, that supposedly provided solid backing for the Jubilee regime and platform for the rigging of elections. From what has been going on, i feel like not all votes are equally-weighted in this supposed 'democratic' country. There are two fundamental ideas in modern democracies that seem to contradict each other, while both being so fundamental that none could be severely restricted without burying the concept of a capitalistic democracy. The first one is "one man, one vote". Each citizen in a democracy should have the same influence on electing the government. Giving some people more than one vote (e.g., on the base of taxes paid or educational level) is considered undemocratic. The second one is the freedom to accumulate wealth. While of course progressive tax rates exist, there is no upper limit as to how much money a single person may possess. It is considered a basic freedom to make as much money as one is able too (while, of course, adhering to the law). In principle, I am okay with both. But now there is a severe conflict between the two, given by lobbyism and the influence of money on the outcome of elections. (Note that while inspired by current Kenyan events, this is not a Jubilee thing, the phenomenon can be seen far beyond this case and the political stance of the respective candidates is irrelevant to the question.) If I have so much money that I can put pressure on the candidates running for election - by funding TV ads or political campaigns or by threatening not to do so - I exercise a power far beyond my own voting power. I am also not just representing a number of voters with the same goals. So, effectively my vote is worth much more than the vote of others, because giving my vote (and money or services) to another candidate is a much more powerful threat than some ordinary guy giving the vote to someone else. So through the backdoor, I have introduced a sort of census suffrage. Now what are the options? First, accepting the situation as is. But in this case, I have a system where the rich (individuals or companies related to individuals) effectively have much more voting power than the rest. Assuming (as a rough estimation) that wealth is proportional to voting power, this can lead to a situation where 1% of the population have 40% of the voting power. And this seems more like an aristocracy than a democracy. Second, severely restricting the accumulation of wealth. The communist solution, and not very effective in the past. Moreover, this has not prevented (and maybe even supported) the emergence of small powerful undemocratic groups. Third, putting restrictions to the usage of wealth in political situations. This solution is used in many western states, but is of course a violation of free speech and the possibility to exercise political influence at will. Are there any more options? None of them seem very appealing and none of them will support a truly free and democratic system. How can personal freedom to acquire wealth and having the same voting power for everyone coexist without one undermining the other? Voting power is not only about what I actually vote at the ballot box. When I go to the Tindiret MP, or Nandi's governor, and demand a certain behavior or else I will not vote for him the next time, I am also exerting voting power. The question mainly is about the strong correlation between wealth and this type of voting power. P.S it's an open letter. Your views and opinions are welcomed. ##Kenya(country),Nandi(county),Tindiret(ward),Tach-Asis(home)