Political Literacy and Democracy in Kenya

By Samuel N Munga – QuedenEmpire

The phrase, “there is time for everything,” may not be true when discussing politics in Africa, especially in Kenya. Written constitutions exist in all African countries, providing explicit timelines for various political events, such as the general election. Nevertheless, when a person visits a country like Kenya for the first time, they may be excused for believing that the general election is just around the corner.

The growth of democracy in any nation is influenced by several factors, including a good constitution, effective electoral laws, and the literacy levels of the general population; Kenya is no exception. I will use Kenya as a representative example for most, if not all, African countries.

In Kenya, the 2010 constitution provides for civic education as one of the fundamental rights of its citizens. The body mandated by the constitution to provide civic education is the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). Unfortunately, this institution has been designed by politicians to fail in this noble mandate.

The place of literacy in the growth of democracy in Kenya may be overlooked. However, I believe it is the first necessary key for the promotion of democracy in Kenya and Africa as a whole. Without literacy, there cannot be civic knowledge and understanding of the implications of our democratic choices and actions. Civic knowledge and understanding, therefore, are the second key that is vital for the growth of any democracy.

The level of knowledge and understanding is dependent upon the key number one above: literacy. Different literacy levels produce different levels of knowledge and understanding. As people increase their learning, the level of knowledge and understanding of democracy and the effects of voters’ choices increases.

Before going to the ballot to cast a vote, a voter must have developed a high level of mental independence. Achieving complete mental independence may not be entirely possible due to other influences on our democratic actions, such as tribalism and clanism.

However, a well-educated person is well-informed and has a high degree of mind independence. I strongly believe that in Kenya, and by extension, Africa, increased levels of independent thinkers will contribute immensely to the growth of our democracy. Something needs to be done for Kenya to have a well-informed and highly independent mind, as a voter.

The IEBC, as a constitutional body with an explicit mandate to produce the type of voter I have described above, has failed the test. From experience, IEBC conducts civic education mainly during the election year. The civic education they provide is very superficial. It focuses on the number of elective offices and how to fill in the ballot paper. This has left the voter at the mercy of politicians.

Any good politician is, first of all, a selfish person; pursuing selfish interests, before the interests of the voter come anywhere near him. The politician in Kenya has taken the role of conducting civic education and creating awareness in all matters affecting the nation. The politician interprets every issue subjectively to manipulate the voter. Not unless he`s not a “good politician”.

Unfortunately, some politicians not only misinterpret issues that affect the nation, but also actively participate in distorting important words and phrases. Politicians assign their political meaning to words, and the voter and citizen are expected to accept that corrupted meaning as the gospel truth.

A politician in Kenya knows everything, such that even the learned are supposed to believe in their crooked ways of understanding. Due to this unfortunate belief, some words and phrases have fallen victim to political distortion and manipulation. Everyone in Kenya and the world is expected to adopt the meaning of words as given by politicians; otherwise, they will fall into the wrong books of politicians.

Although patriotism is defined as the love of a country and willingness to sacrifice for it, in Kenya, it has been interpreted by some politicians as the love of a government in power. Any critique of the President or government is considered unpatriotic. Even actions provided for by the constitution, which a person can take to express dissatisfaction with the ruling class, are deemed unpatriotic.

Basically, in all countries around the world, a government is understood to have three branches: The Executive, the Parliament, and the Judiciary. In Kenya today, and even before the advent of multi-party democracy, politicians have defined the word “government” as referring only to the Executive branch. A parliamentarian or a judicial officer is not considered a government official. You will hear a parliamentarian telling voters that they need to be in government to receive resources for developing their constituencies.

The constitution of Kenya 2010 provides for an inclusive government. Inclusivity here, and I believe, according to the drafters of the constitution, means having a government composed of, first of all, both genders on board. Secondly, the government must include all the diverse ethnic groups recognized by the laws of the land as forming Kenya. Thirdly, the government must incorporate both the youth and the elderly. Lastly, the government must include all special groups, commonly known as people with disabilities (PWDs).

Despite the existence of all these provisions in our constitution, the politician distorts the word ‘inclusivity’ to mean something else. Although Kenya is a multi-party democracy, sometimes this fact is only true on paper. The only time you might have the word ‘inclusivity’ rightly defined by politicians is before the general elections. It appears that politicians don`t believe in multi-partyism after elections are over.

Immediately after elections, the political parties that lose become uncomfortable occupying their constitutional space, the place of opposition. This has led them to redefine and corrupt the phrase `inclusivity in government appointments`. Inclusivity has been extended to mean the inclusion of members of political parties that form part of the opposition. A good example of a scenario where inclusivity has a wrong interpretation is in the formation of the so-called “Broad-Based Government”.

It is laughable that the political class expects people to believe and recognize the government of the day as an all-inclusive government. Their reason for this is the fact that some members of the Orange Democratic Party were appointed to government by the ruling coalition.

While incitement is the act of urging on or rousing a people to action, whether towards something positive or otherwise, the Kenyan politician has given it a new meaning. Fellow citizens may rouse and inspire each other to stand and defend their constitutional rights. This could be through different constitutional means, which may not be palatable to the ruling class. When such cases happen, the government may term such exhortations as incitement. They aim to silence dissenting voices through this. They brand innocent people as inciters, so that they may have some excuses to abuse, or rather, use the criminal justice system against such people.

A few days ago, some students were to act in a play titled Echoes of War. Beginning with the President himself,the government became so uncomfortable with the message the play was conveying to the public. They frustrated all the efforts of these girls to use literature and creative art to criticize the government. Every person who helped or was suspected of helping these girls was branded an inciter.

Many in politics “misunderstand” national unity as the absence of opposition, equating strong dissent with division or lack of cohesion among citizens. This flawed view leads governments to co-opt opposition leaders through appointments and favors, aiming to create superficial and fake harmony.

True national unity, however, is not about silencing opposing voices; it is about the collective ability to engage in honest, open debate while staying committed to the common good. A vibrant opposition strengthens democracy, ensures accountability, and reflects the healthy diversity of thought within a united nation.

There are so many words being distorted by politicians to suit their political persuasions. However, the word “loyalty” will be my last in the list of words being distorted by politicians, which I will talk about in this article. Sometimes the word ‘loyalty’ is used in the place of patriotism. However, this may not always mean patriotism. Loyalty is that allegiance that one may have towards a certain course.

If you ask me, loyalty to a nation should be the only permanent thing with any citizen. Any other political commitment or allegiance should be allowed to change with time. The Kenyan politician would want their followers to be loyal regardless of their lack of principles and philosophies.

According to them, a loyal person follows politicians blindly and without questioning anything. They fail to recognize and accept that one was seen as loyal to them or their political parties because of the philosophies these people and or their parties had before they changed. Such politicians love a brainwashed voter who either gives his mind to a politician and remains with nothing, or fears using his mind.

A brainwashed voter is dangerous not only to himself and others, but also to the growth of democracy. The right word (s) to describe such a voter or a citizen is “politically brainwashed”. If Kenya`s democracy is to grow significantly, the politicians should be the source of civic knowledge. This shall happen when the level of literacy and mind independence increases.

Investment in civic education should be encouraged by all patriotic and independent-minded Kenyans. All constitutional institutions, including but not limited to the Ministry of Education and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), should be held accountable. This civic knowledge should begin at the primary school level, so that a person grows with the right knowledge and understanding of the effects of our democratic choices and actions.