It is High Time We Set Up a Citizens’ Memory Bureau

As we draw closer and closer to the General Elections, politicians will invariably pick on a few issues with which to lure voters towards themselves.  As a result, the memory of many voters concerning the vital issues about which they intended to bring their tormentors to book at the ballot box will be very easily forgotten.  Yet in view of the fact that we lack a workable Recall Clause to tame our elected leaders during their term in office, it is crucial that we maximize on the power of the ballot.

A short trip down Memory Lane reveals a long list of political, social and economic injuries inflicted on us by most of the current key contenders for power, both in government and in the opposition.

Is it wise to gloss over the fact that the self-professed human rights activists of yester-years have become today’s big bullies in power, violating the right of citizens to express themselves through strikes, demonstrations and public rallies?

Must we not ensure that at the polling booths we take note of the fact that our M.P.s have proved that when it comes to matters of raising of their salaries and allowances, party divisions evaporate, and only reappear once they have concluded that particular illegitimate house business?

Perhaps most crucially, dare we forget how politicians regularly dishonour MOUs which they sign just before elections?  Can such people be trusted to deliver on the promises they have now begun to make to us?  Furthermore, does deliverance lie in the quarters of an opportunistic “Third Force” waiting on the wings to strike a bargain with whichever of the two “horses” carries the day?

Yet despite their plethora of political misdeeds, these power mongers know with certainty that they have one reliable way of escape from the voters’ wrath - the voters own short memory.  No matter how gruesome their actions, the politicians only need to wait a few weeks, and the worrying event will fly out of most Kenyans’ memory.  They can then present themselves as far-reaching reformers or champions of human rights, and they are sure to have an enthusiastic audience from many of us.  We are then in danger of swallowing their lies and catapulting them to power to increase their salaries, and to sustain the rampant systemic injustices.

Consequently, I suggest that we as Kenyan voters set up a Citizens’ Memory Bureau, charged with the responsibility of constantly reminding us about the shortcomings of our incumbent and aspiring leaders.  However, politicians would certainly seek to infiltrate and divert this bureau, as they have done with other civil society outfits.  We must therefore see to it that the board of this organisation consists of people from across the political divide, along with professionals of divergent political persuasions.  In this way, we shall ensure that the shortcomings of both government and opposition are equally highlighted, thereby enabling voters to make informed decisions.

Let us then not be carried away by the numerous “visions” and manifestos characteristic of electioneering seasons - those are merely products of technocrats geared to lure the voters.  Instead, we must look long and hard at the past in order to make the right decisions for our future.    For as the Jewish people say, it is in forgetting that we go back into captivity.

 

Reginald M.J. Oduor, Ph.D.