Though not objectively determined, there is a widespread perception that President William Ruto and his administration are unpopular despite the many milestones they have attained, including policies that can be viewed as progressive. But the unpopularity problem has a global context.
Voters around the world have been unhappy with their governments in the post-Covid-19 years despite whatever policy and legislative victories those administrations mayhave attained.
The cost-of-living crisis has sustained and even widened the disconnectbetween government policy achievements, infrastructural improvements and the peoplebecause many basic commodities remain out of reach for millions.
For example, former UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has just been ejected from Number10 due to precipitously low polling numbers despite massive achievements in two years.
FormerUS President Joe Biden, who had
scores of hard-fought policy and legislativevictories but became so unpopular
that he could not even seek reelection. Voters around theworld are impatient if achievements
do not reflect in their pockets.
You may have built brand-new sports stadia from scratch, constructed new flyovers,decorated city centres or inaugurated new legal frameworks with pro-people paradigms,but the masses do not care because when they go to the grocery stores, they are pricedout.
Inflationary pressure has been a major cause of the cost-of-living crisis, mostlydriven by developments abroad such as the Iran war, the Russia-Ukraine war andCovid-19, among other challenges.
In an election year, when the opposition seems to have an endless catalogue of failuresto point at, incumbents make matters worse when they insist on highlighting what theyconsider to be their achievements. This comes across as talking down to voters andbeing tone-deaf to their challenges.
President Ruto and his sympathisers would bebetter served if they recognised the global context of their woes and understood that themodern voter is not excited by an achievement list or TV advertisements filled withglittering images of what has been done.
This only deepens the resentment.The Kenya Kwanza administration, and the political class generally, are not helped bytheir flashy lifestyles and the massive improvement in their personal fortunes within ashort time while the masses continue to sink into poverty.
Millions of graduates cannotfind jobs or are underemployed, while others remain trapped in poor working conditionsbecause they have no alternatives. But when leaders keep thumping GDP growthnumbers or jobs supposedly created through the affordable housing project, they onlyfuel the rage among the masses.
How do you insist that SHA is working well whenmillions still can’t find medicine from public hospital and the services are poor, forcingthem to seek services from private facilities where they are charged an arm and a leg?
The administration
needs to rework its communication strategy to resonate with thepublic and speak to people’s hearts
by appreciating their difficulties instead of simplytelling them that everything is
hunky-dory.
As is the case with presidents and prime ministers in the West, resignation from officeand calling an early election would be the short-term response to the governancesituations in which we find ourselves.
However, taking the UK as an example, that does notprovide the antidote to anti-government sentiment among the populace. It started with
David Cameron in 2016 when he resigned following the Brexit referendum, in which the side he led lost. Then Theresa May took over with the promise to ensure the UK left the European Union with a good deal.
The hardline Brexiteers frustrated her at every turn, ensuring that she could not secure a deal, leading to her resignation.
Then came Boris Johnson, who even attempted to solve the unpopularity question by calling a snap election in 2019, which he won handily, giving him a large majority in the House of Commons.
But it did not take long before voters grew tired of him despite fulfilling many of his promises, including getting the deal. Then came Rishi Sunak, who similarly, did not last long.
The last of the Tory pack was Liz Truss, whose dramatic resignation came more quickly than the short shelf life of a head of lettuce.
The election of Labour under Starmer offered hope for stability because he garnered asupermajority of more than 400 MPs in the House of Commons. Again, it turned out to befalse hope.
Starmer achieved a lot for the Brits, including reducing the number ofchildren facing poverty and restoring the UK’s credibility on the global stage, amongother achievements.
But again, if voters do not feel it in their pockets, it means nothing.The new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, is barely a few days into office, but there isalready disquiet among the public.
Even if the Kenyan opposition, as currently organised or in another formation, were to takeoffice, indications are that it would be even more unpopular and disorganised than thecurrent Kenya Kwanza administration.
The utterances of leading opposition figures thatappear to exclude other Kenyans would
be the first among many reasons for suspicionand mistrust of such an
administration.
The point is that anyone who wants to govern sustainably must first correctly diagnosethe problem that is causing public distrust of government and its institutions.
Win backthe faith of the broader public and work with them to address their pocketbookproblems. Otherwise, more “shiny things” will only trigger more street protests, riots,instability and public defiance.
