Kenya is now officially one year away from the 2027 general election. Over the coming months, our streets, social halls, places of worship, television screens and social media platforms will be filled with political messages.
Aspirants will seek our attention, support and votes. It is therefore time for citizens to begin asking the difficult questions that must shape the leadership of our country beyond the presidential polls.
There shall be a number of false prophets. Indeed, they are already emerging.
They will come bearing promises of instant salvation. They will diagnose every national and local challenge but offer no credible prescription. They will tell us that everything is broken and that only they possess the solution.
They will exploit our genuine frustrations, magnify our differences and attempt to turn communities against one another. Yet, beneath the speeches, slogans and carefully staged appearances, many will have no meaningful way forward.
We must not allow noise to substitute for ideas, anger to replace policy or political theatrics to overshadow the serious business of leadership.
Every person seeking elective office must present a manifesto or leadership thesis that clearly explains what they believe, what they intend to do and how they will accomplish it. Leadership cannot simply be a desire to occupy an office.
It must be anchored in a coherent understanding of the problems confronting the people and present a practical programme for resolving them.
A credible manifesto must answer basic questions. What is the candidate’s plan for creating employment, especially for young people? How will they improve healthcare and education? What will they do about the cost of living, housing, water, sanitation and public transport? How will their promises be financed? What timelines are proposed? Which institutions will implement them, and by what standards will the public measure progress?
Promises that cannot answer these questions are not plans. They are campaign slogans.
The public must also interrogate the records of those seeking office. Where a candidate has previously held public responsibility, citizens must examine how that opportunity was used. Did the leader improve people’s lives? Did they manage public resources responsibly? Did they build institutions or personalise the office? Did they remain accessible after the election? Did they unite the people or survive by constantly manufacturing enemies?
For first-time aspirants, the public must examine their history of service, professional competence, character and consistency.
Leadership does not begin on the day one announces a candidature. It is demonstrated through the causes one has supported, the responsibilities one has carried and the integrity shown when nobody was watching.
We must reject the convenient argument that manifestos do not matter because politicians never implement them.
That cynicism only benefits leaders who wish to escape accountability. A manifesto creates a contract between the candidate and the electorate. It gives the public a yardstick against which to assess performance.
Without a clear promise, it becomes difficult to determine whether a leader has succeeded, failed or abandoned their mandate.
Citizens must therefore read, compare and debate the proposals presented by candidates. Universities, professional associations, trade unions, faith organisations, business groups, civil society, youth movements and the media should create platforms where aspirants are compelled to defend their ideas.
Political debates must move beyond personalities and ethnic calculations to the substance of competing programmes.
Our young people, in particular, must refuse to be reduced to crowds for hire, online attack squads or instruments of political violence. Listen to everyone, but question everyone. When a leader asks for your support, ask what opportunities they will create for you.
Ask how their programme responds to your education, skills, enterprise, creativity and ambitions. Demand numbers, timelines and evidence. Do not surrender your future in exchange for a temporary handout.
As leaders, we must equally accept that public scrutiny is not hostility. Citizens have every right to question us, examine our records and challenge our proposals.
Those who seek public office must possess the humility to explain themselves and the courage to be held accountable. A leader who becomes angry when asked for a plan is unlikely to become more accountable after being entrusted with power.
As the Orange Democratic Movement, we understand that elections must be contests of ideas grounded in the daily realities of the people. Our politics must speak to economic liberation, social justice, devolution, equitable development and the protection of constitutional institutions.
We must account for the mandates already entrusted to us, acknowledge what remains unfinished and present a credible programme for the next phase of Kenya’s transformation.
The next election must not become an auction of empty promises. Neither should it become a competition over who can insult the loudest, spread the most fear or manufacture the most convincing falsehood. Kenya’s challenges are too serious, and the aspirations of our people too important, for such politics.
Over the next year, Kenyans must listen carefully. Question the dramatic conversion of individuals who discovered the people only when elections approached. Be cautious of those who promise everything to everyone but cannot explain the cost.
Reject leaders whose only manifesto is opposition to another person. Most importantly, distinguish between those seeking office as an opportunity to serve and those pursuing it merely as a route to power.
The responsibility ultimately rests with every voter. Democracy does not end with casting a ballot; it begins with making an informed choice.
Let us examine character, competence, record and vision. Let us demand manifestos that are specific, realistic, costed and measurable.
The false prophets will come. Their voices may be loud and their promises attractive. But an alert, informed and courageous public will see through them.
Next August, let Kenya vote not merely for personalities, but for ideas, credible records and a meaningful way forward.
