The politics in our country has gone fully scorched earth as politicians and their acolytes muddy the waters with everything they have got to paint their opponents as dark and as sinister as possible.
The outcome of this is predictable: politicians will win power, but the majority of people will remain in their usual sorry state, with the rising cost of basic commodities, ethnic balkanisation, poor public goods, inadequate education and healthcare and joblessness.
Political competition has become so adversarial that it crowds out substantive discussion of the issues that directly affect ordinary Kenyans.
Three key recent happenings have demonstrated this slash-and-burn politics more clearly. The first was the groundbreaking of the Dangote refinery in Lamu, off the Kenyan Coast, the Sh2.1 trillion facility that aims to process up to 650,000 barrels per day of crude oil.
It also promises to create up to 60,000 jobs. But, as anybody who casually understands Kenyan politics could have easily predicted, opponents of President William Ruto were quick to scandalise the milestone development to reduce refined oil imports with all manner of ill-faith suggestions and questions.
While it is imperative to demand clarity in government decision-making processes, including probing the motives behind those decisions, the framing of these questions and the recklessness with which they have been raised reeks of pure politics that does not pursue the public interest.
For example, a politician claimed that he had evidence that President Ruto had bought stakes in the project. Another dismissed it as useless because, back in Aliko Dangote’s backyard in Nigeria, people still experience power outages, while yet another claimed that the Dangote refinery in Nigeria employs only 3,000 workers at best.
The Dangote refinery project in Lamu has found itself in court, with some 133 petitioners claiming to be residents of the area, complaining that the land on which the project is being developed is their ancestral land and that they have not been compensated.
Former Chief Justice David Maraga even gave a press statement claiming that the land is valued at upwards of Sh50 billion and that no one was compensated.
He did not pay attention to the fact that the project’s land is a special economic zone procured during the inception of LAPSSET.
You cannot help but imagine what the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga would have done if he were in a bitter feud with an incumbent about such a project.
Likely, he would attend the fete and, when given time to make remarks, he would state his misgivings and suggest different approaches but acknowledge that it was a key milestone in energy independence.
Another incident that caught my attention as an embodiment of slash-and-burn politics is the first recorded Ebola case that has sadly been recorded in the country.
While times like this should cause opposing sides to close ranks in the interest of the nation, as they did during the Covid-19 days, Ruto’s opponents have again flown off the handle with scandalous claims. One of them has claimed that the Kenya Kwanza administration was bringing Ebola into the country as a pretext for obtaining money from the United States.
Detection of a deadly disease like Ebola in the country should be akin to witnessing a grisly road crash scene, with bodies strewn all over, while driving along the road. Normally, such a sight alone makes you wake up to the reality of the possibility of death and forces you to take your foot off the gas pedal.
It would have been expected that our leaders would pull back from political confrontation, join forces and present a united front in calming the nation and supporting every effort to investigate the case, trace contacts and keep the country safe.
The third incident concerns the social media claims about the health of ODM leader Oburu Oginga, who has been battling age-related ailments and is admitted to the Nairobi Hospital. Supporters of a known political figure could not hide their glee at the possibility of the passing of the veteran politician, conduct antithetical to mannered politics.
Younger politicians with their cast of supporters who brand themselves as progressive Gen Z show such a lack of self-restraint, no respect for age and so little self-respect that they wish their opponents dead. That lack of morality should make every person of goodwill shudder to imagine what they would do to their bitter rivals should they be in power.
While reckless and thoughtless political posturing is normal during high-stakes campaigns like ours, voters must encourage sober debates on matters key to their survivability.
Contenders for executive power must tell us what ideas they have for creating meaningful and dignifying jobs, improving healthcare services in public hospitals, dealing with education standards and access in public schools.
They must tell us their plans for building roads, bridges and bypasses, opening up the interior of the country and attracting foreign direct investment, among others. And how will they pay for them without burdening us with taxes?
This is 2026-27, not 1996-97. Issues of tribe, circumcision, personal affection and power permutations for politicians should be none of our business.
