By Frank Bray.
Lately I’ve been thinking about the state of affairs of our democracy, and it’s clear we need to go back to the drawing board – if it still exists. I remember one politician’s remarks immediately after fishy elections:
“Si wananchi walituchagua? Si mutuwache tuwafanyie kazi?”
When I heard those words, I was on the verge of laughing – only it wasn’t funny. I went down memory lane to get a glimpse of what our democracy had become.
In 2017, I watched with my own eyes as the country drowned into tumult, all because of a sovereign constitutional decision: the voters’ say. The discrepancies and sabotage were too obvious to ignore. And since many people at the time had an ethnic mindset rather than a nationalistic approach to the country’s sovereignty, it became not a war against constitutional sabotage, but a war against the “others.”
2012 had its own drama. IEBC officials went missing, and there were rumors of serious threats to those handling the systems. As it played out in front of us, I couldn’t help but wonder if anyone was being fooled, or if the quiet was just people trying to protect the peace. A big rotting rat, right there for everybody to smell.
2017, the voters did their part, though half-heartedly. Everything seemed normal at first. Arguments began surfacing about opposition representatives being locked out of certain polling stations. Delay tactics and sabotage were all employed – clear enough to suspect, but subtle enough to brush off. Then, towards the end of tallying, three returning officers were locked out of a meeting meant to finalize the results.
When the president-elect was announced, like the last three elections before, the results were contested. The court gave orders. Orders were ignored by the government. The servers remain inaccessible to date – a mystery for most of the nation.
In 2025, Tanzania holds an election. The president is announced, and about 98 percent in exaggerated satirical numbers of the population protests a sham election. The government insists 99 percent voted for it. The official speech touches on something like:
“Asanteni wananchi wote mlituchagua. Watanzania wameamua.”
I then recall Oscar Sudi’s words in paraphrase:
“Hata isipotosha hiyo ingine tutaongezea.”
That same year, Kenyan youth are urged to register as voters. But a question still lingers: Is this registration for genuine voters, or simply enough numbers to manipulate outcomes? Thrice, the IEBC has claimed to be independent. Thrice, it has been seen manipulated and subverted.
Furthermore, I wonder if this time we’ll stick to the acronym IEBC or change it again to something fancier, like ‘The Best More Independent Electoral Body of Kenya,’ to keep high and hopeful the spirit of democracy.
I’m not pessimistic. I’ll vote, God willing. But imagine a husband who has been unfaithful thrice, yet still promises you can trust him with everything you have – your say, your future. What do you think? Does he warrant a chance? Think. And think deep.
