The last three weeks have been eventful in Kenyan politics. The country has been headline news globally for civic resistance to national leadership, and especially the government.
The country has also demonstrated its unique ability to form governments based on Westminster Parliamentary Democracy, while successfully running a presidential system of governance. The government found itself in the crosshairs of the young generation after it brazenly pushed through the Finance Bill against widespread popular opposition.
The bill contained some of the most punitive tax proposals ever witnessed in the history of the republic. This was in spite of the biting economic hardships occasioned by the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic and spiralling national debt burden.
As the protests turned violent, the government made a hasty retreat and caved into the demands of the Gen Z movement. President William Ruto dissolved his Cabinet soon after refusing to assent to the Bill that had been passed by Parliament.
He then reached out to the opposition for dialogue which eventually led to the formation of a coalition government christened the Broad Based Government, BBG. It would be instructive to note that in the run-up to the elections, there were two main competitors.
The Azimio led by Raila Odinga and the Kenya Kwanza led by Ruto. They both had campaign manifestoes that they used to woo voters. Both manifestoes had similarities, even as they had some diametrically opposed development proposals. On the social service delivery platforms, the two coalitions had more or less the same policy positions.
There might have been nuanced differences in approach and implementation strategies. However, they both agreed and promised unlimited access to quality universal healthcare, free education and affordable housing. They had stark differences in their economic development blueprints.
The Kenya Kwanza had its flagship Bottom Up Economic transformation. It proposed to dismantle the middle class- led economic model, which they considered created an unequal society. Instead, they promised to empower the vendors in the lower strata of the economic pyramid to be the mainstay of national economic development.
This led to the Dynasty vs Hustler movements. The narrative became the main plank of the campaigns and polarised the country so much. The Kenya Kwanza brigade developed campaign messages that resonated well with the lumpen proletariat. They threatened a revolution and the overthrow of the perceived oligarchs derisively referred to as the dynasty.
When President Ruto formed his government upon affirmation by the Supreme Court and swearing in, he launched his development agenda. Dubbed, Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, BETA the government translated their campaign manifesto into a development blueprint. The key features included, the affordable housing and the Hustler Fund.
At the same time, the government was facing reduced cash flow amidst increasing wage bills and operating expenses. The mounting debt burden worsened the situation. The President turned to the Bretton wood Institutions of World Bank and IMF for a bailout. This came with stringent economic reforms that required increased taxation and austerity measures in non-core expenditures.
The spiralling inflation caused more economic hardship to the common citizens. The campaign manifesto that was very popular with the masses soon turned into anathema as a development policy. The government found itself between the devil and the deep blue sea.
Considering that the opposition had a totally different economic agenda, it was easy for them to oppose these proposals on the floor of the house. In fact, the earlier protests against the new taxation measures was led by the opposition leaders themselves.
The Azimio had proposed a tax incentive regime that included subsidies and zero-rating of essential consumer goods and services. The Kenya Kwanza had countered this by claiming that it made more economic sense to subsidise production instead of consumption.
Azimio had also proposed gradual investment into affordable housing from the private sector in conjunction with the Consolidated Fund instead of structured compulsory taxation for the same. As opposed to the Hustler Fund, the opposition had proposed to lower the cost of banking business to make credit cheap and easily accessible.
ODM party being the largest and dominant partner in Azimio, largely influenced the policy positions of the coalition. The manifesto greatly reflected the ideology of social democracy which is egalitarian, protectionist, government-driven and citizen-centred.
Coincidentally, it is ODM and not Azimio, which has entered into government partnership with President Ruto.
With the establishment of the broad-based government, BBG President Ruto and Raila Odinga will now have to harmonise the campaign manifestoes. This will enable them to create a shared development policy for implementation. Their advisers will be required to identify areas of commonalities in their campaign agenda to bring together.
They will also have to revise the key points of differences so that a common ground is established for purposes of a united policy position. The best approach would be through the development of a Sessional Paper. The paper would identify and create key focus areas of a development agenda complete with their implementation strategies.
The Sessional Paper will in turn influence key government policy decisions including the budget. For effective implementation of the government development agenda, the Sessional Paper must never ignore the social dynamics of our nationhood. The national social fabric is instrumental in the successful execution of the government development projects.
The BBG has brought together hitherto bitterly antagonistic political formations. However, these groupings have the advantage that they also share a heritage. They have worked together in the past and understand each other fairly well. Both Raila and Ruto first found themselves under the President Daniel Moi during the merger of National Development Party and to form New Kanu.
Raila served as the Secretary General of the new party while Ruto was the powerful Director of Elections. They soon parted ways as Raila joined the president Mwai Kibaki in the Narc government as Ruto headed to the opposition ranks for the first time in his political life. The 2005 referendum and 2007 general elections brought them together again and they served in the Grand Coalition government.
The ICC fate and the 2018 handshake made them drift apart once again yet the dynamism of Kenyan politics has brought them together again for the benefit of the nation. This shared heritage and strong difference in opinion on some key development issues should be exploited for the benefit of the citizens.
It should allow them to leverage on their common visions and temper their individual preferences with the peoples’ interests. Government technocrats and party policy advisers should move with haste and study the relevant campaign documentations. This is because the synchronisation of the policies of Kenya Kwanza and Azimio coalition is now not only necessary but also inevitable.
Political and public policy analyst