This election year is a unique one in several ways.
It is unique because for the first time in recent history we have seen potential aspirants in various lucrative political seats dropping their ambitions either in favor of other candidates or for personal reasons.
The exit of former governor Peter Munya and the Tharaka Nithi senator Kithure Kindiki from the gubernatorial contest in Meru and Tharaka Nithi counties respectively left many surprised.
Their supporters did not receive any signal of doing so from them.
They were kept in darkness.
The same case was witnessed in Isiolo County when the current governor Dr Mohamed Kuti who was believed to be the strongest contender surprised his supporters and colleagues when he decided to abruptly retire from elective politics.
The case of the former Marsabit governor Ukur Yattan also to decide not to oppose the current governor Mohamed Ali who toppled him in 2017 shocked many of his followers.
In all these and other cases one thing that came out is that the ground fighters’ enthusiastic factions perceived to be close to these politicians were also not aware of the expected decisions by their favorite candidates.
Munya, Kuti, Yattan, and Kindiki forgot or decided not to consult or involve the so-called close supporters when they decided to make the decision.
Most of the noisy cliques were court unawares, by reading in the media about their candidate’s decisions as they fought for them in the villages and streets.
This raises the question of what value the diehards add to the big politicians apart from being used for political mileage at the ground by the aspirants and likely being dumped after the general elections.
Before the political decision by the leaders, they likely had high-profile meetings with their opponents in big hotels as their supporters fought the opponents.
It is true they had executive dinners and took expensive drinks before they finally agreed to have a win-win formula aged of the polls.
This brings the big question; what value do the followers have to the politicians. What stake do they hold?
One thing that comes out clear here is that the supporters are only required to sing for the politicians, attend their meetings, be lied to, and later vote them in for another five years.
It is time for ordinary citizens to re-examine themselves and grip a clear picture of where they belong in political matters. Are they victims of ‘use and dump’?
The failure to discover themselves has made the voters elect poor leaders who disappoint them when they take the political offices.
They fail to deliver and end up disappointing the citizens.
This cycle is repeated every time during general elections a situation that has exposed our country Kenya to the effects of bad governance and love for money not to transform the lives of the people but to satisfy their ambitions.
The electorates should embrace and sacrifice for good leadership without focusing and when they keep away personal interests at the expense of others; the same will happen to the political leaders and the lives of the people will be transformed.
