Since I activated my Facebook page a few months ago, and as Kenya's general elections of 2013 draw closer, friends sometimes ask -- both on FB and, of course, Twitter, as well as in routine conversations -- if I will stand for elective office next year. Consistently, my answer has been an emphatic No! That's not going to change. This is a somewhat extended answer I gave on FB earlier this morning: I will not be a candidate in 2013. There are a number of insider-induced roadblocks within ODM (my party of choice) -- we last witnessed them (the shenanigans) first-hand in 2007 -- which will begin to break down in a meaningful and verifiable way only after the 2013 elections. The tortured process of instituting credible structures for internal democracy (in terms not just of written words but, more importantly, of consistent deeds) is what I have otherwise called the cleansing.
Let me add the following (which I didn't say on FB): I do plan to vote, for sure. More importantly, my take on the Presidential candidates is this: There's no angel, known or unknown, among them. All indications are that most of them are non-starters. Only one or two or at most three stand any chance. One in this latter group is bound to be Kenya's next president; and, even more importantly, the country must have a president after Kibaki. That is what succession is all about. And we can only choose from among those who offer themselves -- and who qualify.
Beyond that, my own vote will be guided by the principle of rotationality. Yes, everyone is entitled to be president, but there must be a sense of equity, in the minds of the electorate, regarding how succession to this singularly important political office in the land goes around. It must go around. We are not a monarchy. Nor are we a caste or slave society. Greed, parochialism and id-driven contempt for others' aspirations must be put in their place, via both reason and the vote
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