Audio By Vocalize
President William Ruto during disbursement of Sh120 million Nyota funds to youth at Wajir Stadium, Wajir County. [File, Standard]
“The greatest injustice in a democracy is not losing an election. It is never being counted in the first place.”
Kenya has lived for decades under the shadow of what has become known as the tyranny of numbers. Every election cycle begins with arithmetic. Political strategists study census reports, voter registers and ethnic voting patterns before they study manifestos. Coalitions are assembled around demographics long before they are assembled around ideas. Development promises are too often calibrated according to electoral weight rather than constitutional need. The result is a politics in which numbers appear to matter more than citizens.
Yet an even greater danger confronts the Republic: the tyranny of ignorance.
