As Kenya pro­gress­es under its new con­sti­tu­tion­al frame­work, a unique dis­cov­ery has sur­faced, reveal­ing the intri­cate pow­er-shar­ing agree­ments that have silent­ly shaped our polit­i­cal land­scape. These pri­vate deals, long whis­pered in the cor­ri­dors of pow­er, have final­ly been thrust into the pub­lic domain, prompt­ing a nation­al reeval­u­a­tion of polit­i­cal account­abil­i­ty and gov­er­nance. Pow­er-shar­ing agree­ments in Kenya have tra­di­tion­al­ly been covert arrange­ments where polit­i­cal lead­ers nego­ti­ate posi­tions and influ­ence ahead of elec­tions. Such agree­ments promise sta­bil­i­ty but often pri­or­i­tize per­son­al or par­ty inter­ests over nation­al welfare.

The recent rev­e­la­tion of a pact involv­ing high-rank­ing offi­cials vivid­ly illus­trates this prac­tice. These pacts, as devel­op­ments around Deputy Pres­i­dent Gachagua’s impeach­ment sug­gest, are not just polit­i­cal tools but poten­tial cat­a­lysts for cor­rup­tion, shield­ing par­tic­i­pants from account­abil­i­ty and per­pet­u­at­ing gov­er­nance gaps. No won­der some of our known cor­rupt offi­cials fight to join pol­i­tics to pro­tect them­selves from being prosecuted.

Eco­nom­i­cal­ly, these pacts can be debil­i­tat­ing. They divert focus from nation­al devel­op­ment to polit­i­cal sur­vival strate­gies, with lead­ers more con­cerned about pla­cat­ing allies than imple­ment­ing sus­tain­able eco­nom­ic poli­cies. The after­math is often a dis­il­lu­sioned elec­torate, grap­pling with unmet promis­es and eco­nom­ic stag­na­tion. This sce­nario is painful­ly evi­dent in Kenya’s ongo­ing eco­nom­ic strug­gles, where growth and inno­va­tion are sti­fled by polit­i­cal inde­ci­sion and corruption.

Amidst these rev­e­la­tions, The Green Think­ing Action Par­ty (GTAP), with its unmatched ide­ol­o­gy of eth­i­cal and effec­tive gov­er­nance, sus­tain­able wealth gen­er­a­tion, and the dig­ni­ty of house­holds, stands out for its prin­ci­pled stance. Opt­ing out of pre-elec­tion pow­er deals dur­ing the last elec­tions and set­ting extreme­ly strin­gent qual­i­fi­ca­tions for par­ty flag bear­ers, GTAP’s deci­sion sym­bol­izes a bea­con of hope for a dif­fer­ent polit­i­cal nar­ra­tive ‑one that gen­uine­ly seeks to trans­form the nation through trans­paren­cy and ded­i­ca­tion to the elec­torate’s needs. Can you imag­ine that apart from get­ting to pow­er, most sig­na­to­ries of the pow­er deal are so far gen­er­al­ly unhap­py with them­selves for not meet­ing the cry of the peo­ple who elect­ed them due to a forced mar­riage sit­u­a­tion? Not because they do not intend to achieve what they promised, but the fact that their foun­da­tion is flim­sy. As the par­ty leader of GTAP, I com­mend our mem­bers for their fore­sight and integri­ty, which stark­ly con­trasts with the pre­vail­ing polit­i­cal cul­ture and pain. One day, albeit time, we will have a crit­i­cal mass that is focused on chang­ing this coun­try for good. It will nev­er start with the num­bers but few peo­ple and insti­tu­tions with great ide­ol­o­gy, and then the mass­es will join in for what they are.

Inter­est­ing­ly, the cur­rent polit­i­cal calm result­ing from an unex­pect­ed alliance between Pres­i­dent Ruto and for­mer rival Raila Odin­ga offers a mixed bless­ing. While it has ush­ered in a peri­od of rel­a­tive sta­bil­i­ty, it also under­scores the flex­i­bil­i­ty of polit­i­cal alliances, which are often more about strate­gic con­ve­nience than ide­o­log­i­cal align­ment. This part­ner­ship, while ben­e­fi­cial in tem­per­ing polit­i­cal ten­sions, may delay more sub­stan­tive reforms need­ed to address Kenya’s sys­temic issues.

As Kenya approach­es anoth­er elec­tion, it is essen­tial for vot­ers to be alert and judi­cious. The prac­tice of enter­ing poor­ly con­sid­ered pow­er-shar­ing agree­ments needs to stop. Kenyans should insist on lead­ers who place the coun­try’s wel­fare above their own inter­ests. It’s time for politi­cians to move beyond past con­flicts and par­ty pol­i­tics to col­lab­o­ra­tive­ly work toward the col­lec­tive ben­e­fit of the nation.

The rev­e­la­tion of Kenya’s pow­er-shar­ing deals, while shock­ing, presents a vital chance for reform. This moment serves as a ral­ly­ing cry for the Green Think­ing Action Par­ty, oth­er like-mind­ed insti­tu­tions, and all Kenyans to ush­er in a new polit­i­cal era defined by integri­ty, account­abil­i­ty, and true ser­vice. As elec­tions near, let’s unite to shape a Kenya that future gen­er­a­tions will admire and respect.

Echo­ing the time­less words of For­mer Pres­i­dent Moi, “Siasa ni maisha, siasa mbaya maisha mbaya” – Pol­i­tics is life, bad pol­i­tics means a bad life. This pro­found state­ment encap­su­lates our col­lec­tive call to action. Think green, act green!