It’s betrayal, first; then, a clear case of unity in greed

The formalisation ceremony at the KICC, and events leading to it, were an eye opener to the philosophy of deceit that drives Kenya’s political class. When ODM switched allegiance to government last year, it was shocking to see its members, who had always advocated policies based loosely on social democratic ideals, become spineless praise singers of Mr Ruto.

They even began to issue veiled threats to those critical of the regime that they had for long dismissed as illegitimate and kleptomaniacal. Incredibly, they also began to exhibit cognitive dysfunction.

For example, asked about alleged Adani fraud in other countries, the newly-minted ODM Energy minister defended the corporation, arguing that the alleged fraud was not committed in Kenya.

Even a diehard regime sycophant would have been a little more circumspect in his answer. More outrageously, ODM MPs joined their UDA counterparts in threatening media freedom. The party with social democratic roots had embraced an authoritarian ideology.

At the formalisation ceremony, a 10-point memorandum of understanding was read out, as if this was revelation of a phenomenal transformative agenda. In fact, the MOU was a rehashing of themes and stipulations that are either in the statutes or the 2010 constitution.

In their speeches, the principals argued that the broad-based government aimed at uniting Kenyans. Where, pray, did they get the notion that Kenyans were disunited?

Read: ‘Woke’ Gen Z a constant irritant to Ruto, Samia and Museveni

The Gen-Z protests demonstrated that Kenyans were united against bad governance, thievery, decadent opulence of the governing class, criminal negligence and wastage.

The architects of the grand deception at KICC attempted to camouflage creation of space at the feeding trough for their acolytes as uniting Kenyans. This hoax might have worked in the past. Now, however, every Kenyan could see through this callous cynicism.

The ceremony at KICC did not mark a new beginning for the country. It demonstrated what we had always known – all political parties share the same philosophy of greed.

To people who had believed that Odinga and ODM represented social democracy, the ceremony at KICC was both disillusioning and enlightening. This experience is well illustrated by a quote from George Orwell’s Animal Farm:

“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

At KICC, it was impossible to tell who represented social democratic values who represented right-wing ideological values.

Tee Ngugi is a Nairobi-based political and social commentator.