Politics: The Problem with Maseno-How to Fix It

The elections had already been done by the time I was through with Part 1 of this my bi-part free-for-all advice to Maseno University students. And deciding to withhold my wisdom was well thought out: it would seem unwise and senseless to speak as I am about to so soon after a new government had taken the reigns. I had to give the new ‘government’ time to settle and not poison the electorate and cause unsolicited upheavals. A whole academic year down the line and I am ready to pen down everything I had in store then, because in my view, nothing has changed-not in the behaviour of those at the helm of the students’ organization, nor among the inebriated voters. In fact, if anything, they have all changed for the worse, and the institution’s politics are metamorphosing towards the negative-retrogression-as the students of statistics would say.

Lessons have been learnt by any wise and uncontented observer and believer in politics as a way to a better life. Parrots and hoi polloi are still in the mist and chanting if not raving the heroics of the powers that be in the name of the current SOMU. Political mugwumps are just there; as lukewarm as they come-simply ‘watermeloning’ their way awaiting their graduation from school. Evaluate yourself if u are a current student in this our only university at the equator.

With no further ado, allow me to further cement my previous assertion; that student politics is the main cancer ailing Maseno University. A review of that past academic year and how SOMU has performed vis-à-vis their election promises and slogans will reveal that barely has anything major been achieved. Save for a few offices, most of the rest have just been as ceremonial as the Chancellor’s position in a university, if not the presidency of France in the 3^rd and 4^th republics. 

Well, this article was not meant to be a congratulatory note to the hard workers, but I wonna steal this chance to do it. At least, you deserve a generous B grade if I were to grade you. But for your roles in failing to decisively, comprehensively and conclusively handle the rampant insecurity for the non-resident students in the institution as well as your roles in the recent Workers’ Strike, it gets reduced to a D…I guess Statistics students can explain why a low weighting has such a tremendous impact on a relatively strong/good grade. After all students of Psychology will explain it in other words: Negative actions live longer in the minds of people than their positive counterparts. Rue that if that sword cuts and haunts you…umejikata tu kwa wembe ulioitisha mwenyewe.

Neither was my article to malign the so-called ceremonial offices; with all due respect…they know themselves. My mathematics teacher, if my memory serves me right, once told me to do the same thing to one side of an equation as I had done to the other… Now, I am dealing with the same specimen here, hence if I am to maintain a balance and accord justice to all, then I have to accord all sides what they deserve. And I do this whole heartedly; after all justice is in the heart as well as doing what one is supposed to do, according to Aristotle. For this reason, this side of the SOMU equation deserves a huge fat and well-rounded ‘D’…too much a fair grade for that matter. That is bearing in mind your cumulative negative impact not only on the whole of the organization and the whole campus as a whole, but also on the judgment of future generations who will pass through the school. One thing is for sure: history will judge you harshly for the injustice you have done during your tenure.

As for the electorate, you still have another chance to redeem your image in the eyes of the public. And this is why this article is a dedication to you all. At least, grab this one chance to make a real difference...not that imagined one which those who voted last year tried to make. You see, it is always said that those who do not learn from their past are bound to repeat their mistakes in future. The wahengas from the coast also tell us that, ‘kufanya kosa sio kosa, kurudia kosa ndio kosa.’ That is why I want to reiterate that when it comes to choosing and electing leaders into office, ‘the buck stops with you’ as one Truman, former US president would put it.

After an extensive research I carried out through out that one academic year, I discovered that all electorates the world over, exhibit similar patterns of behaviour. A kind of intoxication aura engulfs even the most sober and bright minds when it comes to election time. And since rationality cannot cohabit with ‘cheap nyef nyef’, then it immediately flies out through the nearest open ‘window’! That’s when you find even the most sensible person doing the most irrational things on earth. Unfortunately, my good people who voted in the current SOMU have not been spared from this ‘curse’-the curse of the voter-in political diction.

After getting down to the root of the matter however, I discovered that ignorance was the driving factor behind the Rationality-Irrationality theory. Thus, by the end of this piece of work, I aim at driving that out of you all fellow brethren who will be taking part in the looming elections come September/October this year.

To do so, I bank on a few principles of the psychology of memory and learning according to one Professor Robert Bjork.  He asserts; forgetting helps you learn: We need to forget that we messed up in the last elections and seek to chart a better future for not only ourselves, but also the future students.

Secondly, we create ourselves by choosing which memories to recall: Connect that to the above assertion and its veracity comes live. Precisely, choose to remember positives and you become a better and healthier person; the vice versa of the same is true.

Finally, he puts it that learning is under your control: since your learning is dependent on your very own memory and attitude, then you are in charge of your very own learning process.

In light of the above, it should be crystalline clear that we have all been making fools of ourselves; exposing ourselves to public ridicule. All is not lost though. We can still improve on our politics, but by first choosing the right leaders.

Thus, to determine whether the emerging leaders are fake or not, I suggest we use the Nine Tests of Confucius, before deciding on whom to vote into office.

According to this thinker, this is how we will know a servant leader: “… send him to a distant mission to test his loyalty. Employ him nearby to observe his manners. Then give him a lot to do in order to judge his ability.

Suddenly put a question to him to test his knowledge. Make a commitment with him in difficult times to test his ability to live up to his own word. Trust him with money to test his heart, and announce the coming of a crisis to test his integrity.

Make him drunk to see the other side of his character and put him in female company to see his attitude towards women. Submitted to these nine tests, a fool will always reveal himself!”

To do this will require a great deal of political will and courage. But as the late Nelson Mandela put it, 'it always seems impossible until it is done.' You can do it, I believe.   

Do it remembering this one last thing; that Great people look like You. Cheers to y’all!