In Kenya there’s a prevailing belief even among children that democracy and infrastructure are firmly in place.
Yet this narrative seems overly generous when you look at things more closely.
In fact Kenya’s claim to democratic exceptionalism across Africa rests on shaky foundations.
Every election brings pomp and promise but many Kenyans know all too well that voting isn’t enough.
When you dare to challenge the system, speak truth to power or say no to the chewable lies they hand you you can find yourself on the wrong side of the law fighting to avoid jails and hand wringing.
Meanwhile those infrastructure miracles we’re told about roads, electricity, services often don’t reach the schools in remote regions, the clinics in dense urban slums or the rural areas where the next generation of Kenyans grows up far from progress.
It’s all the more troubling when political elites throw around slogans about only democracy in a continent of many systems struggling for accountability.
If democracy is real then it must mean more than just casting a ballot.
It must mean transparency, justice, fairness, the right for someone to question the powerful without fearing jail or worse and the infrastructure to enable participation beyond just signing a paper.
Until Kenya aligns the spectacle with the reality on the ground until the institutions, the services and the chance to speak plainly without consequence all match the claim the idea of it being the sole guardian of democracy in Africa remains more aspiration than truth.
By Nairobi