Why Kenya Legislators Should be Deprived the ‘Honorable’ Tag from Their Names

Politics is a dirty game and that is why politicians who have been privileged to rise to the top leadership echelon sacrifice their civility to achieve dominance. Recent scenarios, in Kenya complicated by the simmering political exchanges, should be construed to the literal truncation of the ‘Hon’ title from the names of parliamentarians.

Just after 2017 general elections Embakasi MP Babu Owino and his Starehe counterpart Charles Jaguar exchanged fists at the precincts of parliament. The fight was triggered as a result of the persistent insults that, by then, Babu used to hurl against President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Owino had declined to recognize Uhuru as the president; instead he referred ODM leader Raila Odinga as the ‘president.’

The fistfight between Dagoretti MP Simba Arati and South Mugirango MP Sylvanus Osoro has portrayed Kenyan politicians in a bad image. They are no longer honorable as they used to be. They are no longer role models to future generations as they used to be. Trumpets of violence are being blown everywhere, with the division of the country into two camps that is the ‘dynasty’ and the ‘hustlers.’

Political altercation has been rampant in funerals. Rivalry has been misconstrued to enmity. Arati and Osoro fought in front of their political masters, who had also come to mourn the death of the father of Kisii Deputy Governor Joash Maangi.

Chapter six constitution of Kenya talks about integrity in leadership positions. Integrity in a bigger picture extends beyond corruption. EACC and NCIC should be empowered to make sure that leaders with integrity issues are not cleared by IEBC to contest again. Just like the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC), the legal body mandated to ensure that national cohesion is adhered to remains a toothless bulldog.

The list of shame that was produced by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) is not enough to tame hate speech and violence. According to the list of shame, prominent names featured including the former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko, MPs Johanna Ng’eno (Emurua Dikir), Simba Arati (Dagoretti North) and Sylvanus Osoro (South Mugirango).

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