Power sharing debate. Photo: Courtesy of Gado.
From the year 2002, winning a general election in Kenya has become possible only when leaders from different communities come together with their vote baskets to form a coalition.
In 2002, Narc toppled Kanu from power. in 2007, ODM had to form the pentagon which included leaders from different regions in their quest to unseat former President Mwai Kibaki. In 2013, Deputy President William Ruto teamed up with President Uhuru Kenyatta to ascend to power.
The same is being witnessed in 2017 where Raila Odinga, Musalia Mudavadi, Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetangula are teaming up to form NASA coalition in a bid to beat Jubilee Party which is also a unification of many parties in Kenya.
However, associate professor at the University of Nairobi school of business and former permanent secretary in the ministry of information and communication Bitange Ndemo has said for Kenya to prosper an accountable leader must ascend to power.
Ndemo argues that a coalition government is ineffective because of working in a crowded leadership.
"English proverb first cited by George Gascoigne, "too many cooks spoil the broth," tells us that a crowd at the leadership summit is ineffective. In political theory, there must be a distinctive leader who the people can hold solely to account," read part of his hypothesis.
The academician further said the coalition deny Kenyans an opportunity to question their leaders.
"In our case, the alliances and amalgamations of ethnicities deny the Kenyan people a leader that they can truly hold to account," he added.
"There is no country that can claim to have succeeded with coalitions in its leadership. The problem with coalitions is that no leader can push his or her own agenda. they are always like prenuptial agreements," he said.
The professor said most leaders in coalitions also work under a lot of intimidation hence making them incompetent.
"Partners in the coalition place a lot of provisos on the path. Leaders are told, "If you do this or that then I will not be with you".
Bitange narrated an example during Kibaki-Raila regime where most of the time Kenyans were treated to complaints from both sides instead of witnessing service delivery.
"During the second term of President Kibaki's administration, we had a coalition government. Kenyans can remember perpetual excuses about the "half-loaf" of bread. Whatever happens in the coming elections, we shall either revert to talking about half loaves or quarter loaves, and development will take a back seat".
However, Bitange has a solution for Kenya, he hypothesises that the nation just needs a benevolent dictator. A leader whose decision ought to be final and his subordinates must take or leave it as long as it serves the public interest.
Does Kenya need a benevolent dictator?