Nairobi Woman Rep Esther Passaris when she visited her predecessor Rachael Shebesh in hospital in the run-up to August 8 polls. [Photo: blade.co.ke]It is ridiculous for anyone to think that Kenya has a thriving democracy 'when only 6 million people participated' in the just concluded October 26 poll.Nairobi Woman Rep Esther Passaris has said that the country is in a reverse gear mode where whatever gains made on the democratic front are quickly getting lost."Look here, even the freedom of speech is long gone. If we did, one should even be able to insult the president without being arrested. That is why even when it comes to deciding the leadership of this country we are saying there is the system and there’s the country. Unfortunately, the system decides who is going to be president," Passaris told NTV on Monday morning.Passaris added that if Kenya wants her democracy to thrive, then there is a need to focus on strengthening institutions rather than focusing on individuals.She noted that democracy creates but it does not allow reason why 'you can have a good democracy but weak leaders'.Passaris also castigated the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) saying that its independence was long gone, a confession she said came from one of their own."What Supreme Court directed the IEBC to do in the repeat poll is what the commission ultimately failed to do, elections were not conducted within the tenets of law," she said.

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