Could we be headed for Russian ‘tandemocracy’ in Kenya soon?

Two Russian politicians — Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev — through cunning and the brutal exercise of power, have invented a new system of government: “Tandemocracy”.

They have come up with a way around a constitutional provision that bars the president from serving more than two terms.

Mr Putin has been sworn in for his fourth term and will be in office until 2024 — without removing the term limit law.

The former director of the FSB, the Russian spy agency and successor to the KGB, which he served for 16 years before going into politics, Mr Putin has effectively ruled Russia since 1999, when he became acting president upon the resignation of President Boris Yeltsin, under whom he was prime minister.

TERM LIMIT
It takes a KGB spy to rule a country for 25 years, as Mr Putin will.

He found a term limit of eight years. After his election in 2000, he served two terms until 2008, when he left the presidency to Mr Medvedev until 2012.

In 2011, they increased the presidential term from four to six years.

While Mr Medvedev was president, Mr Putin remained leader of their United Russia party. In 2012, he began his first six-year term, which ended this year.

At its end, Mr Putin will be 72 and probably too “young” to fade away.

There is, therefore, a likelihood that he will find himself in the prime ministership for a spell as Mr Medvedev does duty in the presidency.

Who knows? Mr Putin might come back at 79 to serve another term, until he is 84.

PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM

Two months ago, a first-term Kanu MP, Mr William Kamket of Tiaty, in the more violent reaches of Baringo County, introduced a puzzling constitutional amendment bill.

It sought to change Kenya from a presidential to a parliamentary system of government, with power shifting to the prime minister, the presidency largely ceremonial and two deputy premiers.

Mr Kamket’s logic was, to say the least, not edifying:

“My colleagues agree with me that what we have is a dining table for two individuals (president and deputy president). Under the circumstances, the presidential system is untenable, so we either reinvent ourselves as a country or self-destruct.”

The “eating” rationale hangs over the reasoning like a filthy blanket.

MPs
Mr Kamket is not your typical upstart. Yes, maybe what you are seeing is the dog, but it sure has a powerful master. So, who is the dog owner?

The bill was disowned by the National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale, who was categorical that it was not a Jubilee Bill. It was a Kanu Bill.

Asked to comment on the bill, Mr David Murathe, an ally of President Uhuru Kenyatta, was quoted as saying:

“People want Uhuru to go home at 60 yet Raila is trying to be president at 75. Where do you want Uhuru to go?”

Enter ‘Jakom’, who is received by the President at Harambee House, whereupon they shake hands.

RAILA

Subsequently, he is “rehabilitated” by having his motorcade and security restored and taken round to meet retired Presidents Moi and Kibaki.

Deputy President William Ruto is, quite pointedly and publicly, not allowed to see Mr Moi.

In the Book of Genesis, Jacob went to his uncle Laban and agreed to work for him for seven years in exchange of marrying his daughter Rachel.

“Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. Jacob loved Rachel,” the Bible says.

He served the seven years but his uncle tricked him and gave him Leah.

DEMOCRACY

When he complained, his uncle told him: Our culture does not allow me to give you the younger daughter before the elder one.

Stay with that one for a week, then come and serve me for another seven years and I’ll give you the one you want. Which is what he did.

Now, will Mr Odinga play Medvedev in an unfolding “tandemocracy” or will Mr Ruto take the weak-eyed Leah’s hand in political matrimony? Or are pundits reading this all wrong?

Political games against term limits are played in poor democracies, where big positions are associated with unbridled power and corruption.

In well-run democracies, it is not about age or fictional “public demand”. It’s about stabilising the polity by circulating the elite.

* * *
Pardon me for citing a personal example.

I live in a smallish four-bedroomed house with one wife, two little girls and a two-month-old kitten.

Other than a well-lit compound, I have no power extravagancies. I use solar to heat water.

In December last year, I got a power bill of Sh6,442. The following month it was Sh580.

In February, my bill had grown to Sh71,997.72. I had allegedly consumed some 3,286Kw/h of electricity.

I got a bill on March 3 of Sh52,171 and another on March 10 of Sh66,145.

It has all now ripened in April to Sh129,465.72, being fresh consumption of Sh63,320 and a balance of Sh66,145.

My power bill is competing with the mortgage to be the most expensive item on my budget. Didn’t Jubilee have a policy on cheap power?

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