The Burden of the Politically Apathetic

The word politics is believed to have first surfaced through Aristotle’s timeless work, Politika, in which the mainstream is first introduced to the Greek word “politikos” broken down as “polites” – citizens and “polis” – city.  At the center of politics are individual and collective citizens in a predetermined geographical space, whose economic and social interests are interdependent and coalesce on different levels. The obvious challenge of identifying the general objectives of human ventures in any locale as well as establishing consensus over the approaches and systems to reach these aims necessitates politics. 

Simply, settling on collective whats, whys and hows for any setting involving two or more people will require politics and politicking of some sort. Politics can therefore loosely be defined as the decisions and principles related to or inherent in a sphere or activity, especially when concerned with order, power and status. Only in an idyllic world where all humanity is in some sort of Inception-esque utopia of connected and consistent mindsets, with an unchallengeable and universally practiced socio-economic code or contract, could politics be dispensable. 

Especially among the Kenyan youth, there is an obvious and almost tangible distaste for anything politically inclined. Its not an accident that it is generally considered poor form and in bad taste to speak about politics in social settings. How much more then in a situation like Kenya’s, whose political undercurrents are painfully raw, touchy and extremely personal? Yet it costs us way more than falling on the social graces scale to turn a blind eye, drown our minds in the mindless and completely disconnected worlds of comics, foreign internet and TV content and pop-culture. Meanwhile, the country we will inherit is ripped apart at the seams as we banter, eggshell around and meme our political consciousness away. 

I actually get it. It is tiring and frustrating to care for a system you would seem foolish to trust, where it hardly seems that your voice even matters. Where the media, law enforcement and politicians themselves glaringly lack credibility and barely any effective systems are in place to check them. Don’t even get me started on our treatment of our true freedom fighters and modern day activists, who we reward with the protection of hashtags but whose realities are irreversibly altered, homes are burned and citizenship challenged. I understand how interest and proactivity in these circumstances just seems like a waste of good time, but whose house is it? 

Political apathy is the equivalent of knowing a rat has died in your home, smelling the rotting rat but doing nothing about it except using air freshener and nose plugs because there will be more rats and they will die too. Seriously, do we expect the winds of change and transformation are being gift-wrapped in the North-Pole and will eventually make their way down our national chimney for Christmas? Who is supposed to handle our mess for us? Political apathy is also a preserve of the privileged who you will never catch picketing, marching or protesting anything at the risk of being tear-gassed unless it hits them so close to home that they can no longer ignore it. Any tax-paying Kenyan, with any sort of investment, family or presence in this country should be actively invested in its politics. 

So before you completely check out, I know it feels like I’ve been shouting at you (in some ways, this rant is at myself too) can we agree that we will all do our beautiful country and ourselves a favor? Watch the news. Please. Its not just “daima mimi mkenya” when we’re slaying at the Olympics. Stay up to date because believe it or not your skin is quite literally in the game. Identify your leaders from MCA to gubernatorial level (from Nairobi to your rural home – yes, that place written at the back of your ID) to your presidential candidates. Who are they and what have they been doing since they took office? Are you satisfied? 

Have you ever opened your Constitution or are you the part of “We, the people of Kenya” that thinks the law is very clear? It isn’t even that long of a document. It comes in English and Kiswahili too, for free on the same Internet you frequent, so what’s your excuse not to have a clue? I’ll even give you shortcuts, start at Article 10. Skip to Chapter 7, read 8 and 9 (for the President and Deputy President) and then skip to Chapter 11 and you can call it a day there. Wrap your head around what our honorable politicians are here to do and what their duties are to you, read a manifesto or two and for goodness sake, register as a voter if you’re of legal age. 

Actually wake up, line up and vote when the time comes. There’s literally too much at stake for you to be flouting your disinterest like it makes you woke. Don’t tell us you’re protecting your peace when our collective stability is just as much at stake. Politics is a reminder that we are part of something way bigger than ourselves. Let’s act accordingly. 

– Natasha Teyie