Press Release
DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS ARE LIKE MIRAGES IN THE DESERT

In 8^th August 2017, nearly 19 million Kenyans are likely to vote in the General Election; the fifth election since the introduction of multiparty Democracy in Kenya. The main contest lies between the incumbent president Uhuru Kenyatta who leads the Jubilee Coalition and his main rival Raila Amolo Odinga of National Super Alliance. The two contesters and their henchmen have campaigned in every corner of the country promising the electorates of improving their livelihood.

As the country heads to the polls, there is a sense of fear of violence erupting among the citizens hence the security apparatus and many civil societies have called for peaceful elections.

In this regard, Hizb ut Tahrir / Kenya wishes to expound on the following:

A victory for any of the coalition in this upcoming poll will not drastically and radically change the current harsh situation of the common man. This is due to the fact that leadership in Democracy is just a fallacy and ambition and not a trust of taking care of public interests. The reality still remains like the previous regimes. The next government will only bound to corrupt colonialist capitalist policies of exploitation. Therefore the deemed change in the polls will be other than the change of guard or maintaining it and not a real change.

Fear of election related violence and chaos is really saddening, and we categorically state that this should be avoided at all cost since human beings must always remain in a state of tranquility and peace. By and large, the worry should be a clear evidence of the total failure of the colonialist system of Democracy in uniting the society. This system itself is inciting violence and keeps dividing people along tribal, partisan and regional lines. Furthermore since leadership in Democracy is for the handful capitalists who yearn for individualistic satisfaction thus its politicians use any dirty means such as dividing masses along tribal grounds to capture power. We state that tribalism is among the weakest fragile bond that cannot bind together human beings who crave for progress. This particular bond makes people compete over dominance and therefore is prone to hatred and violence.

Decisions in democratic elections do not lie on the hands of the electorates as perceived by democratic adherents rather are confined within the hands of a few elites; the capitalists who have a direct influence on the political class. This was pointed out by Lord Halsham who once said- an ‘elected dictatorship’: rule for, by and of the elite… an individual’s vote is irrelevant.’

For the Muslim Community, we remind them that participating in these polls means nothing other than endorsing and consolidating the corrupt secular creed that advocates for separation of the Almighty Creator - Allah (swt) and His Divine Law from the realm of life. Secularism is giving authority of legislating to Man who is limited in thinking. Furthermore, under the veil of Democracy, all moral decadence such as homosexuality, lesbeniasim, drinking and all other evil that is committed. We wish to remind the Islamic community not to be submissive to the empty political promises of Democracy instead we should carry the noble daawah i.e. calling mankind to Islam as the only alternative for solving the problems that are not only facing Kenya but the whole world.

Shabani Mwalimu
Media Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir in Kenya