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Most political parties in Kenya have lost their identity. Some, like the Liberal Democratic Party and Ford Kenya are trying to recreate theirs and prove that they have a life outside and beyond Narc.
The loss of identity may be a child of political pluralism. When Kanu was a political monopoly, its leaders were also the leaders of Government. No identity crisis there.
It is doubtful whether the quest for multiparty politics would have taken off had Kanu rebels not been under pressure to redefine their relevance after they were kicked out of the party. But they had nothing else in common.
Even after the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD) was formed, they failed to forge a common agenda. Although they were agreed on the need to wrest power from Kanu, they did not have a common ideology on how to do this. FORD as a party partly collapsed because it was not founded on a political philosophy, but on a desire.
Before the 1997 election, Ford Kenya was regarded as the "party of the future" because it had in it many bright Young Turks. But, again, apart from their "youthfulness", these chaps had no common political identity.
Ford Kenya underwent another change when Mr Michael Wamalwa took over as chairman. It acquired a "western" identity that prompted Mr Raila Odinga to decamp to the National Democratic Party which was to be swallowed up by Kanu in 2002. And it was swallowed up for the same reason it had been formed � the pursuit of a desire as opposed to an ideology.
Its identity was reincarnated when Mr Odinga and company decamped from Kanu in 2002 to join LDP.
In their bid to win the election, opposition parties were anxious to change their identity from a "professional opposition" to a potential governing outfit. The only way to do so was by embracing a form of co-operation, not unlike that between Kanu and NDP.
After many political tea parties, the opposition leaders founded the National Alliance of Kenya Party (NAK), but before it could establish its identity, LDP joined the bandwagon All the parties thus suppressed their own identities and created a loose coalition. Wananchi fell for the chimera and voted for Narc, ending Kanu's identity as a ruling party.
At the time, some leaders like President Kibaki believed in Narc's new identity. In his inaugural speech, he said: "Some prophets of doom have predicted vicious infighting following this victory. I want to assure you that they will be disappointed... Narc will grow stronger and coalesce into a single party. This has not happened.
One and a half years later, Narc partners are trying to reassert their identities. For instance, although LDP is in Government, it has created an opposition identity for two reasons: To pose as a government-in-waiting and to convince voters and donors to support its bid come 2007. How is it doing this?
By projecting its leaders as anti-graft crusaders who cannot stand the itchy fingers of their partners. But is this identity genuine or is it a game plan?
Ambitions of its own
NAK has also lost its identity. Some of its leaders have been adversely mentioned in connection with graft, but they have found solace in a new refrain: They are a classic example of the hunters becoming the hunted.
Ford Kenya is increasingly adopting an independent identity, partly because it has discovered ambitions of its own that might be compromised by its association with NAK.
Kanu and Ford People are also losing their identities too. Kanu is yet to accept that it is not in power. It has yet to stamp its authority in opposition politics either, because it wants to be seen as a potential ruling party. One of its top leaders once said in private that if they got "four flags", Kanu would stop "making noise". But he meant that the flags must go to the Rift Valley, and so they were not placated when some Kanu MPs outside the Rift Valley landed Cabinet posts during the June reshuffle.
In the process, Kanu suffered yet another blow when Ford People MPs were "poached". Why? It had joined the Coalition of National Unity with two aims: To piggy-ride on Ford People's credibility as an opposition party, and to stamp its authority in Parliament through its numbers.
This identity of a strong and credible opposition was thwarted by the reshuffle which also scored another unintended goal � erasing the identities of all political parties.
If you go to the Registrar of Societies, you might find their names and articles of association, but in reality, they do not exist.
To the extent that parties exist to pursue political ideas as opposed to whetting the appetites of their leaders, such organs do not exist in Kenya. If they do, they have failed to identify their ideology and membership. And that is why they are "wallowing in the miasma of deceit" as the late Wamalwa so eloquently put it.
Mr Mbugua is a sub-editor with the Daily Nation
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