Date Posted: 6/14/2018 4:51:54 AM
Posted By: STEPHKIMOTHO Membership Level: Silver Total Points: 402
Democracy is a system of governing which is under the rule of law. It is a government system whereby the citizens of a country elect the leaders of their choice to rule them. The citizens have equal rights regardless of their social status,political affiliations or ethnic backgrounds. In Kenya,since the independence date of 12th December 1963, the system of government was not rooted in democracy. Kenya was a one-party state under the rule of the Kenya African National Union(KANU)party. Other political parties were not allowed to participate in ruling. There was no democracy. People were ruled by one single party with no elections. The voice of the people was not respected. Questioning any work of the government was a crime. However,tables were overturned in 1992 when the then president Moi gave in to the cry of the people to give in to multi-partism. Since then, fresh elections have been held after a duration of 5 years to give citizens a chance to elect leaders of their choice. A democratic government since then has had its own advantages and disadvantages. BENEFITS DEMOCRACY HAS BROUGHT TO KENYA. 1.Democracy has worked to ensure that the interests of Kenyan citizens are upheld. Nowadays people have a voice in the government. People can now make demands of what they expect their government to provide. They have a right to have their wishes expressed to the national government through their various leaders that they elected. 2.Democracy has helped to ensure that there is no misuse of power. This is a great step for our country. Earlier on,leaders would exercise their authority in order to satisfy their own interests. Anyone who dared to question the government was punished. However,thanks to democracy. Now ,the eyes of the Kenyan citizens are glued on their leaders. Both leaders and their citizens have equal rights. Citizens have the right to point and to report leaders who misuse their positions for their own gains. 3.Democracy helps to promote a sense of responsibility for leaders and those in government positions towards their citizens. This is evident in the fact that every leader is elected to cater for the interests of the citizens hence this makes them to have a sense of responsibility to meet their expectations. 4.Democracy helps to promote fairness. Since all citizens both those in authority and those being ruled are under the rule of law and no one is above the law. 5.Democracy works to ensure that the citizens become better. This is because people get to learn to respect the rights of other people and also the rule of law with the knowledge that consequences of breaking the law apply to all in the same way. PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH DEMOCRACY. 1.It puts the country at the risk of wrong leadership. This is because most people are to lured by wealthy politicians to elect them simply because of money. They become blinded by their social backgrounds and end up electing leaders who do not promote development at all. 2.It promotes slow growth and development. This is because the decisions of development projects may require lots of consultations to implement. Also those in opposition tend to oppose the work of the government thus this leads to slow or stagnated growth in a democratic country.3.It may lead to social crimes. People have equal rights that are protected in the constitution. There are also many human rights activists. This has made people to abuse their freedoms especially that of freedom of expression. This is the case especially in social media where people engage in false rumours, gossips and ridicules to the work of the government.This creates unnecessary tension in the country and may lead to social evils like fights. All in all, despite all the challenges of democracy,It still remains what has brought us this far as Kenyans. Kenya has become a great nation especially with the formation of county governments. It is still a democratic government that will enable this great country of Kenya to fly to the great heights of unimaginable success.
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