By Brian Nzomo
Centralization of power organs, economic factors and social structures sustains the manner in which oppressors can effectively dominate society. Looking back at imperial domination in Africa, one realizes that it was imperative for colonialists to coagulate their presence in selected areas, and parasitically suckle away resources from others. The completion of the railway in 1905 ensured the creation of urban centers along the line. Colonialists then centralized their power organs in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu; concentrated economic production and social needs around those areas, totally alienating the rest of the colony.
When Kenya gained its flag independence in 1963, the government did not endeavor itself in changing this unfair reality. Instead, it favored a strong central government, demonized regionalism, and maintained the colonial theory of squeezing in the country’s focus into Nairobi, the capital. It is no surprise therefore that many places in Kenya viewed their nationality as something so abstract and alien, because Kenya as a country existed in Nairobi. Decades of massive underdevelopment in the ASALs and perceptions of not being Kenyan enough are just some of the implications of this damaging state of reality.
In 2010, the new constitution guaranteed change. Something else came up. Devolution. The country was divided into counties with their own semi-governments which would help tackle this problem. But even so, devolution has faced a lot of hardships in its implementation. The National government is complacent in funding counties sustainably, and corruption has manifested itself terribly. Betraying the hopes and aspirations of one crucial structure that would have ameliorated the disparities that exist.
But centralization would not be easy to do away with. Because our mentalities are still clouded with its power. All our structures are centralized in a way; sometimes we may not even realize it, but its logic reigns unabashed.
Centralization necessitates alienation. It clogs alternative channels of action, tethers our discourse or ideas to a certain circumference. The core of it plays us into thinking along the lines of order, nature, custom or tradition. In short, it utilizes the conservative blueprint. It instills in us the apprehension that if we wander off too far from the nucleus, society or nationhood, or whatever it purports to control; we will break away and diffuse into confusion. But truly, what it intends to achieve is to create an opportunity for gatekeeping. A floodgate that can muzzle ideas that can rattle the existing establishment and segment its position.
Think of it like a funnel. Drawing in all the liquid. Creating an illusion of uncensored contribution, but in essence; the more a liquid flows in, the more limited its space. It becomes muzzled. And finally, its flow is impeded. Because centralized structures aim at oversimplification of voices.
The reason why this is ideal for any tyrannical government; it is because at the end of this channel of communication, no one is bound to be responsible for the issues that were raised. In any case, there will be denial that any lamentation was actually made, or it would be attributed to ‘having being made across the wrong channels’. Centralization emphasizes on protocol. Everyone is expected to receive salvation from a sole Golgotha. Survival is guaranteed only by being fed by the system. Based on whatever position you find yourself in. You can only extricate yourself. But you cannot extricate others without destabilizing the entire order.
In this way, it is easy for a parasitic system to sap whatever energies you have, knowing all too well there is little to no escape. It can feed you its placating crap, numb you, have you memorize its choruses, and crush your overall will to resist or think otherwise. A sort of toxic dependency that should not exist in the first place.
Tyrannical governments understand that voices are powerful. There is nothing more menacing than a diversity of ideas dripping from everyone’s perceptions and experiences. Or the pricking nature of questions we may have on certain policies. It is for this reason that centralization exists. To limit the potency of these voices in the name of harmonizing, exclude the validity of our ideas and lamentations, and prevent us from spiralling away into the periphery and dismantling the intricacy of oppressive structures.
There are mainly two ways of decentralizing structures: One is material decentralization, two is mental decentralization. Political, economic and social necessities which impact our material lives, should be truncated away from Nairobi. They should be brought closer to the people it intends to serve. Finally, we need to democratize spaces to contribute our voices, undistilled as they are. Our humanity and existence should be enough validity to guarantee us being heard.
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