Jubilee NEC member Wanja Maina warns Kenyans are demanding leadership that prioritises education, health, and order over political drama.
Speaking on Monday on Radio Generation, she argued that voters value discipline and clarity, warning that failures in essential services such as healthcare and schooling fuel frustration and strengthen calls for political change.
She argued that despite perceptions of disorder within the opposition, its message reflects genuine public concerns.
“Kenyans are desirous of change,” she said, noting that many feel the current system is failing them in basic ways.
Maina highlighted healthcare as a powerful example, recounting a visit to Kenyatta National Hospital where dialysis services were affected by water shortages.
“That is a matter of life and death,” she said, questioning why taxpayers should endure such failures. She said such experiences deepen public anger and drive demands for accountability.
Education, she said, remains another central issue. Jubilee NEC member defended reforms implemented during previous administrations, particularly the policy of 100 percent transition from primary to secondary school.
She recalled how local administrators were mobilised to ensure no child was left behind. “Have you ever seen a chief literally looking for children?” she asked, describing the effort as transformative.
She also praised efforts to curb exam cheating, saying it restored integrity to the system. “That thing actually came to an end,” she said, adding that exaggerated results and widespread irregularities stopped being the norm.
However, she acknowledged that education reforms were undermined by scandals such as ghost schools and teachers.
“That particular part was the ghost schools, the ghost teachers,” she said, arguing that these problems predated some reforms but came to define public memory.
Maina suggested that Kenyan politics often focuses disproportionately on perceived failures while ignoring achievements.
“You very rarely hear the positive things that people have done,” she said, adding that it is not possible to be in such a position and to do nothing.
She also reflected on leadership styles, using an analogy to describe voter preferences. She compared politicians to relatives who either enforce discipline or allow disorder.
“For some reason, children like the orderly one,” she said, arguing that voters similarly gravitate towards leaders who offer structure, even if they impose hard choices.
According to Maina, this explains why calls for order and clarity resonate despite accusations that the opposition lacks excitement. “We don’t look very good at sloganeering,” she said, but insisted that sobriety should not be mistaken for weakness.
She acknowledged that communication remains a challenge. “If that is because you may come out and say this is what we are saying, but if the hearing public doesn’t get it, then you are not communicating it effectively,” she said.
She said opposition leaders must balance ambition with realism, particularly when managing coalitions. “Coalition management is a whole headache,” she said, noting that competing interests and egos require constant negotiation.
Despite these challenges, she expressed confidence that Kenyans are paying attention. “They also love us,” she said, adding that public criticism should be seen as engagement rather than rejection.
For Maina, the lesson is clear, leadership must move beyond performance and focus on governance. “We can play politics with different things,” she said, but we can’t play politics with the education of our children.
