Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Muthoni Passaris has urged Kenyans to develop stronger political convictions and demand greater accountability from elected leaders, warning that unemployment and economic hardship are leaving citizens vulnerable to political manipulation.
Speaking on Radio Generation's Generation Report on Monday night, Passaris said Kenya's prolonged electioneering culture had contributed to a political environment in which citizens can be mobilised through financial incentives rather than policy, values and accountability.
She said unemployment, particularly among young people, had made politics increasingly intertwined with people's struggle to earn a living.
"I think unemployment has caused a very big problem for the youth. So politics became eat, sleep, drink politics, and we're a politicking nation," Passaris said.
Her comments come as political parties and leaders begin positioning themselves ahead of the 2027 General Election, raising renewed questions about the relationship between voters and those seeking political office.
Passaris argued that citizens should not allow economic difficulties to compromise their ability to make independent political choices.
"We've become dangerous in the sense that you have no inner conviction. So if I drop some coins, he will say one term. If somebody else drops some coins, you will say two term. So as people, we are easily weaponised," she said.
She maintained that the challenge was not politics itself, but the manner in which political competition is conducted and how citizens engage with it.
"The politics is not bad because the way you approach it could be. We definitely need politics because politics governs how we do our taxes, how we do our education, our health, everything. But the problem is how it's done in this country," she said.
The legislator highlighted that empowering citizens should therefore go beyond encouraging them to participate in elections.
She argued that voters need access to information and meaningful conversations that allow them to understand government policies and assess whether leaders are delivering on their promises.
She pointed to political rallies as an example of how citizens can be repeatedly mobilised around competing political messages without necessarily developing an independent position.
"Kenyans ni hawa, you know the ones who will come to UDA, the ones who will come to Broadbased, the ones who will go to ODM, the ones who go to Linda Mwananchi, it's the same people," she said.
For Passaris, stronger citizen participation requires voters to examine political agendas and hold leaders accountable for their decisions rather than simply following whichever political formation offers immediate benefits.
She also linked political accountability to leaders' willingness to defend difficult decisions, citing her own experience supporting the Finance Bill 2023 despite the political consequences.
Passaris maintained that her support was driven by her belief that additional resources were necessary to address the housing crisis, particularly in informal settlements.
She said her experience working through the Adopt A-Light initiative had exposed her to the difficult living conditions in informal settlements, including high levels of crime and the security risks faced by women and girls.
The Nairobi Woman Representative argued that political leaders should be willing to explain and defend their decisions to the public, including those that may be unpopular, rather than focusing exclusively on preserving political support.
She also reflected on her political journey, which began in 2007 when she unsuccessfully sought to become Nairobi mayor. She later contested the Embakasi parliamentary seat before eventually winning the Nairobi Woman Representative position in 2017.
She recalled campaigning against former Nairobi Woman Representative Rachel Shebesh, who won the seat in 2013, saying their political contests demonstrated that fierce competition did not have to lead to hostility or animosity.
According to Passaris, Shebesh congratulated her after she won the Nairobi Woman Representative race in 2017, an experience she said represented the kind of political culture Kenya should embrace.
She concluded that the country needed a political environment in which citizens were free to choose their leaders, candidates accepted electoral outcomes and those elected to public office remained accountable to the people.