Analytical Kenyans are about to give up on the coming elections.

Rather than tackle specific policy questions, what we have witnessed is more posturing, spin doctoring and procrastination. 

The sad reality is that, as ever, the campaign is really being fought on the power of personalities and the ethnic allegiances they command.

Generalised statements and vague promises have often been the order of the day – except, of course, for Simeon Nyachae’s specific 'Contract with Kenya', which has uniquely offered tangible proposals and targets and a time-frame on how the country can move forward.

Theoretically, the election is being fought on the platform of economic revival, eradication of poverty, how to tackle unemployment and crime. 

But we have hardly witnessed a sustained and focused debate on them. Everybody talks about creating jobs, reducing poverty and improving the performance of agriculture. Ford-People presidential aspirate Simeon Nyachae’s contract is specific on most of these.

When it comes to policy, what is truly notable is the speed with which most politicians brush history aside and ignore the key questions that should form the very roots of all parties’ campaigns. 

Those questions are: How did we get here? How did our economy move from an average growth of about 6 per cent in the 70s to a recession of -0.3 per cent in 2001? How did our civil service get to the point of total collapse? 

How did crime come to dominate not only our urban but also our rural landscape, with the rate of criminality increasing every year? How did our education sector deteriorate to such a deplorable state?

Some politicians have been arguing that history is only there to teach us a lesson. That we should henceforth ignore the past and only look forward. 

We beg to differ. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once advised that that "a nation that forgets its past has no future". 

How can we solve all the problems that face us today if we do not understand their sources? We need to candidly face the realities of the past as a basis for formulating the necessary and practical solutions to our situation. If not, history is likely to repeat itself.

No one disputes that the greatest single source of our current dire economic and political situation is one factor: corruption. That corruption is not merely of the state apparatus itself, but also its trickle-down impact through the civil society from the construction empire "buying" itself ludicrously inflated government contracts to the daily banalities of kitu kidogo paid every day by the poorest.

What is more, the world knows it. Kenya’s relationship with development partners has been far from cordial for the last 10 years and we have been placed on a low lending level for a while now precisely because of high corruption by some of those now seeking office. 

It is to our eternal shame that Transparency International listed Kenya the sixth most corrupt country in the world. Corruption has become a culture – indeed, an industry. 

Yet is this election addressing corruption, beyond saying it is not to be tolerated? I am afraid not. The famous "List of Shame" – the roll-call of non-performing loans to the politically favoured –the reports of the Public Accounts Committee and the Public Investment Committee of Parliament, the bribery index compiled by Transparency International-Kenya, have all been swept aside at this election time.

Elections provide the only opportunity for any society to deal directly with the problems of governance, especially by replacing those the electors think have either under performed or have, by dint of their incapacity, led to the failure of the state.

In this regard, therefore, the forthcoming election provides that great opportunity to the Kenyans to rid themselves of the burden of poor governance. 

The reports of the PIC and the PAC should also not be swept aside. The recipients of government houses and the property belonging to Kenya Railways and other parastatals should explain their good fortune and so do those who passed the largesse to them. 

It is clear that it is enormously important that we focus directly on an anti-corruption strategy in the immediate post-election period. It is not enough just to argue that one cannot condone corruption. Clear, focused and tenable methods of fighting corruption should be debated. Prescriptions for its eradication evaluated and the public involved in the debate. 

Furthermore, the voters themselves should have a chance to answer for themselves the question: which one of the contenders for office can best fight corruption? Specific benchmarks should be set to delineate ways in which the new government’s performance on fighting corruption can be measured.

It is not enough to demand from one’s opponents that they declare their wealth and its sources.

Even if all the people assuming office declared their wealth and its sources, constitutional and legal structures are necessary to back this up and entrench it. Legislative measures, not mere wealth declarations, will be necessary to fight corruption.

All public figures under a Nyachae-led government will also be required to file their tax returns and make them public. There will be much closer scrutiny of public appointments and all major offices will be subject to parliamentary review with office holders required to submit annually to an assessment of their performance. Meritocracywill replace cronyism.

A moral crusade needs to be launched to change the national culture. This will mean public information campaigns and even a moral and ethical rearmament movement - backed perhaps by the churches and mosques.

We also need in place a very rigorous system of scrutinising campaign finance in Kenya. 

Let us not downplay the record of past performance. Both Narc and Kanu have been ambivalent about how to treat past maldoers - the former hinting at some kind of Truth and Reconciliation Commission along South African lines the latter suggesting some kind of amnesty. Ford People has made it clear that there will be no hiding place for those who have raided the public purse.

The law is the law, and judges who choose to interpret it in a partisan and self-interested manner will be replaced.

Taken together, this is a policy framework. Much more needs to be done, but it represents a real beginning and something of substance. 

Finally, it is worth voters looking into their own hearts at this critical moment in our history. A recent opinion poll, published by the International Republican Institute, a US non-profit-making group, this week reveals an alarming truth. So focused are the Kenyan people on the need for change, they are in danger of forgetting what that change is for.

Asked what were the most important issues in the election, from a sample of 3,000 voters nearly 30 per cent chose the phrase "a political transition" whereas just under half that figure opted for corruption and good governance. That finding is understandable, but it reveals that change is everyone’s priority.

Without ensuring the objective of change – good governance and end to corruption – that change will be useless. Kenyans must not just vote with their hearts – they should vote with their heads as well.

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Dr Fred Matiang'i is an aide to Ford-People Presidential candidate Simeon Nyachae.