Power sharing not the answer for Kenyans
Jan 10, 2008
The world has been jolted by the events in Kenya following the December 2007 general elections.
By James Magode
The world has been jolted by the events in Kenya following the December 2007 general elections.
Kenya had been dressed as the paragon of democracy and stability in the East African volatile region.
In the wake of the massive protests against Mwai Kibaki’s claims as winner, it is now open that police clamp-down alone, in which many have already lost their lives, cannot stem the population’s outrage.
We can now see some calls from different centres of the globe for a political settlement of the crisis.
British Premier George Brown hastily went as far as mooting a power sharing arrangement between Kibaki and Raila Odinga.
The immediate cause of the Kenya crisis is the stealing of elections by Kibaki from the Kenyan people.
To suggest that this can be redressed simply by scrambling a power deal between the two persons of Kibaki and Odinga deflects the question from the sphere of democratic political struggle of the Kenyan people to the principle of private sharing of spoils by seemingly contending gangs of robbers.
A power deal can stave off the present crisis only if it is a result of agreement to address the underlying issues which brought up the crisis in the first place. It cannot be just about sharing positions of the state, but about instituting guarantees to the realisation of the people’s aspirations for a democratic life.
The current mayhem is a chilling mirror of deeper malaise of the Kenyan society since the colonial era. Despite the fervour of the struggle for independence, Jomo Kenyatta, the founding president of the country, who was thrust into leadership by people like Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Tom Mboya and the many other nationalists, exercised patriarchal autocracy over the people rather than ingesting democratic progress of the life of the country.
The era of Daniel Arap Moi did not offer any change of direction of the country’s affairs either.
It only added to its authoritarianism and depravity. Kibaki was catapulted to power at the head of NARC with the aim of ending Moi’s autocratic rule and the establishment of a more humane system of governance.
But Kibaki also abandoned the social objectives of NARC and made the business interests within his native Kikuyu his principal political constituency.
In the end, many of his erstwhile allies in NARC revolted, leading to the collapse of the broad coalition. The collapse of NARC ought to have required new general elections.
But Kibaki plodded on, unaffected by the fledging resentment which was welling up in the country.He governed Kenya as if it had been his prize.
In the end, when the mandatory election period drew near, he patched up a skimpy outfit he named PNU as a sign poster for his re-election bid. The result was a stifling use of tribal chauvinism which greatly aggravated acrimony in the country.
It is no accident that when the arithmetic of the votes failed to add up for victory Kibaki flagrantly crowned himself secretly in the vaults of State House.
Having so wrested power, Kibaki must pretend to exert legitimate office by violently quelling public uproar against his rule yet Kenyans will not give up their opposition. Therefore, this is not a democratic situation.
We in Uganda must add our voice and express firm solidarity with the people of Kenya over their democratic aspirations. Those who speak of fast tracking the East African federation should start first with fast tracking democracy. The federation of East Africa should start with the unity of how to build democracy in each of our countries.
We must oppose federation with undemocratic states. Federation of states of enslavers is not the unity we should desire. We should demand the unity to live in freedom. No democracy, no East African federation! Such should be our watchword.
The writer is a member of the NRM historicals’ forum
The world has been jolted by the events in Kenya following the December 2007 general elections.
Kenya had been dressed as the paragon of democracy and stability in the East African volatile region.
In the wake of the massive protests against Mwai Kibaki’s claims as winner, it is now open that police clamp-down alone, in which many have already lost their lives, cannot stem the population’s outrage.
We can now see some calls from different centres of the globe for a political settlement of the crisis.
British Premier George Brown hastily went as far as mooting a power sharing arrangement between Kibaki and Raila Odinga.
The immediate cause of the Kenya crisis is the stealing of elections by Kibaki from the Kenyan people.
To suggest that this can be redressed simply by scrambling a power deal between the two persons of Kibaki and Odinga deflects the question from the sphere of democratic political struggle of the Kenyan people to the principle of private sharing of spoils by seemingly contending gangs of robbers.
A power deal can stave off the present crisis only if it is a result of agreement to address the underlying issues which brought up the crisis in the first place. It cannot be just about sharing positions of the state, but about instituting guarantees to the realisation of the people’s aspirations for a democratic life.
The current mayhem is a chilling mirror of deeper malaise of the Kenyan society since the colonial era. Despite the fervour of the struggle for independence, Jomo Kenyatta, the founding president of the country, who was thrust into leadership by people like Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Tom Mboya and the many other nationalists, exercised patriarchal autocracy over the people rather than ingesting democratic progress of the life of the country.
The era of Daniel Arap Moi did not offer any change of direction of the country’s affairs either.
It only added to its authoritarianism and depravity. Kibaki was catapulted to power at the head of NARC with the aim of ending Moi’s autocratic rule and the establishment of a more humane system of governance.
But Kibaki also abandoned the social objectives of NARC and made the business interests within his native Kikuyu his principal political constituency.
In the end, many of his erstwhile allies in NARC revolted, leading to the collapse of the broad coalition. The collapse of NARC ought to have required new general elections.
But Kibaki plodded on, unaffected by the fledging resentment which was welling up in the country.He governed Kenya as if it had been his prize.
In the end, when the mandatory election period drew near, he patched up a skimpy outfit he named PNU as a sign poster for his re-election bid. The result was a stifling use of tribal chauvinism which greatly aggravated acrimony in the country.
It is no accident that when the arithmetic of the votes failed to add up for victory Kibaki flagrantly crowned himself secretly in the vaults of State House.
Having so wrested power, Kibaki must pretend to exert legitimate office by violently quelling public uproar against his rule yet Kenyans will not give up their opposition. Therefore, this is not a democratic situation.
We in Uganda must add our voice and express firm solidarity with the people of Kenya over their democratic aspirations. Those who speak of fast tracking the East African federation should start first with fast tracking democracy. The federation of East Africa should start with the unity of how to build democracy in each of our countries.
We must oppose federation with undemocratic states. Federation of states of enslavers is not the unity we should desire. We should demand the unity to live in freedom. No democracy, no East African federation! Such should be our watchword.
The writer is a member of the NRM historicals’ forum