Sydney Harris described democracy as the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be. Truth be told, democracy means different things to different people. But today I ask if Kenya is a democracy.
I recently have heard a lot of views expressed on Kenya’s current situation. Many have said that Kenya was the country to watch out for three years ago. With stable GDP growth, lower crime rate, increase in literacy levels, Botswana and Ghana had nothing on us. We were going places they said. Then came the dreaded 2007 election and all hell broke loose. The worst fear of the developed nations had come true that Kenya would be added to the list of basket cases. Meetings to discuss how to prevent Kenya from becoming another failed state in Africa were conducted in the USA, UK, and many other places.
We have had a fair share of blunders as a country but I refuse to think that this makes us an unstable nation. I see the Kenyan case as one of institutionalizing democracy which is seriously enriched by looking at it as a process of group learning and understanding. Today, Kenyans as a collective have emerged from the crisis wiser. How can we prove this you might ask?
a) Despite all the turmoil witnessed in 2007, Kenyans managed to send over 50% of MP's home. This to me is a positive sign towards changing the leadership perception.
b) The general engagement with the Agenda 4: Although our leaders have been tip toeing around this issue, Kenyans have remained vigilant all through the process even forcing the leaders to take certain stands that might be unfavorable to them. The process might not be 100% people driven but if what I saw in Isiolo during the CoE consultation process is anything to go by, we are headed in the right direction.
c) The launch of the draft constitution. This is a major milestone for our country. Granted, the draft is not perfect. Granted, it might be another 15 years before we start implementing it. Taking all this into consideration, I still believe that we have made great strides; after all, Rome was not built in a day.
These are just but a few indicators.
The cost of democracy is always high, but Kenyans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission. Today, I can proudly say that Kenya is a democracy. Not because per capital GDP has reached the recommended level, or that our government is functioning as it ought to, but because, Kenyans have learnt the power of asking questions and to me that is the greatest path to democracy.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Dear Kenyans
Today the CoE launched our draft constitution. This has been a long battle for each and everyone of us and although we are not all on the same page I can almost feel the equal excitement. This is almost the first time in Kenya’s history that a committee has delivered on time and God knows we have had many of those so lets go out and make history.
However as we celebrate, there are two things i would like to add to the ongoing debate. first, i hope we dont get swallowed into the Banana-Orange saga of 2005. because if we do, then my fear is that we will never get a new constitution. the CoE has done a brilliant job, the only unresolved issue as expected is the powers between the PM and the President. did you really expect our politicians not to do what they do best? the truth of the matter is, if it was up to them we probably even wouldn’t be launching the draft today. so here is my preposition. to prevent what happened in 2005 from happening again, we must have two options to pick from (or even 3). let people vote for one of two drafts. in that way, Kenyans can finally have a new constitution. if we don’t get a new constitution just because Raila and Kibabki and the whole bunch of lunatics are stuck in the present and cant seem to see beyond their noses, then we might as well wait another 5 years or even longer.
Secondly, lets not fall into the tribal drama that has become a norm for us. in 2005, we all went out and voted for or against. But i really wonder how many of us really took time to read the documents, especially the Bomas draft . This time, let’s do it differently. So I ask you today, not to let the politicians hijack this process.
The world is watching .Lets give them a damn good show!!!
However as we celebrate, there are two things i would like to add to the ongoing debate. first, i hope we dont get swallowed into the Banana-Orange saga of 2005. because if we do, then my fear is that we will never get a new constitution. the CoE has done a brilliant job, the only unresolved issue as expected is the powers between the PM and the President. did you really expect our politicians not to do what they do best? the truth of the matter is, if it was up to them we probably even wouldn’t be launching the draft today. so here is my preposition. to prevent what happened in 2005 from happening again, we must have two options to pick from (or even 3). let people vote for one of two drafts. in that way, Kenyans can finally have a new constitution. if we don’t get a new constitution just because Raila and Kibabki and the whole bunch of lunatics are stuck in the present and cant seem to see beyond their noses, then we might as well wait another 5 years or even longer.
Secondly, lets not fall into the tribal drama that has become a norm for us. in 2005, we all went out and voted for or against. But i really wonder how many of us really took time to read the documents, especially the Bomas draft . This time, let’s do it differently. So I ask you today, not to let the politicians hijack this process.
The world is watching .Lets give them a damn good show!!!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Kenya (Africa) does not need a SAVIOR!!!!!
Has anyone had a chance to talk to kenyan's lately. You will be amazed at how far we have come. Gone are the days when people sat back and felt like they could do nothing, gone are those days when most kenyas thought of politics as a one man shows. I wonder how many people would agree with me on that.
In the last one month, i have had an oppotunity to talk to most people whom you would consider the "the future of development". The feedback I got, is appalling. What is it about development and the need to save african's from themselves. everyone you talk to has this supper ideas on how to turn Africa into a "Developed world". Why dont we just ensure that the information is accessible, how? buy them all laptops. how helarious is that? Technology, is our future saviour! says who??? I dont remember my mother back in the village showing any concern with this global rabbish. Why would she want to know what Obama has to say about American healthcare????
Now, I am not by any means implyin that Africa is a small heaven. we have our own demons to vanquish, but then again, who doesnt. when kenyas fight for their rights,its branded ethinc clashes, when iranias do thesame, oh "this are people trying to exercise their democratic rights". what gives you the right to categorise people into these small boxes when you have no clue what democracy is.
We definately have along way to go, but the first step as far as im concerned, is filter out half of the so called "development agencies". Afer all, what exactly are they developing? us or simply perpetuating the old school of thought.
In the last one month, i have had an oppotunity to talk to most people whom you would consider the "the future of development". The feedback I got, is appalling. What is it about development and the need to save african's from themselves. everyone you talk to has this supper ideas on how to turn Africa into a "Developed world". Why dont we just ensure that the information is accessible, how? buy them all laptops. how helarious is that? Technology, is our future saviour! says who??? I dont remember my mother back in the village showing any concern with this global rabbish. Why would she want to know what Obama has to say about American healthcare????
Now, I am not by any means implyin that Africa is a small heaven. we have our own demons to vanquish, but then again, who doesnt. when kenyas fight for their rights,its branded ethinc clashes, when iranias do thesame, oh "this are people trying to exercise their democratic rights". what gives you the right to categorise people into these small boxes when you have no clue what democracy is.
We definately have along way to go, but the first step as far as im concerned, is filter out half of the so called "development agencies". Afer all, what exactly are they developing? us or simply perpetuating the old school of thought.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Can the true Kenyan Jerry Rawlings Please stand up!
Most often than not, I have heard a number of my fellow citizens suggest that we need an Obama like person to pull us out of this political quagmire we have been stuck in for many years. Question is, do you really think an Obama can survive in Kenya. I personally think we would eat him alive if the politicians dont bit us to it. I say this because, Kenyans as a people lack individual commitment and drive that saw the Americans elect a black president, something that would have otherwise been considered impossible. if we wont label him as a tribal chief, we are more likely to dismiss him as elitist and out of touch.
Bearing our pettyness and ignorance in mind I suggest we start looking for an individual more like Jerry Rawlings. Alot has been said about the man. some say he is/was a dictator, others think of him as the man who has made ghana what it is today, a true democracy. in effect, Rawlings demystified governance in Ghana, preaching to people that they have a right to demand accountability from their leaders who are there to serve the people. We need a leader who can conduct "a house cleaning" exercise on kenya, the way Jerry Rawlings did to Ghana. Having over thrown the government twice because of the institutionalized corruption, Rawlings gained peoples' confidence and trust. The man knew what needed to be done and he did it. this is what has been lacking among old, new and upcoming leaders of this country, the courage to step up and do what needs to be done instead of walking around seeking approval from all the wrong quarters.
So i say again to all the 2012 hopefuls, rethink your strategy on how to gain respect from this humble citizens.
Bearing our pettyness and ignorance in mind I suggest we start looking for an individual more like Jerry Rawlings. Alot has been said about the man. some say he is/was a dictator, others think of him as the man who has made ghana what it is today, a true democracy. in effect, Rawlings demystified governance in Ghana, preaching to people that they have a right to demand accountability from their leaders who are there to serve the people. We need a leader who can conduct "a house cleaning" exercise on kenya, the way Jerry Rawlings did to Ghana. Having over thrown the government twice because of the institutionalized corruption, Rawlings gained peoples' confidence and trust. The man knew what needed to be done and he did it. this is what has been lacking among old, new and upcoming leaders of this country, the courage to step up and do what needs to be done instead of walking around seeking approval from all the wrong quarters.
So i say again to all the 2012 hopefuls, rethink your strategy on how to gain respect from this humble citizens.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
When I grow up, i want to be a Ministry of Finance VIP
I bet not even Obama spends that much on entertaining the Gordon Brown's of the day. But alas, our treasury has such VIP guest that we have to buy them samosas worth 960k everyday. Je ne comprends pas, so someone please make me. I did not get the opportunity to listen to the budget, my loss but you know what, after the 10 billion computer error, i dont believe in anything anymore. Im staying put and waiting for the next four days before the 210 most unqualified people, decide how much a samosa is worth.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The changing times: Did Marende save the Grand coalition or just postpone the grand collusion
http://blog.marsgroupkenya.org/?p=726
Did Marende save the Grand coalition or just postpone the grand collusion
People, I think all of us felt a sign of relief when Marende picked himself as the chair of the House Business Committee (HBC). What did you really expect of the poor guy? remember the Kivuitu blander? Marende's actions yestereday would have determined if this country was going to slide back into the january 2008 scenario. you have got to hand it to the man, he is no doubt wise and takes his job seriously. I wish Raila and Kibaki would learn something from the guy.
I however doubt if kenya is out of the woods. if you have been folowing the ODM politics lately, then you will know that Raila was not necessary interested in holding the chairmanship of the HBC. Rather his only problem was getting Kalonzo out of it. truth be told, kalonzo should be the last person to occupy any public office. its bad enough that we have to listen to him making silly baseless comments about what the public wants. Kibaki and Raila might not be the best of leaders but atleast they earned the right to be or say what they want. as bad and useless as they are, we the wananchi who voted for them, have no choice but to hang in there till 2012 because we gave them the mandate.
Now, if ODM was really not interested in chairing the HBC, then whats with all the noice? I think what Marende did yestereday was simply sweep the durt under the capet for now. needless to say, the ODM-PNU battle is far from over. but where does that leave the nation? has anyone thought that this might be a perfect strategy to keep us the wananchi absorbed in the political nonsense so that we barely have time to question the lack of performance by both principles. I think its no secret that there are no political enemies in this country and history can atest to that. lets think for a moment of all the issues we should be hearing about. The constitution, Agenda 4, IDP's, Insecurity, Food shortage, Migingo and the list goes on and on.
I wonder what makes us kenyas have such short memories, yet we claim to be bearing the brunt of all the political nonsense. politicians have mastered the art of distracting us from the real issues. doesnt that make the whole bunch of us as hipocritical as they are? Fact is, this coalition will survive for all the wrong reasons which we are all well awear of. that being the case, we have two choices, either continue playing along with the current scenario or demand some results. otherwise we will loose the window of opportunity for change presented by the natioanal accord.
I however doubt if kenya is out of the woods. if you have been folowing the ODM politics lately, then you will know that Raila was not necessary interested in holding the chairmanship of the HBC. Rather his only problem was getting Kalonzo out of it. truth be told, kalonzo should be the last person to occupy any public office. its bad enough that we have to listen to him making silly baseless comments about what the public wants. Kibaki and Raila might not be the best of leaders but atleast they earned the right to be or say what they want. as bad and useless as they are, we the wananchi who voted for them, have no choice but to hang in there till 2012 because we gave them the mandate.
Now, if ODM was really not interested in chairing the HBC, then whats with all the noice? I think what Marende did yestereday was simply sweep the durt under the capet for now. needless to say, the ODM-PNU battle is far from over. but where does that leave the nation? has anyone thought that this might be a perfect strategy to keep us the wananchi absorbed in the political nonsense so that we barely have time to question the lack of performance by both principles. I think its no secret that there are no political enemies in this country and history can atest to that. lets think for a moment of all the issues we should be hearing about. The constitution, Agenda 4, IDP's, Insecurity, Food shortage, Migingo and the list goes on and on.
I wonder what makes us kenyas have such short memories, yet we claim to be bearing the brunt of all the political nonsense. politicians have mastered the art of distracting us from the real issues. doesnt that make the whole bunch of us as hipocritical as they are? Fact is, this coalition will survive for all the wrong reasons which we are all well awear of. that being the case, we have two choices, either continue playing along with the current scenario or demand some results. otherwise we will loose the window of opportunity for change presented by the natioanal accord.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Who owns Migingo Island?
What is used to measure the powers of a country??? Is it the size of its army, how well equipped its army is, the size of its economy or the level to which other neighboring countries depend on it for their survival?
Well, if this are the different categories used to measure the prowess of a country, then by every means, Kenya is a powerful nation. our army is known all over the world for our constant supply of peace keepers to the UN missions, just the other day we were busted exporting some serious arms to sudan (which i hope we ended up retaining after all the drama), and above all, the Ugandan, Tanzanian and a couple of other east African economies depend hugely on the success of our economy. the fact that countries like uganda due to the fact that they are land locked, relies on kenya for alot of its imports/exports, means we call the shorts on this side of the continent.
So what is this nonsense about uganda refusing to stand down, and kenya stomaching this arogance? If what our goverment has made us believe all this time is true, then we should not have a problem putting UG back to its place. instead, the dilidarling by our leaders leaves some of us wondering if all the great kenyan stories we grew up hearing are really true. if im not wrong, this is not the first time uganda is trying to intimidate us. museveni seems to have a "chokoza syndrom"
To our dear president, its absard to hear of kenyan citizens paying tax to another nation in their own country, whats even more crazy is how the ugandan flag continues to fly on the island and non stop harusment of our citizens.
DO SOMETHING OH THE ELECTED ONES!!!!!!
Well, if this are the different categories used to measure the prowess of a country, then by every means, Kenya is a powerful nation. our army is known all over the world for our constant supply of peace keepers to the UN missions, just the other day we were busted exporting some serious arms to sudan (which i hope we ended up retaining after all the drama), and above all, the Ugandan, Tanzanian and a couple of other east African economies depend hugely on the success of our economy. the fact that countries like uganda due to the fact that they are land locked, relies on kenya for alot of its imports/exports, means we call the shorts on this side of the continent.
So what is this nonsense about uganda refusing to stand down, and kenya stomaching this arogance? If what our goverment has made us believe all this time is true, then we should not have a problem putting UG back to its place. instead, the dilidarling by our leaders leaves some of us wondering if all the great kenyan stories we grew up hearing are really true. if im not wrong, this is not the first time uganda is trying to intimidate us. museveni seems to have a "chokoza syndrom"
To our dear president, its absard to hear of kenyan citizens paying tax to another nation in their own country, whats even more crazy is how the ugandan flag continues to fly on the island and non stop harusment of our citizens.
DO SOMETHING OH THE ELECTED ONES!!!!!!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Lame excuse of a government
Tomorrow I will be conducting a community training on how to track the budgetary allocations as well as involve themselves in government poverty eradication strategies. It breaks my heart to keep taking about government processes that will probably never live to see the light of day, resources that they will never access. yet it is my job to ensure that they are aware of the existing opportunities, opportunities that will never be available to them.
This makes me wonder, how is it possible that a community like the one i will spend the next two days with, continues to excise their so called democratic right to elect representatives. Doesn't it make more sense to just keep off some of this hypocritical processes? They say Rome was not build in a day. Keep on keeping on. but the sight of this old men and women, makes me wish i had power over life and death, because then, all the kenyan politicians would be history.
My prayer is 2012 comes sooner rather than later.
This makes me wonder, how is it possible that a community like the one i will spend the next two days with, continues to excise their so called democratic right to elect representatives. Doesn't it make more sense to just keep off some of this hypocritical processes? They say Rome was not build in a day. Keep on keeping on. but the sight of this old men and women, makes me wish i had power over life and death, because then, all the kenyan politicians would be history.
My prayer is 2012 comes sooner rather than later.
HAIL ALL TO THE IRON LADY!!!!
Whoever said Martha Karua would never resign? Well, i hope you are all swallowing your words right now. It is extremely sad how politics in this country has been turned into a club of idiots out to make money. Kenyans are convinced that all is lost and no one in the present leadership sphere is driven by their moral conscious to do the right think. As a result we tend to dismiss even the few who act with this country's best interest at heart. Well, lets snap out of that nonsense.
Today will go down in modern Kenya's history as the day this generation had a choice to stand up to the old flock and forget the tribal hullabaloo. She might not be perfect in terms of leadership, she is not as charismatic as Obama, doesnt always hit the nail on the head, but one thing is clear, its about time this country elects a person who stands by what they believe in and not swim with each political current and throw their mouths all over the place.
Viva Martha!!!!!
Today will go down in modern Kenya's history as the day this generation had a choice to stand up to the old flock and forget the tribal hullabaloo. She might not be perfect in terms of leadership, she is not as charismatic as Obama, doesnt always hit the nail on the head, but one thing is clear, its about time this country elects a person who stands by what they believe in and not swim with each political current and throw their mouths all over the place.
Viva Martha!!!!!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Africa: The "lip service" continent
They say democracy means different things to different people. Well.... so does good governance. Over the years, African governing institution and parliaments more specifically, have been seen to pass policies and laws that are alien to the electorate. My issues however is to whether the lack of consultation and the question of the lack of inclusivity in the policy development processes, can be translated to mean poor governance
Take Kenya as an example. Early 2008, Kenyans witnessed the worst case of internal conflict since independence. Many political analyst have termed this incident as the fight for power to control the resources by different communities. if that is the case, then this so called fight for democracy, remains to be an elitist fight. it is however important to note that this assumption labels kenyans as an ignorant people.
In order to differenciate between tribal clashes and fight for equity, it is paramount that we take a step into the kenyan history in order to understand the great juorney of kenya into a democracy. My greatest fear as a kenyan is that the media and other institutions have not fully analyised the question of democracy in this continent. most african nations are therefore at a risk of being lamped together with nations that have the worst human rights record.
Take Kenya as an example. Early 2008, Kenyans witnessed the worst case of internal conflict since independence. Many political analyst have termed this incident as the fight for power to control the resources by different communities. if that is the case, then this so called fight for democracy, remains to be an elitist fight. it is however important to note that this assumption labels kenyans as an ignorant people.
In order to differenciate between tribal clashes and fight for equity, it is paramount that we take a step into the kenyan history in order to understand the great juorney of kenya into a democracy. My greatest fear as a kenyan is that the media and other institutions have not fully analyised the question of democracy in this continent. most african nations are therefore at a risk of being lamped together with nations that have the worst human rights record.
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