THE 2007 POST-ELECTION VIOLENCE MADE KENYA

…just as much as it destroyed it…

AS THE FORTH anniversary of Kenya’s 2007 post election violence approaches, I bet many Kenyans would rather forget the year all together than have it remembered. This is because all that there was good about it was terribly overshadowed by the darkness of civilian infighting as the year approached its climax. Africa and the rest of the world got a chance to witness a new Somalia in the making.

After 44 solid years of self rule we, Kenyans found ourselves politically belittled by our own actions. A country that for a long time had been known as “an island of peace in a turbulent Horn of Africa” kind of found sectarianism fascinating. I asked myself why days back and you can’t believe the quickness with which my brain dispensed me an answer that I think is worth sharing out here. What made us pay dearly back in 2007 lies in the fact that we took a very long time to replace our independence constitution – which I think its main purpose was to see Kenya become an independent state as opposed to addressing long term challenges.

Back in 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s during the struggle for independence, the most important thing for the people was self rule which the independence constitution helped us achieve in 1963. But then again independence alone is never enough. Hard realities and challenges soon came our way and the question of “how best can we solve this and that?” became a constant nag in our heads. Sadly, the agony was brewing at a time when our country was under one party rule with the sitting president as the obvious head of everything. What this meant is that every change we wanted to see had to be ‘begged on knees’ in front of the president – and whenever he said no (like was always the case) there was nowhere else to turn. I’m sorry to say this but this was the case during the reign of our founding father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta (1963 - 1978) and later during a chunky part of his successor Daniel Moi’s (1978 - 2002). Daniel Moi was however pounded by opposition pressure and forced to support the repeal of Section 2 A of our constitution in 1992 to introduce multi-party for the first time in our history.

Introduction of multi-party was a breakthrough and Second Liberation had never looked more certain. But then again as every Kenyan would testify the journey was just beginning. Even after the introduction of multi-party, Daniel Moi who many wanted out of the office would spend another ten good years as the president. This was primarily because there were still very many sections of the constitution that made it almost impossible to remove a sitting president from office. For instance, apart from running the government, the president also headed the army and appointed all other senior bureaucrats including those mandated to conduct elections. And to make things worse, leading opposition voices weren’t as united as many ordinary Kenyans wanted them to be. Then came 2002, a God sent year when Daniel Moi would not vie for president due to compulsory retirement cast upon him by the constitution. Mwai Kibaki became the next man to succeed him with massive support from all Kenyans. His main task was to lead the nation in finding a new constitution. But his failure and politicians then to come up with a single constitutional document for referendum only meant things would continue the same way they had always been. It was now a case of ‘lets live today and wait to see what happens tomorrow’. And who would have thought it would be during the dimness of 2007 post-election violence that we’d find strength to do what’s right?

An outdated constitution played bad referee in a closely contested presidential election and sharply divided the country along party and tribal lines. As a result, we ended up killing each other and destroying each other’s property. But let’s not dwell much amidst that dungeon because the memories are still fresh and can certainly set off great mental distress. But let’s spare a second and take look at a dazzling vent of light. A bright side, if you like. Soon after the violence was over after an intervention by the AU and UN, we begun picking ourselves up with a single promise – a promise to give ourselves a new constitution within the shortest possible period. And driven by our then famous national chant ‘katiba mpya ni jukumu letu’ (a new constitution is our priority), we achieved the enormous goal in less than three years. And on 27^th August 2010, Kenya promulgated a new constitution which I strongly believe is one of, if not the very best in Sub-Saharan Africa. We said good-bye to being ruled by people and allowed institutions running under clear checks and balance take over. And once again how was that even possible? It’s because we found strength in our darkest moment in history – the 2007 post election violence.

WHERE NEXT AFTER REVOLUTION IN LIBYA?

LIBYA’S PUSH TO get rid of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is definitely one of the biggest news stories this year. It started with ex-servicemen in a small north-eastern town of Benghazi leading gatherings of no more than a thousand demonstrators around town shouting anti-Gaddafi slogans and shooting in the air. And has now blown into a serous revolutionary movement that will depose Colonel Muammar Gaddafi very soon, I believe. Before successful revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt earlier in the year, all seemed pretty quiet throughout Libya. Almost everybody went about their affairs without much, if not any, clamour against their leader. And it would be good to note that the kind of uncharacteristic silence witnessed then was a product of Gaddafi’s vicious handling of all those who dared oppose his rule over the years. Without a well defined or structured constitution, he has been at the centre of everything – running the government, the military and scheming how education is administered especially to young Libyans. With this kind of personality, it is therefore not a surprise that he has been heard on many occasions referring to himself as the ‘King of Kings’. But sadly for him, his rule is now under siege. And it is only a matter of time before it all falls to the ground.

National Transitional Council – NTC has done itself a great job. Launching a battle against a 42 year old regime with ex-servicemen holding rusted guns and jobless youth with zero military knowledge and experience is something that can only be described as ‘suicidal’. But inshallah (God willing) as NTC rebels often say before heading out to attack Gaddafi’s army, it is clear that they are going for nothing other than victory. They have since made it to the capital, Tripoli – Gaddafi’s nerve centre. And good luck to them. Now as advocates of democracy from all over the world storm the cyberspace and other avenues at their reach with best wishes to all Libyans and the NTC, let’s not forget that there are still a number of systems out there that have no respect whatsoever for humanity – judging from the way they treat their citizens. What such countries need from the international community is strong reaffirmation to them that they are not alone and an urge to stand up against their oppressive systems. In Africa, for example, Sudan is a good example of a country in urgent need of regime change. Its ruler General Omar El Bashir is not only a fugitive wanted at the International Criminal Court – ICC over war crimes in Darfur and Abyei but is also an individual who has succeeded in amending the constitution in a way that I have no doubt will help him remain president of Sudan as long as he remains alive. Zimbabwe would be my next African country to worry about. But first I must admit things seem pretty calm at the moment with coalition government in place bringing together Robert Mugabe – the independence hero turned dictator and Morgan Tsvangirai – the official opposition leader. My worry over Zimbabwe, however, has everything to do with Mugabe’s failure to show commitment in repealing sections of the country’s constitutions that he had designed years back to ensure that his stay as the country’s president remains unchallengeable. He is also not willing to cede more powers to Tsvangirai as he should inline with coalition arrangement. Cameroon’s Paul Biya, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, Congo-Brazzaville’s Sassou Nguesso, Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Nguema and Burkina Faso’s Blaise Compaoré – have also ruled for a very long time to offer anything new. There is nothing they claim they can offer now that they have not had a chance for in their over 20 years rule.

            Elsewhere far beyond Africa’s borders we find Myanmar and North Korea. I specifically chose these two countries because I think, if there is such a thing as a ‘barbaric regime’, then the regimes of these two countries are the most barbaric. In fact, these particular regimes have been far much worse than Libya under Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. And if it were a case of ‘worst problems first’ it would have looked fair if NATO and the UN hold the stand they now have over Libya first in either Myanmar or North Korea. But again I’m quick to absolve my wishful thinking since I know that for NATO or the UN to help with deposing a regime first the masses from that particular country must stand up against their regime in one voice.