The appointment of Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat to chair the TJRC is the clearest statement yet that both President Kibaki and the 10th Parliament are unequal to the task of fixing our foundational problems.

First of all, in its various forms, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission is not an end in itself; it is a bridge that societies transiting from a chaotic and/or oppressive dispensation use to secure the promise of a new democratic one they have given themselves.

The commission is usually a lesser evil, it's never a good. This is because, to a very large extent, it is a mechanism that sacrifices justice in exchange for reconciliation because it realises that those who committed crimes still constitute a strong block that might cause chaos if pursued by law enforcement. And, to a lesser extent, a truth commission helps prevent victim's justice where those who suffered human rights abuses in past visit the same ills on their tormenters.

In Latin America where it originated, and even recently in South Africa where it was almost perfected, the commission was a tool for exorcising the ghosts of the past so that the future is set free to reach for democracy's enduring promise of emancipation through the rule of just law.

Hence, in our circumstances, and as in those countries which have employed similar mechanisms, such a commission will only be viable after we get the new democratic constitutional dispensation we crave. And, even then, we need such a mechanism only as a temporary bridge for crossing the abyss to the new secure order, not as a permanent institution of governance.

It is important to note that just as it was a conceptual impossibility for South Africa to establish its commission before apartheid had been destroyed, we cannot purport to be establishing one under a regime that has been accused of perpetuating the same ills the commission is supposed to address.

Who will force the power brokers to appear before it? Who will protect the witnesses who might adduce damning evidence against them? And what guarantees are there that the evils of yesterday won't be repeated given the systemic flaws that allowed the said excesses and abuses have not been fixed, or even papered over?

Truth commissions are fire-fighting tools deployed in a functioning democracy, not a failing state such as Kenya. The first step for Kenya is urgently to establish a democratic constitutional order with strong institutions. And when ready to establish the commission, people of Mr. Kiplagat's background don't qualify to be members of such a body.

To say that Mr. Kiplagat is unqualified to be on the commission is not to fail to recognise his many impressive accomplishments. He has over the years held senior positions in various capacities in his career in the private sector, as a peace-worker, diplomat and civil servant.

Between 1971 and 1978 he was employed by the National Christian Council of Churches in Kenya. From 1978 to 1983 he was in his country's diplomatic service, initially as Ambassador to France and later as High Commissioner in London. From 1983-1991, he was the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Medical and Research Foundation from 1993 to 2003, and was additionally Chairman of the Nairobi Stock Exchange from 2001 and 2003. From that time up to now, he has been involved in various activities such as organizing workshops and conferences on de-mining, demobilization, peace and security in the Horn region.

The experienced diplomat is a senior consultant on peace and conflict work and serves on numerous National and International boards. He has for decades been active in peace and conflict settlement initiatives within Kenya and the Central African region. Since 2003 he has been Kenya's special envoy for the peace process in Somalia. He is currently the Executive Director of Africa Peace Forum, a Member of the Board of the International Crisis Group and Chairman of the Africa Peer Review Mechanism of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

But all said and done, Mr. Kiplagat is not a Desmond Tutu. Whereas Archbishop Tutu put his all on the line to defend human rights, Mr. Kiplagat has never stuck out his neck to defend them. As a diplomat he defended the excesses of the KANU regime. Foreign Affairs Minister Robert Ouko was murdered in 1990 when he was PS Foreign Affairs.

In a nutshell, having served as a senior government official at a time when some of Kenya's worst human rights abuses occurred, he belongs either to the defence or the witness stand, but not and never a truth commissioner's chair.

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