Several efforts have been made in the last two weeks to reach a solution that ends the violence and ethnic animosity that has seized the country. More than five hundred Kenyans have lost their lives and hundreds of thousands have been displaced, all on account of belonging to the wrong tribe.
Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga have received ‘advice" (some of which borders on bullish lectures) from every quarter. We can only congratulate John Kufour, the chairman of the African Union and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in his capacity as an acknowledged peacemaker for taking their time to preach some sense to us.
While mediation is perfectly fine, we have read a lot about the UK and the USA on what their understanding of democracy is. I have seen arguments in some Kenyan publications to the effect that the elections must have been rigged because the "UK has not congratulated Kibaki" and the "US has withdrawn its congratulatory message to the president". While I do not want to get in the same old debate of who rigged and who didn't, I find it odd that anyone would use these two countries as reference points on justice and democracy. They are entirely entitled to give their opinions on the way forward and why we need to embrace fairness in our electoral processes, but we have to agree that they sometimes go overboard in their offerings.
Dr. Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister, allegedly called both President Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga. It is insulting and patronizing to the Kenyan people and their leaders when he says he "wants to see these leaders behave responsibly". When Brown says "what I want to see is...." one is tempted to ask ‘and who the hell are you, sir? As who exactly do you want to see these things?' If democracy is that important to Brown and his country, and it should be, can he tell the world who elected him to be Prime Minister of the UK, why did he shirk the election he had showed every sign of calling last autumn?
One cannot pretend to be a champion of democracy when their own system is flawed. Brown is a leader who is not very different from our very own who believe the leadership of a country can be transacted in some hotel through an MoU. He reached an agreement with Tony Blair and that alone disqualifies him from lecturing people on democracy. Britain may be our former colonial masters (he should actually apologize before addressing us as a nation), but that doesn't give them express rights to indulge in our affairs.
This is the same ignorant mentality I once saw BBC's Zeinab Badawi portray when she was questioning Martha Karua on the government's commitment to fighting graft in public offices (HardTalk). Benawi felt that because Edward Clay was Kenya's British High Commissioner his opinion on Kenyan matters was above reproach. She even tried to intimidate Karua by quoting a British minister, "Come on Martha Karua, this is a minister of the British government we are quoting here" when Karua said the government had made positive strides in the fight against corruption. I was glad when Karua hit back: "He may be that, but that certainly doesn't grant him insider rights into our affairs, it certainly doesn't make him an insider!" I certainly do not agree with Karua's assertions that the Kenyan government's performance against fighting corruption is anywhere near average. Our government shortchanged us in its fight against corruption.
However, What I agree with Martha on is that Britain is just a country like Kenya and it is wreckless thought to imagine that the words of a British minister should be any weightier than those of a Kenyan minister. Let us analyze the logic of what Clay, Adam Wood or anybody else for that matter has to say without caring to look at their skin colour or passport.
The American team comprising George Bush, Condoleeza Rice and Jendayi Frazer, like everyone else are entitled give their opinions and even offer solutions to our problems. Their concern should be highly appreciated. What is hard to swallow is the "adult-child' kind of instructions that are on offer. It pains me when Raila Odinga, the self proclaimed cousin to Barack Obama tells a press conference that he has spoken to the latter who told him he would be talking to the president to "urge him to take these mediation efforts spearheaded by President Kuffour seriously". Come on Obama, you cannot ‘urge' the president of Kenya. You can only ‘request' or ‘encourage'. First of all he is president and you are not! When these friends attempt to climb the moral high ground and issue instructions from there, we will have to ask our own questions on the credibility of their democratic process.
It is commendable for George Bush to acknowledge that "the people of Kenya deserve a political process that reflects their dedication to democracy." That is very good of him. But let us not forget that the American democratic process is not perfect and hence the need for Bush and company to be humble in their protestations. When Bush first contested the presidency in 2000, his victory was contested in court. We do not know the role his father's former chief of staff along with the likes of Justice Clarence Thomas, who was his dad's Supreme Court appointee on Bush's triumph in the appeal.
"We have a responsibility to respect the law and not seek to undermine it when we do not like its outcome". These were the words of Bush after that appeal, why he cannot say them this time round, only god knows. More than any other president in the history of the United States, Bush has shown very little regard for the laws of the land and has sought to aggrandize the powers of head of state to a position where he is little better than an emperor.
Obviously some of the values of democracy, self-determiantion and liberty mean nothing to Bush. He would rather they were swept under the carpet. It is not surprising though that he should hold these views. His after all, is an administration that has little respect for the sovereignty of other countries? When the former German chancellor, Gerard Schroeder spoke of his belief that Bush was breaking International law by preventing Germany and France from investing in post-invasion Iraq, he had the guts to sarcastically quip; ‘international law? I am calling my lawyer right now". That is George Bush, the latter day spokesman for democracy, justice and good governance, our deus ex machina! Now everything will be alright, the emperor has spoken.
Once again all these leaders have every right to be involved in what is happening in Kenya especially because we are partners with many of them on more than a few matters. But it is wrong for Kenyans to always defend their arguments with words like "even the UK and the USA have...'. They may have, so what? Our maturity as a nation will depend on our cultivation of the competencies within our borders to handle our disputes. We undermine our standing in the world, and our confidence as a people when we look to foreign shores for guidance and support, instead of addressing our institutions.
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