Confused politics
written by Godfrey , October 29, 2009

Kenyan politics is confused as right becomes wrong and evil is described as good. I have given up trying to make sense of Kenyan politics because debate just doesn't make any sense but is instead tinged with demagoguery and negative ethnicity. I don't think there is any political philosophy anywhere in human history that talks of "one vote per kilometre."

Scared North Easterners
written by E. Mwai , October 29, 2009

It is clear why an MP from the Northern frontier would not want seats to be based on number of registered voters. While some areas have MPs representing over 100 000, the North has some with less than 20 000. It is simply not fair for the two to get the same number of votes in the House or equal CDF. Some areas in the country are economically dead and are just parasites. There are several ways the situation can be corrected;
1. An upper house with equal reps/senators from each region
2. Nominationed MPs from regions instead of party propotions
3. One man one vote and those NE guys to put up and shut up
4. Abandon the insecure and barren region all together

Stay the same
written by Godfrey , October 30, 2009

Even better: why don't we remain with the same number of constituencies? In the current political atmosphere, such a crucial decision as boundary review will likely cause more problems for the country. After all, the state borders of the 50 United States have remained the same all these years despite population increase. We should also clarify the work of an MP. An MP does not have to meet each and every individual in his/her constituency to be effective.

agreed
written by patel , November 02, 2009

Agreed. So the usual tribe mongers (unfortunately Wanderi falls in this category) want to perpetuate tribal domination, by invoking one vote one man to the extent of even quoting no taxation without representation, a us clamour for independence clarion call. The US and Kenya are two different countries with entirely different parameters and challenges. How Wanderi fails to recognize this beat s my logi. But in his subconscious tribal thoughts, fails to see the folly and the danger of one man one vote implementation in Kenya. If we were honest with ourselves, we would know this issue is neither here nor there. It is all about the numbers to seize and keep power or maintain power and to an extent preserve the plunder of Kenya by a few individuals who Wanderi appears to represent.

In the successful domination by the majority, exit clauses must be engraved in the constitution for the right of self determination. This way, as Salva Kiir Manyardit recently said, communities will be able to decide whether they want to remain second class citizens in their own country or opt for self determination and realize their potentials without discrimination. One man one vote should therefore go in tandem with the right to self determination as provided for by the UN.

narrow mindedness and zero sum game mentality
written by Mlevi , November 02, 2009

By now I should have stopped being surprised by the narrow mindedness and zero sum game mentality of not just our politicians but the “Intelligencia”.

Why are we in Kenya behaving like we are the first people on earth to grapple with the issues of equal representation? This issue can easily be solved with a two chamber parliament. An upper house with 4 (32 in total) senators from each province and a lower house with a fixed number of seats say 260 which are assigned to each province based on the population. With bills having to pass both chambers of parliament the interests of all “tribes” will be catered for in a manner that both addresses the one “kilometer one vote” and “one man one vote” constructs that these idiots want to push.

Regardless of what side of the arguments one falls on, it is the height of hypocrisy to pretend that there are aren’t significant interests here real or imagined. Interests, that are not just in the crooks heads but in the majority of the Kenyan population.

Patel is a joke
written by wanyeki , November 03, 2009

Population is important ,we have seen a majority being discriminated because they did not have proper representation in parliament.We saw ODM lie to the world and the world believed that they had the numbers just because they had more parliamentary seats so,please stop pretending that it does not matter,because it does matter.It not about plunder it about proper representation,patel should know this if he reads anything about India.

Amazing
written by Godfrey , November 05, 2009

Africans within the continent and all across the diaspora spent the better part of the 20th century fighting for "one (wo)man, one vote." It amazes me that there are Kenyans who dismiss this concept simply because of tribal politics. Just think of the people who died in the civil liberties movement, in South Africa and elsewhere who sacrificed their lives for this ideal. What will Nelson Mandela say if he hears that Kenyans are against "one man, one vote"? No wonder he never wanted anything to do with us.

Wise Kenyans
written by patel , November 05, 2009

The dynamics within which the likes of Du bois fought against discrimination and one man one vote are entirely different, as I explained before, from our Kenyan perspective. If one man one vote was universal, then why does Britain have governments for her different regions? Why can’t the Scotts, welsh, English vote to elect the occupant of number 10 Downing Street?

Kenyans are not sincere on the issue of one man one vote towards proportional parliamentary representation, after all we practise one man one vote when it comes to presidential election. Even then, one man one vote still counts at the constituency level with MPs being elected on simple majority.

Why is it that some few Kenyans want to have proportional representation of Mps? Why would they want say, if they command a 50% majority, a proportionate percentage of MPs? Why would they want other communities to command 1% of MPs if they command 1% of the population? The answer lies in the politics of domination, destruction and arrogance.

We know that in Africa, and particularly Kenya, democracy is raw tribalism. Now the captain gets the real definition of democracy. When in Kenya have we voted in complete disregard of our tribal heritage? Didn’t we gang up against the Kalenjin in 2002? Our about 2007, didn’t we gang up against the Kikuyu? Look at what is happening in ODM, a supposed democratic party; why the hurry to install and uninstall ‘elders’ why the sudden fight over RV pitting Luo MPs and Ruto allied MPs? The all point is that we are too ethinicized for now to even deserve to say the name democracy; and the ‘enemy’ is not fixed. It depends on which ‘tribe’ is in power at a given time.

We should not be myopic to the extent of entrenching short term solutions in our constitution. This is cowardice, and smacks of fear of confronting ethnicity from the very top to our homes and villages.

The effect of such myopic tendencies is to propagate tribalism via the domination of the majority without the consent of the minority. In physics we learn that a force pushed at a certain direction elicits a reaction of proportional force in the opposite direction. This can as well be the result of an implementation of a biased constitution.

The captain calls some regions barren and unworthy of representation that ensures that they are not dominated, which to me appears preposterous, considering the fact that the Capt has his roots in the armed forces. Why would Kenya resist the Shifta wars in the 60s and the clamour by Kenyan Somalis to join the greater Somalia if indeed these parts of the country are unworthy of representation that ensures they are not trampled upon? Why would Kenya fight over a useless rock in Lake Victoria? The Capt. betrays his armed forces route while knowing very well that all parts in Kenya are to be protected to the best of the ability of our armed Forces.

It is therefore dishonest and unwise to propagate calls for a domineering one man one vote system.

...
written by mkosakabila , November 05, 2009

We have heard two sides to a debate, and both are overwhelmingly legitimate. What remains then is for a solution that creatively integrates the concerns. Mlevi's is a rather nice step in that direction. Perhaps that's where Kenyans should invest their intellectual energies, i.e in thinking through and crafting rules and procedures that would allow both majority and minority groups to influence decision making and resource allocation. Majority tyranny is a real threat, yet minorities can be just as tyrannical and vicious if unchecked. There are good examples, even in Africa, of how a reasonable balance can be achieved.

Patel get your facts
written by Ben2005 , November 05, 2009

Patel your arguement is essentially the one that was justified by apartheid apologists; that majority rule meant destruction and domination of whites by the black majority. This was so ingrained that at some point the apartheid regime decided to co-opt the other minorities (mixed race and indian south africans) by giving them representation in the parliament at the expense of the black majority. If we really want a democratic system then each persons choice and representative must count- certainly a senate set up would be useful to protect against excesses but we must guard against this arguement that seems to re-define the basic concept of democracy. And for your information Patel in the UK all voters (in England,Scotland,N.Ireland and Wales) vote for MPs who sit in westminster and it is the leader of the party with the largest number of MP's that gets the position of PM. Again in the UK the English have the largest population and have the largest number of parliamentary representatives.
If we want to redefine democracy let us be intellectually honest about it. Otherwise we can simply admit that democracy can not work in Kenya and just balkanise the country - but will that stop further splintages Somalis style? Me thinks not. At the end we must accept that democracy is not perfect but it is the best system that we have at the moment.

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Misintepretation
written by Godfrey , November 06, 2009

"One man, one vote" does not mean that communities with 50% of the population get 50% seats, 1% get 1% of parliamentary seats and so on. This is a deliberate distortion by those who want to justify ethnic and racial discrimination. "One man, one vote" means that everybody has an equal right to elect their representatives regardless of ethnicity, gender, age, race, social status and ownership/lack of ownership of property. This was the core tenet of the civil liberty movement and of the African liberation movements.

All over the world, places with higher population density have more seats. In Kenya, a place like Gusii land will obviously have more seats than, say, Marsabit. But that does not mean that the voter in Marsabit has lesser rights than the voter in Kisii. It is true that the Kisii, or the Kikuyu, Luhya and Meru will have more MPs than the Somali or Pokomo. This doesn't necessarily mean that all MPs from a particular ethnic group will vote as a bloc. We have seen countless examples of MPs from the Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luo or any other ethnic group in opposing camps within the House. The fears of those against more constituencies for populous regions are therefore over-amplified.

In any case, Parliament is all about lobbying for support. We saw for example in early 2009 when William Ruto managed to mobilize Kikuyu MPs from Central Kenya to vote for him despite earlier accusations of complicity in the plight of Kikuyu peasants in the Rift Valley. Among the Kalenjin, there are Pro-Ruto legislators and Pro-Raila legislators.

One Man One Vote
written by Abjad Howartz Xudayi , November 06, 2009

I am just wondering why the good captain wants to blame the victims. Somalis and particularly the people of the Northern Frontier have been victims of repression for 46 years. It is these people more any other Kenyan group who have been massacred, detained, marginalized and totally disregarded in the government development agenda.
I don't agree with one kilometre one vote, I think it is a knee jerk reaction not really thought through but the Gema "one man one vote" demand is really dishonest. It is not about reforming the system but allowing them the free hand to control the country's affairs solely. If we want a system of representation that benefits Kenyans more than tribes we should adopt a federal system of government but with enjoined rights that allow citizens to move freely and live where they deem fit. Issues like elections, policing, justice system and others should be handled by the states and the central government should be a uniting factor. We can then elect the representative to the federal parliament and senate by one man one vote and nobody will feel threatened by it.

One Man One Vote
written by Abjad Howartz Xudayi , November 06, 2009

By the way, disagreeing your request is not demonizing your community. Those who claim that Gema is being demonized, hated or disliked are trying to shut up people by insinuating that the critics are tribalists. Anybody in his right mind knows that hatred of Gema which make up more than 30% of Kenyan population is a self-defeating exercise. Most people also know that when the giant throws his weight around, the minions will run scared.

One kilometre one vote
written by nelson olooko , November 19, 2009

Where on the earth should a kilometre be represented? If one has that much land and is unable to utilize it by cultivation, hurting livestock which in turn would lead to enough resources, that one should not be demanding for overrepresentation. This is like the biblical talents that two people were given but one of them failed to utilize them by generating more. If the environment is very hostile, then one should migrate to conducive areas other than adopting a tick behavior on a dying animal. There is protection in numbers. Kenyans should avoid being over-tribal and think they can be taken care of by other people. Let’s intermingle freely and avoid inbreeding which gives us low quality offspring.

No taxation without representation
written by manta ray , November 23, 2009

Patel, the above phrase cannot be confined to American historical usage, but is a relevant English expression of logic and common sense to describe democratic representation. Even Jaramogi Odinga used it often. If you cannot accept the concept of one man vote, then the it is better to balkanise Kenya into minority and majority areas and each should have the power to tax and use taxes exclusively for themselves. If you contribute more in taxes to the national treasury because of higher population, then naturally you deserve more representation in parliament, as long representative numbers are as equal as possible!! It is called LOGIC because people pay taxes, not empty land.