It is clear from the recent/ current political crisis that we are far from being a free or sovereign nation for the matter. Our legal government was threatened, talked down to and literally forced to accept one solution and one solution only.
This is the solution that George Bush, Kofi Annan and the EU wanted, and at the end of the day, it's the solution that we got.
Contrary to what some keep insisting, Kibaki's government, even before this coalition agreement, was indeed legal. The ECK is the lawfully mandated body to declare the winner of the general election. This was done as per the regulations and the president was duly sworn in. There is no normative provision of which I would know, that the national anthem has to be played or that the ceremony has to be held at Uhuru Park or indeed that the ceremony cannot be held 10 minutes after the announcement of the winner. There are also laws governing procedure in the case of a disputed election.
It has been argued that such a court process could not be fair as the President appoints judge and jury: Meaning the judges and the ECK commissioners, in a case in which he is one of the parties. This is again a sideshow, as our current constitution gives the president the express powers to do so. The IPPG agreement was just that, an agreement that is not binding in law, so the president has not conducted himself in any manner that can be described as being illegal. It is that thus difficult to find the case for intervention by foreign powers, but intervene they did.
To be fair there are only so few countries that are to any consequential degree truly sovereign. I say consequential degree as absolute sovereignty does not truly, at least in this age, exist. This comes from the fact that in modern global politics, every action undertaken in a certain country or territory impacts on its neighbours and in certain specific issues (especially environmental issues or security matters) the entire world. The classic example is that war in country A produces refugees in country B that will have quite serious repercussions on the resources of country B.
Secondly, countries do not exist as islands; they have to trade and depend on other countries (or the citizens and businesses of other countries) for their economic development and prosperity. The economy is a central part of the maintenance of the modern state. This is truer in today's globalised world than ever before.
To put this in the narrower context of the common mwananchi, he or she cannot have absolute freedom to do as she pleases or chooses, because some of his or her freedoms will collide with the freedoms and general welfare of other individuals. The classic case here is the right to life. So even as our pride insists that we are a sovereign nation, it is useful to remember that in the community of nations, internal affairs take on a much larger significance and draw the attentions, unwelcome as they may be, of stakeholders, to our plight. If Kenyans didn't know by now, let's also add to Kenyas strategic importance. Note that Cameroun which had a similar mini crisis has hardly received the amount of flattery that our country ellicited.
But all is not lost. There are countries that by their virtue (or lack of it) and nature cannot be bossed around. These countries have greater latitude in their affairs, internal and external than others. By my count, there are between 10 and 20 such states (hence no shame that we are not among them). Even the grandees of the European Union like France and Germany find that they have ceded a substantial chunk of their sovereignty by voting to join the European Union. This is because on many matters, and especially human rights issues, EU laws supersede the laws of member states. A famous example of this is the landmark decision against the German military for its exclusionary policies against women under certain conditions. German was then compelled to adjust its national laws accordingly .
The obvious example of the more sovereign state is the USA, by virtue of its, economic and military might, it has the ability to do pretty much what it likes with little concrete action possible against it. Israel is another such example. Its favoured political and military relationships with the USA, as well as joint economic interests give the country plenty of leverage in its local and foreign engagements. Their reputation for military excellence, coupled with a most thorough and famous intelligence organisation make it truly a force to reckon with. Add to that scientific prowess and you have a nation which though small can punch truly above its weight.The European Union for all its efforts can do little to police Israel in the way you feel it would like to, partly out of guilt for its history of antisemitism and partly because it does not have any leverage over the tiny Middle-Eastern state.The UK, whose empire once did not have the sun set over it, is now the small brother or poodle if we may be so harsh, of the USA. In an attempt to treasure that little bit of sovereignty left, the UK has resisted any efforts at committing itself completely to the European experiment. It is a tough act on the high wire with the Atlantic bond competing vigorously with the enticements of the European Union and neither winning a decisive victory.
Other big countries like Russia and China also make it into the list, as enjoyers of a semblance of sovereignty, even as they contemplate the impossibility of flexing their muscles as they would properly like to. Russia for example, enfeebled by the long grind to a halt of the USSR is compelled to watch sheepishly as its opinion on Kosovo is ignored and as the West lectures her on her relationship with former Soviet states like the Ukraine. This would have been unimaginable in the good old strong days of the Cold War, the days of mutual respect where the powers met toe to toe. Now China even has to take lectures when it increases its military budget.
Back to Kenya. How do we get to join this exclusive clubs of nations, how do we make sure we can earn global respect? One crucial attribute that threads through the countries of the exclusive club is military might. All the countries mentioned are nuclear powers. Secondly, all these countries are relatively stable, be they democratic or semi-dictatorial, they have their houses in order. It is this second point especially that might have proved Kibaki's undoing. It is true that the police, at least in Nairobi, did a reasonably good job, save perhaps their efforts in the slums but the security apparatus completely collapsed in most of the rest of the country. It was this total helplessness more than anything, including international pressure, which forced Kibaki's hand. The images that went around the world were of a government that was not in control, of a house completely upended and absolutely out of order. Ensuring that we can safely say, never again, is to me, the biggest challenge facing future administrations.
How do we ensure that our security apparatus is up to scratch next time? Two things seem to have led to this collapse. The security personnel to mob ratio was woefully low. How do you explain a town of 300 000 people as is Eldoret being manned by 150 policemen?
The second was ethnic partisanship. Individual officers felt that they owed more loyalty to their tribes or political parties than they did to public safety and to the republic of Kenya. How to get around that problem in the future will condemn our leaders to a great number of sleepless nights. A simple answer would be to have an ethnically balanced force across the board in all our major towns that is trained to commit themselves to Kenya.
The issue of security does not end with having more policemen on the ground. The other factor that contributes a lot to security is economic well-being of individuals. This is the second characteristic of the countries that retain, even with globalisation, a sense of sovereignty.
The fighting around the country and especially in our cities pitted the poor of one community, against the poor of another community. In most cases the middle class didn't care that much and just wanted to get on with their jobs. An idle mind, even now clichés are most useful, is quite literally, the devil's workshop. Such youths were not just sitting idly by with time on their hands, but were also easily incited and bought off on account of their inability to sustain themselves.
A man, and most of the perpetrators were men, who cannot provide for his family is an extremely frustrated and angry man. Large numbers of young, unemployed and angry young men are a reliable ingredient for chaos and bloodshed. It is crucial, in order to avoid a recurrence of this situation in the future that we model our economy so that it is able to generate many more jobs than it is currently able to. Every Kenyan must feel that they have a stake in this country. They have to gain something that they will want to preserve, so jealously in fact that they will appreciate just how much it is they stand to lose if they engage in such acts as people freely wantonly took part in the first weeks of this year.
More than that though, we have to think very hard about what our economy is based on. An economy that is largely based on agriculture and tourism is not going to get us to a position where we can diminish the number of unemployed youth in Kenya. The small scale farmer who barely gets paid for his coffee produce will not have enough left over to employ anyone. In fact he can barely sustain himself. That is why rural-urban (Nairobi) migration is so huge that our rural areas are now almost completely devoid of young blood.
One solution would be to expand our manufacturing base. We must soon begin to start offering global manufacturing concerns incentives to come into our country. We are just as good a source of cheap labour as any Asian country. In addition we must encourage local people to start as many large or at least medium and small sized manufacturing enterprises as possible. The first Kibaki administration's Youth and Women funds had some good ideas that could be remoulded for such enterprise. The funds must also continue to be made available, and support services provided both to market the possibility of credit and then to supervise the business set-ups so as to increase the likelihood of success. It is not just for the young men and our peace that we must do this. Kenya is at the moment missing out the potential of all these millions, hidden in their number are innovators, public servants and the ideas and energy that could transform this country for ever.
The third component in keeping our house in order, and keeping off the attentions of interfering busy-bodies from abroad is ensuring that we have a justice and arbitration system that is reputable for its speed and fairness. The entirety of this year's troubles may have to do with the fact that a large number of those opposed to the electoral outcome did not think that going to the courts would provide them with a justand speedy hearing. To preclude against such a scenario in a few years, it is now important that the appointment of the judiciary is de-linked from the national executive, and that such measures are put in place (stenographers for example) as would expedite cases and make a judiciary that many Kenyans would see as the institution to resort to for arbitration of their disputes. A nation whose own citizens cannot trust its judges is unlikely to earn much respect and pride from other nations.
Finally the last component is the social framework. To this I count the home, the church and the school. It is inexcusable, that on whatever excuses that such a large number of Kenyans should resort not just to fights but also to murder, arsony, rape and sodomy, Is Kenya producing young men with no moral compass and no conscience whatsoever? Like Tupac Shakur I ask, where did we fail?
The political class must also ponder this one particularly hard. An allegedly rigged election or even poverty is no excuse for the sort of atrocities that have been committed by our young men mostly against their neighbours. In coming together, and moving forward, we must also look behind and discover for ourselves as to how best Kenya can earn the respect of her peers and ensure the prosperity and security of all her people.
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That statement is basically untrue. They didn't think so, but only said so.