I am relieved that after so many years, we finally have a new Constitution that expresses our aspirations and hopes as a modern Kenyan state. I am resisting euphoria, even in my happiness and relief. I have seen--much too closely--similar moments of hope and joy in our history that were dashed quickly by the political class.
For me, the passage of this constitution is personal. On setting up the NGO Kenya Human Rights Commission in 1992, it quickly became obvious that the human rights violations we were denouncing and challenging had a basis in a constitution that was intrinsically repressive. There was little chance of change and respect for ordinary Kenyans within that framework that allowed the President to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. As our 1993 report “Independence without Freedom” asserted, Kenya was basically a colonial state, with laws, structures and attitudes that were exactly the same as those that governed the country from 1920 to 1963. The only thing that had changed was the color of the skin of those doing the repression and corruption, but it was just the same. To enjoy human rights, it was necessary to change the structure, reasoning and functions of the state. And that demanded constitutional change.
So in 1994 through to 1995, KHRC initiated a process that culminated in the publication of The Proposal for a Model Constitution, a joint effort with the Law Society of Kenya and the International Commission of Jurists (Kenya Section.) The objective was to show Kenyans and especially the political class that it was not rocket science to make a new idealistic and modern constitution. The other key objective was to provide a basis for citizen education and awareness by providing an example of “what could be.” From there, the Citizens Coalition for Constitutional Change (4Cs) took off, and from there, the National Convention Executive Committee (NCEC) was borne. By 1997, “Katiba” was a common word in Kenya, despite insults from Daniel Moi who would often ask if Katiba could be eaten. But we persisted and the rest as they say is history.
It has been a long road. A painful road. But finally we can say it was worth it. And it’s always been about putting Kenyans at the center of the state and the country, unlike the outgoing constitution that places the Presidency at the center. It is a struggle that was initiated and driven by non-politician Kenyans, in the main. It is a process that is about empowering ordinary Kenyans to be the masters, not servants of politicians. It is about providing the space and tools for ordinary Kenyans to challenge power and to speak truth to power. These tasks continue even after passing the constitution.
Along the way, and especially after politicians on both sides took over the initiative with the IPPG reforms, ordinary Kenyans have not been at the center of this struggle. There are lots of reasons for this, but also lots of lessons for us that we need to learn and internalize as we get to the implementation stage of the new Constitution. Yash Ghai did a great job to return Kenyans to the center, and the Committee of Experts must be commended for taking its role as custodians of the public interest seriously, especially in the face of serious opposition and challenges from the political class.
So as we celebrate, as we should, we also need to remember. We must pay homage to those who lost their lives in the struggles starting as far back as 1966, challenging power. We pay our respects to those who were crippled in protests in 1990 through to 1998. And we make special mention of people like the late Chris Mulei of the ICK-Kenya who was pivotal as far back as the drafting of the Proposal for a Model Constitution through to the 4Cs and NCEC. This is his victory as much as anyone else's.
And we need to focus now. At the top-down levels that require people of integrity, competence and character in the various organs, for we have learned that we can’t have reform without reformers. And also at the bottom up levels that seek to empower more ordinary Kenyans to challenge their leaders and hold them accountable.
This second bottom up task is urgent. For whatever reasons, the patterns of this vote largely reflected, yet again, what we have seen since 1992: Voters aligning around their ethnic political leadership. It could be that many voters actually read the draft and made a decision, but it is rather suspicious that there were so few votes in Nyanza that went against Raila Odinga’s choice. Or in Western, against Musalia Mudavadi; or Kalenjin, against Daniel Moi and William Ruto; or Kikuyu against Mwai Kibaki. Of course it could be that the leaders simply read the mood in “their strongholds” and campaigned on those lines, but somehow I am not so sure especially as there was a clear and loud shift among Kikuyu voters once Kibaki came out strongly.
So while I am happy the draft was approved by voters (and kudos to the IIEC for a job really well done), I am painfully aware that the journey has just started and we must not lower our guard. Ever again. The time to roll up our sleeves is now!
Showing posts with label kenya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kenya. Show all posts
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
"Clearing the Air" in Mombasa
July 19 - 25th: We were in Mombasa showing our new film ‘Clearing the Air’. We’re working with our partner Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI) in doing civic education. MUHURI has also been showing another InformAction documentary “The Challenge of Change”, a good background to the long struggles for change in Kenya.
How gratifying when someone came to greet me in a kiosk in Ukundu to tell me he’d seen “Challenge of Change”! And then in traffic in Mombasa (traffic is fast approaching Nairobi-jam like status!) two young men gave me the thumbs up out of the window – “thanks for the DVD Maina Kiai!”. So the DVDs really are getting around… People have told me they are particularly happy that politicians are not included in the film, and that they know the battles ahead will not diminish simply by voting in a new constitution.
And it was great to have about a thousand people attending the screening in Likoni - all so full of questions and comments in the discussion after the film that I left completely tired but inspired! Good questions on implementing the draft if it passes. Questions on what it could mean for the political class that wants to continue with ‘business as usual’... Questions on how the draft can help nationhood and link up the poor across the country to be united as poor rather than divided by tribe and religion.
“Clearing the Air” is a different sort of documentary for us, being a civic education tool, rather than the usual journalistic, human rights/social justice analysis type of films we make. But it is a direct product of the work we are doing screening films across the country and was a response to audiences in the Rift Valley and elsewhere. People were peppering us with questions on the Proposed Constitution, and repeating falsehoods, showing how quickly the lies had been created and disseminated.
It was a complex film to make since every one of us has a view—whether based on facts or not—on the Proposed draft. But we had to make it as objective as possible, and try and get as much into it as we could. So we decided to focus on the Bigger Picture; the rationale and reasons why Kenyans have been struggling for a new constitution for decades now, and put into context the role of politicians and the political class. So at its heart, the film aims at expressing the continuation of the struggles of ordinary Kenyans against the power, greed and insidiousness of our political class that has either resisted change, or used change as a slogan to capture power with no real intention of actually changing things in Kenya.
We printed thousands of copies of the film in English and Kiswahili and spread them around like leaflets, hoping to get to as many people as possible – hoping they will be played in video clubs, homes and restaurants to bring perspective to the debates. On top of this, we’ve been doing public screenings using our massive mobile screen - THE BEAST - and our Field Directors have been showing ‘Clearing the Air’ across Kenya in halls, prisons and universities. Field director Japhason Lekupe took the film as far as the shores of Lake Turkana, to the El Molo community, who said they had never been shown a film for civic education before.
What strikes me the most is the need for civil society and others to quickly engage if and when the Draft is passed to take advantage of the spaces that the draft provides. There are spaces and opportunities to use the courts once a new judiciary is passed, to ensure the implementation of the draft. There are spaces to use the Bill of Rights to organize, mobilize and empower Kenyans to make demands on leaders. And there are spaces for us to begin changing the mindset of our public officials so that if their actions are not in the interest of the public as required by the Proposed Constitution, they can be challenged in various ways.
There are also opportunities to start preparing for new alternative political leadership that can actually deliver the promise of the Proposed Constitution through the various layers of leadership and governance that are provided for.
But these spaces will mean nothing if we don’t grab them and use them…
How gratifying when someone came to greet me in a kiosk in Ukundu to tell me he’d seen “Challenge of Change”! And then in traffic in Mombasa (traffic is fast approaching Nairobi-jam like status!) two young men gave me the thumbs up out of the window – “thanks for the DVD Maina Kiai!”. So the DVDs really are getting around… People have told me they are particularly happy that politicians are not included in the film, and that they know the battles ahead will not diminish simply by voting in a new constitution.
And it was great to have about a thousand people attending the screening in Likoni - all so full of questions and comments in the discussion after the film that I left completely tired but inspired! Good questions on implementing the draft if it passes. Questions on what it could mean for the political class that wants to continue with ‘business as usual’... Questions on how the draft can help nationhood and link up the poor across the country to be united as poor rather than divided by tribe and religion.
“Clearing the Air” is a different sort of documentary for us, being a civic education tool, rather than the usual journalistic, human rights/social justice analysis type of films we make. But it is a direct product of the work we are doing screening films across the country and was a response to audiences in the Rift Valley and elsewhere. People were peppering us with questions on the Proposed Constitution, and repeating falsehoods, showing how quickly the lies had been created and disseminated.
It was a complex film to make since every one of us has a view—whether based on facts or not—on the Proposed draft. But we had to make it as objective as possible, and try and get as much into it as we could. So we decided to focus on the Bigger Picture; the rationale and reasons why Kenyans have been struggling for a new constitution for decades now, and put into context the role of politicians and the political class. So at its heart, the film aims at expressing the continuation of the struggles of ordinary Kenyans against the power, greed and insidiousness of our political class that has either resisted change, or used change as a slogan to capture power with no real intention of actually changing things in Kenya.
We printed thousands of copies of the film in English and Kiswahili and spread them around like leaflets, hoping to get to as many people as possible – hoping they will be played in video clubs, homes and restaurants to bring perspective to the debates. On top of this, we’ve been doing public screenings using our massive mobile screen - THE BEAST - and our Field Directors have been showing ‘Clearing the Air’ across Kenya in halls, prisons and universities. Field director Japhason Lekupe took the film as far as the shores of Lake Turkana, to the El Molo community, who said they had never been shown a film for civic education before.
What strikes me the most is the need for civil society and others to quickly engage if and when the Draft is passed to take advantage of the spaces that the draft provides. There are spaces and opportunities to use the courts once a new judiciary is passed, to ensure the implementation of the draft. There are spaces to use the Bill of Rights to organize, mobilize and empower Kenyans to make demands on leaders. And there are spaces for us to begin changing the mindset of our public officials so that if their actions are not in the interest of the public as required by the Proposed Constitution, they can be challenged in various ways.
There are also opportunities to start preparing for new alternative political leadership that can actually deliver the promise of the Proposed Constitution through the various layers of leadership and governance that are provided for.
But these spaces will mean nothing if we don’t grab them and use them…
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Old Bad Habits Die Hard….But We Must Force the Change We Want and Deserve
It’s the same old illegal, impunity-laden script that ridicules and insults Kenyans. It’s the “uta do?” culture at its best.
President Kibaki illegally dishing out districts as bribes on the eve of a historic vote, even after court rulings that clearly state that he can’t do this. Francis Muthaura instructing civil servants to campaign—using our tax money—knowing full well that this is illegal and against the provisions and spirit of the Public Officer Ethics Act just as he did in November and December 2007 under the guise of “popularizing Vision 2030” and leading to serious frustrations within the electorate that one PS car was stoned in Kisii.
And Prime Minister Odinga criticized this in 2005 and 2007 so his change of mind is incredulous!
MPs holding the country to ransom so that they can—in full unity and despite political differences—increase their perks and income even when they are the best paid MPs in the world, coming from one of the poorest nations in the world…
It’s insulting, unacceptable and wrong, no matter what the objective. Yes, civil servants can vote and have rights to expression, but not on our time and not using our money!!
And it sends a clear message to Kenyans about what to expect if the referendum passes on August 4th: The political class and the powerful elite will try to continue with “business as usual.”
They don’t see that passing a new constitution is symbolic of a break with the past. They don’t see that this should be the start of a new beginning, a new Kenya that makes them accountable to the people, rather than to themselves. They don’t see this as a step towards liberating Kenyans so that we have the space to think for ourselves and determine our own future politically and economically. No. The political elite see this as a contest and a game that may not change the rules that much.
In a sense this period and these sensibilities are quite similar to Moi/KANU in 1992. They passed the amendment allowing for multi-parties but continued to run the country like a one party state, without regard to anyone but themselves. And that opened the floodgates for one of the biggest episodes of corruption that the country has ever seen. It’s similar to 2002 when Mwai Kibaki was elected on a platform of change, zero tolerance to corruption, and reducing tribal divisions, but then slumped back to the old bad habits within months, crushing our hopes and aspirations.
It took the crisis in 2007/2008 to put us back on the path that we should have been on in 1992 and 2002!
And so they think they can continue doing the same old bad things, in the same old bad ways. So we Kenyans must stop them, for they can’t do so themselves.
How to force them to change? First, by preparing now for tough struggles in the immediate post referendum period, whichever way it goes. We must not give them a honeymoon and should send strong, firm messages, as early as possible, that we, unlike them, believe in the spirit of the Proposed Constitution and we intend to make it live and breathe for us, ordinary Kenyans. We must prepare to challenge the MPs and make them pay taxes as a first step to rationalization of the huge salaries that the top levels in “public service” take from us rather than earn it. We must get ready to force accountability for the offences during this referendum, beyond the Agenda 4 Commissions declaring that it is illegal for public servants to campaign. We must be ready to take up issues that increase the dignity of Kenyans, true to the rights that are in the Bill of Rights of this Proposed Constitution, especially breathing life to the right to protest and demonstrate against the political class.
It won’t be easy, and there will be obstacles and hitches. But we must test it and bring it to life. That is the challenge. They are not willing to change their habits, so it’s up to us to teach them that we will not accept the old bad habits anymore. And the sooner the better.
President Kibaki illegally dishing out districts as bribes on the eve of a historic vote, even after court rulings that clearly state that he can’t do this. Francis Muthaura instructing civil servants to campaign—using our tax money—knowing full well that this is illegal and against the provisions and spirit of the Public Officer Ethics Act just as he did in November and December 2007 under the guise of “popularizing Vision 2030” and leading to serious frustrations within the electorate that one PS car was stoned in Kisii.
And Prime Minister Odinga criticized this in 2005 and 2007 so his change of mind is incredulous!
MPs holding the country to ransom so that they can—in full unity and despite political differences—increase their perks and income even when they are the best paid MPs in the world, coming from one of the poorest nations in the world…
It’s insulting, unacceptable and wrong, no matter what the objective. Yes, civil servants can vote and have rights to expression, but not on our time and not using our money!!
And it sends a clear message to Kenyans about what to expect if the referendum passes on August 4th: The political class and the powerful elite will try to continue with “business as usual.”
They don’t see that passing a new constitution is symbolic of a break with the past. They don’t see that this should be the start of a new beginning, a new Kenya that makes them accountable to the people, rather than to themselves. They don’t see this as a step towards liberating Kenyans so that we have the space to think for ourselves and determine our own future politically and economically. No. The political elite see this as a contest and a game that may not change the rules that much.
In a sense this period and these sensibilities are quite similar to Moi/KANU in 1992. They passed the amendment allowing for multi-parties but continued to run the country like a one party state, without regard to anyone but themselves. And that opened the floodgates for one of the biggest episodes of corruption that the country has ever seen. It’s similar to 2002 when Mwai Kibaki was elected on a platform of change, zero tolerance to corruption, and reducing tribal divisions, but then slumped back to the old bad habits within months, crushing our hopes and aspirations.
It took the crisis in 2007/2008 to put us back on the path that we should have been on in 1992 and 2002!
And so they think they can continue doing the same old bad things, in the same old bad ways. So we Kenyans must stop them, for they can’t do so themselves.
How to force them to change? First, by preparing now for tough struggles in the immediate post referendum period, whichever way it goes. We must not give them a honeymoon and should send strong, firm messages, as early as possible, that we, unlike them, believe in the spirit of the Proposed Constitution and we intend to make it live and breathe for us, ordinary Kenyans. We must prepare to challenge the MPs and make them pay taxes as a first step to rationalization of the huge salaries that the top levels in “public service” take from us rather than earn it. We must get ready to force accountability for the offences during this referendum, beyond the Agenda 4 Commissions declaring that it is illegal for public servants to campaign. We must be ready to take up issues that increase the dignity of Kenyans, true to the rights that are in the Bill of Rights of this Proposed Constitution, especially breathing life to the right to protest and demonstrate against the political class.
It won’t be easy, and there will be obstacles and hitches. But we must test it and bring it to life. That is the challenge. They are not willing to change their habits, so it’s up to us to teach them that we will not accept the old bad habits anymore. And the sooner the better.
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