Post by Onyango Oloo on Oct 17, 2005 16:05:25 GMT 3
A Contribution by Onyango Oloo to an Upcoming University of Nairobi Debate on The Draft Constitution
Dear Humphrey:
Salamu kutoka Toronto!
My name is Onyango Oloo and I was one of the 79 recipients of your email message above. I am writing on Monday, October 17, 2005- a day after you communicated with us and I hope that my intervention is not time barred.
As you may know also, I am writing from Canada which immediately defines my limitations in commenting with the same kind of depth, accuracy and immediacy as the rest of the people on this mailing list many of whom are based in Kenya. In fact, scanning the list I see at least half a dozen lawyers, several academics, at least two assistant ministers and of course, a ton of very experienced social justice activists and veterans of Kenya’s civil society movements.
I hope that my tentative message from Canada will just spur more substantive comments than mine from the above mentioned recipients of your inquiry. I am sure that your forthcoming debate and discussion at the University of Nairobi will be lively, fruitful and engaging.
And now to the subject that you raise. Let me restate your question using your exact words:
“The draft constitution fully takes the student (youth) interest into account. we should all vote yes”.
You add: “your quick response is highly welcome as we try to wrestle the future of this country from the conservatives.”
First of all, let me say that I agree with you 100% that we (presumably the youth, but by extension, progressive and patriotic Kenyans of all ages, genders, religions, ideological orientations and ethnicities) are engaged in a wrestling match with forces which stand in the way of social progress, economic development, national democracy and justice for all Kenyans. Perhaps at the end of my intervention you will be able to gauge for yourself whether you and I are on the same page and/or whether we mean the same things for example when we talk about “we” and whether or not we mean the same social forces when you and I refer to the “conservatives.”
Nevertheless the topic of your upcoming debate at the University of Nairobi is rather apt. It also underscores the long road we have traveled in our quest for justice and democracy in Kenya. It was not that long ago that some undergraduate students from the same campus were flung in maximum security prisons for their temerity in urging students and youth to participate in precisely the kinds of debates that you and your fellow students will be having before the end of this week at the campus. It was not that long ago when university lecturers were dragged from auditoriums, lecture theatres and senior common rooms for expressing a desire of living in a Kenya where fundamental civil, political, economic, cultural and social rights were guaranteed to every Mwananchi.
Of course, these advances have not happened by happenstance- rather they have been the culmination of the combined efforts of many of the people I see on this mailing list- patriots like Prof. Kivutha Kibwana, human rights lawyers like Mirugi Kariuki; former student leaders and political prisoners like Paddy Onyango, Njuguna Mutahi; gender and social justice campaigners like Muthoni Wanyeki; progressive NGOs like the Kenya Human Rights Commission, Kituo Cha Sheria, the Ogiek community organization, FIDA, Kenya Land Alliance, KENDREN, SODNET and everybody else on this long list.
As Kenyans and friends of Kenya we have traveled a long way- even from the time of the repeal of Section 2A. The December 2002 elections which brought about a sea- change in Kenyan political realignments already seem like an eon away.
In fact, the fact that Kenyans are currently immersed in a feisty, often raucous vuta ni kuvute on how to proceed with our constitutional review process is a manifestation of an emergent national democratic culture that we should nurture rather than stifle. At the moment most of us pledge allegiance to humble fruits that have acquired a political stock market value far exceeding what their respective vendors can recoup in the open air market places dotted throughout our beautiful country.
How does one proceed to answer concretely the question that you posed?
Well, if you are Onyango Oloo, you meander and meander and meander on a myriad tangents before finally getting to the point. Please Mr Ringera, I beg your indulgence, hoping earnestly that your patience will be ultimately rewarded.
Here is your question once again:
“The draft constitution fully takes the student (youth) interest into account. we should all vote yes”.
Well, let us break down that sentence before we begin to answer the question itself.
What “draft constitution” is being referred to here?
You see Humphrey; it is not just a question of semantics.
At the crux of our contemporary current affairs cleavages are two documents, each competing for the mantle of the “draft constitution”.
There is, first of all, the Zero Draft promulgated on March 15, 2004 at the conclusion of the months-long national constitutional conference which took place at Bomas and gathering in the same space over six hundred delegates representing thousands of communities from each province of the country. That draft constitution has specific provisions speaking to the interests of students and youth of Kenya.
Is that the “Draft Constitution” that you and your colleagues are going to debate before the end of this week Humphrey Ringera?
Or are you conversely, referring to the Wako Draft, cobbled in stealth at a Coastal resort by our Attorney General huddled together with some ministers and a few handpicked drafters and then submitted to the Kenyan public to either endorse or reject at the upcoming November 21st Referendum?
I will be reckless and take a leap of faith and assume that you could be referring to the Wako Draft as opposed to the Bomas Draft- although I could be making a grievous and fatal error- for which I beg your forgiveness in advance should that turn out to be the case.
Now Humphrey let me be candid and upfront, right at the outset.
I am one of those Kenyans who DO NOT RECOGNIZE the legitimacy of the Wako Draft because I believe, along with millions of other Kenyans that the process that led to its existence was undemocratic and serves to entrench the status quo ante bequeathed from the ancien regime rather than usher in a new chapter in our constitutional making process. By deliberately supplanting the Zero Draft, a document infused not just with a thousand democratic discussions and debates, but more importantly by the blood, indeed the lives of hundreds of Kenyans who were maimed, who were clobbered and who were actually killed at Muoroto, Saba Saba, Nane Nane, Tisa Tisa, Kumi Kumi and so on, by completely ignoring the collective process that led to the Bomas Draft- imperfect and problematic as it is in chunks- the Wako Draft is sending a clear message to the Wananchi that it does not matter what Kenyans think- the ruling political elites in the country can abrogate, at a moment’s notice, the people’s will and superimpose this with their own parochial and selfish interests and desires- which they will then turn around and demand a public imprimatur, a national seal of approval from the very wananchi that they have hijacked the Katiba making process from.
Nevertheless, even though I do not recognize the legitimacy of the Wako Draft, I am compelled to delve into it because there is a fait accompli realization that it is the document that has been imposed by the Kibaki government for Kenyans to either reject or accept. A more democratic alternative would have, at the very minimum, also offered the Bomas Draft on the menu of Referendum choices this coming November.
So what does the Wako Draft say about the youth?
First of all there is this specific section in the Bill of Rights portion of the Wako Draft:
Youth
40. (1) The youth constitute an integral part of society and are entitled to enjoy all the rights and freedoms set out in the Bill of Rights, taking into account their unique needs.
(2) The State shall take legislative and other measures, including but not limited to affirmative action policies and programmes, to promote the welfare of the youth.
(3) The measures referred to in clause (2) shall include measures to ensure for the youth –
(a) access to quality and relevant education and training;
(b) participation in governance;
(c) access to gainful employment;
(d) adequate opportunities in the social, political,
economic and other spheres of national life;
(e) freedom of association to further their legitimate
interests;
(f) protection from any culture, custom, tradition or
practice that undermines their dignity or quality of
life; and
(g) a life free from discrimination, exploitation or abuse.
There is very little to quibble with those- platitudes and motherhood statements. Of course the Kenyan youth constitute an integral part of Kenyan society and are entitled to enjoy all the rights and freedoms set out in the Bill of Rights, taking into account their unique needs; of course the State should take legislative and other measures, including, but not limited to affirmative action to promote the welfare of Kenyan youth;
Who in their right mind would oppose measures paving the way for Kenyan youth to have access to quality and relevant education and training?
One would have to be a certified resident of a lunatic asylum to agitate AGAINST the Kenyan youth participation in governance, their right to gainful employment and all the other provisions listed in the above extract.
But Humphrey, that is HARDLY THE POINT is it.
Hallowed and hi falutin flowery wording do not a good constitution make.
In coming up with a new democratic constitution the process leading up to the drafting of this document is actually just as important, if NOT MORE important than the CONTENTS of this draft. There is a reason why democrats and patriots like Kivutha Kibwana and the folks at the NCEC spoke about a people driven Katiba making process. There is a reason why Kenyans hanker for Wanjiku’s constitution. As I have commented elsewhere, echoing some of my legal pals (and no, I do not have “illegal friends”, I am talking about lawyers) it would have been easy to go the Daniel arap Moi route and consign the work to six hired hands from overseas- actually it would have even been cheaper to send me, Oloo an email and ask me to google around and I guarantee you that within 45 minutes I would have cut and paste a PERFECT CONSTITUTION for Kenya patched together from a dozen progressive constitutions from around the world. And I have ZERO training as a lawyer and know next to nothing about the technical aspects of drafting a constitution.
So it is NOT what is in the Wako Draft, but it is in HOW the draft was birthed in the first place.
There was a reason for the national constitutional conference at Bomas Humphrey.
And NO, it was not just an excuse for some people to show up every Friday to claim their marupu marupu punctually- and only to turn around at the end of the conference to trash the very process they had been participating in all along.
Bomas was the culmination of over a decade of intense democratic reforms and constitutional review efforts that had taken many twists and bends. Imperfect as it was- there are those in this very list, Bomas delegates and all, who would later fault the process for its very composition of delegates, but that is neither here nor there- it was, in many respects one of the most visible examples of how far we had reached as Kenyans in fighting for democratic reforms. This was the first time- and I stand to be corrected- that hundreds of ordinary Kenyan citizens drawn from town and country, representing women and men, old and young, rich and poor, educated and unschooled, Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Atheist and Agnostics came together to have a national conversation in the same space and at the same time about the raging and persistent question of the Kenya we want. Was it a perfect process? Of course not! How could it be, especially being the very first such instance of a Made in Kenya Constitutional Conference- a counterpoint to the colonial overseas exercises in constitution making that evolved in pre-Independence captivity and beholden to the interests of our imperialist masters at the time?
I attended the Bomas conference very briefly as an observer in September 2003. What I observed were dozens upon dozens of Kenyan youth; what I observed were hundreds of women, scores of representatives of pastoral and marginalized people, hundreds of Kenyans of faith; dozens of social justice activists and former political prisoners; several ministers and government officials; I observed an open (in literal terms, taking place outdoors under big tents) democratic and participatory process; I visited sessions on Devolution, on the Executive, on many of the aspects that were later to be captured in the Zero Draft; this was my first time to observe, up close and personal the eloquence and erudition of Paul Muite holding forth on various constitutional matters; it was my introduction to the rambunctious, earthy and humorous interventions of Ms. Orie-Rogo Manduli; I was able to chit chat with people like Prof. Wangari Maathai on the reasons why she opposed dual citizenship at the time and of course mix it up with literally dozens of people that I last saw languishing behind bars at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in the 1980s- caged for their opposition to the dictatorial Moi-KANU regime.
Now tell me something Humphrey Ringera because you are on the ground in Nairobi and I am out here in the far off Canadian frigid wilderness:
Was there a similar open, participatory and democratic process in conjuring the Wako Draft?
Where did the drafting take place?
Was it under big tents milling with hundreds of Kenyans from all eight provinces and reflecting our generational, gender, ideological, cultural, religious, racial and regional diversity?
Were there heated debates during the drafting process for instance on the question of the imperial presidency or whittling down of the devolution provisions?
How many Kenyan WOMEN were in the room during the drafting of the Wako document?
How many Kenyan MUSLIMS were in the room during the drafting of the Wako document?
How many representatives of cultural, ethnic, racial and religious minorities were in the room during the drafting of the Wako document?
More significantly, for the purposes of this intervention, how many Kenyan YOUTH and how many Kenyan STUDENTS were present during the drafting of the Wako document?
Humphrey, I am sure you are familiar with the Kiswahili saying:
Asiyekuwapo na lake halipo.
While it may have emerged from different material conditions, the expression speaks to the necessity of stakeholders being present when interests directly germane to them are being discussed, negotiated and decided.
About three years ago,
Dr.Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem the Secretary General of the Kampala based Pan African Movement relayed to me a West African equivalent of the Kiswahili expression above:
“You Cannot Shave My Head in My Absence.”
In my humble estimation, Humphrey, this is what Wako and his fellow drafting conspirators lurking in a cordoned off Coastal resort tried to do:
They tried to shave our heads in our absence.
You know Humphrey for many of us, our barber shop was at Bomas and those delegates were our individual vinyozi.
And you know how it is when you are at a barbershop- or hair dresser’s.
The barber or hair dresser if they are good at the job do not just ambush you on the street, drag you into their shop, strap you to a chair and start scrapping your scalp with a rusty razor blade- as they used to tell us at Kamiti,
"Utanyolewa na wembe bila maji wewe nongwe!"
They would be insane to do that.
Instead, what usually happens is that you voluntarily walk into a barber shop or a hair salon because you want to do something new with your hair. For some people they want to do a Michael Jordan and shave everything off. Others, our sisters especially may have a very intricate braiding pattern that requires an expert, not just any kinyangarika. Whatever the case, the whole process will be voluntary, it will be interactive and since you are the paying customer, the barber/hair dresser must pay very close attention to whether they are doing a good job cutting/making your hair because they know you can actually REFUSE to pay them if they do not do a good job.
So our barbers and hair stylists were those Bomas Delegates.
Did they do a good job?
Did they follow our instructions to a T?
Well, show me one person who has ever had the PERFECT COIFFURE and I will identify a LIAR in an identification parade.
Of course we wish they had not done this or done that with this or that part of our head. Perhaps they took too long, making us miss a hot date or be late for an important professional appointment. But at the end of the day, most of us who walked into that barber shop/hair salon were more than a little gruntled by how our collective hair was done.
My question to you Humphrey is this:
How could the Kenyan youth and students even assess Wako’s skills as a barber/hair dresser if the Attorney General did not even open his shop for us to walk in and choose how we wanted our hair to be made?
How credible is a barber who shows you a PHOTOGRAPH of a braided head and tells YOU to PAY THEM because they are SURE that this is the STYLE that you want because they have just come from a closed door meeting with other hairdressers who have a “consensus” that Style X is the way to go in November 2005?
What I am struggling to say Humphrey is quite straight-forward:
The Kenyan youth and the Kenyan students were NOT involved in the drafting of the Wako Draft. It therefore cannot claim to represent their views and aspirations.
There is a saying that one cannot really be free if someone else "gives" to you your so called "freedom". It is like a dog and its owner. An owner keeps a leash on its dog. Sometimes it releases the leash to let the dog run around for a few minutes. Silly dog thinks it is “free”. Until the leash snaps back on to the tight dog collar.
Onyango Oloo
Toronto.
| Date:Sun, 16 Oct 2005 13:03:27 -0700 (PDT) From:humphrey ringera" <hmwirigi82@yahoo.com Subject:THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTION. To: 79 Names Erased for privacy reasons Hi, hope all is okey with all the feasting taking place in the streets. am a student at the university of nairobi and i wish to request you input on the following question which will be the topic of our debate before the end of the week. THE DRAFT CONSTITUTION FULLY TAKES THE STUDENT (YOUTH) INTEREST INTO ACCOUNT. WE SHOULD ALL VOTE YES”. your quick response is highly welcome as we tyr to wrestle the future of this country from the conservatives. Humphrey Ringera. |
Dear Humphrey:
Salamu kutoka Toronto!
My name is Onyango Oloo and I was one of the 79 recipients of your email message above. I am writing on Monday, October 17, 2005- a day after you communicated with us and I hope that my intervention is not time barred.
As you may know also, I am writing from Canada which immediately defines my limitations in commenting with the same kind of depth, accuracy and immediacy as the rest of the people on this mailing list many of whom are based in Kenya. In fact, scanning the list I see at least half a dozen lawyers, several academics, at least two assistant ministers and of course, a ton of very experienced social justice activists and veterans of Kenya’s civil society movements.
I hope that my tentative message from Canada will just spur more substantive comments than mine from the above mentioned recipients of your inquiry. I am sure that your forthcoming debate and discussion at the University of Nairobi will be lively, fruitful and engaging.
And now to the subject that you raise. Let me restate your question using your exact words:
“The draft constitution fully takes the student (youth) interest into account. we should all vote yes”.
You add: “your quick response is highly welcome as we try to wrestle the future of this country from the conservatives.”
First of all, let me say that I agree with you 100% that we (presumably the youth, but by extension, progressive and patriotic Kenyans of all ages, genders, religions, ideological orientations and ethnicities) are engaged in a wrestling match with forces which stand in the way of social progress, economic development, national democracy and justice for all Kenyans. Perhaps at the end of my intervention you will be able to gauge for yourself whether you and I are on the same page and/or whether we mean the same things for example when we talk about “we” and whether or not we mean the same social forces when you and I refer to the “conservatives.”
Nevertheless the topic of your upcoming debate at the University of Nairobi is rather apt. It also underscores the long road we have traveled in our quest for justice and democracy in Kenya. It was not that long ago that some undergraduate students from the same campus were flung in maximum security prisons for their temerity in urging students and youth to participate in precisely the kinds of debates that you and your fellow students will be having before the end of this week at the campus. It was not that long ago when university lecturers were dragged from auditoriums, lecture theatres and senior common rooms for expressing a desire of living in a Kenya where fundamental civil, political, economic, cultural and social rights were guaranteed to every Mwananchi.
Of course, these advances have not happened by happenstance- rather they have been the culmination of the combined efforts of many of the people I see on this mailing list- patriots like Prof. Kivutha Kibwana, human rights lawyers like Mirugi Kariuki; former student leaders and political prisoners like Paddy Onyango, Njuguna Mutahi; gender and social justice campaigners like Muthoni Wanyeki; progressive NGOs like the Kenya Human Rights Commission, Kituo Cha Sheria, the Ogiek community organization, FIDA, Kenya Land Alliance, KENDREN, SODNET and everybody else on this long list.
As Kenyans and friends of Kenya we have traveled a long way- even from the time of the repeal of Section 2A. The December 2002 elections which brought about a sea- change in Kenyan political realignments already seem like an eon away.
In fact, the fact that Kenyans are currently immersed in a feisty, often raucous vuta ni kuvute on how to proceed with our constitutional review process is a manifestation of an emergent national democratic culture that we should nurture rather than stifle. At the moment most of us pledge allegiance to humble fruits that have acquired a political stock market value far exceeding what their respective vendors can recoup in the open air market places dotted throughout our beautiful country.
How does one proceed to answer concretely the question that you posed?
Well, if you are Onyango Oloo, you meander and meander and meander on a myriad tangents before finally getting to the point. Please Mr Ringera, I beg your indulgence, hoping earnestly that your patience will be ultimately rewarded.
Here is your question once again:
“The draft constitution fully takes the student (youth) interest into account. we should all vote yes”.
Well, let us break down that sentence before we begin to answer the question itself.
What “draft constitution” is being referred to here?
You see Humphrey; it is not just a question of semantics.
At the crux of our contemporary current affairs cleavages are two documents, each competing for the mantle of the “draft constitution”.
There is, first of all, the Zero Draft promulgated on March 15, 2004 at the conclusion of the months-long national constitutional conference which took place at Bomas and gathering in the same space over six hundred delegates representing thousands of communities from each province of the country. That draft constitution has specific provisions speaking to the interests of students and youth of Kenya.
Is that the “Draft Constitution” that you and your colleagues are going to debate before the end of this week Humphrey Ringera?
Or are you conversely, referring to the Wako Draft, cobbled in stealth at a Coastal resort by our Attorney General huddled together with some ministers and a few handpicked drafters and then submitted to the Kenyan public to either endorse or reject at the upcoming November 21st Referendum?
I will be reckless and take a leap of faith and assume that you could be referring to the Wako Draft as opposed to the Bomas Draft- although I could be making a grievous and fatal error- for which I beg your forgiveness in advance should that turn out to be the case.
Now Humphrey let me be candid and upfront, right at the outset.
I am one of those Kenyans who DO NOT RECOGNIZE the legitimacy of the Wako Draft because I believe, along with millions of other Kenyans that the process that led to its existence was undemocratic and serves to entrench the status quo ante bequeathed from the ancien regime rather than usher in a new chapter in our constitutional making process. By deliberately supplanting the Zero Draft, a document infused not just with a thousand democratic discussions and debates, but more importantly by the blood, indeed the lives of hundreds of Kenyans who were maimed, who were clobbered and who were actually killed at Muoroto, Saba Saba, Nane Nane, Tisa Tisa, Kumi Kumi and so on, by completely ignoring the collective process that led to the Bomas Draft- imperfect and problematic as it is in chunks- the Wako Draft is sending a clear message to the Wananchi that it does not matter what Kenyans think- the ruling political elites in the country can abrogate, at a moment’s notice, the people’s will and superimpose this with their own parochial and selfish interests and desires- which they will then turn around and demand a public imprimatur, a national seal of approval from the very wananchi that they have hijacked the Katiba making process from.
Nevertheless, even though I do not recognize the legitimacy of the Wako Draft, I am compelled to delve into it because there is a fait accompli realization that it is the document that has been imposed by the Kibaki government for Kenyans to either reject or accept. A more democratic alternative would have, at the very minimum, also offered the Bomas Draft on the menu of Referendum choices this coming November.
So what does the Wako Draft say about the youth?
First of all there is this specific section in the Bill of Rights portion of the Wako Draft:
Youth
40. (1) The youth constitute an integral part of society and are entitled to enjoy all the rights and freedoms set out in the Bill of Rights, taking into account their unique needs.
(2) The State shall take legislative and other measures, including but not limited to affirmative action policies and programmes, to promote the welfare of the youth.
(3) The measures referred to in clause (2) shall include measures to ensure for the youth –
(a) access to quality and relevant education and training;
(b) participation in governance;
(c) access to gainful employment;
(d) adequate opportunities in the social, political,
economic and other spheres of national life;
(e) freedom of association to further their legitimate
interests;
(f) protection from any culture, custom, tradition or
practice that undermines their dignity or quality of
life; and
(g) a life free from discrimination, exploitation or abuse.
There is very little to quibble with those- platitudes and motherhood statements. Of course the Kenyan youth constitute an integral part of Kenyan society and are entitled to enjoy all the rights and freedoms set out in the Bill of Rights, taking into account their unique needs; of course the State should take legislative and other measures, including, but not limited to affirmative action to promote the welfare of Kenyan youth;
Who in their right mind would oppose measures paving the way for Kenyan youth to have access to quality and relevant education and training?
One would have to be a certified resident of a lunatic asylum to agitate AGAINST the Kenyan youth participation in governance, their right to gainful employment and all the other provisions listed in the above extract.
But Humphrey, that is HARDLY THE POINT is it.
Hallowed and hi falutin flowery wording do not a good constitution make.
In coming up with a new democratic constitution the process leading up to the drafting of this document is actually just as important, if NOT MORE important than the CONTENTS of this draft. There is a reason why democrats and patriots like Kivutha Kibwana and the folks at the NCEC spoke about a people driven Katiba making process. There is a reason why Kenyans hanker for Wanjiku’s constitution. As I have commented elsewhere, echoing some of my legal pals (and no, I do not have “illegal friends”, I am talking about lawyers) it would have been easy to go the Daniel arap Moi route and consign the work to six hired hands from overseas- actually it would have even been cheaper to send me, Oloo an email and ask me to google around and I guarantee you that within 45 minutes I would have cut and paste a PERFECT CONSTITUTION for Kenya patched together from a dozen progressive constitutions from around the world. And I have ZERO training as a lawyer and know next to nothing about the technical aspects of drafting a constitution.
So it is NOT what is in the Wako Draft, but it is in HOW the draft was birthed in the first place.
There was a reason for the national constitutional conference at Bomas Humphrey.
And NO, it was not just an excuse for some people to show up every Friday to claim their marupu marupu punctually- and only to turn around at the end of the conference to trash the very process they had been participating in all along.
Bomas was the culmination of over a decade of intense democratic reforms and constitutional review efforts that had taken many twists and bends. Imperfect as it was- there are those in this very list, Bomas delegates and all, who would later fault the process for its very composition of delegates, but that is neither here nor there- it was, in many respects one of the most visible examples of how far we had reached as Kenyans in fighting for democratic reforms. This was the first time- and I stand to be corrected- that hundreds of ordinary Kenyan citizens drawn from town and country, representing women and men, old and young, rich and poor, educated and unschooled, Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Atheist and Agnostics came together to have a national conversation in the same space and at the same time about the raging and persistent question of the Kenya we want. Was it a perfect process? Of course not! How could it be, especially being the very first such instance of a Made in Kenya Constitutional Conference- a counterpoint to the colonial overseas exercises in constitution making that evolved in pre-Independence captivity and beholden to the interests of our imperialist masters at the time?
I attended the Bomas conference very briefly as an observer in September 2003. What I observed were dozens upon dozens of Kenyan youth; what I observed were hundreds of women, scores of representatives of pastoral and marginalized people, hundreds of Kenyans of faith; dozens of social justice activists and former political prisoners; several ministers and government officials; I observed an open (in literal terms, taking place outdoors under big tents) democratic and participatory process; I visited sessions on Devolution, on the Executive, on many of the aspects that were later to be captured in the Zero Draft; this was my first time to observe, up close and personal the eloquence and erudition of Paul Muite holding forth on various constitutional matters; it was my introduction to the rambunctious, earthy and humorous interventions of Ms. Orie-Rogo Manduli; I was able to chit chat with people like Prof. Wangari Maathai on the reasons why she opposed dual citizenship at the time and of course mix it up with literally dozens of people that I last saw languishing behind bars at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in the 1980s- caged for their opposition to the dictatorial Moi-KANU regime.
Now tell me something Humphrey Ringera because you are on the ground in Nairobi and I am out here in the far off Canadian frigid wilderness:
Was there a similar open, participatory and democratic process in conjuring the Wako Draft?
Where did the drafting take place?
Was it under big tents milling with hundreds of Kenyans from all eight provinces and reflecting our generational, gender, ideological, cultural, religious, racial and regional diversity?
Were there heated debates during the drafting process for instance on the question of the imperial presidency or whittling down of the devolution provisions?
How many Kenyan WOMEN were in the room during the drafting of the Wako document?
How many Kenyan MUSLIMS were in the room during the drafting of the Wako document?
How many representatives of cultural, ethnic, racial and religious minorities were in the room during the drafting of the Wako document?
More significantly, for the purposes of this intervention, how many Kenyan YOUTH and how many Kenyan STUDENTS were present during the drafting of the Wako document?
Humphrey, I am sure you are familiar with the Kiswahili saying:
Asiyekuwapo na lake halipo.
While it may have emerged from different material conditions, the expression speaks to the necessity of stakeholders being present when interests directly germane to them are being discussed, negotiated and decided.
About three years ago,
Dr.Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem the Secretary General of the Kampala based Pan African Movement relayed to me a West African equivalent of the Kiswahili expression above:
“You Cannot Shave My Head in My Absence.”
In my humble estimation, Humphrey, this is what Wako and his fellow drafting conspirators lurking in a cordoned off Coastal resort tried to do:
They tried to shave our heads in our absence.
You know Humphrey for many of us, our barber shop was at Bomas and those delegates were our individual vinyozi.
And you know how it is when you are at a barbershop- or hair dresser’s.
The barber or hair dresser if they are good at the job do not just ambush you on the street, drag you into their shop, strap you to a chair and start scrapping your scalp with a rusty razor blade- as they used to tell us at Kamiti,
"Utanyolewa na wembe bila maji wewe nongwe!"
They would be insane to do that.
Instead, what usually happens is that you voluntarily walk into a barber shop or a hair salon because you want to do something new with your hair. For some people they want to do a Michael Jordan and shave everything off. Others, our sisters especially may have a very intricate braiding pattern that requires an expert, not just any kinyangarika. Whatever the case, the whole process will be voluntary, it will be interactive and since you are the paying customer, the barber/hair dresser must pay very close attention to whether they are doing a good job cutting/making your hair because they know you can actually REFUSE to pay them if they do not do a good job.
So our barbers and hair stylists were those Bomas Delegates.
Did they do a good job?
Did they follow our instructions to a T?
Well, show me one person who has ever had the PERFECT COIFFURE and I will identify a LIAR in an identification parade.
Of course we wish they had not done this or done that with this or that part of our head. Perhaps they took too long, making us miss a hot date or be late for an important professional appointment. But at the end of the day, most of us who walked into that barber shop/hair salon were more than a little gruntled by how our collective hair was done.
My question to you Humphrey is this:
How could the Kenyan youth and students even assess Wako’s skills as a barber/hair dresser if the Attorney General did not even open his shop for us to walk in and choose how we wanted our hair to be made?
How credible is a barber who shows you a PHOTOGRAPH of a braided head and tells YOU to PAY THEM because they are SURE that this is the STYLE that you want because they have just come from a closed door meeting with other hairdressers who have a “consensus” that Style X is the way to go in November 2005?
What I am struggling to say Humphrey is quite straight-forward:
The Kenyan youth and the Kenyan students were NOT involved in the drafting of the Wako Draft. It therefore cannot claim to represent their views and aspirations.
There is a saying that one cannot really be free if someone else "gives" to you your so called "freedom". It is like a dog and its owner. An owner keeps a leash on its dog. Sometimes it releases the leash to let the dog run around for a few minutes. Silly dog thinks it is “free”. Until the leash snaps back on to the tight dog collar.
Onyango Oloo
Toronto.
