Post by miguna on Jan 7, 2006 0:39:13 GMT 3
LDP’S EXAMPLE IS A FRESH BREATH OF DEMOCRATIC AIR
By MIGUNA MIGUNA* - © 4 January 2006
LDP’s recent announcement that its presidential torchbearer will be selected fairly and democratically is a minty breeze of fresh air into an otherwise dangerously clogged and polluted political landscape that we call Kenyan politics.
This LDP declaration is a first in Kenya. There has never been an open, fair and democratic process of choosing key political leaders in this country. Former presidents, Kenyatta and Moi - and now Kibaki - were all secretly chosen by a shadowy group of political strongmen through unexplained processes. On each occasion, Kenyans were never really told either the criteria or method of selection. Neither were they informed of the qualities that distinguished the anointed leader from the rest of the population.
Regarding Kenyatta’s ascension into power, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga simply insisted that there would be “no uhuru without Kenyatta.” Jaramogi was relentless in his demand. He was not just demanding Kenyatta’s release from prison; he was saying that Kenyatta must be the first leader of post-independence Kenya. He repeated the demand so many times until he transformed this single statement into a national mantra. Soon, every corner of the country was shaking with the song: “No Uhuru Without Kenyatta.” The song took over and became the political platform for Kanu, which was then batting it out with Kadu for political dominance. A coherent explanation and detailing of a political program got lost and was swept by raw demands and national euphoria. Kenyatta never made a coherent policy statement before being handed over power. When Kenyatta emerged from colonial jail, he was handed the coveted office without a contest. That was a tragic political mistake that the country has not recovered from, and which should never have been repeated after Kenyatta’s death. It partly explains why Kenyatta later took Jaramogi and most Kenyans for granted during his entire fifteen year reign. Even more significantly, it may have laid the foundation for Kenyatta’s refusal to allow internal democratic elections within Kanu, leading to Jaramogi’s exit and the transformation of Kenya into a de facto one party state.
Others may choose to point fingers at Tom Mboya’s political ambitions and known guile. However, Mboya was never president. In any case, he acted within the political terrain that had been paved by that undemocratic act of imposing Kenyatta on Kenyans without prior vetting, screening and fair contest within Kanu.
On Moi’s part, he assumed power by virtue of being Kenyatta’s deputy when the old man died in his sleep in Mombassa in August 1978. Even though the constitution allowed him ninety days to act as president before the country was to elect a new leader, a shadowy group of political buccaneers quickly took over and entrenched Moi into power without any party or national elections. Soon, the shadowy power barons went into high gear and transformed Kenya into a de jure one party state. There was no longer any need to worry about elections, good governance or even the principles of democracy. What followed were the unprecedented twenty four years of oppressive Moi and Kanu rule.
When Kibaki came to power in 2002, he had not been subjected to a thorough vetting by his own Democratic Party of Kenya (DP). There is no record of DP ever holding internal democratic part elections to choose Kibaki as its presidential candidate. In fact, there is no public record of DP having ever held internal elections. Even when he was announced to be the National Party of Kenya (NAK) presidential candidate, his choice had been secretly made by a few members of the NAK leadership, before the unorthodox merger with the LDP/Rainbow to form the National Alliance Rainbow Coalition (Narc). And within Narc, we have heard enough of the “Kibaki Tosha” declaration by Raila Odinga at Uhuru Park; a declaration that Agwambo now says he is sorry to have made. The rest, as they say, is now water under the bridge.
Each case represents a classical sophisticated political swindle; not a democratic or popular exercise.
When the presumed LDP’s presidential hopefuls, Kalonzo Musyoka, Raila Odinga and Musalia Mudavadi, publicly endorsed the democratic method of choosing the party’s presidential candidate and stated that they encourage fierce competition before selecting the best person who would then be supported by the losing ones, it was both good news and a significant message to Kenyans.
The most important message is that we have at long last got leaders who are prepared to practice what they preach. Historically, Kenyan politicians have excelled in populist political rhetoric but failed to demonstrate, through their actions, honesty, substance and selfless service to the nation. Almost all leading politicians in the past have never been keen to allow fair, free and open democratic party elections. Double speak and selfishness have been the preferred political lexicon of the ruling class.
Going by LDP’s declaration, that unfortunate dubious political practice of those who wield power may be changing. It is wonderful news for the people and the country at large.
Lack of competitive politics has tended to discourage fine young and visionary leaders from emerging. In stead, our country has had a bad record of churning out and bestowing the rich, strong and cunning as our leaders. Leading Kenyan thinkers, strategists and reformers have tended to avoid politics, not because of the misplaced belief that it is dirty, but because they have been mostly elbowed or knocked out through cunning, crafty and unorthodox unfair games by more formidable political foxes.
Invariably, the results of our political contests have been tilted in favour of the loud, rich and flashy pretenders. These political turncoats have always auctioned off democratic space. Power obtained and retained in this manner is inherently illegitimate. Any selfish attempts at political air conditioning of such a system always results in national short circuits.
Political leaders that either acquire or retain their positions through deception, raw physical power or bribery cannot comprehend the problems facing our people.
Democracy requires that a political party designs and implements a fair, open and consistent process of screening, vetting, selecting and ultimately electing their leaders before these leaders are presented to the country as candidates in general and presidential elections. If the process is suffocated by irregularities or members of the party are not allowed to participate fully and freely in choosing their leaders, it is unlikely that those chosen will stand a good chance of winning competitive national elections.
It is important that LDP leaders strenuously avoid negative personal campaigns and attacks. They need to concentrate their efforts in explaining and popularizing their party’s platform, policies, their individual visions for the country and practical programs they will implement in addressing the needs of all citizens if they are elected.
The candidates ought to focus on LDP’s record of raising issues of good governance, enactment of a people’s constitution, reduction and dispersal of executive power, devolution of power, eradication of corruption, building and strengthening of democratic space and institutions, entrenchment of the rule of law and protection of a free and vibrant press. These are the winning tickets and numbers.
Hopefully, the winner of this democratic popularity contest will also be the best strategist, visionary, organizer and democrat Kenya has ever seen. That way, if the winner – whoever he will be – presents himself to Kenyans as a whole, the country will have a real choice between the new and the old; between the fresh and the odour.
An LDP win may just lead to the final clean up of the foul political odour that has been suffocating us for more than forty years.
______________________________________________________________________
*The writer is a Barrister & Solicitor in Toronto, Canada
By MIGUNA MIGUNA* - © 4 January 2006
LDP’s recent announcement that its presidential torchbearer will be selected fairly and democratically is a minty breeze of fresh air into an otherwise dangerously clogged and polluted political landscape that we call Kenyan politics.
This LDP declaration is a first in Kenya. There has never been an open, fair and democratic process of choosing key political leaders in this country. Former presidents, Kenyatta and Moi - and now Kibaki - were all secretly chosen by a shadowy group of political strongmen through unexplained processes. On each occasion, Kenyans were never really told either the criteria or method of selection. Neither were they informed of the qualities that distinguished the anointed leader from the rest of the population.
Regarding Kenyatta’s ascension into power, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga simply insisted that there would be “no uhuru without Kenyatta.” Jaramogi was relentless in his demand. He was not just demanding Kenyatta’s release from prison; he was saying that Kenyatta must be the first leader of post-independence Kenya. He repeated the demand so many times until he transformed this single statement into a national mantra. Soon, every corner of the country was shaking with the song: “No Uhuru Without Kenyatta.” The song took over and became the political platform for Kanu, which was then batting it out with Kadu for political dominance. A coherent explanation and detailing of a political program got lost and was swept by raw demands and national euphoria. Kenyatta never made a coherent policy statement before being handed over power. When Kenyatta emerged from colonial jail, he was handed the coveted office without a contest. That was a tragic political mistake that the country has not recovered from, and which should never have been repeated after Kenyatta’s death. It partly explains why Kenyatta later took Jaramogi and most Kenyans for granted during his entire fifteen year reign. Even more significantly, it may have laid the foundation for Kenyatta’s refusal to allow internal democratic elections within Kanu, leading to Jaramogi’s exit and the transformation of Kenya into a de facto one party state.
Others may choose to point fingers at Tom Mboya’s political ambitions and known guile. However, Mboya was never president. In any case, he acted within the political terrain that had been paved by that undemocratic act of imposing Kenyatta on Kenyans without prior vetting, screening and fair contest within Kanu.
On Moi’s part, he assumed power by virtue of being Kenyatta’s deputy when the old man died in his sleep in Mombassa in August 1978. Even though the constitution allowed him ninety days to act as president before the country was to elect a new leader, a shadowy group of political buccaneers quickly took over and entrenched Moi into power without any party or national elections. Soon, the shadowy power barons went into high gear and transformed Kenya into a de jure one party state. There was no longer any need to worry about elections, good governance or even the principles of democracy. What followed were the unprecedented twenty four years of oppressive Moi and Kanu rule.
When Kibaki came to power in 2002, he had not been subjected to a thorough vetting by his own Democratic Party of Kenya (DP). There is no record of DP ever holding internal democratic part elections to choose Kibaki as its presidential candidate. In fact, there is no public record of DP having ever held internal elections. Even when he was announced to be the National Party of Kenya (NAK) presidential candidate, his choice had been secretly made by a few members of the NAK leadership, before the unorthodox merger with the LDP/Rainbow to form the National Alliance Rainbow Coalition (Narc). And within Narc, we have heard enough of the “Kibaki Tosha” declaration by Raila Odinga at Uhuru Park; a declaration that Agwambo now says he is sorry to have made. The rest, as they say, is now water under the bridge.
Each case represents a classical sophisticated political swindle; not a democratic or popular exercise.
When the presumed LDP’s presidential hopefuls, Kalonzo Musyoka, Raila Odinga and Musalia Mudavadi, publicly endorsed the democratic method of choosing the party’s presidential candidate and stated that they encourage fierce competition before selecting the best person who would then be supported by the losing ones, it was both good news and a significant message to Kenyans.
The most important message is that we have at long last got leaders who are prepared to practice what they preach. Historically, Kenyan politicians have excelled in populist political rhetoric but failed to demonstrate, through their actions, honesty, substance and selfless service to the nation. Almost all leading politicians in the past have never been keen to allow fair, free and open democratic party elections. Double speak and selfishness have been the preferred political lexicon of the ruling class.
Going by LDP’s declaration, that unfortunate dubious political practice of those who wield power may be changing. It is wonderful news for the people and the country at large.
Lack of competitive politics has tended to discourage fine young and visionary leaders from emerging. In stead, our country has had a bad record of churning out and bestowing the rich, strong and cunning as our leaders. Leading Kenyan thinkers, strategists and reformers have tended to avoid politics, not because of the misplaced belief that it is dirty, but because they have been mostly elbowed or knocked out through cunning, crafty and unorthodox unfair games by more formidable political foxes.
Invariably, the results of our political contests have been tilted in favour of the loud, rich and flashy pretenders. These political turncoats have always auctioned off democratic space. Power obtained and retained in this manner is inherently illegitimate. Any selfish attempts at political air conditioning of such a system always results in national short circuits.
Political leaders that either acquire or retain their positions through deception, raw physical power or bribery cannot comprehend the problems facing our people.
Democracy requires that a political party designs and implements a fair, open and consistent process of screening, vetting, selecting and ultimately electing their leaders before these leaders are presented to the country as candidates in general and presidential elections. If the process is suffocated by irregularities or members of the party are not allowed to participate fully and freely in choosing their leaders, it is unlikely that those chosen will stand a good chance of winning competitive national elections.
It is important that LDP leaders strenuously avoid negative personal campaigns and attacks. They need to concentrate their efforts in explaining and popularizing their party’s platform, policies, their individual visions for the country and practical programs they will implement in addressing the needs of all citizens if they are elected.
The candidates ought to focus on LDP’s record of raising issues of good governance, enactment of a people’s constitution, reduction and dispersal of executive power, devolution of power, eradication of corruption, building and strengthening of democratic space and institutions, entrenchment of the rule of law and protection of a free and vibrant press. These are the winning tickets and numbers.
Hopefully, the winner of this democratic popularity contest will also be the best strategist, visionary, organizer and democrat Kenya has ever seen. That way, if the winner – whoever he will be – presents himself to Kenyans as a whole, the country will have a real choice between the new and the old; between the fresh and the odour.
An LDP win may just lead to the final clean up of the foul political odour that has been suffocating us for more than forty years.
______________________________________________________________________
*The writer is a Barrister & Solicitor in Toronto, Canada
