South America’s unsung political hero-Jose Mujica

I came across this article and my usual theme of  celebrating outstanding leadership particularly from the Global South, I thought I share this. Read below and also see other links on this incredible President of Uruguay who has really decided to take a different path towards developing his country marrying both socialist and pragmatic approaches to development. Dubbed the "world's poorest president" by BBC, he has generated hope in me that we (including by country Kenya and the rest of the African continent), can actually embrace a new form of national leadership that puts the citizenry needs and interests first before individual self-interest of the political leaders i.e. reversing the current move by many to create clientalist states.

South America's Unsung Political Hero

(Written by: Santiago Rodríguez Tarditi as broadcast on The Globalist on Monocle 24

Contrary to popular belief, the best leader in the world is not Barack Obama. Sorry to break it to the Germans but it’s not Angela Merkel either. François Hollande? Not a chance. The greatest head of state these days is José Mujica, Uruguay’s president.

Better known by his nickname “Pepe”, the Uruguayan is responsible for putting his small nation of only 3.2 million inhabitants on the international map. Since he took office in 2010, journalists and locals have been raving about his forward-thinking policies, like his most recent proposal in which he announced the government will legalise and control the sale of marijuana. It’s a measure to fight the cartels that are now becoming a widespread problem in a country not used to dealing with drug wars.

As progressive as his ideas may sound, Mujica is not just another leftist character in Latin America’s political scene. He’s the personification of what true socialism should be, far from Chavez’s populist speeches and Kirchner’s demagoguery. He was a member of the Tupamaros, a leftist armed group that opposed Uruguay’s dictatorship during the 1970s (Mujica was in prison when the military junta was toppled in 1973). After a democratic transition, Mujica was named the official candidate for the Frente Amplio in 2009 and was elected president with 52 per cent of the votes, the first former guerrilla member to reach that position.

When he assumed his new role, Uruguayans knew that politics weren’t going to be the same. Mujica swore to take his country to new heights, while living a modest and exemplary life; his house is a farm in the outskirts of Montevideo, he drives a 1987 Volkswagen Beetle and donates almost 90 per cent of his salary to charity, earning him the nickname of the world’s poorest president. “There are many Uruguayans that live with much less,” he said in an interview with El Mundo newspaper. But his unpretentious lifestyle hasn’t slowed him from signing noteworthy international trade deals (25 per cent of Uruguay’s foreign trade comes from meat exports to 100 countries).

He’s also stimulated regional ties. At the latest Mercosur meetings Mujica invited Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador to join the union to strengthen the political and economic block. His latest meeting with Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff resulted in the signing of several bilateral-agreements that include the free circulation of goods, services and people between both countries. Mujica’s growth numbers have earned him international accolades; Moody’s recently elevated Uruguay’s investment rating soon after Standard & Poor’s raised the country’s grades, quoting its positive economic prospects.

Mujica is the new face of South America’s left wing, invigorating the movement with a hard-working government that puts people before egos, turning revolutionary ideas into pragmatic actions that lead to positive results. In a summit held in 2010 in Punta del Este, Mujica invited foreigners to invest in his country. “We need businesses to prosper in our nation, companies that pay taxes and generate wealth,” he said. “Otherwise we’ll be left with just the dreams.”
Two years into his government with constant economic growth figures at around 6 per cent, it seems that Pepe’s dreams are coming true.
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-20334136
Santiago Rodríguez Tarditi is acting edits section editor for Monocle.

To read more on Jose Mujica; visit these links:

1. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/world-poorest-president-canadian-politicians-could-learn-him-180711485.html

2. http://www.nowpublic.com/world/jose-mujica-worlds-poorest-president

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cQgONgTupo

4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-20334136

Music for Social Change: Juliani and Ian Kamau

Chilling with Ian Kamau (Centre) and Juliani (Right) at Kwani Open MIC

Yesterday, August 7, 2012, I attended the monthly Kwani Open Mic, at Club Soundd, Nairobi, a forum for spoken words artistes to showcase their work (I am informed that the event has since shifted its base). From this forum, I want to pay tribute to two progressive young artists I met who are using the power of music in passing on powerful social justice messages targetting particularly young people. These are Julius Owino, popularly known as Juliani, formerly of the legendary Ukoo Flani Mau Mau Hiphop family, and Ian Kamau, a canadian hiphop artiste. 

 I was impressed by the depth of their understanding of some of the challenges that the current youth generation faces not just in Africa but generally across the world and how they use their birth backgrounds to shape their messages of struggle against neo-colonialism, youth exploitation by the political and corporate masters and their optimism about the potential for the African Continent to rise again to the heady heights of the Pharaonic era! Here is one of Juliani's songs:

You can check-out some of Ian Kamau's songs here: http://iankamau.bandcamp.com/album/vol-3-love-and-other-struggles-mixtape.

Here is an exceprt from Ian Kamau's book "My Father, Manhood & Masculinity"

- A beautiful blog post, read the full post here. An excerpt below:

Once when I was about sixteen years old I was on the train with my father coming from somewhere, there were a group of guys about my age sitting together talking loudly and doing what most teenaged boys do when they are together; posturing and attempting to assert their manhood. My father and I were heading separate ways so he embraced me and kissed me on my forehead. I remember at sixteen feeling so embarrassed that my father showed his affection for me in this way in front of a group of my perceived peers. I look back on that moment now and I’m thankful that I had a gentle and loving father that taught me that a man does not need to live up to the stereotype of masculinity despite what society asks us to portray. My father never really taught me this in words, he taught me this in actions. I’m happy that I could be an artist who didn’t care about sports or cars and that be okay. I’m happy that my father was able to show me the complexity of what it is to be a man, so despite the difficulty of being a complex man in a fairly one dimensional society, I could still allow myself to be me. I’m grateful that my father said of my mother more than ten years after they split up that he loved and respected her and that she was still his best friend. And more than anything I’m happy that my father is just my father and we can still talk and laugh and argue and be father and son now that I too am a man.

Other artistes who performed included CheckMate Mido. The only way to describe him is to borrow this description I found online: 

CheckMate Mido reminds me a lot of Last Emperor  for some reason and is among the few ill emcees in Kenya who can actually beatbox and emcee at the same time. He is also an exceptional poet and if you’ve been to any KWANI Open Mic or poetry event where he’s at you’ll definitely agree with this. Mido’s inspirations include artists such as Mos Def, Abass Kubaff, The Fugees, The Roots, ATCQ and De La Soul. His style is more Soulful than Hype and can definitely morph it to suit any occasion. He’s been a professional artist for about 2-3 years now and seems to love what he’s doing.

I left the show with a renewed sense of optimism for this country and my dear continent: Aluta Continua!!

That Something Within

My thoughts and work-ethic today is inspired by the poem below:

That Something Within
By: Jackie Dove-Miller


There is something within me
That is strong enough
To keep me from toppling
Over the edge of
Sanity,
Over the ledge of
frustration
Or over the hedge of
All-out foolishness.
It leads me to prayer
When I would otherwise
Break.
There is something in my make-up
Or my bringing up
Or just the way I look up
That straightens my back
And bows my head.
It becomes the focus of my meditation.
The sentiment in my supplication,
The reason for my transformation.
That thing inside me
Has me choosing light
Though darkness covers all.
It wells up like ocean waves
Come to drown those who
Think they deserve to push me back
Hold me down or
Steal my joy.
I have a spiritual strength that
Grows deeper and speaks louder as I get to know
More about who I am.

"Where did IT come from?" Someone recently asked.
I answered, "In my developing stage, someone said out loud,
'You sure are good at _______,'"
My puny soul embraced that seed,
and it planted itself deep inside me and took root.
I tested that tiny bit of ego-strength against
The negative family messages that focused on
What I was NOT good at, making me feel small
And disconnected.
.............................................
But I WAS good at ________
And when I looked a little further, I discovered that
I was GOOD ENOUGH.
Good enough to bear fruit
And reap a harvest.
Good enough to plant a seed
In others and watch them grow
Magnificent and free.
I was GOOD ENOUGH to relate to
The GOD inside of me.

THE EAST AFRICAN INTEGRATION PROCESS: MAKING IT MEANINGFUL TO THE LIVES OF YOUTH IN KENYA

SPEECH BY: FELIX KYALO, PROGRAMS OFFICER, AKIBA UHAKI FOUNDATION DELIVERED AT THE KENYA NATIONAL YOUTH LEADERS CONFERENCE ON THE EAC INTEGRATION PROCESS ORGANISED BY THE MINISTRY OF EAC, KENYA.

TITLE OF SPEECH: THE EAST AFRICAN INTEGRATION PROCESS: MAKING IT MEANINGFUL TO THE LIVES OF YOUTH IN KENYA

“The future of Africa, the modernization of Africa that has a place in the 21st century is linked up with its decolonization and de-tribalisation. Tribal atavism would be giving up any hope for Africa. And of all the sins that Africa can commit, the sin of despair would be the most unforgivable... My generation led Africa to political freedom. The current generation of leaders and the peoples of Africa must pick up the flickering torch of freedom, refuel it with their enthusiasm and determination and carry it forward.” (Julius Nyerere, New African, January, 2000)

Distinguished guests, my fellow youth leaders, ladies and gentlemen, all protocols observed. I am Felix Kyalo, a Program Officer at Akiba Uhaki Foundation, a regional human rights and social justice Fund was founded in 2007 by human rights and social justice practioners and scholars working in East Africa who were persuaded that there was need for an independent and indigenous grantmaking organization, working through the provision of grants and other measures, to strengthen human rights and social justice institutions in East Africa, such that they may powerfully engage with active citizens across East Africa to successfully challenge injustice, transform lives and livelihoods, and secure rights. AUF was founded as a response to perceived failure of the human rights and social justice sector in East Africa to adequately challenge deeply embedded injustice and abuse of rights which was partially traced to the oppressive, predatory state and partly to weak institutions and movements that could not adequately challenge state repression and failure. The Fund is committed to promoting regional integration based on social justice concerns.

The Fund views development as a right and social injustice as an aberration while also seeing geographic and income inequalities as being products of failed/failing development models. We believe that the basis of sustainable development is social justice. In our work, we tackle root causes of poverty, social injustices and human rights violations as well as towards the realisation of the following preconditions (a) an empowered and assertive communities of people, (b) accountable governments and (c) effective monitoring and feedback mechanism by CSOs and other actors. Being an East African social justice grantmaker, we believe that the East African Community will be a pipe-dream unless it puts the concerns of the ordinary people at the centre of negotiations and unless it is owned by people and their communities. Hence, our route to transformation entails creating active and powerful communities of informed and engaged people; holding governments to account on the basis of evidence, creation of strong civil society institutions and movements to empower the people and hold duty-bearers accountable as well as having effective monitoring and reporting mechanisms.

 Allow me to share in brief, my thoughts and reflections around this issue that has brought us together in this convening; the issue of regional integration within the East African Community (EAC). Due to limited time allocated to me, I will only touch briefly on the key issues that I feel are critical for us as young leaders in Kenya to take cognizance of as we engage with the state in pushing forward the integration agenda forward.

Issues

• The EAC Treaty: envisages a people-centered integration but the people's participation and importance has largely been delegated to the periphery. The process has been more government and business interests driven with the people a few steps behind. Also, myths and stereotypes about what effect the integration process will have has also played a great role in reducing the citizenry interest in the process. So can we have the process reflect the people's concerns and wishes? This is the ideal that I dream of.
• Majority of young people have great intellectual potential which can shape the growth of the region if properly tapped but the political establishment is slow to realise this potential-high technological know-how, wide academic exposure, innovations in different sectors led by young people. What the integration process is expected to benefit young people is by creating opportunities for them to exploit their potential for the benefit of our communities. The Ministry can help in this by creating mechanism for availing info on what opportunities exist for young people in different sectors in the five countries. I do happen to travel around the region on work and one of the striking things I do notice is the immense opportunities for business, employment, education etc that exist in the other countries particularly in Rwanda and Burundi but not many young people are aware of this.
• Are we looking to create an integrated region where the livelihoods of the people and individual as well as collective freedom reins or are we integrating autocracy and collective marginalization of the poor in our societies? What would be meaningful-us remaining in the colonially created cocoons referred to as countries with each individual allowed liberty to fully exploit their potential or should we have a regional integration which then exacerbates the existing inequalities, deprivations including of fundamental liberties and lose that individual right to assert our rights? There is indeed need to re-interrogate the kind of regional integration we desire! The kind of integration that young people call for is where it enables creation of networks and partnership that can effectively a respond to challenges of sustainable environment, enjoyment of human rights, access to quality social services, response to humanitarian crisis and preservation and exchange of cultural value not one where once I criticise or expose governance malpractices in the state operations in Kenya, I cannot seek refuge with my brother in Uganda as the coalition-of-state-brothers-in vice will have closed this avenue! The process should create room for more open interactions between the peoples, more sharing of information and know-how, more inch-personal interactions and general openness in airing and dealing with our common problems.
• East African Community to me implies a system of people-focused policy-making and implementation. On the policy-level, there are several ongoing initiatives that seek to push the integration process forward. Key to us as young people include the East African Bill of Rights, the East African Youth Policy, the EAC policy on good governance(relevant particularly on the promotion of equal opportunities) and many more others. But how well aware are young people of these initiatives and how many are actually consulted in their enactment. We must avoid the temptation to make this an elitist process where consultation means calling a few select people “usual suspects” together and purport to speak for the wider youth population-this will create serious legitimacy and ownership challenges which can be avoided. There is need to ensure all-inclusive youth consultation and participation in the enactment of these strategic instruments. The various initiatives working on the various regional instruments need to avoid duplication of efforts and resources.
• The East Africa I look forward to is one where democracy flourishes and in which the people's will and voice is not just heard but is indeed respected, where young people are powerfully represented by youth leaders (not purported but actual youths) at all the key levels of governance. There is a growing worrying silence to the current trend of repression, electoral fraud camouflaged as free and fair elections across the region(all the 5 countries' leadership is attended by questions on its legitimacy) and an increasingly disregard of young people's role in creating positive change in society particularly in the political sphere. As young people, with our silence and acquiescence as the state and other non-state actors perpetrate repression and make a mockery of electoral democracy, we do become guilty by association. Its however heartening to see that not all hope is lost: young people under the “activists for change” banner are steadily making the youth voice heard with regard to the escalating costs of living, our very own Benji Ndolo stood up to question President Museveni's presence in Kenyan soil following the degrading treatment by his forces on Besigye and many other such stories. There is hope but the challenges are many. But the onus is also on our Government to act to ensure rights respect across the region-in my view our President attending the inauguration of Museveni was in bad taste!
• In my view, the integration process should enable us to learn from best practices in each of our five countries. I happened to attend a friends of EAC meeting in which discussions revolved, inter-alia. on the strengthening of democracy and human rights across the region. This was at the period before the Constitutional referendum and I do recall leaders from outside Kenya asserting that a young person below the age of 35 years cannot lead a country and the same assertion was repeated recently by an MP in our parliament during debate on the qualifications of the Chair of the Elections and Boundaries Commission under the new Constitution. This is the kind of apathy that young leaders face across the region. So ideally to me the integration process should be one that allows for sharing of best practices e.g. that Kenya's removal of the minimum age limit on presidential candidates so as to offer opportunities for young people to play their rightful role in development of the region. We have shown in the past and presently that young people can provide quality and progressive leadership-Many such examples abound including around this meeting even myself where I had the opportunity to step in as an interim head of a regional grant-maker organisation at the age of 22! For those nay-sayers we say: We have passed the test of time and we can deliver so don't look at our age but look at our qualifications, our skills etc). The same story applies across the region.

What is needed:

• Support for increased and meaningful networking and experience-sharing among young people-can be facilitated by both civil society and states.
• Stronger, sustained and collaborative measures across the region to address youth unemployment. In this case, the harmonization of the employment/job-creation policies across the region should be made a priority with the aim of ensuring young people can access job opportunities across the regions without the prevalent barriers.
• Increased partnership between the Ministry and youth stakeholders to avail info on available opportunities for young people across the region. If possible a database should be formed on this aspect.
• Work together in harmonisation of the various youth-related initiatives across the region both by the state, business community and by civil society to ensure more effectiveness and avoid duplication of resources
• The integrated states should act in peer accountability of each other to ensure that democracy prevails and rights violations are put to a stop

 

A WIND OF AWAKENING BLOWING

All those who share in the dream of a better Kenya; those who have toiled, written, spoken, demonstrated and endured much suffering, both of the body and mind, including death, in the fight to institutionalize the rule of law and good governance in the country... your selfless devotion to the reform of this country serves as a beacon of hope for the rest of the African continent....

…A wind of awakening blowing from the north-

To dispel the despair of life’s mockery

So that by death their children may live

Once again as men-

Has called them to resist.



They are not alone:

Their moans find echoes in the torn continent.

And the oppressors shall never again

Till the envied blood-clogged earth

In peace.

They shall no longer sleep.

(Extract from Joseph Kariuki (1992) “Sleepless in Angola” in David Cook & David Rubadiri, (Eds.) Poems from East Africa, East African Educational Publishers Ltd., Nairobi at page 72).

I Wish I Knew

I WISH I KNEW

I wish I knew where life goes

when death comes

I wish I knew how the clouds change

rearrange from white to rain

to the pain of memories of millions of

moments past

I wish I knew how the last is least

wish I knew why the heart beats

to the rhythm of the love few people

hear or understand

I wish I knew why the land rises and falls

wish I knew where the birds call

late in the evening

the sad call of air

beneath their wings

I wish I knew about wishes

wish I could describe dreams

not as people or places or

things or rings of church bells

or the clanging of jail cells

welcoming the future ends

of so many souls;

I wish I knew how wishes were made

how they were created out of

wonder and ponder and the thunder

of the heavens ---

I wish I knew what God knows

I wish I knew what Love Is that escapes

the hearts of this lonely world

I wish I could cry knowing that

all is not what it is

but what it could be once

I awaken from my dream.

(c) 2/25/08. simpoet

Ethnic Demagogues v Nationalistic Patriots: The Type of Citizenry this Country Needs

I thought I share this extract from a speech delivered yestered by Dr. Willy Mutunga, the Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya at the NCIC Conference on Diversity. This country is at cross-roads and the decisions the citizenry make on the kind of leadership to adopt and elect will determine the future of this country. Will we opt for a leadership of ethnic kleptocratic demagogues or shall we refrain from retreating to our ethnic cocoons or be swayed by ill-gotten riches and instead opt for nationalistic patriots full of integrity and progressive ideas? The choice is ours ladies and gentlemen of this beautiful country. Here is Dr. Mutunga:

"One of the biggest threats to nationhood has been the over-supply of the vernacular politician and vernacular Kenyan and a shortage of nationalists. Who is the vernacular politician or Kenyan? It is that person who views everything through the prism of the tribe. They equate national interest with ethnic interests. They are obsessed with ethnic hegemonic projects. They hold hollow but dangerous supremacist ideologies and, have invented false notions of ethnic entitlement, most of it anchored on exaggerated grievances, yet mostly fuelled by excessive greed. They revel in insults and derogatory remarks about other tribes and groups, as they descend into mindless orgies of mirth and self amusement. When they lose an argument, they rush to the defense of ethnic stereotype.

They are incapable of mobilizing across communities, and consider being referred to as the undisputed leader of the tribe as the ultimate political prize. They indeed treat it as a badge of honour. They excel in what divides us, and use their evil genius to create more divisions. They will never invest in the politics of issues, unless they are anthropological. When they are appointed to public office, their official trips to the countryside are regionally selective. They readily hide behind the community, when caught in a corrupt deal. They excel in rallying around the tongue; not the flag. They are sometimes very educated, professional and rich, but find satisfaction in spewing ethnic verbiage. They sometimes flaunt modern gadgetry as a mark of sophistication, but use these platforms to purvey sectarian drivel. Yet, both the vernacular politician and Kenyan thrive because they find fertile ground in the minds of Kenyans, who pretend to be powerless victims when caught imbibing this drivel. You cannot choose the days to be a nationalist and the days you will retreat to the comfort of ethnic cocoons. Being Kenyan is a full-time commitment. This country needs citizens who are Kenyans all the time; not those who are vernacular Kenyans most of the time."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For the Love of the Kenya 7s Game

They say its hard being a fan-and I should know this really well given that am an Arsenal fan..oh the anguish, frustration and nail-biting watching my team fight their way through difficult matches..and the oh the joy, the chest-thumping and crazy wild celebrations when the team finally grinds out a win as we did against Tottenham, Liverpool, Newcastle and Aston Villa recently! Thats the life of a fan, mine included. But nothing beats the craziness of being a rugby fan, a 7s rugby fun in particular and a Kenya 7s Rugby team fan to be more specific. They say the Kenyan team has the highest travelling contingent fans across the world in the IRB sevens circuit and the team has the most appealing flair and athleticism amongst all the other teams comparable only to the Fijians and Samoans. In their best day, they can beat anybody as they showed in the 2009/2010 seasons where the likes of Colins Injera and Humprey Khayange really shone through for the nation with Colins becoming the leading try scorer in the series and Humprey being appointed a IRB 7s Rugby Ambassador in the successful bid to have 7s Rugby as an Olympic sport. Even some beer companies cashed in with a Kenya 7s branded ale!

So much has changed since then and the team is not doing as well as it did then as well exemplified by its current ranking at No. 10 in the series and its 2 weeks tailing in its pool in both Hong Kong and Japan. The team seems devoid of ideas as well as leadership and I dare assert that the change of coaches from Ben Ayimba to Mitch Ocholla and the Captaincy from Humprey to his younger brother Colins may be a contributing factor to the visible lack of communication between the bench and the team and within the team itself. Something drastic needs to be done lest we see the team which has been a significant source of pride face the same dizzy fall as that of the Kenya cricket team which has fallen from the highs of reaching the semis of the cricket world cup to being whipped by minnows such as Nepal and Afghanistan in the recent T20 World Cup qualifiers. We love our team and the boys are capable but there is need for inspirational leadership to guide the team back to its former glory. Kenya Hee Kenya Haa!!!!

An Ode to Love

This is an honest cry of a disconsolate heart
Yearning for you,
My sweet looking Lilac.
The one who makes me sheepishly look,
When you give me that look,
that angelic I want-you-look,
I ask of you.

I ask of thee,
What is it that I first saw in you?
I beg to know,
I remember the moment of immense wonder,
When like a vision before me you appeared,
Like a spirit beauty-seared
As your face unfurled,
Brown, proud and flawless,
Curvaceous and serene,
Like a Grecian goddess,
You stood before me,
As I awe-struck gaped.

I ask of you,
What was it that so attracted me to you?
I ask myself,
Was it the seductive way you swung your hips,
Reminding me of a girl I once saw
Walking along the shores of Lake Victoria,
A really, well-endowed daughter of Ramogi,
Only that you were not from the lakeside,
But you were a daughter of Mumbi,
Oh my!
The very essence of classical African beauty.

So on this oh! So glorious day,
I ask of you,
Will we surrender to passion?
Let our mutual liking blossom into love,
Entrance ourselves into the euphoric world of ecstasy,
As I lean forward towards you,
Shall you let me kiss you deeply?
Oh oh!
Oh I ask of you,
My beautiful daughter of Mumbi,
Shall we let our love reach its prime?
Consummating that which we have patiently nurtured,
That which we have sown for long.
That has overcome thorns lined on its path.
I ask of you.

I ask of you,
As the soul in me stirs, waking,
As your virgin beauty rears,
Shall my heart pound celebration,
Shall the soul so-oft consciously hear,
The rebirth.
Of Our life. Our Love. Our Tears.

Today is one of those days when the mental writer block is more of a norm rather than exception hence I do not have much to write about. You can blame this on the laissez faire-attitude I usually adopt on Fridays or as Kenyans call it "Furahiday" or "Hepiday." Seeing as it is the end of yet another week and hence an appropriate time to evaluate the week's work and reflect on the things we, me and you, do everyday; I dug into my collection philosophy and inspirational books looking for some quote that will put me in the right frame of mind for the coming week. Here it is...

What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what gets you out of bed in the mornings, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.

Father Pedro Arrupe, 1907-1991
Spanish Priest, Doctor and Social Activist

Great Weekend good folks!!

The Rebirth of a Nation

I did write some time back around February 2008 that we were witnessing the rebirth of hope in Kenya. Those were days of great uncertainities in this country and the future of this country lay completely at the mercy of one of the most unpredictable and unreliable species; The Kenyan politicians as it was the time when the country had just borne forth the still-binding agreement, now infamously called the National Accord. Since then a lot has changed in our beloved country and I daresay that things can only better! Indeed, in a striking departure from the events of December 2007 when the failings and weaknesses of our electoral systems were glaringly exposed, kenyans in August 4, 2010 made history by holding the most peaceful elections/referendum in Africa ever with cutting-edge technology as the country overwhelmingly ratified the proposed Constitution. Hence on August 27, 2010, all eyes will be on this country as the world witnesses the birth of a fresh nation " Kenya Mpya" in which future governance will be based purely on the democratic tenets of all-inclusiveness, participation and respect for human rights and the incessant pursuit of economic, political and social justice. Many progressive Kenyans are however warning against relaxation of the civil society in its watchdog role over the state.

It is in light of the foregoing that key leading lights in the Kenyan civil society will be holding a special forum dubbed "KATIBA MPYA - LOOKING BACK, RECLAIMING OUR FUTURE!" bringing together various generations of those who struggled for a new constitution to celebrate the rebirth of our republic, reflect on the stony road we’ve trod to get here, and envision the future they fought for. The convening of the forum is made in the knowledge that: we cannot afford to be naïve. Old habits die hard and it is an open secret that some of the political class supported the new constitution due to pressure from below or political expediency and not because they believed in the change that the new constitution promises. The forces of the status quo are already regrouping to start whittling away at the gains that the new constitutional order promises. There is therefore need to remain eternally vigilant to ensure that the new dispensation lives up to the expectation of the longsuffering citizens of Kenya who have pursued the dream of a new constitution for more than two decades. It is imperative therefore for those who struggled for a new constitution to convene both the celebrate the milestone of a new constitutional order, to reflect on the journey so far and to set the agenda for the future, all along reminding the politicians that this constitution has its owners and they will be keeping watch as it is implemented to ensure that this new beginning does not turn out to be a false dawn as happened after 1963 and 2002.

There shall be music and poetry and the conference shall endeavour to have representation from Kenyans of all races, ethnic groups and gender and generations to showcase the new Kenya we hope to build in the new dispensation. There shall also be a photographic exhibition showcasing key moments in the struggle for a new constitution.

The conference will take place on Tuesday, 24th August 2010 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the National Museum Hall. See you all there. I leave you with an extract of the "Anthem of our Popular Struggle" Composed by Kang’ara Wa Njambi and the Late Karimi Nduthu,and popularized by RPP and 5Cs and Adopted at the First NCA-NCEC Plenary Session, Limuru on April 4, 1997 as the Anthem of Struggle.

Uuhuru weetu!!! Kenya , Wakenya ; Uuhuru weetu Wakenya, Tupiganie!

Na Haki Zetu!

Katiba Yeetu!

Mashamba Yeetu!

Umoja Weetu!

SOULFUL NAISOUL...

I salute your soul reader!Allow me to lay bare my soul to thee. Am sure you have it all figured now-its a soulful thing today..Perhaps some graphic breakdown would bring this closer home-picture this, I'm all alone in my solitary cubicle-my secluded forum of self-contemplation and meditation as well as reflection on the troubled times in my dear country.Its been said before-by whom my memory fails me-that every being craves a moment of uninterrupted quiet and towards the pursuit of the foregoing,seeks a zone, a place or a secluded point, call it a 'Peace zone" if you will..where he/she can lay idle for hours undisturbed and reflect aloud to him/ herself while strangely removed from the chaotic planet we live in. At this moment and place, the said being is able to enter into the world of sages and philosophers, without any literary critic checking over his shoulder sneering or questioning his motive, his flow of thought. So when the said creature obtains the said peace zone after the long search, it becomes a daily tussle to protect the said zone from infiltration by any unwelcome third parties or aliens if you are into science fiction...so this creature called Felix has also found his 'spot' and here I am all in deep philosophical mode(some rate it as shallow thinking enveloped in deep nasal overtones of veined intellectualism, which is all semantics if you ask me...as Joseph Pierce averred,""Seeing within changes one's outer vision."

Anyway so much for digressing..i started on the premise that its a soulful feeling in a furahiday nai evening with soft soul music playing in the background...the heart in a sober soulful mood.Talking of sobriety, its always amazing to consider the statistical figures on the sober rates in a normal Nairobi night-a close friend who i can bet my whole life cannot be anywhere near sober at the present has done a survey of Nairobians and his conclusion is that more than 99% of the nairobi adult population on Friday nights are always intoxicated on some ruaraka products or its kin thereof.so at this soulful moment i have my thoughts on the unsober nai people at this time..come with me lets go into a mind of my friend who right now has downed five and counting of them ruaraka froths and he is thinking-am on top of the world! YEAH I GOT MY STUFF ALL SORTED YEAH! but the next day the reality hits home-the economic situation in the domestic scene is not as rosy as the alcohol-induced vision had led him to believe! with the so-called leaders who have made it a point to make life so unbelievably hard for everyone still sitting pretty on the reins, the youth has little recourse but to go back to the dreams-inducing pints only to escape the harsh reality.

Thats why this soulful being has refused to go the self-lying way and face the reality-i will stay sober this night and face the hard facts of my life with a sober mind, i will never waver in my resolve to be the change i can be: can I be part of the movement cruising towards changing the leadership course of this country not just a generational change but a values change..a change towards a regime which appreciates and rewards merit, promotes forward-thinking and nationalistic patriotism and where on lack of aging is not viewed negatively but as a sign of the untapped potential. because flow with me here, let's us unravel the illogacility of the Kenyan governance system: we have allowed ourselves to be ruled and governed by a group of angry, myopic and terrified toddlers trapped in the deceiving bodies of 60 and 70-year olds which ideally should bring forth wisdom if the grand old book is to go by but which has come to be synonymous with unfettered greed of power and our meagre resources...oblivious of the seething and mounting rage on the streets...rage of a people who cannot believe the things the current crop of "leaders" are doing to this country: letting its poor citizens die unattended in their grassy homes with no food on their plates, hungry children who poke at their parents asking for food to feed their empty stomachs but whose parents bend their faces facing the ground unable to look back at their children and tell them "we have nowhere to get food" ""the ministers have sold the reelief food!" "relief food cannot be brought to the country due to state bureaucracy!"...rage seething at the unwanton killings of innocent and defenceless Kenyans even extending to the unarmed voices of the people like "Mtumishi" while the rest who try to speak out in the valley of death are silenced with death threats and go underground...rage at a state unwilling to arm and properly train its security forces to protect itself from the militia gangs that roam the villages in the country like lords in the medieval days-how do they the old men (in their newly blackened hairdos as if afraid that they are not black enough)face the orphaned families of the men in blue killed in the street showdowns with the militias killed because of having low power weaponry, how? They keep on siphoning off resources from our depleted silos claiming that they need to service their "philanthropic" actions but we all know better! It is a troubled land....so this soulful friday night, i remain reflective of these words by Eduardo Galeano in Days and Nights of Love and War:"To be alive: a small victory. To be alive, that is: to be capable of joy, despite the goodbyes and the crimes, so that exile will be a testimony to another, possible country.... Joy takes more courage than grief. In the end, we are accustomed to grief." I wonder where this how low we have come as a country....the treatise continues...I Remain truly yours..FK

A LOVE LETTER TO THE NATION BY SHALJAAH PATEL

I Came across this blog post by a Kwani regular, shaaljaah patel and the now slightly fading sickening feelings that were overwhelmingly going through my mind, and through many others, the ECK peeps made the soap opera-like election results announcement and the immediate sweaaring-in by the CJ(do you now wonder why the Man on the House on Top of the Hill today no so merit in the LSK petition against the CJ!!) came all back flooding. My parting shot:shaljah Patel..you put into words what most of us were unable or incapacitated by the then prevalent circumstances from vocalising..the mixed feelings of utter hatred, despise and disbelief at what the defunct ECK led by its cowardly chairman failed to stand for the country rather than let it go to the dogs...call it a hate letter or love letter to the nation.. the point was made....the sickening feeling of the ECK betrayal and foul play still remains...as the coalition partners, they of different wombs forced to co-exist, bicker and threaten each other..we all remain aware that never again shall we let a single or few individuals bring down this country again...in this we remain..united..patriots...here goes the post:Lets forgive but never forget....
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Kivuitu letter
An Open Letter to Samuel Kivuitu, Chair of the Electoral Commission of Kenya
Mr. Kivuitu,

We've never met. It's unlikely we ever will. But, like every other Kenyan, I will remember you for the rest of my life. The nausea I feel at the mention of your name may recede. The bitterness and grief will not.

You had a mandate, Mr. Kivuitu. To deliver a free, fair and transparent election to the people of Kenya. You and your commission had 5 years to prepare. You had a tremendous pool of resources, skills, technical support, to draw on, including the experience and advice of your peers in the field - leaders and experts in governance, human rights, electoral process and constitutional law. You had the trust of 37 million Kenyans.

We believed it was going to happen. On December 27th, a record 65% of registered Kenyan voters rose as early as 4am to vote. Stood in lines for up to 10 hours, in the sun, without food, drink, toilet facilities. As the results came in, we cheered when minister after powerful minister lost their parliamentary seats. When the voters of Rift Valley categorically rejected the three sons of Daniel Arap Moi, the despot who looted Kenya for 24 years. The country spoke through the ballot, en masse, against the mindblowing greed, corruption, human rights abuses, callous dismissal of Kenya's poor, that have characterised the Kibaki administration.

But Kibaki wasn't going to go. When it became clear that you were announcing vote tallies that differed from those counted and confirmed in the constituencies, there was a sudden power blackout at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, where the returns were being announced. Hundreds of GSU (General Service Unit) paramilitaries suddenly marched in. Ejected all media except the government mouthpiece Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.

Fifteen minutes later, we watched, dumbfounded, as you declared Kibaki the winner. 30 minutes later, we watched in sickened disbelief and outrage, as you handed the announcement to Kibaki on the lawns of State House. Where the Chief Justice, strangely enough, had already arrived. Was waiting, fully robed, to hurriedly swear him in.

You betrayed us. Perhaps we'll never know when, or why, you made that decision. One rumor claims you were threatened with the execution of your entire family if you did not name Kibaki as presidential victor. When I heard it, I hoped it was true. Because at least then I could understand why you chose instead to plunge our country into civil war.

I don't believe that rumor any more. Not since you appeared on TV, looking tormented, sounding confused, contradicting yourself. Saying, among other things, that you did not resign because you "did not want the country to call me a coward", but you "cannot state with certainty that Kibaki won the election". Following that with the baffling statement "there are those around him [Kibaki] who should never have been born." The camera operator had a sense of irony - the camera shifted several times to the scroll on your wall that read: "Help Me, Jesus."

As the Kenya Chapter of the International Commission of Jurists rescinds the Jurist of the Year award they bestowed on you, as the Law Society of Kenya strikes you from their Roll of Honour and disbars you, I wonder what goes through your mind these days.

Do you think of the 300,000 Kenyans displaced from their homes, their lives? Of the thousands still trapped in police stations, churches, any refuge they can find, across the country? Without food, water, toilets, blankets? Of fields ready for harvest, razed to the ground? Of granaries filled with rotting grain, because no one can get to them? Of the Nairobi slum residents of Kibera, Mathare, Huruma, Dandora, ringed by GSU and police, denied exit, or access to medical treatment and emergency relief, for the crime of being poor in Kenya?

I bet you haven't made it to Jamhuri Park yet. But I'm sure you saw the news pictures of poor Americans, packed like battery chickens into their stadiums, when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Imagine that here in Nairobi, Mr. Kivuitu. 75,000 Kenyans, crammed into a giant makeshift refugee camp. Our own Hurricane Kivuitu-Kibaki, driven by fire, rather than floods. By organized militia rather than crumbling levees. But the same root cause - the deep, colossal contempt of a tiny ruling class for the rest of humanity. Over 60% of our internal refugees are children. The human collateral damage of your decision.

And now, imagine grief, Mr. Kivuitu. Grief so fierce, so deep, it shreds the muscle fibres of your heart. Violation so terrible, it grinds down the very organs of your body, forces the remnants through your kidneys, for you to piss out in red water. Multiply that feeling by every Kenyan who has watched a loved one slashed to death in the past week. Every parent whose child lies, killed by police bullets, in the mortuaries of Nairobi, Kisumu, Eldoret. Everyone who has run sobbing from a burning home or church, hearing the screams of those left behind. Every woman, girl, gang-raped.

Do you sleep well these days, Mr. Kivuitu? I don't. I have nightmares. I wake with my heart pounding, slow tears trickling from the corners of my eyes, random phrases running through my head:

Remember how we felt in 2002? It's all gone.
(Muthoni Wanyeki, ED of Kenya Human Rights Commission, on the night of December 30th, 2007, after Kibaki was illegally sworn in as president).

There is a crime here that goes beyond recrimination. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolise.
(John Steinbeck, American writer, on the betrayal of internally displaced Americans, in The Grapes of Wrath)

Haki iwe ngao na mlinzi....kila siku tuwe na shukrani
("Justice be our shield and defender....every day filled with thanksgiving" Lines from Kenya's national anthem)

I soothe myself back to patchy sleep with my mantra in these days, as our country burns and disintegrates around us:

Courage.
Courage comes.
Courage comes from cultivating.
Courage comes from cultivating the habit.
Courage comes from cultivating the habit of refusing.
Courage comes from cultivating the habit of refusing to let fear dictate one's actions.
(Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese Nobel Peace Prize winner).

I wake with a sense of unbearable sadness. Please let it not be true.....

Meanwhile, the man you named President cowers in the State House, surrounded by a cabal of rapacious power brokers, and a bevy of sycophantic unseated Ministers and MPs, who jostle for position and succession. Who fuel the fires by any means they can, to keep themselves important, powerful, necessary. The smoke continues to rise from the torched swathes of Rift Valley, the gutted city of Kisumu, the slums of Nairobi and Mombasa. The Red Cross warns of an imminent cholera epidemic in Nyanza and Western Kenya, deprived for days now of electricity and water. Containers pile up at the Port of Mombasa, as ships, unable to unload cargo, leave still loaded. Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Southern Sudan, the DRC, all dependent on Kenyan transit for fuel and vital supplies, grind to a halt.

A repressive regime rolls out its panoply of oppression against legitimate dissent. Who knew our police force had so many sleek, muscled, excellently-trained horses, to mow down protestors? Who guessed that in a city of perennial water shortages, we had high-powered water cannons to terrorize Kenyans off the streets?

I am among the most fortunate of the fortunate. Not only am I still whole, alive, healthy, mobile; not only do I have food, shelter, transport, the safety of those I love; I have the gift of work. I have the privilege to be in the company of the most brilliant, principled, brave, resilient Kenyans of my generation. To contribute whatever I can as we organize, analyse, strategize, mobilize, draw on everything we know and can do, to save our country. I marvel at the sheer collective volume of trained intelligence, of skill, expertise, experience, in our meetings. At the ability to rise above personal tragedy - families still hostage in war zones, friends killed, homes overflowing with displaced relatives - to focus on the larger picture and envisage a solution.

I listen to lawyers, social scientists, economists, youth activists, humanitarians; experts on conflict, human rights, governance, disaster relief; to Kenyans across every sector and ethnicity, and I think:

Is this what we have trained all our lives for? To confront this epic catastrophe, caused by a group of old men who have already sucked everything they possibly can out of Kenya, yet will cling until they die to their absolute power?

You know these people too, Mr. Kivuitu. The principled, brave, resilient, brilliant Kenyans. The idealists who took seriously the words we sang as schoolchildren, about building the nation. Some of them worked closely with you, right through the election. Some called you friend. You don't even have the excuse that Kibaki, or his henchmen, might offer - that of inhabiting a world so removed from ours that they cannot fathom the reality of ordinary Kenyans. You know of the decades of struggle, bloodshed, faith and suffering that went into creating this fragile beautiful thing we called the "democratic space in Kenya." So you can imagine the ways in which we engage with the unimaginable. We coin new similes:

lie low like a 16A (the electoral tally form returned by each constituency, many of which were altered or missing in the final count)

We joke about the Kivuitu effect - which turns internationalists, pan-Africanists, fervent advocates for the dissolution of borders, into nationalists who cry at the first verse of the national anthem:

Ee Mungu nguvu yetu
Ilete baraka kwetu
Haki iwe ngao na mlinzi
Natukae na undugu
Amani na uhuru
Raha tupate na ustawi.

O God of all creation
Bless this our land and nation
Justice be our shield and defender
May we dwell in unity
Peace and liberty
Plenty be found within our borders.

Rarely do we allow ourselves pauses, to absorb the enormity of our country shattered, in 7 days. We cry, I think, in private. At least I do. In public, we mourn through irony, persistent humor, and action. Through the exercise of patience, stamina, fortitude, generosity, that humble me to witness. Through the fierce relentless focus of our best energies towards challenges of stomach-churning magnitude.

We tell the stories that aren't making it into the press. The retired general in Rift Valley sheltering 200 displaced families on his farm. The Muslim Medical Professionals offering free treatment to anyone injured in political protest. We challenge, over and over again, with increasing weariness, the international media coverage that presents this as "tribal warfare", "ethnic conflict", for an audience that visualises Africa through Hollywood: Hotel Rwanda, The Last King of Scotland, Blood Diamond.

I wish you'd thought of those people, when you made the choice to betray them. I wish you'd drawn on their courage, their integrity, their clarity, when your own failed you. I wish you'd had the imagination to enter into the lives, the dreams, of 37 million Kenyans.

But, as you've probably guessed by now, Mr. Kivuitu, this isn't really a letter to you at all. This is an attempt to put words to what cannot be expressed in words. To mourn what is too immense to mourn. A clumsy groping for something beyond the word 'heartbreak'. A futile attempt to communicate what can only be lived, moment by moment. This is a howl of anguish and rage. This is a love letter to a nation. This is a long low keening for my country.

Shailja Patel

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS-2007 POST

Mininum Constitutional Reforms: Are they necessary?
by Felix Kyalo Kitenge posted on Saturday, August 11, 2007


The current discourse on Kenya’s constitution primarily centres around the critical issue of the necessity or otherwise of undertaking minimum constitutional reforms before the forthcoming general elections set for December 2007.

At first sight the minimum reforms calls may appear to be evolving, but with the benefit of hindsight, one realizes that the issue has attended the multi-party debate in Kenya since the re-introduction of plural politics in 1991. Throughout Kenya’s post -91 political history, every time the General elections is near, the political religious and the civil society leaders thematically unite in agitating for minimum or at other times comprehensive review of the constitution and other related laws.

An illustration can be taken of the 1992 and 1997 General elections. Both elections saw the government being the first unwilling but later caving into the pressure to institute minimum legal reforms aimed at leveling the political playing field.

In 1992 the government bowed to international pressure (particularly the Breton woods institutions and donor countries) and local pressure (from the civil society, religious and political leaders), to allow the return of multi-party democracy. The changes made include the famous repeal of section 2A to legally signify the change from one party rule to multi-partism.

In 1997, minimum (or is it minimal) reforms were made under the IPPG banner which saw the repeal and amendment of various laws deemed as barriers to democracy. These include: The Societies Act and the Preservation of public security Act.

The mode of appointment of the Eck commissioners was changed to make it no longer a sole preserve of the president by allowing the nomination by political parties on the basis of their parliamentary strength.

Having shown that the minimum reforms cry is not a new one, the question that follows is whether it is currently necessary to institute minimum reforms before the 2007 general elections.

To answer this, an understanding of the targeted changes is called for.

The primary change targets the constitutional provisions on winning of presidential elections. It is proposed that as opposed to the current provisions that the winner in such elections must win at least 25% in 5 provinces out of eight,an amendment should be made that he ought to garner 50% plus one of all the votes cast.

The presupposed aim of such a move is to stop the current trend where a winning candidate need not have massive nationwide appeal but only have certain ethnic support bases. It also seeks to have all votes in the regions factored in the results as opposed to the case currently where only five provinces matter.

Other changes are as follows:

To provide for a more independent ECK to enable it to fairly and indiscriminately oversee the conduct of elections. This is intended to be achieved by having control its own finances and administrative operations. Also the commissioners are to enjoy a fuller security of tenure.

Gender imbalance in politics is also to be addressed by increasing the number of nominated MPS up to 36 with 24 being women.

Parliament is to vet appointments of senior government officials to ensure integrity and regional balancing is considered.

Fundamentally, in order to prevent the mischief of the president using the date of dissolution of parliament and by extension the date of the general elections as an election campaign tool and weapon. Parliament is to be empowered to control its own calendar.

The requirement of a referendum is also to be entrenched in the constitution.

The foregoing changes are supposed once passed by parliament to be subjected to the referendum to ensure that they attain the legitimacy in the eyes of the public.

In conclusion, all the foregoing changes are in one way or another closely related to the protracted demand and need to have free and fair elections. A comprehensive or full review of the legal apparatus though, would be preferable given the time limitations towards the forthcoming general elections, minimum reforms are clearly the only other alternative or are they?

THE POLITICAL CRASS IN KENYA

I know some of you may have started thinking oh no that dude has ng'oad videadly as in why say "crass" instead of "class!!' but hey its for a reason coz seriously our political class has once again shown its detachment to the hard reality facing the commom mwananchi in Kenya. At a time when the kenyan populace is faced with indescribable want both materially and spiritually with inflation on an all-time high and the IDP issue no where being solved, the top two kenyan politicians have seen it fit to come up with a 40-member cabinet! Never mind that the Government doesnt have enough portfolios to fill with ministers but the economic implications are just obscene.

How will Kibaki and raila justify these huge chunks on the budget to the young kenyan sleeping on the cold in Afraha Stadium IDP Camp or the woman who cant put enough ffod on the table for his kids in Kibera? It is time we stood up and said no to this glutonus leaders. Yes we desire to have the coalition cabinet in place but why not share power using a leaner cabinet so that we can then have enough reources for national reconstruction and building?