The recent election fiasco and ensuing violence in Kenya has eclipsed a large but silent majority: the nonvoters.
There are agnostic, cynics and skeptics who neither registered nor voted in the disputed poll. According to the Electoral Commission (if one can still trust their numbers), there were 14 million registered voters, about 10 million who voted out of a population of over 34 million. Bearing in mind that a section of the population is not eligible to register and vote by age or otherwise, that still leaves a huge chunk of Kenyans who did not participate in the elections.
And Kenyans are not alone. There are “silent” majorities of nonvoters even in the Western democracies. In the United States for example, only about one-third of the population participates in the presidential and congressional elections, roughly 100 million of the 300 million Americans.
We are here talking about persons who are otherwise eligible to participate but for one reason or other, choose not to. There is widespread assumption of the universal appeal of the political process. This is erroneous. When did the passions of a couple dozen ministers, a president and 210 egocentrics become the sole preoccupation of all Kenyans?
Don’t the non-voters have the right to a peaceful country uninterrupted by the greed and avarice as well as unbridled ambitions of the voting class? After all, they are the majority.
One can discern a number of categories of non-voters:
- those believing that their voices no longer matter. That whatever they (as citizens do), political elite will always ride roughshod over the, fueled by greed and desire for power
-those whose efforts at bringing change have been thwarted by political leaders who are intent on feeding their endless pockets and stomachs. Corruption, nepotism, spineless dealings, bask in the momentary glory as long as the price is right;
-those who genuinely have neither the interest nor the time for the apparent bickering and endless shouting match ( and now murderous rampages) that characterize Kenyan politics.
No matter what the categorization, these share one thing: a conscious decision to stay out of the political scene. They do not want to vote or be voted.
It is an ultimate act of collective oppression: the minority acting n total disregard of the wishes and aspirations of the majority, albeit silent.
Retired President Moi often said: Siasa Mbaya, Maisha Mbaya. (Translation: Bad Politics, Bad Life).
This epitomizes the politicians’ elevated self-importance. Presumptuous and arrogant belief that everything to do with the citizens’ lives depends on them (the politicians). There indeed can be good life despite the rot in politics. If only the politicians could stick to their lanes and leave citizens who have chosen to be apolitical, the hell, alone.
Before anyone jumps to conclusions as to why some Kenyans may rather opt for aloofness, it must be stated that every person has the right to decide, based on their personal preferences.
Just like career, marital status, religion and the like, the flip side of this argument is that citizens have an equally strong right to sit out and observe from a safe distance.
Nonvoters may not necessarily be uneducated, poverty-striken lot. Imagine the following members of Kenya’s emerging middle class:
Teacher – wants to teach and go home
Advocate – wants to litigate and become a formidable jurist
Business owner – keep shop open to earn a decent living
Civil Servant – wants to serve the public with the ultimate goal of rising to senior ranks, who knows even become Permanent Secretary
The chaos, mayhem are not only disruptive, inconveniencing, wasteful, inexplicable loss of lives and heightened ethnic tension.
Like a herd of bulls fighting, observers deserve a safe opportunity to watch.
Perhaps the unintended consequence of the events in Kenya since December 27, 2007 is counterproductive. The self-righteous/ self-proclaimed believers in the power of politics to transform everything may be dead wrong. If the goal of the election was to expand the democratic space (or as Americans would have it, expand the tent), the mayhem and death following the elections may well drive away potential participants from the process.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Why Annan May Fail and Succeed Simultaneously
The arrival of former UN Secretary General in Kenya has many breathing cautious sighs of relief. However, the Alternative View is that this is all hype.
Raila and Kibaki do not need Annan, Mrs Mandela or President Museveni to sit down and talk. If they needed any motivation, the senseless murder of hundreds of Kenyans and the displacement of millions are more than adequate. As we have previously argued, that it should take threats of sanctions, numerous visits by international mediators to tell us to stop butchering one another or destroying the economy, is a severe indictment of our political elite. It calls into question our collective maturity as a nation.
Assume, purely for the sake of argument that Annan achieves a feat that others have failed- get Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki to not only shake hands, but even to sit and talk. Let's go even further and assume the two pledge to end the violence and "work together". So what? Would that assure that marauding youth in Kisumu would not torch businesses and send members of some ethnic communities running for dear life? Or would that restore the vote that was allegedly stolen from Raila?
Our View here is that Kenya and Kenyans have lost to a point of no return. Confidence in our institutions has been shattered, tribal animosities have been reawakened, trust in our leaders has eroded. The country is now a shell.
I mourn for our beloved country.
Raila and Kibaki do not need Annan, Mrs Mandela or President Museveni to sit down and talk. If they needed any motivation, the senseless murder of hundreds of Kenyans and the displacement of millions are more than adequate. As we have previously argued, that it should take threats of sanctions, numerous visits by international mediators to tell us to stop butchering one another or destroying the economy, is a severe indictment of our political elite. It calls into question our collective maturity as a nation.
Assume, purely for the sake of argument that Annan achieves a feat that others have failed- get Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki to not only shake hands, but even to sit and talk. Let's go even further and assume the two pledge to end the violence and "work together". So what? Would that assure that marauding youth in Kisumu would not torch businesses and send members of some ethnic communities running for dear life? Or would that restore the vote that was allegedly stolen from Raila?
Our View here is that Kenya and Kenyans have lost to a point of no return. Confidence in our institutions has been shattered, tribal animosities have been reawakened, trust in our leaders has eroded. The country is now a shell.
I mourn for our beloved country.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Yes, Kenyan Is Still a Nation of Laws
Minneapolis, USA. In full view of the world, Kenya is burning, innocent blood of her citizens flowing freely as politicians bicker. In the cacophony that the former island of peace in Eastern Africa has been reduced to a bloody mess of tribal warfare, some have remarked that neither courts nor local institutions can be the answer to the crisis.
We disagree.
Several hundreds (perhaps even thousand) dead and hundreds of thousands displaced, it no longer matters whether one favors ODM or PNU. We are the past the luxury of party affiliation or such niceties as transparency. Now is a matter of life and death - literally.
Yet as ironic as this may sound to some, our only solace lies in Kenyans and Kenyan institutions. With due respect to former UN Secretary General Koffi Annan and the other Eminent African Persons, theirs is only a neighbor's wail: Kenyans must resolve the impasse by themselves. No foreign mediator is going to assure that members of different communities who previously lived together in peace continue to do so.
Raila and Kibaki must step up to the plate and provide leadership. They must end the violence. They must condemn lawlessness. They must pledge to respect Kenyan institutions.
Kenyan law provides (with a surprising clarity, for laws are seldom clear), the procedures for resolution of disputes relating to presidential elections. It is misleading to argue that there can be no justice in Kenyan courts. What is laughable is that the same lawyers who only the other day were scampering to the High Court for relief now prefer mayhem, murder and mob injustice to an orderly process as provided for by law.
As an Advocate and an Officer of the High Court, I will not call its impartiality into question until a petition has been presented and the Court has rendered (or failed to), a verdict. I trust the High Court to consider the evidence, examine the witnesses, review submissions and deliver a judgment in accordance with the law.
If PNU operatives improperly tampered with ballots or if the ECK announced results prematurely, or if there was an error in tallying the votes from ODM strongholds, I trust the Court to determine this.
Regardless of my preference (and millions of other frustrated Kenyans), no life or property should be lost because we are too impatient or distrusting of our own institutions. Why do we need foreigners to tell us when votes are stolen, when to sit and talk or even not to hack our neighbors to death? Can't we settle such disputes as we have always done?
Despite all evidence to the contrary, Kenya's only hope lies in how well she respects her established institutions and laws. All Kenyans need now are leaders with enough guts to act. Antagonists Kibaki and Raila are yet to demonstrate such leadership.
We disagree.
Several hundreds (perhaps even thousand) dead and hundreds of thousands displaced, it no longer matters whether one favors ODM or PNU. We are the past the luxury of party affiliation or such niceties as transparency. Now is a matter of life and death - literally.
Yet as ironic as this may sound to some, our only solace lies in Kenyans and Kenyan institutions. With due respect to former UN Secretary General Koffi Annan and the other Eminent African Persons, theirs is only a neighbor's wail: Kenyans must resolve the impasse by themselves. No foreign mediator is going to assure that members of different communities who previously lived together in peace continue to do so.
Raila and Kibaki must step up to the plate and provide leadership. They must end the violence. They must condemn lawlessness. They must pledge to respect Kenyan institutions.
Kenyan law provides (with a surprising clarity, for laws are seldom clear), the procedures for resolution of disputes relating to presidential elections. It is misleading to argue that there can be no justice in Kenyan courts. What is laughable is that the same lawyers who only the other day were scampering to the High Court for relief now prefer mayhem, murder and mob injustice to an orderly process as provided for by law.
As an Advocate and an Officer of the High Court, I will not call its impartiality into question until a petition has been presented and the Court has rendered (or failed to), a verdict. I trust the High Court to consider the evidence, examine the witnesses, review submissions and deliver a judgment in accordance with the law.
If PNU operatives improperly tampered with ballots or if the ECK announced results prematurely, or if there was an error in tallying the votes from ODM strongholds, I trust the Court to determine this.
Regardless of my preference (and millions of other frustrated Kenyans), no life or property should be lost because we are too impatient or distrusting of our own institutions. Why do we need foreigners to tell us when votes are stolen, when to sit and talk or even not to hack our neighbors to death? Can't we settle such disputes as we have always done?
Despite all evidence to the contrary, Kenya's only hope lies in how well she respects her established institutions and laws. All Kenyans need now are leaders with enough guts to act. Antagonists Kibaki and Raila are yet to demonstrate such leadership.
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