Twice in a Lifetime ...

(Submitted to Daily Nation and Standard on Constitution Day but I don't think published)

We queued for hours to vote for Madiba because, after decades of repression, we knew our time had eventually come. We recognized being on the brink of a new age and we knew better times were ahead. The ‘struggle for freedom’ had been won.

It was a privilege for me to experience this in South Africa and I hope to experience the great privilege again, this time in Kenya. But today I can’t urge any Kenyan to vote in any particular direction. It is indeed a matter of personal conscience that should never have been a matter of campaign.

But IF Kenya’s new constitution is passed, it will achieve nothing less than the self-same ‘liberation’ I experienced in South Africa. Kenyans shall be similarly freed from decades of repression. And the nation will stand proud, simply by virtue of being ‘free’.

I think few Kenyans truly appreciate the effect that a simple ‘sense’ of freedom has. Stemming from the rough-shod ride they have had, and the so-called ‘culture of impunity’ all the way, ordinary Kenyans have a deep-rooted pessimism about all aspects of their past, current and future governance ... Many don’t believe that anything will change at all.

Yet in South Africa, just the idea of ‘freedom’ led to many people jumping up and down, complaining about their rights being violated. And when they took it to the highest court, they stood there with mouths wide open as they found their rights were consistently upheld and defended. There quickly grew a knowledge that the change really was ‘for real’ and nothing would be the same again. People seemed to laugh and smile a lot more. And the same will happen here. The courts had better be ready for it.

I venture to say that within two years Kenyans will shake their heads in dismay that things could have been so bad and that things are now so much better. Simply because they feel ‘free’ and are free to act in their own interests. Things fall apart. And other things change radically for the better.

By voting at this stage in the nation’s history, Kenyans have nothing to lose and absolutely everything to gain. And by voting, they will have played a part in the future. Today I still feel proud of the fact that I was a small part of the change that came to South Africa. I urge Kenyans to do the same today – be a part of history and vote!

And really, that which is born of freedom is so much greater than the feeling of darkness and oppression that will remain while the ‘contentious clauses’ are dealt with. Paul Muite said it succinctly the other day: “The liberation of Kenya is not about abortion or Kadhi’s courts”. It is about liberating Kenya from decades of hegemony and the nation is on the brink of achieving this liberation.

Can the country stand another year of darkness just to renegotiate these ‘contentious clauses’. I don’t think so. I know the youth couldn’t stand it. And that is who the document is really intended for - the youth and their children’s children.

That there is an abortion ‘loophole’ I will readily agree. Abortion will be performed under advisement of a trained medical professional - perhaps even a psychologist. It is true that this will essentially legalise abortion. But, dogma aside, I see this as the only humane solution for every population- and poverty-strained nation in Africa. We know that the abortion will happen anyway, perhaps with lethal consequences for mother and child. Is there not perhaps an argument in favour of pragmatic and humane tolerance in the face of dire need?

The churches can certainly rail against abortion anywhere they like. It is their right to do so. But is it their right to impose their beliefs on everyone else? We don’t want to commit a young woman and her child to a life of misery for the sake of partisan beliefs. Destitution and prostitution don’t contribute much to a wholesome and healthy nation. And surely, a healthy nation, with humane treatment of its people,  should be the long-term imperative of any nation state.

I also don’t think the Kadhi’s courts should be mentioned in the new law at all. The courts should simply be protected under a Right of Religion and the right to practice such anywhere in the country (not just in the ‘coastal strip’). The Kadhi’s courts pertain to family matters and don’t affect mainstream law in Kenya at all. Those that abide by them will always do so in accordance with long-standing (pre-Colonial) cultural and religious practices. So, let’s face it, no one else, other than Muslims, need to be concerned with the Kadhi’s courts.   

But, all in all, I believe that on this day good sense will prevail and the katiba will indeed be passed by an overwhelming majority.  I believe Kenyans will vote unerringly with the interests of their fellows, and their children, at heart, and will very gladly usher in a new era. And those that have opposed the new era may well find themselves on the scrap-heap of history. 

Kenya, I wish you every success for the future you deserve. For your future is indeed bright.


Amani na upendo mingi sana.


B-)

The Heir Who Came From (No)Where?

In many ways, I am not qualified to 'comment' on Kenya politics but, surely, as a relatively recent guest in this country, I can ask a few questions ...

The main, over-arching question, for me, concerns the ‘legitimacy of political ascendancy’ in Kenya (if I may be a little verbose). I refer to events that happened some time back already. I have asked this question of a few people but so far haven't got a satisfactory answer. This leads me to wonder more ...

And the exact nature of this question is this:

In Kenya, what gave that group now known as the ‘political class’, their legitimacy? By what birthright, or other credential, were they able to ascend to the thrones of political control? From what I have heard, and from the little I have read, the families that seem now to control the mechanics (and substantial fruits) of the political-economy of Kenya are not descended from the ‘royalty’ in of old. And neither are the descendants of the real ‘freedom fighters’.

The ‘freedom fighters’ that really won independence for Kenya and liberated Kenyans from Colonial rule – the Mau-Mau – are today little more than a group of aged men and women, struggling (on their own) to gain some form of reparation from the old Colonial masters who incarcerated them, and tortured many in despicably inhuman ways. The names of these Mau-Mau fighters are hardly – if at all – known to the Kenyan people today. Their families live in the same poverty as many of their original number do.

And where is the pre- (or post-) independence 'tribal royalty'? Where are the blue-blooded descendants of Kenya’s 40 or so tribes (depending how you count them). Were these ‘kings’, ‘chiefs’, and ‘paramount chiefs’ somehow marginalized, just as Kenya’s freedom fighters were?

Certainly, among the rank-and-file Kenyans I know, there seems to be no knowledge AT ALL of who the members of Kenyan ‘royalty’ are, or were! For example, whatever happened to the families descended from Karen Blixen’s friend, Chief Kinanjui? He was certainly around ... I have seen pictures of him.

Where I come from, everyone knows about the Madiba clan and the 'royalty' status of those descended from the Tembu name. The Sigcau chieftainship, and royal house, is also quite familiar to many, as are many Venda, Sotho and Tswana royal families, running all the way to the great "Rain Queen" herself. The name Zwelithini is recognized as belonging to the legitimate leaders of the Zulu people. And in the cities, even the taxi-driver heir to a chief is commonly recognized and known by the general populace.

Further, those who played a genuine role in the South African liberation struggle have been – and remain - recognized by the State, and often hold significant positions in politics, or perchance in the economy. This applies not only to ‘people of colour’ but even to the waZungu 'freedom fighters', with the late Joe Slovo perhaps being the most prominent example (but not excluding others like Albie Sachs, et.al.).

Yet in Kenya, the 'chiefs' and the 'freedom fighters' seem both to have disappeared from sight! From the little I know, today's ‘political class’ - the ‘ruling elite’ - seem to have come initially from almost nowhere! I stand grossly corrected if I am wrong and I would like to be enlightened if I am, indeed, wrong.

Post-independence history books in Kenya don’t seem to deal with claims to power at all. Maybe for good reason? Am I over-simplifying the situation when I ask whether the 'royalty' and the Mau-Mau were not both perhaps deliberately excluded from claims to power? Both seem to have been submerged by a self-styled bunch of shrewd political operators who emerged quite suddenly ... But from where exactly?

So where did Kamau Wa Ngengi really come from (other than a British-run prison) and what role did he really play in the liberation of Kenya? How did he rise to power in the post-colonial Kenya? And what role did the changing of his name - to Jomo Kenyatta - have in gaining him (perhaps new-found) legitimacy? The new name, alone, would have given him legitimacy that would otherwise have been absent. Was it a very shrewd political ploy? Who exactly might have been behind it? To me at least, these questions are a mystery indeed.

The machinations, allegiances and connivances of Kenyan politics, past and present, are certainly something to behold, but nowhere do I hear claims of proper political legitimacy being made. Least of all do I know of any history texts dealing with this, either. And perhaps this is the most revealing fact of all ...

In South Africa, despite the stooges that were put in place by successive Apartheid regimes, the legitimate heirs to various ‘thrones’ were always known. And the ‘freedom fighters’ - however insignificant any of them might have seemed at the time - remain recognized.

In Kenya, nepotism - taken to a level of an enduring ‘nepotocracy’ - has existed to such an extent that successive generations of certain families have been politically 'empowered' to the total exclusion of others. This continues to be the case - to the extent that the youth, particularly, feel they have 'no right' somehow to be in politics!

How did this all come about? I certainly don't know. And I have yet to hear decent answers from those I would I expect to know. Those who have come through the Kenyan education system - those one would expect to know - certainly don't know. And I'll happily publish a decent answer here. If I can get one ...

With some confusion, amani na mapenzi brethren,

Until later,

B-)