Threats to the implementation of the Constitution are multiplying on a daily basis. If it is not the machinations of the National Assembly in the vexed question of Constitutional Commissions, it is the Executive, dragging its feet over the small matter of financing the activities of these Commissions, or Members of Parliament threatening to derail the process if one or another of their demands are not met (such as the North Rift-led assault on the International Crimes Act and the proposed prosecution of the Ocampo Six at The Hague). It is also the incessant apathy of the Kenyan public in matters of national importance, refusing to hold their Government to account for its deeds and misdeeds. Witness the manner in which supporters have rallied behind Charity Ngilu regarding the corruption that continues to mire the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, or the ones now rallying behind Henry Kosgey who has just resigned as Minister for Industrialization.
Many commentators are right that the Constitution is not a panacea for all that ails our body politic. The former Constitution allowed a small cabal to hold the entire nation hostage because of their greed. The new Constitution offers us an opportunity to reform key governance institutions such as the Executive, the Judiciary, the Police, our diplomatic corps, our state corporations and our political parties. These reforms require the commitment of all Kenyans to hold their elected representatives' feet to the fire to ensure that the promise of the new Constitution is realised. However, with the Referendum came the end of civic education, and many Kenyans have retreated to their ethnic cocoons, refusing to acknowledge that the implementation of the Constitution and the reform of these institutions are national projects that require our full participation.
Take for example the reform of political parties. Until we develop a sufficiently robust political culture, the political party will be the key vehicle in choosing who will lead this nation and its various governance institutions, including the presidency and the County Governorships. It will be that party that will nominate potential candidates to stand for elections for the various leadership seats at national and county levels. If the citizenry remains apathetic, political parties will continue to be the weak link in reforming governance institutions in Kenya. Our parties are the least democratic institutions of all the governance institutions we have. Their leaderships are frequently chosen on the basis of cronyism and not merit. They are frequently referred to as briefcase outfits, the properties of their leader-owners. The frequently refuse to meet even the basic requirements of a democracy: they do not hold regular internal elections; they nominate candidates on the basis of money and not party loyalty; and they manage information as if the parties were police-states, where information is to be shared with the smallest number of people as possible. As a result, it is impossible to tell exactly how many party members there are, how much they have given to the party, what the party assets and liabilities are, what its sources of income are, what its position is regarding various matters of national importance, etc. Consequently, Kenyans have very low opinions of the various party leaders and their elected representatives.
In the absence of a strong political culture, we are incapable of educating ourselves on the relative importance of various sections of our Constitution. We are incapable of holding informed debate on the various implementation challenges we face, and thereby suggest possible solutions for these challenges. We continue to be unable to discuss the thorny question of tribalism and its effect on governance and national cohesion. It is irrelevant the number of people the National Cohesion and Integration Commission investigates or indicts for offences related to national cohesion, for if we do not participate actively in national affairs, the pronouncements of the Commission will continue to be seen as attempts to undermine one community or politician by another. Instead of lauding the able work of the KACC under PLO Lumumba, politicians have taken the line that the Commission has been 'politicised' and that it is being used to undermine the ODM by the PNU. It was the same reaction when the ICC Prosecutor named his six suspects; he was accused of 'politicising' The Hague Option and that he had become a tool in the hands of the Prime Minister to be used in finishing off the PNU before the next elections.
Our continued absence from national debate and discussion is emboldening the political class to treat us as morons, making wild allegations that they know will remain unchallenged save, perhaps, by their political opponents. We are content to rally behind 'our people' whenever they are adversely mentioned in public, taking it as an affront against 'our community'. In our myopic approach to national issues, reducing everything to claims of favouritsm or bias, we risk abandoning the work of implementation and reform to the vagaries of our perverse politics. If we approach the 2012 elections in this way, the difference between then and 2007 will just be on the scale of violence. Nothing will change, except we will have 47 new hyenas to satisfy in the various counties.
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