Reflections

It is just about the right time to evaluate whether we are re-building this nation or, as some wag put it, re-arranging the deck-chairs on HMS Titanic as she goes down. Messrs Ruto, Kosgey and Sang are in The Hague attempting to persuade the International Criminal Court that they have no case to answer. on Amos Wako now goes by the honorific former Attorney-General, having been succeeded by Prof Githu Muigai. The Supreme Court is now fully constituted with the swearing in of Justices Tunoi, Dr Wanjala, Ndung'u, Ibrahim and Prof Ojwang', as well as the swearing in of Gladys Boss Shollei as the Chief Registrar. The National Assembly, keeping an eye on 2012, has completed the onerous task of approving all the Bills that were required to be approved before August 27th and the implementation of the Constitution is back on track.

Looking at the landscape of Kenyan political life, however, it remains unclear whether the changes that have and are being made are for the better or not. Take, for instance, the Supreme Court. While no one will gainsay the intellect or integrity of the members of the Supreme Court, do they really reflect the best that we could do? The CJ and DCJ are divorced, Ndung'u, LJ is unmarried, Dr Wanjala, J left KACC under a cloud, and for all their experience in the Court of Appeal, Tunoi, Ibrahim and Prof Ojwang', JJ are not experienced litigators. None of these people has yet to make a significant impact in the interpretation of the Constitution or the advancement of the legal profession. It is also increasingly unclear whether the Prosecutor of the ICC will be able to confirm his charges against Messrs Ruto & Co. The televised hearings point worryingly to poor ground-work, giving the suspects ample chances at poking holes in his case even before the charges are confirmed. And Parliament has kept the interests of its members at heart, to the detriment of national unity, by ensuring that Bills were either watered down to serve their interests, or bastardised to protect them. A keen examination of the Elections Act, the Political Parties Act and the law on recall show that MPs have taken the opportunity to cheat Kenyans of the gains they made up to 2010 just so they can carry on fighting with the Prime Minister in his relentless march to State House.

Meanwhile, civil society organisations have been left floundering, chasing after the chimeras of one-third representation in appointive and elective bodies in stead of keeping a beady eye on the shenanigans of our elected representatives or the full operationalisation of key institutions such as the Supreme Court, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, the Commission on Revenue Allocation or the Ethics and Ant-Corruption Commission. Dr Ekuru Aukot and his panel of selectors of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission have been left to their own devices and despite his high-sounding words or his good intentions, his panel will fail if we, through civil society, do not hold their feet to the fir when they select the IEBC. The church in Kenya, and its leadership, seem to have given up the fight on issues that concerned them during the Referendum campaign and their participation in implementing the Constitution is significant by their absence.

Seen in the context of the aspiring and aspirational presidential candidates, Kenyans, concerned more with the cost of living, have reverted to their type: keeping away from crucial constitution implementation matters and allowing the political class and the elite of the civil service to lead them by the nose. We are called upon to make serious choices in 2012, from who will be our president to who will be our governors, senators and MPs. During the review period, we all demanded an accountable government, where our leaders would rule by consent and laws would be applied fairly and impartially. If we continue to think only of the short-term crisis that is the cost of living at the expense of strategic matters such as the quality of laws enacted or the quality of leaders elected or appointed, the next general elections will only serve as a speed bump on the road of impunity and political corruption, and not even our brand-new Supreme Court will rescue us from the problems that will surely follow.