Tragedy of the Commons

When Maina Kiai asks "Is it coincidental that the two communities from which Kenya's presidents have sprung are so against accountability?" (THINK AGAIN, Want to get away from the ICC? The first reform the police force, and fast, Saturday Nation, April 7, 2012), he betrays that Kenyans are yet to get away from their traditional means of viewing ethnicity in the context of political context. His argument that police reforms must be expedited is blameless, but his accusation of entire communities for what their political and spiritual leadership has said, and continues to say, speaks volumes.

Of course and argument could be made that by attending the rallies and conferences organised by their political leadership the members of the GEMA and KAMATUSA communities endorse their reactionary messages, but it would be a fallacious argument. To my knowledge, no polls have been taken to demonstrate that of the choices the peoples of Central Kenya or the North Rift they have chosen impunity over all the rest. In a political environment bereft f serious policy an political discourse, it is impossible to determine whether these people truly have made an informed choice to fall behind their political and spiritual leaders in their quest to rescue Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto from the unpleasant attentions of the ICC Trial Chamber V.

During the dark days of the KANU hegemony it was fashionable to lay the blame for the acts of political leaders at their communities' doorsteps. This system was perfected to such an extent that a ministerial flag was seen as belonging to the entire community and not to an individual whose oath of office was supposed to bind him to national objectives. When Raila Odinga 'sacked' Najib Balala from the Cabinet, one of his promises to the peoples of Mombasa was that their flag was safe and that they still had one of their own in the Cabinet. It seems that Mr Odinga and Mr Kiai still suffer from the after-effects of decades of KANU rule and are incapable of seeing political leadership outside the confines of ethno-balancing acts.

To wit, the peoples of Central Kenya and the North Rift, until proven otherwise, are blameless for the poisonous rhetoric of their political and spiritual leaders. They are not a hive mind capable of thinking as one. It is their leaders who set the pace and in the absence of a compelling counter-argument the people are incapable for coming up with an alternative to the positions staked out for them. Collective punishment was a tactic employed by the colonial government in Kenya and our politicians seem to have upgraded it for the twenty-first century.

The solutions are as simple as they are difficult to effect. With the Tenth Parliament we have hit a wall when it comes to reforming the political class. Indeed, it can be argued that the inauguration of the Tenth Parliament was accompanied by the most blatant display of avarice and cowardice ever witnessed in our short history as a free people. The Tenth Parliament swept into office with the ethnic blessings of tame religious leaders and intellectuals. Its members have time and again failed to rise to the occasion when called upon to do so. And their spiritual leaders and intellectuals have failed to hold them to account, choosing instead, to parrot the same lines as their political masters. In the end we have been left to pick u after them.

The general elections are an opportunity to walk away fro the horrors of our recent history. We can do so by electing to parliament men and women whose only concern is the welfare of their peoples and the well-being of the nation. They can demonstrate this fidelity by speaking to the concerns of their communities with regards to security, economic development and a shared future of all Kenyans. The behaviour of spiritual leaders and intellectuals shows that we cannot rely on them to help us make better choices for our collective future. It falls on us to decide whether it is better to exclude others than to include all in the national conversation. Changing mindsets will be a monumental task and it falls on a political leader of exceptional skill and foresight to help us do so. One is yet to prove himself or herself capable. And that is the tragedy of the commons.