I
am reliably informed that nappy rash is one of the principal causes of
night-long infant discomfort characterised by screaming-and-sobbing by
both the infant and its at-wits-end parents. Kenya is definitely going
through a nappy rush moment. I am again reliably informed that the
causes of nappy rash are frequently irritants that got into the folds of
skin hidden underneath nappies (for those modern-day parents used to
disposable diapers, you need to speak to an older generation of parents
to know where I am coming from). In Kenya's case, the causes of its
irritation are frequently presumed to be politicians and the riff-raff
that holds up their skirts as they shit on the rest of us. Perhaps it is
time Kenyans confronted the awful truth that politicians have very
little to do with our nappy rash moment; if we took time to stare in the
mirror, we would be confronted by the reason why Kenya is marking time
while some Asian nations are turning into tigers and conquering the
world.
It is amazing how fast and far the fetishisation of our constitution has gone. It is now being held up as an idol to be worshipped by one and all; and it is incomprehensible that one or two recalcitrant Kenyans do not worship at the Baal-like altar of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010. It is quoted at every opportunity; it is held up as the one true thing to bind us all into an ever closer polity and nation. Even the Soldiers of Christ have not been left out of the veneration of the Constitution or its high priests, including the Chief Justice and his biggest boosters such as the Commissioners of the CIC, the KNHCR, the CAJ or the IEBC. But the rank-and-file of Kenya's new faith lack one basic quality that would make their religion a force to reckon with: trust.
The message has gone out loud and clear that our faith is now constitutionalism and its bible is our barely three-years' old constitution and that the high priests of the faith are the likes of the Chief Justice, the leaders of the Second Liberation and key Commissions and independent offices that espouse the "spirit" of the Constitution and who are unafraid to declare their faith before one and all. What we refuse to acknowledge, even to our co-religionists, is that despite the 85,000+ words of hope, the Constitution has failed to engender trust in anyone or anything or any institution. It is fashionable to lay this sorry state of affairs at the feet at that odious tribe called politicians, but the harsh truth is that we all have a hand in this. We have tried to use our ethnic diversity as a multiplier of the ills of politics, and loaded poverty into the mix to explain not just the lack of trust but the violence it seems to generate every time there is a close political contest.
Since Section 2A of the former Constitution was repealed in 1991, Kenya has suffered political violence at every general election. Even the triumphal destruction of Moi's succession plans in 2002 were not unaccompanied by violence; we just pretended that the ends justified the means, especially after Uhuru Kenyatta, allegedly President Moi's "Project," conceded defeat to Mwai Kibaki and his NARC cohort. With the repeal of Section 2A, Kenyans were no longer required to be members of the "ruling" party; they retreated, rather swiftly, into personality-driven "special purpose vehicles" we like to think of as political parties. The Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, may not have jumped into and out of many political parties, but his journey to within sniffing distance of the presidency has been via FORD, FORD-K, NDP KANU, LDP, NARC and, now, ODM. He is hardly alone; since 1992, many Kenyan politicians have persuaded themselves that electoral victory is only possible if one is in the "right" bus (as Kiraitu Murungi would have it) and the spate of formation and dissolution of parties has been staggering; not even the Constitution has stemmed the feeling that the right "bus" is the the only requisite for a successful political career.
Now, we the people, sovereign we may be, but we do not give two hoots about the needs of the people from across the ridge; indeed we don't really care for the people on our side of the ridge. It is for this reason that just as political buses seem to rise and fall with the certainty of night-and-day, so too do faith-based organisations, primarily Christian church denominations with bewildering names (Helicopter Ministry of Christ being one of the more benign), seem to erupt, especially when there is a political rally round the corner. It also seems the time when more and more young men and women engage in violent crime, more and more tycoons seem to steal ever greater sums from their clients, customers, shareholders or the State...the list is endless. As a result, we trust very few among us and those we do have to prove it each and every time. We can fetishise the Constitution and constitutional institutions all we want, but without trust among Kenyans, disappointment awaits us down the road to full implementation.
It is amazing how fast and far the fetishisation of our constitution has gone. It is now being held up as an idol to be worshipped by one and all; and it is incomprehensible that one or two recalcitrant Kenyans do not worship at the Baal-like altar of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010. It is quoted at every opportunity; it is held up as the one true thing to bind us all into an ever closer polity and nation. Even the Soldiers of Christ have not been left out of the veneration of the Constitution or its high priests, including the Chief Justice and his biggest boosters such as the Commissioners of the CIC, the KNHCR, the CAJ or the IEBC. But the rank-and-file of Kenya's new faith lack one basic quality that would make their religion a force to reckon with: trust.
The message has gone out loud and clear that our faith is now constitutionalism and its bible is our barely three-years' old constitution and that the high priests of the faith are the likes of the Chief Justice, the leaders of the Second Liberation and key Commissions and independent offices that espouse the "spirit" of the Constitution and who are unafraid to declare their faith before one and all. What we refuse to acknowledge, even to our co-religionists, is that despite the 85,000+ words of hope, the Constitution has failed to engender trust in anyone or anything or any institution. It is fashionable to lay this sorry state of affairs at the feet at that odious tribe called politicians, but the harsh truth is that we all have a hand in this. We have tried to use our ethnic diversity as a multiplier of the ills of politics, and loaded poverty into the mix to explain not just the lack of trust but the violence it seems to generate every time there is a close political contest.
Since Section 2A of the former Constitution was repealed in 1991, Kenya has suffered political violence at every general election. Even the triumphal destruction of Moi's succession plans in 2002 were not unaccompanied by violence; we just pretended that the ends justified the means, especially after Uhuru Kenyatta, allegedly President Moi's "Project," conceded defeat to Mwai Kibaki and his NARC cohort. With the repeal of Section 2A, Kenyans were no longer required to be members of the "ruling" party; they retreated, rather swiftly, into personality-driven "special purpose vehicles" we like to think of as political parties. The Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, may not have jumped into and out of many political parties, but his journey to within sniffing distance of the presidency has been via FORD, FORD-K, NDP KANU, LDP, NARC and, now, ODM. He is hardly alone; since 1992, many Kenyan politicians have persuaded themselves that electoral victory is only possible if one is in the "right" bus (as Kiraitu Murungi would have it) and the spate of formation and dissolution of parties has been staggering; not even the Constitution has stemmed the feeling that the right "bus" is the the only requisite for a successful political career.
Now, we the people, sovereign we may be, but we do not give two hoots about the needs of the people from across the ridge; indeed we don't really care for the people on our side of the ridge. It is for this reason that just as political buses seem to rise and fall with the certainty of night-and-day, so too do faith-based organisations, primarily Christian church denominations with bewildering names (Helicopter Ministry of Christ being one of the more benign), seem to erupt, especially when there is a political rally round the corner. It also seems the time when more and more young men and women engage in violent crime, more and more tycoons seem to steal ever greater sums from their clients, customers, shareholders or the State...the list is endless. As a result, we trust very few among us and those we do have to prove it each and every time. We can fetishise the Constitution and constitutional institutions all we want, but without trust among Kenyans, disappointment awaits us down the road to full implementation.
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