Ethnicity – The Unspoken Factor In Draft Constitution Debate
Press Conference, 9th October 2009, at Palacina Hotel
Kenya’s change-the-constitution history
It has been argued that the Kenya constitutional process has been the most debated among emerging democracies. It is also clear that constitutional change in Kenya is a challenge as clearly evidenced by the costly failures of the last 17 years.
Kenyans have realized that for as long as power continues to be centred on the Presidency, with no comprehensive checks and balances, resource allocation will continue to be skewed against marginalised communities. We also know that the Judiciary will continue to lack independence, and basic needs will not be considered as human rights.
This means that unless the constitution is changed, impunity and corruption will continue to reign; poverty and inequalities will further be entrenched, and violence will become a way of life in our country.
Politics and the Constitution
Kenyan politics has over the years become an exercise of attaining power for personal benefit, rather than for public service. The all-powerful presidency entrenched in our current constitution provides the holder of that office with the opportunity to build unimaginable personal wealth and misappropriate public resources for political use. The lack of any notable checks and balances also allows the president to undermine parliament’s will and the judicial process.
The 2005 referendum was a watershed event in ethnically divisive politics. These ethicized politics, reached a natural and catastrophic conclusion in the violence of 2007/2008. We now live in a country where ethnic suspicion and hatred are strong. The recent tribe-based political alliances and re-alignments, and the constant ethnic-biased positions taken on national issues by today’s political class, are also clear indications that negative ethnicity is still a reality in Kenya. Ethnic posturing and positioning continues to dominate the country’s political processes and the debate on national issues.
Ethnicity & its Effect on National Issues:
In the last close to 2 years Kikuyusforchange has facilitated and/or been part of numerous dialogue forums between communities, as well as within communities. Between September and December this year we facilitated 7 intra-community discussion forums (amongst the Kambas, Luhyas, Kisii, Kalenjins, Mijikenda and Teso) where discussions were held within each community on ethnic identity, inter-ethnic relationships, how the tribal identity interacts with the Kenya identity, and what a tribe requires of Kenya.
These inter and intra ethnic discussion forums have illustrated to us in very stark ways how national and local interests and perspectives are today shaped by ethnic political identities. We have encountered narratives of the expectations and fears of various ethnic groups and we have also been provided invaluable insight as to how different communities view matters of nationhood.
We believe that this understanding is critical if we are to have an open and honest discussion on the draft constitution.
Open and Honest Negotiation: Breaking the Constitutional Stalemate
If Kenya is to achieve what has eluded us for close to 20 years, we must cease hiding behind technical positions on the constitution when presenting ethnic interests or fears. Our discussions must therefore incorporate regional and ethnic interests, and openly delve into the fears and expectations of various ethnic communities as regards clauses in the draft constitution.
It is our proposal that the process of discussing the draft constitution include sessions where representatives of ethnic and other community groups can raise views openly and in good faith. Based on our experience in ethnic dialogue we believe that only when this is done will progress be made on contentious issues, and only then will consensus be reached.
Finally, as kikuyusforchange, it is our hope that the widespread ethnic oriented post election violence will remind all of us, of what we are running against. We also hope that a critical mass of Kenyans have developed from this experience who realize that the window for peaceful political reform is closing. On that basis we expect that the challenge in realizing a new constitution will be looked at against the background of what will happen if we fail, and that all the stakeholders, especially the current political leaders, will bear this in mind as they put across their positions.
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