Politicians frustrating Kenya’s healing bid

Despite calls from various quarters for President Kibaki and Prime Minister, Raila Odinga to spearhead national reconciliation, politicians are not keen on national cohesion although Parliament has passed a law to speed it up following last year’s post-election violence.

It is becoming apparent that lack of a clear agenda in the government on how to bring about healing after the violence is delaying the establishment of a national cohesion and integration commission.

On the spot is the Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs that was expected to have come up with a national policy to tackle the historical ethnic tensions that contributed to the post-election violence.

Minister Mutula Kilonzo cites the lack of interest on the part of politicians on the issue of national cohesion and tacitly blames his predecessor, Ms Martha Karua, for not giving much attention to the establishment of the department.

Mr Kilonzo is echoing the thinking of those close to the establishment, who believe that Ms Karua could have contributed to the exit of Mr Kindiki Kithure, who had been designated as the secretary to the National Cohesion and Integration Commission.

New department

But Ms Karua — who resigned from the Cabinet for not being consulted in key decisions touching on her ministry — argued that Mr Kithure was not actually settled on the job because he had problems with the appointing authorities over his contract.

However, she conceded that she had a beef with the way Mr Kithure was imposed on the ministry.

“When a new department is added to a ministry, it is proper that you leave it to the ministry concerned to discuss and decided why some appointments should be made and their calibres.
“You don’t just draft staff without consultations,” she said.

Ms Karua also blamed mandarins at the Office of the President for interfering in the mandate of the ministry before she resigned.

As she put it, “it was awkward that the government after adding ‘national cohesion’ to the Ministry of Justice that they go ahead to appoint Mr Raphael Tuju as an adviser to the President on ethnic relations and national cohesion, Kivutha Kibwana as the adviser of the President on the Constitution, yet there is a ministry to handle the same issues.” That shows how much the government is yet to put its act together on how to approach the issue of national cohesion.

President Kibaki assented to the National Cohesion and Integration Bill, 2008, in December, last year, and he is expected to unveil the final names of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission who are expected to lead the country in national cohesion.

It was first initiated as the as Ethnic Relations Bill, which raised many objections with former President Daniel Moi, arguing that ethnic harmony could not be achieved through legislation.
However, his Nyayo philosophy of peace, love and unity did not have impact in unifying of Kenyans.

Both Mr Kilonzo and Ms Karua concurred that politicians were more concerned with the constitutional review and succession politics, as opposed to bringing about national healing to avoid a repeat of the violence that led to the death of more than 1,000 people.

There was a feeble attempt by President Kibaki and Mr Odinga when they jointly visited Rift Valley early last year only once, yet it was supposed to have been a continuous process.

Instead, suspicions and infighting in the coalition have diverted the attention from the obligation of the two leaders to bring about national harmony after signing the National Accord.

Apart from some of the internally displaced people’s return to their former homes without any meaningful reconciliation process, politicians continue to impede national healing through careless utterances that heighten ethnic tension.

Without coercion

At the same time, there is still confusion whether Kenya needed a legislation to bring about national cohesion after 46 years of independence, while neighbouring Tanzania achieved the same without coercion, making it the most cohesive country among the five East African Community countries.

Another dilemma is whether to carry on with national cohesion or wait for the outcome of the truth, justice and reconciliation commission that is awaiting the presidential nod.

In the new approach, the commission will create national ethos and acceptable standards to oversee inter-ethnic relations. 

However, politicians across the board have not been keen on this key aspect of national reconciliation. Even Mr Kilonzo — who is required to draft a policy, present it to the Cabinet for approval and then to Parliament — gave it an interesting twist when he argued that apart from the guidelines that he is currently drafting, “national cohesion can only be driven from the point of fear of God.

Still, the minister is expected to produce a policy that addresses the causes of conflict, such as negative ethnicity, corruption, political competition, individual ambitions and inequality.

Another challenge facing Mr Kilonzo is the question of if Kenya can achieve national cohesion without addressing the issue of land, one of the key causes of the post-election violence?

Demystify land

Mr Kilonzo is confident that it can be done so long as there is a policy outlawing hate speech and deliberate provocation of inter-ethnic rivalries, promote equity in both wealth and opportunities.

“We have to demystify land because not everybody can own land. The population will always grow but land is not growing.

“It is better to enhance opportunities for property ownership and make land one of those Kenyans can own, and not the only property,” he said.

Ms Karua is concerned that the political class is not taking the issue of national cohesion seriously, arguing that even though things appear relatively normal on the surface at the moment, they might forget what is simmering below.

“After the acrimonious 2005 referendum that divided the country along ethnic lines, we ought to have taken the divisive issues seriously,” said the Gichugu legislator.