What Kibaki and Raila can do to check diplomatic onslaught

There is a fast but gentle breeze of diplomatic aggression blowing against President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga over their handling of Agenda Four.

The bone of contention is that there is no political will to reform the country. As former Justice minister Martha Karua and Mr Kofi Annan have often pointed out, the government is too slow in tracking its reform agenda. But more disturbing is the question of how and where to try the post-election violence perpetrators.

The line of action adopted by the Western diplomats in Nairobi and by extension their governments, particularly the US, the UK and the EU is that the President and the PM must run the reform agenda faster, including delivery of a new constitution and ensuring that a local tribunal to try suspects in the post-election violence is formed.

ALTHOUGH THE GOVERNMENT IS trumpeting its own glory in taking steps towards reforms, many diplomats are finding it difficult to see and feel tangible evidence to this effect. Moreover, as long as the civil society and the Press continue to impress on them to put more pressure on the principals, the government is likely to be trusted even less. And this is where the problem lies.

There is an assumption that the President and the PM are supposed to be cold, stiff, ruthless, just, super-human and extraordinarily patriotic citizens in their push for Agenda Four. They have been cajoled and even reprimanded to put their act together. Many have put pressure on the two top leaders to have the will to try their own “buddies”.

However, if the President and the PM were to go ahead and create laws and procedures that would destroy not only careers, but also the lives of their friends and relatives (and tribe-mates taking their turn to eat) they would be absolute non-human. They would be exhibiting a behaviour that psychologists would be curious to study.

The principals would have turned into enemies of the worst kind to their own class of elite. As realists would say, this will not happen, no matter the amount of pressure from within and without. At best, it will prolong the tensions, pessimism and cynicism building up against the government. All those advocating for reforms could consider two options.

First, create a special transition Cabinet with the sole mandate to put reforms in place followed by a General Election; or, run a special local reconciliation programme and forget about The Hague, local tribunal and TJRC. It will, therefore, be more pragmatic if the Western nations, just as they forced down our throats the Coalition Government for all the right reasons — and we forced down their pockets a 90-plus ministers’ budget for the sake of salvaging our country — to advocate for a new Cabinet, whose members are not part of the current Parliament.

The legislature should remain intact, but make temporarily provisions to accommodate the new Cabinet with executive power. The new Cabinet would, within a given time, ensure Agenda Four is implemented and a General Election conducted before it disbands. Members should be men and women of credibility, who have no political ambitions. They should also be legally barred from running for elective political office in future so that they deliver the best reforms for now and the future.

IN THE SECOND SCENARIO, THE principals should show us the real way to reconciling the country. They can employ the services of Bishop Desmond Tutu, Muslim leaders of great exception in issues of justice, and indulge Pope Benedict XVI and other religious leaders to help form a spiritual team that can blend our African cultures and the religious teachings to heal the country.

The team thereby formed would consider with great urgency how to help those who committed the crimes to publicly own up. Either option would check the diplomatic aggression. It will also stop the literature depicting the Coalition Government as largely a failed institution even though we as Kenyans might have other explanations. All we want is our country back on track, peaceful, even if poor.

Mr Nyatete writes from the University of Melbourne, Australia.