If the majority choose to do foolish things, so be it
A COLLEAGUE I HAVE THE greatest respect for challenged me this week to write on the Harmonised Draft Constitution. I gave it thought for all of one minute and came back with no for an answer. I have two reasons for refusing to go down this path. One, the media – both print and broadcast– are already doing a sterling job of breaking down the content and delivering it in bite-sized portions for those who want to follow the debate.
That is all that is required in making such a momentous decision. Those who care to read and listen have access to the right information. Besides, I have no intention of falling into the trap of under-estimating the intelligence of Kenyans. This is where we got stuck last time.
Not getting on the soap-box and sounding off is a great challenge for me. I have to keep reminding myself that this is not about me, and that I must resist the temptation to play God. If the majority chooses to do the foolish thing, so be it. We will have to live with the consequences of that decision for a long time, but that is what comes of democracy, and experience really is the best teacher.
It is like going into an exam room. You have had decades to experience the good and bad of the current constitution. You are now being offered an alternative and you must search your soul and pick the one that best reflects your needs and aspirations.
The Committee of Experts has done its job and the final decision is yours alone. There will be no Raila Odinga, William Ruto, Uhuru Kenyatta or Kalonzo Musyoka to make the decision for you—no KKK, Kamatusa, Kelele Mingi or whatever warrior grouping you belong to.
Get used to it already. They will not be there either when your expiry date arrives, so you might as well learn to think for yourself. This is all that is required of you – that you make informed decisions, not those defined by someone else’s world-view, and especially not that of a politician who changes direction as often as most people change their underwear.
Two, there has been too much noise over the years over the constitution. It has been politicised to hell and back. It is, therefore, a high time Kenyans were allowed to digest the details and make up their own minds without undue influence.
I HAVE ONLY ONE STRONG WISH AS far as rebuilding Kenya is concerned – that we get rid of the Kanu mentality once and for all. In that regime, having an independent opinion was a crime that was punishable by detention and even death. We no longer do things that way, but the vestiges of intolerance of differing opinions still linger.
I have nothing personal against the members and current leadership of the independence party. But let us face it – the only reason this country has been unable to move forward politically is because of the foundation that it set for us.
That is why there are still those who see the offices of the presidency and the prime minister in terms of the ethnicity of the current holders of the offices – and take positions accordingly. They spend sleepless nights agonising over things that will not matter when they are six feet under and unable to cling to their ill-gotten gains in the Mau.
Putting the old way of doing things behind us remains one of the greatest challenges for Kenya. Young and old, we have been programmed to think tribal and partisan – and to spend our time coming up with ways to manipulate others and destroy even legitimate challenge. From Mt Elgon to Taveta and on to Malindi, the land question persists for the simple reason that we prefer bandage solutions to a lasting one. So the Klan raised Sh5 million the other evening for the Mau evictees.
I salute you for a public relations exercise designed to divert attention from the fact that a good number of you own huge tracts of land in the same forest – and that you are staying put even as ordinary folk stream out. You could donate your many hectares all over the country to the homeless, but why give for free what you can hoard?
It is the Kanu mentality all over again. So there is a crisis? Throw up a smokescreen and make your getaway. By the time people come to their senses, you will be nowhere to be seen. I want a constitution that strips the power from the political class and vests it in institutions that will stand the test of time. There you are.I have given in to temptation and written on the constitution!
