Democracy is a long process and Kenya is only taking baby steps

When a baby is first learning to walk, especially if it is the first of a potential brood, it can be a source of great fun, pride, as well as apprehension for the parent.

The baby itself may not always appreciate the fun bit, for the effort is often accompanied by squeals when it stumbles and falls, but the important thing is that a normal baby will not simply give up and regress to creeping all over the place. It has objects to reach and places to go, and it is determined to do what it sees its parents do — walk.

Very few parents or responsible adults will wring their hands in despair just because the baby does not make it in the first, or even 20th, try.

Some will intervene by rushing to the supermarket for a walker because they want their baby to be up and running within no time, but in most cases, such considerations will only result in bow-legs which, in the end, are not very good for running.

The majority will let nature take its course, which includes sporadic instances of victory and gratification for both parties.

A PROTEST

This extended analogy has a point. Kenya’s democracy is still in a pram, so to speak, and those mature democracies expecting immediate emulation are setting themselves up for needless disappointment.

The reason for this is that until 13 years ago, Kenya was not a democracy in the strict sense of the term.

We have always had all the trappings of that elusive concept — a Parliament, term limits, five-year election cycles, and an opposition of sorts — rather subdued, if not outright oppressed — but our terms of reference were not those favoured by the democracies of the West.

This may sound like an apology, but it really is not; it is a protest. Although Kenyans are supposed to be good in long-distance running, I don’t know how a toddler is expected to run a marathon.

Let’s put the matter in its right perspective. For 15 years after independence, Kenya was under one-man rule, and for the next 24 years, things got even worse for this country, with the active connivance of the same Western democracies that regarded Kenya as a bulwark against creeping Communism during the Cold War.

It is only when the danger was over, especially after the fall of the Berlin Wall, that autocratic rule lost its allure to the same Western powers. The era of “benign neglect” suddenly came to an end and they started lecturing African leaders on the virtues of representative democracy, rule of law, free and fair elections, transparency, accountability and good governance — all of them ideals that are to be worked for rather than instantaneously achieved. Does anyone notice a hint of hypocrisy somewhere in this apparent change of mind?

ROBUST OPPOSITION

This is not to say that there is anything wrong with the West encouraging African countries to achieve such goals. It is what we all want. And now that some, like Kenya, have been enrolled in the fight against religious extremism and terrorism, a return to the era when misrule was tolerated should not be in the cards.

This is why a robust opposition and civil society are necessary. However, Western countries must take pains to engage the governments involved directly instead of placing all their faith in what they are told by these institutions, because whatever they hear may be uttered for ulterior motives.

Yes, Kenya is caught in the maelstrom of violent crime, insecurity, and terrorism. Yes, corruption and grand larceny seem to be spiralling out of control. And yes, many institutions of governance seem to be completely clueless about what they are supposed to do.

But let us look at it this way. It is less than five years since we, on our own volition, came up with a robust new Constitution replete with checks and balances to replace the Independence one that had been mongrelised beyond repair.

If, in the process of actualising the tenets of the Constitution, costly hiccups have occurred, the best thing to do is to gently guide all the actors involved in the right direction. Shouting abrasively at a baby will not make it stop stumbling and falling. Assisting it to stand and placing supports along the way will allow it to walk on its own in due course.

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