There’s no room for violence in a democracy

What you need to know:

  • Is there a way we can argue and disagree with the use of our minds without resulting to physically violent activities?
  • Or is democracy not about arguments and counter-arguments until people find appropriate solutions to problems or at least agree to disagree and the majority carries the day?

The other day we had a long chat on the question of democracy.

What prompted the discussion was a question I asked about the place of violence in a democracy.

This question in turn had been necessitated by events I had seen reported in the media about political violence in Nandi and Makueni, not to mention the man who was stopped with a bullet from attacking an MP in Ndia and another MP’s gun that went off at the airport.

The ODM bigwigs were reported to be up in arms about the Nandi episode of course forgetting that the “men in black debacle” during their party elections earlier in the year was also an act of political violence.

So my friend and I wondered whether there is something fundamentally wrong with Africans to the point that they really cannot practice true democracy without introducing violence into it.

Is there a way we can argue and disagree with the use of our minds without resulting to physically violent activities?

Or is democracy not about arguments and counter-arguments until people find appropriate solutions to problems or at least agree to disagree and the majority carries the day?

POOR RECORD

Our history is awash with instances of violence that leave many of us wondering if we have the capacity for democracy as it was intended by the Greek founding fathers or as it has been demonstrated to us by the west.

Yet we proudly participate actively in global economic, social, cultural, and even political events in world capitals and present ourselves as a democratic people.

My friend’s view is that we do not have the capacity to be fully compliant with democratic ideals because our very nature dictates that we rally around powerful individuals or groups and go by their thinking.

He mentioned nations such as Egypt, Libya, Southern Sudan, Uganda and even our own Kenya.

Jomo Kenyatta was a powerful, wealthy and charismatic icon of national unity who ruled with an iron fist.

His successor Moi also built a power base around himself and ruled through the life of a whole generation and in the process messed up the economy.

During the time of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya prospered. It is not quite clear what the newfound democracy will bring about. There are many examples.

The episodes of violence we continue to witness around the country are shameful and a demonstration of primitive thinking.

The act of elected members and their bodyguards using firearms to sort out arguments is to say the least a show of mediocrity and a clear indication of their inability to move with the aspirations of the 21st century.

Father Wamugunda is Dean of Students, University of Nairobi; [email protected]