The Makonde: Power concedes nothing without demand

President Uhuru Kenyatta issues a national identity card to Hamisi Kinungi, a Makonde, in Msambweni, Kwale on February 1, 2017. PHOTO | SAMUEL MIRING'U | PSCU

What you need to know:

  • This example alone undermines the view that civil society do not add value or that collaborative partnership with government is not possible.

  • The Makonde case is an example of where the government has acted admirably.

  • In an official letter, the KHRC plans to record its appreciation to President Kenyatta.

I sat at the back of the presidential dais in Msambweni last week, representing the Kenya Human Rights Commission, (KHRC), as a guest of the Cabinet Secretary for Internal Security, to witness President Uhuru Kenyatta hand over national identity cards to members of the Makonde community, bringing an end to their long wait for Kenyan citizenship.

The Makonde, who arrived in the country in the 1940s as labourers in plantations at the coast, have stayed in the country since then, and all various administrations promised to address their plight for citizenship but failed to do so. In October 2016, the KHRC, in partnership with coastal human rights institutions, organised the Makonde to make a historic trek to Nairobi when they hoped to seek audience with the President over their longstanding plight. However, the Makonde almost never left Kwale as various government officials tried to block their trek claiming that proceeding to Nairobi would annoy the government and jeopardise the negotiations that had been going on regarding whether or not to grant them citizenship.

On their part, the Makonde defied the officials, making it clear that they were tired of empty promises and that only a meeting with the President would suffice. After enduring a night-time arrest in Voi, which only further publicised their plight, we arrived in the city to find a fearsome squadron of anti-riot police lined up to prevent access to State House. It was a strange way to welcome a fatigued and peaceful group of mostly elderly people, many of whom had entered the city for the first time in their lives. With us insisting that we had a right to deposit a petition for the President at the State House gates, something the heavily armed police would not allow, the stage was set for a disastrous ending, which was only averted by the arrival of the Cabinet Secretary for Internal Security, Joseph Nkaissery, who announced that the President was ready to meet with the Makonde that afternoon.

ALSO RELIEVED

Within one hour, we were all at State House, clammy and tired, but also relieved and grateful that what might as easily have ended in calamity if the menacing police had charged on us, had ended as a historic meeting between the President and the Makonde.

Success has many parents and, after the event, everyone now takes credit for how the Makonde issue has been managed. Because this is election season, Jubilee quickly saw the political advantage that its handling of the Makonde issue provides and the State ceremony in Msambweni to hand them identity cards was, in effect, a Jubilee campaign rally, complete with the constant chanting of party slogans. In the excitement, there was no space for giving credit to others, and the KHRC, the organisation that has led in organising the Makonde to demand nationality, was not even mentioned. Neither was the UNHCR which was also represented. However, there is no doubt that President Kenyatta has done a commendable job in his handling of the Makonde problem, something that his predecessors failed to do, and over which he apologised when he met the Makonde at State House last year.

GLOBAL PROBLEM

“Statelessness”, the term that describes the condition that the Makonde have been suffering in Kenya, is a global problem and the UNHCR estimates that there are 10 million stateless people around the world. While there are no clear numbers of stateless persons in Africa, UNHCR estimates indicate that these are in millions, with Kenya hosting a larger share than many African countries.

The circumstances leading to statelessness are numerous and include the decision by most African post-independence governments not to recognise the citizenship claims of people who immigrated to their territories before independence. In many African countries, such immigrants have no right to citizenship based on birth in the territory. This is the very problem that the Makonde have faced, unable to acquire or confer Kenyan citizenship to their descendants, although they have lost connections with Mozambique where they came from.

By providing such clear leadership, President Kenyatta has established championship over the problem of statelessness not only here in Kenya but also across Africa. It is now up to the President’s handlers to cultivate this leadership in a manner that it is projected on, and gives benefit to, the continent. Unlike the ICC, on which the President has led the continent, this would be an issue that can earn him backing from many quarters.

PROVIDE LESSONS

The Makonde struggles provide lessons for people involved in other struggles. During the ceremony last week, senior officials who, late last year, had opposed our trek to Nairobi confided that if the Makonde had not walked, their issue would still be unresolved today. By coming out, they created the pressure which resulted in the prioritisation of their problem. The lesson is simple: Power concedes nothing without a demand.

Finally, the collaboration that has been evident between the government and civil society organisations in addressing the Makonde problem is a contrast with Jubilee’s narrative that civil society organisations exist to undermine the national interest. Even after last year’s decision by the President to grant the Makonde citizenship, much remained to be done to translate his directive into reality. Hardworking officials in the Department of Immigration, the National Registration Bureau and the Civil Registration Services struggled to meet the tight deadline the President had provided and, in doing so, closely collaborated with civil society actors on the ground that assisted in identifying, mobilising and organising the Makonde to take advantage of the directive.

This example alone undermines the view that civil society do not add value or that collaborative partnership with government is not possible. The Makonde case is an example of where the government has acted admirably. In an official letter, the KHRC plans to record its appreciation to President Kenyatta.