From: ouko joachim omolo
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News

BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2012

The theme of this year’s Lenten Campaign is “Towards a Transformed Kenya”, Let Light Shine out of Darkness (2Cor.4:6). The Kenya Episcopal Conference Catholic Secretariat Catholic Justice and Peace Commission has chosen this theme because as Kenyans we must remind ourselves that we have a duty to transform Kenya into a country where human dignity, human rights, equity, responsibility and equality are the core values. This is the basis of the social teaching of the Church.

The campaign begins with the preamble that in order to transform Kenya we must to transform our conscience. This will enable Kenyans to avoid those things that have made us hate each other. We must coexist as a country. As Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Traditional religious and people of good will, we are all called to be the salt and light of the world.

We are all invited to be witness of the Kingdom of God which is already here with us and the Church is symbol of that Kingdom. Transformation means that we reclaim our humanity from false doctrine and ideologies that have infested our society. Our Lord told us that only truth will set us free (Jn. 8:32).

The first week begins on Sunday February 26 after Ash Wednesday, February 22. The first week shall discuss the General Elections, how we are expected to elect good leaders and how we shall avoid rigging and violence like 2007 and several previous elections which were mired in irregularities and characterized by violence in many parts of Kenya.

The fact that at the heart of the electoral violence in 2007 and 2008 was the question of land allocation and the particular nature of Kenyan political contests, through which ethnic loyalties are rewarded, in order to avoid future electoral violence, the issue of land must be tackled.

For Muslims the most contentious issue is the question of ancestral land in Coastal Province, which many Muslim leaders claims was reallocated illegally. This has motivated some Islamic organizations to use the debate about “majimboism” as a platform to advocate the implementation of Shari’ah law which they believe is the only solution to their problems.

Despite that fact that land rights have been a hotly contested issue since independence where the Kalenjin, Masai and other smaller communities have consistently tried to reclaim land that was taken from them during the colonial period, instead illegal farm invasions continue to take place.

Questions of land allocation, which are ultimately linked to questions of wealth, have never been handled appropriately. The political instrumentalization of the uneven distribution of land has led to widespread ethnic violence, which has flared up several times after the return to multiparty democracy in late 1991.

Both during the period of first de facto and later de jure one-party rule (1963 to 1991) under the reign of the Kenya African National Union (KANU), the former ruling party, and during the period of multiparty competition (1992 to present), politics has been characterized by strong ethnic undercurrents.

Under the country’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta (1963 – 1978), most prominent cabinet positions were given to his Kikuyu community, which, according to the 1989 census, represent 21 percent of the population and the largest ethnic group.

Yet still, despite the fact that in the fertile Rift Valley, both Kikuyu and Kalenjin have aspired to claim land that was previously under colonial occupation, competing demands for land were never solved and thus became a latent source of conflict between the two communities.

It is against the background that in 1964 when the Kenyatta government altered the independence constitution by abolishing the federal institutional system (“majimbo constitution”), the debate about “majimboism” (Swahili for federalism) has since returned to the political agenda and was frequently accompanied by ethnic clashes. It also emerged in the run-up to the 2007 elections.

In the second week the campaign will look at the issue of food security. As Kenyans we have an obligation to make sure that we have enough food, especially by seeking to strengthen our economy by buying our own produce. In other words, for us as a country to have food security, we must be patriotic and put Kenya first.

We must also compel our leaders to have policies that spell out the availability of seeds, accurate weather forecast and good food storage. The problem of food insecurity needs to be addressed within a long term perspective, eliminating the structural causes that give rise to it and promoting the agricultural development of poorer people.

This is because according to the constitution of Kenya, the government of Kenya has constitutional responsibility to protect the human dignity of Kenyans (Art. 26(1) and Art.28); and free them from hunger and to have adequate food of acceptable quality (Art. 43(1) c.

The third week will discuss the Devolution. This is according to the Kenya Episcopal Conference is because it is a very important for the transformation of Kenya. It means allowing or giving powers of decision making to smaller or local units that have means to implement the decisions both at political, economic, social and cultural spheres.

Technically, devolution can be defined as a governance tool based on the principle of subsidiarity. This means that the central government and the devolved government will have distinct functions to perform that will add up to the common good of Kenyans.

Even though under Daniel arap Moi (1978 – 2002), the allocation of public resources was biased in favor of his Kalenjin group and several pastoral communities, this has never changed with Mwai Kibaki.

It explains why economic recovery has failed to realize their goals in Kenya since independence. This has opened the way for corruption to continue to be widespread. It is also why the resettlement of thousands of innocent victims has not yet been realized. This cannot improve because of the ongoing bad governance.

With the implementation of the new constitutions Kenyans hope that these vices will end once and for all. We need Kenya where the constitution recognizes the cultural values and ethnic diversities in the pot which is Kenya and not ethnic.

The Kenya Episcopal Conference believes that with the implementation of the new constitution Kenyans will be able to share the national resources at both national and at county levels. Where there will also be county resources to be shared within the counties.

This of course will depend with the type of leaders Kenyans will elect. Leaders, who are ready to dialogue with the community, bring investments in the county and who are ready to adopt pro-good policies. All these processes require citizens’ participation as provided in the constitution.

Because the constitution has never been implemented is why, even though the fight against corruption was a major theme in Kibaki’s successful 2002 election campaign, this could not work.

That is also why, despite the fact that in 2003 and 2004 when the government enacted several laws designed to curb corruption, including the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, the Public Officer Ethics Act and the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act, corruption is still widespread.

Even with the re-launch of Kenya’s Anti-Corruption Agency (KACC) which required MPs and civil servants to provide evidence of their source of income has never been realized. In addition, the position of a permanent Secretary for Ethics which was established in the president’s office never worked either.

The outcry has been that, even though the KACC is legally obliged to hand over evidence to the attorney general’s office, their efforts have been limiting them to free itself from executive pressure. This is because AGs have been the presidential appointees.

That is why it admitted to suffering from a lack of capacity to act in a meaningful way to punish those who fail to comply with the law. For example, in January 2009, former Finance Minister Amos Kimunya, who was involved in the dubious privatization of the Grand Regency Hotel, was re-appointed to his previous positions despite a parliamentary vote of no confidence against him.

The fourth week will discuss the family matters. The Kenya Episcopal Conference has chosen this topic given that the family is a threatened institution today. Without sound families the society will disintegrate.

In Kenya today the family is facing significant challenges and the role of parent is in jeopardy as parents continue to compete with various influences from our world. What is happening is that we have defiled our families.

We have allowed the father of the home to disappear. Many children are suffering a ‘father wound’. Many children do not have an adequate father figure in their lives, and this has really distorted the society.

The fifth and last week will discuss peace and cohesion. Kenyans are called to look for means of bringing justice and peace to our society. This can only be achieved when we have let our light to shine.

While many Kenyans continue to suffer violence in their communities, press freedom still exists in Kenya on paper as well as in principle. In the past, journalists have become the victims of governmental pressure and state violence.

During the counting of the 2007 election results, various media houses were forced to stop reporting incoming election results, which made it impossible to confirm official results released by the Electoral Commission of Kenya.

Recently local and international journalists have protested Kibaki’s support of the Kenya Communications Amendment Bill (2008). The so-called “ICT Bill” which, if it was passed it was going to provide for heavy fines and prison sentences for press offenses.

It could give the government authority over broadcast license issuance and the production and content of news programs. It further allowed the government to raid media offices- tap phones and control broadcast content for purposes of national security.

Although sizeable group of Kibaki’s grand coalition also opposes the law, according to the worldwide press freedom index, Kenya’s position has fallen from position 78 in 2007 to position 97 in 2008 (out of 167 countries).

Yet still, the 2007 elections and their aftermath have illustrated the deep ethnic divisions between various communities. No political party has ever managed to include representatives of all major communities in leading positions for a significant period of time.

The inability of political leaders to engage in efforts to defuse the violence was manifest in their readiness to accuse each other of fostering ethnic genocide. This has raised new doubts about their willingness to contribute to democratic stability.

Thanks to International Criminal Court (ICC) that Kenyans are now cautious. It explains why, despite Mr Peter Otieno appearing at the ICC as a witness, the residents have accepted his role and he has been welcomed back to the fold. Some people tried to create rumours that his house had been torched, but they failed to incite the community to take the law into its hands.

Otieno was a trade unionist who, as a witness for former police commissioner Maj-Gen (Rtd) Hussein Ali, testified how police rescued him and his family in Naivasha. Reports that his rural home in Migori County could be a target for attack following his testimony at The Hague turned out to be unfounded.

The fact that Ruto, Uhuru, Muthaura and arap Sang have been charged for full trial by the ICC and no violence has taken place is an indication that Kenyans are now trying to coexist. It is an indication that there will be no violence in the future.

People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya

Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail- ppa@africaonline.co.ke
omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org