On Monday, 9th November 2009, Dr. Godwin Murunga, who is a lecturer at the Department of History at Kenyatta University, spoke about “Transition to Nowhere? Two Years of ‘Post-Election’ in Kenya” at the Department of Political Science, Stockholm University. He is currently a guest researcher with the Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala. Below is a summary of his lecture.
During Kenya’s post-election violence (PEV) in 2008, popular forces or civil society began a debate around the formation of an interim government that would oversee the transfer of power to Parliament, which would eventually call for another presidential election. The post-election violence (PEV) had offered a new vent to advance the debate, yet it remained at the level of blogs and other media outlets abroad. The popular forces did not include “Wanjiku” (the people) in the debate. Historically, Kenya’s political movements have been steered from the top, and have never included people at the grassroots level. The debate got lost when the mediation talks led by Dr. Kofi Annan began.
Kenya’s civil society had expected that an interim government would implement a radical shift from the status-quo, but the “Political class” found a common interest and opted for power-sharing, to remain in full control. Dr. Murunga decried the fragmented state of Kenya’s civil society which is “episodic in character” and only interested in immediate goals. Unfortunately, only a special segment within the non-governmental organizations (NGOs), remains committed to the democratic process, while the professionals and trade unions don’t play a key role.
Dr. Murunga argued that from the 1980s to 2002, Kenya undertook more economic reforms than political ones, based on recommendations by international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, through structural adjustment programs (SAPs).
However, from 2002 to 2007, there seemed to have been no basis for reforms any longer. There was no focus on what reforms should achieve, nor were they anchored in the people’s voices, if ever. Bilateral and multilateral donors were in favor of President Kibaki’s government and Kenyans were surprised to learn that the country’s World Bank representative was Kibaki’s tenant at his Muthaiga home in Nairobi.
There were calls for institutional reforms during the run-up to the 2007 elections, and many youths were registered as first-time voters hoping that the ballot box would bring the desired change they were wishing for. The political class should have understood the people. The PEV was an indicator of the dissatisfaction among those who had wished for change.
The outcome of the presidential election triggered a serious social protest, since Kibaki’s win was perceived as a civilian coup. Dr. Murunga divided the PEV into three levels: citizen to citizen violence, which was prevalent in the Rift Valley and sections of Nairobi; protests against the rigging; and police brutality in the form of State-sanctioned killing in the name of maintaining “law and order”. Hundreds of bodies which were recovered in Opposition strongholds especially within Luo Nyanza, were bullet-riddled, yet most of them were unarmed. The PEV revealed how the security forces were well-equipped and could be misused by politicians who wanted to retain power.
Ironically, even the Opposition seemed not to disagree in the use of State power to subdue protesters, and thus opted for the mediation talks which led to the formation of the Grand Coalition Government. Dr. Murunga named it the “New Elite Alliance” which is a consensus among the elite who have lost track of the required reforms. Dr. Kofi Annan simply implemented a ceasefire, because control has not shifted from the elite to the people. Many Kenyans are disenchanted with the increasing insecurity and impunity within the Government.
Dr. Murunga argued that there is a “crisis of confidence in Kenya’s leadership” with people questioning why the State has not held to account, those involved in the PEV. The same Government fuels impunity by using the police force for brutality, while in the process of reforming it. He felt that no change can come within the police force as long as it is not separated from State management. However, this thinking was challenged by Mr. Okoth Osewe who wondered how the police can be managed outside the Government structure.
Interventions by Mr. Okoth Osewe
During question time, Mr. Osewe refuted Dr. Murunga’s perception that Kenya was on a “Transition to nowhere”, a subject that was the topic of the day’s seminar. According to Mr. Osewe, the author of Raila Odinga’s Stolen Presidency: Consequences and the Future of Kenya”, Kenya is not in a “Transition” but in a process of “Crisis management” following the rigging of elections by members of the Kikuyu ruling class.
Mr. Osewe argued that a political transition ought to have a known point of departure and a pre-determined destination, a situation that, he said, was not the case in Kenya. He said that the Coalition government was part of managing the Kofi Annan cobbled peace-deal as the country went through the process of reforming key institutions before the next elections.
Mr. Osewe also accused Dr. Murunga of presenting a “one sided” and liberalist analysis of Kenyan politics which saw every political development in Kenya within the framework of the deformed capitalist system of government. Mr. Osewe said that the failure of Kenya’s political system during the last 45 years needed to be acknowledged so that new ideas on how to end the crisis in Kenya could be examined.
While Dr. Murunga said that he had no “magic bullet” to sort out the mess in Kenya, Mr. Osewe said that the bullet is cloaked in revolution. Mr. Osewe said that he could not go into the detail of his solution because the subject of the seminar was not revolution.
Mr. Osewe also opposed Dr. Murunga’s view that Kenyans “were losing the struggle” after the post election violence. According to Mr. Osewe, the democratic struggle in Kenya is a continuous process that, in recent times, has seen the defeat of the one Party dictatorship and the overthrow of the Moi/KANU regime after more than four decades in power.
Mr. Osewe said that the problem in Kenya was that political opportunists, who were also ideologically bankrupt, had taken control of both the struggle in Kenya and the State machine under the Coalition government. Mr. Osewe’s view was that this situation will not change unless Kenyans versed in the science of revolution began to organize for a struggle for power.
Dr. Murunga noted that the Church and a section of civil society have been instrumental in barring the Constitutional review process due to some hidden agenda and self-interest. Reforming all the sectors should be part of the Constitution otherwise impunity will never end in Kenya.
Dr. Jared Odero
About the Author
Revolution is the only way to clean Kenya’s mess
The Kenyan government is in a constant state of collapse. We need to mobilize for a complete change. Since 2007 failed, we need a better preparation or 2012 will be worse.
Do we still have courageous Kenyans like those of the 80’s for a revolution? I am ready to join if there is one to clean up Kenya.
KSB: If we didn’t, Kenyans could not have faced bullets following the 2007 election theft.