Kenya’s Chief Justice, Dr Willy Mutunga, is behind many changes that Kenya enjoys today. Under his initiatives, many Democracy and Human Rights NGOs were formed. Mutunga meant it when he recently said: “I have given most of my life to a better Kenya and if taking it is what will be required to consolidate and secure our democratic gains in this election, or even thereafter, that is a price I am not afraid to pay.”
I was honoured to meet Dr Mutunga and Professor Makau Mutua at the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) headquarters. Simple and down to earth as he always is, Mutunga welcomed me in Swahili saying “Karibu ndugu.” He then narrated his experience in Tanzania as a refugee. Although I am now in Canada, we touch base whenever time allows.
Dr Mutunga was recently intimidated at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport when he was leaving for Dar es Salaam to give his expertise in constitutional matters. He didn't succumb. He triumphed. He was also subjected to further intimidation through a poison-pen letter.
Kenya will have her general elections next month; the whole world would like to see no repetition of what transpired in 2008 when over 1,000 people lost their lives. Strategic as Kenya is in the region, it will be a blow shall Kenyans not heed the calls asking them to refuse to be taken for a ride. With Al Shabaab watching from the sidelines, Kenyans should not give them victory by turning against each other. This will only serve to make Kenyans vulnerable.
Kenya should take a leaf from Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. Instead of becoming the source of anger and vengeance, genocide in Rwanda has been used positively for the good of the nation. Post elections violence did happen. Nobody can deny it. Let bygones be bygones. Kenyans should prove to the world that what transpired in the said period was an accident and something undesirable that they are now rectifying and reclaiming their good name.
I heard many people complaining that foreign forces are interfering with their internal matters. Again, we need to understand. When Kenyans butchered one another, this invited foreign forces. They can avoid this by allowing free and fair elections as well as peace.
Kenyans, please make East Africa proud and happy. Kenyans must save Kenya this time around come March 4th. I wish you very serene and peaceful elections. Long live Kenya! Long live peace! Long live democracy!
By Nkwazi Mhango
The author is a Canadian based Tanzanian and author of Saa Ya Ukombozi.
Deciding the Kenya We Want on March 4
Campaigns for various political seats including the presidency are almost over. Presidential candidates and other aspirants for various political positions who have been on the campaign trail for months trying to persuade Kenyans to elect them on March 4th general elections are now making final touches as the deadline for the campaigns draws nearer later in the week.
It is now time for the electorate to evaluate all the candidates soberly and carefully so as to make the right choices on the voting day. The future for Kenyans and the destiny of the country as a whole depends on the people themselves and will be determined by the leadership that Kenyans themselves will elect through the ballot on March 4.
March 4th will be the day of reckoning for Kenyans. Their future and that of the country will be determined by the leaders that they will elect on that day. Voters should allow reason to prevail and wisdom to guide them in selecting the right leaders. Negative Ills such as tribalism, nepotism and corruption that have created problems and suffering to Kenyans for decades should not be entertained on March 4.
While democracy entails choosing leaders without intimidation, in the African context, it is democracy more about the dominance of big communities against the minority. Several factors come to play when exercising democracy in Africa. In Kenya, it becomes almost impossible to practice democracy since the ethnic majority will always have the say, therefore making it difficult for the minorities to get into positions of leadership.
Kenyans are yearning for a leader who is passionate and focused, conversant and committed to what the people want and where the country should go in terms of development, unity, prosperity and peace. Five years is a long time if Kenyans make wrong choices on March 4. Kenya has all the potential to move forward. As a country it has all the opportunities for its people. All that is required is good and focused leadership.
By Denise Kodhe,
Executive Director,
Institute for Democracy & Leadership in Africa-IDEA
RE: Education in Africa: Way Forward
The problem is how, through education, African countries can rise as unique units within the anarchic global system. The challenge to education is that it is no longer addressing local issues. We were taught English, American, European history and rarely our own history and how past domestic development challenges can inform present public policy making. We should learn to build knowledge of our own real, everyday life and develop knowledge management systems. It is the education system that should point us in the right direction. The reason is simple: What works out there will not necessarily work in Africa, and they got where they are in a progressive manner.
John Mugabushaka.
RE: Education in Africa: Way Forward
This message is spot on. Any educational reforms in Africa must up the pace, otherwise, they will become irrelevant!
Gilbert.
RE: Kenya: Peace and Prayer Rallies Place Country on Panic Mode
Everybody should be allowed to do what they can to promote peace in the country. Prayer gives people reassurance. Christians believe that God is able to intervene in whatever situations they are in. People like Rev. Timothy Njoya did what they did, l believe, because they were convicted in their hearts that whatever they did was the best option they had. That should not be used to belittle the efforts of other people in their attempt to achieve the same objective.
Mugalo. E.L.
RE: Kenya: Peace and Prayer Rallies Place Country on Panic Mode
The fallacy we are witnessing in Kenyan politics is that all the right things politicians need to know and heed are written in high flying mediums like this one. Those who read such good articles hardly have the time to make room in their schedules to indulge in civic education for the mass and politicians alike. Could The African Executive and other such publications buy into gutter press that surely attracts attention of the common man so that such opinion based articles can be replicated there? Politicians know that voters are inclined towards the gutter press and they buy those products to gauge the moods of common people on the street. That's how they end up with fowl language in their campaign trails.
Mike Were.
