Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Kenya: Socio-Economic Cleavages to Blame for Current Mayhem

By Farid Omar


Following the outbreak of violence in the aftermath of the disputed Kenyan elections, the western media was quick to portray electoral politics in Kenya as “tribal” with perennial “ethnic” loyalties, rather than issues of national debate drumming up support for competing political interests.


But Kenyan and other African pundits have rejected such negative media depictions, stating that ethnicity was not a factor in the December 2007 Kenya elections, pointing out the Raila Odinga led Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has garnered multi-ethnic, trans-regional, national support in almost seven out of Kenya's eight provinces.


A Seniour Police official has confirmed that at least 600 people have lost their lives while UN figures indicate that 250, 000 people are displaced and close to 500, 000 are in need of urgent humanitarian aid.


Diplomatic efforts are under way to help resolve the crisis with the ODM calling for the establishment of a transitional government and a re-run of the presidential polls within 3 months under an independent commission while the besieged “President” Kibaki has indicated willingness to establish a government of national unity.


The underlying causes of the current political crisis are rooted in existing socio-economic cleavages, social disparity, state corruption, poverty, unemployment, crippling inflation and state's inability to curtail rising crime rates. Most of those caught up in the ongoing violence are Kenya's rural and urban poor, unemployed youths and other marginalized sectors of society.

The post elections violence in Kenya is a clear reflection of decades of frustrations by the marginalized who saw any prospect for better future destroyed by the massive electoral fraud meant to preserve the status quo.

By all accounts, Kenya was a powder keg waiting to explode. The myth that Kenya has always been a “peaceful” and “progressive” model for other African countries to emulate has finally been shattered by the violent unrest that threatens to plunge the country into further chaos. Kenya indeed, was never the so-called “stable” East African nation and “beacon” of hope for Africa.

Public discontentment with the massive state corruption that has driven millions into poverty has been fomenting for years. In four and a half decades of neo-colonial rule, the Kenyan comprador elites, working in collusion with international capital, had succeeded in the pacification of the masses through coercion, patronage, clientelism, co-aptation and other corrupt practices. “Pacification” as we know, is not the same as “peaceful co-existence.”

Kenya's long pacified, diverse communities all share one thing in common; marginalization at the hands of a corrupt, dictatorial, pro-west, capitalist state implementing neo-liberal economic policies that has enriched a select group of elites at the expense of impoverished masses deprived of even the basic necessities of life.

The disputed elections was a just a trigger that allowed the oppressed in Kenya vent their anger against the state as seen in violent clashes between rioters and the police as well as the unfortunate attacks on sections of the population accused of supporting the Kibaki regime.

In today’s Kenya, the masses have started to seriously challenge all forms of “pacification” or intimidation through the state’s excessive use of force. Thus the series of mass peaceful rallies underway across the nation will form the basis of popular resistance to the Kibaki regime.

For peace to prevail, Kenyans and progressive forces around the world should pressure Kibaki to step down and allow for a speedy re-run of the polls under the supervision of an independent electoral commission.

In the meantime, ODM's call for the formation of an interim government with the sole mandate of preparing the stage for new elections is a viable option that offers a way out of the current impasse.

Friday, January 11, 2008

EU's Double Standards on Human Rights


By Farid Omar

The December 2007 Lisbon summit that brought together European Union (EU) and African Union (AU) member states hoped to launch a new “partnership” between the EU and Africa by tackling key issues such as development, good governance, peace, security, migration, energy and climate change.

But many analysts agree that the key agenda behind the so-called “new partnership” is the EU's primary concern for the unfettered access to Africa's vast mineral resources. In confronting China's growing influence in Africa, the EU is bent on retaining its strategic economic interests in the African continent while at the same time, pretend that it would embark on initiatives that would enable Africa, a key trading partner, achieve its long sought democratic goals.

The talk on democracy, good governance, human rights, peace and security is all none sense given the fact that EU member states continue to pay a blind eye to flagrant human rights violations by key African allies. It also smacks of double standards for certain EU countries like the UK that selectively focus their attention on perceived human rights violations in a country like Zimbabwe, a nation considered hostile to EU interests while they deliberately ignore repressive policies in other African countries closely allied to the West.

Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister, chose to boycott the summit to protest against the presence in the Lisbon talks, of President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Mugabe was allowed to attend the summit after African leaders threatened to boycott the event if the EU insisted on barring the Zimbabwean leader from attending. It was a rare show of solidarity among African leaders tired of EU's paternalistic approach in its long standing economic relations with Africa.

Ironically, Brown and other EU leaders didn't see any problem with the attendance of the likes of Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, two leaders whose nations are known for gross human rights violations directed at oppositional forces seeking a democratic alternative in these troubled nations.

Worse still, the EU continues to prop up hardcore, despotic African regimes that primarily serve western interests. EU member states back, finance and arm totalitarian regimes in places like Nigeria, Guinea, Ethiopia, Uganda, Egypt etc suppressing in the process, genuine democratic forces in the continent that are seeking viable alternatives to EU- bankrolled dictatorships.

Zenawi for example, is known for his brutal suppression of opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists in Ethiopia who voiced their concern in the possible rigging of the hotly contested 2005 elections in which the opposition are widely believed to had garnered enough votes to unseat Zenawi.

In retaliation to public protests, Zenawi's response came in the form of brutal state repression that led to the deaths of hundreds of street protesters in less than a year and the illegal detention of key opposition leaders and activists.

Human Rights Watch and other northern-led NGOs have documented gross human rights violations in the largely Somali -inhabited region of Ogaden in Eastern Ethiopia where Ethiopian forces are facing fierce resistance from the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a seccesionist rebel movement seeking independence from Ethiopia.

In this isolated region, Ethiopian security forces have reportedly targeted civilians while the government has been accused of orchestrating an economic blockade aimed at causing mass starvation in the region.

In Somalia, Ethiopian forces that have occupied the war-torn nation at the behest of the US, have been accused by rights groups including Human Rights Watch for shelling civilian positions in Mogadishu, causing the worst humanitarian disaster in Africa that has led to the displacement of one million people.

Disturbingly, Gordon Brown and other EU leaders are unperturbed by this troubling trend in both Ethiopia and neighbouring Somalia and have kept their silence on the ongoing atrocities committed by a close African ally.

Uganda, a key Western ally, is equally a flagrant violator of human rights. Its forces are accused of displacing innocent civilians in its long war with the Lord Resistance Army rebels in the north. The Museveni regime is known for suppressing opposition leaders and his government technically rigged Uganda's 2006 elections through draconian measures such as state restriction of the opposition's ability to effectively organize and the mass intimidation of the opponents of the regime.

Further,Ugandan is among the seven countries in the region that invaded Congo in 1998 and its troops are implicated in grisly atrocities directed at innocent civilians and the mass plunder of Congolese resources during the five year long civil war.

Yet Gordon Brown and the EU have their eyes set on Zimbabwe and totally ignore Uganda, Ethiopia and other regional allies complicit of gross human rights violations within their borders and in neighbouring countries.

The UK and the EU continue to provide Uganda, Ethiopia and other despotic regimes in Africa with economic and military aid. And all this despite widespread state repression in member AU states that are not only closely allied to western nations but duly protect EU interests through tyrannical measures that infringe on fundamental individual and collective rights.

In early 2007, security forces in Guinea opened fire on anti-government protesters, killing 130 people in cold blood during mass rallies organized by Trade Unionists opposed to President Lansana Conte's repressive policies. Conte, a close ally of France, seized power illegally in a 1984 military coup and has ever since, ruled with an iron hand, silencing his opponents through coercion and state violence.

Despite vigorous opposition to his dictatorial rule, Lansana has largely remained in power through sustained support from France and other EU countries that continue to prop-up the ailing dictator.

Unlike the anti-West Mugabe, Lansana Conte is not a target of the EU and France as the European body and Guinea's former colonial masters are determined to protect Conte. This is because the Guinean dictator is a close EU ally duly implementing stringent neo-liberal economic policies that protect western interests at the expense of the impoverished masses in Guinea.

Democratic forces in Africa need to challenge the EU's stance on Africa by exposing double standards and condemning the propping up of despotic regimes that serve EU economic and strategic interests. The social movements in the continent should strive to build a democratic, Pan-African alternative through popular education, mass political action and initiatives that empower the impoverished masses, women and all other marginalized sectors of society excluded from the political process.

The elite-driven, top down approach evident in the proposed EU-Africa partnership would not free the people of Africa from poverty, war and underdevelopment. Rather, the people of Africa must pursue a home grown, bottom up, revolutionary approach relying on a democratic, all inclusive civil society driven process that would usher in a new era of political and economic renewal for Africa.





Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Promoting Citizen Diplomacy in Africa

By Farid Omar.

The field of citizen diplomacy, also known as Track-II talks, has taken an important role in conflict resolution mechanisms around the world. In the Middle East and elsewhere, Track-II Talks have helped build bridges among communities torn by war and factionalism.

Due to failure or shortcomings of key Track-I (official diplomacy) talks, peace activists, conflict resolution experts, peace-builders and communities in general would increasingly rely on Track-II Talks in attempts to resolve protracted conflicts around the world.

The primary actors in citizen diplomacy include peace activists, scholars, journalists, former statesmen and military officials, elder statesmen and other notable personalities representing various non-state sectors in the wider society committed to resolving conflicts within their states or communities.

In Africa, the field of diplomacy and conflict resolution has been dominated by state actors(government officials and heads of states) supra-national and regional groupings such as the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS etc) and armed actors challenging state structures including rebel movements, paramilitaries and other armed militias.

Ceasefires, truces and talk of peace deals have often been used by state and armed actors as an opportunity to consolidate their positions while at the same time, re-arming and strategizing for the next round of hostilities. As a result, conflict resolution mechanisms dominated by state and armed actors have had little impact in building lasting peace in the continent and in most cases, has only paved the way for renewed hostilities.

With peace processes heading for imminent failures in a multitude of African conflicts including the ongoing civil strife in Somalia, Congo, Sudan, and the Ivory Coast, citizen diplomacy, more than ever before, holds the key to unlocking a new formula for fostering peace in the continent through the direct involvement of citizen diplomats and peace delegates in fragile and failing peace processes.

This calls for increased and effective representation of delegates representing private citizens, trade unions, voluntary and professional associations, the women movement, faith groups and other non-state entities, in the realm of conflict resolution and conflict prevention and all other matters pertaining to improving regional security and building sustainable peace in Africa.

Citizen diplomacy as pertaining to Africa, has received little attention from peace researchers, conflict resolution analysts and even international bodies like the United Nations.

All stakeholders in the peace-building movement should wake up to the important reality that citizen diplomats have an important role to play in peace-making and peace-building and there is greater potential for this sector to not only build bridges among warring factions and communities, but also influence and provide state actors involved in Track-I Talks with the necessary terms and tools to effectively resolve long lasting conflicts in Africa.

Unlike Track-I (Official Diplomacy) talks, Track-II (Citizen Diplomacy) talks take place in a less sensitive environment. While it is sometimes difficult for state actors and their opponents to meet face to face, citizens always take the initiative to reach out to each other to find collective solutions to issues around conflict.

For example, the Israeli government and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) have not only denounced each other, but never met face to face prior to 1993 to resolve the Middle East Conflict. But both Israeli and Palestinian citizens have been meeting and coming together for decades to find ways to end the conflict.

The 1993 Oslo Process was the product of successful rounds of talks initiated by citizen diplomats both Israeli and Palestinian, which helped pave the way for the official behind the scenes Track-I Talks involving Israeli government officials and leaders of the Palestinian Authority. This eventually led to the Middle East Peace Process, which culminated with the signing of the Peace Accord in the White House.

Track-II success in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world can be replicated in Africa. While it has been difficult for state actors and opposing rebel authorities in Africa to resolve long standing conflicts in places like Somalia, Congo and Sudan, the citizens of these countries and other parts of Africa who happen to belong to opposing loyalties have always come together to find ways to end conflicts in their nations and communities.

In order to foster a culture of peace and healing, it is imperative that the citizen diplomacy sector in Africa, which lacks adequate resources, be supported so as to build an active constituency of citizen peacemakers and peace builders. A vibrant citizen diplomacy sector in the African continent would go along way in eliminating obstacles to peace in the continent and further develop the necessary pre-requisites to peace in war-torn nations and communities.

Like their counterparts in the Middle East, citizen diplomats in Africa have the potential to bridge political divisions within their nations and communities and also influence state actors make appropriate decisions that can help facilitate a functional conflict resolution process at the official level.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Kenyan Elections: Ethnicity not a Factor in Disputed Polls


By Farid A.M. Omar


Following the outbreak of violence in the aftermath of the disputed Kenyan elections, the western media was quick to portray electoral politics in Kenya as “tribal” with perennial “ethnic” loyalties, rather than national issues shaping up support for competing political interests.


While politics in the Moi and Kenyatta eras as well as the the first term of Kibaki's reign may have been dictated by ethnic interests, the flawed 2007 elections was historic in that ethnicity took a back stage as the fledging opposition Party, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) led by Mr. Raila Odinga, carted a new era in Kenyan politics, shunning ethnic divisions and instead, uniting Kenyans under a banner that has confined electoral politics into an issues-based national debate.


Ethnicity has not been a driving factor in this elections although political opportunists are likely to manipulate the ongoing violent unrest to rekindle ethnic tensions and plunge the predominantly peaceful East African nation into further chaos.


It is very unfortunate that specific communities were targeted in the current mayhem and especially in the Rift Valley Province, in which in one grisly incident, 35 innocent people, mostly women and children from the Kikuyu community perished in a Church fire blamed on marauding mobs angered by the outcome of the rigged Presidential polls. Peace loving Kenyans should roundly condemn such acts, refrain from violence and seek a peaceful resolution to the current impasse.


In a dubious move, the Electoral Commission of Kenya(ECK), had at the end of the polls, declared Kibaki the winner over his rival, the opposition's Raila Odinga. As of late, upto five officials of the ECK have broken ranks with their colleaques, declaring that the Presidential polls were fraudulent and marred with serious irregularities. The ODM and some western observers have called for an independent audit of the polls to ensure a fair and transparent culmination to the process.


On the run up to the 2007 elections, Raila's ODM garnered national support that transcends ethnic and regional lines. His party, ODM, has a truly national outlook with multi-ethnic support across the nation. There are even Kikuyus in the ODM and some of them, like Bishop Margaret Wanjiru, is the presumed winner of the Starehe Constituency in Nairobi, having tallied more votes than her rival, PNU's Maina Kamanda, along time area MP.


In its haste to thwart ODM fortunes, the ECK quickly annulled the Starehe results, locking Ms. Wanjiru out of a historic parliamentary victory. The ECK felt that it would have been a huge blow to Kibaki if Wanjiru was officially declared winner on an ODM ticket in a mainly Kikuyu populated part of the City.


In the Kisumu East constituency, voters overwhelmingly elected Mr. Ahmed Shakeel Shabir, a Kenyan of South Asian descent as their new MP, rejecting their own Luo candidates who ran on other party tickets.


The western media is keen on presenting the ethnic line so as to continue to depict Kenyan and African politics in general, as being primarily a “tribal”, or “ethnic-centred” process devoid of issues-based politicking. But Kenyan and other African pundits have rejected such negative media depictions, stating that ethnicity was NOT a driving force in the 2007 Kenya elections.


Raila's ODM for example, draws the majority of its support outside his Luo community. Sensing that the ODM was headed for outright victory in six out of Kenya's eight Provinces, the pro-Kibaki ECK moved fast to doctor the final results in favour of Kibaki. While Kibaki's PNU largely relied on Kikuyu support from the Central Province, the ODM had over the last two years, built itself a national support base across the provinces.


The ODM has widespread support in Nyanza, Western, Rift Valley and Nairobi Provinces among various communities including the Luo, Luhya, Kalenjin, Maasai, Kisii etc while in the Coast and North Eastern Provinces and parts of Eastern Province, the ODM has fielded winning candidates from the Swahili, Taveta, Somali, and Gabra communities in what clearly local analysts regard as a multi-ethnic, trans-regional, national support for Raila.


Also, the ODM has successfully secured bloc voting on demographic basis as the majority of the young people in Kenya as well as women and the Muslim community decisively voted for Raila.


Like his late father, the legendary Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Raila Odinga is widely acknowledged in Kenyan politics as a nationalist leader rising above “tribal” politics. During the elections campaign, Raila's ODM focussed on such nagging issues as corruption, poverty, unemployment and alarming crime rates. This resonated well with the masses and by election date, there was no stopping the ODM train that was cruising to certain victory.


On the other hand, most Kenyans would agree that Kibaki per se is not the problem but the clique of corrupt politicians within his inner circle. Ordinary Kenyans blame Kibaki's cronies on the endemic corruption that has paralyzed the country over the last five years. In the past, Kibaki was often regarded as the “gentleman” of Kenyan politics for his ability to delegate power and work closely with other leaders.

But his regime was held hostage by his close associates, erstwhile dubbed “The Mount Kenya Mafia” implicated in massive corruption during Kibaki's first tenure of office. This political mafia takes its name from the Mount Kenya region in the Central Province where Kibaki's henchmen hail from. It consists of powerful cabinet ministers in the Kibaki government as well as corporate titans with close ties to the state.

During the 2002 Kenya elections, it was Raila Odinga who handed the Presidency to Kibaki on a silver platter after he made the famous declaration “Kibaki Tosha” loosely translated from Kiswahili as meaning “Kibaki all the way”. Raila, a rising opposition leader at the time, sacrificed his own presidential ambitions infavour of Kibaki, so as to unite the opposition under the banner of National Rainbow Coalition (Narc-Kenya) that swept to power, ending Kanu's 40 years of reign in power.

But Raila and others later fell out with the President after his refusal to deliver a people-driven new constitution for Kenya as well as failure to honour the memorandum of understanding (MOU), a gentleman's agreement that required Kibaki to step down after one term to allow for Raila to run as the Narc-Kenya 2007 Presidential candidate. Odinga and his close allies also left the Kibaki government after the revelations of massive corruption in high places.

In the just concluded elections, Kibaki's PNU party relied on old guard politicians to mobilize support for the President. These include Mr. Simeon Nyachae who served as a cabinet minister in successive governments, tasked with the plan to deliever the Kisii vote, while other cabinet ministers; Mukhisia Kituyi, Musikari Kombo and Vice-President Muudi Awori were expected to deliver the Luhya vote.

Former President Daniel Arap Moi and his former right hand man, Nicholas Biwott, considered the real power behind Moi' long 24 year reign, and Kibakis's cabinet minister Kipruto Arap Kirwa, turfed the Rift Valley to rally Kalenjin support for Kibaki on the Presidential ticket while maintining allegiance to Kanu on the Parliamentary ticket. In the Eastern Province, Ukambani chieftains —turned PNU candidates, Mr Mutua Katuku (Water Development minister and Prof Kivutha Kibwana (Lands minister), were entrusted with selling Kibaki's campaign in parts of this province.

But Kenyans overwhelmingly rejected these ethnic overtures and instead, pusnished these bearers of the ethnic torch, voting out Vice-President Awori, Nyachae, Kituyi, Kombo, Tuju, Kirwa, Katuku and Kibwana who were among the 20 cabinet ministers who lost their seats during the elections.

Moi's ethnic card resulted in the total destruction of the Moi dynasty in the Rift Valley Province as his three sons, Gideon, Raymond and Jonathan all lost in the Parliamentary polls in Baringo and Eldama Ravine.

Overall, the 2007 elections was one that saw the majority of voters shunning ethnic politics by punishing divisive politicians and rewarding politicians who forged a united national front under the ODM Parliamentary and Presidential tickets.

More importantly, the 2007 elections ushered in a new wave of women politicians, most of them running on ODM ticket, some of whom defeated a powerful slates of male candidates in a number of constituencies. Also, small parties never used to winning even single seats in parliament, had a field day as they bagged in a total of 21 seats, some of them at the expense of Kibaki's PNU.

By colluding with the Kibaki government, the ECK led Kenyans down by rigging the elections in favour of the incumbent, hence curtailing a certain democratic precedent for Kenya. But through mass rejection of Kibaki's “re-election,” ODM supporters and leaders alike are determined to reclaim their hard fought democratic triumph by placing popular pressure on President Kibaki to step down. The million man protest at Uhuru Park on Thursday, represents the beginning of a new struggle to reshape Kenyan politics and set the East African nation on the path to democratic consolidation.