THE SINS OF THEIR FATHERS - KENYA’S POLITICAL HISTORY IN A NUTSHELL

When Kenya first became a republic, in the year 1964, a freedom fighter, Jomo Kenyatta, came to the fore, and was declared the first president of Kenya. He sat on the throne from 1963 to 1978. He had been a war veteran, involved in the MauMau uprising, and consequently, had spent a lot of time in prison. He was the pioneer of political leadership in the land, and unfortunately for the Kenyans, managed to wear the mantle of leadership very fixedly upon his shoulders. The ashes of the British Empire in Kenya had not yet begun to settle when the first rumbles of discontent were heard.

Crime was high. Birth rate was high. Poverty levels continued to ascend, as slums began to rise up from previously prospering areas. Why was this great country bowed so low? At the time of independence, the economic status was at par with most of the Asian countries. Ten years later, Kenya was just another third world country. The world was laughing.

What had happened? Ignorance had its uses, and the leaders were rejoicing in this fact. People went about their work, and brought home the bread. They lived quiet lives, and KBC, the voice of Kenya, gave them the updates on the latest political happenings. Schools were built, and literacy rates increased. To be literate was to be smart, and to be smart was to mint money. Then came the questions. Unfortunately, there were no answers. At least, none that made any sort of sense. Except one.

Power corrupts. And absolute power corrupts absolutely.

He continued to leach the country, and line his own pockets. And then he died.

Mzee Jomo Kenyatta was replaced by Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi, the vice president of the time. Moi ruled the land for twenty two years, ten more than he should have. Kenya’s constitution stated that Kenya was to be a single party nation. In effect, this meant that Moi’s party, KANU, was the only party in existence. KANU, abbreviation for Kenya Alliance for National Unity, was headed by the president, and all the Members of Parliament belonged to it. So did the citizens of Kenya. Anyone who was opposed to Moi’s tactics was tortured in the chambers underneath Nyayo House, and then relegated to the land of the bourgeois.

Mr. Raila Odinga was one of the tortured. Is it merely a coincidence then, that Moi chose to back Kibaki’s party? Was he afraid of getting his just desserts? After all, who knows what Mr. Odinga had up his sleeve regarding the ex-president. Be that as it may, all the people that Moi considered his friends were placed upon the top of the political ladder and given plum jobs with excruciatingly high salaries that the Kenyan people were taxed for.

In all fairness, Moi was a good leader at the beginning of his term. But then the coup de etat happened, and turned him into a dictator. In the year 1982, one man tried to overturn the government, and paid his dues. Unfortunately, he also killed freedom in the country.

Democracy is as democracy does.

All good things come to an end. A bill was passed, and the multi-party policy brought into effect. It was the year 1992. Election time duly arrived with Christmas. The Kenyan people wanted a change. Opposition was finally permitted, and many came out of their shells to take advantage of the situation. A multitude of parties came into being. FORD, FORD-K, DP, IPK; these were some of the big ones. They were headed by people who, at the time, had no idea of the repercussions of the multi-party system. Consequently, many candidates, one from each party, decided to contest in the election. Moi received majority votes, and the rest discovered the limitations of greed. Had they banded together, Moi could have been given the boot. However, each had dreamed of the power, and collectively, they had all lost. Moi was back.

The years 1992-1997 showed a discernible increase in the rate of unemployment and crime in the country. On one hand, people were waking up, and could see the effects of corruption on the economy. On the other hand, whoever was wise decided to join up with the Municipal councils and civil duty, so that they could have a share of the profits. This in turn, led to greater amounts of corruption.

When Moi won the election in 1997, he had a minority government. The elections were said to be rigged in his favor, but the peaceful protests eventually petered out, and the political scene shook down and settled into its comfortable lines. The five years which followed made the deepest and most lasting impact on the Kenyan Economy. Moi had become a rich man, as had his cronies. The gap between the rich and the poor widened, and the middle classes all but disappeared.

In the year 2002, the opposition wised up. All the small parties got together and formed coalition called NARC, acronym for National Alliance of the Rainbow Coalition. NARC was headed by Mwai Kibaki, and the coalition members campaigned holding rallies country-wide. They whispered change, and talked of a new constitution, of freedom, of the end of dictatorship. They were embraced by the people of Kenya, and won the elections. The coalition of NARC had been designed by all the leaders of the smaller parties, in such a manner that would guarantee the concept of Power sharing, whereby Mr. Raila Odinga was primed to become the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya.

An MoU was signed to this effect, since trust was still a fragile thing. Unfortunately, things were not meant to be so. Upon becoming president, the first thing that Mr. Kibaki did was to tear up the MoU, effectively crippling the hands of change that ought to have swept the country. The new constitution never made an appearance, and even though the economy started stabilizing, and gradually improving, unrest was brewing in the Parliament House.

In the convening years, Kibaki managed to rule whilst conveniently forgetting the first rule of politics; to lie, but not make it look like you’re lying. Having made grand promises to the Kenyans, he forgot that there would come a time, when the promises he had made would be called upon by the people. A demand for the constitution was made, and no answers were forthcoming as to why it had not been delivered.

Eventually, a new constitution was made and a referendum was carried out to in parliament to approve of it. Those in favor were to vote using the banana as a symbol and those against with an orange. Since the constitution was not a palatable deal for majority of the MPs, this led to the rejection of the bill.

After this, several factions decided to break free of the coalition, and formed their own party, called the ODM, the Orange Democratic Movement. ODM was headed by Mr. Odinga, who made clear that he would run for president in the next election. Preparations were begun, and the campaign started off in 2005.

Gradually, ODM began pulling support from NARC, and many MPs shifted over. Life looked good for ODM, who began their preparations for the run for the presidency. After almost two years, Mwai Kibaki decided to do away with NARC and formed another party called PNU, half a year before elections were to be held, which stands for the Party of National Unity. The vow he had made that he would only lead the country for one term apparently did not count.

And then the time of elections came. And went. And the riots started. And Kenya went into the deepest decline in its history. Who won, and who lost; nobody knows. But that does not matter. What matters is that Kenya lost.