Part Four
The Kibaki Kibanjie
On Dec 2002, Kenyans tossed out the corrupt and inept Moi regime and elected Mwai Kibaki with a clear mandate to reform. But he started out on the wrong foot. He came in with two wives and has yet to settle the question: “Who is the first First Lady and who is the second First Lady?”
In May 2005, Lucy Kibaki, the presumed first First Lady, stormed into the Nairobi office of The Daily Nation. Brandishing a wrong newspaper ( the rival Standard newspaper had printed the ‘offending’ article), she confiscated notebooks, tape recorders and pens, and demanded to know the whereabouts of a reporter who had written a story headlined “Shame of First Lady” that offended her. The article described how she had three times interrupted a farewell party held by the departing country director of the World Bank to demand that music (she said was too loud) be stopped. She camped much of the night at the desk of the newspaper's editor, unleashing a fury of broadsides at the staff. When a local television crew arrived, she slapped a cameraman. First First Lady should remember the fate of King Gikuyu.
In traditional Africa, Kings were not above the law. They were severely restrained in the exercise of their powers against their people. The king of the Asante (of Ghana), according to Carlston Kenneth in Social Theory and African Tribal Organization, “had to procure the consent of the chiefs, and the chiefs the consent of the elders, in order to bring about group action." Akan kings (in Ghana) had no right to make peace, war, laws or be directly involved in important negotiations such as treaties without the consent of their elders and/or elected representatives. Even in the rigidly controlled kingdom of Dahomey, Dahomeans like to recount how king Glele was fined for failing to assist builders as the law required. At the South African Government Commission on Native Law and Custom in 1881, Zulu King Cetshwayo was asked why he did not prevent girls from being given in marriage without their consent. The King, as told by Colier in The Governmental Institutions of the Bantu Peoples of Southern Africa replied that he could not alter a law like that, because it was customary, every king had agreed to it and it would only be changed after consultation with the chiefs. Power and position thus rested ultimately, no matter how indirectly, upon the will of the people.
The constitutional articles, principles, and economic institutions Africa needs to develop are already found in traditional Africa. Africa does not need to copy from Jupiter. Enough development by imitation. The continent is already littered with putrid carcasses of failed imported systems. Said The New York Times (June 21, 1994):
“Africans cannot just transplant foreign models, like the [Western] parliamentary system, and hope it will take root in native soil. `It's a mistake to copy Western democracies because it's artificial’, observed Cyril Goungounga, an engineer and national assembly deputy in Burkina Faso. `Look at the U.S. You elect a President. He's in office for four years, eight years. Then he's out. That's what the Constitution says. We have a Constitution too’, he said. `But it doesn't work. It's just a piece of paper. Because we have two civilizations here. The Western one on top, where everything is fine and differences are submerged in talk of national unity. And a parallel one underneath, an African one, where ethnic groups are a reality.’’
Kenya’s ruling vampire elites present a major stumbling block to constitutional reform. Having seen the writing on the wall, wily bandits in the Moi regime quickly abandoned ship and joined the ranks of NARC. Once inside, they stymied every effort to reform the rotten system. Reform will threaten their business empires and political support base. State controls allow them to extract resources to build huge personal fortunes and to dispense patronage to their political supporters. With their pockets full of booty and their hands dripping in blood, they fear their gory misdeeds would be exposed if they lose power. Under pressure from external donors, they implement only the barest minimum cosmetic reforms that would ensure continued flow of Western aid. Reform becomes a charade – The Kibaki Kibanjie.
Under Kibaki, corruption reached epidemic levels as the new ruling vampire elites saw it as their turn to “eat.” Widespread government corruption caused international donors to withhold money allocated to fight AIDS. U.S. ambassador William Bellamy criticized the government for failing to account for money already distributed. Using undiplomatic language, Edward Clay, the British ambassador, described the ruling elites as “gluttons, who eat until they vomit.” He accused the regime of flagrantly corrupt activity, the value of which may amount to $188 million and sent to President Kibaki a dossier of 20 allegedly corrupt procurement deals. An audit revealed the existence of “ghost workers” with their annual $6.5 million salaries collected by living workers. In June 20, 2004, the same Health Ministry paid KSh140 million ($1.8 million) for a radiography machine for Kenyatta National Hospital that was never delivered.
Kenya has been rocked by corruption scandals galore: Over KSh 22 billion ($284 million) contract awarded to Anglo Leasing for the E-Cop police computer project; KSh2.7 billion ($35 million) contract to Anglo Leasing Finance for the issuance of tamper-proof passports; KSh4.2 billion ($54 million) contract for the construction of forensic laboratories for the Criminal Investigations Department at Karura, Nairobi (no work done); KSh12.3 billion ($159 million) contract to purchase of fighter jets rejected by pilots; KSh2 billion ($25 million) a debt refinancing contract awarded by Kenya Pipeline Company to Tripple A; KSh1.5 ($19 million) billion tender for the purchase of cranes for the Kenya Ports Authority; multi million shilling maize import tenders to import 180,000 metric tons of maize awarded to shadowy firms by the Agriculture ministry. In case after case, no action was taken and ministers involved were merely sacked, not prosecuted to recover the loot.
Reform requires democratization, market liberalization, decentralization of power, and repair of dysfunctional systems. The politics of exclusion must be replaced by the politics of inclusion. The elites should seek their wealth in the private sector. Government does not produce wealth; only redistributes it. The control of key state institutions must be wrestled from the ruling elites and reformed so that transparency, accountability and professionalism can be established. This would require attending to the systemic breakdown by fixing malfunctioning institutions. These six institutions are imperative:
· An independent central bank: to assure monetary and economic stability, as well as stanch capital flight out of Africa. If possible, governors of central banks in a region, say West Africa, may be rotated to achieve such independence.
· An independent judiciary -- essential for the rule of law. Supreme Court judges may also be rotated within a region.
· A free and independent media to ensure free flow of information.
· An independent Electoral Commission.
· An efficient and professional civil service, which will deliver essential social services to the people on the basis of need and not on the basis of ethnicity or political affiliation.
· A neutral and professional armed and security forces.
The establishment of these institutions would solve the majority of Kenya’s woes. For example, the two effective anti-dotes against corruption are an independent media and an independent judiciary. But only 8 African countries had a free media in 2003, according Freedom House. These institutions cannot be established by the leaders or the ruling elites due to conflicts of interest. They must be established by civil society. Each professional body has a “code of ethics,” which should be re-written by the members themselves to eschew politics and uphold professionalism. Start with the “military code,” and then the “bar code,” the “civil service code” and so on. These reforms, in turn, will help establish in Africa an environment conductive to investment and economic activity.
Raila has promised constitutional reform in 100 days and economic growth of 12 percent. Only new leaders have the credibility and the clean hand to carry out necessary institutional reform. Back in 2002, the reform movement was led by civil society. This time around on Dec 27, civil society should lead a genuine itwika revolution, sweeping out of parliament the Hippo generation – every singly one of them – and bring in the young Cheetah generation. Only then, would reform of Kenya’s ossified state system be possible.
