Friday, April 6, 2012

What Five Million Signatures Can Do



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What is the worth of one million signatures? And how easy is it to get them? A lot, it seems, according to some Gema and Kamatusa leaders. And easy is it!
Actually, if I could get one million signatures, there are many more important things I could achieve. My priority list includes changing the constitution to prohibit ethnic and regional political mobilization, calling a referendum to amend the constitution to fix the number of Parliamentary seats at less than the unwieldy 390 plus, removing the gender requirements in the constitution that is giving the country a mathematical nightmares, and fixing the contradictory clauses that have created the crisis over the election date. For these noble causes, I would donate my signature to the initiators of the Great Gema and Kamatusa 5 million signature hunt.
But I will not render any assistance to Kamatusa and Gema if they want to raise 5 million signatures to petition the UN Security Council (through whom?) to delay justice so that some politicians who are suspects of crimes against humanity can vie for office to lead us. How so ironic. If they want my signature, they should first obtain those of the survivors /victims of post election violence. They may be scattered all over the place from Kiambu to Kiambaa, Kondele to Naivasha but the list is readily available in government documents at Esther Murugi’s ministry of Special Programs. Or at the various IDP camps that are now being hurriedly closed as the occupants are spirited and “resettled” away from their original homes.
With their consent, I will append mine. Justice here must not be equated to the freedom of the presumed innocent suspects. Or to the conviction of the four suspects. I for one hold that the Ocampo 4 will eventually be acquitted by the International criminal Court for lack of sufficient evidence. But acquittal for lack of evidence is not the same as a declaration of innocence. Nor does it amount to justice for the bereaved and destitutes of the PEV. Justice will be when the perpetrators are brought to account, and the losers compensated.
That fact is what has continued to elude the convenors and participants in the Gema and Kamatusa gigs and Limuru II and Eldoret. The efforts to white wash the facts of the PEV and the subsequent efforts to address the injustice that culminated eventually in the ICC trials will not hold. Nor can the real motives of the ongoing ethnic mobilization be camouflaged in such explanations as that the two are cultural organizations. So how come the so-called cultural bodies only become useful during election periods? When was the last cultural festival organized by the Gema or Kamatusa?
Oh, how sweet and lovely it would be for our country’s posterity if a national festival of communal cultural organizations held annually. Then, we would be accustomed to an extravaganza that is cultural four years and political only when elections show up. After all, the constitution clearly encourages the promotion of the cultural diversity of our country, including our numerous languages. So, the Gema and Kamatusa leaders should take courage and show their real teeth, instead of deceiving the public by flashing cultural reasons for obviously highly polarizing political expression.
While it is appreciated that the charges facing William Ruto, Uhuru Kenyatta and co are serious, it is reckless to use them to balkanize the country and immoral to exploit their misfortune to achieve objectives that are highly detrimental to our nationhood. The petition to delay the cases is only a first step in a series of strategies designed to hold the country at ransom. First, it seeks to jeopardize the timely conduct of the next elections as scheduled. Two, their demand that the trial be postponed or delayed until after the elections is a converse threat that elections will not be held until their trial is concluded. Now that is serious.
Besides, there are many more things that five million votes, can do in the short term. First, that’s more than is required to bring a constitutional amendment, or failing, initiate a referendum on key clauses in this constitution that could scuttle many of the best-laid plans. Did I hear you sigh and hiss? Yes, the reform train is in danger from reactionaries. As to whether that is feasible or not, only time will tell. But there is more. The import of the 5 million signatures, considering that they must all be of adults voting age, is to bind the signatories to vote in a particular manner to put someone in power who will determine the direction of the Hague proceedings.
Oh, the things five million signatures can do! Prepare for the revolution coming.
Makali is a journalist & director of The Media Institute. Email dmakali@yahoo.com

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