State law office: Attorney General Githu Muigai with Deputy Solicitor General Muthoni Kiamani. ?Don?t we understand and appreciate that when Kenyans attend meetings at the State Law Office and come face-to-face with Githu Muigai, Njee Muturi and Lucy Kimani, they are repulsed by the toxicity of alienation??
The issue of rotational presidency isn’t a provincial one. It is not intended for consideration by a section or faction within or without our society or country. It’s not raised in this column for parochial or partisan reasons. It isn’t intended to achieve short-term political gains – for myself or any other interest(s). Neither is it intended to please or cajole anyone. After all, we aren’t in the midst of an election. There is no impending national political contest like a referendum that one could say it is intended for, or that might pollute it.
This isn’t an issue that affects only one, some or a few people, regions, ethnic group(s) or counties. Neither is it an issue whose implications are restricted to any specific gender, language, culture or class. It is a cross-cutting issue. It affects everyone regardless of our real and/or perceived differences.
When I speak or write about presidential rotation, I am not simply talking about the presidency or the Office of the President of the Republic of Kenya. Nor am I speaking about Jubilee, Cord, TNA, ODM, URP – or whatever.
This isn’t about President Uhuru Kenyatta, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Deputy President William Ruto, former vice-president Kalonzo Musyoka, or for that matter about their respective ethnic communities.
Presidential rotation is a system of governance. Emphasis is on two words: system and governance. By “system,” I mean a new set of principles, ethos, values and rules – the ones we enacted, entrenched and enshrined in the Constitution of Kenya, 2010.
The new constitution gives centrality to our ethnic, cultural and religious diversity. It underscores the importance of us living in peace and unity as one indivisible nation. But before we can embrace and celebrate our diversity and experience the peace and unity enunciated by the Constitution, we must ensure that each one of us, in our ethnic, cultural and religious diversity, accept and internalise the fact that we are supposed to be living in substantive equality.
In other words, each one of Kenya’s 40 plus ethnic, cultural and religious groups are supposed to have equal access to resources, services and ultimately political power. And when we speak of political power, it is important that we remember what each Kenyan thinks and believes this is. It is safe and fair to say that a great number of adult Kenyans of sane mind, view power essentially as the ability to occupy and preside over the Presidency of the Republic.
To virtually every Kenyan, the presidency is an emotional institution. It symbolises our national unity. To a lot of people, the presidency also symbolises our sovereignty, pride and power. The President of the Republic is the head of state and government; the commander-in-chief of Kenya’s Defence Forces; and the chairperson of the National Security Council. S/he presides over the national executive. And by virtue of his office, position, power and authority, he has the bully pulpit, which he uses to intimidate, threaten, cajole, impress or command.
When I speak or write about “governance”, I am referring to the values and principles as well as the means and mode of inspiring and leading the citizens of any given country. As the Constitution indicates, some of these values are: (a) patriotism, national unity, sharing and devolution of power, the rule of law, democracy and participation of the people; (b) human dignity, equity, social justice, inclusiveness, equality, human rights, non-discrimination and protection of the marginalised; (c) good governance, integrity, transparency and accountability; and (d) sustainable development.
If Kenyans did not even read the entire Constitution but only read, understood and agreed to be bound by these values and principles, we would never be threatened by runaway insecurity, tribalism, corruption and human rights abuses. In fact, there would be no need for this column.
However, we would be naïve and delusional not to admit that Kenya is a deeply and sharply divided country. We are not yet a nation. We still look at and treat each other based mainly on our jaundiced ethnic and religious values. Although some of us spout some of the values and principles in the Constitution, only a tiny fraction actually practices them.
Unfortunately, the inability to breathe life into, respect, uphold and apply the values and principles in the Constitution is more pronounced among our so-called leaders at both the national and the county level.
It explains why our 47 governors often shout about devolution but they have never mentioned patriotism, national unity, sharing, the rule of law, democracy and participation of the people. Nor do they speak or act as if they are aware that human dignity, equity, social justice, inclusiveness, equality, human rights, non-discrimination, protection of the marginalised, good governance, integrity, transparency and accountability; and sustainable development are as important as devolution of power and services. Devolution is just one out of the 19 separate but key values and principles of governance.
It would be refreshing for our county governors to start talking about, championing, upholding and putting into practice all the twenty values and principles.
The same applies to our national executive. Although we watch them on TV making appointments to important national institutions and organs of state, most of those appointments do not reflect the values and principles of equity, social justice, inclusiveness, equality, human rights, non-discrimination, protection of the marginalised, good governance, integrity and transparency.
Kenyans of good will would like to know what kind of message the national executive sends when official meetings at key institutions such as the National Security Council, State Law Office, Treasury, National Security Intelligence and Internal Security can be conducted in one ethnic language. What principles of the constitution were being respected, upheld and applied when people occupying those offices were appointed?
Don’t we understand and appreciate that when Kenyans attend meetings at the State Law Office and come face-to-face with Githu Muigai, Njee Muturi and Lucy Kimani, they are immediately repulsed by the toxicity of alienation? And in view of the controversy generated by the illegal Anglo-Leasing payments, why wouldn’t the national executive be sensitive to the suspicion among Kenyans that there seems to be a conspiracy within these obviously insular ethnic elites to rip the country off by deliberately refusing to pursue the Anglo-Leasing scumbags because they are either beholden to or are an integral part of the thieving cartel?
Kenya cannot experience stability, security and sustainable development until all our institutions and organs of state truly reflect its face. As long as Somalis and Muslims do not feel comfortable attending meetings presided over by President Uhuru Kenyatta and attended by the Chief of Staff and Head of Civil Service Joseph Kinyua, Chief of General Staff, Julius Waweru Karangi, Cabinet Secretary Francis Kimemia, Chief Presidential Adviser Nancy Gitau, President’s Private Secretary Jomo Gecaga, NSI director Michael Gichangi, Internal Security Principal Secretary Mutea Iringo, Attorney-General Githu Muigai and CID Director Ndegwa Muhoro, the issue of Al-Shabaab and other rising tensions among Muslims will never be resolved.
These are issues that I have consistently raised since I was a teenager. Honest readers will recall that I continued to raise them even during my tenure as the senior adviser to the Prime Minister on coalition affairs. In fact, my disagreement with the PM was primarily on tolerance of and participation in corruption, nepotism, dictatorship and his betrayal of the progressive cause that had attracted many of us to his cause.
It is therefore intellectually dishonest for my critics to claim that the proposal has anything do with ethnicity. Nor is it valid for some of them to call on me to champion rotational leadership in Nyanza before venturing into the national front. To be clear, I have never subscribed to ethnic jingoism. Accordingly, my proposal is solely intended to advance the national good. We cannot, as a country, refuse to confront our past and present social ailments. The ethnic domination of one or a few over 40 communities is a recipe for civil war and perpetual turmoil. Consequently, anyone genuinely interested in creating the Kenyan nation where every community, race, religion, gender and class feels genuinely included and valued must embrace this concept of rotational presidency.
The nuts and bolts of rotational presidency
A very good friend of mine warned me that Kenyans tend to be unreasonable, unfair and invariably view everything through their ethnic lenses. He argued that although the idea of presidential rotation is good, most Kenyans would not entertain it because of these weaknesses and also due to their vested interests. I admit that the response to my column last week has been mixed. Whereas more than a dozen readers have sent me private messages and strongly expressed their support; there are a few, mostly anonymous diversionary messages posted on the Star newspaper website.
Be that as it may, we need to move this debate to the practical and concrete level where we can discuss the nuts and bolts of the system under discussion.
Firstly, the implementation of the proposed system may require either a constitutional amendment or a political arrangement or understanding. The advantage of having the system entrenched in the constitution is that compliance will be easy to enforce through the courts. Those attempting to resist or undermine it can easily be exposed and punished for violating the supreme law of the land. However, bringing about constitutional changes in Kenya is wrought with many challenges, not least of which would be toxic propaganda by those who have and continue to dominate the current lopsided system.
Political arrangements may be easier to attain but extremely difficult to enforce, especially in Kenya where our memories are still fresh with the fate of the discarded Memorandum of Understanding between Narc partners and the IPPG understanding.
If there is one lesson former President Mwai Kibaki taught us, it is that we should never take anything for granted. Kibaki’s total contempt and disregard for the National Accord – which was entrenched in the repealed Kenyan Constitution - is a lesson about how not to implement progressive changes in this country.
Unfortunately, there is widespread cultural disdain for the rule of law. There is no shame or deterrence for those who repudiate deals, even when they have signed such deals in public and in the presence of international observers. So, entrenching it in the constitution is the preferred route.
Secondly, we propose that the presidency, as an institution of governance and national unity should rotate among the 47 counties. The basis of rotation is not the 40-plus ethnic groups but rather the second level of government. There should also be a provision that a presidential team be unveiled by a party with the presidential candidate, the deputy presidential candidate, the senate and gubernatorial candidates should also be publicly announced so that the country can assess the line-ups for their representativeness, inclusivity and other values.
Thirdly, there should be a provision that takes full account of the past fifty or so years. Individuals from counties that have produced executive presidents such as Kiambu (two presidents), Baringo (one president) and Nyeri (one president) should not be allowed to produce a presidential candidate or a deputy president until all the other counties that have never produced had their turn. In other words, only candidates from 44 counties would contest the presidency and the deputy presidency when the system is inaugurated and each time a county has produced a president, it is taken off from the pool of potential candidates.
Fourthly, in plurolingual and multireligious counties such as Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, Nakuru and others, an all-inclusive formula must be developed and agreed upon on how candidates may be elected or selected based on pre-agreed upon scheme, taking into account the county’s demography and other peculiarities so as not to disenfranchise a section of the citizenry in those counties and in order to address cultural, ethnic and other disparities. However, a winner will be popularly elected from among candidates from the pool of contestants from the eligible counties.
And fifth, once all counties have produced at least one president, the next contest will include all counties before it reverts to the above formula once more. By then, however, one hopes that the Kenyan nation would have been born and weaned from the culture of ethnic domination. We may also consider reducing the current maximum term from two terms of ten years to one term of seven years to ensure rotationalequity.
In the end, the intention here is to entrench the national values and principles enunciated in the Constitution in order to accommodate demographic, linguistic and cultural diversities, and in a manner that enhances national cohesion. Until or unless we implement such an accommodative and fair system of governance, we would be courting disaster in the form of an inevitable civil war.
Miguna Miguna is a lawyer and author of Peeling Back the Mask: A Quest for Justice in Kenya and Kidneys for the King: Deforming the Status Quo in Kenya. Migunagowok@gmail.com
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