“Good sense is mankind's most equitably divided endowment . . . the differences of opinion are not due to difference in intelligence, but merely to the fact that we use different approaches and consider different things. For it is not enough to have a good mind: one must use it well.”
Over the past few weeks, 2 weeks and 3 days to be precise, I have watched events unfold in Kenya with absolute shock and twisted fascination. Welcoming 2008 as the year in which Kenya descended into internal conflict? This, I never thought possible.
Allow me to digress. One may call me naïve, if there ever was a time for an electoral coup in Kenya, such as the one we just witnessed, that was in 2002. I believed that the circumstances surrounding former President Moi’s departure from office provided a potential recipe for an electoral coup. I prayed fervently that he would find it in himself to depart from office with dignity and grace. I remember the sheer relief I felt as I watched him board the helicopter and formally leave State House, Nairobi. I thought Kenya had finally entered a new era where the will of the people remained supreme. I probably did not fully appreciate what it took for the former President to relinquish a home and an office he had occupied for 24 years. Likewise, the former President did not fully appreciate, despite the hostile environment in which he had been forced to leave, my personal gratitude that he did not resort to other means to stay in office. Many Kenyans shared this latter sentiment. Filled with optimism, we fervently hoped that the very machinery and instruments that corrupted the former President’s reign would be replaced by new institutions, a strong checks and balances system that would prevent a similar tragedy in the new Presidency. What naiveté!
So now, five years on, I find myself with a President I did not elect, half a cabinet I do not trust and a nation under siege. I am angry at the abuse of the electoral process. I resent this system that declared a presidential loser as a winner and his subsequent installation into the State House. I empathize with the winning loser who is relegated to the role of official leader of the opposition. I am caught up in the tsunami of the protests of an angry disillusioned citizenry, and confused by the unnecessary destruction of lives and property. But most of all, I detest the self preservation measures of the losing winner, measures that totally disregard my constitutionally protected rights and freedoms.
Despite my profound sense of frustration, I believe in the inherent goodness of mankind, including that of the losing winner. I choose to believe in the good sense that WE are equitably endowed with, that good shall triumph evil. That in these unpredictable days, there is light at the end of the tunnel, no matter the intensity of the darkness, or the length and depth of the tunnel.
So what does this belief in good sense mean?
It requires recognizing that there are profound differences of opinion on how to proceed as a nation, opinions that are informed by different considerations. On the one hand, the ODM camp argues that it was robbed of a hard earned victory, and calls upon the nation to pursue truth and justice. This view is reinforced by the blatant admission of the disgraced Chairman of the Electoral Commission that he does not know whether the losing winner actually won the elections. It is also supported by legitimate cases of poll rigging. The PNU stalwarts’, on the other hand, insist that now that we have a president, the nation should proceed with business as usual. In their view, the rightful candidate won the elections. Despite their vehement proclamations, both sides are willing to negotiate.
Given my belief in the good sense I am endowed with, how do I use my good mind to help Kenya move forward positively? Is it supporting ODM’s quest for truth and justice? Or recoiling into my complacency as a peace loving Kenyan and waiting for Kibaki and his half cabinet to sludge through the next five years? And given his impunity, would my relationship with Kibaki and his half cabinet possibly stretch into the infinite future?
Over the past few weeks, 2 weeks and 3 days to be precise, I have watched events unfold in Kenya with absolute shock and twisted fascination. Welcoming 2008 as the year in which Kenya descended into internal conflict? This, I never thought possible.
Allow me to digress. One may call me naïve, if there ever was a time for an electoral coup in Kenya, such as the one we just witnessed, that was in 2002. I believed that the circumstances surrounding former President Moi’s departure from office provided a potential recipe for an electoral coup. I prayed fervently that he would find it in himself to depart from office with dignity and grace. I remember the sheer relief I felt as I watched him board the helicopter and formally leave State House, Nairobi. I thought Kenya had finally entered a new era where the will of the people remained supreme. I probably did not fully appreciate what it took for the former President to relinquish a home and an office he had occupied for 24 years. Likewise, the former President did not fully appreciate, despite the hostile environment in which he had been forced to leave, my personal gratitude that he did not resort to other means to stay in office. Many Kenyans shared this latter sentiment. Filled with optimism, we fervently hoped that the very machinery and instruments that corrupted the former President’s reign would be replaced by new institutions, a strong checks and balances system that would prevent a similar tragedy in the new Presidency. What naiveté!
So now, five years on, I find myself with a President I did not elect, half a cabinet I do not trust and a nation under siege. I am angry at the abuse of the electoral process. I resent this system that declared a presidential loser as a winner and his subsequent installation into the State House. I empathize with the winning loser who is relegated to the role of official leader of the opposition. I am caught up in the tsunami of the protests of an angry disillusioned citizenry, and confused by the unnecessary destruction of lives and property. But most of all, I detest the self preservation measures of the losing winner, measures that totally disregard my constitutionally protected rights and freedoms.
Despite my profound sense of frustration, I believe in the inherent goodness of mankind, including that of the losing winner. I choose to believe in the good sense that WE are equitably endowed with, that good shall triumph evil. That in these unpredictable days, there is light at the end of the tunnel, no matter the intensity of the darkness, or the length and depth of the tunnel.
So what does this belief in good sense mean?
It requires recognizing that there are profound differences of opinion on how to proceed as a nation, opinions that are informed by different considerations. On the one hand, the ODM camp argues that it was robbed of a hard earned victory, and calls upon the nation to pursue truth and justice. This view is reinforced by the blatant admission of the disgraced Chairman of the Electoral Commission that he does not know whether the losing winner actually won the elections. It is also supported by legitimate cases of poll rigging. The PNU stalwarts’, on the other hand, insist that now that we have a president, the nation should proceed with business as usual. In their view, the rightful candidate won the elections. Despite their vehement proclamations, both sides are willing to negotiate.
Given my belief in the good sense I am endowed with, how do I use my good mind to help Kenya move forward positively? Is it supporting ODM’s quest for truth and justice? Or recoiling into my complacency as a peace loving Kenyan and waiting for Kibaki and his half cabinet to sludge through the next five years? And given his impunity, would my relationship with Kibaki and his half cabinet possibly stretch into the infinite future?
2 comments:
I feel you.
Mkhana.
It is painful. :) Hopefully we can embrace this opportunity and find a way to move forward.
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