Kenyan Pundit

The Multi-Sectoral Task Force on Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission and Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice (KPTJ) invites you to a public forum to be held on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at Norfolk Hotel Nairobi. Time 830 a.m – 12.30 p.m

The Government has now drafted a Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission Bill 2008 for tabling in parliament soon. This follows the signing of an agreement by National Dialogue and Reconciliation Team on March 14, 2008 for the establishment of a Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) a mechanism which seek to promote justice, unity, reconciliation and peace among the people of Kenya.

TOPICS:
* How to establish a people-driven and effective Truth Commission for Kenya.
* The Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission Bill 2008
* Mandate, Independence, Structure and Composition of the Truth, Justice Commission
* What happens after the Truth Justice Commission

Popularity: 100% [?]

- One of the better written pieces on Mobitelea that I have seen. Too bad this issue was handled shoddily by ODM, they had a real opportunity to give this story legs. And I like that there is some finger pointing and Vodafone and the Brits as well - it takes two to tango.

- Interesting look at the growth of the Huffington Post.

- How good people turn evil…I meant to link to this a while back, when we were grappling with how people could hack and burn their long-time neighbours.

- Political assassinations of autocrats, good for sustained democracy? Hmm.

Popularity: 94% [?]

Analogies are being made between the current situation in Zimbabwe and the aftermath of the elections in Kenya. Others argue that the two are completely different. What worries me (apart from the prospect of Mugabe’s return) is that the possible development of a new trend of “civilian coups” in Africa. Nigeria and Ethiopia managed to quickly fade away from people’s consciousness, perhaps because of the lack of accompanying “tribal warfare” (numerous opposition activists were killed and detained in Ethiopia but the story never developed legs, no thanks to the international community rolling over and playing dead). The playbook seems to be largely the same - conduct elections without the previous obvious unfair tactics like making it impossible for the opposition to hold rallies; refuse to implement fundamental constitutional and legal changes in the run-up to the election e.g. to allow for an impartial electoral commission, to allow for a credible election petitions court; delay results announcement to cause confusion/fear; manipulate results in that period; jump on the increased atmosphere of tension/protests etc. to implement “security” measures; black out the media; declare yourself president; muted expressions of protest your fellow African leaders [or some variation of the above].

What really disturbs me is that we are heading in a direction where elections are no longer going to be a credible/legitimate option for citizens who want change in Africa. And I’m not talking about rigging in the fashion of empty ballot boxes and all, but a complete undermining of the whole idea of changing governments by elections and the idea that when you vote you are exercising your democratic right. I regularly complain about the lack of engagement and activism from the class that has the wherewithall in Kenya to do so, but lets face it, most of us are content (no matter what your social status is) to let someone else to the dirty work and someone else do the leading…it’s just how things are (even democracy relies on that innate feeling). However, the ability to exercise your right to vote is an important outlet not just for those who feel it’s as far as they want to take their contribution to improving the political status quo, but also for those who feel that it’s the only non-violent way they can make their voices heard…take that away and where does that leave us?

For updates Zimbabwe, check out Comrade Fatso’s blog.

Popularity: 89% [?]

Details from one of the people who took part in the march can be found here. I’m happy to see that civil society is keeping up the pressure. I hope other Kenyans, especially middle-class Kenyans and those who have the luxury (responsibility?) of shifting our political paradigm but who are only too happy to criticize the politicians we have in bars and other venues, will step out of their (Safaricom IPO) bubbles and speak out.

Popularity: 71% [?]

ECK is basically absolving itself of any wrongdoing as far as the presidential vote tallying. The full report is here.

A summary of the disparities in the report (in comparison to what observers reported) can be found here.

Popularity: 63% [?]