What Kenya now faces is more than just a legal problem requiring a legal solution. The country is divided down the middle. Whatever semblance of election we may have on Thursday will not solve our deep-seated problems, made worse by the hardened positions taken by the two giant political outfits.
Many lawyers have been busy interpreting constitutional and legal positions without providing concrete solutions, simply because there is no legal answer to the crisis we face. We are hurtling towards uncharted waters. The train must be stopped from plunging into the abyss.
The fierce political contest in the past months has been because of the never-ending feeling of not just political but economic exclusion as well. The truth of the matter is a large segment of our society feels marginalised and ostracised from state and state power. In Africa we have been socialised to believe that the occupants of our State Houses not only carry the yam but also the knife to distribute as they wish, choose and deem fit, hence the high-octane contests to win the presidency.
In Kenya our hopes were lifted with the passing of a new Constitution, which basically restructured state and the exercise of power. However, the recent events clearly show the Constitution did not solve all our historical problems with years of mistrust and prejudices. We need to confront these issues squarely before we get hanged separately at a great cost. It is therefore necessary to have a national dialogue and stop the sabre rattling that continues to divide Kenya further.
National dialogues as I understand them, are formally mandated public forums with a clear structure establishing rules and procedures for dialogue and decision-making. They are convened over the course of many days, weeks, or even months. National dialogues address a broad range of social, political, or economic issues concerning the entire country. The size and composition of a forum can considerably vary from one country to the other.
Kenyans are getting exasperated and frustrated by the day. It is impossible for anyone to publicly to argue against this reality of national sickness in our politics and economy, and in the context of our social and national cohesion. The dialogue must begin with the foundations of our Constitution, which is the supreme law of the republic. Any law or conduct inconsistent with it is invalid, and the obligations imposed by it must be fulfilled.
In South Africa, former President Thabo Mbeki has initiated the ‘New National Dialogue' to deal with the declining economic, social and political situation. His view is that South Africans feel and know intensely and personally, that there is much that is not right about what is happening or not happening in the young democracy. Through very costly struggles waged over many centuries, the indigenous majority have constantly pursued the objective to build a society that would make all our people feel proudly South African. This objective has been elusive since the downfall of apartheid.
Mbeki’s views have been supported by former South African President FW De Klerk, who thinks one of the problems of South Africa is President Jacob Zuma. He opines that Zuma has not carried out his duties in line with Section 83 of the Constitution. He is not upholding, defending and respecting the letter and spirit of the Constitution as the supreme law of the republic. He is not promoting the unity of the nation and that which will advance the republic.
Klerk therefore proffers that South Africans must discuss their destiny as a people. The long list includes constitutional democracy, unity in diversity, high-quality education, health and social services, providing security, sustainable and equitable economic growth, fair employment for all, an environment in which business can invest, profit and contribute to national goals, an effective state and public service, mutual respect and human solidarity.
In Kenya our economy is spiraling to a halt with national and foreign debt hanging like an albatross around the necks of the citizenry. The health sector is crying for attention with nurses having been on strike for four months. Every sector is literary at standstill. For how long are we going to wallow in intransigence, recalcitrance and brinkmanship, refusing to acknowledge that we need national dialogue? Let there be a national dialogue.
Mwamu is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and past president of East Africa Law Society