The quest for fair political representation has been with us for quite a long time. It was first felt between 1961 and 1963 when Kenya held her first multi party elections. Later, the Kenyatta and Moi regimes aggravated the situation through the creation of more constituencies in total disregard to procedure, often with a view to favouring grandiose political interests. The net result was constituencies that varied greatly in population and size. However, because of the constricted democratic space no one could question such autocratic presidential decrees.
Today, most constituencies have populations that are well above or below the mean population of 133,000. Obviously, this huge variation of population across constituencies negates the ideal democratic principle of one-person-one vote. Joel Barkin`s in his essay titled “Designing Better Electoral Systems for Emerging Democracies” opines that rather than look at equal representation we should be looking at fair representation. This is because fair representation goes beyond geographical size and population. It acknowledges a host of other intervening factors as well. Barkin`s opines that “if the principle of one-person-one vote is respected and constituencies established with equal or nearly equal populations, then the principle of establishing constituencies that reflect communities of interest or "sparsely populated areas" will be violated.”
Cognizant of this challenge and buoyed by the people`s faith in the new constitution, parliament empowered the Ligale led IIBRC to come up with a formula that could best serve the country`s national democratic aspirations while balancing the country`s peculiarities. A hybrid formula was arrived at and parliament in its wisdom unanimously endorsed and adopted it.
However, at the back of our minds we always knew that there was a great deal of easily exploitable ignorance that was likely to scuttle the electoral review process courtesy of the PNU and ODM supremacy battles. And true to this expectation, the process suffered a major body blow on Tuesday when the high court issued writs putting on halt the gazettement of the new electoral units.
At the risk of sounding prejudicial, I must emphasize that this is a political process; it is therefore unlikely that the high court will defuse this brutal, drawn-out political fight mainly between the two political parties. If anything, it will only fuel the fight and make it impossible for a political consensus to be arrived at sooner than later. This delay would be costly given that article 89 clause 4 of the new constitution makes it explicitly clear on when to bring to life new electoral units.
It is also worth noting that the same article 89 clause eleven (11) states that an application for the review of the decision made by the boundaries commission can only be filed within thirty days of the publication of the decision in the Kenya Gazette. …” Currently, IIBRC has not published the new electoral units in the gazette. One therefore wonders the basis upon which the high court application was made.
It can only be that this sudden rush to court has nothing to do with fair representation. Behind this façade are legislators who have one thing in common-they all fear losing their seats to their perennial political rivals. They had all fervently wished that IIBRC would hive off additional constituencies from their existing constituencies in such a way as to placate their rivals to vie in the newly created electoral units.
Besides, it goes without saying that many of them are motivated by the morbid fear of how votes cast in the prospective election shall translate into seats won by political parties and by extension how the same seats shall determine who become(s) the country`s Chief Executive(s). This, in my view, is the very ghost of negative ethnicity that has presided over this country`s steady decline.
TOME FRANCIS,
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
GRAFT WAR: POLITICAL PARTIES IN A BID TO FRANTICALLY COVER THEIR MUCK.
H.L Mencken once said that “A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar.” I cannot agree more with him particularly looking at what is unfolding in the war against the run-away corruption in this country. For close to a decade, the un-exhilarating, even drab note in the management of this country`s affairs has been the reluctance by the executive and particularly the President and the Prime Minister in decisively dealing with the lengthening list of corrupt public officers given that most of those indicted are the apples of their eyes. At best the fight against corruption has assumed party lines with each political party shouting itself hoarse about the others share of scandals. This blame game has as of today even been upped.
Amidst the bustling cacophony—the drill-like whine and roar of politicians going hammer and tongs against each other, we are hearing something else that is even more sinister: that the reverberating echoes will soon be followed by a deafening silence to allow both PNU and ODM to frantically and evenly cover their muck in the face of an increasingly hostile KACC and the public.
This is because both parties have realized that shouting themselves hoarse while pointing soiled fingers at each other will not help them an inch in the new constitutional dispensation. This is why hushed talks abound that the two antagonists have for purposes of political convenience quickly come up with an amalgam of tortured compromises that will see the party stalwarts within their ranks and files escape any censure in parliament. But there is even more than meets the eye in this unconditional ceasefire.
Even more worrying is the treacherous talk about the two parties silent pact to de-tooth KACC in a bid to put a permanent closure to the many genies of Anglo-leasing, Goldenberg, Grand Regency, Triton, maize and water scandals among many others hovering high above the heads of their party stalwarts. The reasoning behind this move is that if these genies are not bottled fast enough the political dreams of these party stalwarts (stepping stones to be more precise) will be severely jolted. So will be the lofty dreams of some of the presidential torch bearers in the 2012 presidential election be jolted.
From the foregoing, it is crystal clear that none of these parties can claim to have the country`s future nor goodwill at heart. Their actions and inactions are indication of parties that are trapped in short-term, zero-sum-calculations, where each party`s perceived gains are seen as the other party`s losses.
To be more precise, the country is basically in the firm grip of two bankrupt parties that have are busy bankrupting it. Theirs is an ossified two-party system that lacks integrity and any sense of courage or high-aspiration in confronting the spiraling corruption that has permeated all the crevices in government. Neither do our hopes for a better future lie in the emerging nor yet to be launched political parties because they are but a spitting image of what ails the country.
In my considered opinion, the two parties alongside their respective affiliates must forthwith spare us the circus and the sideshows in and out of parliament. In any case, parliament, like a mall, is alive with the din of yipping and the shrill cacophony of caged parrots. The public is acutely aware of the fact that many of our legislators are nothing more than guns for hire.
In this regard, I demand that legislators completely relinquish the fight against corruption to KACC. It is only KACC that can impartially interrogate and indict public officers suspected to have presided over this country`s steady incremental decline. Let them allow KACC to sweep their stables spotlessly clean and those who survive the integrity test can then contest for leadership positions.
Lastly, I implore the conscientious public to be eternally vigilant and to resist any attempts by parliament to emasculate KACC.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
Amidst the bustling cacophony—the drill-like whine and roar of politicians going hammer and tongs against each other, we are hearing something else that is even more sinister: that the reverberating echoes will soon be followed by a deafening silence to allow both PNU and ODM to frantically and evenly cover their muck in the face of an increasingly hostile KACC and the public.
This is because both parties have realized that shouting themselves hoarse while pointing soiled fingers at each other will not help them an inch in the new constitutional dispensation. This is why hushed talks abound that the two antagonists have for purposes of political convenience quickly come up with an amalgam of tortured compromises that will see the party stalwarts within their ranks and files escape any censure in parliament. But there is even more than meets the eye in this unconditional ceasefire.
Even more worrying is the treacherous talk about the two parties silent pact to de-tooth KACC in a bid to put a permanent closure to the many genies of Anglo-leasing, Goldenberg, Grand Regency, Triton, maize and water scandals among many others hovering high above the heads of their party stalwarts. The reasoning behind this move is that if these genies are not bottled fast enough the political dreams of these party stalwarts (stepping stones to be more precise) will be severely jolted. So will be the lofty dreams of some of the presidential torch bearers in the 2012 presidential election be jolted.
From the foregoing, it is crystal clear that none of these parties can claim to have the country`s future nor goodwill at heart. Their actions and inactions are indication of parties that are trapped in short-term, zero-sum-calculations, where each party`s perceived gains are seen as the other party`s losses.
To be more precise, the country is basically in the firm grip of two bankrupt parties that have are busy bankrupting it. Theirs is an ossified two-party system that lacks integrity and any sense of courage or high-aspiration in confronting the spiraling corruption that has permeated all the crevices in government. Neither do our hopes for a better future lie in the emerging nor yet to be launched political parties because they are but a spitting image of what ails the country.
In my considered opinion, the two parties alongside their respective affiliates must forthwith spare us the circus and the sideshows in and out of parliament. In any case, parliament, like a mall, is alive with the din of yipping and the shrill cacophony of caged parrots. The public is acutely aware of the fact that many of our legislators are nothing more than guns for hire.
In this regard, I demand that legislators completely relinquish the fight against corruption to KACC. It is only KACC that can impartially interrogate and indict public officers suspected to have presided over this country`s steady incremental decline. Let them allow KACC to sweep their stables spotlessly clean and those who survive the integrity test can then contest for leadership positions.
Lastly, I implore the conscientious public to be eternally vigilant and to resist any attempts by parliament to emasculate KACC.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
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