Ref: http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143982533&cid=190
Published on February 29, 2008, 12:00 am
By Kipkoech Tanui
Finally, the power sharing deal is out. It is not, of course, the ‘Kenyan solution’ President and his team, led by Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister, Ms Martha Karua, would have wished for. It is a bitter tablet from a pharmacy chain in the outer world.
Conceiving the deal may have been difficult, but as with the conception of a baby, the hardest task will be nurturing it. Like marital vows, courting and finally signing the dotted line is the easiest of tasks compared to the challenge of operating within its orbit and raft of lifelong demands.
The mediators said it — the signatures are valueless if any of the two parties to the electoral dispute, now ruling partners in the making, put bulwarks in the road to normalcy. It would be tragic of the Orange Democratic Movement’s and Party of National Unity’s traditional rivalry to play out ahead of the crucial sitting of Parliament on Thursday.
Today as a nation at a crossroads, a vehicle stuck in the mud or a windsock at the mercy of the winds of ethnic passions, we must all struggle to get out of the cesspool.
It is needless to recount the harrowing tales of deaths, destruction and displacement. It is unnecessary to regurgitate the horror stories of machetes, arrows and fires. For we have seen it all, including the burning of women and children in churches and homes that were safe havens until the angels of death violated them.
The economic doldrums, the political turmoil, as well as the siege mentality that gripped us, and the picture of a pariah nation that was forming, will change only if the parties stick to the agreement.
The African Union Chairman Mr Jakaya Kikwete put it thus: Each party gave in a little and much as each side would have wanted to get the most, that was the best in the circumstances.
But even as we navigate the more tricky road, the hard chemistry lesson of mixing oil and water hoping the conconction will run the engine of Government, we must draw lessons from the mess that a few made of the elections.
We must confront the bitter truth that the some injustice was done against the nation. It will, however, not be the moment to settle scores, but to use them as a signpost showing the way to the pit where ruinous regimes lie in disgrace.
It is also the moment, even as we pursue justice for the dead, displaced and the impoverished, to recall how easily a nation can go up in smoke due to bad leadership. It is from here that we can, with trepidation of heart, and going by the reflexive sigh of relief that swept across the nation, pick up the pieces and once again embrace the ‘historical accident’ that brought us together as a nation.
Ceding grounds
Several times some of us argued that there surely must be more to the Presidency. That even as we slid to the precipice, there was still moment for the President to seize the hand of Mr Raila Odinga and shake off the grip of those in his team who were urging him to hold fast and ride out the storm.
We argued that Raila too should cede ground, and among the most notable steps he took was to stop calling on President Kibaki to admit he stole the elections and resign.
We harangued the President side arguing it was pointless to hide under the cover of being a ‘duly elected president’ when the nation was bleeding. There was also the argument that Kenya deserved better and it would be foolhardy for the President to take Kenya to civil war in exchange for a second term.
Kenyans and the world piled pressure on Kibaki and Raila to not only preach but work for peace. To PNU and ODM Kenyans warned the situation was so delicate no hardliner on which ever side would carry the day.
Today, and just a few hours after Kibaki and Raila signed a power sharing deal, we can still ask the legitimate question: Did we have to sink this low? We could also ask if we indeed needed prodding, elbowing and cajoling by the African Union, European Union, the United States and the United Nations, in the face of imminent national catastrophe, to walk to the negotiating table to work out a political settlement?
But even as we recover our footsteps, and even as we ask ourselves where and when did the rains start beating us, we must never forget the cardinal rule to any reconciliation and healing process — good faith and forgiveness.
There is also the harder part of accommodating yesterday’s foe as today’s friend in the heart. Then there is the coming reality that, if we need a working government, we must soon collapse the walls of ODM and PNU. They will remain legal entities but for operation purposes we must all strive to have one nation, on people.
On this score again the nation’s eyes will remain nailed on Kibaki and Raila.
The job is just half done!
-The writer (sktanui@eastandard.net) is The Standard’s Managing Editor, Weekend Edition
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment