Commentary (by Standard editorial team) - The future depends on Kibaki and Raila

Ref:http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143982589&cid=16


Published on March 1, 2008, 12:00 am

Kenyans are still in celebrating and the joy over the power sharing deal signed by President Kibaki and Orange Democratic Movement leader Mr Raila Odinga is palpable.

After the gale of deaths, displacements and destruction, it is the moment to bring back the tectonic plates that were drifting away from the motherland. It is the time to reinvigorate the sense of oneness and togetherness, as well as sewing up the fissures opened up by ethnic passions.

Even for a government the world shunned by withholding congratulatory messages over disputed and discredited victory, welcome of the political settlement must be surprising.

Many times we pushed our leaders to rise above personal pride, bent the knee and reach out to their opponents. We called for a political settlement, arguing that the only way out of the maze was power sharing.

Many argued, and rightly so, that we did not need external pressure to see the writing on the wall; that we were on the precipice. If there were any doubt the much a Kibaki-Raila deal would achieve, then one just needs to look around and listen to the sigh of relief sweeping through the nation. There can be no doubt, and the politicians too agree, that we have on the table the right prescription and the first doze has shown the magic it can work.

In Kisumu and Kakamega thrilled residents marched to police stations where some of the displaced have been camping. Though they had first caused a scare, particularly because of the images of the killer mobs that drove them their in the first place, it turned out they had a good message. They wanted the displaced to go back to the homes from which they were ejected, and resume normal life.

That is not to say we are out of the woods yet. There are more challenges to overcome, especially the delicate job of operationalising the political settlement through appropriate constitutional amendments.

There is also the resettlement of the about 500,000 displaced now living in the squalor of refugee holding grounds. Truth, justice and restitution are also mandatory but again guided and nurtured by political will.

There is no doubt we are on the right path, but even as we reconcile with the fact that though a travesty took place we must embrace each other and heal the nation, political will shall determine the speed at which the Annan Deal moves.

The point is that Parliament, which begins the process of constitutional review next Thursday, holds the sway.

Party leaders must pursue the process of give and take, knowing as we have seen; some situations that demand sacrifice produce winners on both sides.

Kibaki and Raila must sustain the tempo, nurture trust between themselves and their supporters, and work for one nation. The divisive party politics must take the backseat and negotiations in the next phase demand a greater degree of honesty, good faith and sacrifice.

The true gauge for statesmanship lies in how leaders rebuild their scarred nation, with the help of opponents whose hands they would hitherto not shake. It is found in the hearts of leaders who in crisis exhibit the truest sense of the fact there surely must be more to politics and power. It is manifest in recognising the ominous clouds and steering the ship of the nation towards a different, but more importantly safer course. The nation’s fate again remains in the hands of President Kibaki and Raila.