Stephen Mburu
23 March 2008
column
Nairobi — Last week's hurried constitutional amendment in Parliament to create the posts of prime minister and two deputy prime ministers brings to mind the role of the family of the first Vice-President, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, in shaping the country's political destiny.
Until his death in 1994, Jaramogi -- a fearless and charismatic leader -- had put two presidents under intense political pressure, forcing them to make desperate constitutional changes. He led a spirited fight that forced President Jomo Kenyatta to make the country a de facto (in practice but not in principle) one-party state.
He also teamed up with other multi-party advocates and forced President Moi to make Kenya a de jure (in principle or by law) one-party state. Jaramogi, undoubtedly the country's father of opposition politics, played a key role in the struggle that forced the same president to plead with Parliament to make hurried constitutional changes and reverse the situation.
Constitutional reforms
And, as if reading from his father's political script, his son Raila has also put pressure on President Kibaki and forced him to make far-reaching constitutional reforms.
In fact, in an interview with a local television station a week ago, he said he draws his inspiration from Jaramogi as well as former South African President Nelson Mandela. The Prime Minister-designate said that whatever he does has always been for the good of the country and not for his own selfish gains.
If most post-independence amendments to the Constitution appeared to target Jaramogi and frustrate his struggle to climb to power, last week's changes, undoubtedly, aimed to embrace his son and make him a key player in the current government.
Soon after the results of the presidential elections of December 27, 2007, were announced, the country was hit by violence that left in its wake over 1,000 people dead, more than 350,000 displaced and property destroyed.
But the violence subsided after President Kibaki and Mr Odinga signed a power-sharing agreement on February 28, after five weeks of peace talks mediated by former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan, former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa and former South African First Lady Graca Machel. As a result of the power deal, Mr Odinga is all set to become the country's second PM.
The influence of the Odinga family in the country's politics goes back to 1958 when Jaramogi demanded the release of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta from jail before independence. He declared there would be no real independence without the release of Mr Kenyatta, who would become Kenya's first President.
In fact, Jaramogi's reported "No Kenyatta No Uhuru call helped fast track the independence process.
The current peace mediation efforts are similar to those that took place in London ahead of the country's independence on December 12, 1963. Then Jaramogi and other Kenya African National Union leaders, including Jomo Kenyatta, had engaged their counterparts in the Kenya National Democratic Union in unending political struggles.
Jaramogi, a member of the African Elected Members Organisation, told the British government - right on its soil in London - Kenyans would accept nothing short of the release of Mau Mau detainees before any independence process would begin.
That was at a time when many nationalists appeared ready to wait for another 10 years before the country could be mature enough to attain independence from the British government.
If the colonial masters gave in to pressure from Jaramogi and company, and released Kenyatta, President Kibaki, perhaps, gave in to pressure from the Raila-led Orange Democratic Party as well as the international community, and signed a major power-sharing deal that will lead to comprehensive constitutional reforms this year.
President Kibaki is optimistic his move will bear fruit and he told Parliament as much on Tuesday.
The independence constitutional framework was negotiated under the Lancaster House Conference series of three meetings (1960, 1962, 1963) and involved the two major parties - the Kenya African National Union and the Kenya African Democratic Union.
The two had engaged in a long struggle over the kind of constitution a new nation would embrace. Kanu supported a unitary system while Kadu, which had the support of the British, preferred the federal or majimbo constitution.
The talks had started after Jaramogi as well as other nationalists pushed for Mzee Kenyatta's release. To the Kanu politicians, Mr Kenyatta was the best bet to become Kenya's president. Jaramogi could as well have said "Kenyatta Tosha (Kenyatta is the one)" as his son would do in 2002, when he told Kenyans "Kibaki Tosha" and paved the way for an easy victory for the then Official Leader of the Opposition.
But in a bid to "fast-track" the takeover from colonial government, Kenyatta and other Kanu leaders, including Jaramogi, ceded ground and accepted the controversial majimbo document that had borrowed heavily from the British colonial powers.
Upon independence on December 12, 1963, Mr Kenyatta became the Prime Minister by virtue of being the leader of the largest party in Parliament. Jaramogi became Home Affairs minister in Mzee Kenyatta's first 15-member Cabinet. But the country was still a dominion, meaning it was a self-governing part of the British government.
Barely a year later, the Constitution was changed to make the country a Republic. The Prime Minister's office was abolished and replaced with the Presidency. The Vice-President's office was also created. And when, on December 12, 1964, the country became a Republic, Mzee Kenyatta became the President and Jaramogi the Vice-President.
But no sooner had Kenyans settled down after celebrating the birth of a Republic than Parliament embarked on a constitutional reforms spree.
During the regimes of both President Kenyatta and President Moi, Attorney General Charles Njonjo presided over many constitutional reforms that appeared to be aimed either at pre-empting political moves by Jaramogi or frustrating his efforts to climb to power. President Kibaki also served in both the Kenyatta and Moi regimes as a key Cabinet minister.
Jaramogi's political moves
And if Mr Kibaki played a key role in the 1982 constitutional intrigues aimed only to make Jaramogi politically irrelevant, he would, more than 25 years later, on Tuesday, play a contrasting role.
President Kibaki made a historic move last week when be became the first sitting President to contribute during debate in Parliament. In sharp contrast to 1982, the President urged MPs to pass the National Accord and Reconciliation Bill and usher Raila Odinga into government.
Many constitutional amendments appeared to scuttle Jaramogi's political moves. For instance the Constitution was amended in 1965, reducing from at least 75 per cent to 65 per cent the number of MPs required to amend the Constitution.
The amendment led to the abolition of the Senate and merged the two chambers in Parliament. But though Parliament's website says the amendments to merge the two chambers came "upon positive debates publicly and in the Legislature," it was clear Jaramogi's defection motivated the Kenyatta regime to move fast and forestall any moves by Jaramogi to mobilise support of members of the two chambers.
The Constitution was also amended to introduce the clause that MPs who defected from a party that had sponsored them to Parliament would lose their seats and seek a fresh mandate from the electorate.
This was in 1966 after Jaramogi defected from Kanu and founded the Kenya People's Union. His defection and that of around 30 MPs led to the 1966 "Little General Election."
Parliament also amended the Constitution to legalise detention without trail. The move empowered the President to detain political dissidents (read Jaramogi) and other KPU members.
Though Parliament was to run until June 1970, President Kenyatta dissolved it in October 1969, paving the way for an early General Election. Jaramogi's KPU was banned and he was detained until 1972.
Jaramogi, a political bull, led a spirited campaign in the late 1980s and early 1990s forcing President Moi to give in to pressure and urge a Kanu delegates conference to vote as a bloc in the House and repeal the unpopular Section 2A of the Constitution. Jaramogi was then the leader of a mass movement - the Forum for Restoration of Democracy (FORD). That was in December 1991 and Kenya became a multi-party state once again.
But not until Jaramogi's key partners --- former Cabinet minister Charles Rubia and Kenneth Matiba-- had been detained in 1990. Mr Odinga had also gone through exile and detention in the struggle for power.
A similar scenario to the one of 1991 was witnessed in Parliament over a week ago. The only difference were the actors. Then it was Jaramogi and Ford versus President Moi and Kanu. But this time, it was President Kibaki and his Party of National Unity versus Raila and ODM.
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