Emeka-Mayaka Gekara
19 September 2008
opinion
Nairobi — History teaches us that most of the world's powerful nations were fortified by great struggles or wars. The battles also gave birth to strong leaders.
In fact, US ambassador Michael Ranneberger says every democracy in the world has experienced crises, and likens Kenya's post-election violence to dark moments in America's history such as its civil war in the mid-19th century.
For him the biggest challenge is for Kenya to pull together and learn from what happened early this year. Some African countries that have experienced bloodier conflicts than Kenya have come out showing greater promise.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is rebuilding her country after 14 years of civil war. She was imprisoned for opposing (president) Samuel Doe's tyranny before she fled into exile.
Nelson Mandela fought the apartheid regime and walked out of prison to become the first black South African president.
The fight against repression by the white minority gave birth to "Madiba" "who would later weave diverse communities into a multicultural nation.
According to the last white South African president, F.W. De Klerk, "Mandela used his charm to promote reconciliation and to mould our diverse communities into an emerging multicultural nation." He reckons that this will be seen as Madiba's greatest legacy.
Next door in Rwanda, President Paul Kagame is fortifying a strong state after the 1994 genocide.
Kenya had its chance at the beginning of the year leading to the re-emergence of President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
The violence brought forth a bitter home truth -- that we are a group of tribes pretending to live together as a nation-state.
During the mayhem, tribes turned against tribes. There is something terribly wrong with a country in which 350,000 people are, within only a few days, uprooted from their homes by neighbours.
As former Subukia MP Koigi wa Wamwere says in his revised book on negative ethnicity, in the three months that we fought after the elections, millions of demons were unleashed into our society.
"Only demons can set our churches and worshippers on fire. Only demons can set on fire a house full of people and kill a whole family," he writes.
We cannot continue burying our heads in the sand; we need to galvanise and build the Kenyan nation.
If the savagery witnessed early in the year is anything to go by, the tribes that purport to be the Kenyan nation need a Mandela-type conciliator, potter and nation-builder.
Madiba's indomitable crusade for reconciliation in an environment poisoned by hatred and inter-community mistrust such as Kenya's has earned him admiration across the world.
Singer Peter Gabriel once said that if the world could only have one father, "the man we would choose would be Nelson Mandela".
Like post-war Liberia, post-genocide Rwanda and post-apartheid South Africa, Kenyans need a leadership that will glue them together. But can our two coalition partners rise to the occasion?
An interrogation of the two principals convinces me that President Kibaki does not have the nerve for it. He comes across as unpredictable and grossly uninspiring, especially among young people.
In fact, he has put up a weak defence for his second term as president. Moreover, he has failed in two golden opportunities.
First, he could not muster the charisma and acumen to glue the original Narc together. Events after the law referendum depicted him as an unskilled potter.
Lately, given the divisions in PNU over its recruitment drive, there are fears that the Narc phenomenon could recur. Again, this reflects badly on his capacity to organise and inspire.
On his part, Mr Odinga attracts admiration and resentment in equal measure. He evokes fear and admiration to different people. But his organisational skills are not in doubt.
After being sacked from the Cabinet following the November 2005 constitution referendum, he assembled a strong political machine that rallied supporters to the Orange grouping.
Now he appears committed to the grand coalition Government with missionary zeal.
As premier, he has lately put his political fortunes at stake by confronting matters such as the sensitive Mau forest conservation saga and the political hot potato issue of the Mombasa port management.
The Lang'ata MP has exhibited similar vigour in pointing out wrongs with African leadership.
When everybody else seemed disinterested in the Zimbabwean crisis, Mr Odinga described President Mugabe as a dictator and the happenings there as "an eyesore and big embarrassment to the entire continent of Africa."
Addressing a forum in South Africa attended by President Thabo Mbeki, Ghana's President John Kufuor, Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi, and Burundi's Pierre Nkurunziza, Mr Odinga blamed the "mediocrity with which Africa has been ruled for Africa's underdevelopment".
This week, the ODM leader said he had called Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and advised him to accept the power-sharing deal with President Mugabe.
Therein lies the rub about President Kibaki. Unlike the President, Mr Odinga, who describes himself as a pan-Africanist, seems keen to earn space in global politics.
It is safe to say that there is no Kenyan politician who enjoys more international goodwill than the PM. Many people will be nervous if he squanders it at the altar of self-amusement.
Mr Odinga's unexpected defence of President Kibaki in London when British Prime Minister Gordon Brown attempted to liken the Kenyan leader to President Mugabe, was particularly clever and a commentary about his political maturity.
But can the PM use his energy to midwife a new Kenya? I am afraid to say that, at the moment, he appears more focused on seizing the presidency.
His unclearly defined and roving office accords him more space that could be used to Kenya's advantage. In the new political dispensation, President Kibaki sits on the edge and Mr Odinga in the vantage middle.
The PM should use his omnipresent office and charisma -- to borrow De Klerk's words -- to promote reconciliation and mould Kenya's diverse communities into a multicultural nation.
And the best place to start? He should push for the resettlement of the displaced in Rift Valley as if he owes them heaven.
But, again, I am afraid to say that the man who promised to be the bridge to the promised land does not see this as the premier calling.
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