As news about Ol Kalou recedes from the headlines, the violence witnessed during the by-election is still raising concerns about the sorry state of democracy in Kenya. For many citizens, the rise of the goon culture and pervasive violation of civil liberties is raising fears that the country is reverting to the intolerance witnessed during the single-party era.
Incidences of violation of civil liberties characterised by widespread violence, voter bribery and intimidation were beamed into living rooms on prime-time television to the chagrin of many. On social media, trending videos of goons in black SUVs firing in the air to scare away voters as frightened voices of cowering citizens were heard from their hideouts. Watching the chaos, one could be forgiven for mistaking the by-elections in Ol Kalou with a scene out of Haiti.
For a country that flattered itself as the pre-eminent democracy in East Africa, the widespread violence has been quite sobering. Just like presidential elections in Uganda and Tanzania, the violence witnessed during by-elections in Malaba, Mbeere and Ol Kalou has destroyed all illusions of Kenya’s exceptionalism.
The violent scenes witnessed in the by-elections were, however, not any different from those witnessed in recent presidential elections in Tanzania and Uganda. Weeks before elections in Tanzania, members of the Opposition were jailed and civil rights observers from Kenya and Uganda were deported and others tortured. Notwithstanding widespread protests over election results, President Samia Suluhu declared herself duly elected with a margin of 98 per cent of the votes cast. Suluhu again hit the headlines after she invited President William Ruto to join her in suppressing human rights groups operating in the two countries.
Using a similar playbook, the President of Uganda was re-elected to serve an eighth term in office. As a strongman who fancies himself as the African equivalent of Fidel Castro, dissenting voices in Uganda have suffered all manner of persecution that include imprisonment, renditions and sham trials. The latest violation of civil liberties included shutting down the mainstream media for printing unflattering comments about the strongman. The regime’s intolerance for free speech was illustrated by a chilling warning that the media must follow rules of the revolution.
Despite widespread abuse of human rights, the three East African countries describe themselves as constitutional democracies. Kenya’s 2010 constitution, for instance, has been lauded as one of the most progressive in the world because of its robust Bill of Rights. Notwithstanding such glowing accolades, young Kenyans continue to be disappeared, and opposition meetings are routinely disrupted by goons.
Considering the widespread violation of civil liberties, a pertinent question is how such egregious unconstitutionality can exist in countries with liberal constitutions. Why is liberal democracy failing to take root in East Africa despite sterling efforts by local and international human rights groups?
According to many scholars, the widespread unconstitutionality stems from a clash between African and Western views of political debate. In Africa, children are socialised to dutifully respect the word of community leaders who are deemed to carry the wisdom of the ancestors. As Suluhu observed while justifying her call to clamp down on human rights groups, the culture of criticism and speaking to power by young people is considered alien and even insolent.
In Western democracies, on the other hand, robust public debate is considered indispensable for the advancement of knowledge and what ensures that the best ideas rise to the top. In an age where competitiveness depends on innovativeness and entrepreneurship, protection of freedom of speech is therefore considered indispensable for the advancement of every community.
A second and the most significant difference between Western and African democracies stems from the influence of individualism in European political thought. The people-centred philosophy which emerged during the Enlightenment period is founded on the theory that human beings are continuously evolving and governments must honour individual freedoms to enable the human spirit to thrive. Just like flowers need rays of the sun to grow, Western individualism considers respect for free speech indispensable for the growth of the human spirit,
Unlike in African countries, respect for civil liberties is therefore morally imperative because without it the human spirit shrivels and human history comes to an end. The centrality of civil liberties in Western societies is captured by Thomas Jefferson’s words that “all men are created equal... endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.
As the next generations of Kenyans take up the reins of power, the state of Kenya’s democracy will need to reconcile the clash between African communalism and Western individualism. Not only will a people-centred philosophy enable future generations to transcend ethnocentric politics, but it is the one ingredient that will inject the missing constitutionality in our constitutional democracy.
