For those in Azimio, these elections are about 1990's spirit of Saba Saba

Martin Shikuku addresses a crowd at Kamukunji as James Orengo (right) cheers on during a Saba Saba rally in 1990. [File, Standard]

It is a hard task to turn the ideal of democracy into practice. Millions of people have died throughout history, all over the world, fighting to create democratic societies. The world has had to deal with two major wars because of democracy.

Africans continue to suffer and die because of democracy. We are lucky that our parents and grandparents shed their blood and endured poverty so that this country could enjoy the gains of democracy. This is why we, in Azimio, believe that these elections are about the spirit of Saba Saba.

What is Saba Saba about? Why should we remember this historic moment in the life of our country? Why should you and us care about Saba Saba? Why are we saying that Saba Saba matters? All days of our lives matter. But some days carry a spirit that is a more resilient spirit. We must remember that this is the day Kenyans defied State authority to march to Kamukunji Grounds to celebrate the spirit of democracy.

For the record, July 7, 1990 is significant in Kenya’s history because it is a memorial to contesting injustice, oppression and bad governance.

It is a moment that is etched in our memories as a warning for eternal vigilance and also a celebration of what a determined people can do to achieve democracy. 

Struggle for democracy

Therefore, we must consider three very important facts around these elections. The first one is the history of the struggle. The struggle against colonialism. The struggle against neocolonialism. The struggle against poverty, disease and illiteracy.

The struggle against State oppression and violence. The struggle against prejudice and ethnicity. The struggle against those against democracies. This is about the Second Liberation. And any other struggles in our homes, neighbourhoods, villages and communities. It has been, is and will always be the struggle to grow democracy.

The second reason is the need to consolidate the gains of democracy. The democracy we enjoy in Kenya today was achieved at a high price. People were killed. Men and women were violated. Persons were maimed. The Nyayo Torture chambers, detentions without trial, Sstate violence against citizens, and such other oppressive institutions and practices, should always remind us to vigorously defend our democracy.

Families were destroyed. Kenyans lost their jobs. Individual businesses were destroyed. People were forced into exile. Some are still afraid of coming back to this country. Whole regions were economically stunted. To date, there are Kenyans who still don’t trust the government at all. Azimio la Umoja is about restoring that trust. It is about all Kenyans knowing and believing that they have a stake in the government and that they are the government.

Agano la Azimio seeks to ensure that Kenyans will never again lose their sovereignty. Our Constitution, which was drawn from all Kenyans clearly places the sovereignty of this country in its citizens; not the government. Therefore, Azimio la Umoja is about Kenyans exercising their sovereignty because the government will get its authority from mwananchi. Every Kenyan will and shall have a democratic stake in the government. She or he will have the right to question and contest the government’s policies and actions; the right to recall government officials in case their actions threaten democracy; democratically participate in all government planning and activities.

In this way, the gains of democracy that we have made will grow and sustain this country.

There is an existential threat to our democracy. Human beings live in hope. Democracy always gives us hope that however difficult circumstances are, people can come together and have a conversation about the best way to resolve their crises.

Difficult economic conditions

When the economy is struggling, democracy enables debate on what to do and how to do it? Dictatorship would resolve it through diktat! Or it would look for excuses by blaming individuals or groups of people. When Hitler, for instance, was failing, he blamed the Jews and intellectuals.

Threats to democracy have happened and continue to happen all over the world. America – that bastion of democracy – is still just coming out of the bad dream that was the rule of Donald Trump. Even Tunisia, the birthplace of the democratic spirit called the Arab Spring, is now being ruled through presidential decree. The Filipinos just elected a conservative. All around us are clear reversals to democratic gains. It may all appear to be beyond our borders.

But like the flu, it can catch up. Who wants the undemocratic flu that our opponents are trying to spread? Who wants to wake up one morning and discover that the government has taken away their right to talk about the government?

Today, we have political formations in Kenya that are deliberately promoting hatred between Kenyans. These groups are exploiting the difficult economic conditions to set up a brother against a sister, neighbors against each other, friends against their friends’ friends, the rich against the poor, Christians against Muslims; Kenyans against Kenyans.

This is not the Kenya we want. The Kenya we hope to build together is a family that will sustain itself in poor times, in good times; as differently endowed neighbors; as a united people. We shall eradicate poverty together. We shall foster wealth creation as one. We shall share that our prosperity. We firmly reject the words, actions and beliefs of those who wish to sow hatred amongst us, stoke fear, instigate violence, cause destruction and dismember Kenya. Kenyans must never again live in fear of their neighbors or the government again.

Defend the freedoms

Today, Saba Saba is about the memories we lost as well as the memories we can make together. Our covenant is about the lives, histories and memories of Kenneth Matiba, Charles Rubia, George Anyona, Njeru Kathangu, James Orengo, Martin Shikuku, Philip Gachoka, Rumba Kinuthia, and millions of other Kenyans who woke up on the morning of Saturday, July 7, 1990 to contest the authority of a repressive State.

That drive to Kamukunji grounds was not just symbolic of defiance against a government that could no longer claim democratic legitimacy; it was a takeoff for the Second Liberation, whose fruits we enjoy today. Our covenant seeks to guarantee that Kenyans will never ever wake up again one morning worried that their own government would deny them the right to democratic political association, participation and life. We must ever defend the freedoms that Saba Saba brought us.

Saba Saba was and is about restoring utu – the basic principle of humanness that defines Africans. We believe in the value, dignity, and sanctity of the life of each and every Kenyan. Every Kenyan deserves to live a dignified life, to belong to whatever political party or any other association, live anywhere in this country, pursue their social, cultural and economic interests and live as they wish for as long as they respect the wishes of others.  

We in Azimio believe that the Kenya that our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and friends suffered and died fighting for is within our reach – a Kenya without hunger, diseases, illiteracy and ignorance. We can make this country work. We can treble agricultural output, for we are an agricultural country; we can become, once again, the biggest and best centre of attraction for tourists in the region and on the continent; we can industrialise our country, for there is a huge market around us for goods; we can educate and skill all our young people, for there is demand for the services of skilled labour in Kenya, the region and all over the world; we can build a Kenyan family where each one of us lives a dignified life. This is what Saba Saba was and is still about.

Zein Abubakar is a member of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission