Why isolation and hard positions will not resolve current standoff

Machakos senators Jonstone Muthama and Siaya Senator James Orengo during a press briefing at Capitol hill office on 25/May/2016.Cord has resolved to temporarily suspend demonstrations that were scheduled come next Monday to give dialogue and peace a chance.They shall hold forums to condole with the bereaved and comfort the wounded.The suspension expires on Sunday 5th June 2016 .PHOTO BY EDWARD KIPLIMO

Church and opposition leaders have offered an olive branch to the Jubilee Government to dialogue over the crisis of confidence surrounding the electoral body.

And the presidency has in principal shown willingness to talk things over with some of its fiercest critics.

However, questions remain as to whether these allusions of dialogue will eventually be the glue that will hold the peace before a high stakes general election or become another forum for the political elite to further their power plays at the expense of the electorate.

Kenya is not new to dialogue. Perhaps the most successful dialogue process was the 2008 Serena talks that brought the country back from anarchy. At the time, there was an urgent need to negotiate an agreement to end the bloodbath that followed a disputed presidential election results.

The two sides, former President Kibaki’s Party of National Unity and Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement, who had both taken hardline stances, had to strike a balance, leading to the formation of a coalition government.

“The stakes might not be that high now. But, they can easily get that high if dialogue is not started,” says Reverend Timothy Njoya. “However, the hardline stances need not be taken to the negotiating table.”

So who will come to the table?

On Friday, spiritual leaders drawn from eight religious groups said President Kenyatta must reach out to Opposition leaders on the issues raised over the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

“We call upon the President to facilitate a mutually agreeable settlement of the IEBC dispute. We appeal to him to support structured discussions with the opposition in person,” said Canon Peter Karanja of the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK).

Representatives from the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, Hindu Council of Kenya and the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya, attended the three-hour meeting. Members from the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya, Organisation of African Instituted Churches, Seventh Day Adventist and the National Muslim Leaders Forum also attended the meeting in Nairobi.

They announced that they were ready to be part of the dialogue and stated that they too have something to offer in the negotiations.

Critics of the church, however, say it was too late to the party and that it took the clerics too long to offer guidance on matters of national importance.

“We have segments of the church that are unapologetically behind the state and intolerant to diverse views. Of what value will they be to the process?” says Rev Njoya.

The civil society says it is prepared to take part in the dialogue process. And the international community too has weighed in on the place of dialogue in resolving the impasse.

Early this month, 11 foreign envoys voiced their concern over the ongoing push by the Opposition to kick out the IEBC.

The envoys said they are committed to supporting Kenya in the general election in form of funding, technical assistance, civic education and conflict mitigation efforts.

Last week, Robert Godec, the American ambassador to Kenya, said away from the legal structures set up to resolve the issues arising from IEBC “there has to be political dialogue wherever and in whichever way”

He was speaking at a meeting between business leaders and the president.

On the same day, the French government called off a meeting it had organised to try and broker a dialogue process between Kenya’s political class and civil society.

The absence of a representatives from the Jubilee coalition meant the breaking of ice could not happen because “the political plurality of Kenya was not represented”.

According to the Director of the Alliance Francaise, Herve Braneyre, the absence of a “plurality” of Kenya’s political opinion in the panel was enough reason for the meeting not to continue.

“We could not have one political opinion. We needed to have people from Jubilee and CORD. It seems that it was not possible for the organisers to get people from all the different groups and for that reason, the meeting was cancelled,” said Braneyre.

Hard stance

For now, the CORD coalition has called off its Monday countrywide protests to give dialogue a chance, at least that’s what the opposition says in public because it seems the olive branch has not extended past the rallies and press conferences.

“We have received no formal communication from CORD over the possibility of inviting us to a table for discussions. We however remain open to any solution that will see an end to the current stalemate. We remain hopeful that the dialogue talked about will be held within the confines of the law,” IEBC spokesman Andrew Limo told The Standard on Sunday.

Still, ultimatums abound.

“The thing that the participants ought to know is that dialogue also means compromise; compromise on hard stances by the people involved in the talks. It should be more of giving than taking on their part,” Rev Njoya says.

“The key question would be whether the three sides to the debate are willing to give and whether what they want to give would be acceptable to the others.”

As it is now, it remains to be seen whether these promises of dialogue will yield into something tangible that will provide long-term solutions to the country’s election process.