That the country needs dialogue is not in doubt. Once more, the magic word: dialogue, is in the vogue. The National Super Alliance (NASA) has been at the forefront in calling for genuine dialogue to save Kenyans from a man-made political plague.
Most Kenyans recall that Opposition’s efforts to convene dialogue to unite Kenyans, enforce good governance and ensure free and fair elections ahead of August 8 were met with brutal reprisal from the Jubilee government.
That’s how we went into elections heavily divided and under a shaky electoral framework. Assassinations, police brutality, voter bribery, bitter ethnicity, chaos and rigging characterised the elections that gave President Uhuru Kenyatta victory. Resuming office became a riddle and a crisis. The country is limping and sick courtesy of electoral malpractices.
Very strange is that the bitter opponents of “national dialogue” have made a complete about turn! Jubilee is now calling for dialogue after the damage is done. Jubilee leaders have cheekily suggested that the dialogue must only be held after President Uhuru Kenyatta is sworn-in for the controversial second term. Political dishonesty cannot get worse than this.
These are the same leaders who spent 2016 and part of this year frustrating efforts towards dialogue to fix legal, administrative and logistical fissures in the laws and at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) that threatened to derail the elections. They readily demonised and condemned opposition leaders and civil society groups that agitated for early talks to pre-empt election problems and chaos.
More worrying is the fact that similar suspect dialogue calls are now being made by the clergy and a section of foreign diplomats in Nairobi. Also sucked into these deceitful calls for “post-election-rigging” dialogue are Jubilee leaning-ethnic councils of elders. It is all suspect. It must be a coordinated campaign to hijack and torpedo genuine efforts for true dialogue.
The type of dialogue they are advocating for is one of buying time to hang onto power. In all honesty, Kenyans should tell them off. These calls are a clandestinely choreographed trick to sanitise a stolen election and to derail the opposition’s agenda.
Yes, the country seriously needs dialogue. But not for a “nusu-mkate” or some make believe fire-fighting sessions meant to hoodwink the country and the world. The dialogue Kenya needs now is to set aside Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory and revisit the murky issue of electoral justice. Forming a coalition government under Uhuru is not only postponing the problem but also mocking the majority of Kenyans who yearn for free and fair elections.
Latest pro-dialogue groups want creation of more seats in the executive to accommodate Opposition leaders. Their open preference for allowing Uhuru to lead the suggested expanded government despite a tainted victory on October 26 betrays their impartiality. Kenyans should reject this. This is a proposition born out of either lazy thinking or outright conspiracy to defeat justice. Our problems are entirely a result of election rigging.
The solution to the ongoing stand-off is the setting aside of the current political order, total implementation of the Justice Johann Kriegler report, the full implementation of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation (TJRC) report, the full implementation of all the Agenda Four Items and the realignment and reconstitution of all independent constitutional offices and commissions. All these should be canvassed in a major national conference.
- The writer is a nominated MP
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