French embassy blundered in its handling of debate

One can’t gainsay the enormous contribution of the French to modern civilisation — in politics, culture, and philosophy. Liberté, égalité, fraternité — among the most iconic three words ever — still ring with undeniable moral authority throughout the globe. It was the French who gave the Americans the indomitable Statue of Liberty, the lady who has greeted millions of tired and huddled masses as they made their way to America. The French gave us Voltaire, Montesquieu, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Rene Descartes, Michel Foucault, and Alexis de Tocqueville, among other leading thinkers. Few nations can boast of such a deep bench of philosophers. The French gave us the French Revolution, the trigger of the modern republic. But alas — the French aren’t saints.

The French have wrecked many a society, especially in the Global South. They perfected their inhumanity in Haiti — to which they laid siege after the Haitian Revolution. Let’s walk through memory lane. Haitians vanquished Napoleon Bonaparte’s army, abolished slavery, and in 1804 became only the second republic in the Americas. It was the only nation in the West to have defeated three European powers — Britain, France, and Spain. The French never forgave Haiti. We know about French colonial brutalities — and crimes against humanity — in Algeria, elsewhere in Africa, and the Global South. It would be an understatement to say the arrogant French owe the world an apology. That’s why I wasn’t shocked when the French scuttled a KuraYanguSautiYangu event.

Three weeks ago, the Kenya Human Rights Commission with other stakeholders launched KuraYanguSautiYangu, a consensus-building project bringing Kenyans together ahead of the next elections. The effort seeks to find common solutions to recurrent problems and tensions that have attended elections. At its launch several weeks ago, the event was addressed by among others IEBC chair Issack Hassan, IG Joseph Boinnet, Narc-Kenya chair Martha Karua, Prof Yash Ghai, Senior Counsel Paul Muite, KNCHR’s George Morara, Ugenya MP David Ochieng, and Senator Peter Anyang’ Nyongo among other luminaries. KHRC Executive Director George Kegoro has met with DP William Ruto and Majority Leader Aden Duale on the initiative. Religious groups are on board. You will be hearing a lot about KuraYanguSautiYangu.

Now back to the French. On May 26, the launch was to be followed with a major debate on KuraYanguSautiYangu at the Alliance Francaise. Ms Karua, Dr James ole Kiyiapi, and Mr Muite were invited speakers at the debate. The French appeared to have no problem with these three former presidential candidates speaking at the venue. But their tune changed once they realised CORD supremo Raila Odinga might also speak at the event. They informed the KHRC that the Alliance Francaise could no longer host the event with Mr Odinga as one of the speakers. They cited security concerns and the proximity of the venue to the IEBC offices. The KHRC pleaded with the French, but to no avail.

The KHRC has appreciated the support of its work by the French Embassy and government in the past. But as the Chair of the KHRC I have no choice but to speak up about this blatant act of censorship and suppression of speech and associational rights by the French Embassy. At the very least, the French were complicit with larger forces to scuttle a legitimate effort by Kenyans to exercise their democratic rights. At worst, the French were part and parcel of a structure of dictatorship meant to shrink Kenya’s democratic space. This behaviour by a foreign mission can’t be allowed to stand, or go unchallenged. Simply put, it stinks to the high heavens. The French need to publicly apologise.

I remember the courageous roles played by Western ambassadors during the struggle for multi-partyism in the 1990s. Who can forget the bombastic Smith Hempstone, the late American ambassador who publicly and volubly allied himself with pro-democracy and human rights campaigners to pry open the KANU state? Or Ambassador Mecklenburg, the former German envoy to Kenya during the heady days of the Second Liberation? In contrast, the current crop of Western envoys to Nairobi are a pale shadow of their predecessors. They quiver with fear every time the Opposition is mentioned. They are so eager to please State House they’ve forgotten their jobs. One can be forgiven for mistaking them for being an arm of the Executive. They are a sad spectacle.

I have a word of advice for our friends from the West — don’t aid and abet the closing of political space in Kenya. The KuraYanguSautiYangu initiative is the one opportunity to find common ground, and avoid a bloody confrontation at next year’s polls. Denouncing peaceful demos by the Opposition, or cancelling meetings because an Opposition figure will speak there is anti-democratic. You claim to stand for democratic values, but you act like youth-wingers for Jubilee. Return to sanity.