Tuesday 25 August 2015

The civil societymust be revived and heeded

This week marks the fifth anniversary of our new constitution, whose transformative power continues to shake the body
politic. Even though the constitution is no longer the subject of media debate,
it is the source of the progress we have witnessed over the last five years. Its
best fruit is devolution, which has opened up previously marginalised regions
for development. But the escalation of old crises such as corruption and insecurity is
also linked to lackadaisical implementation of the constitution’s provisions.
There are
many reasons for the lethargic realisation of the constitution’s full impact. The
Bill of Rights, for example, requires massive resources to implement. But the Jubilee
government has also worked hard to subvert key constitutional principles, such
as dispersal of state power. The controversial Security Laws shifted
administrative power in the police service from the police commission to the
Inspector General of Police. The National Land Commission has been undermined through pitiable
funding, even as the Lands ministry viciously clawed back functions
constitutionally assigned to the NLC. Protections for the media and
citizens' rights to information held by the state are yet to be implemented.
Oddly,
these inimical developments have created problems that even government can no
longer ignore. Corruption, land grabbing and insecurity are worse than at
any other time in our history. President Uhuru Kenyatta himself has sounded alarmed by many
ills and welcomed policy solutions from critics.
On this fifth anniversary of
the constitution, the civil society, which has been at loggerheads with
Jubilee, should take the challenge and engage the government on key challenges,
among them poverty, unemployment, insecurity and corruption. This engagement
should start with a major conference to audit the implementation of the
constitution and take stock of the programmes designed to address these crises.
This
proposal for a national conference doesn't ignore the difficult
relationship between the two sides. The civil society doesn’t trust the government
to engage honestly but it must give it the benefit of doubt. The fact that
Kenya has remained stable despite grave underlying problems should persuade
civil society to engage public officials who would like to improve governance
but lack the adroitness required. The government too would benefit immensely
from informed dialogue. Merely meeting civil society would boost its
credibility by showing it can listen to voices other than its own.
The
conference would entail a thoroughgoing audit of the impact of the constitution
and re-assert the importance of civil society in its broad sense, including governance NGOs,
professional groups, grassroots organisations and the media as the fulcrum of
debate on governance. It would revive the bipartisan movement for reform that
delivered the constitution five years ago, irrespective of political
affiliations of its various proponents.
The absence
of the civil society’s voice in recent years has left a vacuum in activism not just
nationally, where its leaders felt intimidated, but also at the grassroots, because
local campaigners, and indeed the population as a whole, rely on the intellectual
leadership of national activists. The vacuum saw corruption soar especially in
the counties. Lacking the skill to press governors to account, concerned
Kenyans turned to social media, but they only attack snippets of scandals rather
than the whole undermining of people’s will that is underway.
Imagine
how people in such previously marginalised counties like Turkana and Narok must
feel, seeing their own leaders loot the developmental resources they were
starved of for decades. This absence of organised civil society is turning voters
into stepping stones for politicians. They are condemned to putting people in power and totally
being unable to influence their conduct between elections.
The conference
would reverse this disempowerment of the people by reviving a coalition for
reform at national and local levels. National civil society leaders would use
it to form a coalition with other actors that can propagate good ideas and
champion informed discussion on issues, unlike the polarised fights between
Jubilee and Cord that now dominate the political space. From the 1990s, when
the Kenya Human Rights Commission organised other groups into coalitions dedicated
to releasing political prisoners, fighting for the constitution and pressing
for opposition unity, Kenyans have seen that civil society works best in coalition
with other actors.
In
addition to the government and civil society itself, a revived activism would
benefit the media, which despite its recent efforts towards more reliable
reporting still takes flak for its meekness. We must recognise how dependent
media is on sources and convincing analysis that only an effervescent civil
society can provide.

The
writer is a political researcher based in Nairobi. Email otj.paul@gmail.com
- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/civil-society-must-be-revived-and-heeded#sthash.6C692kSb.dpuf

This week marks the fifth anniversary of our new constitution, whose transformative power continues to shake the body
politic. Even though the constitution is no longer the subject of media debate,
it is the source of the progress we have witnessed over the last five years. Its
best fruit is devolution, which has opened up previously marginalised regions
for development. But the escalation of old crises such as corruption and insecurity is
also linked to lackadaisical implementation of the constitution’s provisions.
There are
many reasons for the lethargic realisation of the constitution’s full impact. The
Bill of Rights, for example, requires massive resources to implement. But the Jubilee
government has also worked hard to subvert key constitutional principles, such
as dispersal of state power. The controversial Security Laws shifted
administrative power in the police service from the police commission to the
Inspector General of Police. The National Land Commission has been undermined through pitiable
funding, even as the Lands ministry viciously clawed back functions
constitutionally assigned to the NLC. Protections for the media and
citizens' rights to information held by the state are yet to be implemented.
Oddly,
these inimical developments have created problems that even government can no
longer ignore. Corruption, land grabbing and insecurity are worse than at
any other time in our history. President Uhuru Kenyatta himself has sounded alarmed by many
ills and welcomed policy solutions from critics.
On this fifth anniversary of
the constitution, the civil society, which has been at loggerheads with
Jubilee, should take the challenge and engage the government on key challenges,
among them poverty, unemployment, insecurity and corruption. This engagement
should start with a major conference to audit the implementation of the
constitution and take stock of the programmes designed to address these crises.
This
proposal for a national conference doesn't ignore the difficult
relationship between the two sides. The civil society doesn’t trust the government
to engage honestly but it must give it the benefit of doubt. The fact that
Kenya has remained stable despite grave underlying problems should persuade
civil society to engage public officials who would like to improve governance
but lack the adroitness required. The government too would benefit immensely
from informed dialogue. Merely meeting civil society would boost its
credibility by showing it can listen to voices other than its own.
The
conference would entail a thoroughgoing audit of the impact of the constitution
and re-assert the importance of civil society in its broad sense, including governance NGOs,
professional groups, grassroots organisations and the media as the fulcrum of
debate on governance. It would revive the bipartisan movement for reform that
delivered the constitution five years ago, irrespective of political
affiliations of its various proponents.
The absence
of the civil society’s voice in recent years has left a vacuum in activism not just
nationally, where its leaders felt intimidated, but also at the grassroots, because
local campaigners, and indeed the population as a whole, rely on the intellectual
leadership of national activists. The vacuum saw corruption soar especially in
the counties. Lacking the skill to press governors to account, concerned
Kenyans turned to social media, but they only attack snippets of scandals rather
than the whole undermining of people’s will that is underway.
Imagine
how people in such previously marginalised counties like Turkana and Narok must
feel, seeing their own leaders loot the developmental resources they were
starved of for decades. This absence of organised civil society is turning voters
into stepping stones for politicians. They are condemned to putting people in power and totally
being unable to influence their conduct between elections.
The conference
would reverse this disempowerment of the people by reviving a coalition for
reform at national and local levels. National civil society leaders would use
it to form a coalition with other actors that can propagate good ideas and
champion informed discussion on issues, unlike the polarised fights between
Jubilee and Cord that now dominate the political space. From the 1990s, when
the Kenya Human Rights Commission organised other groups into coalitions dedicated
to releasing political prisoners, fighting for the constitution and pressing
for opposition unity, Kenyans have seen that civil society works best in coalition
with other actors.
In
addition to the government and civil society itself, a revived activism would
benefit the media, which despite its recent efforts towards more reliable
reporting still takes flak for its meekness. We must recognise how dependent
media is on sources and convincing analysis that only an effervescent civil
society can provide.

The
writer is a political researcher based in Nairobi. Email otj.paul@gmail.com
- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/civil-society-must-be-revived-and-heeded#sthash.6C692kSb.dpuf
This week marks the fifth anniversary of our new constitution, whose transformative power continues to shake the body
politic. Even though the constitution is no longer the subject of media debate,
it is the source of the progress we have witnessed over the last five years. Its
best fruit is devolution, which has opened up previously marginalised regions
for development. But the escalation of old crises such as corruption and insecurity is
also linked to lackadaisical implementation of the constitution’s provisions.
There are
many reasons for the lethargic realisation of the constitution’s full impact. The
Bill of Rights, for example, requires massive resources to implement. But the Jubilee
government has also worked hard to subvert key constitutional principles, such
as dispersal of state power. The controversial Security Laws shifted
administrative power in the police service from the police commission to the
Inspector General of Police. The National Land Commission has been undermined through pitiable
funding, even as the Lands ministry viciously clawed back functions
constitutionally assigned to the NLC. Protections for the media and
citizens' rights to information held by the state are yet to be implemented.
Oddly,
these inimical developments have created problems that even government can no
longer ignore. Corruption, land grabbing and insecurity are worse than at
any other time in our history. President Uhuru Kenyatta himself has sounded alarmed by many
ills and welcomed policy solutions from critics.
On this fifth anniversary of
the constitution, the civil society, which has been at loggerheads with
Jubilee, should take the challenge and engage the government on key challenges,
among them poverty, unemployment, insecurity and corruption. This engagement
should start with a major conference to audit the implementation of the
constitution and take stock of the programmes designed to address these crises.
This
proposal for a national conference doesn't ignore the difficult
relationship between the two sides. The civil society doesn’t trust the government
to engage honestly but it must give it the benefit of doubt. The fact that
Kenya has remained stable despite grave underlying problems should persuade
civil society to engage public officials who would like to improve governance
but lack the adroitness required. The government too would benefit immensely
from informed dialogue. Merely meeting civil society would boost its
credibility by showing it can listen to voices other than its own.
The
conference would entail a thoroughgoing audit of the impact of the constitution
and re-assert the importance of civil society in its broad sense, including governance NGOs,
professional groups, grassroots organisations and the media as the fulcrum of
debate on governance. It would revive the bipartisan movement for reform that
delivered the constitution five years ago, irrespective of political
affiliations of its various proponents.
The absence
of the civil society’s voice in recent years has left a vacuum in activism not just
nationally, where its leaders felt intimidated, but also at the grassroots, because
local campaigners, and indeed the population as a whole, rely on the intellectual
leadership of national activists. The vacuum saw corruption soar especially in
the counties. Lacking the skill to press governors to account, concerned
Kenyans turned to social media, but they only attack snippets of scandals rather
than the whole undermining of people’s will that is underway.
Imagine
how people in such previously marginalised counties like Turkana and Narok must
feel, seeing their own leaders loot the developmental resources they were
starved of for decades. This absence of organised civil society is turning voters
into stepping stones for politicians. They are condemned to putting people in power and totally
being unable to influence their conduct between elections.
The conference
would reverse this disempowerment of the people by reviving a coalition for
reform at national and local levels. National civil society leaders would use
it to form a coalition with other actors that can propagate good ideas and
champion informed discussion on issues, unlike the polarised fights between
Jubilee and Cord that now dominate the political space. From the 1990s, when
the Kenya Human Rights Commission organised other groups into coalitions dedicated
to releasing political prisoners, fighting for the constitution and pressing
for opposition unity, Kenyans have seen that civil society works best in coalition
with other actors.
In
addition to the government and civil society itself, a revived activism would
benefit the media, which despite its recent efforts towards more reliable
reporting still takes flak for its meekness. We must recognise how dependent
media is on sources and convincing analysis that only an effervescent civil
society can provide.

The
writer is a political researcher based in Nairobi. Email otj.paul@gmail.com
- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/civil-society-must-be-revived-and-heeded#sthash.6C692kSb.dpuf

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