SWAHILI’S AFRICA BLOG

As was Kofi Annans wish for a birthday present, he got his wish, Kenyan leaders, Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga did form a coalition government between PNU and ODM. Thanks to Kofi Annans efforts and the help of President Kikwete of Tanzania.

After a shaky start they even agreed on a cabinet comprising of 42 ministers !!!The constitution was amended to make Raila the Prime Minister in the power sharing agreement between PNU and ODM. We are both grateful and in debt to the efforts of Kofi Annan in bringing about the end to the crisis in Kenya; now its up to the coalition government to salvage the country and put it back on track.

In gratitude to Dr. Kofi Annans efforts, Kenya should declare Kofi Annans birthday a national holiday, in remembrance of how close we came sinking into the black hole of political and economic turmoil. Happy Birthday Kofi Annan.

What happened in Kenya?

This is the country that was seen as the promise for Africa, due to its many years of economic and political stability. In a matter of a few weeks this whole picture was shattered. The tourism industry came to a standstill. Products such as soapstone, which is carved into many shapes and objects, and supports thousands of families all across Kenya, could no longer be transported safely , therefore affecting the lives of hundreds of artisans and their families.

The result of the “stolen” elections, was violence and a rampage by the poor citizens, who reacted out of anger and frustration. Then there were those who took advantage of the chaos to practice violence on minority groups living amongst them. Of course the most affected were the poor and they are the ones who had the most anger to vent. As we used to hear from the speeches of our first President, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta; “when elephants fight, it is the grass the gets hurt.” How right he was.

Today Kenya is at a crossroads. A coalition government has been agreed upon, but we are yet to see a new cabinet. Instead we are seeing the two parties practice “brinkmanship ” that is making it difficult for the healing process to start. The one thing the two parties, PNU and ODM have agreed on, is the size of the cabinet; and what a bloated cabinet; 40 ministers!! The citizens of the country are aghast at this number. Kenya has some of the highest paid Members of Parliament in the developing nations, even surpassing some in the developed nations.

Nevertheless, if this is what it will take to form a coalition government, then so be it; but the politicians should come to an agreement now, so that industries such as tourism can be in operation again, giving back the artisans and traders a chance to make a living and thus pay taxes that will contribute to their fabulous salaries. Tourism is one of the country’s main earners and every sector of this industry has come to a virtual standstill as the citizens of Kenya, the rest of the world , chiefly the US and the European nations wait to see if the coalition government will share power of a 50-50 basis. Kenyas citizens are on standby as they wait for the process to be finalised. In the meantime, artisans who cater to the tourism industry are left with no customers as tourists and importers to the US and Europe wait for the outcome of the coalition government before daring to venture back into the country.

During the turmoil after the elections, there was no movement of soapstone between Kisii and Nairobi, except in convoys of 10 trucks or more. Even when they succeded in getting the soapstone to the market in Nairobi, the market had evaporated, there were no tourists . Of course, there always exceptions. Two years ago the Tabaka Classic Carvers from Kisii land, become the official merchandisers of the Simpsons television show in the United States of America. This has proved to be a lucrative contract, but during the political turmoil in Kenya, even their supply chain from producer to the market was disrupted.

Soapstone is only one product in the tourism industry but the chain it supports, ranging from the miners, carvers, to the thousands of traders who sell it to the tourists in the big cities like Nairobi and Mombasa, supports thousands of families.Until the politicians from the two parties decide to compromise in order to get a cabinet, so that the government can start the business of guiding the country back to recovery; their politics will hold the soapstone artisans in Kenya hostage.

Kenya now has a coalition government; but wait a minute have we not been here before! In 2003 after Raila had joined forces to oust President Moi, a coalition government was formed that eventually disintegrated due to results of the referendum on the constitution . We hope this time the results are not the same.

In the elections of 2003, Raila had made an Memorandum of Understanding with Kibaki, that would have created the position of Prime Minister and then a new constitution was to come about within 6 months to a year after the new government was in power. Of course non of this took place, and now we seem to have come a full circle.

Today, Raila is the new Prime Minister; the constitution was changed to make all this legal; however forming a new cabinet has been another matter. Soon after Kibaki “became” president he formed a partial cabinet of 17 ministers. Of course like any good leader who was the first to the prize, he took all the plum ministries.According to the agreement that Kofi Annan and President Kikwete helped bring about, the coalition government was to be divided 50-50; but the mechanics of how this was to be done was never agreed to. The result of this has been constant back-room jockeying and politicking by members in both PNU and ODM.

Depending on who gets what ministry, this will determine how much influence and change they can bring about in the country before 2012, the next election. The other question that has not been answered yet, is “how big should the cabinet be?” Wanagaari Mathai and others propose a lean cabinet of only 24 ministers; PNU looks as if it leans towards a cabinet of 44 ministers. ODM would probably settle for 34. In order to conserve the countries financial resources, a leaner cabinet of 24 performance accountable ministries would be the way to go.

Whatever number of ministries that is decided upon, the coalition government will still have to come with a way of how to pick them. A friend recently suggested a simple but fair way of choosing the cabinet. “Why not have Kibaki and Raila come together; toss a coin and whoever wins the toss picks first, and then they alternate until the agreed upon number of ministries is reached .” Now, politics being politics this is probably way too simple a way for them to take, and so we have to await the results of the negotiations going on between the two parties of PNU and ODM.