The Kibaki administration will be evading a historic responsibility if it fails to resolve issues that are pertinent to a peaceful transition and the very future of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Kenya. The NARC government was voted into power primarily because the Moi government was regarded as deceptive and undemocratic. Undemocratic because the previous elections were characterised by violence and claims of malpractice; the state instruments were partisan; the government was intolerant to divergent opinions; and the government was insensitive to popular demands. However, since NARC came to power, there have been undercurrents that the Kibaki administration is no different from its predecessor after all.

Firstly, though the Kibaki government is more tolerant to different opinions, recent events indicate that the government is growing sensitive by the day. Indeed, like its predecessor, the administration is eager to use the oppressive tools of the state, including the provincial administration, to muzzle opposing opinions. The recent attempt by the administration to bar a Baringo Central MP from addressing his constituents has been interpreted in this light.

Paradoxically, while the NARC leaders were in the opposition, they vigorously campaigned for the dismantling of the provincial administration. The then official opposition party, Kibaki’s Democratic Party of Kenya, presented a memorandum to the constitution of Kenya Review Commission calling for the scrapping of the administration. However, on assuming power, they have not only defended the administration, but an assistant minister in the office of the president has been quoted as saying they will weed out those sympathetic to the previous government from the administration.

Secondly, the NARC leadership has increasingly been using the same old methods. In the recently held by-elections, NARC ministers have been criss-crossing the affected constituencies using the trappings of power, state resources and promising largesse from the state. Yet, when they were in the opposition last year, they constantly accused KANU, which was in power then, of using state resources for partisan gains. Closely related to that, of course, is the old tactic of divide and rule and the mentality that only those who support the government will benefit from government resources. Week after week, NARC ministers are quoted exhorting the various ethnic communities to support the government if they hope to benefit from its largesse.

Not even yesteryears’ democracy and human rights crusaders are immune from this anachronistic thinking. Indeed, when the president visited his home turf two months ago, there were deliberate efforts to isolate and condemn a part of Central Province that voted for the opposition. Apparently, the right to an opinion and association has lost meaning now that NARC is in power.

Thirdly, the old issue of selective application of the law has reared its ugly head again. There are increasing concerns that the war against corruption is turning out to be selective and targeted at specific individuals and families. For many key players in the current administration were in fact stalwarts of the previous administration. It’s therefore highly inconceivable that they were not involved in the corruption of that era. Indeed, their names appear in several public accounts and public investment committee reports. Others were mentioned in the various human rights reports as players in various human rights abuses, including ethnic violence. Yet, they continue serving in the cabinet as ministers, assistant ministers and others as influential NARC MPs, while government officers continue making allegations against certain families and individuals. Again the old adage that charity begins at home appears to have lost its meaning.

And fourthly is the question of the ruling coalition’s internal democracy. As it were, a political party cannot give a country what it lacks internally. Thus, NARC cannot entrench democracy in the country if it cannot grant the same to its members. One measure of a party’s attitude towards democracy is its capacity to subject its leaders to popular mandate, which is through party elections. Yet, this is the most divisive issue in NARC.

The established tradition worldwide is that parties, whose ideological persuasions are close, form coalitions after elections in order to constitute a government, where no single party wins a majority. For NARC, political parties and amorphous groups formed the coalition regardless of their political persuasions to win the December 2002 elections. Thus, the party lacks clear structures and leadership, has no quantifiable membership, lacks unifying ideology and, much worse, has not agreed whether to be one party or to retain its current amorphous state. The persistent war between factions of the coalitions means that the party will take sometime before it can guarantee its membership internal democracy. And that undermines the capacity of the coalition to entrench democracy in the country.

On the human rights front, the NARC government has done better than the previous KANU one. On assuming power, it accorded human rights campaigners positions in its ranks, opened torture chambers - among them the famous Nyayo House - and cautioned the security organs against abusing suspects’ rights. However, there have been genuine concerns that the country may be sliding back into the days of torture. In recent weeks, there have been complaints that police officers are perpetrating arbitrary arrests; extra-judicial killings are still prevalent while the security officers have been accused of torturing suspects, notably in Kisii.

Moreover, the government recently initiated a security operation in Turkana district, which was called off after a fierce battle between the residents and the security forces. While the number of the dead was given as six, there are fears that the operation left behind trails of human rights abuses, which are not yet documented.

There are also expressions of genuine grievances arising from the recent efforts to form a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission. The concerns are that the proposed commission is a tactic to witch-hunt and humiliate certain individuals and communities, and not an effort to promote national reconciliation.

Secondly, the old tactic of destroying people’s income basis in an effort to remove them from certain areas, which was perfected in the 1990s, has been brought back. In the last few weeks, the government, in conjunction with the Nairobi City Council, has been demolishing informal business structures in order to remove those businesses from supposedly road reserves. The problem is that this destruction, which has only been conducted in upmarket areas, leaves many people without an income and thus compromises their economic rights.

More importantly, the recently published suppression of terrorism bill has sent shock waves into the spines of many Kenyans and human rights activists. Indeed, the bill has met resistance from many quarters including members of parliament. The resistance has its roots in two areas. Firstly the government published the bill without consulting with stakeholders, and appeared to be bowing to pressure from both the American and the British governments. Indeed, despite protests against this bill, the government has indicated its resolve not to withdraw the bill. Secondly, and much worse, the bill is highly repressive, runs against the national spirit and militates against our national sovereignty in favour of American and British interests.

In their analysis, the Chambers of Justice, a legal civil society group, says the bill germinates out of the US Patriot Act 2001, whose official title is Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act. In the US, the group notes, the “application of the Patriot Act by the US government has resulted in some of the grossest violations of human rights ever revealed since the Nuremberg trials.” It cites the case of the al-Qaeda suspects who are still incarcerated incommunicado at the US military base in Quatanamo Bay in Cuba, two years after they were arrested in Afghanistan.

The bill contravenes Sections 72, 74(1), 77 (2a), 77(4), 77(8), 82 and the bill of rights; contravenes the penal code section 9; and lowers the standard of the burden of proof as required in all criminal cases. Needless to add that the bill lacks adequate provisions for compensation of victims of terrorism and gives sweeping powers to the police. These powers include powers to detain cash belonging to a suspect and forfeits the property of suspected persons to the state. And, ironically, the bill not only allows foreign security forces, notably American and British, to arrest and detain Kenyans, but it also sanctions torture and police brutality. Indeed, there are reports that a team of Kenyan CID officers and the American FBI agents tortured suspects arrested recently in Mombasa on suspicion of terrorism.

And lastly, there is the issue of ratification and adoption of the international human rights conventions in Kenya. Kenya is a signatory to such important treaties as the African Charter of Human Rights and People's Rights (ACHPR) of 1981, the African Charter of the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and which are both acceptable by NEPAD's human rights committee. However, the country still lags behind in legislating and effecting these conventions.

* Evans Wafula is an advocacy officer with the Independent Medico Legal Unit in Kenya.

* Please send comments on this editorial to

Cancun was just the lull before the storm and the storm is now here in the form of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) being negotiated under the Cotonou negotiations launched in September 2002 and due to end on December 31 2007. Both the EU and the US will continue to use their power to pursue their trade agenda through a series of bilateral negotiations with developing countries under the Cotonou, warns this editorial from the Seatini Bulletin.

A High Court judge in Zimbabwe Wednesday approved a petition by two top government officials that allows them to remove themselves from a case brought by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. The opposition is questioning the judge's decision, saying the two officials played a key role in the presidential election last year that the opposition is challenging in the courts.
Related Link:
* Election Petition - Full Heads of Argument
http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=7794

Presidential elections in Guinea, in which the head of state, Lansana Conte, will seek another seven-year term despite failing health, will take place on 21 December, the government has announced.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has asked members of the newly installed parliament to endorse the establishment of an ombudsman’s office so that senior and grassroots government officials could declare their assets before taking office. "We need to have a continuous assessment of how our leaders accumulate their wealth," he said on Tuesday during the swearing in of his new cabinet in the capital, Kigali.

I am a black and not uncritical supporter of Zanu-PF. I find criticism of Mugabe from Western politicians and media disingenuous. I find the nature of criticism from black people alarming. I do not believe critical black people are ignorant of the covert, neo-colonial agenda by white, political and economic elites. Indeed, I believe they accept that they are supporting it. Many describe Mugabe as a "brutal dictator". Even senior UK politicians last year argued for armed intervention. Yet, by early 2002, human rights groups reported that 160 people had died in Zimbabwe because of the conflict. In contrast, within a few weeks of the 1973, CIA-backed, anti-democratic coup in Chile, 35,000 people had been killed. To describe Mugabe as one of the world's worst dictators is outrageous and disingenuous.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has admitted that one of its key African initiatives is in trouble. In a working paper published in Washington, two of the IMF's researchers show that its programme to relieve some of Africa's poorest countries of their debt burden may not produce a sustainable economic situation.

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) recognises the central role of agriculture. However, its tilt towards increasing productivity through enhancement of infrastructure and inputs; export led growth through opening regional and international markets; and improving backward and forward linkages through agro - processing leaves the impression that there are still weaknesses in its conception of the overall picture of agriculture. The bias towards a certain model of agriculture - commercial and export orientated - points to gaps in its conception of a more wider and deeper perspective on rural development. This is according to a paper that evaluates NEPAD's strategic focus on issues of agriculture and rural development.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank both play a critical role in shaping development trajectories and options for poverty reduction across Southern Africa. In a number of states this involvement takes place through activities such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and debt relief under the HIPC initiative. The respective country pages on the IMF and World Bank websites contain extensive documentation, analysis and statistics on poverty and development processes in each country. The Southern African Regional Poverty Network has compiled a resource sheet, available by clicking on the URL below, to facilitate wider access to this material, primarily by civil society agencies in the region.

"Trade is very important for development. Although Sub-Saharan Africa has 12 percent of the population of the world, we have seen our share of world trade decrease to the point where it is now under one percent. This is synonymous with deepening poverty and the resulting chaos in Africa's economic, political and social life," says Sam Mpasu, Malawi's Minister for Commerce and Industry, in this interview with Action for Southern Africa's Alastair Fraser.

The family of the late General Sani Abacha have failed in their bid to halt repatriation of millions of dollars of Nigeria's looted funds stashed away in several foreign banks by the former Head of State.

Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki says the "day of reckoning" has arrived for those used to thriving on corruption. Ruling out the possibility of pardoning the culprits, President Kibaki said that his government's war on corruption was a serious one and that nobody should treat the crusade as a joke.

In the sixth edition of Promises Not Kept John Isbister updates his study of the dilemmas of international poverty and the Third World by bringing in a discussion of the effects of the war on terrorism and the “new American hegemony,” and surveys the prospects for justice in a world of globalization.

The regional conference on Principles for Election Management, Monitoring and Observation in the SADC Region underscores EISA's work flowing from consensus building meetings convened with electoral stakeholders in the region some two years ago. This culminated in a regional conference held in Windhoek in June 2000 where a regional task team was appointed to draft what was then termed Norms and Standards for Electoral Observation. The Task Team was drawn from Electoral Commissions, academia, CSOs involved in electoral work in the SADC region and the SADC Parliamentary Forum. The Task Team has completed its work and the conference will be a launching pad for the draft document.

The head of Guinea-Bissau’s National Electoral Commission (NEC) has called for parliamentary elections to be held in January, several months ahead of the target set by the transitional authorities. NEC president Higino Cardoso pointed out that 95 percent of the preparations for elections had already been completed before the bloodless coup that deposed former President Kumba Yala on 14 September.

The United Nations has appealed to journalists to stop trying to incite war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. It said it was concerned about the increase in media hate comments on the impasse in the peace process between the two Horn of Africa states which it termed as “currently in stasis”.

I would like to get more news from Zambia, specifically what is going on both in the rurals and urbans. Thanks for your collaboration - hoping to network with you till the end.

Generally, all over the world politicians, civil servants, and the looters in large public corporations are not being held sufficiently accountable for their actions, and participatory democracy needs to be strengthened to improve good government and to curb rampant political arrogance. Public corruption, which should not be confused with sleaze or even criminal private behaviour, is one of the worst forms of political arrogance and, along with other arrogances, should not be tolerated. As a result, I am confident that the majority of South Africans, without prejudging the outcome, wish(ed) Deputy President Jacob Zuma to be competently prosecuted by a competent court. The Hefer Commission is an unnecessary planned side show to distract our attention from the unwanted arms deal - with or without the corruption. To that extent, there is truth in Russell Grinker's editorial comment (Pambazuka News 127: The Politics of Corruption) on democracy being downgraded in favour of enlightened despotism, but it is our politicians themselves who are guilty of the downgrading by, at least, supporting the appointment of the commission. Therefore, such downgrading cannot be used as an excuse for being soft on corruption, as Russell Grinker's editorial seems to be asking us to consider, or for stating that recent political discourse in South Africa (or elsewhere in the world) has been characterised by a preoccupation with allegations of government corruption. Let Pambazuka News and all of us help root out corruption wherever it lies, whilst simultaneously strengthening our democracies to overcome the growing gap between rich and poor.

"The Kenyan Community Abroad is pleasantly surprised by the decision by the Kenyan government to follow through with the setting up of tribunals to investigate high ranking members of the judicial system on corruption charges. The most malignant ailment that has crippled our country in the last three decades has been endemic corruption that has spread through the very fabric of our nation."
Related Link:
* Judges Suspended, Investigated for Alleged Corruption

The Mozambican parliament last Thursday unanimously passed a bill introducing new anti-corruption measures. The bill had passed its first reading at the last parliamentary sitting in April, and in the intervening period the Assembly's legal affairs committee amended it in line with the April discussion.