Kenyan media better at reporting the crisis than Western media?
I personally find what the Kenyan media is publishing about the crisis more credible and enlightening. I have no reason to doubt the credibility and objectiveness of commentaries, like that included here below in this email, which has educated me greatly about how the electoral rigging actually happened in the Kenyan elections. [ref: to the article titled - “Why Kivuitu must be held accountable for poll chaos” - by DONALD B. KIPKORIR, Advocate of the Kenyan High Court. Published today, Saturday: 1/5/2008.]
I personally find what the Kenyan media is publishing about the crisis more credible and enlightening. I have no reason to doubt the credibility and objectiveness of commentaries, like that included here below in this email, which has educated me greatly about how the electoral rigging actually happened in the Kenyan elections. [ref: to the article titled - “Why Kivuitu must be held accountable for poll chaos” - by DONALD B. KIPKORIR, Advocate of the Kenyan High Court. Published today, Saturday: 1/5/2008.]
A lot of media rubbish and irrelevancies are coming through the press, especially the international media in the West. Things like - “Raila Odinga and ODM must give up their opposition to election malpractices in the name of peace...”; “Kenyans must not demonstrate as this brings about violence"…
Western media correspondents in Nairobi are lining up to suggest that the game is up for Raila Odinga and his opposition ODM, and they should perhaps just accept to join a ‘coalition government’ and forget about trying to achieve the reversal of rigged polls. The ODM is calling for Mwai Kibaki to step aside, and for the setting up of a TRANSITION (meaning strictly temporary) government of national unity, which, together with a neutral, independent body (perhaps composed of Kenyans, British, European, American, UN, AU facilitators) will oversee the electoral review - may be through a recount of votes or a fresh election. ODM prefers a fresh election. This seems a very sensible way forward.
But, what are Western journalists currently in Nairobi up to? They are literary falling over each other in the slums of Kibera in Nairobi and in towns and villages across Kenya, in a scramble for the best picture of the ‘genocide’ as they are refering to the widespread violence. [ref: to the article by a Canadian reporter, ARNO KOPECKY, titled “Violence and cynical foreign news crews”, which has appeared in today’s Saturday Nation newspaper in Nairobi. This article is included in this email.
Few of the Western journalists in Nairobi are interested in the main story - the struggle for democracy by an electorate that feels cheated and brutalized out of their constitutional rights.
The same Western media has always found it a great pleasure to encourage and cheer on democracy rights’ activists and demonstrators (even violent ones) in places like China, Russia, Ukraine, Cuba, and Venezuela.
So why can’t they understand that Africans (in places like Kenya) are also waking up, and starting to stand up for their rights and freedoms? Why do they think that Africans do not love to enjoy their human rights? I thought that Democracy is nothing but the right of a citizen (educated or uneducated, literate -meaning able to read or write in English - or illiterate) to chose their leaders freely and without harrassment.
And this is not just about elections - Democarcy is not a two day activity. It is about governments being held accountable in parliament (by the people’s elected representatives) and, ultimately, by the citizens themselves, who can chose to kick the leader out if, for example, he wants to take them to a useless war, or is stealing state money.
Some have told us that Democracy is a Western phenomenon, and that African cultures and experiences cannot and must not permit democracy to come home. This is nothing but racist, and primitive thinking of the most abhorent kind. Perceptions and views like these, which imply that Africans are inferior human beings, smacks of utter ignorence and upside-down thinking.
Democracy is about citizens saying to the politicians - “we want hospitals, schools, roads, homes to live in… we don’t want war, corruption, state repression, etc”. Even the most uneducated villager in Africa is capable of making these choices. Democracy enables the citizens to force politicians to provide for their wants and aspirations. Those politicians who fail to do this are cast out through the simple expression of ‘individual democratic right’ of - “I don’t want you anymore, I am fed up… I want someone else.. Bye!”
Democracy is also about the roles of the other oversight pillars within the democratic infrastructure, for example the independent and even public media, which are called upon to act as watchdogs on behalf of society. The media must critically observe and expose state mal-practices and wrong doings - thus strengthening the way society holds the leaders accountable.
Then, there is the positive and constructive role that other institutions, like the judiciary, the security services, and even civil society organisations can play in ensuring that democracy thrives and lives. The Kenyan police, and most African security agencies, inculding the military, must always be on the side of the people, they must defend the rights and freedoms of the people, not the unconstituional acts of the leaders.
So, one would have expected the Kenyan police to investigate and charge electoral commisioners who might have rigged the elections. They should have taken Mr. Mwai Kibaki to task, since he seems to have been the prime organiser of the rigging. Instead the police are opening fire and killing hundreds of freedom-seeking citizens.
I bet the British Police would have interviewed Tony Blair or Gordon Brown if the two were to take part in electoral rigging.
Democracy is also about the rights of the citizens to vent their frustrations and demand for redress when there is a miscarriage of justice. If the citizens feel agrieved, they must be able to go to the courts, but the courts must then abide by the constitutional requirement to act as independent arbitors. This is not the case in Kenya, and in most African countries. Here the courts are in the service of the state, for the state, and sometimes, even by the state. I can understand why Raila Odinga and his ODM colleagues are apprehensive of going to the courts to seek justice.
But the aggrieved citizens, in a Democarcy, can also and should go to the streets, where necessary, to demonstrate and shout out their anger.
Even in Britain and America when citizens feel that an injustice is being metted upon them, they resort to demonstrations. This is their constitutional right. The state does not shoot 300 demonstrators dead in 2 days. I should add that demonstrators in Britain do not usually go out to burn churches with innocent people in them, even if these people belonged to the other side. It has, however, happened in Europe - during this century and in the last century. The second World, and other civil conflicts that have occured after that, for example in the Blakans, and even Northern Ireland, have seen outrageous acts of brutality by one section of society against the other.
Often times, demonstrations in Britain are peaceful, but sometimes they can turn rowdy and violent. We have all seen how cars and shops have been set on fire during demonstrations in Britain, France, US, Germany, etc. In spite of this, the citizens are still granted their constitutional right to demonstrate.
What I believe, personally, is that the Kenyan people must not give up their struggle against election rigging. Let them not do like Ugandans, who seem to give up so quickly. Ugandans are also good at going to the bush, pretending that they have been cheated in elections, only to take power and proceed to rig every election, to ban political parties, arrest opposition leaders during elections, shoot at innocent opposition supporters, and to violet the constitution left and right.
Enough should be enough. Ugandans must be prepared to stand up and be counted. The Raila Odingas of this world will be remembered in history as true democrats, who stood up to election malpractices. I hope they will not succumb to bullets and machetes.
Bravo to Kenyans.
Ugandans should be prepared to do the same come 2011. That is if the elections will be rigged. True Uganda democrats must start mobilising and preparing for any such eventuality. Remember, all our problems have been because of lack of democracy - including election rigging and the brutalisation of opposition politicians.
National instability and civil strife in Uganda will only come to an end when our leaders are made to understand that the people will stand up to all undemocratic tendencies. And that the Orange Revolution in Kenya (we all hope it will succeed) will be adopted by Ugandans if the state tries to steal votes from the people.
I hope President Museveni and his advisers are closely following events in Kenya. I hope Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, Sudan’s Bashir, Libya’s Muamar Gadhafi, Malawi’s Bingu wa Mutharika, Kagame’s Paul Kagame, and all other African non-democrats are interesting themselves in what is going on in Kenya.
While the violence, (especially that being visited on those struggling for democracy, thanks to Police Brutality, or that being committed against innocent civilians in the name of revenge), is totally unacceptable and truly sickening, the most important thing that should steal our attention is the fact that the Kenyan electorate who have been cheated of victory are not going to let the cheaters off the hook! That is something new in the history of Africa!
If the ‘Orange Revolution’ succeeds in Kenya, all the cheaters and robbers of the people’s freedom, right across the African continent, will have to go slow.
Dr. Vincent Magombe
Africa Inform International, LOndon.
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