By Atok Dan
On March 4th, Kenyans are
voting representatives for various elective seats including one of the presidents
which are currently occupied by President Mwai Kibaki. The good news to
President Omer Al Bashir of Sudan is that somebody who has a case in the
International Court of Arbitration (ICC) in The Hague is also contesting the
highest seat like what he occupies.
The moral ramification that will
come with the election of Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of
Kenya’s founding father, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta could be a drift in the ethical
morality of Africa as a continent. If it happens that Kenyatta wins, there
would possibly be two sitting heads of state in the African Union (AU) in
Addis Ababa. President Bashir would be an immediate beneficiary and as well the
happiest man on the continent of Africa if not the planet called earth.
The innocent souls lost in Darfur,
Nuba Mountains and South Blue Nile in Sudan would either not see justice
done forever given that Africa is still leading the world in records of impunity of the highest order. Over thousands of Kenyans who perished and hundreds
of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDP) during the Post-Election
violence (PEV) in between December 2007-2008 would also join the long list of
citizens of Africa whose justice remains a nightmare.
It is indisputable that the coming
elections in Kenya would either shape the perception of leadership on the
continent of Africa in a way that determines African’s global attitudes
towards the rights of humanity and the rights of its own citizens on the continent, the
preference of leadership and well-being of suffering masses due poor
leadership.
It is as well undeniable too the fact
that most of the current heads of state that seat at the AU Summit in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, represent their suffering citizens who dwell much in protecting
themselves than the citizens who mandated them. Giving an ICC indicted
president Bashir of Sudan a safe harbor or protection instead of facing justice
because he has voluntarily butchered his own citizens tells a lot of what
African version of leadership.
This political and moral drift on
the continent of Africa would either gain momentum or fizzle after March 4
elections if Kenyans prove to themselves what their constitution says about the integrity of public figures and what it means to be a national leader on the
continent of Africa. By comparison, Kenya has so far the best document of
governance. Kenyans of all walks of life have never relented in the fight
against self-mediocrity since independence. Kenya is and has been the beacon of the second liberation on the continent of Africa. Their current constitution is a
testament to such a struggle.
A country like Sudan is morally,
culturally, and politically shocked to grant the fruit of independence to its citizens
since January 1956. This could be manifested by generational civil wars it had
been engaged in since that day. A citizen in Sudan knows no difference
between self-government and a colonial government and who does this, it is the
leadership, the perception of leadership on the continent of Africa. South Sudan, the youngest
country on the continent broke the link with Sudan because of endless wars.
Without denying Kenyans the right
to choose leaders, it is also quite imperative that leaders should carry with
them desirable qualities of preference-of protecting life, and resources and boasting
morality of people. There are no logical or convincing reasons which should
compel our public figures to import a culture of suspicions and doubts in public
offices. Africa needs a clean slate from colonial traumas, of leaders not
answerable to constituencies. Kenyatta can make a perfect president if he is
not tainted by ICC allegations. The grey cloud of ICC on him has unpolished his
attractiveness to a public position in the meantime.
Uhuru Kenyatta and his running mate William Ruto in the
meantime suspects, thus remain unelectable because they will represent people
who are mentally conscious and innocent. In addition, electing them would
possibly lead to moral decay though they are still innocent today. Even the
likes of Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his boss President Mwai Kibaki are in
one way resultants of the post-election violence. Likewise, the former head of the election
Commission, Samuel Kivuitu owes Kenya more answers than questions. If any of
the two ICC suspects are found guilty, naturally he would be forced to vomit
under whose directives he acted. Neither Uhuru nor Ruto contested the 2007
elections. The two were disciples of their leaders.
The tribal mindset of the Africans
is what Kenya is jostling with unlike President Bashir of Sudan who has
successfully displayed racial and religious cards in the Arab world and inside
Sudan to defiant ICC arrest warrant. Racial war is ongoing in Darfur, South
Kordofan, and Southern Blue Nile state. Sovereignty is another possible option to blackmail fair delivery of justice in Sudan. In the
case of Kenya, tribes have managed to toe a line behind their next of kin.
Masses in Kenya have difficulty in
differentiating between Kenya as a sovereign nation and individuals needed in
the ICC on personal capacities. Kenyans need to know that individuals with cases
in the ICC are neither representing tribes nor do they represent the government
of Kenya. Ordinary Kenyans can only and only feel the pinch of the ICC based on
the outcome of general elections to come and it will depend on whether
the two will continue cooperating with ICC or put on Bashir's attires of
defiance.
President Bashir is hallucinating in
prayers that somebody with his semblance wins on the continent of Africa so
that they can put up a joint defense shield against the ICC in the AU next
summit. Bashir and his hawkish cabinet would be the first to send a congratulatory
message to Kenyatta if he wins. And without a doubt, Kenya would be the second
home to Bashir whom the ICC has turned into the president of internal affairs. His
cabinet has no exception after all Bashir had attended the inauguration of Kenya’s
constitution in August 2010 despite a warrant of arrest against him.
Africa as a continent needs to come
clear, either to disassociate itself from world forums or denounce its conduct
in relation to the rights of its citizens. To end it, Kenyans need to think
beyond their current map and see what their action would translate on the
continent of Africa and know that what they do today would impact negatively
on other fellow citizens of Africa. President is abrogating justice because he
enjoys the support of like-minded.
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