Kenyan MPs Unanimously Enact Peace Plan

The day after a half-Luo man by the name of Barack Obama candidly discussed America’s racial problems, his father’s country of Kenya took a step away from ethnic violence and civil war. Unanimously, Kenya’s parliament voted for the legislation needed to implement the peace plan negotiated after the violence that a terribly flawed election started. This can only be regarded as good news for everyone.

The price of what was probably an election stolen by President Mwai Kibaki has been 1,500 dead, 600,000 displaced and Kenya’s reputation as a stable, functioning nation shattered. The fact that he remains as President under the deal will annoy hard-core democratists (if such a word doesn’t exist, consider it invented to describe those for whom democratic government is the end in itself regardless of other factors), but politics is the art of the possible. Removing him from office was not possible short of murder, and that wouldn’t have promoted reconciliation among the Luo, Kikuyu, Masaai, Kalenjin and other ethnic groups in the country.

A constitutional amendment that passed the parliament creates the office of prime minister, which opposition leader Raila Odinga will fill, along with two deputy prime ministers. The deal splits the cabinet 50-50 between the President Kibaki's Party of National Unity and Mr. Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement. Who gets what job will be an important factor in determining whether the grand coalition will last.

The hard part for the government will be to get Kenya’s good name back as quickly as possible, and facilitating commerce will be a key component of this effort. On the positive side, the IPO for mobile operator Safaricom later this year still appears to have a great deal of foreign interest behind it. Stephen Bailey-Smith, Standard Bank's head of research for Africa said, “The foreign component of the IPO will be oversubscribed, not least by a number of new dedicated African funds.” However, the deal is expected to drive up interest rates and the value of the schilling, which could slow the economy and, thus, complicate matters.

Nevertheless, the fundamental task at hand is for average Kenyans to find a way to get along with their neighbors as they did before the electoral violence. It is hard to trust someone who has chased one from one’s home, or who has slain a relative. This will be a huge test for the Kenyan people. Yet, the whole world can learn from the progress made thus far. It may be audacity to hope, but thus far, such audacity has been rewarded in Kenya.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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