The Kibaki and Raila government will not deliver on reforms, development agenda, poverty eradication and other agenda that can improve the well-being of Kenyans. Kenyans are gradually waking up to this reality.
Worse still, the Kibaki-Raila coalition will not break until 2011 in readiness for the explosive 2012 elections. For they are held together with the glue of hefty allowances and salaries, looting the public coffers and corruption scandals to enrich themselves and their immediate families. The 2012 elections has already been predicted to be a christmas party in respect to post election violence and rigging for no reforms will be implemented by then.
To aggravate the situation, Kenyans and their leaders are tribal before measure. What Koigi wa Wamwere referes to as negative ethncity. It is an irrepairable condition that has been perfected by Kibaki-Raila coalition to divide and rule Kenya. The tribal diversity no longer holds Kenya together, it degenerates it at a fast pace.
The only solution to this grave condition that Kenya finds itself in is a Majimbo system of governance. It is high time that the Mount Kenya region sobered up on this fact.
The Majimbo system will give Kenya a chance to officially accept tribal politics and bring sanity to the political system in that respect. It will sanitize the politics of Kenya and bring order to the country. It will also bring equity and quench the thirst for power and influence toKenya's myriad of various grand standing political chiefs as well confine them to teh regions of acceptance.
One option is to have the Majimbo system based on the current provincial boundaries. If that does not augur well to the tribes, Kenya can have the following regions:
Worse still, the Kibaki-Raila coalition will not break until 2011 in readiness for the explosive 2012 elections. For they are held together with the glue of hefty allowances and salaries, looting the public coffers and corruption scandals to enrich themselves and their immediate families. The 2012 elections has already been predicted to be a christmas party in respect to post election violence and rigging for no reforms will be implemented by then.
To aggravate the situation, Kenyans and their leaders are tribal before measure. What Koigi wa Wamwere referes to as negative ethncity. It is an irrepairable condition that has been perfected by Kibaki-Raila coalition to divide and rule Kenya. The tribal diversity no longer holds Kenya together, it degenerates it at a fast pace.
The only solution to this grave condition that Kenya finds itself in is a Majimbo system of governance. It is high time that the Mount Kenya region sobered up on this fact.
The Majimbo system will give Kenya a chance to officially accept tribal politics and bring sanity to the political system in that respect. It will sanitize the politics of Kenya and bring order to the country. It will also bring equity and quench the thirst for power and influence toKenya's myriad of various grand standing political chiefs as well confine them to teh regions of acceptance.
One option is to have the Majimbo system based on the current provincial boundaries. If that does not augur well to the tribes, Kenya can have the following regions:
- Mount Kenya Jimbo
- Pwani Jimbo
- North Eastern Jimbo
- Nairobi Jimbo
- North-Rift Jimbo
- Central-Rift Jimbo
- South-Rift Jimbo
- Luo-Nyanza Jimbo
- Kisiiland Jimbo
- Bukusuland Jimbo
- Western Jimbo
Each state should have its own taxation system, parliament and other governance structures within the financing ability of the jimbo.
Each state should contribute a certain percentage of its income to the central state mainly to run a lean central government, parliament and foreign affairs department. Resources should be from the Majimbo to the central government and not from the central government to Majimbo.
The head of the central government will be a two-year rotational among the jimbo presidents and the central parliament will consist of three nominees from each jimbo.
I believe this will save Kenya from the circus of tribal politics and from disintegration; or at least Kenya will disintegrate in style.
Each state should contribute a certain percentage of its income to the central state mainly to run a lean central government, parliament and foreign affairs department. Resources should be from the Majimbo to the central government and not from the central government to Majimbo.
The head of the central government will be a two-year rotational among the jimbo presidents and the central parliament will consist of three nominees from each jimbo.
I believe this will save Kenya from the circus of tribal politics and from disintegration; or at least Kenya will disintegrate in style.
Don't you see this will divide Kenya into tribal jimbos and hence create a sitiwation where tribalism will ensure that some jimbo (read tribe) will be locked out of the government completely? Majimbo is not good for Kenya. It's bad bad bad.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of majimbo is not as bad as people perceive it to be. The big question is, not whether majimbo is good or bad but, which type of majimbo (federalism) is suitable to transcend kenya's ethnic problems? Whether economic, cooperative or democratic federalism, the problem at hand should determine the right majimbo to apply. No one wants, or is being asked, to lose their ethnic identity. However, if this identity based on ethnicity will only come at the expense of a greater 'Kenya' then something (not sure what) will have to be done to address it. Kalonzo got my vote for one simple reason...economic federalism. I have to admit at first i was quite skeptical whenever i heard the term 'majimbo', but I guess I was one on a long list of pessimists. I have spent much time since then reading about the idea of 'economic federalism' and I have to say it solves the current idea without vanquishing a representative state/republic which is what kenya has been. I implore you not to take my word for it, go through various literatures about the idea and make up your mind. There is an article on www.jstor.org titled 'Rethinking Federalism' by Robert P. Inman and Daniel L. Rubinfeld, just read it. It gives the basic concept behind economic federalism.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I quite understand what people mean when they say majimbo.
ReplyDeleteBut I do think it helps a lot to keep things simple and call for some kind of governance arrangement that devolves political and economic decision making (and responsibility) to levels below the national. We dont necessarily need to read what American public choicers (much respect to them!) write, but just look to our west (Uganda) and South (Tanzania) or far West (Mali, Burkina etc) to get some empirical examples of possibilities. Let's analyze those, to see whether they are crafted to solve problems similar to ours, to gauge what works and doesnt and to go ahead and design our very own.
Note that I purposely dont mention Ethiopia's ethnic federalism.