Oh No! Not Another Promise...

The Nation reports that President Mwai Kibaki, meeting with Electoral Commissioners yesterday, promised that the government would not interfere in the operations of the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK). Now, them's fightin' words!

This President has a habit of prefacing each of his betrayals with a promise not to do the same. For example, in April 2003, when opening the Constitution review talks, the President promised that his government would "not interfere with the review process". Less than 7 months later, he sent mounted police to stop Prof Yash Pal Ghai and a group of delegates from reopening the third sitting of the national conference at the Bomas of Kenya. His litany of broken promises (both to the public and his fellow politicians), and the fact that he has recently torn up the 1997 IPPG "Gentleman's Agreement" which allowed the opposition a voice in the selection of ECK commissioners, is proof enough that this is another vow he has no intention of honouring.

Consider yourselves warned.

Iraqi Faces

See photo here (WARNING: Not for the faint-hearted)

AMMAN, 11 Feb 2007 (IRIN) - Though her name means ‘the sun’ in English, 18-month-old Shams may never be able to experience sunlight in her life again. Half her face was blown away in an explosion in Baghdad, leaving her eyes buried under badly burnt skin.

Shams was with her parents when three cars exploded in Al Sadr, the predominantly Shia area of Baghdad, last year. Her mother died instantly. Shams survived to become a living testimony of the brutality of war. Read More

While the primary responsibility for this tragedy lies with the heartless "insurgents" who constructed and detonated the car bomb, the US has to shoulder its share of the blame for her fate. Prior to the 2003 invasion, UN sanctions and Saddam's cruelty had already made life unbearable for the children of Iraq. But that must now seem like an idyllic time compared to the unending chaos that the country has been plunged into -largely by the myopia, incompetence and stupidity that characterised the US occupation.

Those, such as presidential hopeful Barack Obama, who are calling for a speedy US withdrawal should consider what that would mean for the likes of Shams. Do they really believe that her life would be more secure? And what of the US obligation to repair what it has so callously destroyed? Do they believe that that would be accomplished with fewer troops? On the eve of the invasion, then Secretary of State Colin Powell told President George W. Bush: "You break it, you own it". Obama and his fellow advocates of withdrawal want to disown the mess they have created. They are primarily concerned about American lives and American votes. The fate of innocents like Shams is of little value in their calculations.

Promising Candidates? Don't You Believe It!

Why do Kalonzo Musyoka, Raila Odinga, Musalia Mudavadi, Wiliam Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta want to be President of Kenya? Could they perhaps have some vision of how best this country can be governed for the befits of its citizens? Not if you believe Mbita MP Otieno Kajwang'. The Standard quotes him:

"Kalonzo’s supporters say he is the best, going by opinion polls. Mudavadi is being told he is a coward who left for Uhuru the other time so he must run to prove he is not. Raila’s people say he has struggled and supported other people for too long. The people of Rift Valley are investing in Ruto and he has to carry on. Uhuru is a party chairman, so if you tell him not to run, it is like killing his party."

The sad fact is none of these gentlemen is interested in my welfare (or yours, for that matter). They are too busy looking out for Numero Uno. The process of picking a presidential candidate offers a great opportunity for political parties to debate issues and work out their platforms. An opportunity that is being wasted. I expect that come election day, we will be inundated with half-baked pie-in-the-sky promises of the heaven that awaits us should we elect whoever is on the ticket. Promises that will surely not (and probably cannot) be kept as they were not the result of a deliberative process but were "roadside declarations" made with little thought of their implications.

Aren't these guys supposed to be better than the septuagenarians they are trying to remove from office?

PS
The thought of 420,000 delegates converging in Nairobi from all over the country to select the party's candidate for President seems to be a recipe for chaos. Has anyone considered the logistics of coordinating such a huge gathering? Where would they all meet? How would they vote? Where would they sleep? Witness the fiasco that was the World Social Forum. And that was less than 100,000 people. However, I doubt that the party owners, making decisions in the luxury of 5-star hotels, lose any sleep over this.