PLO Lumumba: How to fix the squabbles we face after every election

In an exclusive interview with Spice FM, PROF PATRICK LOCH OTIENO (PLO) LUMUMBA, a prominent constitutional lawyer, gives tidbits on how best the political conflicts in the country can be addressed and why we need to relook into our democracy structures through serious negotiations.

You have in the past advocated for restructuring and restoration of our democracy and democratic institutions that will ensure that the liberty and freedoms of Kenyans are secured

Yes, it’s true.  In fact, I no longer use the term democracy because for me, I think it misrepresents what we really want as Kenyans.

After the fall of Berlin Wall, the Western allies came and told us that democracy means i) you must have multi-party politics, ii) you must have periodic elections iii) you must have civil society. I now use the word governance more. In my view, governance is capable of addressing the specificities of a different country.

Look at your typical post-colonial African states; they are multi-ethnic and because of this, they are certain things you have to put into account which may not make sense in a mono-ethnic nation such as Denmark.

What really informs your suggestion in the Kenyan context?

We need to find a better system of inclusivity that will help us avoid the constant squabbles after each and every election.

Take for example a country like South Sudan which has five vice presidents. It may not make sense on the face of it but in order to preserve the nation that which does not make sense makes sense in that particular environment.

In the Kenyan context, we talk about political parties, but have you asked yourself if they are political parties in the classical sense? For most of the political parties you see around, each one of them has belonged to at least six political formations. This means they believe in no ideology. This explains why when a political leader; whom I will call a cult leader moves from one political party to another, all his followers also jump ship.

You have also strongly advocated for inclusivity in the governance system

Let’s face the reality; what we have in Kenya are ethnic clubs or personality cultism. The sooner we realise that governance must now address those specificities; the safer we are. We can actually built institutions that do that; institutions which recognise that these ethnic realities must be accommodated. Just for the feel-good effect.

Someone will be happy that his villager is a prime minister and this will make the country safer because of this. Another one will say we now have ministers and although they may have never met those ministers, they just feel good.

Therefore, the governance I am advocating for is one that addresses the specificities of our country.

You were among those who drafted the Constitution that is currently in place, didn’t you envision this problem of ethnic inclusivity?

When we did our last constitutional review which was promulgated in 2010, we thought that issues with ethnic marginalisation will end with the introduction of devolution. The purpose was that the devolved units could address many of the critical issues of governance and then the centre will remain very lean to deal with matters to do with defence, foreign affairs, and policy coordination issues.

However, the devolution model that we ended up with is one which is failing us.  First of all, the devolution units are too many.

The time is now to hold an honest conversation; what we are seeing now in the terms of negotiations are necessary but that is now in my view a truce so that we can stabilise.

Once we have stabilised, we have to get into serious negotiations for the future of the nation and ask difficult questions.

What do you make of the political leaders in our country? Can you say they are mature enough?

Definitely not; that is why I have actually been calling for political hygiene in Kenya. The second edition is called sanitising Kenyan politics.

What we have in Kenya are individuals whose desire for political office know no boundary, know no decency; they want to acquire political power by hook or crook.