Hard truths

A government delegation travelled to Geneva this week to respond to a U.N. report condemning police impunity, corruption and hundreds of extrajudicial killings in Kenya. U.N. special rapporteur Philip Alston's report was both condemned and cautiously accepted with some caveats by the government when it was released a few months ago -- a typically divided response from a coalition team at war with itself. These divisions were still festering as the team got ready to leave for Geneva to testify before the U.N. Human Rights Council. Prime Minister Raila Odinga's ODM party took umbrage because their people were not included in the delegation. Later, two of their members were added. But a joint position on the report was not hammered out until the team got to Geneva, and only then during late-night negotiations between the ODM members and those from President Mwai Kibaki's PNU.
In the end, the team -- which included Internal Security Minister George Saitoti, Attorney-General Amos Wako and Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo -- agreed to respect human rights and implement some of the recommendations of the Alston report. They did not, however, accept the special rapporteur's call for the Attorney-General and the head of police to be sacked.
So far so predictable.
What really got people talking in Nairobi was the cost of the trip -- helpfully totted up on the Daily Nation's front page. First class air tickets, hotel rooms and generous daily allowances for the 13-member team came to 5 million shillings, the paper said. "It remains to be seen if that is a prudent use of public funds at a time when the economy is on the decline and the Treasury is cutting costs to keep the country afloat," the Daily Nation opined, presumably tongue-in-cheek.
Of course, government officials must travel. It would be naive to think otherwise. But perhaps in a country where 10 million people risk going hungry especially in the dry, far-flung reaches of the north, where children are malnourished in urban slums like Kibera , where Nakumatt supermarkets have a permanent container where shoppers can donate maize, cereals and other necessities for the hungry, a humble gesture from the government -- like flying economy perhaps -- might be appreciated. It would be so easy and would play well in the press. It would also be the right thing to do and if morality is not your thing, one could imagine it might win over the hearts of some frustrated wananchi, the voters of tomorrow. You have to wonder if the failure to make any sort of gesture in these hard times shows arrogance, ignorance or naivety. It certainly makes one question the connection between those in power and the people they represent.
The second interesting thing about the Geneva jaunt was what Kilonzo told the U.N. Human Rights Council about ethnicity and tribalism -- the ghost at the table that influences so much in Kenya but whose name is rarely evoked, at least directly.
Kilonzo blamed Kenya's dire human rights record on unemployment and inequality. He may have been seeking scapegoats for the government's failure to end the culture of impunity that runs from filching company stationery and demanding bribes to shoot-to-kill policies among the police but Kibaki's team might justifiably be asked what they have done to substantively address these twin root causes. This aside, Kilonzo went on to deliver a startlingly frank assessment of Kenya's problems: "Ineffective justice and dispute resolution mechanisms continue to promote impunity which is complicated by low public confidence," he said. "To a large extent, ethnicity poses a significant challenge in Kenya where there is a weak sense of national values, and politics is mainly driven by ethnically-based party vehicles and coalitions."
He also sketched out a solution: "Kenya’s future as a nation depends largely on the resolution of a twin-challenge: the need to recognise and celebrate diversity, and the need to build a strong and cohesive national character."
It would be great if politicians from all parties pinned these words above their desks -- this kind of clear thinking may well be in short supply as the race for 2012 picks up pace.