Bunge la Mwananchi (The People’s Parliament) Pt. II

CHALLENGES

The growth in stature as well as membership has not been without challenges. The regular debates have been infiltrated and undermined by security agent’s as well as neoliberal middle class NGOs who are threatened by an organised grassroots social movement. Many of these NGOs have taken advantage of Bunge members’ disadvantaged status to corrupt and de-politicised the movement as many are unemployed thus without any form of consistent income to achieve their goals. This has given birth to an expression where critics of the movement have labelled it as ‘guns for hire’ due to the ease it takes for such civil society groups within Nairobi to mobilise BLM members to join their demonstrations in whatever cause at a fee. This image is intended to erode the movement as one that has no authentic cause to pursue in the community. In addition, because the movement has been known to be at the forefront of protesting against many government policies, the movement has also been labelled as ‘anti’ -establishment’ and –anything [9]. This is due to the fact that most of its major campaigns have been as a response to particular government policies or social problems such as droughts.

Another challenge that Bunge la Mwananchi faces is lack of coherent structures to unify the movements collective actions. Apart from the open space at Jeevanjee Gardens where its members regularly meet, Bunge does not have an office space to transact official matters or keep its documentation. This makes it very difficult to engage with many actors out of the movement as one has to rely on contact with specific members within the movement. On top of this, the fact that there is no central place where the movement keeps its records and other important documents, there is a clear danger that a lot of institutional knowledge and memory is lost over time. Closely related to this is the matter of leadership. As the movement relies on a core group of voluntary committee members who have to hustle on the sides to make a living, it is difficult to build a movement that can withstand the kind of pressures that come to bear on it as well as maintain its vision. Despite this, the BLM vanguard group based at the Jeevanjee Gardens continues to maintain contact with a number of Bunge social bases and established chapters in the countryside by organizing political activities together. Key leaders of these chapters are also invited to national political meetings and social gatherings such as the Bunge la Mwananchi grassroots leadership consultative forums, the movement’s Annual National Congress and Constituency Development Fund monitoring training programs with other like-minded civil society platforms in Kenya.

BUILDING ALLIANCES WITH SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENTS IN WSF

During the 2007 World Social Forum (WSF) held in Nairobi, Bunge la Mwananchi participated in organizing alternative Grassroots Social Forum at the Jeevanjee Gardens in protest a the high fee that was being charged at the main event at Kasarani Stadium. This event enabled Bunge to establish key contacts with global social justice movements within the WSF which facilitated the building of international alliances. Out of these contacts members have been invited to participate in WSF international council meetings, and anti-globalisation campaigns. Members have also been invited to international social transformation courses in South East Asia in Bangok at the Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute. Latin American social movements have also invited Bunge members to participate in international campaigns on social justice and anti-globalization in the global south. In 2011 February Bunge attended the second Africa World Social in Dakar through a Fahamu Pan-African Fellowship Program. This exposed the social activists to the global climate justice movement as well as the cancellation of debt movement with Committee for the Abolition of third world debt, CADTM during 2007 WSF in Nairobi and 2011 in Dakar,

In his paper, ‘Silences in NGO Discourse’ (2007) [10] Prof Issa Shivji argues that history is about the present and we must understand the present as history so to change the future. He argues over 500 years under slavery and as imperial colonies is at the heart of the present Africa bedeviled by extreme poverty and fractured nations. Under slavery, young and energetic men and women were uprooted from Africa to provide free labour in the Americas to provide raw materials for industrial Europe. During colonisation, African natural resources were extracted and shipped out of the continent once more to feed European industries. Unfortunately this trend continues even to the present day many years after the so-called independence. It is with this understanding that Bunge la Mwananchi with the support of the Nigerian High Commission and the Venezuelan Solidarity Committee organised a forum in Huruma, Nairobi on 9 August 2008. The forum was meant to remember and reconnect with African descendants in Latin America and remember the struggle to free themselves from the shackles of slavery

The 2007-2008 post-election violence greatly affected Bunge la Mwananchi’s chapters especially in Mathare, Kibera and Huruma in Nairobi. Outside Nairobi, members in Naivasha and Eldoret were also affected. Although post violence has been part of the Kenyan electoral process since the introduction of multi-party elections in 1992, the 2008 post-election shook the country to the core almost leading to the disintegration of the nation.[11] People were brutally murdered or maimed. Women were raped, property was looted and many people were displaced from their homes disrupting Bunge la Mwananchi’s networks. Many Bunge members displaced from their homes in Nairobi came to seek refuge at Jeevanje Gardens and the movement worked tirelessly in bringing slum dwellers and urban poor together in a peace initiative and reconciliation at the height of the post-election violence. Until today, Bunge members continue to debate the role the movement played during post-election violence, although the debates and discussion are characterized sometimes by the divisive position taken by various political formations during the current International Criminal Court trials at The Hague where three suspects are facing charges on crime against humanity related to 2007 post-election violence. [The suspects have been reduced to two with the withdrawal of the case against Uhuru Kenyatta] This was demonstrated at the Jevanjee Gardens during a BBC Radio Africa debate on international justice system broadcast in the month April 2012.

Bunge has continued to propagate the struggle for social change in Kenya through grassroots movements. In December 2008, Bunge’s Ongoza Njia Community Centre and other grassroots movements held a food and cultural festival at the Huruma Sports Ground to commemorate the International Human Rights Day. This helped members integrate their cultural values and creativity to foster peaceful coexistences appreciating Kenya’s diverse culture and historical heritage. It was during this event that members of grassroots movements present resolved to build alliances with other progressive forces in advancing the Unga @30/= campaign while demanding that members of parliament’s hefty allowances are taxed. This direct political action was to be realised on 12 December during the Jamhuri [Independence] Day celebrations by delivering the message to the Kenyan political class. These efforts led to the formation of Unga Revolution which popularised the Unga campaign through social media via twitter and a blog while anchoring the campaign on Article 43 in the new constitution. The Coalition Government was pressurised to implement the fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution. The highlight was a protest march on 31 May 2011 on Harambee Avenue, Nairobi, followed by a vigil at the same venue. The Kenya police led by the Nairobi Provincial Police Officer broke up the night vigil leading to arrest and injury of Unga Revolution members.

BUNGE LA MWANANCHI AND OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS NGOS AND CIVIL SOCIETY

Leigh Brownhill (2009) [12] argues that the relationship between social movements in Kenya can be described as of subsistence social relations. He says that there has been almost an unbroken century-long chain of subsistence social movements against neo-liberal globalization and capitalist enclosures. This subsistence has been the subsoil upon which revolutionary movements in Kenya have sprouted. A hostile environment defined by extra-judicial killing, arrests and illegal detention of members of grassroots movements has forced Bunge La Mwananchi to build strategic alliances with neoliberal human rights organization to challenge the impunity of the state sometimes at the risk of slowing down Bunge’s social liberations struggles. Thus even though Bunge understands that historically the civil society movement in Kenya has ideological limitations in advancing the struggle for social change at the grass roots level, it has nevertheless partnered with them at some strategic moments such as during the Unga Revolution campaigns. The social relationship with the civil society and political parties has helped Bunge la Mwananchi to continue holding debates at Jeevanjee Gardens even after threats and arrests of its members. These groups have always come out in defence by profiling cases of members of Bunge La Mwananchi as human rights defenders. [13] This has been critical in protecting the members of the movement from constant harassment and intimidation by the Kenya police. In all these interactions, Bunge has been able to retain its class character without being swallowed up by the middle class human rights organizations in Kenya with many challenges.

BUNGE LA MWANANCHI AND LIBERAL DEMOCRACY ELECTIONS

As opposed to some anti-globalization movements in Europe and North America and some popular social movements in Latin America that do not support struggles for state power, Bunge la Mwananchi believes in the principle of struggle for state power as a sphere. This is why five members of the movement participated in the 2007 general elections in Kenya. Out of the five, one was elected as a civic ward representative in Alengo Usonga in the now Siaya County. In 2008, working together with Fahamu Network of Social Justice, Bunge la Mwananchi trained members on advocacy in media and communication skills. In the same year Bunge la Mwananchi members organized alliances with political entities and political parties to form a united front to propagate an agenda for social change and alternative political leadership in Kenya in the name of progressive parties and social movement alliance (PROPA). These included the Kenya National Youth Alliance (KNYA), Safina Party, Social Democratic Party (SDP), Peoples Party of Kenya (PPK) and university students unions. In 2012 Bunge la Mwananchi’s Unga Revolution movement participated in the formation of a middle class political alliance called G47 to serve as a political platform for alternative political leadership to breathe new life to the new constitution.

During the 2013 general elections five members of Bunge la Mwananchi, including this author , vied for various political seats in the country. In Nairobi, this author contested the Mathare parliamentary seat on the Safina Party while Diana Awour contested the seat of Nairobi Women’ s Representative on the same party ticket. Leonard Otieno Oriaro vied for the position of County Assembly Representative, Central Alego in Siaya County, on the National Vision Party while Keli Musyoka vied for a similar position in Makueni County. In the same vein, Josephat Waema contested for a county assembly seat in Makueni County on the Chama cha Mwananchi party. Of the five, Leonard and Keli were successful in their bids. The rest were victims of the vagaries of the Kenyan ethnic political scene renowned for voter bribery, intimidation and rigging. Bunge la Mwananchi members did not have loads of money to mount colourful campaigns on top of trucks or convoys of cars while dishing out goodies such as T-shirts and money. Nevertheless, the fact that two members of the movement were able to overcome all these challenges and go through is very encouraging and gives the rest of the Bunge membership hope. Furthermore, Bunge believes that apart from winning elections, another objective why Bunge La Mwananchi participates and engages neoliberal elections is to broaden the struggle for social movements. It is an opportunity to take the messages and ideals of Bunge as an alternative political and social force to the people. This widens Bunge la Mwananchi’s base forming a critical mass to rely on in future elections.

CONCLUSION: REFLECTING ON THE NEW CONSTITUTIONAL DISPENSATION AND CHALLENGES IN FUTURE OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS STRUGGLES

The year 2010 was one of great hope as many patriotic Kenyans who had exercised their democratic right to make an appointment with great history in giving birth to a new constitution creating new legal and political framework to anchor the struggle of social justice and new democratic state in Kenya. Bunge la Mwananchi feels proud of its contribution towards realising this momentous achievement for the country by rallying its members to vote in large numbers during the decisive referendum in August 2010. Before that, for over a decade, Bunge worked alongside other actors in the trenches struggling for a new constitution in the country. After the promulgation of the new constitution in 2010, the big national question is how effectively social movements will demand that the state fulfils key provisions of the constitution. How will social movements make demands on the state to ensure that people’s livelihoods are assured, that they have access to food, quality education, shelter, health care, and clean water among other things?

How will the social movements ensure that devolution is not hijacked and captured by the corrupt and selfish politic elite? Prof Yash Ghai has argued that the constitution cannot achieve anything by itself. Like Marx’s commodities, it does not have arms and legs; it must be mobilized, acted upon and used [14]. Bunge believes that political necessity calls us to construct solid social movements to be the arms and legs to mobilize and organize the exploited masses to act and use the new constitutional framework to bring fundamental social change in Kenya. Furthermore, the new constitution has not altered the fundamentals of neo-colonial political economy that introduced Kenyan society to inequality and extreme poverty. Granted, the constitution has introduced a structure of devolved political and economic power in the 47 counties where 15 percent of the national budget is shared, among other provisions. This therefore creates a new political space for the right to organise and democratise development at the local level. Progressive forces and organic social movements must rise to the occasion to guard against a situation where we may end up devolving the elite capture to the local county assemblies and instead demand public participation and accountable political leadership. Like Prof. Yash Ghai , Bunge la Mwananchi believes that the opened space in 47 county governments calls for alternative political leadership and new strategy in grounding the peoples struggle within the new political environment. There is need to breath values to national institutions and this requires participation of social movements that will organize and democratize the state and inject values of patriotisms and accountability in public service. It requires that alliances be forged between trade unions, women’s, student’s movements, small farmers and fishermen cooperative movements.

This united front will form themselves into political forces to revitalize popular resistance rooted in mass grassroots movements to confront the inherently violent neo-liberal capitalistic economy that is the embodiment of the present day Kenyan economy. Bunge believes that there are great lessons to learn from its experience in community organizing; popular resistance; demand for social justice and respect for human rights with many campaigns located in the grassroots. Bunge further calls on progressive social forces and organic intellectuals to reflect and study the historical social movements that have engaged in democratic struggle and ushered multi-party politics in 1992. These movements include the December Twelve Movement (DTM) that evolved to Muugano wa Wazalendo wa Kuikomboa Kenya, Mwakenya, Mungiki movement that had its origin from Mwakenya, Release Political Prisoners (RPP), the Green Belt Movement, February 18 Movement (FERA) and Forum for Restoration Democracy (FORD). Others include the National Constitutional Executive Council (NCEC) which was the
collective leadership of National constituency Assembly (NCA) the constitutional reform movement. These and many other have shaped the terrain of political struggle in Kenya and learning from their triumphs, failures, mistakes , limitation will inform new theory of organizing and educate today social movements to engage better in the coming decades, for the unfinished national democratic revolution.

* Gacheke Gachihi, a veteran pro-democracy activist in Kenya, is an organiser with Bunge la Mwananchi (The People’s Parliament).

END NOTES

[9] See http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/79603
[10] Shivji, I. G. (2007). Silences in NGO discourse: The role and future of NGOs in Africa. Fahamu/Pambazuka.
[11] See Waki’s Commission of Inquiry into Post Election Violence report.
[12] Leigh. Brownhill. (2009). Land, food, freedom: struggles for the gendered commons in Kenya, 1870 to 2007. Africa World Press.
[13] See http://www.fidh.org/en/africa/kenya/Recent-threats-and-acts-of
[14] See http://africanarguments.org/2009/08/10/decreeing-and-establishing-a-constitutional-order-challenges- facing-kenya/