Grassroots activists take on the coalition government

One year on, as Kenyans look back, there is one question we must ask: how has the coalition government performed?

Following the national reconciliation dialogues held in January and February 2008, Hon. Kibaki and Hon. Raila, signed the National Accord which, amongst other things, created a new constitutional office – that of the prime minister, and set up a power sharing arrangement between the Party of National Unity (PNU) and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) – the grand coalition government. In forming the coalition government, aside from traditional government functions, President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga also assumed an extraordinary mandate clearly defined as a product of the preceding national reconciliation dialogues. In addition to the traditional seating-government mandate, the National Accord mandate included: exposing the past wrongs and punishing the wrongdoers; examining the election process; looking into post-election violence; and addressing long term social injustices.

WHAT IS THE SCORECARD OF THE COALITION GOVERNMENT?

Apart from ensuring the government works, it is difficult to pinpoint any achievements by the two principals. Kenyans face the same problems they faced in the pre-election and pre-National Accord period, if not worse. When our country spirals downwards unmitigated it is hard to think of positives to the Kibaki–Raila leadership worth writing home about.

Over 10 million Kenyans are ‘hungry and angry’ – suffering under famine they are reduced to eating wild berries, rats and tubers, and to feeding their children alcohol in order to cheat hunger pangs. Ethnic tensions over resources remains a reality whilst thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) still languish in camps. The IDPs are cold, hungry and forgotten – the women forced to exchange sex for food. Kenya remains trapped by the high crime rate that stems from massive unemployment and underemployment among its youth.

Kenyans labour under untenably high prices for food, basic commodities and fuel. There is continued instability within the informal settlements. Teachers are on strike over pay, triggering unrest in schools, as political elites invest their energies in power struggles. Political impunity has escalated the endemic grand corruption scandals. This impunity is also articulated by the refusal of legislators to join the taxpayers’ army, the passing of the media gag law, and involvement of politicians in maize cartels (as Kenyans starve to death).

GRASSROOTS PEOPLE’S AUDIT OF THE COALITION GOVERNMENT

At the end of 2008, Bunge la Mwananchi (the Peoples’ Parliament) convened its national grassroots leadership at Shauri Moyo YMCA in Eastlands, Nairobi.

On the agenda were issues of immediate urgency:

- Practical action to save millions of Kenyans from starvation
- Resettlement and compensation for IDPs
- Reducing the cost of living
- Security in the informal settlements.

Also discussed was the long-term need for a concrete ‘Marshall Plan’ to address the Mwananchi agenda, popularly referred to as National Accord’s agenda 4:

- The creation of employment
- Solving the land problem
- Poverty eradication
- Addressing historical injustices.

Further, grassroots leaders reported how Kenyans wanted to see the implementation of the Kriegler and Waki commission reports to end political impunity, harmonise public servants’ salaries and allowances, review the minimum wage policy to ensure pay commensurate with labour, and resolve wage disputes for public sector employees.

BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS AS THE MEASURE OF PERFORMANCE

As early as March 2008, Bunge la Mwananchi, through its network of community-based organisations, led a street procession that drew over 1,000 urban poor into Nairobi’s city centre in frustration over their hunger from sky-rocketing prices of food and basic commodities. The procession’s rallying call was the demand for unga (maize flour) to be reduced in price from KSh120 to KSh30 per 2kg bag. As the protesters marched through Nairobi streets to deliver their petition letter to Prime Minister Raila Odinga, chanting ‘unga for 30’, the police pounced, beating up women and children and charging six grassroots leaders with holding an illegal assembly.

DIRECT ACTION: A CHANGE OF TACTICS!

Almost immediately after the signing of the National Accord, it became clear that the coalition government was applying police brutality, arrests, threats and intimidation against citizens who exercised their constitutional rights to freedoms of assembly and expression. Government security often violently disrupted lawful and peaceful public meetings and street processions before the protest message could be delivered. In the face of this repression, the Bunge la Mwananchi leadership sought creative ways to organise the citizenry to dramatise their dissatisfaction.

ODINGA’S KIBERA HOMECOMING PARTY

When Prime Minister Odinga announced his homecoming party at his Kibera constituency, the Bunge la Mwananchi leadership held secret meetings with Kibera community leaders and distributed thousands of flyers to Kibera residents a couple of days before the rally.

On arrival in Kibera, Odinga’s motorcade was met with chants of ‘Unga! Unga! Unga!’ During the rally, attended by over 50 members of parliament and widely aired in local media, Kibera residents broke a long tradition of passive listening. Instead, through chants of ‘Unga!’, they forced the politicians to listen. The political leaders abandoned their prepared speeches and talked about the people’s real issues.

Odinga could not persuade his constituents to respond to his ODM party’s slogan of ‘Chungwa! Maisha bora!’ until he promised to look into the food situation. The following day he was met with similar protests in his tour of Nairobi’s Eastlands area. Reacting to public pressure, Odinga convened an emergency food security meeting to which Maize Millers, the minister for finance, and the minister for special programs were summoned. The minister for agriculture, William Ruto, had to cancel his ministerial trip abroad to participate. From this meeting the government came up with a ‘feed the nation’ programme to subsidise maize flour, lowering the consumer price from Ksh120 to Ksh 52(for the poor) and Ksh 70 (for the rich).

JAMHURI DAY CELEBRATIONS

Following the ‘unga for 30 shillings’ mobilisation, the clarion call was expanded to include ‘ushuru’ (taxation on MPs’ allowances). In the run up to Jamhuri (Independence) Day celebrations, Bunge la Mwananchi, in partnership with other civil society groups, organised a three-day civil direct action plan from 10 to 12 December. The direct action objectives were:

- To dramatise food insecurity and the high cost of living
- To demand that MPs pay taxes
- To protest against the proposed new law to gag the media.

The Jamhuri Day direct action was preceded by secret community forums, where citizens dialogued over pertinent issues and decided to make known their displeasure at the miserable performance of the grand coalition government. Thousands of Kenyans filled up Nyayo National Stadium on Jamhuri Day. During speech time, President Mwai Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka were all met with the choruses of ‘Unga! Ushuru!’ from the crowds.

The action culminated in one activist, Fredrick Odhiambo, terminating the president’s speech dramatically with an attempt to hand Kibaki a petition letter. Over 60 activists were arrested, including prominent radio presenters, for wearing black t-shirts that stated ‘No taxes for MPs: No Taxes For Us!’

A week later, a similar attempt by Kisumu residents to petition the president and prime minister at Kisumu airport failed.

Alongside the mass direct actions described above, Bunge la Mwananchi harnesses communication and media outreach strategies that include:

- Writing petition letters to specific leaders, and posting them online
- Writing letters to Editors of daily newspapers
- SMS (text message) campaigns
- Press statements
- Public forums to communicate people’s issues.

THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES

To our sadness, the struggles that Kenyans risked their lives for have not dissipated. In some cases, they have worsened:

- Food: Although we campaigned for 2kg maize for KSh30, the government’s intervention gave us only KSh52 (for low income earners) and KSh72 (for high income earners). The questions millions of poor Kenyans are now asking is: Why the difference in prices? Why can’t the price go down further?
- Hungry and angry Kenyans also ask: When will the maize for the poor get to the shops? Basic commodity prices are still high. Many families still cannot access food. And it is now official: the Kenyan Red Cross reports three deaths from starvation and President Kibaki has declared that 10 million Kenyans are at risk of death from hunger. Our media reports on the shameful state of thousands of poor households on the skip-a-meal programme. In all corners of Kenya, the question that begs answers is: Why should the coalition government stay in power if they cannot at minimum ensure food security for all Kenyans?
- Fuel: While we campaigned for the petrol pump price to come down to KSh65 per litre, it has only been reduced to KSh79. Threats of fuel scarcity loom whilst the industry is still riddled with scandals. The government’s failure to purge fuel cartels and to regulate the industry strongly suggests that the profiteers are well-placed individuals in the coalition government. All factors considered, there remains no reason why the petrol pump price cannot be reduced to KSh65. In addition, an estimated 15 million urban poor use kerosene for cooking. Considering the already high cost of living, why can’t the coalition government ensure that the price of kerosene is further reduced?
- MPs taxation debate: Taxes fund national projects such as roads, schools and hospitals among others. Kenyans who earn less than KSh10,000 per month endure compulsory philanthropy, through tax deductions from their pay, to pay for public infrastructure. Don’t MPs use the roads far more than the ordinary Kenyan? Why should poor citizens pay taxes to feed a ‘fat cabinet’ while they starve? Why are legislators, who used to be human rights activists, not leading the way in writing tax cheques to Kenya Revenue Authority?
- Media: The media serves the whole of society and not just the politicians. The media has done well in its work of telling stories of citizens’ struggles, especially spotlighting legislators’ refusal to pay taxes. The assault on the media remains a concern in the fight to tame the excesses of political leaders and the state.

WHAT NEXT?

It is not surprising to see public opinion list food insecurity, corruption, unemployment, tribalism and poverty among our nation’s biggest problems. Overall, however, we have come to see that our problems can be summarised by two words: bad leadership.

Our country is in the death grip of a calamitous leadership that has failed utterly to meet the most pressing needs of Kenyans. The never-ending bickering of the political class, the blame games and early posturing for the 2012 elections; there is an all-consuming greed for power. All the while, Kenyans starve.

Kenya’s extraordinary problems require new thinking – creative and versatile. We cannot afford leaders with no vision and no dreams for the good of all Kenyans. We need a leadership based on values, principles and action – the unchanging cardinals of life.

* George Nyongesa is a community organiser who works with Bunge la Mwananchi, a grassroots movement which aims to fight social injustice and promote accountable leadership in Kenya. He can be reached at [email protected].
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.