L. Muthoni Wanyeki

Following the violence of 2007/8 in Kenya, a host of initiatives, purporting to address what is wrongfully termed ‘negative ethnicity’, came into being. Parliament proceeded to pass the Ethnic and Race Relations Act, which established the National Cohesion and Integration Commission.

Abdullah al-Faisal, the Jamaican Muslim preacher dubbed the 'hate cleric' by the media, is finally gone.

A friend working in a post-conflict situation entertained us thoroughly over the holiday. She works for a United Nations mission in an African country – let’s call Kajamhuri – and follows the rule of law sessions of that mission. Her stories of what is happening there had us in fits.

The Harmonised Draft Constitution is finally out! And now we all have 30 days to read it and submit any last comments we might have on the same before the process moves from the Committee of Experts (CoE) to Parliament.

Graça Machel arrives in Kenya this weekend. Not, this time, in her capacity as a member of the mediation team, but as a member of the Panel of Eminent Persons overseeing the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) responsible for that process in Kenya.

It would have, I suppose, been too much to hope for. That the Committee of Experts (CoE) charged with determining options to resolve the so-called ‘contentious issues’ with respect to constitutional reforms would be allowed to proceed with their work unhindered. This is Kenya, after all.

Last week, the BBC broke a story pointing to the possibility that both the Kalenjin and the Gikuyu communities in the Rift Valley are arming themselves with conventional weapons.

He finally did it. Justice Aaron Ringera finally resigned last week, ending a shameful and unnecessary stand-off between the Kenyan president and parliament, shameful and unnecessary for many reasons.

One would be forgiven for thinking that about half of Kenya’s Cabinet was in New York this past week. Ostensibly, the ministers, assistant ministers and various official hangers-on were attending the United Nations General Assembly Special Session – this year focused on climate change.

We may be mad at the Kenyan parliament for many things. The outrageous remuneration the House has accorded itself. Its refusal to stand up for justice for the families of the dead and displaced during last year’s political crisis.