Kenya is sliding back to authoritarianism

[John Githongo, CEO, Inuka Kenya Trust, and a former Permanent Secretary in the last government, made these remarks at the opening of the 4th Human Rights Watch Film Festival, 10 – 14 November 2014, Nairobi.">

Ladies and gentlemen, all protocols observed...

It is my singular honour to be invited to speak at the opening of this 4th Human Rights Watch Film Festival here in Nairobi. It is fitting that Human Rights Watch with global reputation and reach chose to set up in Nairobi four years ago. You came just in time for the deepest of ironies: that was the year Kenya promulgated one of the continent’s most progressive constitutions but at the same time basic rights that had been won through hard struggle especially in the 1990s had started to slide backwards.

AFRICA RISING

In truth across Africa and many other parts of the world the situation vis-à-vis basic human rights has been in decline. A democratic recession has gripped entire parts of the African continent even as we celebrate the narrative of ‘Africa Rising’ that is driven by consistently high levels of economic growth over the last two decades; a growing vibrant middle class; a massive bulge of educated energetic, healthy and globalized youth with the potential to power our economies to unprecedented levels. Africa’s tremendous wealth in natural resources and the world’s huge hunger for them has been a major factor in creating potential confluence of positive factors. Add to this the fact that most of Africa democratized in the early 1990s and then on paper there is the notion that the conditions are beginning to come together that would create a situation of countries that are stable and governed via systems of that have the principles of social justice embedded in them.

This film festival is important because film speaks to the soul in ways and with a power that other mediums cannot. The festival will showcase films covering a range of issues of great import to us right now: from transparency in the extractive sector to gender violence.

CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER

For Kenya this festival and its focus on rights could not be happening at a more apt time. I say this because unfortunately over the last two years we have endured the reversals in human rights in some areas and our current government has often made it clear that some of the rights Kenyans have come to take foregranted are at best an inconvenience and at worst a risk to national security. While the messages are often mixed and confusing it would seem that there are those within the regime – a minority it would seem - determined to craft Kenya into a militarized authoritarian state wrapped in the national flag and all the rituals and propagandised narratives of virulent nationalism.
And so there are specific reasons why we should be concerned about Kenyan the general environment with regard to rights and freedoms:

I. Apparently dissatisfied with the ability of the police to get things done, the government has increasingly militarized its response to what is now widely acknowledged as a dramatic deterioration in the security situation since 2012. Hundreds of policemen have been killed since then and the number of Kenyans who’ve been killed, maimed or displaced in the security operations number in the thousands. It would not be an exaggeration that in fully half the country even a Cabinet Secretary cannot simply climb into their car and drive there without special security arrangements being made. In some of these security zones ordinary citizens are being subjected to colonial type counter-insurgency operations. In Lamu for example, it is as if a decision has been taken to punish an entire community causing further alienation and resentment in an already volatile part of the country.

II. What started as a soft insurgency in large parts of the country after Jubilee took power has hardened in those parts of Kenya and among those communities that have borne the brunt of the government’s war against terror. The chasm between Muslims and the government has never been wider. Even in mature democracies, the war against terror feeds on the basic rights of citizens in a manner more widespread and to a depth unprecedented since the Second World War. Kenya’s military adventure in Somalia has not helped.

III. Both media and civil society have seen their democratic space shrink. Disassembling of the media has been subtler with commercial and political interests sometimes coinciding to create a situation where Twitter is considered the more reliable purveyor of truth than some traditional news outlets. The attack against civil society has been full frontal and unrelenting. That said, the leadership of Jubilee – with its roots in the KANU tradition - have no history of productive interaction with civil society.

IV. Their credibility damaged by taking political sides in the 2007 and 2013 elections, unsurprisingly, the mainstream churches have caught a flu that has caused them to lose their voices in support of the poor, marginalized and downtrodden in our society. Cynics argue, much of their energy is expended on investing in the real estate sector.

V. Extrajudicial killings by state agents has now become so commonplace its been normalized. Indeed, ‘disappearances’ no longer cause an outcry. If you are a Muslim preacher your life expectancy has been shortened by several years. Almost a year ago a State House official disappeared. It was discussed for some time then forgotten. The capacity to normalize the absurd is a very Kenyan thing.

VI. The ruling elite blow hot and cold and seems divided with regard to rampant corruption. With the discovery of oil the potential for the toxic mix of graft, tribalism and both organic and state- engineered insecurity to blow up in our faces has never been higher.

It helps to keep in mind that Kenya is about to become an oil producer and across the world generally speaking oil producing countries are allowed a lower standard when it comes to human rights, transparency and equity in governance than others. If you have oil the tolerance levels by the international community for authoritarianism rise.

The real challenge facing Kenya is employing the 1 million youth who enter the job market every year. This month the first batch of the Free Primary Education students (half a million of them) did their form four exams. Another 800,000 sat their standard eight exams.

All in all Kenya will keep HRW and the rest of us very busy over the coming few years but I can only join other Kenyans in wishing well in your work, thanking you for this Festival and offering to be of every assistance we can when you need it.

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