Kenya is at a political cross road and sorting out its political crisis will give birth to a bright or dark future depending on the nature of the brokerage used. I can compare Kenya’s current stage of what appears to be its doomed transition to Rwanda’s Arusha talks. In the absence of having a brokerage mechanism that can bring forth a dispensation promising a win-win solution for the Kenyan politics, things might get hairy for its people. Kenyans need to think outside the box to get a positive outcome. Kenyans ought to also consider getting a regional solution to their stalemate. Kenya needs to closely look at how Rwanda came up with its political transition. In fact, I think that Kenyans should seriously consider using President Paul Kagame’s wise counsel,as he recently showed during a prayer breakfast in Nairobi. Kagame could help in mediating over the current stalement in Nairobi President Kagame can do this in his capacity as the current EAC chairman and as a senior leader on the continent . Commentators of Kenya’s murky political landscape have painted a very gloomy picture of East Africa’s largest economy. Commentator Kwendo Opanga of the Daily Nation for instance said that both the coalition leaders President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga should to be held accountable. It is easier said than done. This in itself has very serious implications. If this is not looked at carefully, this situation can snowball into a constitutional crisis and further chaos. Rwanda’s situation after the doomed Arusha Peace Talks is a case in point of what happens when there isn’t a political solution. Koffi Annan brokered what now appears to be a temporary, stalemate in Kenya’s transition. Since the two groups have not really come together I think Mr. Annan ought to hand over the torch to a more capable person regionally. President Kagame is not new to offering Kenyans advice on how they ought to move forward. As somebody living in Rwanda I can only tell Kenyans to try out the Rwandan ‘prescription’. Its dark past which has now been transformed into a brighter future ought to offer Kenyans with a critical insight on how they need to peddle through the Waki mess and more so how they can craft the country’s third rebirth. true leadership should be the criteria for selecting the peace broker. Kenyans are stuck just as Rwandans were stuck some time back. Examples about what I am calling a ‘Rwandan prescription’ for the Kenyan mess. For instance, the winner takes it all should be scrapped in future electioneering within the Kenyan political system. Rwanda’s example with its broad based governmental system offers one such an opportunity. The Westminster model of ‘winner takes all’ is not a politically sustainable arrangement for Kenya. Decentralization is another case. Rwanda has a fully devolved governance structures. Kenya is highly centralized. Centralization of power is one of the critical issues facing Kenyans as we speak. Kenya’s parliamentary system is colonial and a mess. There are other several examples which I have no space to talk about. Rwanda has developed homegrown solutions to charter its future destiny. Kenya’s should tap into this reservoir to inform its leaders on the way forward. ojiwah@gmail.com
