Liberia’s recently concluded referendum in which all of the government’s propositions were defeated should be the impetus for a serious look at an overall revising of the Constitution. The original American “settler” constitution of 1847 was the de facto law of the

Read the rest of Liberia’s Racialist Constitution Needs Reform – By Michael Keating »

There is a renewed interest in a new constitutional order in Kenya. A bad constitution is blamed for the post-election crisis, allowing the president to pack the electoral commission with his cronies shortly before the election; a largely unaccountable electoral commission declaring presidential election results without proper counting or reliable records; enormous powers vested in the office of, or illegally appropriated by, the president; the centralisation of power in Nairobi; the lack of public participation; the lack of autonomy, effectiveness and legitimacy of state institutions, particularly those for accountability and justice, principally judges, police, prosecution and the attorney general; opportunistic political parties and unprincipled politicians; and resulting corruption and wide scale impunity. Continue reading →

Read the rest of Decreeing and establishing a constitutional order: challenges facing Kenya »

Kenyans are very suspicious of the rare unity between the Cabinet and the Parliament as they jointly dismiss calls for the prosecution of the perpetrators of post-election violence atrocities. This unscrupulous behaviour is not coincidental, but a well crafted strategy: the Cabinet and Parliament are distorting facts on the requirements for a local tribunal, in order to escape accountability. Politicians are satisfied that they are now sharing the spoils and that it is business as usual. They prefer to push the issues that contributed to the crisis under the carpet in order to focus on efforts to capture power in 2012. While we commend the Kenyan government for renewing efforts to enact the Special Tribunal to try those responsible for the 2007 election violence, we believe that nothing short of momentous symbolic shock therapy to the political elite would incentivize formation of an effective, independent and impartial Tribunal locally. Here, we believe the International Criminal Court (ICC) continues to have a major role. Continue reading →

Read the rest of Special Tribunal Enactment: Why Cabinet, MPs, are Misleading Kenyans »

Judges deal in fear, pain and death. However exercised, judicial power has a tremendous impact on the socio-economic, political and cultural systems of a nation. Kenyan masses remain alienated not merely by the foreign language and condescending demeanor of courtrooms but also the centralization of justice. Consequently, we must ask: is the quality of justice determined by the performance of an incumbent occupant of a judicial position? If so, who should appoint judges? What is to be done when the actions of a politically partisan Chief Justice cow an entire judiciary to bow to executive whims? Continue reading →

Read the rest of Incremental Judicial Reforms in Kenya »

It is not often that participants in ethnic cleansing confess to it openly, but William ole Ntimama has managed it twice: in a 1996 interview, and more recently. The brazenness of the impunity is revolting: it is natural to want accountability and reform, and equally natural to think we can have both. This, unfortunately, is a bit of a farce: stable reform and calling the violent to account are incompatible. Continue reading →

Read the rest of DIY Violence is Corrosive of Nationhood »

Nineteen months have passed since Kenya’s contested 2007 election, when the rapid re-inauguration of President Mwai Kibaki heralded an outburst of post-election violence – characterised by targeted attacks on ethnic ‘others’, an overzealous state security response, and retaliatory attacks on ‘aggressor’ communities – which left over 1,000 people dead and more than 350,000 displaced. The violence ended in February 2008, when a coalition government was formed, but ‘deep peace’ remains elusive and reforms unlikely. What is left is only rhetoric differentiating this administration from post-Mau Mau amnesia and investigative committees without reforms, as after the ‘ethnic clashes’ of 1991-1993. Continue reading →

Read the rest of Kenya Post-2008: The calm before a storm? »