Kenya: Can’t beat ‘em? Amend ‘em.

Posted on February 21st, 2008 Jack 1 comment  Print This Post

Last month, incumbent Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki stole an election from Raila Odinga. Ethnic violence rocked what papers have been calling an island of “stability.” It appears the leaders have found a solution, to use the term loosely:

The rival political parties in Kenya have nearly finalized a deal to end the political crisis that has kept this country on edge for almost two months, with the government agreeing to create a prime minister position, one of the opposition’s key demands, a high-ranking government official said Thursday.

According to IHT, the prime minister will “coordinate and supervise government functions” while the president remains head of government. The PM’s survivability is still up for grabs, not that it matters. If the president is head of government, doesn’t that mean he’s numero uno when it comes to forming cabinets?

This is a stop-gap measure. Based on what we know now, it makes Odinga a figurehead in a nominal power-sharing arrangement. Hopefully it will signal ethnic combatants to demobilize.

But the accord does little for stability. Kibaki, an usurper, will hold the cards of governance. The agreement is only as good as the men’s will to rule by consensus. Were others to fill those offices, the entire arrangement could come into question. It blurs the separation of powers.

Kibaki signaled to Kenyans that elections don’t matter. In the longer term, the agreement doubles the blow to democratic legitimacy. When there’s a succession crisis, rejigger the most fundamental institutions.