Kenyan Democracy
Freedom of expression should be absolute, or as absolute as absolute can be under democracies. This begs the question then, what is democracy? Instead of thinking up a wise and unique and awe striking definition that will be quoted for generations to come i will give you my definition of democracy. It is the minorities and the poor voting in the rich and elitist and sidelining the able and spirited to the periphery called the opposition and ruing their choices till the next electoral period where they repeat the cycle.
The notion that countries like North Korea,China,Taiwan and Japan are democracies surely show how skewered our thinking but mostly perception is. Let's take China for example. It was founded on Confucian teachings. Confucianism is based on the belief that human beings can be taught, can improve themselves and can attain perfection(Humanism). It is also non-theistic and thus there is no belief in a supernatural being.A delicate balance had to,however, be found between this and traditional Chinese culture. The main reason that the government warmed up to the western ideologies was because it was a tested and proven way of achieving industrial, economic and military advancements as opposed to being a government of,by and for the people. This explains why the government has no concern for individual rights and freedoms. The Confucian teachings also brought the beliefs that people should be ready to die or suffer for the sake of the greater good. The constriction has taken place in the form of media suppression,judicial control,social media monitoring,violent crackdowns,illegal detainment among other ills. This country however qualifies as a democracy on the History books that we all had to read in order to have world knowledge and to be empowered. What exactly were we and are children now supposed to learn? The conflation of democracy and power has been debunked by the economic successes of the four tigers(Hong Kong,Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan) and thus it is not the only avenue of success. Our form of government was bestowed upon us by the generous British who 'discovered' Mt.Kenya and were generous enough to save us from the inconceivable life that was uncivilisation but now that we are over fourty years old as a country and have tried absolute democracy and still lie in the wasteland of the third world state, why don't we determine where and how we will get to our vision 2030?
In my humble opinion, the right mix between Western democracy and autocratic control would be the best way forward for third world countries. Democracy allows us to choose whoever we want Irregardless of how morally and otherwise impoverished they may be. 'An Enemy of the people' by Henrik Ibsen could perhaps properly bring to light my way of thinking which may be controversial to say the least. A pure-bred horse and another of it's kind yield racing perfection. A mongrel and a mongrel bring to life a dog lacking in intelligence,looks or the genetic traits that would make it useful for anything other than roaming the streets and bringing children like i, so long ago, companionship. Why would the same conclusion reached about human beings bring such an uproar? Simply put in the sphere of leadership, there are cocker spaniel men and there are mongrel men, all necessary in society. In the animal kingdom,there are leaders and there are followers. This means that some were born to lead and some born to follow and reaching this conclusion may help make our lives so much easier. There are intelligent people in this world and some less intelligent(use of any stronger word would be offensive to those the latter,if they understand it,that is.)
Why do we give ourselves the freedom to choose whoever we feel like to office yet there may be the more unpopular candidate who would do a better job? Some will argue that intelligence cannot be measured accurately so let me call the spade so. Musical talent and ability is impressive but if that's all one's got, i forgot the incredible decision making powers wielded by the might trumpet, or was it the violin? I must have also forgotten how the penalty taking ability helps resolve food insecurity or how some horribly grotesque and sometimes bovine paintings help determine international policy. Don't get me wrong. I am all for freedom of the press,the judiciary,freedom of expression(which i enjoy most) and all the other freedoms but i am against putting any Tom, Dick or Harry into leadership and decision making.
I suggest a knights of the round table kind of arrangement who would have carte blanche in their decisions only supervised by the prime minister. I would suggest a centralized system where decisions can be made and implemented without hue and cry from all corners of the country. My proposals here are made on the assumption that the common man does not know what is good for him and thus should not be allowed to join in the decision making process on important national issues. This has been seen clearly in our beloved republic where time and time again we vote in corrupt and inept leaders. In the beginning stage of any democracy,dictatorship is always a necessary element as the allure of power attracts many and the country can only be led by one at a time. The late Mzee Kenyatta was our first dictator(president) and faced stiff opposition from people who thought that they could do a better job and that he had gotten the job on a silver platter due to the fact that he was one of the few educated people in Kenya. Had he been soft, coups would have been the order of the day. I would also suggest the abolition of the office of the president. In Africa that office had come to mean absolute power,tyrannical rule,lack of accountability and grand corruption. The 'knights' would be technocrats in their various fields and would make decisions about the economy and would be following some form of ideology(preferably the amalgamation of appropriate ones suitable to our social-economic need, forgotten traditional virtues and economic growth direction). They would need some form of control which i would suggest in a parliament(that would have limited roles and abilities.)Anti-liberal policies would be enacted e.g controlling the interests rates on loans to specific sectors and industries and sectors to below average rates to spurn growth and encourage exports. Market control would also exist enabling specialization which very many African countries have been unable to do making them a Jack of no trade. This,though in its raw form could be improved and i believe would help us to achieve Kenyan Democracy, one not in the text books but if done rightly, could re-write history.
The notion that countries like North Korea,China,Taiwan and Japan are democracies surely show how skewered our thinking but mostly perception is. Let's take China for example. It was founded on Confucian teachings. Confucianism is based on the belief that human beings can be taught, can improve themselves and can attain perfection(Humanism). It is also non-theistic and thus there is no belief in a supernatural being.A delicate balance had to,however, be found between this and traditional Chinese culture. The main reason that the government warmed up to the western ideologies was because it was a tested and proven way of achieving industrial, economic and military advancements as opposed to being a government of,by and for the people. This explains why the government has no concern for individual rights and freedoms. The Confucian teachings also brought the beliefs that people should be ready to die or suffer for the sake of the greater good. The constriction has taken place in the form of media suppression,judicial control,social media monitoring,violent crackdowns,illegal detainment among other ills. This country however qualifies as a democracy on the History books that we all had to read in order to have world knowledge and to be empowered. What exactly were we and are children now supposed to learn? The conflation of democracy and power has been debunked by the economic successes of the four tigers(Hong Kong,Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan) and thus it is not the only avenue of success. Our form of government was bestowed upon us by the generous British who 'discovered' Mt.Kenya and were generous enough to save us from the inconceivable life that was uncivilisation but now that we are over fourty years old as a country and have tried absolute democracy and still lie in the wasteland of the third world state, why don't we determine where and how we will get to our vision 2030?
In my humble opinion, the right mix between Western democracy and autocratic control would be the best way forward for third world countries. Democracy allows us to choose whoever we want Irregardless of how morally and otherwise impoverished they may be. 'An Enemy of the people' by Henrik Ibsen could perhaps properly bring to light my way of thinking which may be controversial to say the least. A pure-bred horse and another of it's kind yield racing perfection. A mongrel and a mongrel bring to life a dog lacking in intelligence,looks or the genetic traits that would make it useful for anything other than roaming the streets and bringing children like i, so long ago, companionship. Why would the same conclusion reached about human beings bring such an uproar? Simply put in the sphere of leadership, there are cocker spaniel men and there are mongrel men, all necessary in society. In the animal kingdom,there are leaders and there are followers. This means that some were born to lead and some born to follow and reaching this conclusion may help make our lives so much easier. There are intelligent people in this world and some less intelligent(use of any stronger word would be offensive to those the latter,if they understand it,that is.)
Why do we give ourselves the freedom to choose whoever we feel like to office yet there may be the more unpopular candidate who would do a better job? Some will argue that intelligence cannot be measured accurately so let me call the spade so. Musical talent and ability is impressive but if that's all one's got, i forgot the incredible decision making powers wielded by the might trumpet, or was it the violin? I must have also forgotten how the penalty taking ability helps resolve food insecurity or how some horribly grotesque and sometimes bovine paintings help determine international policy. Don't get me wrong. I am all for freedom of the press,the judiciary,freedom of expression(which i enjoy most) and all the other freedoms but i am against putting any Tom, Dick or Harry into leadership and decision making.
I suggest a knights of the round table kind of arrangement who would have carte blanche in their decisions only supervised by the prime minister. I would suggest a centralized system where decisions can be made and implemented without hue and cry from all corners of the country. My proposals here are made on the assumption that the common man does not know what is good for him and thus should not be allowed to join in the decision making process on important national issues. This has been seen clearly in our beloved republic where time and time again we vote in corrupt and inept leaders. In the beginning stage of any democracy,dictatorship is always a necessary element as the allure of power attracts many and the country can only be led by one at a time. The late Mzee Kenyatta was our first dictator(president) and faced stiff opposition from people who thought that they could do a better job and that he had gotten the job on a silver platter due to the fact that he was one of the few educated people in Kenya. Had he been soft, coups would have been the order of the day. I would also suggest the abolition of the office of the president. In Africa that office had come to mean absolute power,tyrannical rule,lack of accountability and grand corruption. The 'knights' would be technocrats in their various fields and would make decisions about the economy and would be following some form of ideology(preferably the amalgamation of appropriate ones suitable to our social-economic need, forgotten traditional virtues and economic growth direction). They would need some form of control which i would suggest in a parliament(that would have limited roles and abilities.)Anti-liberal policies would be enacted e.g controlling the interests rates on loans to specific sectors and industries and sectors to below average rates to spurn growth and encourage exports. Market control would also exist enabling specialization which very many African countries have been unable to do making them a Jack of no trade. This,though in its raw form could be improved and i believe would help us to achieve Kenyan Democracy, one not in the text books but if done rightly, could re-write history.
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