Kenya Has a Win-Win Choice in the Upcoming General Election.

An appeal for a peaceful, fair and credible democractic process. 

By Agou Anyieth Kur

As you go into the August general election, I want to draw your attention to something that might not be too obvious in all the current hustle and bustle towards the general election. This concept of mine as given away by the title of this article is that contrary to the zero-sum narrative coming from your political class and the media, I implore you to view the forthcoming general election as a win-win contest and a celebration of your democratic journey and self governance: Madaraka, as it is popularly known in your country.

“Siasa Mbaya"

In the East African region and other parts of the world, you have seen the suffering, destruction and death caused by Siasa Mbaya, to use the famous phrase by Mzee Daniel Arap Moi, the former president of Kenya. But what exactly is Siasa Mbaya? If it will help, let me disclose right away that, I, the author of this article, I am from South Sudan. That must have rung a bell in your head even if you haven’t been keenly following the political happenings across the region and around the globe in the past few years. At this very moment, the degree of human suffering happening in South Sudan is so despicable and unimaginable for this century. Innocent civilians are needlessly dying and starving because of a recklessly-played politics that disregards the aspirations that many South Sudanese had for their country. Syria and Yemen are comparable cases to South Sudan but I will stick to South Sudan for illustration since it neighbours your beautiful country and you possibly know it better than the two aforementioned countries. Having given this example, I hope I have laid bare the dire consequences of Siasa Mbaya without having to explicitly define it. From Siasa Mbaya, a chain of unfortunate events can transpire leading to an all-out war and needless suffering as is the case in South Sudan. When Thomas Hobbes, a 16th-century political philosopher wrote in his Leviathan about the state of war as being “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.”, I would say that he had South Sudan in mind.

A GREAT PRESIDENTIAL FIELD 

Despite the post-election doom and gloom being predicted by some pundits, how colourful the Kenya’s 2017 presidential field is should not go without getting noticed. It may appear obvious but it is worth the praise and pride of every Kenyan. From Mr. Mohammed Abduba Dida, to Dr. Ekuru Aukot, to the front-runner duo of Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga, Kenyans should be thankful of the diversity of the leadership that they can choose from and the state of their democracy. It is not perfect but it can get better. In my opinion, this current Kenyan presidential campaign is less nasty than the 2016 circus show that ended up producing Donald Trump as the president of the United States. 

I will pay much attention to the two front-runners for now since only both of them have considerably higher chances of winning the upcoming election in comparison to the rest. To begin with H E. President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, some may question his ability but only a few may doubt his kindness, sincerity and good intentions. To the young people in East Africa and across our continent, President Kenyatta is well respected for his modern views and his desire to make Kenya a more developed nation. Up to this point, he has done a hugely commendable job to that effect notwithstanding the corruption scandals that have been a little of a nightmare during his first term. Coming to the Former Prime Minister, the Rt. Honourable Raila Amolo Odinga, a lot of great things can be said about his illustrious career in Kenyan political scene. Very few opposition leaders across Africa come close in comparison. From his progressive views of the world to his lofty ideals of what Kenya can be going all the way to his contributions (alongside others) to ensure that Kenya gets on a multi-party democratic path, a progressive constition in 2010, it is not an easy task to find a living match for Raila across our continent. Having Uhuru and Raila among those from whom Kenyans can choose their president in the August 8 election is another thing that you my Kenyan brothers and sisters should be proud of. I think no sane Kenya would opt to trade leaders with North Korea (where there is no diversity of leadership to choose from) or Zimbabwe (where our once revered African elder has now clung on to the presidency and would not let go to allow for diversity of leadership and fresh ideas to chart the future).

Kenya still remains a beacon of hope, peace, progress and democracy irrespective of the happenings of 2007/2008. Your elections may not be perfect (and elections never are in most parts of the world)  but they are regular and your democracy is maturing with every election. 10-15 years from now, your democracy might be the closest thing to perfection in the whole of Africa. That is, of course, if you build on the constitutional progress of the past few years.  Any bystander, like I am, would seriously advise you not to squander that due to some short-sighted and hollow tribal vanity. You would not want your country to go the South Sudanese way.

NEVER AGAIN?

As the 2007 Election violence had taught you, I have heard voices ranging from ordinary Kenyans to leaders saying that "never again should Kenyans shed blood because of an election." But do you really mean those words?

Le me end with this recollection from 2008. When the National accord was signed, I was watching your parliament's special sitting when it approved the National Accord. Sometime around noon after the Kenyan army band had played the national anthem, they marched to the tune of the gospel song: "Baraka za Mungu kweli ni-za ajabu” , which translates to “the blessings of the Lord are truly miraculous.” That moment reflected your ideals and aspiration as a Godly nation of “Amani and Umoja” and it is what you should all aspire for ahead of the upcoming election.

Having said that, I implore you to go into the election knowing that Kenya is bigger than any individual or a group of leaders. Go into the election to celebrate your democracy because what matters is not the outcome but the process. Be proud that you are not a country ruled by dictatorship but through a respected constitution and the will of many ordinary wananchi. Don't mess your country up. 

Agou Anyieth Kur

Political and Communication Strategist living in Canada.

agoukur@gmail.com.

Dreams deferred: The plights of South Sudan Children.

by Agou Anyieth Kur

November 11th, 2016.

That the people of South Sudan are the most persecuted and among the world’s most suffered people for too long is not only a fact, but is dangerously becoming a normalcy. From one war to another, South Sudan is entangled in a cruel webs of conflicts with each surpassing the last one in atrocities, deaths and immense violations of the fundamental human rights. 

Civil war began simultaneous with the dawn of the independence of Sudan in 1955. For the last fifty years, the people of South Sudan have experienced two long civil wars, and the third civil war is into its forth year already. The first Sudan’s civil war started in 1955 to 1972. Then the second civil war broke out in 1983 until 2005 when the Sudan People Liberation Movement, the SPLM signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement with the Sudan government. This led to the referendum and finally the independence of South Sudan on July 2011. Sadly on December 15th 2013, the young nation of South Sudan plunged  once again into a conflict that has claimed more than  hundred thousand  lives according to the International Crisis Group.

While the statistics have become so numbing, it is important to remember that, behind those statics is the untold suffering of millions of civilians; women, children and innocent men. For the last fifty years, South Sudan have lost several generations to wars, diseases, ignorance and poverty. As I write this article, South Sudan stands as the country with the highest illiteracy rate, highest mother’s maternity rate and  the highest child mortality rate in the world. 

As the current civil war is going into its forth years, millions of children are out of school, languishing in refugees camps in the neighboring countries or slowly wasting away in the displaced camps with no food, no security, no basic healthcare and no hope whatsoever to break away from the iron grip of hopelessness.

So this bring us to the important question that South Sudanese people and their friends must ask themselves; what is there to hope for? The answer to that question is not self evidence to this author. However, a documentary by the aid worker ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9EZqw7dtdA ) is a “must watch” documentary and it narrates the lives of recently displaced refugees children and how their education has been interrupted by war. This documentary teaches us to look for hope in no other places than in the resilience and strength of South Sudan’s children. Like any children in the world, the children in the documentary exudes a rare optimism as their faces radian with smiles talked of their dreams of becoming doctors, lawyers, engineer and future leaders for their country and communities. Their resilience and optimism cannot be dismissed nor deferred any longer. Because if we are equal in the eyes of our maker and endowed with such rights as “Life, Liberty and pursue of happiness” then the dreams and hope of the children of South Sudan “are valid” and need not be deferred any longer. 

Finally, the last question therefore becomes, what can be done? In a sea of despair and uncertainty, life calls us not only to hope but to face the future with purpose and resolve. That is why the iHOPE initiative is not only important but also an essential endeavor to claim our hope and most importantly the dreams of the millions of our children, to reconcile and heal our divided nation.  

Agou A. Kur
Political and communication consultant. 

Going Back to The Basics: There is need to Re-examine the State of Affairs in South Sudan

by Agou Anyieth Kur

When individual loses direction, if an organization fails to achieve a goal, and when a nation falters and in a verge of collapse as our country is now in, the right thing to do is to go back to where they began. The same thing is true for us, South Sudanese; we need to go back to our basics; the historical aspirations and the ideals that made us came together as a nation in the first place. In order to heal, reconcile and move forward, we have to go back to our ideals of unity, equality and justice. In my opinion, the followings are our "basics" or starting points. First, we all will always be and remain South Sudanese and no one can deprive us of that identity. Secondly, the people of South Sudan alongside other marginalized people of the then whole Sudan were once united in their dignified struggle for freedom, justice and equality. The struggle took a lot of sacrifices in term of lives, property and time-more than fifty years. The long struggle for freedom earned us good will among the nations and peoples of the world such that when we achieved our independent, almost the whole world rejoiced with us. Our struggle was basically about freedom and dignity of people and that put us on the right side of the history and of justice. In essence we were the modern day "the Biblical children of Israel". And so when we hoisted our flag on the July 9th 2011, it was as if the earth and heaven have united in witnessing good triumphing over evil. All of us; South Sudanese, were arguably, the happiest of peoples the world over that day.

Then came December 15th 2013, when the current conflict erupted, the hell broke loose and furry, anger,  strife and death were unleashed in our nascent country. What happened?  Why did it happen? And how do we end this mess? are some of the questions that continue to haunt us today and we are not yet sure whether the newly struck deal would finally give us the answers and the solutions we have been looking for. Time, being the genius it is, will eventually tell us that. Books, articles, and documentaries have been produced and will continuously be produced about how our country descended and spiraled into the abyss. Mind you, I even wrote one myself about seven months before the conflict. I had an article published on May 12th 2013 on The South Sudan nation titled: ''The South Sudan Coming Apocalyptic Election of 2015''. I was not the first or the last because many people, both South Sudanese and others had warned that the country was sliding into anarchy. The writing was there on the wall for all to see. But we buried our heads in the sand and even escalated the downhill falling by a series of reckless decisions and “bad politics”.

Now that we are in this mess, the humble pleas of this author through agoubasics.blogspot.com, is to stop and reflect. South Sudanese need to look how far they have come, where we are currently and where we want to go. We seriously need to reflect on our painful and historic struggle: the loss, the headache and humiliation at the hands of the various Khartoum regimes. We need to remind ourselves of our shared identity and culture, our aspiration and hopes for freedom. The values we hold so dearly both traditional values of respect, dignity, honesty and hardwork and the political values we rightly acquired such as the love for self governance, respect for the rule of law and inclusive political participation. These are the values and dreams our people died for and for those of us living will “die for if need be”. It doesn’t matter what side of the divide one may be at the moment whether you are supporting the “constitutionally elected government” or you are “fighting for justice and democracy” as the two sides continue to claim. We all need to reflect.

We have to admit that no matter how justified our position, the truth is;  in this conflict many horrible atrocities have been committed by both sides. Thousands have died, cities, towns and villages have been destroyed and wiped out. The bonds that held our society together have been torn asunder. That is the basic and glaring truth we have to accept. We have to recognize that no positions nor cause was worth fighting and dying for in this way. It is the sad truth of this conflict that our people have died in vain either protecting someone’s presumed position or to advance some one’s ambition or innocently while having nothing to do with Kiir and Riek's support.

My basic blog is therefore calling us to reflect on our history, struggle, our shared heritage, our values and our aspiration and dreams that made us to separate from the wicked ways of Khartoum. We have to admit that we have lost direction, have forgotten our shared identity and abandoned our values and dreams of dignity, freedom, justice, rule of law, inclusive political participation and equitable economic empowerment and prosperity. Those are the things several generations of our people fought and died for.

Through the “basic blogs,” I am like any other citizen giving his or her thoughts in the national dialogue the way every South Sudanese out there should have their views and air them. I believe such dialogue is key in trying to shape where we are heading. I will aim for plain and simplicity of things and no spin nor distortion of truth and I seek not to praise nor condemn anyone without any valid reason. I am just a humble citizen trying to get his voice heard; We all have to. I could only  hope that posterity can afford me a slide mention in the page of history as a citizen who just participated in the political discourse of his nation. For mine, in the words of American's war hero  Gen. Douglas MacArthur, is “Duty, honor and country”. I, therefore, Invite you my fellow country men and women to visit my blog agoubasics.blogspot.com and other blogs and forums out there dealing with the national dialogue that is going on. In these difficult times that “tries the souls of men” let's reflect and listen to each other. For only through honest dialogue shall we be able to overcome the challenges facing our nation and build it into a great place we all want it to be. We owe this to ourselves and our future generations. 

Agou Anyiet Kur
Political and Communication Consultant and the founder of HH Global Intel Inc.