So a lot of ink has been spilled over the last few days over the Waki report. The general consensus, even among the typically skeptical echelons of civil society, is the report is well done. The Commission actually has a pretty decent website, but the report - of all things - is not available there. You can get the full version here.
There are now rumblings of an imminent split in the coalition government over how to handle the report (I highly doubt this will split the government…too many vested interests and no one is interested in REALLY rocking the boat). And of course their is the usual competition among the politicians to make the dumbest pronouncements about the whole thing (Ruto, the guilty are not afraid).
Sidebar: I’m wondering if Raila is hoping that this will finally give him the opportunity to nip the “Ruto problem” in the bud…it’s only a matter of time before ODM becomes too small for both of them.
The best assessment of the way forward, in my view, comes from Musikari Kombo, who said, “Reconciliation without the truth is meaningless because it entrenches the culture of impunity which we have been fighting against. The report is based on investigation and whether someone thinks of it as fair or not, it is our only saviour from our violent political culture.” There might be strong arguments for amnesty, or a local tribunal, or the Hague etc., but what really concerns me is that we should not try and “move forward” as a country without addressing what has really become a culture of impunity in Kenya - be it among the politicians who hurtled us towards the violence; the security forces who abdicated their duties; the ECK (the less said about them the better); or the ordinary mwananchi who took the law into his or her own hands during that time. If we do not draw a line now, we will be sending a message that anything goes.
Sidebar 2: Must read on using the Waki report to absolve ourselves as a nation - Gukira. (Gukira, BTW I do think the naming and prosecution of the politicians involved is just as important as self-examination, to the extent that we are still by and large a country of followers of bozo politicians, don’t underestimate the powerful effect of seeing them being held accountable or being brought down to size).
How do I feel about the fact that no one has been named? I kind of agree with Waki’s logic that it would have been more damaging to name people of nothing will be done…of course, this argument only works if a tribunal of some sort comes in to place (and lets face it, in between all the reports that have come out, we kind of know who the usual suspects are). I am secretly hoping for someone to leak the names on Wikileaks though
Back to my bunker…