A Speaker who can take a lead

Whoever is the next Speaker of the House of Commons has a tremendous task is restoring respect and dignity to the post. But will they ever be in a position where they potentially have to step in to save the entire political system?

Kenya has dropped out of the international news ever since the announcement of the "National Accord" power-sharing agreement, but it's not been all plain sailing. Recently a crisis loomed when the two main parties in the government clashed over which party would hold the post of Leader of Government Business (equivalent to Leader of the House of Commons) and chair the National Assembly's House Business Committee that sets the parliamentary agenda. An impasse loomed which threatened to prevent many key unity & reconciliation measures being undertaken and to break up the unity coalition government. (See Afrique en ligne: Kenya Speaker steps in to save Coalition Govt for more details.)

It thus fell to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Kenneth Marende, to rule on the matter and he did so not only in a way that resolved the impasse for now but also preserved the neutrality and dignity of the chair:

But before any asks, I don't think Kenya can currently spare Marende to come and take the role in the Commons!

Don't let the dream die

My mother grew up in Kenya and it's also the first country I ever visited. So even before the world's media picked up on the violence I was awaiting the outcome of the Presidential election with wonder as to whether Mwai Kibaki would be re-elected or whether he'd become that rare thing - an African leader who has been voted out of office.

Let's dispel a few myths. Although my holiday coincided with the one major exception (the 1982 Kenyan coup d'état attempt) for nearly all its history Kenya has been a peaceful stable country. It has experienced strong economic growth and stood out as one of the success stories of Africa. Sure one can find individual incidents to fault it, but the same is true of practically every other country.

Which is why I look at the news about the current crisis in great sadness. It started as a close run election with the two main sides emerging from a recent breakdown in a political coalition. Such political contests are far from unique throughout the world.

But what has tipped things over the edge has been an election process that generates limited confidence. And this in turn has spawned bitter political violence that exposes the basic roots of the political divide in the country.

What's the solution? I honestly don't know. Something must be done to end the violence and restore confidence in the country's political process.

But what saddens me is the way some people seem to think that this is just proof that democracy can't work in Africa and that it'll all end in tribal violence; that a successful state isn't possible.

That's not a dream I'm prepared to give up on. That's not a dream anyone should give up on. Whatever it takes, Kenya must be helped. It can overcome these problems. It should not be written off because of them.

First Political Memory

First off apologies for my silence recently as several other matters are currently occupying my time. Normal service should be resumed in October.

In response to a tagging by Iain Lindley on his First Political Memory, I've been wracking my brains for my own.

The first I had direct experience of was the 1982 Kenyan coup attempt which happened when my family was visiting. I wasn't even two years old but have very vague memories of hearing shooting in the street. But I can't remember anything else about it.

Of the later events it's harder. The problem is that whilst I can remember a lot of the very biggest names of the mid 1980s - Thatcher, Reagan, Gorbachev - on television a lot, I can't remember particular incidents (and those three, together with Kohl and Mitterand were all in power from early 1985 to early 1989 so memories of a summit conference can't be narrowed down by who was in and out of power at the time). I'm too young to remember the miners' strike (and grew up in a part of the world far away from mines).

So I guess my earliest substantial memory is of the 1987 general election. I remember the various leaders on television (apart from the Little David who was utterly forgettable) and being most impressed by David Owen, whilst finding Margaret Thatcher unpleasant and scary. But that was the point wasn't it? Thatcher was like essential medicine - it didn't feel nice at the time, it wasn't attractive to take but it did all the good that was needed.

I remember going with my father when he voted and then onto a bash for party workers afterwards. There was no sign of the MP, but then Archibald Hamilton was one of those arrogant MPs found in all main parties who took the constituency for granted and rarely showed his face, despite it being on a direct thirty minute train journey from Westminster!

After that I can remember more and more events - the fall of the Berlin Wall, Nelson Mandela coming out of jail, the downfall of Thatcher (in which my family were staunchly pro Heseltine - on the morning of the second ballot I was the only person in my class supporting him) and more.

I'm not one for tagging others so I'll throw it open to my readers - what are your first political memories?