(The photos in today's blog are from celebrations of Independence Day in Kenya.)
Today, June 1st, is Independence Day in Kenya. Formerly a British colony, Kenya established its independence in 1963. While the transition to democracy has not been as troubled as in some other African countries, Kenya’s democratic journey is far from over. A NY professor described it well in saying that Kenya is a “hybrid” – a country that has established some measure of democracy but still exhibits significant degrees of authoritarian rule and/or impunity to the ending of corrupt rule.
A special government team found that 30% of civil servants either accepted bribes or committed corruption-related offences. Last year, the people of Kenya approved a new constitution, but their parliament is still struggling to pass legislation to implement it. For example: The International Criminal Court will be trying the six people charged with responsibility for the riots following the 2007 election because the ICC has judged the Kenyan courts incapable of doing so.
The appointment of the nominee for chief judge of the Supreme Court, a respected human rights advocate, has been challenged; both the president and vice president have agreed on his nomination, public hearings have been held, but he is opposed either because he wears an ear stud, because he is a muslim, or because the Catholic Church fears he might be sympathetic to abortion or homosexual rights.
Still Kenyans have much to celebrate. There were no civil wars following independence, and the government is making a real effort to provide education and health services for its rapidly growing population. Roger and I walked over to the near by stadium to watch the marching of the security police and of the school children, and to watch the native dance groups. We were amused when a cow wandered on to the field, but enjoyed watching the crowd, hearing the music, and joining in their celebration. We left before the honored guest, the district commissioner, gave his speech.
Great pictures and info. Provides some perspective on what we take for granted here.
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