How law ushered State, Church, civil society into unholy trinity
Rebecca Mutiso @rebeccamutheu1
Voices of the Church and the civil society before the enactment of the Constitution in 2010, were so strong that they reverberated in every sphere of society, pushing for good governance and accountability.
The two groups were a constant thorn in the flesh for the government and were instrumental in pushing for multi-party democracy in the 1990s.
During this period, the actors in the civil society and the Church were so vibrant that they took the government head-on, despite the ruthless crackdowns they encountered at the hands of State agents in the Moi regime.
Ironically, the passage of the 2010 Constitution that was expected to expand the democratic space, paved the way for a new era where the civil society, Church and the State were entangled in an unholy trinity, with the two players facing accusations of going to bed with the government.
The co-ordinator of the National Society Congress, Suba Churchill admits that the civil society abandoned its traditional role of actively monitoring the implementation of the Constitution soon after its passage.
“The civil society is still active though it is not as robust as it used to be. It is sad that the civil society failed to help Kenyans internalise the values of the Constitution beyond the referendum and did not take the duty bearers to account,” he told People Daily.
Leaving a vacuum
Churchill says many civil society players transited into government, leaving a vacuum in the sector, leaving citizens with no one to speak for them.
“When these civil society players got into government, they became a big let-down because they did not stand for what they believed in.
In fact, some of them are going against the democratic tenets they espoused during their days in the civil society,” he says.
Suba also blames the Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta regimes for the shrinking civic space in the country, saying they created a hostile environment for civil society and this has led to a reduction of funding from donors.
“The Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) Coordination Board cracked down on donors funding governance, advocacy and accountability.
In the run up to the 2017 elections, the government ordered the closure of the International Foundation of Electoral System offices in the country through the NGO Coordination Board, accusing them of interfering in the electoral process through programmes disguised as civic education.
So many donors left the country or stopped funding governance programmes,” says Suba.
In the last decade, the Church and civil society have struggled to find their footing in the society, with some of the new entrants opting for social media activism rather than street protests.
Natural revolution
Karuti Kanyinga, a research professor at the Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi, who has published extensively on development and governance over the last 29 years, blames the old civil society vanguards such as Kivutha Kibwana (Makueni Governor), John Githongo, Maina Kiai, Martha Karua, Martha Koome, Smokin Wanjala (Supreme Court Judge) and Kamau Kuria for failing to leave a succession order that would have ensured the civil society remained strong.
“The old civil society and Church leaders were driven by passion, but today the current crop of leaders see civil society as merely going to work for a salary,” he says.
Kanyinga says a confluence of other factors including reduction of donor funding, the States ambivalence towards civil society and the fact that most of the issues the civic organisations were advocating for were included in the new Constitution.
He says there was therefore no need to constantly criticise the government just for the sake of it, may have weakened it.
“After the enactment of the Constitution, the civil society was caught unawares. The Constitution spoke their language and so they thought that the society had come of age.
There was also fatigue and the players in the civil society thought that the Constitution would be self-enforcing and everyone who was charged with enforcing it would play their role, but this was not the case,” he says.
Kanyinga says over the last decade the old order, that was against the enactment of the Constitution has been fighting the new order and the Constitution lacked a strong champion in the government, given that some of those in power were either opposed to it or supported it half-heartedly.
“The civil society right now is fighting many battles including keeping an eye on devolution, the clawbacks to the Constitution and so the fights became too many such that they did not know which one to pick.
They are did not invest in evidence-based advocacy like in the past where civil society engaged academia to conduct research on issues so that they spoke from a point of knowledge,” says Kanyinga.
But John Githongo the Chief Executive Officer of Inuka Kenya Ltd, says the civil society is still alive and performing its work diligently.
“Civil society hasn’t been muzzled. As you can see over the past week, civil society has been busy commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Constitution.
The current regime has, since 2012, worked hard to demonise civil society to cover for their own excesses and theft.
The tag of ‘Evil Society’ was conjured up by the regime during their travails with the International Criminal Court. This distracted civil society but they have remained focused,” he told the People Daily.
Githongo says the civil society is going through a natural evolution.
“It is an ongoing process. Kenyan civil society is the most vibrant in the region and as circumstances change, the sector has remained resilient and dynamic,” he says.
The Church on the other hand, has been accused of blowing hot and cold in matters of public governance since the enactment of the new constitution and allowing politicians to taint the pulpit.
