With the unfolding sad events in Kenya's government and political arenas, most of us tend to look at the qualities of failed states and compare them to the pathetic scenario in Kenya. Kenya is surrounded by once failed states and already failed ones like Sudan and Somalia (thanks Uganda held to the grounds and is now flourishing, so is Rwanda and others). Far away we have fragile democracies or almost failed states like Afghanistan and Pakistan.
All these countries named above have traits now Kenya is developing in a rather sad rapid rate. They have Talibans and other ruthless militias running havoc and extremity if not terror among the populace and for Kenya, Mungiki is the new form or sister to Taliban or Mujahideens, Militias like those of Sudan, Somalia and Kony of Uganda or other rebels of D.R. Congo. It is almost as if Kenya's neighbors have infected them with the contagious African genes of civil unrest and tribal or religious violent conflicts and domestic wars in search of dominance or freedom.
The Kenyan Mungiki, once a sect and now metamorphosed into almost a full-fledged self-styled form of government, religious-political form of extreme government, the group of many faces has now (as reported by the media and not the state's irresponsible ministries i.e. Internal Security and Justice and Constitutional Affairs Ministries) formed their own "legal" courts and processes, with contingency of police force (vigilantes if not militias) keeping or enforcing law and order and even Revenue Departments in charge of taking/collecting "taxes" from individuals and business enterprises on a daily fluent basis...all these without the knowledge of the country's elite intelligence force of N.S.I.S. (National Security Intelligence Service) the Kenya Police and their informers. So far no action, stringent action has ever been taken on the activists or runners of this group and the government wants the nationals to believe the champions of Mungiki are unknown if not untraced and not untouchables among the legitimate political and governmental system.
Such failures and existence of such groups like Mungiki, Talibans, etc. unfortunately, is a clear sign and symptom evident of a failing state in the making where the official rule of law, order and constitution is ignored and abused with impunity and ruthlessness among the socioeconomic community. The majority humble masses are being suppressed and oppressed, terrorized and traumatized socially, economically and politically/administratively while the government and her machinery turns a blind eye to the plight and a deaf ear to the cries or woes...and fail to safeguard her own people.
For ages, decades and eras (errors politically), Kenyans have been victims of economic exploitation and fraud with the perpetrators most of whom are highly influential politicians, well-connected businessmen/franchises and affluent favored community members vanishing or even simply live free along with impunity after looting the people and the country's coffers.
The economy has continued to worsen and the abject plight of the masses, majority poor, deteriorating by the roll of the sun daily and sometimes sadly at the comfort of the minority rich. All this while those in the positions of policy power pretend otherwise and instead keep fattening their salaries, allowances or perks. Kenyans are now, despite living in a healthy ground for agriculture and frequent rainfall or a good network of major rivers, are now facing acute food and water shortages.
The frustration and despair mounting among the masses is evident and it is just a matter of time, if the Kings and Queens will continue ignoring the lack and demand for bread by the masses, that an uprising and revolt will be launched spontaneously but with full force and Kenya will be a forgotten failed state only available in the books of history as a nation that gave the world a historical best ever iconic president to the U.S.A. but had on her own belly, dubious failures that self-destroyed the nation.
It will be worth to explain my stand after defining the word census as " the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national 'population and door to door censuses' (to be taken every 10 years according to United Nations recommendations), agriculture, and business censuses. The term itself comes from Latin: during the Roman Republic the census was a list which kept track of all adult males fit for military service.
The census can be contrasted with sampling in which information is obtained only from a subset of a population. Census data is commonly used for research, business marketing, and planning as well as a base for sampling surveys. In some countries, census data is used to apportion electoral representation (sometimes controversially). It is widely recognized that population and housing censuses are vital for the planning of any society. Traditional censuses are, however, becoming more costly. A rule of thumb for census costs in developing countries has been $1 USD (approximately Kshs. 70) per enumerated person. More realistic figures today are around $3 USD (approx. Kshs. 230). These approximations should be taken with great care since a variable number of activities are included in different countries (e.g. enumerators can either be hired or requested from civil servants). The cost in developed countries is far higher. The cost for the 2000 census in the U.S. was estimated to be $4.5 billion USD, more than $15 per enumerated person. Alternative possibilities for retrieving data are being investigated. Nordic countries Denmark, Finland and Norway have for several years used administrative registers. Partial and sample censuses are used in France and Germany. Kenya uses full census or massive one.
Now with the definition and the explanation done, I feel I should add that census is not only human but also we do that for animals, domesticated and wild. We count animals so that we know which ones need to be culled to balance the ecology or which animals in this case needs to be promoted in population to promote ecosystem or save them from extinction. You know the reasons.
What scares me is that I don't trust Kenya's political machinery. Every simple or complex national process has been an opportunity seen by the government officials and the political officials to cheat and loot the national coffers. This is when they scheme to inflate costs and expenses, hire ghosts and pay them, give contracts to kinsmen and friends all with the intent to loot, favor and steal! So when census is at hand around the corner, just like election officials they have appointed friends and kins and ghosts already. The costs of the census are already approximated to be too high or costly already and the manpower total number is enormous, almost like that needed in an Indian census process. So when you mention of the upcoming census process, shit, I am scared and worried!
Then last but not the least, we count animals according to their species and origins and to decide their number so that we may exercise control over there existence. This unfortunately is what is possibly going to be employed or has been done in the past. Our politicians cannot assure me that they will use the census data for any positive agenda as its purpose or aim dictates (see the first para of this article and the definition).
All our clashes in the past, pre-election clashes have been with a statical backing and even the just recent and fresh post-election violence and other election period (pre- and post-) have been on this statistical ground. This tribe are foreign here and there and they will tend or tend to or did tend to, vote for this party or this particular individual on poll against the supposedly hosting community's party or person of choice. So we have to disrupt them for a while or permanently reduce their numbers in the region/constituency and we will have our choice win! That is the statistics behind everything and do you expect a simple common mwananchi to calculate on this so well if not the well placed politicians and government personalities or mercenaries well placed?
So when you mention of the upcoming census, it makes me shudder. Is there a way this process as noble as it is, be done with the omission of the clause requesting for the counted or the populace's ethnicity, tribe or religion? By all means, no one can assure me that the politicians will be using the census date purely for economic reasons and life improvement. Let us all be counted as Kenyans on different regions, professions, family size and academic as well as economic power...but not on tribal lines.
Kenya is one of the countries in the developing nations' group that has an established social statistics made easier by the National ID card and birth certificates. This is a viable tool that most countries lack or lag behind in, even India and this should be used as a daily tool to collect statistics on the citizens. It is a system already established and thus now cheaper and fast rather than the census which comes once and it is costly. The amount spent on the census to count hungry Kenyans should be diverted to feeding them, improving the socioeconomic infrastructure which is in an abject and absurd situation.
Counting the population as one- Kenyans, will indeed foster the national spirit of one-ship, peace and unity. The solid census is better than creating into the people the double-edged sword of knowing where he/she belongs, how many they are in comparison to the other tribe, their distribution in the country and in the economy...
That is just my opinion. Stand up and be counted as a human being not as an animal be classified as a Kenyan not as a tribe x.
I am not writing this to exploit the distress and stress of the Kenyan people even though this seems to be one of the most flooded themes or topics in the Kenyan Society and the good-will international community focusing on Kenya with their son of soil Barack President Obama of the U.S. But this is a topic so broad yet so narrow. Broad in that if well addressed, we shall be able to tame and reorganize such a broad socioeconomic infrastructure of once a successful economy and post-colonial independent African civilization or community.
South Africa, post-apartheid regime did it under the inspiration and great leadership of one of the ever-living true religious leaders in Africa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He is regarded as the creator of and the instrumental inspirator for the formation and running of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission well run to settle the bitter scores from apartheid. Of course not all were reconciled and not all were punished; there were some who escaped or remained unpunished thanks to their socioeconomic statuses. But still, it was and still is a great idea worth applause and imitating.
Approximately 20 years ago in India, radical Hindu groups and political parties incited the demolition of an Islamic temple/Mosque- The Babri Masjid in broad day light and it was even broadcasted and photojournalists did their best to capture the moment neutrally as supposed. Subsequently an inquiry team was formed to look into the case and help bring the culprits who inspired the demolition as well as the ground workmen who participated in the action and this was expected to take less than a month being the fact that a lot of evidence in video and in printed media was available. But this has taken 20 good years and it was only last month that the Commission of Inquiry delivered its final report about the demolition to the government of India. Most of the culprits are long dead, migrated, or even now more powerful in the well complicated political infrastructure of the world's largest democracy so much so that pointing back to one may jeopardize a regional government if not the central govt.! There is also the Gujaratti Riots where thousands of Muslims were slain and also the Anti-Sikh Riots where thousands of Sikhs were annihilated and their property destroyed or replaced in ownership (looted); commissions of inquiries were promptly formed and as usual, it took them decades to hand over their final and conclusive reports to make the culprits face the law.
That is just about India. There have been many incidences world over where the perceived minority groups socially (cultural/tribal, political, religious) or economically have had their rights and freedoms violated with incomprehensible amount of violence or atrocities. Rwanda, for Africans, should be more fresh if not familiar to our minds and the post-election violence in Kenya that threatened or almost did dump the once perceived island of peace (hakuna matata) in Africa into turmoil, the path trailed by almost all of the 52 African States. Rwanda took the rare way out, taking a leaf from South Africa's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) in a successful attempt to heal the almost incurable of wounds and trauma, harmonize and dilute the unending tension and divide between the country's two great tribes of Hutus and Tutsis. The result is obvious: Rwanda is currently not only exhibiting the unexpected economic prosperity but also the most essential social fabric stitch and blend of an oil-water two tribe relationship to something more of milk and honey!
Kenya did not face or near the amount of violence and animosity between tribes, political parties, religions and individuals as India has experienced before in Gujarrat and Punjab or even to the lifelong emotional trauma and physical atrocities experienced by South Africans under the Apartheidic regime of De Clarke and Company and more less still in comparison unless I wish to insult the Rwandans in the categorical worst ever degree of genocide that our generation dictionary uses to explain or define genocide. The trouble faced by Kenyans is even far less if we compare to what the neighbours, the Ugandans have been facing or faced for a period spanning over 30 years! But what is so special about them and what is it about Kenya that makes all the difference?
South Africans and Rwandans are healed or healing thanks to a committed drive and motive to punish and reconcile the nations. We won't have the same happening in Kenya for sure as I predict just by looking at the historical global trends. The Nazi perpetrators were not entirely punished but just a pocket of scapegoats were used and majority of the instrumental scientist and psychologists were simply reallocated to new areas of life. India's political structure allows delaying tactics well known now as a culture of "tomorrow-you-come-and-we-see-about-it" (kal-yarr!) If Kenya and the political machinery will not be applying the Indian form of delaying tactics, then they will surely employ the scapegoat technique instrumented not by Moses in the desert but the 20th Century post-Nazi Germans and now most of the world's governments.
We are seeing indeed how the Kenyan politicians if not the government has been toying around with the issue of punishing the post-election violence mongers with the culture of impunity, immunity, and delay tactics of bean-bag games. Kenya is on records to be one of the countries with the highest number of ever formed commissions of inquiries some of which were even formed to investigate other commissions of inquiries and on record, one out of ten delivered their report findings if at all on time! It is such a delay tactic and tossing around of blames that breeds impunity and delayed justice. After all, delayed justice is denied justice!
If you think that Kenya's post-election violence suspects will ever be tried, then you are in for a rude shock if not being in a reality hidden submarine and you don’t know what you are talking about or where the world is at the moment. Just barely weeks after the Commission, TJRC-Kenya, was formed, the politicians have launched the first delay tactic: Filing of a legal suit against the Commission's Chairperson Mr. Kiplagat. By the time he will be through with the legal clearance or issues, time, governments and lives will have passed and hence long overdue to run and prosecute the suspects.
The second tactic: The Kenyan government deliberately decided to add on the portfolio of responsibilities for the commission issues dating from the first day of independence in 1963! That the commission will be in charge of looking into issues of human rights violations and socioeconomic atrocities among Kenyans since 1963 is an absurd mandate and that should be addressed by the courts, not the Commission so established to look into an issue of the new century! Such a mandate or responsibility is a deliberate attempt to dilute the real magnitude of the case of 2007/08 election violence and it openly underrates it. Legally, first things first and that means, the commission will have to start from 1963 where most of the victims of 2007/08 Post-Election Violence, dead or alive, were not yet even born then gradually after 20 more years when Vision 2030 will be expected to be achieved, that is when most likely the commission will have reached to address the 2007/08 Post-Election Violence!
The third delaying tactic: Haven't you seen or heard the JTRC team or commissioners going to press stating that 2 years wont be enough to accomplish their mission? Now, two years! It took two years for the government of Kenya to agree to form the Commission to look into the 2007/08 Post-Election Violence and now they only give them two years to accomplish this with another mandate added to it about the post-independence crimes by the government machineries. Couldn’t the Narc Govt. form a commission for that last era after ousting off the government KANU, a time when most of the NARC M.P.s and functionaries comprised active victims of post-independent regimes' atrocities? Where was Raila and Kibaki the big profile victims of Nyati House to sue or punish KANU regime when the opposition made of them came to power in 2002? Why wait until now?
The best tool to punish the suspects of the 2007/08 Post-Election Violence and even of post-independent Kenya lies within Kenyans. Kenyans might not have been well educated and in fact deprived in the academic system with the rational knowledge and ability training to discern what is good and bad, but time and experience has done a good part as expected with costly fee: deaths and trauma. It is high time that Kenyans do away with some politicians. The tool to punish them lies among Kenyans. Ignore them and not to vote for them back to power is enough to punish them. The media houses, are all biased but at least if one media hippocratic oath is taken where they don’t get biased or pro-parties or individuals, they can give a blackout of coverage to destructive 19th Century-minded politicians.
Kenya needs to grow before small countries like Rwanda come from behind and steal from Kenya of her already tattered economic sheen and battered social fabric and grim international image, just as Malaysia did or Singapore, thanks to focused and visionary leadership that works! Unfortunately, it is evident that Kenya is lagging behind along other African nations with the lack of political will to establish real and functional change politically and administratively due to unknown leaders' or politicians phobia and greed with desire to protect their selfish interests!
For those who have read my blog www.dwanyama.blogspot.com will find this piece in tandem with one I posted there, saying Mbeki’s ouster is a good thing for Africa, considering the democratic foundation it sets. But today, I wish to take on the man himself and prompted by the ode Khadija has sung to him in a previous post. First, let us take on this Zimbabwe farce. I can see Khadija and choir think Mbeki did a good job getting the two, actually three sides to share the spoils. I don’t want to get into the intricacies here but surely and election must have a loser and winner. You can not receive praise for helping a loser retain grip on power even after clearly the people have rejected that leader. That is what Mbeki precisely did; help a thieving Mugabe retain power. And we all know this trend is going to be adopted by other megalomaniacs. So, what praise does Mbeki need for instituting broad daylight theft in Africa? Ok, here I am going to tread carefully. I don’t live in South Africa. Have never been there to be exact, but that does not mean I don’t have a rough picture of what that places looks like. If I am not wrong, Mbeki’s major undoing was the economic line he took. Carrying out fiscal policies that created a steady economic growth in the country; but like pure capitalist states—the wealth only trickled to a few. That is where sweet Khadija comes in---I hate to say this—but she may be on the other divide. She may be guarded from the South Africa where people still live in shanties, eat a single meal a day and have no jobs. And I can’t blame Kay and those who think like her. They are in a different world. The very reason we saw xenophobic attacks in SA earlier this year was because of this very factor. Unfortunately for those who were rioting they didn’t know where to direct their anger—it should not have been the foreigners—it should have been Mbeki and his government. He was the reason they lack jobs, go hungry and sleep in the open. But may be with the tight security around Mbeki and his cohorts, the easiest target was the defenceless foreigners. So, my best friend Khadija thinks it is very touching for State House staff to take a full-page advert in a newspaper to celebrate their President’s birthday. First, that is a waste of tax-payers money. I don’t think Mbeki’s office had this vote. Secondly, there is something called sycophancy. In the world of politics, this is deep-rooted. Someone might have wanted to catch the President’s eye and maybe get a promotion or secure a job. What do you do? Blow away tax-payers money lauding your leader in a newspaper. Bottom line colleagues---Mbeki deserves no tears.
So the ANC's finally reigned in Motormouth Malema. According to Independent Newspapers, Malema's silence during the political turmoil of the few past days prompted reports that he had been instructed by the party leadership to tone down his rhetoric. But when contacted about the matter by the Cape Argus on Wednesday, Malema would only say: "Ask the ANC, not me." I remember the chaos that ensued from the youth league conference where Malema was elected, a stabbing incident and controversy surrounding the ballots with allegations of rigging , and through all this uncertainty, Malema was declared the new head of the ANC Youth League. Apparantly, JZ himself been embarrassed by Malema's outbursts and irritated at the resultant effort required to explain them.
According to The Citizen, Ma'Mbeki, mother of ousted President Thabo Mbeki revealed that after a 60 year affiliation with the ANC she vowed to cut all ties with the organisation while pledging her support for the rumoured splinter party backed by the likes of Gauteng Premier, Mbazimba Shilowa, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota and his deputy Mluleki George. You and me both, Ma'Mbeki, you and me both... I can't bring myself to vote for a bunch of political thugs or as Moeletsi Mbeki so succinctly put it, 'A motley crew of know it alls'.
I'm eager to see who our new President appoints to his cabinet, especially since Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi also tendered her resignation today.
My friend Don has often accused me of being on Mbeki's payroll. I've been a tireless defender of his policies and I continue to be an unabashed fan. Perhaps his leadership style is not palatable to the in your face, podium booging, sing-the-tune -of- everyone, tastes but as far as politicians go, he is a true statesman. I remember seeing him at a family funeral a few years ago- Being young and impressionable makes meeting the president of the country just cause for a gripping wave of awe inspiration but I remember there being such an aura about him. I felt reassured, 'This is our president'. I've grown up in the periphery of a politically active family, so I've heard the stories of how, on his arrival back from exile, with nothing but the clothes on his back, Mr Mbeki slept on the floor of the lounge of my aunt's home in Mayfair. I remember also, during the Mandela years my dad asking my uncle about Mbeki, my dad at the time unconvinced as to Mbeki's credentials, and my uncle telling of Mbeki's curiosity of Islam that led him to ask for a copy of the Quraan. For me, it was a defining moment in my impression of the man.
Let's not forget that he ignored calls for a harsher stance on Zimbabwe and amid ostensible hopelessness fostered a workable solution to that country's woes. I read last week that Mbeki would leave office with a mixed legacy. I say he leaves office with a fine legacy. Think economic growth, the African Union, Nepad, Sadec, Zimbabwe- a towering legacy that any future president would do well to emulate.
A couple of years ago, the staff in the office of the president, took out a full page ad in the Sunday Times to wish Mr Mbeki a happy birthday. I've kept it because it astounded me the level of affection and respect he inspired in those who worked close to him. I find it apt to include here:
Dear Mr. President, the burdens of leadership are many and the rewards few. No more so than in the political arena especially at a time of our history when we stand on the edge of a new society whilst the old refuses to die.
In seeking to build a new society there are many paths. The road less travelled is often the most difficult and more lonely but ultimately the more rewarding. You have on many pivotal issues clearly chosen the road less travelled, challenged what passes for conventional wisdom and asserted on behalf of the African people the right to design our own future.
The fabric of our society has been torn asunder. The grinding poverty that apartheid and its beneficiaries burdened us with, is a form of violence that those who have never had to sleep on an empty stomach cannot ever comprehend. Even as we the signatories, begin to benefit from policies of your government we are, through ties of blood and conscience, connected to those condemned by apartheid to a living hell. It is for this reason that we identify completely with your commitment to reduce poverty.
You have taken this country on a giant leap, not of blind faith, not of just hope but to a carefully constructed future of dignity and prosperity. Because of your leadership we can envision an Africa free of poverty. We can boldly assert in public our right to speak our languages, choose our own heroes, reclaim our history and fashion our future free of interference from those who seek to trap us in a past, present and future designed to serve their interest more than ours. Placing an African consciousness at the centre of the government's policies, you have created the space and means for us to find our place in the world.
When you said 'I am an African', we walked taller than we did the day before. When you gave back land to those who has it taken from them, we shared the joy of the beneficiaries. When you promote women and their interests we know that we really hold up half the sky. When you declared our solidarity with Haiti, we felt the spirit of Toussaint L'Ouverture coursing through our blood. When you pledged to help Mali preserve the ancient manuscripts of Timbaktu, we knew that our children would one day know the brilliant contribution our continent made to world civilization.
When you declared the 21st century, the African century, we were inspired. Your mission is our destiny.
Mr. President, in those quiet moments when the burdens of statehood threaten just for a moment to overwhelm you, we would like you to remember that you have our support and that of the overwhelming majority of our people.
I have no doubt that you are aware of the announcement made yesterday by the National Executive Committee of the ANC with regard to the position of the President of the Republic.
Accordingly, I would like to take this opportunity to inform the nation that today I handed a letter to the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Honourable Baleka Mbete, to tender my resignation from the high position of President of the Republic of South Africa, effective from the day that will be determined by the National Assembly.
I have been a loyal member of the African National Congress for 52 years. I remain a member of the ANC and therefore respect its decisions. It is for this reason that I have taken the decision to resign as President of the Republic, following the decision of the National Executive Committee of the ANC.
I would like sincerely to thank the nation and the ANC for having given me the opportunity to serve in public office during the last 14 years as the Deputy President and President of South Africa.
This service has at all times been based on the vision, the principles and values that have guided the ANC as it prosecuted a difficult and dangerous struggle in the decades before the attainment of our freedom in 1994.
Among other things, the vision, principles and values of the ANC teach the cadres of this movement life-long lessons that inform us that wherever we are and whatever we do we should ensure that our actions contribute to the attainment of a free and just society, the upliftment of all our people, and the development of a South Africa that belongs to all who live in it.
'A vision of a better life' This is the vision of a South Africa that is democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous; a country in which all the people enjoy a better life.
Indeed the work we have done in pursuit of the vision and principles of our liberation movement has at all times been based on the age-old values of Ubuntu, of selflessness, sacrifice and service in a manner that ensures that the interests of the people take precedence over our desires as individuals.
I truly believe that the governments in which I have been privileged to serve have acted and worked in the true spirit of these important values.
Based on the values of Ubuntu, the significance of which we learnt at the feet of such giants of our struggle as Chief Albert Luthuli, OR Tambo, Nelson Mandela and others, we as government, embarked, from 1994, on policies and programmes directed at pulling the people of South Africa out of the morass of poverty and ensuring that we build a stable, developed and prosperous country.
Accordingly, among many things we did, we transformed our economy, resulting in the longest sustained period of economic growth in the history of our country; we introduced an indigent policy that reaches large numbers of those in need; we made the necessary advances so as to bring about a developmental state, the better to respond to the many and varied challenges of the transformation of our country.
This is, of course not the occasion to record the achievements of government. An additional critical few are however worth mentioning. They include our achievements with regard to many of the Millennium Development Goals, the empowerment of women, the decision to allow us to host the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup and our election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council two years ago.
Despite the economic advances we have made, I would be the first to say that even as we ensured consistent economic growth, the fruits of these positive results are still to be fully and equitably shared among our people, hence the abject poverty we still find co-existing side by side with extraordinary opulence.
Importantly, we had an obligation to ensure that democracy becomes the permanent feature of our lives and that all our citizens respect the rule of law and human rights. This is one of the cornerstones of our democracy, which we have consistently striven to protect and never to compromise.
We have also worked continuously to combat the twin challenges of crime and corruption, to ensure that all our people live in conditions of safety and security. We must admit that we are still faced with many challenges in this regard.
Work will therefore have to continue to strengthen and improve the functioning of our criminal justice system, to provide the necessary resources for this purpose, to activate the masses of our people to join the fight against crime and corruption, and to achieve new victories in the struggle for moral regeneration.
With regard to the latter, our successive governments from 1994 to date have worked consistently to encourage the entrenchment in our country of a value system whose observance would make all of us Proudly South African, a value system informed by the precept of Ubuntu – umuntu ngumuntu ngabanye. Among other things this means that we must all act in a manner that respects the dignity of every human being.
We have sought to advance this vision precisely because we understood that we would fail in the struggle to achieve the national and social cohesion that our country needs, as well as the national unity we require to enable us to act together to address the major challenges we face.
Fellow South Africans,
Since the attainment of our freedom in 1994, we have acted consistently to respect and defend the independence of the judiciary. For this reason our successive governments have honoured all judicial decisions, including those that went against the Executive. This did not mean that the Executive did not at times have strong views which we would have publicly pronounced upon. The central approach we adopted has always been to defend the judiciary rather than act in a manner that would have had a negative impact on its work.
Indeed, on the infrequent instances when we have publicly expressed views contrary to those of the judiciary, we have done so mindful of the need to protect its integrity.
Consistent with this practice, I would like to restate the position of Cabinet on the inferences made by the Honourable Judge Chris Nicholson that the President and Cabinet have interfered in the work the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). Again I would like to state this categorically that we have never done this, and therefore never compromised the right of the National Prosecuting Authority to decide whom it wished to prosecute or not to prosecute.
This applies equally to the painful matter relating to the court proceedings against the President of the ANC, Comrade Jacob Zuma.
More generally, I would like to assure the nation that our successive governments since 1994 have never acted in any manner intended wilfully to violate the Constitution and the law. We have always sought to respect the solemn Oath of Office each one of us made in front of the Chief Justice and other judges, and have always been conscious of the fact that the legal order that governs our country was achieved through the sacrifices made by countless numbers of our people, which included death.
In this context it is most unfortunate that gratuitous suggestions have been made seeking to impugn the integrity of those of us who have been privileged to serve in our country's National Executive.
Compatriots,
Again, as you know, we have often pointed to the fact that our liberation movement has always been pan-African in its outlook and therefore that we have an obligation to contribute to the renaissance of the African continent.
All of us are aware of the huge and daunting challenges that face our continent. In the short years since our freedom, as South Africans we have done what we could to make our humble contribution to the regeneration of our continent.
We have devoted time and resources to the task of achieving the Renaissance of Africa because this is what has informed generations of our liberators, even before the ANC was formed in 1912. We have done this fully understanding that our country shares a common destiny with the rest of our Continent.
I therefore thank the many dedicated compatriots – men and women – who have made it possible for us to contribute to the resolution of conflicts and the strengthening of democracy in a number of countries including the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Comoros, Zimbabwe, Sudan and elsewhere. We have also done this work conscious of our responsibilities as a State Member of both SADC and the African Union.
I would like to thank my colleagues, the many Heads of State and Government on the African continent whose abiding vision is that Africa must be free; that all our countries, individually and collectively should become democratic, developed and prosperous, and that Africa must unite. These African patriots know as I do that Africa and Africans will not and must not be the wretched of the earth in perpetuity.
Similarly we have worked to contribute to the achievement of the aspirations of the countries and peoples of the South, conscious of the need for us to act in solidarity and in unity with the billions with whom we share the common challenge to defeat poverty and underdevelopment.
Accordingly, I depart the Office of President of South Africa knowing that this country has many men and women who have dedicated their lives to ensure that South Africa, Africa and the countries of the South will, in time, manage to ensure a better world for all of humanity.
I depart this Office conscious that the sterling work done by the Presidency, the Ministries and departments, the provinces and local government structures will continue, driven by the determination to achieve the goal of a better life for all.
I am convinced that the incoming administration will better the work done during the past 14-and-half years so that poverty, underdevelopment, unemployment, illiteracy, challenges of health, crime and corruption will cease to define the lives of many of our people.
I have received many messages from South Africans, from all walks of life, through e-mails, telephonically and through cell phone text messages as well as those conveyed through my colleagues. I thank all of you, fellow South Africans, for these messages.
To everyone, and responding to these messages, I would like to say that gloom and despondency have never defeated adversity. Trying times need courage and resilience. Our strength as a people is not tested during the best of times. As we said before, we should never become despondent because the weather is bad nor should we turn triumphalist because the sun shines.
For South Africa to succeed there is more work to be done and I trust that we will continue to strive to act in unity to accelerate the advance towards the achievement of our shared national goals.
In this regard, it may be worth repeating what I said during the inauguration of the President of the Republic in 1999. Using the metaphor of the Comrades Marathon, I said then that:
"Those who complete the course will do so only because they do not, as fatigue sets in, convince themselves that the road ahead is still too long, the inclines too steep, the loneliness impossible to bear and the prize itself of doubtful value."
Once more, I thank you most sincerely for affording me the opportunity to serve you and to serve the people of Africa.
This past week, a lot has gone on south of the continent. First of all, the quagmire surrounding Jonathon Shapiro's satirical cartoon: I did mean to add my pithy contribution to the hullabaloo, it had the working title of Cartoon Culture but was stymied by the flu mid-way. I've subsequently read a couple of excellent blogs on the same subject, so instead I'm posting a link to one of the best takes, here.
And now a spot of voyeurism: Safiyyah and I tend to have enormously gratifying chats, intellectually stimulating, such that we start off sharing coiffure tips and end up debating South African politics. This is how we got round to cartoon culture:
(Caveat lector, it was a few words between friends, spelling is poor, opinion is decidedly candid, do be kind in judgement)
2008/09/10
10:42:53 AM
Safs
lol yeah whats happened to Makutano?
2008/09/10
10:43:08 AM
Safs
u really are going to neglect ur kids!
2008/09/10
10:43:09 AM
Safs
hehe
2008/09/10
10:43:12 AM
Kay
lol
2008/09/10
10:43:23 AM
Kay
a tragedy i tell ya
2008/09/10
10:43:45 AM
Kay
you've heard about the rumblings in these parts about the zapiro cartoon?
2008/09/10
10:44:13 AM
Safs
nopes, do tell
2008/09/10
10:44:22 AM
Safs
u are my window to SA
2008/09/10
10:44:38 AM
Kay
sunday times published a zapiro cartoon
2008/09/10
10:44:45 AM
Kay
wait lemme get a link for you
2008/09/10
10:44:53 AM
Kay
if i descreibe it it'll spoil it for you
2008/09/10
10:49:25 AM
Kay
opinion?
2008/09/10
10:49:59 AM
Safs
omigod
2008/09/10
10:50:12 AM
Kay
risque dont you think?
2008/09/10
10:50:18 AM
Safs
talk about a strong message
2008/09/10
10:51:35 AM
Kay
absolutely
2008/09/10
10:51:41 AM
Safs
sad to say it is true, but the image of a women being raped...i dont know
2008/09/10
10:51:58 AM
Safs
how has the public reacted?
2008/09/10
10:52:44 AM
Kay
that's the uncomfortable thing for me
2008/09/10
10:52:53 AM
Kay
has rape become so much a norm?
2008/09/10
10:53:13 AM
Safs
hmm or perhaps he just wants to portray the gravity of the situation?
2008/09/10
10:53:40 AM
Kay
you know it comes back to the freedom of expression vs hate speech quandry
2008/09/10
10:53:48 AM
Safs
like telling the public, open your eyes!
2008/09/10
10:54:49 AM
Safs
no matter what u think this cartoon wil force a reaction out of you!
2008/09/10
10:54:54 AM
Kay
absoluely
2008/09/10
10:55:00 AM
Kay
very strong reactions too
2008/09/10
10:56:12 AM
Safs
i dont know...
2008/09/10
10:56:14 AM
Safs
what to think
2008/09/10
10:56:55 AM
Safs
part of me is like yes, this is the right message to be sending out, but the feminist in me is saying no, why use a women
2008/09/10
10:57:15 AM
Kay
i keep coming back to the cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
2008/09/10
10:57:25 AM
Kay
somethings are beyond caricature
2008/09/10
10:57:35 AM
Safs
uh huh
2008/09/10
10:57:38 AM
Safs
definitely
2008/09/10
10:58:40 AM
Kay
rape i think is one of them
2008/09/10
10:59:03 AM
Safs
im leaning towards agreeing with you!
2008/09/10
10:59:10 AM
Safs
he couldve used a murder scene?
2008/09/10
10:59:52 AM
Safs
but maybe he wants to show gross violation, which rape symbolizes, something deeper, more immoral
2008/09/10
11:00:15 AM
Kay
yea... but zuma's rape background makes using rape irresistable... taints him all over again
2008/09/10
11:00:21 AM
Kay
as if he was never acquited
2008/09/10
11:00:21 AM
Safs
ohhh yeah
2008/09/10
11:00:26 AM
Safs
i didnt think about that
2008/09/10
11:01:21 AM
Safs
wow, this cartoon is STRONG
2008/09/10
11:01:21 AM
Safs
what do u think?
2008/09/10
11:01:44 AM
Kay
it is absolutely
2008/09/10
11:01:54 AM
Kay
i mean to bring all this up it has to be
2008/09/10
11:04:48 AM
Kay
the anc claim they aren't going to prosecute zapiro
2008/09/10
11:05:00 AM
Kay
but i cant help thinking if they do, they'd probly win
2008/09/10
11:05:50 AM
Safs
i dont understand?
2008/09/10
11:06:13 AM
Safs
this deserves a makutano post u know, ppl to need to discuss these issues! or atleast be exposed to them
2008/09/10
11:06:16 AM
Kay
defamation of character
2008/09/10
11:06:23 AM
Kay
i'm thinking the same thing
2008/09/10
11:06:28 AM
Kay
let me get to it!
2008/09/10
11:08:43 AM
Safs
alright
2008/09/10
11:09:20 AM
Kay
perhaps you could do a couner post... out of context what it means to you
2008/09/10
11:10:54 AM
Safs
good idea
2008/09/10
11:11:18 AM
Safs
but i need a lead, so wil wait for ur ideas
2008/09/10
11:11:22 AM
Kay
K
And post Pietermaritzburg judgement :
2008/09/13
01:56:43 PM
Kay
i'm just looking at my half finished post for makutano i was too ill to finish it and now there's more to be said
2008/09/13
01:56:52 PM
Kay
anc's calling for mbeki to resign :S
2008/09/13
01:56:57 PM
Safs
i know!
2008/09/13
01:57:03 PM
Safs
i watched thenews
2008/09/13
01:57:06 PM
Safs
on al jaz
2008/09/13
01:57:13 PM
Kay
it's worrying
2008/09/13
01:57:21 PM
Safs
we were dumbfounded! there was this former anc guy
2008/09/13
01:57:31 PM
Safs
and he made such an import point
2008/09/13
01:58:15 PM
Safs
that if the president of the country, i.e Zuma, can get away scotch free from so many accusations, what message does that send to the public and the moral high ground
2008/09/13
01:58:26 PM
Safs
if anything, it will just fuel the crime
2008/09/13
01:58:27 PM
Kay
absolutely!
2008/09/13
01:58:45 PM
Kay
there's no real justice, because he's getting off on a technicality
2008/09/13
01:58:51 PM
Safs
so whats mbekis position?
2008/09/13
01:59:11 PM
Safs
yeah exactly, because the prosecution didnt give him time to defend himself
2008/09/13
01:59:17 PM
Kay
it's so ironic that in the week of mbeki's greatest triumph, power sharing in zim, he has to face this
2008/09/13
01:59:21 PM
Safs
looks the judge is bought over
2008/09/13
02:00:04 PM
Safs
yeah i saw that too, gosh zim is a mess... one lady said she doesnt care who gets whats position, because zimbabwe is hungry!
2008/09/13
02:00:20 PM
Kay
:(
2008/09/13
02:00:37 PM
Kay
there's so much going on in the world how do we remain in our bubbles
And then:
2008/09/14
11:24:22 AM
Kay
apparently mbeki has his weeks numbered as president :(
2008/09/14
11:24:34 AM
Kay
the media are so fickle!
2008/09/14
11:24:50 AM
Kay
it used to be bash zuma now it's bash mbeki
2008/09/14
11:25:17 AM
Safs
whoa
2008/09/14
11:25:20 AM
Safs
weeks?
2008/09/14
11:25:35 AM
Safs
yeah, whoever they can gain favour with right?
2008/09/14
11:25:39 AM
Kay
yea!
2008/09/14
11:25:50 AM
Safs
it wont do them any good to bash zuma if he gonna be next presd.
2008/09/14
11:26:00 AM
Safs
each to his own interests...sad
2008/09/14
11:26:02 AM
Kay
the sunday times esp are culprtis of sensational journalism
2008/09/14
11:26:16 AM
Kay
the drivel they print just to make waves!
2008/09/14
11:26:18 AM
Safs
i know! can u even call that journalism?
2008/09/14
11:26:31 AM
Kay
it's horrific!
2008/09/14
11:27:51 AM
Kay
i'm going to find it very hard voting for zuma
2008/09/14
11:28:07 AM
Safs
u CANT vote for him
2008/09/14
11:28:22 AM
Safs
what are the other options
2008/09/14
11:28:30 AM
Kay
and you know what i hate is this mentality in our community that says zuma's good with indians so we should like him
2008/09/14
11:28:39 AM
Safs
ugh!
2008/09/14
11:28:42 AM
Kay
bleh! what are we living in apaartheid?!
2008/09/14
11:28:45 AM
Safs
ive heard that before
2008/09/14
11:28:56 AM
Safs
from my own family!
2008/09/14
11:29:33 AM
Safs
does morality not feature anywhere in judgement?
2008/09/14
11:29:50 AM
Safs
as long as we're making money, and living above the masses?
2008/09/14
11:29:53 AM
Kay
exactly! cant we see beyond indianness?
2008/09/14
11:30:12 AM
Kay
that's all our community strives for
2008/09/14
11:30:46 AM
Safs
are we indian before we SAian?
2008/09/14
11:31:10 AM
Kay
in some sections of our community indian dominates
2008/09/14
11:31:16 AM
Safs
majority have never seen and never want to see india!
2008/09/14
11:31:36 AM
Safs
yet suddenly , zuma is the saviour of indians...
2008/09/14
11:31:41 AM
Kay
exactly! so why do we persist with this victim complex?
2008/09/14
11:32:04 AM
Safs
for securty i guess..
2008/09/14
11:32:39 AM
Kay
what worries me about zuma is he's playing populist politics
2008/09/14
11:32:54 AM
Kay
makes a few noises about the death penalty get the afrikaner vote
2008/09/14
11:33:10 AM
Kay
a few noses about economic reform gets the poor vote
2008/09/14
11:33:26 AM
Kay
what does HE stand for?
2008/09/14
11:33:51 AM
Safs
yeah that is worrisome
2008/09/14
11:34:05 AM
Safs
we dont knw what lies beneath the charismatic exterior
2008/09/14
11:34:25 AM
Safs
something evil and untodo lurking...
2008/09/14
11:34:58 AM
Kay
that's the worry
2008/09/14
11:35:02 AM
Safs
levels of uneducation must be higher than thought in SA if ppl fall for him...
2008/09/14
11:35:29 AM
Kay
that's what i say... i suspect a distinct lack of literacy!
2008/09/14
11:35:45 AM
Safs
certainly..
2008/09/14
11:36:37 AM
Safs
is there any anti zuma goings on ?
2008/09/14
11:36:52 AM
Kay
safs gtg visitors...
2008/09/14
11:36:57 AM
Kay
catch up later iA
2008/09/14
11:37:05 AM
Safs
ok np
2008/09/14
11:37:08 AM
Safs
enjoy
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