I am warming up to this topic of "mass action".
This is my FOURTH foray in almost as many days into this "mass action" contested ideological territory that scares the beejezuz out of many a scaredy petit-bourgeois cybercat lurking on this or that Kenyan online forum as I tatoo these words on my Quebec keyboard ensconced somewhere on McGill campus on a somewhat cloudy, damp, dreary day which started out all bright and sun shiny, but now threatens to conclude like those
horrible first dates from jehanum.
A few minutes ago, I did a veritable double-take when I spied a story in tomorrow's Nairobi dailies informing us that the former KANU minister in charge of suppressing mass actions in the Nyayo era,
William Ruto, gleefully announced that, HE, Hon.Mheshimiwa William Ruto, would personally lead the next round of street protests happening in his neighbourhood.
Over here in
Montreal, with arched eyebrows and a sardonic chuckle, I said:
Yawa! Times are A-Changing! Mambo Podi Kose Nadi Nyithindwa Jo Kenya?
I am getting kisunzi sunzi contemplating those KANU street marshals with their red( or is it yellow) mass action arm bands and bandanas.
As the peddlers of the
Virginia Slims cancer stick used to prattle eons ago:
"You Have Come A Long Way, KANU Baby!"
Meanwhile, NAK supporters online are packed and parked
in their various fortified lavatories around the world, glued to their toilet bowls unleashing an unstoppable flow of
panic induced mharo that they are blaming on Raila Amolo Odinga.
Isn't it rather comical that the party of Kivutha Kibwana and other mass action aficionados is today scared shitless of the very Kenyan masses who voted them to power?
"Serikali ya Wananchi" yaonekana ina tishwa na kuogopeshwa na ghadhabu ya Wananchi wa Kenya nakuambia...
Mshangao kutoka kwangu!
Perhaps it is time I got a little more serious and got back to the crux of the somber subject, ama?
Here are My 17 Tips on Mass Action Kenya 2005.
Tip#1: Organize, Organize, Organize!
Historically, "mass actions" have been relatives or variants of popular jacqueries where the wananchi seize the moment over something that could be local, regional, national or international- and I will let my readers reflect on their specific examples. But that is precisely the problem with "mass actions" in this traditional sense of the term. The ruling elites and the status quo actually PREFER spontaneous militant confrontations to organized, well thought out protracted, strategic and coordinated struggles. We have seen how the G-8 anti-riot police teams have actually goaded bands of radical anti-globalization activists into pitched battles in the various cities of the West so that the cops could achieve two purposes: break the skulls and the backs of those valiant protestors while testing their latest gizmos and crowd control techniques; two- isolate these "radical malcreants" from the broader mass democratic movement by portraying these militants as criminal elements out to cause social chaos. That is why the Rutos and Railas must ensure that they outthink their political foes when it comes to planning and executing "mass action" actions.
More than than that, if these are really going to be GENUINE and AUTHENTIC as opposed to directed from the top, flash in the pan, fly by night "mass actions" then there must be in existence the kind of organizational structures and nationally coordinated leadership command structure that can guarantee the success of mass actions.
For me, the model I have been pushing is inspired by the
United Democratic Front of South Africa.
The demand for a new Katiba based on the Bomas Draft seems to be the lightning rod that is galvanizing the broadest array of democratic and patriotic forces in the country.
Why not build from the ground up, a new Kenyan national mass democratic organization around that?
And yes, I know there is Katiba Watch.
Sorry comrades Wahu and others, but I am thinking of something BROADER and more EXPLICITLY political in scope than Katiba Watch whose mandate is confined to the passage of the Zero Draft.
I am thinking more of an alternative NATIONAL POLITICAL LEADERSHP that will eventually BRING DOWN the Kibaki government BEFORE 2007.
Am I making myself lucid, or is there something murky about my proposal?
Remember we are talking of a mass democratic formation that does way more than the Rainbow Alliance or its descendant, the National Rainbow Coalition.
I am thinking of a very, very very broad National Tent that brings together the following:
a. Political parties and leaders who are committed to the Bomas Draft;
b. Civil Society and NGO Formations that are committed to the Bomas Draft;
c. Trade Unions, Cooperatives and other Working People's organizations supporting the Bomas Draft;
d. Faith Based groups that support the Bomas Draft;
e. Women's associations that support the Bomas Draft;
f. Youth groups that support the Bomas Draft
g. Traditional, Regional and Ethno-Cultural Associations that support the Bomas Draft
h. Professional and Middle Strata formations that support the Bomas Draft;
i. Groups of Kenyans abroad that support the Bomas Draft;
j. Left Wing Kenyans that support the Bomas Draft;
These 10 social strands should provide a National Collective Leadership of a number to be determined by consensus. Parallel to this leadership structure there should be a full time professionalized Secretariat populated mostly by people who can do the patient punda work of capacity building.
Let me be a bit cheeky and impulsive and baptize this Unborn Child (Oloo as a Pro-Lifer? NEVER MIND, ok, if you did not "get" that inside pro-choice "joke") MSETO Moto Moto.
"Mseto" which is a Kiswahili word that can mean Coalition, Network, Alliance or What Have You.
And if you do not know what "moto moto" is, go and get yourself an ice-cream and lick it for clues.
MSETO Should Have a Pronunciamento and Manifesto that revolves around the following:
1. A Democratic Constitution for Kenya by Madaraka Day, 2006.
2. Presidential, National, regional and local elections by "Kenyatta Day" 2006.
3. A Kenyan Truth and Justice Commission by Jamhuri Day, 2006.
4. A Kenyan Women's Charter by International Women's Day, 2007.
5. A Kenyan Workers Charter by May Day, 2007.
6. A Kenyan Youth Charter by June 16, 2007.
7.A New Kenyan Foreign Policy emphasizing national sovereignty by Madaraka Day 2007.
8. Renegotiating All of Kenya's Foreign Debt by October 20th, 2007.
9. Ratifying All International Human Rights Covenants and Protocols by International Human Rights Days, 2007.
10. Having a People-Driven HIV/AIDS National Campaign by World AIDS Day, 2007.
11. Add and subtract-you learnt that in primo, ama?
Tip# 2: Think Nationally, Act Regionally
Mass action should evolve DIALECTICALLY, yaani mature from simple, doable local actions to the most complex, nationally and even internationally coordinated campaigns. Examples of local, peaceful non-violent mass actions at your local gichagi- special prayers in your local kanisa, masjid, hekalu, pagoda, temple, shrine or if you are an African traditionalist- river, lake, mountain, valley or forest for the speedy passage of the Bomas Draft. Other local mass actions that standard three and four pupils could participate in- selling special buttons, t-shirts, bandanas, posters, cassettes, CDs etc. You get the picture. At district and provincial levels, the regional affiliate of the National Mseto can convene a wananchi's constituent assembly that discusses, debates and votes on accepting the Bomas Draft with one region following the other and moving dialectically with the regions that are most in support of the Bomas Draft having their meetings first and then trying to win the hold out, NAK strong holds constituency by constituency, district by district. Again, I am talking in broad strokes with the finer details left to the people on the ground.
Tip# 3: Make Sure that Kenyan Women Are Part of the Leadership From the Get Go!
Enuff sed.
Tip#4: Make Sure that Kenyan Youth Are Part of the Leadership from the Get Go!
See Tip # 3.
Tip #5: Make Sure that Kenyans Abroad Are Part of the Leadership from the Get Go!
See Tip #4.
Tip# 6: Develop an International Support Base Consisting of a Core of Progressive Kenyans Abroad
I could say more, but I am NOT going to dictate a blue print verbatim for members of the external section of the National Security Intelligence Service to transcribe for Hon. John Michuki by Friday. Forget it. Kwani wafikiria Oloo ni mjinga kiasi gani wewe kachero mtandaoni?
Tip# 7: Always Seize the Initiative and Never React to State Engineered Provocations.
Nothing to add, on this tight lipped evening dear reader.
Tip# 8: Have a FLEXIBLE Range of Tactics that Extend Beyond the Street.
Sina la ziada msomaji.
Tips# 8 to 17:
My lips are ZIPPED.
We will cross that daraja when we cross that daraja.
Haya Basi!
Onyango Oloo
Montreal
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Just passing through, I'm definitely digging the blog.
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