Has secular democracy intensified Kenya 's sectarian divide?

by jimale mohamed mohamud

email: bisharkey2002@hotmail.com

The terrifying violence engulfing Kenya in the aftermath of democratic elections comes just days after the assassination of Pakistan 's Benazir Bhutto precipitated similar scenes across Pakistan in the run up to its democratic elections.

Kenya was viewed as one of Africa 's more stable countries, in a continent that has yet to recover from the effects of western colonialism and the slave trade. However, the recent violence which has cost over 250 lives, including the horrific massacre of 50 people sheltering in a church, dramatically brought home the stark reality that 45 years of independence under a secular constitution has not culminated in a creation of a stable and cohesive nation. Furthermore, the emergence of a multi-party democratic system in 1992 and the removal of Daniel Arap Moi's grip on power through the election of President Kibaki in 2002 has not, as commentators predicted, created the foundations of stability but has rather inflamed sectarian grievances that have festered since independence.

Kenya's dismal situation has several parallels with Pakistan and other fledgling nation states that were borne out of the yolk of colonialism. Their political systems, rather than diminishing the ugly consequences of sectarianism, have only intensified them by actually re-enforcing sectarian grievances. Nation building necessitates the development of a bond among the indigenous peoples of a state that unifies them such that all feel they share the fruits of progress. States characterised by leaderships that depend on tribal or feudal support in order to maintain power will suffer from cronyism and sectarian inequalities. In Kenya , successive governments have not dealt with the grievances of the Luos tribe, which has now precipitated in the current wave of violence. Similarly, Pakistan has witnessed successive civilian governments accentuate the Sindhi-Punjabi sectarian divide and this finally surfaced in dramatic fashion with the assassination of Benazir. Perhaps Rwanda was the most terrible of all examples with the seeds of Hutu-Tutsi hatred sown by the Belgian colonial power.

Some would say that the inability to remove sectarian tensions and develop a progressive national consensus is a deeper flaw in the secular democratic system, which not only manifests itself in fledgling democracies but also in mature democracies as the growing momentum for devolution in Britain illustrates.

Islam, unlike secular democracy, condemns the causes of sectarian tensions by emphasising the bond of Islamic brotherhood between the Muslims and the bond of humanity between Muslim and non-Muslim - and the common relationship as citizens with both and the government.

Under the Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) all citizens whether Muslim or non-Muslim will share in the justice and prosperity of the state. The historical success of the Khilafah in achieving a harmonious society when implemented across the globe is arguably unparalleled in history. Certainly, the post-colonial experience of Africa and the Muslim world cannot be used as a similar advertisement. Examples such as that in Kenya , and Pakistan are only further sad proofs as to why the 'hearts and minds' campaign by Neocon proponents of secularism and democracy in western governments is failing in the Islamic world.