“Prodigal Nations”

Abstract

After a protracted post-election impasse, the clinching of the Annan-mediated political deal on 28th February, 2008 brought to Kenya a desperately longed for sigh of relief; however, the East African country was yet to be thrown into another political standoff a few days after the deal. The ensuing negotiations about cabinet positions revealed the painful fact that the political deadlock was not about the wellbeing of the ordinary man and woman on the streets of Nairobi or in the slums of Kibera and Mathare. A bloated cabinet has been announced, but the internally displaced people are yet to be resettled. One can also cite the political drama unfolding on the Zimbabwean electoral stage, to inductively show that democracy is not a magic formula that will solve all problems on the continent. It is one thing to embrace the rhetoric of democracy, and it is another thing altogether to internalise and implement its demands. There are issues that need to be addressed if democracy is to work at all: ethnic conflicts, distribution of limited resources, and the concept of nationhood.