Time again for Wanjiku to stand up for her rights

A very improbable duo created the larger-than-life character Wanjiku in Kenya of the 1990s. Exasperated by the indomitable push for a people-driven constitution–making process, President Daniel arap Moi bemoaned: “Wananchi walitupa madaraka. The voters throughout the republic gave members of parliament mandate kufanya yale yanafaa kufanywa. Wanjiku baada ya kutoa mandate, sasa tunarudi tena kwa Wanjiku kusema onyesha sisi njia ya kuandika katiba ya Kenya? Huo ni mchezo wa aina gani? (The people gave us the mandate and empowered the member of parliament to represent them. Of what use is it to go back to Wanjiku to write the constitution? What sort of game are we playing?”

The cartoonist Godfrey Mwampembwa, popularly known as Gado, lovingly embraced and elevated Wanjiku, as Jennifer Muchiri observes, to “a person… (who) is aware of his/her rights and can eloquently articulate the issues that affect her/him.” Muchiri concludes: “Indeed, Wanjiku is gender and ethnicity neutral, only identified as a Kenyan; a person whose rights need to be safeguarded and whose voice needs to be heard.”

UNTHINKING VOTING

Moi’s Wanjiku was an unthinking voting machine dedicated to churning overbearing political leaders every five years. Such a Wanjiku (hereinafter interchangeably referred to as she/he) was habitually manipulated through propaganda, handouts, tribal affiliation — and even violence — to legitimise a ruling class which, more often than not, rigged elections.

She was not to demand rights, opportunity, justice and democracy. Upon casting her vote, Wanjiku was to exit the public arena. She had, to use lawyerly language, become functus officio. In today’s parlance, she would not be given a chance to say, “I can’t breathe.”

Therefore, it was inconceivable, according to our second president, for Wanjiku to resurface after the 1992 electoral contest and demand a stake in constitution-making; the negotiation of a second social contract. Further, Wanjiku had no right to audit the country’s governance system, or even demand the right to equitable development.

On the other hand, Gado characterised Wanjiku as both man and woman. Unlike Moi, Gado’s interpretation of Wanjiku was that of an ordinary Kenyan who was knowledgeable, eternally observant of society’s ebb and flow, conscious of her/his rights, and even a social activist. The cartoonist humanised Wanjiku.

Both the civil society and the political opposition of the 1990s appropriated Wanjiku and made her the motif and force of a people-driven process of constitution-making.

SOVEREIGN POWER

In 2010, the new constitution that Wanjiku had gallantly fought for recognised her/him. In Article 1, the mother law provided: “All sovereign power belongs to the people of Kenya…” That means all sovereign power belongs to Wanjiku. The same article continued to state: “The people (read Wanjiku) may exercise their sovereign power either directly or through their democratically elected representatives.”

The Constitution unequivocally reversed the notion that once Wanjiku elects leaders, he grants them total mandate to govern without further reference to him. The Constitution established Wanjiku as citizen, the ruler.

As the sovereign, he was positioned by the 2010 Constitution into a pre-eminent political territory. No wonder Gado’s manifestation of Wanjiku is akin to an ombudsman; a sentinel who ceaselessly watches how leaders perform.

In 2014, Naomi Shitemi and Eunice Kamaara edited a book, Wanjiku: A Socio-political Discourse, in which the authors placed Wanjiku at the centre of her society. In their exposition she is not the docile, ignorant citizen who will be demeaned by politicians in silence. She is “the representative of mwananchi — the common man or woman.” In the book, Hazel Ayanga discusses “Wanjiku’s perceived voicelessness and powerlessness and argues that despite the ordinary Kenyan’s poverty, s/he is powerful and politicians need to realise that Wanjiku can interpret concepts and ideas.” In the article mentioned above, Muchiri powerfully asserts: “In a sense, every Kenyan is Wanjiku.”

PATRIOTIC KENYAN

Today then, Wanjiku has metamorphosed to become the patriotic Kenyan who wishes to realise the re-imagining of the motherland into a society we all are at home in.

Wanjiku’s new Kenya is a country under the Constitution and rule of law where human rights and devolution thrive. It is a republic in which leaders are accountable servants. Wanjiku’s Kenya is a place of equal opportunities in jobs and investments, financial inclusion, education, health, and all areas of human endeavour.

Vulnerable people are protected. Wanjiku is also part of the majority youth who deserve recognition, dignity and inclusion in leadership.

Even if we were to consider Wanjiku as a woman, it is common knowledge that women, through marriage, just like the mustard seed, find themselves living in all parts of a country. Wanjiku knows no ethnic boundary. She is part and parcel of all the 47 or so communities of Kenya.

When Wanjiku participated in our first liberation in the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s during the Mau Mau war for independence, she was devoid of negative ethnicity. All Kenyan communities, including Asians and Arabs, fought for our freedom. History books confirm this. During the second liberation from the one-party authoritarianism of the ‘80s, ‘90s and early 2000s, the Wanjiku of all Kenyan communities was embroiled in the struggle.

ECONOMIC EMANCIPATION

The third liberation is about economic emancipation. Wanjiku must be at its forefront because she will be a prime beneficiary. Wanjiku is therefore the Kenyan who merits a level playing field in both politics and the economy.

In another article by Muchiri, she observes, “Wanjiku’s scorecard for Kenya does not look good. She is displeased, disappointed and distressed.

Leaders ought to be aware that with each passing day, and with increasing aggravation, Wanjiku knows she has been taken for granted for far too long.” It is indeed time for Wanjiku, as Bob Marley sang, to yet again stand up for her rights.

She must jealously guard her right to be a sovereign citizen who is a bona fide shareholder in the economy.

Prof Kivutha Kibwana is the Governor of Makueni County