Katiba Mpya!

[bloodyrosemccoy]

Meamwhile, on the other side of the world from me, something cool has happened: Kenya has adopted a new constitution!

It’s hugely ambitious—aside from limiting the power of the presidency, it’s trying to put some checks and balances on racial nepotism,* includes affirmative action for women, and an ambitious Bill of Rights. I am hoping they can keep their promises, but even if they try and fail, points for trying. From over here in the Land of General Malaise, it’s nice to see that somewhere someone’s trying to make life better. Go, Kenya!

And if you’re at all interested, here’s a long but fascinating assessment of the broader context of this constitution. I’m really not in any position to comment on the specifics, what with not being immersed in this, but I must point out that it’s some really good general points about casting a critical eye on the past. I’d add that past traditon may have a lot of falsehoods that could bear discarding, but that t’s also got some useful truths that can be kept or adapted.


*Remember that whole debacle from 2007? Tribal tension was a big factor. The new constitution says, implicitly, “Right, let’s not do THAT again.”

Comments

[gwalla.livejournal.com]

I've read about this. Sounds promising! There are some good ideas in there.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Indeed! I'll be interested to see how they carry them out! (I am especially interested in seeing how the part about having 1/3 of every elected body be female plays out. Gender roles seemed pretty ingrained in my limited experience there, and stepping away from them may be a tough habit to break. This may galvanize the government into providing better preparation for women to be leaders.)