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http://www.timesnews.co.ke/15sep05/editorials/comm1.html
OF
By Onyango Oloo
IT is obvious that politicians from both the
"No" and "Yes" camps are slightly under the influence of
their respective orange and banana-based slogans. But whatever happens in
What is a revolution?
Well, let us turn to this guy Lenin, who is credited with knowing one or two
things about this particular subject: There was a time when he said that:
"Whoever expects to see a ‘pure’ social revolution will never live to see
it. Such a person pays lip-service to revolution without understanding what
revolution is..."
But he is also
remembered for saying this: it is indisputable that a revolution is impossible
without a revolutionary situation; furthermore, it is not every revolutionary
situation that leads to revolution. What, generally speaking, are the classical
symptoms of a revolutionary situation according to dialectical scholars ? They pointed to three major symptoms: (1) when it
is impossible for the ruling classes to maintain their rule without any change;
when there is a crisis, in one form or another, among the "upper
classes", a crisis in the policy of the ruling class, leading to a fissure
through which the discontent and indignation of the oppressed classes burst
forth.
For a revolution to
take place, it is usually insufficient for "the lower classes not to
want" to live in the old way; it is also necessary that "the upper
classes should be unable" to live in the old way; (2) when the suffering
and want of the oppressed classes have grown more acute than usual; (3) when,
as a consequence of the above causes, there is a considerable increase in the
activity of the masses, who uncomplainingly allow themselves to be robbed in
"peace time", but, in turbulent times, are drawn both by all the
circumstances of the crisis and by the "upper classes" themselves
into independent historical action.
Without these
objective changes which are independent of the will, so the ideologues
prescribed, not only of individual groups and parties but even of individual
classes, a revolution, as a general rule, is impossible and that the totality
of all these objective changes is called a revolutionary situation.
Such dialectical
prescriptions stopped being in vogue but even assuming that they were correct
pointers, would anybody say we have met the above litmus test in
It may well be that
one of the weaknesses on the Kenyan political front is precisely the assumption
that the wananchi are not, as a matter of argument
yet, fully organized to take "independent historical action!.
Again for the sake of
argument,
Perhaps it is probable
for this national consensus to bring about a democratic breakthrough but the
reality is that it would be a figment of fertile imagination if anybody
insisted that this country is at the doorstep of a catacyclismic
revolutionary upheaval within the next two months. And so we must remember what
all these "oranges" and "bananas" are about:
They are symbols to be
used to identify the two options we have on the referendum ballot come November
21, 2005. The "banana" stands for those who will choose to endorse
the Wako draft The "orange" stands for those
who will be opposing the same draft.
Whatever the outcome,
on November 22, 2005, Kenyans will not have a democratic constitution under any
circumstances. We will either have the new constitution that mainly pro-Kibaki forces want or we will be stuck with the current
undemocratic constitution that Kenyans have been agitating against for the last
15 years or so.
The referendum offers
Kenyans an opportunity of moving forward with the quest for a new, just
democratic constitutional dispensation. Its result will not actually accord us
this dispensation. It is important for Kenyans to be clear on this. That is why
it is important for us to put away any orange or banana flavoured
notions and instead reflect soberly on the political tasks ahead.
But certainly the
referendum should be an opportunity for us to introspect ahead of the 2007
elections and possibly, a turning point in our national consciousness as we shun
narrow tribal identities, parochial religious bigotry and self-seeking
opportunistic mainstream politicking as we embrace a national, tolerant,
diverse, patriotic and focused political vision in
Beyond those
objectives, any talk of "revolution" is strictly speaking reckless
adventurism. And speaking of the colour of
revolutions, one would be especially wary of importing wily nilly
into the Kenyan context, labels manufactured elsewhere. If anything, the
appellation of "Orange Revolution" is one we should be wincing away
from.
How many of the NO
chieftains really know what the so called "Orange Revolution" was all
about? Those who had followed that Ukrainian upheaval from start to finish get
goose bumps every time we hear the NO forces yell about the upcoming
"Orange Revolution" in
Those
not in picture can read for
themselves what the Orange Revolution was all about before making up their mind
whether a figure like Viktor Yushchenko is what we
want to emulate and carbon copy in
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Published by Kenya Socialist Democratic
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