The result of Kenya's recent elec tion - conceded after two years of growing popular discontent against the dictatorship and financial and diplomatic pressure from western governments - was predictable long before poling day.
The ruing Kenya Atrican National Union party was always going to lose its parliamentary monopoly but largest single leader Daniel Arap Moi would stay president on a minority vote.
Urban riots in 1990 were followed by the formation of Forum for Resoration of Democracy, a credible opposition based on the Kikuyu and Luo ethnic groups and dissident layers. But personality clashes saw the movement divide into Kenneth Matiba's FORD-Asili and veteran nabonalst Odinga Odinga's FORDKenya in the run-up to the election.
Wide the urban middle diasses were altracted to FORD's pro-democracy platform, the group represents a ve! icle for the Kikuyu bourCenya's frst leader, Jomo Kenyatta.
However, Mor has treely dis. tributed state largesse to his own minority Kalenin people. Despite his rhetoric against Tribalism, he has done much to foster ethnic divisions.
Last year saw many KANU-or. chestrated killings in rural areas. designed both as an outlet for frustrations of the landless and an attempt to drive the confused peasantry into Moi's arms Up to 50,000 peasants have been camps and 1,000 dead. The vicims were Kikuyu, their assailants aspected to be Kaleni Vestern-supported democrac movements are mushrooming across Africa. With the end of the communist bogey. crisis now seeks to scale down its proxy wars and expensive dient regimes.
Siad Barre in Somalia fell after the US stopped financial and military 300 Club Mark Selmor backing after the collapse of the noed for a satolite in the region. Likewise, the withdrawal of American support has destabilised Zaire's Mobuto Sese Seko.
Democracy movements are no longer exclusively based on the intel. ligentsia and urban professionals. International Monetary Fund-insigated austerity packages have created picity of Atrican governments with loraign capital and moblised large sections of the population from all classes a is not in imperisms wherest be outflanked by popular movements which could even topple their rulers.
not the gamble it would once But the absence of independent working class formations is depressing. Many leftist interlecturis - stil carrying the ideological baggago of argue this is good, because the task Consoled democracy and not advance working class, let alone socialist, demands. But class independence is now a vital SOLANU was formed as a multi cite party. Like sop many other nationalist federason, co-opted the leaders into the party and then broke working class struggles.
Strikes were a major weapon in banned when they threatened the neo-colonial eiles. Social contracts were enforced to keep wages down and minise inoustnal action.
In Zambia, the Movement for Mult-party Democracy rode to power on the back of the workers and poor peasants. It is now throttling them with austerity policies. Moi or no Mol, the same fate faces Kenya's op pressed until they wrestle state power for themselves. Protected by police bans: West Midlands fascists Natal