Can Condoleeza Save Kenya from herself?

That's right!

Ms. Condoleeza Rice, Secretary of State of the United States will be in Kenya tomorrow to help with the negotiations of a power deal between the government represented by a party called PNU and the Opposition represented by a party called ODM. Just so you understand... Condoleeza Rice is the top diplomat of the only super-power on planet earth. And she will be in Kenya to assist in the negotiations (my hunch is that she is coming to give an ultimatum!). And President George W. Bush has made clear what he wants. He wants a grand coalition between the government (PNU) and the Opposition (ODM) so that commerce can resume and confidence in Kenya's long-term stability can be restored.

The sticking point is and has ALWAYS been that the President of Kenya has too much power. Stated simply, the entire Executive and Judiciary serve at his pleasure. In the US, the Supreme court of the United States has the constitutional authority to nullify presidential actions. They can, and have told Bush and other US Presidents that "No you cannot do that! And that is the end of the matter because we are the Supreme Court!" This kind of defiance is unthinkable in Kenya because the judge that dared defy the President would be out of a job the next day. So the negotiations will be focusing on how to reduce Presidential power.

I have to say that I am SUPER proud of the international community. They have refused to ignore Kenya. The disputed election was on Dec 27... over a month and a half ago but yet there is still a concerted international effort to make things right in Kenya. I think the Kibaki govt is slowly coming to this realization: that they will have to compromise and give up some Presidential power. The details are everything.

Personally, I would be happy if the President of Kenya would require parliamentary approval to appoint, AND could NOT remove AT ALL members of Kenya's High Court (our supreme court); that only the parliament could do this. This together with his inability to remove regional administrators at will without some sort of legislative approval. i.e. Provincial Administrators. I will concede that the president's cabinet is HIS/HER choice but on a regional level there need to be checks. These two changes ALONE would be enough for me.

So Condoleeza work will be to find what the Kibaki administration is willing to give up in terms of Presidential Power. This is all that matters. NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. In fact this is her mission. She MUST convince Kibaki to give up some Presidential power or else there will be no deal!