By Bob Awuor
Reference is made to the current discussion in Kenya and abroad regarding on-going constitutional reforms. Whilst I concur with the views of proponents for dual nationality rights for Kenyan citizens who hold the citizenships of other countries, that is just about how far I could possibly go before I part ways in relation to other demands. Many have lent their voices to the clamour for the right of my fellow Diasporians to vote in Kenyan elections wherever they live in the world, which I oppose. I also oppose all calls for Kenyans abroad to constitute themselves into the world’s largest constituency (albeit of non-tax-payers seeking representation …!) and elect an MP from amongst themselves who shall represent them in Kenya’s national assembly. I oppose these demands on the plain and simple grounds that they are an unreasonable ‘ask’ from the people of Kenya! The right to vote is a right that bestows equally upon every Kenyan and this right is exercisable by all during our general and other special elections. To the best of my knowledge, absolutely nothing has ever stopped Kenyans in the Diaspora availing themselves of the opportunity to vote at home alongside other Kenyans. To suggest that the Kenyan tax-payer incur expenses of whatever magnitude to facilitate the delivery of election resources (ballots, ballot boxes, election personnel, security, etc) to every country in the world where a Kenyan lives is not only unreasonable but quite an unforgivable demand from Kenyan non-tax-paying population scattered around the world. Why would the tax-paying public need to incur this additional expense when the right to travel home and vote is not denied anyone? Before anyone even considers the logistical nightmare involved in supplying ballots from Armenia to Fiji or Iceland to Chile and Mongolia, a more urgent consideration might be about other different areas of national life (such as providing water and healthcare facilities to villages that lack these vital services) where such expense would be more productive to the country. I say this because I have not heard equally strong voices from the so-called Kenyan Diaspora pledging to fund this process …or did I miss something? Also, unnecessary national expense aside, if votes cast in Kenya in plain daylight are open to abuse and manipulation by those in power, how about votes cast abroad? My point is that let not him or her who does not pay tax into the national kitty make demands with financial implications on the tax-paying public. And I can extend this argument to cover and throw out the other even more notorious demand for a special parliamentary constituency and national assembly representation by invoking one basic canon of taxation: the right to representation. Clearly, Kenyans residing abroad pay no taxes to the country and I fail to understand the basis upon which their demand for the right to representation sits …! And how would they fairly elect this MP? How would he or she travel around the world to campaign and meet his or her prospective voters? Or should every foreign country become a constituency so that Kenyans residing therein elect their own parliamentary representative? In view of the aforementioned I consider to be highly unreasonable all these demands by Kenyans abroad and urgen the nation to ignore the same. I am part and parcel of the Kenyan Diaspora but I am not convienced that the individuals making all these demands really know what they are talking about! Hence a call to responsible citizenship would be in order, and with that a realisation by all these fellows that there is no right without responsibility – and our nation could do with a lot more responsibility on the part of all citizens, from the President to the youngest citizen of majority age. We Kenyans are in the mess we are all in as a nation because some citizens haven’t been very responsible: the Mau, the theft of public funds in all areas; the post-election violence; the abuse of office cases that fill the pages and airtime of the daily press; name it! Assume for a minute that Kenyan citizens involved in such scams like Goldenberg; Anglo Leasing; Triton; Grand Regency; etc had been more responsible, would our government lack the funds to build much-needed schools, water dips, public toilets or health centres to save lives in far-flung villages in areas without these facilities? I guess Kenyans in the Diaspora are fast learning from wanton irresponsibility displayed by our more irresponsible brothers and sisters in government by making demands that are unreasonable, impractical and simply too not polite to be asked of our over-burdened tax-paying citizenry by a non-tax-paying segment of the populace. To seek to be represented in Parliament by a Diaspora MP is simply bad manners, and I do not want anyone to associate me with such an unreasonable ‘ask’ by virtue of my being one of the Kenyans living abroad. It would certainly be more reasonable to expect that the Kenyan government would see the necessity of creating the office of Diaspora affairs within the appropriate ministry (Foreign Affairs or Office of the Prime Minister) and perhaps even appointing a junior minister (asstistant minister) in the PM’s office to deal with Diaspora matters in government, parliament and in the civil service. But not a parliamentary representative ‘elected for, by and amongst’ the Diaspora! For all that we Kenyans in the Diaspora are asking of our nation, have we considered the model innovated by the Eritreans in the whole area of Diaspora Taxes …? ‘Diaspora taxes? Unpalatable!’, I hear you scream. I shall return to this later, but this should help to remind you that rights do come with responsibilities, and we should not demand of our motherland much more than we are ourselves ready to put into the common pool. Eritreans resolved this by granting Diasporians all the rights – matched by the constitutional requirement to pay taxes … in the form of Diaspora Tax! I invite you to do your own investigations and let me know what you find! Bob Awuor is the Executive Director of the London-based African Community Development Foundation (ACDF) and is a registered voter in Nairobi, Kenya. He can be contacted on bob.awuor@gmail.com
Source: Kenya London News.
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