It’s time to rethink national celebrations

The focus on the ‘empty’ Kasarani Stadium during the celebration of Jamhuri Day on Tuesday is confounding. It has presented fodder for political debate. The critics of the Government have suggested that this is an indication of the loss of legitimacy for the Jubilee administration.

Never mind that the same venue was overflowing with supporters of the regime just a few days before. The supporters of the Government resort to the fatigue of the crowd because of ‘too much’ politics this year, the size of the stadium, and so on. This is an interesting debate of course, though a bit off the mark in my view, as we consider how to avoid such situations in the future. There is need for a more realistic analysis.

I witnessed the times when attending these celebrations was mandatory. As primary school children, we were required to attend the celebrations, in our school uniforms – at the District Headquarters – and the teachers took roll call. In earlier days, I remember police officers patrolling my home town looking to arrest those who failed to attend.

They shut the gates so that we could not leave until the President’s speech had been read by the DC. Participating in these national day celebrations was considered a critical act of citizenship. Those days are long gone; our thinking seems to have remained the same.

Of course, the participation of citizens in the State and national activities remains critical to the survival of the state and the political regime. Nonetheless, the nature of the participation – and how we consume information - has changed. In the age of live broadcasts on social media, participation does not require attendance.

We are now able to follow critical events from our mobile phones, wherever we may be, locally or abroad. As a friend argued, those who commented on the emptiness of the stadium, were only able to do so because they were following the event. They also participated in it. As such, we need not stop eating nyama choma or socialising with friends and family over a drink - things Kenyans love to do - as we follow the event. The journey to the stadium is no longer necessary.

Nevertheless, partly because of the above and because of the nature of the event, I am convinced that we need to rethink these national celebrations. National days, such as Jamhuri Day, are State - rather than Government - matters. In other words, they are about the Kenyan State, the sovereign political entity that survives political regimes. Simply put, as Kibaki’s government ended and Uhuru’s regime took power, the Kenyan State remained – and, it will survive Kenyatta.

The purpose of these events is for the State to demonstrate its sovereignty; the ability to not only govern itself but also to defend itself against threat.

This is why military parades are a central part of these events. It is a showcase of the capacity of the State to defend itself against threats. The event culminates with a speech from the President, who is also the Commander-in Chief (C-in-C) of the defence forces, which serves the same purpose.

We should focus on making these events what they should be – styled as State events focusing on the military and the State apparatus. Because they are not really ‘political’ events, in the popular sense of the word connoting electoral competition, live audiences are not critical.

Hence, we can reduce the focus on the live audience and stage the parades, along key streets such as Parliament Road and Harambee Avenue. This is similar to what they do in France, where the national day is essentially a military parade along an important street in Paris, witnessed by the President and other state officials, and televised for the general audience.

Those who would like to attend can attend, but that need not be the focus because many can follow the event through the media or access news about the event. This would only require slight adjustments to what we already do with the military parade before the President delivers the State of the Nation Address at Parliament. This will help reduce costs and the complexity of organising such events.

- The writer is a researcher and analyst in Nairobi. [email protected]