February 7th 2008
Nairobi

The Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice (KPTJ) coalition and the National Civil Society congress (NCSC) wish to reiterate their unequivocal support for the Kofi Annan-led AU and internationally backed mediation process in Kenya. Kenyans are desperate to see an end to the nightmare that the current crisis represents: this process represents an important, and perhaps the only remaining, opportunity to resolve the Kenya crisis. KPTJ and NCSC also wish to restate that real, lasting peace will only be achieved through both truth and justice with regard to the Kenya Presidential Election of 2007, and the violence that followed it.

The mediation process has achieved some success as well as raising significant concerns. It deserves applause that the two major combating political antagonists in this crisis have been brought to the negotiating table. It is also deserving of mention that these two groups have remained at the negotiation table despite the very challenging and sometimes outright traumatic environment they are dialoguing under. We will shortly be addressing the content of some of the interim agreements arrived at including the proposed Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission announced on February 4, 2008.

There are, however, deep concerns that remain and have been further deepened by unfolding events. The state of insecurity and incalculable losses of life, limb and livelihood in the country is a tragic derogation of all universally accepted norms and standards of human rights. The KPTJ and NCSC support the call contained in the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation documents for the immediate restoration of the fundamental rights and freedoms of Kenyans, including the right of peaceful assembly.

We note that, in the past week or so, two Members of Parliament from one side of the political divide have been murdered in suspicious circumstances and demand the speedy and conclusive clarification of these crimes. Further there have been highly inflammatory and unacceptable statements made by Mediation Parties that trespass on the mediation agenda and undermine the prospects of successful mediation with truth and justice. The pattern of disrespect towards and slighting of international partners- including the African Union and President John Kuffuor -which manifested itself again recently with the rejection of Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa cannot go uncondemned. In this regard, the KPTJ and NCSC express their concern over reports that the hotel room of His Excellency Kofi Annan was bugged. The situation should be investigated and, if the reports are true, those responsible be identified and punished.

Let it be known that ordinary Kenyans reject any slide towards a status as a pariah nation and are pained at the cavalier treatment of those who have tried to assist us out of our present predicament. Kenya must both see and project itself as an accountable and responsible member of the community of nations, in Africa and worldwide. We therefore call on all partners, regional and international, to desist from doing “business as usual” with Kenya: the protagonists must be forced to focus on the mediation process as the most urgent order of business. With regard to this, we reject the presence of IGAD foreign ministers in Kenya at this time and the planned holding of the EAC Summit as detracting from our national focus on the Panel of Eminent Africans (Annan) mediation process.

On the mediation agenda, we note as ordinary Kenyans that both this agenda and the participating parties seem to rotate around the dispute between two contending political sides. This fails to account for the voting and non-voting citizen who will ultimately be affected by the process and resolutions arising. Kenyans are emerging from a history of numerous experiences of failed involvement by competing political protagonists from independence to the IPPG and subsequent attempts at Constitutional Reform. While confidentiality of certain aspects of mediation may be temporarily necessary, the Kenyan people must have ownership of the process and it must be accountable to them. To this end, a mechanism that encourages transparency and includes the views of Kenyans on the process is necessary.

Having benefited from an examination and analysis of the agenda and initial statement as well as the emerging reports from the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation Process, the KPTJ and NCSC wish to recommend as follows:

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES: That the foundational principles of the Mediation Process be clarified as the acceptance of universally accepted human rights, the protection and promotion of democracy and the rule of law, accountability, transparency, and the achievement of justice for all.
TRANSPARENT GROUND RULES: That the Mediation Process transparently spells out binding rules of engagement as well as attending sanctions in cases where parties are determined to be in violation of those rules. It is important that such rules bind parties to the process to conduct themselves in a manner that builds confidence, cultivates good faith and imposes sanctionable obligations;

LEGITIMACY & ENFORCEABILITY: That the Mediation Process and its outcomes be constitutionally embedded to ensure that it is binding, enforceable and does not suffer from interference from the competing political interests or challenges to its legality or legitimacy; the Mediation outcomes should be reduced to an instrument or instruments that can be deposited in the Parliament of Kenya;

OWNERSHIP & ACCOUNTABILITY: That the Mediation Process be open to receive the views of Kenyans and be bound to give feedback to them promptly. A mechanism should be established that encourages and consolidates the views of Kenyans. This could be in the form of a timely and periodic two-way feedback mechanism into which views of Kenyans are fed and there is dissemination of concrete information to wananchi on how the issues raised are being addressed. KPTJ and NCSC appreciate initial efforts to disseminate information and strongly encourage the mediation team to be proactive and continue to circulate this information more widely so many more Kenyans can be aware of the progress made;

TRIGGERS AND ROOT CAUSES: That the Mediation Process address itself to, and deal with, the context which has precipitated this crisis and in particular the underlying issues of electoral, institutional and constitutional failure, impunity, political corruption and the ethnicization of politics in order to lay the framework for finding a lasting resolution to the Kenya crisis;

ADDRESSING VIOLENCE: That the Mediation Process address all forms of violence that have manifested themselves through this crisis, while appreciating its evolving nature and the real capacity problems inherent in the task of ending widespread violence against Kenyan citizens. KPTJ believes that violence has evolved from the spontaneous post-election protests and organised militia action, to vigilante entrenchment and general banditry and crime. Responses must recognize that resolving violence is no longer just political but must encompass a range of urgent measures such as the enhancement of police capacity, restoring confidence of Kenyans in their security apparatus, and the creation of social safety nets;

TREATMENT OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED KENYAN CITIZENS: That due attention be paid to the safety and rights of the 350- 500,000 Internally Displaced Kenyan citizens so that their freedom to independently choose whether they should move or evacuate from their respective locations is not fettered but rather honored and facilitated. It is callous to compel people to live in places where they feel insecure without providing credible guarantees for their security;

TRUTH JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION: That discussions on Truth, Justice and Reconciliation must address independent, impartial, effective and expeditious mechanisms of restorative justice for all victims in order to address the self-negating cycles of revenge and violence. Such a process must draw a distinction between historical or communal grievances and contemporary crimes which should be investigated and prosecuted, lest violence end up being rewarded under the guise of addressing historical grievances or exacting revenge for perceived victimisation;

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM: That Constitutional reform must be fast-tracked into a short-term and medium-term time-frame so as to make it practicable. A comprehensive constitution-making process should be entrenched in the current constitution through a constitutional amendment. Priority should be given to electoral reform, transitional government arrangements, top-level public service reforms, judicial reform and police reform. Immediately thereafter the comprehensive constitutional reforms should be completed.

ADDRESS CAPACITY DEFICITS: That any capacity deficits of the parties to reach and assure agreement be addressed and facilitated by the Parliament of Kenya and if need be the AU and the international community. That the international community continue to take such measures as are necessary to ensure that the Mediation Parties and their respective supporters are held accountable to the Kenyan people and to the principles of truth with justice.

KPTJ and the NCSC salute all Kenyans, such as those in civil society and the business community, who have resolved to work for lasting peace through truth and justice and call on non-violence to achieve these objectives. KPTJ and NCSC also applaud and express full solidarity with the Kofi Annan-led AU mediation process for beginning to craft a way out of this cataclysmic crisis in Kenya. KPTJ and NCSC appreciate the positive contributions of those such as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and the African Union Summit. Given the historical failure of many national processes to resolve Kenya’s problems, it behoves all to ensure that there are concerted efforts to work towards the ultimate success of the AU Mediation Process in Kenya.

God/Allah Bless Kenya.

Signed:

The National Civil Society Congress
Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG)
Awaaz
Bunge la Mwananchi
Centre for Law and Research International (CLARION)
Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD)
Centre for Rights, Education and Awareness for Women (CREAW)
The Cradle-the Childrens Foundation
Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (CRECO)
East African Law Society (EALS)
Fahamu
Haki Focus
Hema la Katiba
Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU)
Innovative Lawyering
Institute for Education in Democracy (IED)
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-Kenya)
International Centre for Policy and Conflict
Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
Kenya Leadership Institute (KLI)
Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR)
Kituo cha Sheria
RECESSPA
Law Society of Kenya (LSK)
MARS Group Kenya
Muslim Human Rights Forum
National Convention Executive Council (NCEC)
Society for International Development (SID)
The 4 Cs
Urgent Action Fund (UAF)-Africa
Youth Agenda

* Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Maina Kiai makes an impassioned plea for seriousness and commitment from all actors in the pursuit for a resolution to Kenya's political crisis

Kenya is at a cross-road that will mean either the complete disintegration of Kenya or the beginning of a new, more democratic, sustainable nation suited to the needs and aspirations of the Kenyan people in the 21st Century. In a deeply painful and costly manner–in terms of lives lost and destruction wrought—the crisis in Kenya has given the country a unique opportunity to move forward in a way that we have been advocating for the last 20 years. In a sense, Kenya is at its "civil war" moment that the US was at in 1861. Just as that war was pivotal in establishing and solidifying the democratic credentials of the US, this moment could lead Kenya to much greater heights if properly handled both domestically and internationally.

In this context, the mediation currently going on under the leadership of Kofi Annan, Graca Machel and Ben Mkapa is the last best chance for Kenya to move forward. Whatever can be done to keep the players at the table, and keep them there in good faith, is critical. And efforts that delay, or subvert the talks—whether through insensitive statements and actions or by trying to prolong the talks through acts of filibustering—must be condemned. Consistent regional and international pressure is necessary especially on the hardliners who think that the crisis will blow over. The consequences of the failure of the mediation efforts are too dire to imagine not just for Kenya but for the region.

What is going on in Kenya is a political crisis with ethnic manifestation because politics in Kenya is organized ethnically. Clearly there are cleavages and differences in Kenyan society that have erupted brutally to the surface. But these have erupted due to the failure of peaceful means of resolving and addressing these differences, including the failure of elections and political reforms promised to Kenya in the 2002 elections.

The crisis in Kenya was foreseeable. In March 2007, the KNCHR submitted a memorandum to President Kibaki urging him to maintain the "gentleman's agreement" that had been in place since 1997 whereby all parliamentary parties made nominations for appointment to the Electoral Commission of Kenya. We argued that unilateral abandonment of the agreement would likely invite chaos and instability were the elections disputed. Moreover, since January 2006 we witnessed consistent attempts by the state to reduce democratic space and instil fear in society.

THE EXTENT OF THE CRISIS

Some 1000 people have been killed in the one month since violence erupted on December 30, 2007. Note that 3000 people were killed between 1992 and 1998 in the state instigated clashes in the country. During that same period, more than 300,000 people were internally displaced, most of whom have not returned to their farms and homes. In the month since the elections, an additional 300,000 people have been internally displaced.

Part of the reason why militia—on both sides—have been so potent and dangerous is that they arose from the earlier violence of the 1990s and were never de-mobilized. Nor was there a process to deal with the root causes of that violence, with the Kibaki government choosing to sweep the matter under the carpet, despite campaign promises to the contrary. With grievances bubbling and fermenting close to the surface, it was relatively easy to reactivate the militia using methods similar to those of the 1990s. Most important, the paymasters and planners of the 1990s clashes were never held accountable.

It is estimated that in the month since the crisis started the Kenyan economy has lost about US $3 billion and about 400,000 jobs. Moreover the crisis has severely affected the economies of Uganda, Rwanda, Eastern DR Congo, and Southern Sudan and could bring them to ruin if not checked. All these nations have a history of conflict and violence that could be reawakened by economic collapse.

We have observed 4 forms of violence:

i) Spontaneous uprisings of mobs protesting the flaws in the presidential elections. These mobs looted, raped and burnt down buildings in an anarchical manner.

ii) Violence organized by ODM-supporting militia in the Rift Valley that was aimed at perceived political opponents. The initial militia action attracted organized counter-violence from PNU supporters especially in Nakuru, Naivasha areas of the Rift Valley, and Nairobi.

iii) Excessive use of force by the police in ways suggesting "shoot to kill" orders against unarmed protesters mainly in ODM strongholds including Kisumu, Kakamega, Migori, and the Kibera slum of Nairobi. Policing has been uneven in its implementation. In some strong ODM areas, the police have been shooting to kill, while when confronted with pro-PNU militia, they have opted to negotiate with the groups. However, in the Eldoret area, the police largely stood by and watched as pro-PNU supporters were killed and their houses burnt.

iv) Local militia in pro-PNU areas, on receiving internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Rift Valley, have mobilized in sympathy and turned on perceived ODM supporters, killing them, and burning their houses.

The violence is neither genocide nor ethnic cleansing: The root of the problem is not that different ethnic groups decided they could no longer live together. The root of the problem is the inability of peaceful means to address grievances. For this to be genocide there would have to be either state complicity or state collapse and the first obligation would be for the state to provide adequate security for those at risk. Instead we have uneven and selective policing with emphasis on preventing Raila Odinga from holding protests in Nairobi rather than protecting IDPs and others at risk across the country. We therefore believe that the quickest and most effective way to reduce the violence is progress in the current talks.

THE ELECTION TRIGGER

It is clear that the flagrant effort to steal the presidential election was the immediate trigger for the violence. All independent observers have said that the tallying process was so flawed that it is impossible to tell who won the presidential election. Since 1992, Kenya's elections have been progressively better and fairer, culminating in the 2002 elections which were the best ever, and the 2005 constitutional referendum. The effect of this progression is that Kenyans finally believed in the power of the vote as a way of peacefully resolving differences, a fact confirmed by voting trends in the recent parliamentary elections that saw almost 70 percent of incumbents lose their seats. When this sense of empowerment was subverted, and peaceful legal spaces for protests were disallowed, it is not surprising that frustrations boiled over and violence ensued.

We have documented some of the facts and analysis that make clear that the flaws in the tallying of presidential votes rendered untenable the conclusion that Mwai Kibaki was validly elected.

With the benefit of hindsight, there were steps taken that paint a picture of a well orchestrated plan to ensure a pre-determined result. These include:

i) President Kibaki's decision to abrogate the agreement of 1997 on the formula for appointments to the Electoral Commission ensuring that all the Commissioners were appointed by him alone; ii) An administrative decision within the ECK to give responsibility to Commissioners for their home regions, something that had never been done before, meaning that they appointed all the election officials in the constituencies in their home regions, in a manner that created conflicts of interest; iii) The rejection of an offer from IFES to install a computer program that would enable election officials in the constituencies to submit results electronically to Nairobi and then on to a giant screen available to the public making it virtually impossible to change results; iv) A decision to abandon the use of ECK staff in the Verification and Tallying Centre in favour of casual staff provided by the Commissioners directly; and v) A refusal to ensure that election officials in areas with large predictable majorities for any of the candidates came from different areas so as to reduce the likelihood of ballot stuffing.

WAY FORWARD AND ROLE OF US CONGRESS AND GOVERNMENT

At this "constitutional moment" that Kenya has reached, we believe the way forward must be centred on truth and justice as the only sustainable road to peace and development. This is the time for Kenya to end the impunity that has been a feature of our history since independence, and also to end the "winner take all" "first past the post" system. Specifically, we call for:

i) An international independent investigation into the 2007 presidential election process in order to come to closure on the elections, find out who did what and why; who ordered it; and promote accountability; ii) An international independent investigation into the post election violence—from citizens and police–so that there is accountability on all sides.

iii) An interim transitional government to be formed with limited powers of governance and for a limited time–between 1 and 2 years—with Kibaki and Odinga exercising equal powers.

iv) The primary duties of this interim government should be to undertake constitutional reform, and especially explore ways of reforming the current Imperial Presidency; motivate electoral reforms, police reforms, judicial reforms, land reforms, civil service reforms, devolution of power; and conduct new elections at the end of its term.

v) The interim government should also be charged with cooling passions and starting the process of reconciliation through a Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission that starts operations immediately after the new elections. It is important that presidential elections be held at the end of the interim government to inspire confidence in Kenya's electoral processes, and as a sign of the new Kenya.

vi) It is also important to note that significant work in all of these areas of reform has already been done in various constitutional drafts and also by Government Commissions and Task Forces so Kenya would not be starting from scratch.

To ensure that there is good faith in the mediation it is imperative that the U.S. Government work with the rest of the international community to maintain pressure on Kenya's leaders to treat the mediation with utmost seriousness. To this end, we welcome U.S .leadership in raising the crisis in Kenya at the UN Security Council, and call for pressure at this level to be maintained and increased.

We also urge Congress to request the release of the exit poll conducted by International Republican Institute (IRI) without delay so as to maintain pressure on all sides to negotiate in good faith. In addition, we urge Congress to work with the EU to have the EU Observation Mission Report released immediately.

In case of continued intransigence from any of the parties we call on Congress to impose travel bans on the hardliners on both sides and especially those implicated in instigating violence whether through militia or through the police. These travel bans should extend to hardliners in the civil service and to their immediate families.

Moreover, assets of the hardliners and those involved in violence should be traced and the assets frozen.

Finally, it is important that U.S. military and security assistance be frozen immediately. All US assistance to Kenya should be channelled through non-governmental sources.

* Maina Kiai is the Chairperson of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), an independent state body charged with protecting and promoting human rights in Kenya. He writes on behalf of the KNCHR, as well as for Kenyans for Peace through Truth and Justice (KPTJ), a coalition bringing together more than 50 human rights, legal and governance groups in Kenya

* Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Normal transportation of goods and people to the west of Kenya resumed last week after days of disruption along the highway from Nairobi to west of the country and Uganda. Armed police cleared the highway of barricades erected by marauding youths in the ongoing post election violence that many people say has now taken a life of it’s own.

Chinese government donated 300,000 US dollars humanitarian aid to Kenyan Red Cross Society on Monday. "A friend in need is a friend indeed," Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Zhang Ming said in the handover ceremony, adding the Chinese government and its people had enjoyed a "deep friendship" with the Kenyan. "During the current difficult time, the Chinese government and its people are highly concerned about the humanitarian situation in Kenya, and that's why we made donations one after another," said the ambassador.

For Philip Kiarie it has been 45 years too long waiting for justice.

In the run-up to the 2007 General Elections I came across a ghastly hate email against the ODM leader, written and undersigned by the son of a (re-elected) hardline minister. The same minister is widely seen as being associated with Mungiki. This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as the inferiority of leadership in Kenya is concerned.

Deep inside, many Kenyans are aware of the repulsive character of their leaders. The high turnover of ministers and MPs at the just concluded General Election is a pointer. However, devoid of much choice, Kenyans have become used to, and have all along been hoodwinked by a class of leaders – not only political figures, but also religious, cultural, and some intellectual leaders, who insist they have an inalienable right to their positions and to the shameless self-allocated perks and mheshimiwa culture that come along. Their obsessive interests are limited to positions, wealth and the preferably frantic support from ethnic constituencies.

Many of these leaders have managed to hang on since independence. Others, who joined later (and I would love to name them all), have seamlessly fitted themselves into these mafia networks and completely belied past civic engagements and relatively sober reputations. Thirty years ago, I was convinced that the country had the ingredients and potential to emulate the Asian Tiger economies. This was before I had understood the Moi regime and the dismal characters that hovered around him and managed to survive until today, now glued to the Kibaki regime and sometimes also sitting tight in ODM. These people have never walked their talk.

They had 45 years to address the burning land question in the country, but all they did was to steal and acquire huge tracts of land for themselves.

They had 45 years to find innovative and affordable housing solutions for the majority of poor Kenyans, but all they did was building preposterous and huge mansions for themselves in mashambani and in town and becoming greedy landlords for dozens if not hundreds of tenants.

They had 45 years to address safe, affordable and reliable public transport, but all they did was showing off their fleets of latest models of Mercedes and four-wheel drives. While the country burns, more than 50 new MPs had nothing better to do than converting their fat car loans into luxury cars at various outlets in Industrial Area.

They had 45 years to establish effective, efficient, independent and robust institutions, but all they did was running them down, stealing from them, and using them for job nepotism and for political expediency.

They had 45 years to devise pro-active anti-poverty programmes, but all they did was show-time strategies, sweet-talk, playing with donors, and despising the poor as if they were rats in the garbage.

They had 45 years to establish a competent, impartial and reliable Police Force, but all they did was corrupting the Force as an armed wing of the ruling party and promoting gangs-for-hire, which they turn into ethnic militias when they feel embattled.

They had 45 years to produce good infrastructure and services – roads, water, electricity, and communications -, and all they did was fraternising with cowboy contractors, and grossly mismanaging the sector to their own narrow benefits.

They had 45 years to establish a world-class education system in Kenya, but all they did was giving Kenyans sub-standard free primary school after 40 years of waiting, while their own offspring study in expensive private establishments, preferably overseas.

They had 45 years to establish inclusive primary health care and preventive measures, but all they did was relying on churches and NGOs and let people die if they could not pay, while enjoying first class services by ‘private’ doctors and hospitals for themselves.

They had 45 years to prove to Kenyans that they are all equal in their aspirations, opportunities, human rights and cultural traditions, but all they did was to protect – at any cost as we now see – a resented Kikuyu-dominated hegemony and the selected rich from other tribes they need to spread their tentacles all over the country, while regional disparities and abject poverty (including among ordinary Kikuyus) continue to pester.

They had 45 years to respect and promote freedom and democratic rights, but all they did was keeping their flocks in bondage in order to control them in the pursuit of selfish interests and to issue death threats to heroes like Githongo, Maina Kiai, Muthoni Wanyeki, David Ndii and others.

They had 45 years to make Kenya a prosperous, proud and peaceful nation, but all they did was giving Kenyans the breadcrumbs from their tables – a classroom here, a dispensary there, a water-point, a piece of road, a sack of maize…and piga makofi.

They had 45 years to live the way they pretend in Sunday church, but all they did was to throw ethics, humility, compassion, and justice over board. With the second MP having been killed within a week, we can now take it as confirmed that since 1963 the Kenya leadership has never excluded outright liars and killers.

The assassinations of Pio Gama Pinto, Tom Mboya, G.M. Kariuki, Alexander Muge, Robert Ouko and many others were all based on the same script: To defend an entrenched Mafia hegemony. They are those, who right now do not want the Kofi Annan mediation to succeed and sit tight in and around State House, those, who don’t mind burning more of their flock, those who cling to their extremist stands and allow hate messages to circulate and protect their vernacular ‘Mille Collines’ radios, those who allow parochialism to erase better judgement, those who have completely lost semblance of human beings.

It is time for the still sober but shocked Kenyan citizens to stop their helpless praying or gently laying flowers at freedom corner. They should in their millions march to State House and stay there peacefully until the mayhem ends and the culprits are brought to The Hague. The tragedy is that this won’t happen.

*Philip Kiarie initially wrote this as a letter to the editor.

*Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

A very touching story [http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/editorial/45738]. I posted the article "Ladies and gentlemen gotab kalenjin" at Kalenjin Online(www.kalenjin.net) linking the article to us is misleading since we both cited the same source: Gerald Baraza. Thanks

* The Pambazuka Editors stand corrected - the source of the document was: [http://geraldbaraza.blogspot.com">

Firoze Manji and Mukoma Wa Ngugi

I have received and read the very inflammatory and inciteful documents referenced in . I have also read equally inflamatory and inciteful responses from correspondents on the various Kenyan fora and blogs. I must admit that yours is the loudest voice of reason. I hope and pray that Kenyans will heed your call that THE VIOLENCE IN KENYA MUST STOP NOW!!

Thank you.

Michoma Moenga

****

I read your article with tears and a deep sense of powerlessness. I'm a doer kind of person. I feel so helpless. And then I read : WE ARE ALL KENYANS! I don't know why I felt empowered by this except that it gave me a place to start for my prayer for courage and commitment for us all. I will be on the alert to see how we might be called to help in others ways as well. God is with us.

Sally Stearns Sister of Holy Cross

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I am a USA citizen, where our media and government promote the ignorance of the citizens so we are lulled into egocentrism. I want to understand what is happening in Kenya. How can I find out?

Nandi Lehmann

Makau Mutua argues that Kenya's political class has failed to nurture a democratic, rule-of-law state in which meritocracy rather than identity is the most important variable and because of it Kenya is on the brink of collapse.

In December, President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya was controversially declared the winner in a rancorous election against Raila Odinga by a margin of several hundred thousand votes. Odinga has refused to concede defeat, charging that the election was stolen. In the last three weeks, gruesome violence has erupted in Odinga's strongholds, leaving more than 750 dead and 300,000 displaced. Kenya stands at the brink of collapse unless Odinga and Kibaki can accommodate each other.

Kenya, a country regarded in the West as a beacon of hope and stability in a turbulent region, is now gripped by genocidal violence for the first time since independence from Britain in 1964. Although the immediate trigger for the killings and pillage is the contested election results, the violence has deep historical roots. Kenya is an incoherent collection of some 40 ethnic groups that the British coerced into one state in 1896. It is the failure of those groups to forge a common Kenyan national identity that has come back to haunt East Africa's most powerful country.

Successive governments have either been unwilling or unable to imagine how one builds a nation out of disparate, previously independent groups. Kenya's presidents - Jomo Kenyatta, Daniel arap Moi, and now Kibaki - have been men of limited ability and vision. They preferred to exercise power through ethnic cronyism and tribal manipulation. Each deeply tribalized the state by openly favoring their ethnic elites at the expense of others.

Kenya's political class, which is lazy and opportunistic, has failed to nurture a democratic, rule-of-law state in which meritocracy rather than identity is the most important variable. That is why most Kenyans have not transferred their loyalties from the ethnic group to the state. Kenyan political parties are either personal vehicles for tribal barons or coalitions of ethnic elites. Neither Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement nor President Kibaki's Party of National Unity are driven by ideology or philosophical platforms. Rather, they are receptacles for their respective leaders and the ethnic groups supporting them.

Odinga cobbled the Orange Democratic Movement from the Luo, his ethnic group, the Kalenjin, who dominate the Rift Valley, and the Luhya - three of Kenya's largest five groups. Kibaki's Party of National Unity drew fanatical support from the Kikuyu, his own group, which is also the largest in the country. Historically, there has been bad blood between the Kikuyu and the Luo and the Kalenjin.

The Kalenjin, who have committed many atrocities against the Kikuyu in the Rift Valley, supported Odinga because he promised a quasi-federal government that would have given them control over land and the Kikuyu settlers. The Luo, who have a psychosis of victimization, had widely expected Odinga to be the first among them to lead the country.

These ethnic pathologies burst open in the aftermath of the elections that was conducted by mobilizing tribal anger and deep-seated grievances. Both the Orange Democratic Movement and the Party of National Unity made naked appeals to ethnic passions. The post-election violence has pitted the Kikuyu against the Luo and the Kalenjin, with the Kikuyu bearing the brunt of the casualties.

Some of the attacks - such as the one in which scores of Kikuyu women and children were burned in a church in Eldoret - have taken genocidal dimensions. But ethnicity alone cannot explain Kenya's descent into chaos.

Although New York-based Human Rights Watch says the attacks were planned by ODM leaders, it is the poor, unemployed, and marginalized youth who are most susceptible to the violence. Virtually no one in the middle class is directly carrying out the attacks. Kenya's history of uneven development in which half the country lives on less than a dollar a day has come to haunt the country.

Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan appears to be the last hope for Kenya if the country is to avoid a civil war. Annan must secure from Odinga, Kibaki, and their respective supporters a political settlement to end the violence. They have three options: a recount of the ballots to establish the true winner, a rerun of the election, or a power-sharing agreement in which Odinga becomes the prime minister and Kibaki retains the presidency but cedes substantial powers to the Legislature. Unless the two principals respond to Annan, one of the most beautiful places on earth will be left in the ruins of a biblical catastrophe.

* Makau Mutua is interim dean and SUNY Distinguished Professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School. He is author of the forthcoming "Kenya's Quest for Democracy: Taming Leviathan." This article first appeared in the January 30, 2008 Boston Globe.

*Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

I am writing from Sierra Leone.

Yes the moment I say Sierra Leone, what comes to your mind is...amputations of hands, limbs, raping of women, senseless killing, blood diamonds, Foay Sankoh, Charles Taylor, Special COurt etc etc. Hey Kenyan brothers and sisters, we have been there before. Thank God it did not degenerate to factional war. But we all suffered. I have lived in Kenya for four years in the eighties. It is such a beautiful country. Why are you people allowing selfish politicians to get the worst out of you for their own ends. Both of your leaders have a moral duty to forsake the pursuit of power when lives are threatened and when the nationhood is threatened. A shame to both of them. You people should be uniting now regards the action you are going to take against both of them for sitting by and allowing all this to go on...iving their blessings by being quiet. You need to start thinking of how to make people realise that you have more that unites you as a people than what divides you. My heart is bleeding. Kenyans wake up!!

Don't allow anyone to make you pursue violence as a means to an end. Trust me, it does not solve problems. Ask Liberians or Sierra Leoneans.There are no victors in war. Get your act together. WE are praying for you. We want the people to move against the politicians seeking their own selfish gains. Address your other problems but don't allow them to use you.Pursue peace. pambazuka, please send me sites doing the hate incitement. I want to target them personally so they can see that they are really doing themselves more harm than good.
For those of you working in the interest of the people, stay strong and focused and never loose sight of your unity as a nation.

I write this letter as my final mortal action upon this earth.

I have determined to collect email addresses of the prominent people that I know and my friends and send it to them from an anonymous email address for two reasons.

First, to spare them the distress of knowing beforehand what I am doing, therefore saving them from culpability, and second, because my identity is now and in future irrelevant — it could be any of those men around the country who feel like I do.

As you might guess from my style of writing, I am a well-educated man. I am a graduate of Nairobi and Strathmore universities.

I have been privileged to be educated around the world.

I have worked in Berlin, Stockholm, London, New York and many other places. I speak six languages fluently.

Even with all these achievements, I have no more reason to live. If you will want to look for me as you read this, go to City Mortuary where I have determined to fester among the anonymous people there.

I will explain why in this letter, and like Pavlov, I shall retire. This is my only protest.

Mr Kibaki, I indict you.

You stole the election that I stood for six hours to participate in. By your actions, my life irrevocably changed. History will now forget the great achievement and legacy that you were poised to make and it shall remember that for your self-righteousness, people lost lives, property, and most of all, hope. On the blood of my people, I indict you.

Mr Odinga, my chosen president, on the blood and tears of my people, I indict you.

Because of your bitterness, justified though it is, my life irrevocably changes. My greatest achievements, my family, died in your name. My son, my heir, named after my great ancestors, went up in smoke before he could say my name, or his great name. Koitalet.

My twin daughters, Wanjiru and Sanaipei, were found by my burnt house in Eldoret, having bled out of their wounds. My wife died with the seed of six men inside her, demented and finally catatonic. This happened in your name, Sir. Because you have to get justice. Because my wife was from the wrong community. Because you must get what is yours.

You will read this and feel nothing. You will rationalise it as accepted collateral damage. Some must die in the pursuit of justice, isn't it?

Consumers of Internet services will have to wait much longer for faster and cheaper access that was to come through the National Fibre Optic Backbone. Industry insiders said construction of the terrestrial fibre optic cable that was commissioned last year is running behind schedule as a result of political skirmishes that followed the December 27 presidential election raising the prospect of delayed launch.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki blamed opposition leaders on Friday for instigating the violence that has killed more than 850 people in the once-stable East African country. Speaking at a meeting in Addis Ababa of the east African regional grouping IGAD, Kibaki also said the dispute over his re-election that provoked the violence must be settled through Kenya's courts - something rejected by the opposition.

Warning that violence in Kenya could spiral out of control, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced plans to visit the country, where more than 800 people have already lost their lives in intensifying ethnic clashes triggered by the aftermath of recent elections. Speaking to reporters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Mr. Ban called on the Kenyan people to “stop the killings and end the violence now, before it is too late.”

Kenyan women have called for an immediate end to inter-ethnic killings, impunity, and gross violations of human rights, especially the increasing cases of sexual crimes and gang rapes. In a communiqué handed over to the mediation team led by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, they demand the proclamation of a national disaster as well as the enhancement of security for the civilian population by the State.

Much has been speculated about the causes of the ongoing civil violence in Kenya. With the perspective of more than two decades of experience in community work, my own view is that the root problems are not tribalism, and not even politics (which has only been an inciting spark), but rather, a long history of trenchant poverty and the once-simmering, now boiling desperation of a generation of Kenyan youths who have been denied basic life opportunities. The primary perpetrators of the ongoing violence and unrest are ambitious young men, aged 15 to 35, with nowhere to go thanks to a soaring unemployment rate. Their anger has seethed at the surface for a long time. The post-election fracas has merely provided an opportunity for tensions to explode, and the aggression by youth has been carried out in an effort to gain attention to their "cause," which, truth be told, is a thoroughly just one: economic opportunity, the ability to lead a life of purpose, the ability to provide for one's family.

For this reason, the solution to the crisis lies not in combating tribal enmity or perhaps even in bringing our country's political feuding leaders to a peaceful compromise. Rather, at the local level at least, we believe the solution requires addressing the deep-seated and psychologically debilitating material needs of our young people. This work has taken two main forms.

First, together with local community leaders and nationally-recognized peace activists, Ugunja Community Resource Centre has formed committees in our catchment area to address youths' concerns, to allow for the constructive rather than destructive venting of frustrations, and to discuss ways to move forward and achieve peace and justice. Thus far, these committees have been established in six constituencies: three in Siaya District and three in Kisumu, with a total of 70 committee members. In this work, UCRC adamantly stresses that the key to success is having local leaders serve as committee members, who in turn help to promote the leadership among youths that their community has lacked.

Second, UCRC has begun to directly support youths who lack income-generating opportunities and have, out of desperation, gotten involved in ongoing criminal activities. An association has been formed to provide small capital for small business revitalization. To date, the association has been a success; it meets twice-weekly, and the participants are developing business plans and capital budgets of roughly Ksh 1,000 each (USD 15). This program has already helped to decrease tensions and improve day-to-day security.

The emphatic position of UCRC is that there are no "good guys" and "bad guys" in this situation. The police, for example, have been widely villainized, but we must also show them compassion. The police have been traumatized. They were never prepared for the level of violence and chaos that has taken place. They have been enormously provoked and are totally, totally drained. They've received no time off, little to eat, no time for sleep, and have not seen their families in weeks. UCRC is working with the police in Kisumu to reduce the impulse to shoot civilians. One police officer told me, "Before you came we spent 1000 bullets, now we have not spent one."

I am writing this message in a desperate cry... a cry for the people who I love, who are me. Many of yours might live a comfortable life in peace in which you don't have to worry about your future, let alone the future of your family. You have a safe roof above your head and you like all your neighbors. Or maybe not all, but no one ever told you and you never felt the need to kill your neighbor.

Unfortunately this is not the case for many people living in Kenya... all longing for a good future, a future in which their children could grow up, a future in which the world is one... a future in which all could sleep at night, without having to worry about their children...

This is the moment I would like to ask you to act… to leave alone your daily problems, to start thinking... this is the moment we can tell our children, that we have said, enough is enough...we love the world, we live here, and we love the people of Kenya... please act!!!! Please help us... please don't let another Rwanda happen!

Karambu Ringera, one of the few women to run for electoral office in the Kenya elections, gives a powerful vivid eye-witness account of the violence and the displacement.

Issues

When I left Nairobi for Nakuru to visit the internally displaced people's (IDP) camp, my aim was to be there for 2 days only. I arrived there on Wednesday January 23, little knowing that the events of that night would lock me in Nakuru for five days! On the night of January 23, all hell broke loose in Nakuru town. It was sad, scary and out of this world. I hardly recognized my country anymore. For three days, Kikuyus living in the Rift Valley were being evicted from their homes. The Nakuru violence was a spill over from Eldoret where many Kikuyus amng other ethnic groups had been evicted from their homes and their homes and property burnt. The week before, there had been similar clashes in Kisumu, once again targeting people from the Mount Kenya Region. The violence spread to Kericho, Burnt Forest, Elburgon, and areas surrounding Nakuru town. It was believed that Kalejins were in the forefront of these latter (Rift Valley) evictions and so, when loadfuls of Kikuyus landed into the Nakuru Show Ground (NSG) where these IDP were settled and attended to by the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS), Kikuyus in Nakuru felt they needed to do something about it. To see lorry after lorry of people being dropped at the NSG left many angry.

What was more devastating were the stories of anarchy – burnt homes, slaughtered loved family members, raped mothers and daughters, as destroyed property. The Kikuyus organized themselves and on the night of 23rd they struck at Ponda Mali a few blocks from where I spent that first night. In the morning, a few dead bodies were found but more fundamentally, houses were burnt – this time mainly Luo and Kalejin houses. By Thursday, these attacks were spread to more residential areas around Nakuru town such as Ronda, Mwariki, Kaptembwa, Githima, Freearea, Lakeview, Lanet, Karatina, Kiti, pangani, Flamingo, and Mawanga) – a second IDP's camp was opened at the Nakuru Stadium for Luos and Kalejins. A 7pm to 7am curfew was also set up – the speed with which this curfew was set up saved Nakuru from more blood shed than had already been spilt. On Friday, a friend and I walked to the areas surrounded Langalanga residential area to see what had transpired the night before because we heard was a lot of gunshot sounds. We hardly slept that night because we did not want to be attacked or for the block to be set a fire while we were asleep. The newspapers said that 5 people had been killed but that day we found at least 12 bodies lying uncollected – some had been eaten by dogs overnight. Most bodies had deep cuts – some on the head, some with throats slashed, others with cut off limbs – it was ghastly!! Later in the day, a police Landrover was loaded full of bodies of dead people.

It came for a second round – we estimated over 40 people killed in just…… On Saturday, Nakuru town was a no go zone both day and night. Police and army personnel were all over the town. A helicopter was being use to comb the area and spot trouble points and dispatch soldiers there speedily. The roads were blocked and some people were attacking certain groups of people as early as 5pm. We all were advised to stay indoors. Sunday was more calm were I was although we kept hearing gunshots in the surrounding estates. I had to do what I had initially set out to do in Nakuru – visit the IDP's camp at the Nakuru Show Ground. I went there on Wednesday to arrange to go and hold peace talks with the people at the camp. I intended to work with the counseling groups as my entry point. When the coordinator of the counseling program asked me to explain my approach, I explained that I used a participatory approach where people speak from their experiences. I planned on using the circle model and three statements guide the dialogue. The three statements are: Peace for me is; Peace for me would be; and In the name of peace I commit to… (participants state a concrete action they will undertake) .

The women were asked to use these statements to guide their sharing. We used a talking piece (a piece of stick). Initially I had asked for about 20-25 people. I got 30 women. However about 15 of them had come the day before and had not been debriefed – so they had to leave the circle. Women who had not been debriefed were required to do so before doing any other form of talking to people about their experiences. We held the circle with the 15 or so women left. The main concerns for the women were their children's education; lack of enough food; and where they would go since they did not want to go back to their old places.

The camp

While waiting for the women to gather, I heard a child crying outside. He was crying with a lot of emotion – a child of about 6 years old. I walked over to him and started coaxing him to stop crying while at the same time asking him why he was crying. He was standing alone and I thought he had lost his mother or whoever was with him. After some time, he stopped crying – almost – and then I was approached by a pregnant woman who had stood at a distance watching us. She told me that she had pinched the child for running away from school. The school was across the main road outside the camp. The mother was angry with the boy for crossing the dangerous road (cars were driving by all the time) alone. She also wanted him to stay in school because other kids were there. I told the mother to be patient with the child for after all he had seen, he may have been afraid that when he comes from school he might fond the mother gone. The kid never told us why he ran away for school, even though I tried to ask him. All he did was cry. We tried to get his older brother to take him to school and stay with him there the rest of the day. I do not know whether the mother was able to enforce this because soon after, a KRCS personnel came and took away the mother and the child to talk to them.

The women we visited with started telling us what life was like at the camp. They said that they had a mug of porridge in the morning, no lunch, and very little dinner. The food at dinner was so little – "it is meant to keep the soul alive" – one old lady told me. The food is so little that even children do not get satisfied – so mothers normally shared out their own food to the children. Girls were known to exchange food for sex too. There was lots of sexual activity as evidenced by the number of used condoms found lying around the camp every morning – the KRCS medical team dishes out condoms at the camps. The disturbing part was the rapes that were happening at the camps. The women told us that at night men would scream to make people start running away in panic. Then they would time women and girls, catch them and rape them. So, women were being told to watch over their girls. Women were also being advised not to go to the toilets at night.

On Friday we were sitting in circle sharing when we heard gunshots. The women panicked and one of them worriedly asked "have they come for us here?" This made me realize how scared these people really were. Their fear was deep. I was sad that I could not be of any help in trying to alleviate it. We ourselves from the outside were sitting on edge not knowing whether we would be safe or not going back home. All I could do was encourage them, hope with them that things would change, and assure them that they were safe in the camp because it was guarded. This sense of security was short lived. On Saturday afternoon there was a panic stampede that took place because a run-away prisoner jumped in to the camp in white underwear, the dress code of the attackers of the people in their farms. The IDP thought the attackers had come for them right in the camp. The person who was the man screamed that the attackers had followed them into the camp and there was a stampede that caused the breaking of the NSG periphery fence – fracturing the delicate sense of security they may have felt in this place.

A lot of food and clothes had been donated to the KRCS for these IDP in the camps around Kenya. We saw many lorries loaded with stuff come to the camp. The KRCS also had an office in Nakuru town where they stored these things. The surprising thing was that the people told us they never received any good clothes. They got third rate stuff – the KRCS staff in the store selected clothes for themselves before letting the IDP get into the store to select – the women informed us.

The people also said that the store people let about 30 people to get into the small store and they gave the people only few minutes to select clothes. This meant that one had no time to select good stuff – so they ended up with old t-shirts and skirts. One woman who had brought in a selection of very good clothes found someone selling one of her dresses in the local market! In view of this, when the women told me that they need underwear and pads, I decided not to hand these to the KRCS office as I had done on Wednesday when I first went to the camp. Counseling is being done in the camps by many people. However when I asked whether there were any people talking about peacebuilding I was told "no one had thought of that."

I found my niche. So, I set up to come on Thursday January 24 to start the peace dialogue. Lack of information on where women can get help for educational needs of their children or for material needs is alarmingly much in the camp. At Nakuru many women came to ask me for assistance – where to take their kids for schooling; how they can leave the camp and reach their relatives; how they could earn a living – several girls were looking for househelp jobs (to be employed in people's homes) – and so on. One man approached me with a letter which had a female handwriting seeking assistance for relocation. Since I am from far (Meru – Nakuru is about 9 hours by car from Meru) and did not have the capacity to help, I told the women that they have to speak with the KRCS personnel in their camp so they can ask the questions they were putting to me. I know that the organization is meant to assist people the camps in various ways. So, I insisted that they talk to these people.

The Peace Circle Dialogue

We sat in a circle and I introduced myself, asked someone to open with prayers, after which I asked everyone to introduce themselves and say where they were from. We started off with 30 women, 15 eventually went for debriefing (they had arrived at the camp the night before), two of 15 were called to go to the hospital to check on one of them who had given birth to a baby (they said to me smiling: "we have been blessed with a new life even here"), and two others left for other business. In the end, we had about 10 women who stayed throughout the 2 and a half hour session. I introduced the peace dialogue idea and why we were doing it. I gave the three statements that were going to guide our dialogue, looked for a talking piece and then I began the process.

What emerged was very interesting. Each woman gave her story – most spoke about their history. Some gave incidents before the clashes (current displacement) as what gave them no peace, incidents that were exacerbated by the violence. Most were painful family issues – including wives being told to go where they came from because they were from a different ethnic group – being forced to leave with ones children because the children had the blood of the unwanted ethnic group. On the second day, the women were less personal and our discussions were more on what others had suffered. I was told of an elderly lady who was gang raped and then ripped open because the gangsters wanted to "see where they had been." The woman died. One woman came to me for assistance for her son who is beginning high school. She said to me, "one of the children has been taken to an orphanage. Now I need a place for my son who is attending a day school, but see where he is coming back every end of day. Please take him with you and help him get into a boarding school." At that moment I wished the community home we are building for AIDS orphans and other children in crisis was complete.

I would have taken this boy to stay there while we looked for a boarding school for him. I took the lady's contact so that when I got a school for the boy, I would call them. I have already asked the IPI Program Director to check out a school for this child whose name is Isaac Geita. His mom's name is Margaret Wambui. The women who followed the three statements guiding our peace dialogue had this to say about their view of peaceful being or otherwise and what they committed to do for peace. (i) I have peace when: Peaceful moments cited by these women included when they pray, read the Bible, and when they are able to provide food, shelter and health to their families, including being able to educate their children. (ii) Peace for me is: Some of the answers I got include: End of conflict and violence; all the children in this camp going back to school. Help for those infected by HIV/AIDS, widows, single mothers, and orphans. The women said that education is the only hope for their children considering all their property was gone and the parents were in no position to support them now that they had lost everything. (iii) In the name of peace I commit to: The women committed to praying for peace; supporting those who were in need like orphans; encourages each other to keep hope in God. The women felt that if they kept their hope in God, He would deliver them and prosper them wherever they are.

Conclusion

Before people massacre others, they dehumanize and demonize the enemy. While walking around Ponda Mali, area in Nakuru to see the results of the violence, we came across many bodies of dead people that lay all over the place. Two young people were walking past one body and they said "it is fat!!" They did not see this as a person – he had become an object, hence "IT.". Down the path we found another body and this time, a woman sold her tomatoes unbothered by the presence of a dead body near where she was selling. I wondered at this lack of … fear, respect… what did I expect them to feel for these departed ones – perceived as 'the enemy' by them?

It was sad to witness the disgrace we have come to as a nation – we have become so removed from our humanity – we have failed to see we were the 'other' we were butchering. To fail to 'see' that our humanity is inescapably intertwined with that of those whose lives we have cut short, is to fail to 'recognize' how inhuman we have become. I desire to participate in healing the broken cord that joins me to my sister and brother, no matter their ethnic origin; reconcile the severed human spirit broken by our fractured humanity.

Way Forward

Part of my reason for being in Kenya is to work for peace in Africa. Little did I know I would be doing this for my beloved country. I have already put in place a peace training program under Institute for Nonviolence and Peace (INPEACE) (INPEACE was launched in 2005 at the Women's Congress held in Nairobi that year). I intend to continue the peace dialogues in the IDP's camps that I started in Nakuru. I also intend to do a training for leaders, who will hopefully share what they learn with their constituents. Then I will start systematic trainings for civil society, with a focus to women and youth. I am already meeting with people and organizations willing to partner with IPI's INPEACE to run the trainings. The plan is to begin with trainings for women and youth in the camps and leaders and follow up with longer term programs for civil society and learning institutions. I also hope to continue helping with material and informational assistance to women and young girls in camps.

For those interested in supporting women and girls materially, IPI has been collecting clothes and food stuffs and taking to various collection points in Meru. However, from the experience of what the women in Nakuru told me, IPI will be distributing the stuff directly to women in their tents within the camps like we did the last time we donated underwear and pads to women and girls at Nakuru.

*Dr. Karambu Ringera was one of the few women who ran for elected office. She was the North Imenti Parliamentary Aspirant.

*Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Reflections arising from the report on the AACC solidarity visit led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Introduction

Following the post election violence that rocked the Republic of Kenya after President Kibaki was declared the winner of the December 2007 elections, the All Africa Conference of Churches, with headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, sought to contribute to the calming of the situation and the resolution of the problem by inviting a team of eminent African Church leaders led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu to come and offer solidarity to the people of Kenya and help profile the cause of peace to the nation. The Archbishop was accompanied by the President of the All Africa Conference of Churches the Rt. Rev. Nyansako ni Nku, the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa and former General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches Dr. Brigalia H. Bam and the General Secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches, the Rev. Dr. H. Mvume Dandala.

The information gathered during this visit indicated something of the complexity of the problem, as well as the fact that finding a solution, both on a short term and on a long term basis will need to take into consideration a number of factors such as:
- The Historical background
- The tension defined
- The expressions of the violence
- The Role of the Church
- The Role of the media
- Possible Ways forward

It is with these in mind that the AACC offers the reflections contained herein.

Background

Whilst the visit was short, the AACC heard clearly the voices of many to the effect that only Kenyans could intervene in this situation. Any form of ‘international mediation or intervention’ was looked at askance. Whilst the National Council of Churches of Kenya opened its welcoming arms to the visit, the delegation sensed that not all the churches were fully convinced of the merits of the solidarity visit of the Archbishop even though these were expressed in respectful ways. On the other hand messages of appreciation from ordinary Kenyans were frequently received by the AACC, often couched with expressions of hope that the visit would help bring peace. The sense of the AACC
is that these doubts about the efficacy of the visit were driven either by
- the sense of patriotic pride that hurts from anything that may be perceived as suggesting that the Kenyans are not able to resolve this problem on their own;
- the uncertainty of what an even handed approach might lead to, or
- the firm belief that there are indeed Kenyans who can be able to facilitate an adequate response to the crisis.

Most disturbing is the often mutely expressed statement by some Kenyans that “this is not the first time that Kenyans have experienced this kind of crisis, and just as they have resolved the past similar crises, so will they resolve this one as well”. This attitude feels indifferent to the loss of life of even one Kenyan. It is not worthy of any nation that values the lives of all its citizens.

On the other hand it is possible that the conviction that it will take a Kenyan mediator to intervene effectively may be born of recognition that the communities at conflict have historical, long standing voiced and unvoiced and often nuanced concerns that an outsider may not easily be sensitive to. Participation in an ecumenical prayer service for church leaders at All Saints Anglican Cathedral on Sunday January 6th, 2007 gave one a glimpse of such concerns. The issues at stake may range from perceived unfair resource sharing, ethnic distrust and many other such issues that may have compounded themselves into modern Kenyan politics. What is obvious is that these stretch from beyond colonial times to modern Kenyan governance with all the complications that were subsequent to colonial domination. The regularity with which these issues are referred to by the Kenyan community should make it possible for the Kenyan society to overcome them. But the question is whether these are confronted with such honesty in the corridors of power where they should be dealt with.

The AACC is of the mind that there is therefore need for such historical facts to be understood as part of the process to the resolution of the impasse, both on a short and on a long term basis. Whether this is done by an international or local mediation body is a moot point. The critical factor is the independence of the mediation body, together with the rigour and sense of fairness that such a body would bring. Such a body must assist the country to find speedily a workable resolution to the immediate impasse, thus creating space for a longer term solution that will lay the foundations for the healing of the country and the strengthening of the overall sense of common nationhood among all the peoples of Kenya.

But for now the question is what is it that the AACC team heard as to the nature of the reigning crisis?

The tension defined

While the conflict erupted as a consequence of disputed presidential electoral results, the communities at conflict have a historical and long standing and often unvoiced concerns, dating back to independence days when many Kenyans felt that their expectations were not met. The independent government inherited colonial structures and failed to address the injustices and inequalities that had characterised the nation because people had different persuasions. And therefore, over the years, it has appeared that the president of the day brings his community closer to power to benefit from national resources more than other communities.

Violence

The various parties have differing views as to the nature of the violence that has been evident. Some see it as a political tool, pre-meditated and deliberately unleashed with an element of ethnic cleansing in its make up. Claims were made that some of the perpetrators of the violence were paid to do so.

Others see it as a spontaneous and unorganised natural reaction to what they see as vicious day light robbery at the polls which the voters could not stomach.

The delegation wondered if there was adequate political will to stop the violence and find a solution that is acceptable to all. The PNU and the ODM both appear unshaken in their conviction that the other party is responsible and has the capacity to stop the violence. If preventing the deaths and the destruction of property was paramount in the thinking of all the parties, it must be obvious that the leaders of all the parties should have come out together at least to denounce the violence in full view of the nation and offer assurance that an equitable solution was being sought. Such a joint condemnation of violence should have been made regardless of the cause, whether pre-meditated, spontaneous, ethnic or otherwise. This agenda item is still outstanding.

The Role of the Church

Reports from the church leaders spoken to indicate that the church is appalled by the violence, and had in fact, at the time of the arrival of the delegation, already started to take steps to respond to the crisis. But the church leaders did not try to hide the fact that there was a lot of division even amongst themselves. Some church leaders, if not most, were perceived to have aligned themselves with specific party positions, thus robbing the church of an authoritative, collective and independent moral voice that could champion the cause of peace and unity for the nation in spite of the different political views. The churches, according to the NCCK, are clear in that the healing of the nation must go hand in hand with the healing of the church.
The initiatives of the church had not yet gained a high media profile at the time of the solidarity visit. But a common front for an effective ministry to the nation through the National Alliance of Churches had been forged. The Alliance has four major task forces, viz:

1. The political
2. The humanitarian
3. Communication, and
4. The Spiritual.

Through these the church is poised for a significant ministry impact to the nation. The church leaders have a responsibility to:
- Encourage and enable the political leaders to come together to call for the end to violence and speak for the preservation of life.
- Encourage the leaders to ensure that there is space for alternative voices to be heard without this descending into a conflagration of violence.
- Impress strongly on the political leaders to embrace alternative ways of resolving conflict to violence.

While the question of the source of violence cannot be ignored for an effective response to be developed, it is essential that this should not be allowed to create a stalemate as it is likely to. The churches themselves are not of one view on this matter. As the visit report indicates the gulf is big between the parties as to the causes of the violence. The church can and should assist for common positions to counter and forestall violence to be developed and embraced by all.

The delegation noted that there is suspicion of the usage of church language among the various parties. The ODM alleged that some of their leaders have been referred to as “devil worshippers” and that in spite of the fact that those leaders are Christians their churches did not assist them to clear their names before the nation. On the other hand it may be inferred that in expressing concern that ‘the churches must support a constitutionally elected government’ the government (PNU) was calling for the public support of the church in this crisis. It simply is essential that the church does not try to hedge its bets but instead clarify its message. Such a message has to be based on that which will heal the nation and purify the institutions of national governance so that the faith of the people in these is restored. This in itself will go a long way in redeeming the church thus restoring its moral authority which this situation has sought to compromise.

The role of the Media

At the time of the solidarity visit some measures were in place to limit the work of the media. This is regrettable. The churches cannot afford to overlook it. The role of the media in this crisis may need reflection with the view that the confidence of the populace on the media should be nurtured as an essential element in the work of healing the nation. Questions were raised with the delegation as to whether the media may have fuelled (wittingly or unwittingly) the crisis during the period preceding the elections.

The role of the media in the formation of national attitudes can never be overemphasised. The media’s role is more than merely reporting what is happening. It has to stimulate creative thinking in the nation about the values that the nation cherishes and raise questions where any section of society seeks to undermine or demonstrates disregard of the common good and the institutions that seek to serve the common good.

- The media must be used to bring people together instead of inflaming them.
- It should use history to heal and build people instead of dividing them.
- It must demystify myths about ethnic practices instead of perpetuating them

It is in this light that the role of the media in this crisis should be examined. Reasons behind the limitations that were imposed on the media in the course of this crisis could either be that the media used its freedom irresponsibly, or that those with authority did not like what they saw of themselves in the mirror that is the media. Since the media is a prime catalyst for exchanging ideas in a free society it is essential that its freedom is guaranteed with instruments of protest against it in place where its objectivity is suspect. The alternative is a perception that totalitarian seeds are being sown. The Republic of Kenya, a bastion of peace and developing democracy in Africa, cannot afford to lower its guard on this score.

Possible Resolution Scenarios for consideration by the Church

The AACC believes that there is an important role for the churches of Kenya to play in helping towards the resolution of this impasse. Primarily the church should assist the key leaders of the various parties to accept joint responsibility for diffusing the crisis.

1. Top in the process should be agreed strategies to stop the violence. The political leaders must mobilise all their people to desist from violent activities and in fact declare violence the enemy of the nation.
2. The leaders must reinforce the right to freedom of expression. Police and rally marshals should be deployed under the command of the police to protect demonstrators, passers by and property. They must seek to ensure that no one abuses the right to freedom of speech as a licence to kill, injure or loot property.
3. The Kenyan Law and Order Enforcement agencies, especially the police, should be encouraged to desist from using excessive force during such demonstrations.
4. Church leaders must help engender a spirit of cooperation among the opposing political parties that will allow a structure that is accommodative to lead the administration of the country.
5. Church leaders must accompany such a structure with processes that will limit the chances of reneging on positions agreed to. They must help create and nurture space for mistrust to be reduced.
6. On a longer term basis Church leaders should help both the political leaders and the general population to identify those institutional structural deficiencies that made this crisis possible, such as the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) in order to pave the way for the strengthening of such structures, thus laying the foundations for a more secure and dependable electoral system.
7. On a long term basis Church leaders have to assist put in place processes that will contribute towards the enhancement of a common sense of Nationhood that transcends ethnicity so that the sharing of resources and access to justice is not only equitable, but seen to be so by the nation at large.
8. Church leaders must prioritise the healing of the church as they themselves have acknowledged this need.

* Please send comments to or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/

In a question and answer letter, Ali Mazrui and David Ohito grapple with the question of whether Kenya is heading toward a civil war.

Dear Prof Mazrui,

The latest wave of violence is threatening the country. In Nakuru the problem of ethic violence has emerged. Kikuyus are being attacked over land issues as historical injustices become the new phase of protest.

Kibaki insists he was duly elected and sworn in and any election dispute should go to court as spelled out in the Constitution.

Raila Odinga insists he is not going to a court full of Kibaki's appointees. The formula to a peaceful resolution remains elusive. what is your take on this?

I agree with your predictions that many African Heads of States may have saved their countries from civil war.

In Your opinion how far do you think will the International community wait before serious intervention other than mere statements? Is it good to impose sanctions economic, travel bans to Kenya?

Are there any options the West, US, EU, UK, and even Asia can take to help save Kenya from being a failed state?

Kofi Annan watched and acted too little too late as Rwanda degenerated into genocide. There was little international intervention. He himself later said he acted too slow too late while he was UN Secretary General. Is history repeating itself here? Can Kofi Annan recommend faster options to salvage Kenya?

Would you consider giving your proposals to Kofi Annan for a way forward and what would those options for a solution be?

Give any remarks that would help hold Kenya together without degenerating into genocide or civil strife.

Thank you.

David Ohito

Dear Ndugu Ohito:

In answer to your questions, I have lived long enough to know how civil wars begin in developing countries. I never expected there would be a civil war in Northern Uganda which would last twenty years, and unleash untold suffering and brutality. It has still not fully ended.

When the Sudanese civil war was ending in the South, who would have predicted another civil war in Darfur? Ethiopia has had a variety of civil conflicts, the latest involving ethnic Somalis in the Ogaden. The brutalities of the Sierra Leonean civil war took everybody by surprise.

Can such a bloody breakdown happen in Kenya? I am beginning to be truly fearful. What was once unthinkable is no longer inconceivable. While north of the Sahara the triggers of conflict are often religious, south of the Sahara they tend to combine ethnicity, power rivalry and economic deprivation.

As soon as casualties of a conflict reach a thousand dead, several thousand injured and at least a hundred thousand displaced, speedy action is needed to contain the explosion. A mini-civil war could be in the making. Kenyans and the international community cannot afford to be complacent.

Representatives of the African Union, the European Union, the United States, religious bodies, former African Heads of State, and Kofi Annan have approached the two sides of the Kenya conflict in terms of persuasion and the quest for a compromise. We now need more pressure and threats from the international community.

Initially the threats should be targeted at the elite, rather than the general population. Withholding economic aid would hurt the wider population, but suspending Kenya's membership of the African Union and the Commonwealth would deprive us of credentials to sit at the summit meetings, or meetings of foreign ministers, of such international organizations. Specific members of both the government and the opposition could be deprived of Visas to the western world if they are identified as extremists against the search for solutions.

Many members of the Kenyan elite also have Bank accounts abroad. The international community could threaten to freeze such bank accounts if there is no effort to solve the Kenya crisis.

Normally, the international community does not try to intervene in Africa until the problem is truly catastrophic. That has been the situation in Congo-Kinshasa, in Rwanda, Darfur and in Somalia. Kenya is a situation of trying to prevent a crisis from becoming a catastrophe. There is still time - but not a lot of time to avert an explosion.

Kofi Annan is trying his best, but he needs help in the form of massive political pressure on both sides. If mediation is not working, it may be time to threaten specific international sanctions, beginning with elite-focused threats of consequences.

What is at stake is not just the political stability of Kenya. It is also the economic viability of Eastern Africa as a whole. Kenya's economy has vibrations of region-wide consequences. How can we avert a region-wide catastrophe?

We are still far from a civil war. But our leaders should start discussing how to secure our borders against gun-running and importation of weapons. The border with Somalia especially needs to be secured, but without keeping out Somali refugees. Our leaders may also have to consider whether or not it is time to seek international help for peacekeeping in the Rift Valley. The situation is grave. Have we declared a state of emergency in the Rift Valley?

Yours sincerely,
Ali A. Mazrui

* Ali Mazrui is Director, Institute of Global Cultural Studies, Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities, Binghamton University, State University of New York at Binghamton, New York, USA and Chancellor, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Thika and Nairobi Kenya.

* David Ohito? is a Senior Reporter?THE STANDARD?Nairobi, Kenya

* Please send comments to or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/

Each people at some point in history are threatened by great social upheaval. It is usually an accumulation of smaller events, seen and ignored, an accumulation of injustices that erupt at that present moment - a delayed consequence from history.

Whether a nation plunges into bloodshed depends on the leadership and whether they have the political imagination to deal with history that has caught up with their present times.

So in the France of the 18th Century, the revolutionary leadership answered the civil war with the guillotine. In Rwanda the answer was the genocidaires machete and the Rwandan Patriotic Front’s gun. In the Congo, at the cost of over six million lives since 1994, the issue has as yet to be settled.

Kenya finds itself in such a decisive moment - the slide to a civil war along ethnic lines is in motion, but it has not yet accelerated to catch with up Rwanda - or indeed Bosnia and Serbia where ethnic ‘cleansing’ of populations was carried out. But the violence is getting a furious rhythm of revenge and counter revenge.

The small window history had left us, of past cooperation and anti-colonial resistance across ethnic lines, is closing fast.

Reports and documents we have received here at Pambazuka News indicate that the Gikuyu community is being galvanized, ostensibly to defend the Gikuyu community. At least two documents are currently circulating in Kenya and amongst the Kenyan diaspora that can be described only as hate literature.

One purporting to be the declaration of 500 supporters of GEMA in the UK incites Kikuyus to provide funds for the ‘war’. “… if you don't join and register at this crucial time you are of no use to the community,” they threaten. Another document, purporting to come from the ‘The Thagicu Renaissance Movement’ names a host of human rights activists – including the head of the Kenyan National Commission for Human Rights – as ‘traitors’.

In their turn, a hate statement of a similar kind has been published by a group calling themselves ‘Kalenjin Online’ (http://geraldbaraza.blogspot.com/2008/01/ladies-and-gentlemen-gotab- kalenjin.html) state “We shall defend ourselves and our interests to the bitter end. If they [the Kikuyu] want to bring clashes to Nairobi, they can go ahead. They will regret why they ever started it in the first place. We urge our people to ensure that every family is fully equipped with our normal tools; if we can afford, ferry two warriors from upcountry fully armed and house them until we have this thing sorted out.” We have little doubt that similar hate literature from the Luo and other communities is also in circulation.

The intention of such groups is to stir up hatred and raise finances to support the carnage that has been perpetrated by the organized armed militia in several parts of the country. The western media – especially the BBC – has sought to portray this as ‘tribal violence’, neatly side-stepping the need to assess the political motives of who is behind the armed militia, who benefits from creating a climate of fear and distrust, and who are behind the distribution of the hate literature that is currently circulating from all sides.

But these are not ethnic clashes. These are acts of violence that are perpetrated by those who, devoid of any political solution to the crisis, reach for the ethnic card. But it isn’t all Kikuyus, or all Luos or all Kalenjins who have robbed others of their land or carried out massacres on each other. These crimes have been perpetrated by a minority who have reaped the fruits of land grabbing. This is no land reform program, but rather the incitement of hatred for political ends, and to allow a small elite to benefit. The fruits of Uhuru have long been enjoyed by that minority

But in the present crisis, nobody will win – not even the rich who so far have been spared from the bloodshed. But as in all conflicts, it is the poor who will do the killing and the dying.

One would expect leaders worth their people’s mandate to be using this space between ethnic killings and a full fledged civil war to provide a clear vision for the way forward and to speak to and beyond their immediate constituencies. But both Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga have hesitated instead of acting decisively, placing their self-interest before that of millions of their constituents. They have sought to use the crisis to maneuver better positions at the negotiation table. Both have been found wanting. Both claim victory in the presidential elections when it is abundantly clear that no one will ever know what the real result was.

If peace is to be restored, there is an urgent need for the militia to be forcibly disarmed. There is an urgent need for the GSU to be pulled off the streets, and for the police to be restrained from acting judge, jury and executioner with impunity. There is an urgent need to bring to justice those responsible for human rights violations. Lifting the ban on live media coverage is vital so that all citizens can know what is happening in the country.

And those responsible for the circulation of materials that incite ethnic hatred and conflict through hate radio; print media or the Internet should be immediately arrested and prosecuted. If either PNU or ODM were serious about the interests of the citizens of Kenya, these would be their immediate priorities. They would agree to the immediate formation of an interim government that would oversee the return to peace, disarming and bringing to account all those responsible for the crimes and carnage witnessed over the last month. But who will make them do this? Have we reached a level of humiliation that we are to be dependent on an outside force to intervene to sort out our mess?

It is clear that the interests of citizens, whatever their political or other affiliations, are far from the minds of the leadership of PNU or ODM or any other of the ‘paper parties’. Citizens cannot stand by idle waiting for divine inspiration to hit the skulls of the leaders. It is time that the voices of citizens are heard. Are we going to sit watching while the carnage continues? We face a challenge: if our so-called leaders are unable to point the way forward for a solution, then isn’t it time that we found a way to discuss, debate and achieve consensus on what future we want? We did so at the Bomas conference. We can do so again.

And that brings us to those many of us citizens in the diaspora - in Europe, USA and elsewhere. Are we going to add to the carnage by supporting those who have been circulating the kind of hate mail referred to above? Citizens in the diaspora have a critical role to play: we have duty of solidarity for all Kenyans, irrespective of their political beliefs, origins, cultural identity or creed.

Our solidarity has to go out to those who have been injured, who have been evicted from their homes violently or who have fled in fear, to those families who have lost members of their families. We must vociferously oppose those amongst us who are seeking to divide us. Our distance from vortex of the crisis should allow us to think about constructive ways forward that are built on a respect for human dignity and justice for all. We can play a role in bringing peace through justice and truth. Or we can add to the spiral into civil war.

To the international community and media, we say that you need to first and foremost understand that massacres against the Gikuyu, the Luo, the Kalenjin and others are politically motivated and pre-meditated acts of violence and terror. We have to name the problem correctly if we are to counter it. Calling the violence 'tribal clashes' only lends credibility to the genocadaires and gives their propaganda mileage. It sends the message to the aggrieved on all sides that there will be, and can be, no justice. It only strengthens the hands those who want to stir ethnic hatred for political ends.

If we are to move ahead, we have to proclaim out loud: WE ARE ALL KENYANS. AND THE FUTURE BELONGS EQUALLY TO ALL OF US!

* Firoze Manji and Mukoma Wa Ngugi are Pambazuka News editors.

* Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org