Kenyans must seize democracy for themselves
Mukoma Wa Ngugi and Firoze Manji (2008-02-28)
It has taken over 1,500 Kenyan lives, hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people, a destroyed economy, and intensified mistrust between ethnicities that will last generations for both Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga to realize what everyone knew from the beginning: “Neither side can realistically govern the country without the other. There must be real power-sharing to move the country forward and begin the healing and reconciliation process”.
We applaud Kofi Annan for steering Kenya back to sanity. But we also have to understand that this peace deal is an emergency stopgap solution so that the wounds of rigged elections, mobilized militias, ethnic cleansing, and extra-judicial killings may not bleed the country to death.
The Kenyan people on whose backs this power sharing deal has been signed have to seize democracy for themselves if change is to be real and long lasting, and in service of the Kenyan people and not the competing politicians.
We applaud the deal for peace but also recognize the work for a democracy that serves the people and not the elite is just starting.
We have been offered the shell of democracy, but the struggle is for its content.
We call for a democracy with content of equal land redistribution because land was at the heart of this crisis.
We call for a democracy with the content of economic justice because it is our discontent with extreme poverty that was used against us by the same politicians we are going to reward with cabinet positions.
We call for a democracy with the content of justice. In 1963, our first authoritarian leader, Jomo Kenyatta, asked us to forgive but not forget British colonialism. What he meant was forgive and forget. Let justice be the keeper of our memory.
We call for a democracy that protects its citizens from the excesses of the state. The police killings of unarmed electoral protestors recalls the extra-judicial killings of hundreds of young men criminalized because they are poor in May to June, 2007.
The police force we inherited from British colonialism was trained to see the people as the enemy. We call not only for a retraining of the police, but also for the officers and politicians who gave the shoot-to-kill orders to be brought to justice
We call for a democracy that has the content of justice, if we are to end of cycle of violence and counter violence, revenge and counter-revenge.
We call for a systematic disarming of all militia and the bringing to justice all those responsible for killings, injuries and destabilization.
We call for guarantees of safe passage and return of those violently displaced from their homes. Those who have suffered loss need to be compensated.
We call on an immediate investigation on behalf of the victims of sexual violence and rape and the bringing to justice those responsible.
We call for an independent judicial inquiry into the allegations of election rigging that led to the current crisis.
We have been very good at forgetting – the February 25th anniversary of the Wagalla massacres of 1984 in which over a thousand Kenyan Somalis were killed by the Moi government just passed without as much as a murmur. The recent Eldoret Killings recall the Eldoret killings of 1992 in which over a thousand Kenyans lost their lives. We call for historical and present day crimes against the Kenyan people and humanity to be punished.
We welcome the calm that the agreement brings. But this must not be confused with peace: peace will only be possible through justice and the placing of the truth in the public arena and addressing injustice and inequality.
A process must begin now to consider whether the constitution as it exists, and as it will be amended by parliament shortly, is the constitution that can guarantee peace, or whether we need to establish one that reflects the vision and values of all citizens.
In short, we call for a democracy that serves the people, and not a democracy that dresses up thieves and political thugs in suits.
Let us make sure Kibaki and Raila do not forget that they are in power as a result of over 1,500 needless deaths and the thousands who have been displaced and the anxiety and fear of millions of Kenyans.
A true democracy is for the Kenyan people to win, or to lose.
*Mukoma Wa Ngugi and Firoze Manji are the editors of Pambazuka News.
**Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at www.pambazuka.org
The full text of the agreement signed by Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga is available at the link below.
Kenya: Agreement on the Principles of Partnership of the Coalition Government
Preamble:
The crisis triggered by the 2007 disputed presidential election has brought to the surface deep-seated and long-standing divisions within Kenyan society. If left unaddressed, these divisions threaten the very existence of Kenya as a unified country. The Kenyan people are now looking to their leaders to ensure that their country will not be lost.
Given the current situation, neither side can realistically govern the country without the other. There must be real power-sharing to move the country forward and begin the healing and reconciliation process.
With this agreement, we are stepping forward together, as political leaders, to overcome the current crisis and to set the country on a new path. As partners in a coalition government, we commit ourselves to work together in good faith as true partners, through constant consultation and willingness to compromise.
This agreement is designed to create an environment conducive to such a partnership and to build mutual trust and confidence. It is not about creating positions that reward individuals. It seeks to enable Kenya's political leaders to look beyond partisan considerations with a view to promoting the greater interests of the nation as a whole. It provides the means to implement a coherent and far-reaching reform agenda, to address the fundamental root causes of recurrent conflict, and to create a better, more secure, more prosperous Kenya for all.
To resolve the political crisis, and in the spirit of coalition and partnership, we have agreed to enact the National Accord and Reconciliation Act 2008, whose provisions have been agreed upon in their entirety by the parties hereto and a draft copy is appended hereto.
Its key points are:
* There will be a Prime Minister of the Government of Kenya, with authority to coordinate and supervise the execution of the functions and affairs of the Government of Kenya.
* The Prime Minister will be an elected member of the National Assembly and the parliamentary leader of the largest party in the National Assembly, or of a coalition, if the largest party does not command a majority.
* Each member of the coalition shall nominate one person from the National Assembly to be appointed a Deputy Prime Minister.
* The Cabinet will consist of the President, the Vice-President, the Prime Minister, the two Deputy Prime Ministers and the other Ministers. The removal of any Minister of the coalition will be subject to consultation and concurrence in writing by the leaders.
* The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers can only be removed if the National Assembly passes a motion of no confidence with a majority vote.
* The composition of the coalition government will at all times take into account the principle of portfolio balance and will reflect their relative parliamentary strength.
* The coalition will be dissolved if the Tenth Parliament is dissolved; or if the parties agree in writing; or if one coalition partner withdraws from the coalition.
* The National Accord and Reconciliation Act shall be entrenched in the Constitution.
Having agreed on the critical issues above, we will now take this process to Parliament. It will be convened at the earliest moment to enact these agreements. This will be in the form of an Act of Parliament and the necessary amendment to the Constitution.
We believe by these steps we can together in the spirit of partnership bring peace and prosperity back to the people of Kenya who so richly deserve it.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/46467
Friday, February 29, 2008
Kenya: Hanging on to a fragile peace
Pambazuka Editors' (2008-02-28)
Pambazuka News spoke with Wangui Wa Goro, a public intellectual, writer, translator and academic and an Associate Fellow at the Institute of Human Rights and Social Justice at London Metropolitan University about the power sharing agreement reached by Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga on February 28, 2008. Pambazuka News readers will remember her for her incisive commentary on Kenya pre and post the crisis. We spoke about the implications of the peace-deal on the larger questions of peace and justice, the meaning of democracy itself, the continuing role of Civil Society Organizations and lessons for other African countries.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: The power sharing deal has Raila Odinga as the Prime Minister and Mwai Kibaki remaining the President. We are not yet clear on exact day-to-day functioning of each – but what are your initial thoughts?
WANGUI WA GORO: I am glad that the parties have come to some agreement at the moment because it will ease the tension in the country. I am however wary because of the way in which we have witnessed the mediation process. I think that many Kenyans are skeptical about the goodwill of some in the process. As Kenyans, we are also aware of our capacity for duplicity and doubletalk ("ujanja").
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Both Kibaki and Raila formed a coalition government shortly after the 2002 elections that collapsed and in way, the violence we saw was a direct result of their inability to get along – do you a see a difference this time? Will it hold?
WANGUI WA GORO: I think the fact that the process is being witnessed nationally and internationally by all will place a huge burden on those who want to cheat unlike before when “Memorandums of Understanding” were agreed behind closed doors. This is a significant difference between 2002 and 2008.
I am however still concerned that the Kenyan people should know the outcome of the election that just took place. These agreements could undermine our confidence in the mechanisms of democracy and the institutions for this. We are bowing to the will of individuals rather than to the will of our nation and this is wrong. I hope, therefore, that this arrangement is a transitional one. We are rolling back our attainment of multipartism which should provide checks and balances.
I think the loss of life and displacements we have witnessed should act as a wake up call for all of us and the world and if the two leaders are serious and actually work together, this may work. I still believe that the civil society, other political players and the international community should continue pressing for the delivery of the agreement in order for the transitional process and justice to take place. The hard work now has a framework as does the chance for a new constitution. Kenyans will have to work hard to heal the nation and to continue to seek peace, truth and justice. I hope that these processes can heal the nation. I pray that for this alone, that peace will hold.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Do you see a continuing role for the international community? Should there be a difference between African and Western pressure?
WANGUI WA GORO: No. I think that what should matter the most is what Kenyans want and the African and international pressure should reflect that will of the Kenyan people. I see a continued role of the international community in "supervising" the agreement and ensuring that Kenya does not slide into anarchy. This they can do by using the agreement to hold individuals and their parties to account.
I hope that The Kofi Annan Team remains with Kenyans for the duration of the Transitional Period in an advisory or consultative role to ensure that we remain within the spirit and letter of the agreements. I hope that Parliament will also take responsibility for running the affairs of the country and that Kenyans find mechanisms for engaging constructively with their leaders, particularly the civil society in an organized form. We have never been here in our history.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: The civil society organizations have been agitating for an arrangement that would make peace possible. What should their role be in the post-peace deal period?
WANGUI WA GORO: The role of the civil society is now more crucial than ever. They will have to be the domestic monitors of the agreement and further, because of their knowledge and the way in which they have conducted themselves over the last two months, they will find an important role as a lobby which is not entrenched in the processes. They can engage constructively and this will be very important for the country. We have also seen the importance of their vanguard role in this process. There are many lessons to be learned here and I hope that unlike 2002, they do not let up.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: A short question- Where are the people in this deal?
WANGUI WA GORO: That is precisely the point! I believe that the discussions with Dr. Kofi Annan are continuing on the longer-term issues this coming Friday. We should wait and see what is agreed then.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Moving forward - The Kenyan society has been divided in ways we have not seen before- probably not since the end of British colonialism. More than 1,500 dead, hundreds of thousands of refugees, not to speak of an economy in tatters – how do we repair the torn fabric?
WANGUI WA GORO: On the Kenyan society being divided for the first time, this is not correct. Divide and rule tactics were part of British colonial rule. Kenya has also had very difficult moments in its history such as the assassination of Tom Mboya when the so called differences amongst ethnicities were supposed to be very high. People were very hurt then.
And many other terrible things have happened to people like Pio Gama Pinto, Bishop Muge, JM Kariuki, Robert Ouko etc. and Kenyans can see patterns here which are not ethnically driven. Some of these leaders were asking fundamental questions about injustice and inequality. We have also had a coup d'etat in 1982 when many people died, and in 1984 many Kenyans were killed in the Wagalla Massacre. In 1992 many Kenyans were displaced from the Rift Valley and many were also killed - over 1500. And between 1982 to 1990 many Kenyans were jailed, tortured, killed and exiled. These traumas have continued since independence. I hope that this disregard for life and for Kenyans stops for once and for all. All of us are important and our lives are precious in equal measure.
You will also know that those who fought for freedom have died in abject poverty and without recognition until recently. We have to have a broader understanding of our history and not allow the distortions of "ethnicism" to blind us to the class dimension, corruption, poverty and disenfranchisement of the majority Kenyans of all ethnicities, cultures and religions.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Can we reflect on the role of Western democracy on historical legacies? Does the Kenya crisis suggest there is something wrong with Western democracy? What does African democracy look like?
WANGUI WA GORO: I think that there is a difference between the cultures of practice of "democracy" and what we understand as democratic principals. Democracies are built over time through good practice over years. There must be some of the values of what is called a "good society" which people seem to understand to be in the contract for democracy such as accountability, representation, transparency and the institutions and mechanism for delivering these such as the rule of law, independent institutions such as Parliament and the Judiciary which remove entrenched power from parties or individuals..
Now, I don't think we have seen African Democracy working at its best in Kenya or much of Africa because of the kinds of legacies and traditions and practices we adopted after Independence. You will know we inherited the Constitution and some of the practices from colonial rule, in our case from Britain. For instance, the police force was used to defend the state from the people and this culture has continued. We did not have a moment of reflection of the kind of nation state we might want for ourselves. This question of regional representation and distribution of resources for instance is one;, it was raised for debate but then shelved and ignored, and is at the heart of some of the difficulties we have today.
The philosophy of forgive and forget is another. Another is the power of the presidency which grew and grew since Kenyatta and became entrenched in the constitution because people became so frightened of him and the Presidency. This continued under Moi and in 1982, Kenya moved from a de facto one party state to a de jure one party state which really entrenched Moi's dictatorship.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Is it all about what the rulers want, not what citizens want…So we need constitutional reforms that speaks to the Kenyan political reality, for example?
WANGUI WA GORO: I think that is what has come out as a most over riding desire of the Kenyan people. But as you know, fine constitutions can be written, and in fact, the first Kenyan one was not that bad. It is having it implemented that is a problem. Britain for instance does not have a written tradition but it evolves rules and values through Acts of Parliament and the law. Kenyans can use this opportunity to enshrine the kind of nation they want and BOMAS began to address this issue. I think a new constitution will be very good for Kenya because KENYANS will feel that they own it.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: What does equality mean to democracy? It is a word that is assumed to be already contained in democracy, yet we see nations with vicious inequalities call themselves democratic - your thoughts?
WANGUI WA GORO: On paper, Kenya has a Bill of Rights which recognises equality. But in reality, we have seen the day to day treatment of women, people with disabilities, people of "other" religions or "ethnicities" treated badly. In public, it is difficult to pass bills against violence against women such as rape. There are no policies on the aged and it is only recently that the rights of the child have come on board.
Words are meaningless if people do not feel protected from their historic and cultural vulnerabilities. Our laws have been couched in ambiguous terms such as both recognising civil law and common law. We are not aware of what these issues mean in a diverse nation state of different ethnicities and religious persuasions so you will have one Kenyan treated differently than another because of common law which recognises the different cultures. We also do not know about each others cultures so we are limited in our arguments for Kenyan universal values. Our democracy will be most tested and beneficial when we address these issues because they lie at the heart of our current disquiet over disenfranchisement from power and lack of self-determination.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Wangui, the question of whether Kenya should be a federal state has come up quite a bit - those for it argue that resources will be distributed better - those against it that it will entrench ethnic tension. Your take?
WANGUI WA GORO: I think that a federal state would be premature. I think that if local government was strong and there was less corruption, such a system could work. As it is now, some regions have been marginalised eternally in punitive ways and naturally they will want to have federal states. Our local government has also not been representative in the political sense or professional enough, similar to the public institutions which remain in a colonial and postcolonial time warp. They need to modernize to reflect the modern Kenyan and global world. Then we have this parallel system of administration of Provincial and District Officers who are powerful but not locally accountable. I think that these arrangements cannot foster democratic engagement when power is distributed through patronage. Appointment to senior positions has also been problematic as has been corruption and the allocation of resources.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: How do we develop and implement a people's agenda?
WANGUI WA GORO: I think that the local issues matter a great deal to people. Their day-to-day lives. Having power and control over their own immediate destiny -which cannot be done by some centralized remote, and often middleclass or bourgeois administration. There needs to be genuine engagement with governance by the people, ways of holding their elected leaders to account and ways for having their voices heard and acted upon. As we have lived in Kenya, it has been hard in the past to have access to your elected leader and people are frightened of these people whom they elected. That is my recollection of Kenya as I knew it then.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Finally Wangui, what can countries like Zimbabwe and South Africa learn from Kenya? Or countries like Uganda or Ethiopia where Museveni or Meles might point to Kenya as a warning for playing around with the fire of democracy? Are there lessons to be gleaned across the board?
WANGUI WA GORO: I think we need to start thinking outside the box. I think the whole of Africa can learn from itself. There are lessons that point to the failures of the post colonial states from the North to the South. You can see the upheaval everywhere. There are particularities about each of our countries, such as the resilience of the pro-people cultures and their continuities. There are also longer traditions of institutionalization in some places like South Africa and the economic power of Apartheid is very deeply entrenched.
So we need to learn from all our cultures and see how we can improve on the particular. The cultures we cultivate are also important, such as the cultures of struggle, the cultures of fear, the cultures of solidarity. What has amazed me in these last few weeks is the strength of individuals and organizations in the civil society and the pro-people movements and their willingness to defend "the good of society".
I hope that Kenyans and our leaders are willing to give peace, truth, justice and reconciliation a try. It will be very difficult to heal our nation now that blood has flown. There is no turning back the clock and these hurts remain for a very long time. We must learn from the holocausts in our continent and elsewhere. Kenya is and can be a wonderful place.
*Wangui Wa Goro, a public intellectual, writer, translator and academic and an Associate Fellow at the Institute of Human Rights and Social Justice at London Metropolitan University.
From Pambazuka News:
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/46468
Pambazuka Editors' (2008-02-28)
Pambazuka News spoke with Wangui Wa Goro, a public intellectual, writer, translator and academic and an Associate Fellow at the Institute of Human Rights and Social Justice at London Metropolitan University about the power sharing agreement reached by Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga on February 28, 2008. Pambazuka News readers will remember her for her incisive commentary on Kenya pre and post the crisis. We spoke about the implications of the peace-deal on the larger questions of peace and justice, the meaning of democracy itself, the continuing role of Civil Society Organizations and lessons for other African countries.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: The power sharing deal has Raila Odinga as the Prime Minister and Mwai Kibaki remaining the President. We are not yet clear on exact day-to-day functioning of each – but what are your initial thoughts?
WANGUI WA GORO: I am glad that the parties have come to some agreement at the moment because it will ease the tension in the country. I am however wary because of the way in which we have witnessed the mediation process. I think that many Kenyans are skeptical about the goodwill of some in the process. As Kenyans, we are also aware of our capacity for duplicity and doubletalk ("ujanja").
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Both Kibaki and Raila formed a coalition government shortly after the 2002 elections that collapsed and in way, the violence we saw was a direct result of their inability to get along – do you a see a difference this time? Will it hold?
WANGUI WA GORO: I think the fact that the process is being witnessed nationally and internationally by all will place a huge burden on those who want to cheat unlike before when “Memorandums of Understanding” were agreed behind closed doors. This is a significant difference between 2002 and 2008.
I am however still concerned that the Kenyan people should know the outcome of the election that just took place. These agreements could undermine our confidence in the mechanisms of democracy and the institutions for this. We are bowing to the will of individuals rather than to the will of our nation and this is wrong. I hope, therefore, that this arrangement is a transitional one. We are rolling back our attainment of multipartism which should provide checks and balances.
I think the loss of life and displacements we have witnessed should act as a wake up call for all of us and the world and if the two leaders are serious and actually work together, this may work. I still believe that the civil society, other political players and the international community should continue pressing for the delivery of the agreement in order for the transitional process and justice to take place. The hard work now has a framework as does the chance for a new constitution. Kenyans will have to work hard to heal the nation and to continue to seek peace, truth and justice. I hope that these processes can heal the nation. I pray that for this alone, that peace will hold.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Do you see a continuing role for the international community? Should there be a difference between African and Western pressure?
WANGUI WA GORO: No. I think that what should matter the most is what Kenyans want and the African and international pressure should reflect that will of the Kenyan people. I see a continued role of the international community in "supervising" the agreement and ensuring that Kenya does not slide into anarchy. This they can do by using the agreement to hold individuals and their parties to account.
I hope that The Kofi Annan Team remains with Kenyans for the duration of the Transitional Period in an advisory or consultative role to ensure that we remain within the spirit and letter of the agreements. I hope that Parliament will also take responsibility for running the affairs of the country and that Kenyans find mechanisms for engaging constructively with their leaders, particularly the civil society in an organized form. We have never been here in our history.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: The civil society organizations have been agitating for an arrangement that would make peace possible. What should their role be in the post-peace deal period?
WANGUI WA GORO: The role of the civil society is now more crucial than ever. They will have to be the domestic monitors of the agreement and further, because of their knowledge and the way in which they have conducted themselves over the last two months, they will find an important role as a lobby which is not entrenched in the processes. They can engage constructively and this will be very important for the country. We have also seen the importance of their vanguard role in this process. There are many lessons to be learned here and I hope that unlike 2002, they do not let up.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: A short question- Where are the people in this deal?
WANGUI WA GORO: That is precisely the point! I believe that the discussions with Dr. Kofi Annan are continuing on the longer-term issues this coming Friday. We should wait and see what is agreed then.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Moving forward - The Kenyan society has been divided in ways we have not seen before- probably not since the end of British colonialism. More than 1,500 dead, hundreds of thousands of refugees, not to speak of an economy in tatters – how do we repair the torn fabric?
WANGUI WA GORO: On the Kenyan society being divided for the first time, this is not correct. Divide and rule tactics were part of British colonial rule. Kenya has also had very difficult moments in its history such as the assassination of Tom Mboya when the so called differences amongst ethnicities were supposed to be very high. People were very hurt then.
And many other terrible things have happened to people like Pio Gama Pinto, Bishop Muge, JM Kariuki, Robert Ouko etc. and Kenyans can see patterns here which are not ethnically driven. Some of these leaders were asking fundamental questions about injustice and inequality. We have also had a coup d'etat in 1982 when many people died, and in 1984 many Kenyans were killed in the Wagalla Massacre. In 1992 many Kenyans were displaced from the Rift Valley and many were also killed - over 1500. And between 1982 to 1990 many Kenyans were jailed, tortured, killed and exiled. These traumas have continued since independence. I hope that this disregard for life and for Kenyans stops for once and for all. All of us are important and our lives are precious in equal measure.
You will also know that those who fought for freedom have died in abject poverty and without recognition until recently. We have to have a broader understanding of our history and not allow the distortions of "ethnicism" to blind us to the class dimension, corruption, poverty and disenfranchisement of the majority Kenyans of all ethnicities, cultures and religions.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Can we reflect on the role of Western democracy on historical legacies? Does the Kenya crisis suggest there is something wrong with Western democracy? What does African democracy look like?
WANGUI WA GORO: I think that there is a difference between the cultures of practice of "democracy" and what we understand as democratic principals. Democracies are built over time through good practice over years. There must be some of the values of what is called a "good society" which people seem to understand to be in the contract for democracy such as accountability, representation, transparency and the institutions and mechanism for delivering these such as the rule of law, independent institutions such as Parliament and the Judiciary which remove entrenched power from parties or individuals..
Now, I don't think we have seen African Democracy working at its best in Kenya or much of Africa because of the kinds of legacies and traditions and practices we adopted after Independence. You will know we inherited the Constitution and some of the practices from colonial rule, in our case from Britain. For instance, the police force was used to defend the state from the people and this culture has continued. We did not have a moment of reflection of the kind of nation state we might want for ourselves. This question of regional representation and distribution of resources for instance is one;, it was raised for debate but then shelved and ignored, and is at the heart of some of the difficulties we have today.
The philosophy of forgive and forget is another. Another is the power of the presidency which grew and grew since Kenyatta and became entrenched in the constitution because people became so frightened of him and the Presidency. This continued under Moi and in 1982, Kenya moved from a de facto one party state to a de jure one party state which really entrenched Moi's dictatorship.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Is it all about what the rulers want, not what citizens want…So we need constitutional reforms that speaks to the Kenyan political reality, for example?
WANGUI WA GORO: I think that is what has come out as a most over riding desire of the Kenyan people. But as you know, fine constitutions can be written, and in fact, the first Kenyan one was not that bad. It is having it implemented that is a problem. Britain for instance does not have a written tradition but it evolves rules and values through Acts of Parliament and the law. Kenyans can use this opportunity to enshrine the kind of nation they want and BOMAS began to address this issue. I think a new constitution will be very good for Kenya because KENYANS will feel that they own it.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: What does equality mean to democracy? It is a word that is assumed to be already contained in democracy, yet we see nations with vicious inequalities call themselves democratic - your thoughts?
WANGUI WA GORO: On paper, Kenya has a Bill of Rights which recognises equality. But in reality, we have seen the day to day treatment of women, people with disabilities, people of "other" religions or "ethnicities" treated badly. In public, it is difficult to pass bills against violence against women such as rape. There are no policies on the aged and it is only recently that the rights of the child have come on board.
Words are meaningless if people do not feel protected from their historic and cultural vulnerabilities. Our laws have been couched in ambiguous terms such as both recognising civil law and common law. We are not aware of what these issues mean in a diverse nation state of different ethnicities and religious persuasions so you will have one Kenyan treated differently than another because of common law which recognises the different cultures. We also do not know about each others cultures so we are limited in our arguments for Kenyan universal values. Our democracy will be most tested and beneficial when we address these issues because they lie at the heart of our current disquiet over disenfranchisement from power and lack of self-determination.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Wangui, the question of whether Kenya should be a federal state has come up quite a bit - those for it argue that resources will be distributed better - those against it that it will entrench ethnic tension. Your take?
WANGUI WA GORO: I think that a federal state would be premature. I think that if local government was strong and there was less corruption, such a system could work. As it is now, some regions have been marginalised eternally in punitive ways and naturally they will want to have federal states. Our local government has also not been representative in the political sense or professional enough, similar to the public institutions which remain in a colonial and postcolonial time warp. They need to modernize to reflect the modern Kenyan and global world. Then we have this parallel system of administration of Provincial and District Officers who are powerful but not locally accountable. I think that these arrangements cannot foster democratic engagement when power is distributed through patronage. Appointment to senior positions has also been problematic as has been corruption and the allocation of resources.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: How do we develop and implement a people's agenda?
WANGUI WA GORO: I think that the local issues matter a great deal to people. Their day-to-day lives. Having power and control over their own immediate destiny -which cannot be done by some centralized remote, and often middleclass or bourgeois administration. There needs to be genuine engagement with governance by the people, ways of holding their elected leaders to account and ways for having their voices heard and acted upon. As we have lived in Kenya, it has been hard in the past to have access to your elected leader and people are frightened of these people whom they elected. That is my recollection of Kenya as I knew it then.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Finally Wangui, what can countries like Zimbabwe and South Africa learn from Kenya? Or countries like Uganda or Ethiopia where Museveni or Meles might point to Kenya as a warning for playing around with the fire of democracy? Are there lessons to be gleaned across the board?
WANGUI WA GORO: I think we need to start thinking outside the box. I think the whole of Africa can learn from itself. There are lessons that point to the failures of the post colonial states from the North to the South. You can see the upheaval everywhere. There are particularities about each of our countries, such as the resilience of the pro-people cultures and their continuities. There are also longer traditions of institutionalization in some places like South Africa and the economic power of Apartheid is very deeply entrenched.
So we need to learn from all our cultures and see how we can improve on the particular. The cultures we cultivate are also important, such as the cultures of struggle, the cultures of fear, the cultures of solidarity. What has amazed me in these last few weeks is the strength of individuals and organizations in the civil society and the pro-people movements and their willingness to defend "the good of society".
I hope that Kenyans and our leaders are willing to give peace, truth, justice and reconciliation a try. It will be very difficult to heal our nation now that blood has flown. There is no turning back the clock and these hurts remain for a very long time. We must learn from the holocausts in our continent and elsewhere. Kenya is and can be a wonderful place.
*Wangui Wa Goro, a public intellectual, writer, translator and academic and an Associate Fellow at the Institute of Human Rights and Social Justice at London Metropolitan University.
From Pambazuka News:
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/46468
PEACE DEAL REACHED!
It is heartening to know that the two leaders in Kenya, President Mwai Kibaki, and Prime-Minister designate Raila Odinga have come to a power-sharing agreement. This is what all Kenyans have been waiting for with bated breaths. For two months millions of Kenyans have suffered and agonized over the future of their beloved country. Many have lost their lives and thousands of others been driven from their homes. Now that the peace deal has been struck it is the hope of all Kenyan people that life will return to normal and that they can have time to rebuild their lives.
There is still however, a long road ahead. All the animosity and hatred that has been stirred these past two months need to be purged. People need to be reconciled once again with one another and true peace restored to neighborhoods and communities across the nation. I am optimistic that the Kenyan people will embrace this opportunity to lead the nation to greater heights of understanding and prosperity.
It is heartening to know that the two leaders in Kenya, President Mwai Kibaki, and Prime-Minister designate Raila Odinga have come to a power-sharing agreement. This is what all Kenyans have been waiting for with bated breaths. For two months millions of Kenyans have suffered and agonized over the future of their beloved country. Many have lost their lives and thousands of others been driven from their homes. Now that the peace deal has been struck it is the hope of all Kenyan people that life will return to normal and that they can have time to rebuild their lives.
There is still however, a long road ahead. All the animosity and hatred that has been stirred these past two months need to be purged. People need to be reconciled once again with one another and true peace restored to neighborhoods and communities across the nation. I am optimistic that the Kenyan people will embrace this opportunity to lead the nation to greater heights of understanding and prosperity.
Deal offers fresh hope to Kenya
By Noel Mwakugu
BBC News, Nairobi
The handshake finally came after a month of talks
Many Kenyans had feared the imminent outbreak of renewed violence when peace talks were suspended on Monday but instead there is now fresh hope after the two rival leaders agreed to share power.
Both President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga gave ground under massive international pressure and the intervention of African Union Chairman and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.
They unveiled a deal that is intended to steer the country towards much-needed reconciliation after allegations of rigging in last December's elections.
However, as chief mediator Kofi Annan said: "The journey is far from over. In fact it is only beginning."
A peaceful destination will only be reached only if Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga show the political will.
After such a bitter dispute, which has cost 1,500 lives, trust between the two men has been in short supply - this is why it took more than a month of tortuous talks for them to reach a deal.
Hurdles ahead
This will not be the first time that the two leaders have formed a joint government - they did it in 2002 but it lasted barely three years before they fell out.
While Mr Odinga looks set to take up the new post of prime minister, it is not clear who prevails in the event of a disagreement between him and President Kibaki.
If the deal is strong enough to overcome that hurdle, the new optimism will prove well-founded.
All eyes in a country that has been mourning for the past two months now turn to parliament, where MPs convene next Thursday to vote for the National Accord and Reconciliation Act that will usher in these changes.
The first challenge facing the two leaders once the act is operational is to appoint a new cabinet, whose members will be shared out equally.
The violence has left deep ethnic divisions and a new cabinet must be named with a regional balance to appease communities that felt left out in the last administration.
Corruption scandals
Apart from the regional balance, Kenyans are eager to see the parties merge their policies and deliver an equal share of national resources.
Kofi Annan hailed the deal but said there was more work to be done
Economic disparities lie behind much of the ethnic tension which exploded into violence after the disputed election.
One major policy difference is that of decentralising power and therefore wealth.
This was a key campaign pledge of Mr Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) but not Mr Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU).
The coalition partners now have to marry these and other areas of disagreement.
President Kibaki is credited with steering economic growth in his first term in office but corruption thrived within his administration, drawing much criticism from foreign diplomats.
This is yet another hurdle for the new coalition - both sides include people linked with corruption scandals in the past.
Many doubt if the leaders will have the courage to sacrifice them and inject fresh blood into the administration since it is clear some of those tainted by scandal helped fund the campaigns and remain very influential.
Political will?
The talks which gave birth to this new power-sharing arrangement have brought to the fore the influence of hardliners on both sides.
Odinga supporters took to the streets as the deal was announced
While Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga may have shaken hands and exchanged pleasantries, observers are sceptical as to whether they will ignore the advice of some of their hardline backers.
But failure to contain their influence may endanger the new coalition.
The power-sharing agreement ends if either partner walks out and this would throw the country back into another phase of uncertainty.
Some argue that the new deal could produce a new breed of leader who would be respected for their political principles and not the wealth they possess, as at present.
But as Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete squarely put at the signing ceremony, it is the political will of the two leaders that remains central if this promise is to become a reality.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7269769.stm
By Noel Mwakugu
BBC News, Nairobi
The handshake finally came after a month of talks
Many Kenyans had feared the imminent outbreak of renewed violence when peace talks were suspended on Monday but instead there is now fresh hope after the two rival leaders agreed to share power.
Both President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga gave ground under massive international pressure and the intervention of African Union Chairman and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.
They unveiled a deal that is intended to steer the country towards much-needed reconciliation after allegations of rigging in last December's elections.
However, as chief mediator Kofi Annan said: "The journey is far from over. In fact it is only beginning."
A peaceful destination will only be reached only if Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga show the political will.
After such a bitter dispute, which has cost 1,500 lives, trust between the two men has been in short supply - this is why it took more than a month of tortuous talks for them to reach a deal.
Hurdles ahead
This will not be the first time that the two leaders have formed a joint government - they did it in 2002 but it lasted barely three years before they fell out.
While Mr Odinga looks set to take up the new post of prime minister, it is not clear who prevails in the event of a disagreement between him and President Kibaki.
If the deal is strong enough to overcome that hurdle, the new optimism will prove well-founded.
All eyes in a country that has been mourning for the past two months now turn to parliament, where MPs convene next Thursday to vote for the National Accord and Reconciliation Act that will usher in these changes.
The first challenge facing the two leaders once the act is operational is to appoint a new cabinet, whose members will be shared out equally.
The violence has left deep ethnic divisions and a new cabinet must be named with a regional balance to appease communities that felt left out in the last administration.
Corruption scandals
Apart from the regional balance, Kenyans are eager to see the parties merge their policies and deliver an equal share of national resources.
Kofi Annan hailed the deal but said there was more work to be done
Economic disparities lie behind much of the ethnic tension which exploded into violence after the disputed election.
One major policy difference is that of decentralising power and therefore wealth.
This was a key campaign pledge of Mr Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) but not Mr Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU).
The coalition partners now have to marry these and other areas of disagreement.
President Kibaki is credited with steering economic growth in his first term in office but corruption thrived within his administration, drawing much criticism from foreign diplomats.
This is yet another hurdle for the new coalition - both sides include people linked with corruption scandals in the past.
Many doubt if the leaders will have the courage to sacrifice them and inject fresh blood into the administration since it is clear some of those tainted by scandal helped fund the campaigns and remain very influential.
Political will?
The talks which gave birth to this new power-sharing arrangement have brought to the fore the influence of hardliners on both sides.
Odinga supporters took to the streets as the deal was announced
While Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga may have shaken hands and exchanged pleasantries, observers are sceptical as to whether they will ignore the advice of some of their hardline backers.
But failure to contain their influence may endanger the new coalition.
The power-sharing agreement ends if either partner walks out and this would throw the country back into another phase of uncertainty.
Some argue that the new deal could produce a new breed of leader who would be respected for their political principles and not the wealth they possess, as at present.
But as Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete squarely put at the signing ceremony, it is the political will of the two leaders that remains central if this promise is to become a reality.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7269769.stm
Friday, February 22, 2008
Athletes appeal for a stop to harassment
Published on February 23, 2008, 12:00 am
By Biketi Kikechi
Athletes from the North Rift have asked the Government for protection from people claiming they sponsored violence.
Retired, current and budding runners on Friday gathered at Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret to protest at victimisation.
The athletes said they had received emails threatening top runners from the region.
"These stories are worrying and it is very sad that athletes are not being allowed to train when we have the World Cross Country championship and the Olympic games coming," said Kipchoge Keino, chairman of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya.
He said he was shocked to read about the allegations in a Nairobi tabloid when he arrived from Russia, on Friday.
"This is calculated to damage the image of Kenyan athletes internationally and it is going to affect young athletes," he said.
It was reported that athletes were involved in violence. The story was attributed to the International Crisis Group.
The ICG report alleged that the athletes with military background were training and commanding the raiders. It also said that they were preparing to take over the property of the displaced.
Among the athletes in attendance were Moses Kiptanui, Patrick Sang, Moses Tanui, Yobes Ondieki, Daniel Komen and Japheth Kimutai.
"We leaders of sports are worried about how our athletes are going to perform in the coming races," said Keino.
Athletes from US, South America, Bosnia, Switzerland and Sri Lanka who had been training at the Kipchoge Keino camp left the country due to violence.
The athletes asked the Government to protect athletes from intimidation.
"We want those who wrote that story to provide the evidence that athletes were funding these activities because we are all peaceful people," said Keino.
Last month, a group of athletes from Marakwet led by Kiptanui and Ezekiel Kemboi said police were harassing them.
http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143982259&cid=159
AQUA CLARA FOUNDATION
Aqua Clara Foundation is truly an inspiring organization. It works and partners with organizations and local communities in developing nations to address the need for clean affordable water in communities of need. It have done this through putting together an innovative but cheap technology that cleans and purifies water for use in villages and local households.
In partnership with local people and organizations the organization is introducing this new technology to numerous villages in Africa. Its goal is to introduce the water reactors and purifiers to thousands of households that need them in order to meet the broader goal of cultivating healthy and thriving communities.
Below is an example of people they have partnered with to meet this noble goal.
AQUA CLARA FOUNDATION
Providing clean water to those in need as a tool
for the transformation of children’s lives
Two Women and A Village
By Marcia Buck
Rosaline and Rael decided they wanted to start a business. And so they did. They had a goal. They wanted to start a business of making water purifiers and bring clean water to the remote village in Kenya, Africa. They also wanted to start classes for women to teach them computer skills, sewing, and crafts. They wanted to make a difference. They wanted to do all this to bring the love of Christ to the village. They did it.
In the village near Eldoret where Rosaline and Rael live, the mothers and children go daily to the river to collect their water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning. When they arrive at the river, they visit with the other mothers and children and fill their jugs with water. In this same river, the women do their laundry, and the children and babies play, while their domestic animals including sheep, goats, and cows drink from the river.
Because of this kind of multiple use of the river, the water in it is often fecally-contaminated and this kills. One in five children will die from the contaminated water. Of the remaining four children, two of the four will be diseased with skin, intestinal problems, and disabling disease all of their life, prohibiting them from getting an education and unable to contribute to the work of the family. The psychological toll on the family and village is enormous, and the consequential medical costs and disabilities continue the cycle of despair.
Rosaline and Rael started a company called Kerio Clean Water Group -- they found a building, they got a license, they opened a bank account, and they signed the agreements. They were then licensed to build water purifiers, and their business was born. They held meetings with groups of women in the villages. There is an informal group of women called a merry go round where the women meet to discuss the issues of the day, and offer support and friendship to each other. They also have a fund they all contribute to that is used for emergencies. Rosaline and Rael met with these women in many of these surrounding villages, and they may not have called it marketing, but the women wanted the clean water. They paved the way for the new business.
KERIO Clean Water Company is a beta site for the Aqua Clara Foundation. Developed by Dr. Robert McDonald, the Aqua Clara Water Purifier is designed for use in developing countries to remedy the lethal effects of fecal polluted water. This Water Purifier has no moving parts, requires no power, can be made inexpensively with local materials and is designed as point of use for a family of five. The output has been tested by World Health Organization labs and is rated at 0% E.Coli, the best rating possible. KERIO Clean Water is selling this purifier for under $20.00 and the purifier will last for years without maintenance. Aqua Clara is intent on not only delivering the water purifier to those in need in the world, but also to manufacture and distribute this purifier through locally owned businesses for profit. When an existing infrastructure such as a church or seminary or hospital supports this business, there is local trust and confidence that helps to assure sustainability of continued use in developing countries. It is only as the bottom of the pyramid begins to experience the hope of a job and of income that the cycle of poverty can be broken.
The KERIO Clean Water Company wisely markets their water purifier through the local schools in addition to the groups of women. A purifier is placed in each class room so that the children can have clean water during the day. Then, as a special reward to one of the students, he gets to take home a pitcher of clean water for the family. This process has created quite a buzz, and the local people are gathering at the school to find out more about what is going on with water!
It is a great inspiration to watch Rosaline and Rael as they work this business near Eldoret, Kenya. They are not afraid to work hard. They are not afraid of hard work. They already have thought of ways to expand this business – they want to teach the women that they meet and serve the skills that they can use to start a business – and continue to break the cycle of hopelessness and extreme poverty.
You can see the sparkle in their eyes, you can palpably feel their enthusiasm and energy, you can sense their faith and hope. These ordinary women are doing something extraordinary! I am inspired by their undaunted courage to do whatever it takes -- GO!! Rosaline and Rael!
For more information go to: www.aquaclarafound.org
Aqua Clara Foundation is truly an inspiring organization. It works and partners with organizations and local communities in developing nations to address the need for clean affordable water in communities of need. It have done this through putting together an innovative but cheap technology that cleans and purifies water for use in villages and local households.
In partnership with local people and organizations the organization is introducing this new technology to numerous villages in Africa. Its goal is to introduce the water reactors and purifiers to thousands of households that need them in order to meet the broader goal of cultivating healthy and thriving communities.
Below is an example of people they have partnered with to meet this noble goal.
AQUA CLARA FOUNDATION
Providing clean water to those in need as a tool
for the transformation of children’s lives
Two Women and A Village
By Marcia Buck
Rosaline and Rael decided they wanted to start a business. And so they did. They had a goal. They wanted to start a business of making water purifiers and bring clean water to the remote village in Kenya, Africa. They also wanted to start classes for women to teach them computer skills, sewing, and crafts. They wanted to make a difference. They wanted to do all this to bring the love of Christ to the village. They did it.
In the village near Eldoret where Rosaline and Rael live, the mothers and children go daily to the river to collect their water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning. When they arrive at the river, they visit with the other mothers and children and fill their jugs with water. In this same river, the women do their laundry, and the children and babies play, while their domestic animals including sheep, goats, and cows drink from the river.
Because of this kind of multiple use of the river, the water in it is often fecally-contaminated and this kills. One in five children will die from the contaminated water. Of the remaining four children, two of the four will be diseased with skin, intestinal problems, and disabling disease all of their life, prohibiting them from getting an education and unable to contribute to the work of the family. The psychological toll on the family and village is enormous, and the consequential medical costs and disabilities continue the cycle of despair.
Rosaline and Rael started a company called Kerio Clean Water Group -- they found a building, they got a license, they opened a bank account, and they signed the agreements. They were then licensed to build water purifiers, and their business was born. They held meetings with groups of women in the villages. There is an informal group of women called a merry go round where the women meet to discuss the issues of the day, and offer support and friendship to each other. They also have a fund they all contribute to that is used for emergencies. Rosaline and Rael met with these women in many of these surrounding villages, and they may not have called it marketing, but the women wanted the clean water. They paved the way for the new business.
KERIO Clean Water Company is a beta site for the Aqua Clara Foundation. Developed by Dr. Robert McDonald, the Aqua Clara Water Purifier is designed for use in developing countries to remedy the lethal effects of fecal polluted water. This Water Purifier has no moving parts, requires no power, can be made inexpensively with local materials and is designed as point of use for a family of five. The output has been tested by World Health Organization labs and is rated at 0% E.Coli, the best rating possible. KERIO Clean Water is selling this purifier for under $20.00 and the purifier will last for years without maintenance. Aqua Clara is intent on not only delivering the water purifier to those in need in the world, but also to manufacture and distribute this purifier through locally owned businesses for profit. When an existing infrastructure such as a church or seminary or hospital supports this business, there is local trust and confidence that helps to assure sustainability of continued use in developing countries. It is only as the bottom of the pyramid begins to experience the hope of a job and of income that the cycle of poverty can be broken.
The KERIO Clean Water Company wisely markets their water purifier through the local schools in addition to the groups of women. A purifier is placed in each class room so that the children can have clean water during the day. Then, as a special reward to one of the students, he gets to take home a pitcher of clean water for the family. This process has created quite a buzz, and the local people are gathering at the school to find out more about what is going on with water!
It is a great inspiration to watch Rosaline and Rael as they work this business near Eldoret, Kenya. They are not afraid to work hard. They are not afraid of hard work. They already have thought of ways to expand this business – they want to teach the women that they meet and serve the skills that they can use to start a business – and continue to break the cycle of hopelessness and extreme poverty.
You can see the sparkle in their eyes, you can palpably feel their enthusiasm and energy, you can sense their faith and hope. These ordinary women are doing something extraordinary! I am inspired by their undaunted courage to do whatever it takes -- GO!! Rosaline and Rael!
For more information go to: www.aquaclarafound.org
AQUA CLARA FOUNDATION
…in pursuit of H2OPE
News Item
February 6, 2008
By Marcia Buck
Business Development
Mrs. Sobodosh’s Third Grade Class
Munson Elementary School in Chardon, Ohio
Third Grade Class Interviews Kenyan Margaret Kimosop
February 6, 2008: The third grade class of Mrs. Sobodosh at Munson Elementary School in Chardon, Ohio, interviewed Ms. Margaret Kimosop from Kenya over SKYPE in their classroom today. The children were excited about the event, and asked perceptive and interesting questions. Ms. Kimosop wore her Kenyan dress and elegant head piece to help set the stage, and gave a startling presentation on what it feels like to be a third grade student in Kenya. She talked about the fact that many of them eat corn gruel three times a day, and that a majority do not have snacks and pizza and humburgers and cookies in Eldoret. Margaret talked about the strict discipline of the school, the politeness of the children, the way that they share their pencils and books with three or four other students, and they make their own balls out of sticks and paper and string.
The students then asked questions about what the Kenyans do for fun, what the weather is like, and what holidays they celebrate. Margaret told the students that many of the Kenyan young men are breaking world records in running, and that this is because from the age of 4, when they start school, many of them have to walk or run for miles to get to school. She also mentioned that many children do not use busses to get to school and this surprised the students.
Sharon Van Zeeland made the arrangements for the interview because she has found the program of Aqua Clara compelling, and wanted her son’s class room to share in the excitement. Sharon works for Fairmount Minerals, a partner and supporter of Aqua Clara. This class is now writing pen pal letters to the Talai Academy in Kenya, and is also sending some pencils and bracelets to the students. They hope that they will get letters back and that they can establish new friendships.
Margaret Kimosop is doing her doctorate in Public Administration from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
For more information, go to: www.aquaclarafound.org
BURUNDIAN WOMEN SUPPORT GROUP
Jozerene is an 18 year-old single mother with a 4year old son. She has been part of small group of Burundian refugee women who have been meeting often for small informal times of sharing and fellowship. She appreciates this time and opportunity for support as she works at settling in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. She and many other other Burundian refugees arrived in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the summer of 2007 and have lived here in the past eight months. Before then they lived in large refugee camps in the country of Tanzania where many of them were born and raised. Jozerene has known no other life than that of being a refugee. So when the prospect of her coming to the United States to start a new life came up, she was very delighted.
Jozerene had lived a tough life at the camp, both her parents had died when she was young and she and her siblings had to fend for themselves while living at the refugee camp. She remembers many times when she and her siblings had to sleep hungry because their food rations from the camp administrators had ran out.
Today, she lives in her own one bedroom apartment in Grand Rapids, and with the help of her local sponsoring refugee agency, she manages her own affairs while raising her son. However, challenges remain for her and other refugee women. She cannot yet speak English (as she only spoke Kirundi and Swahili while at the camp) and she does not have reliable transportation which forces her to rely on Public transportation in order for her to go for shopping or meet her appointments. Recently she stated to her support group leader “ I want to learn English and also get a job with a local company. Can you be able to help me with that?”
Many of the refugee women meeting in the support group talk of their desire to be able to speak English and to get jobs that would help supplement their household incomes. Some of them have been attending English as Second Language (ESL) classes that are conducted by various agencies within the city, but with the onset of the cold season combined with unreliable transportation, and lack of child care options, many have had to temporarily suspend their attendance in these classes.
The African Community Center of West Michingan, that is organizing this women’s support group continues to work with these women to find solutions to the challenges they face. The support group leader from the African Center visits with these women, listens to their concerns and answers their many questions about life in West Michigan. These women greatly appreciate this kind of support. Settling in a foreign country with the additional obstacle of not being able to speak or understand the local language can be a major hurdle to overcome. But having someone to listen to those concerns and offer suggestions and a helping hand is a major relief for any refugee person.
The African Community Center strives to provide culturally sensitive and appropriate services to its clients. Over the last five years it has served hundreds of refugees by providing them with services that include ESL classes, Computer literacy classes, Financial literacy workshops, referrals for community services like clothing and food aid, medical help, and job opportunities.
The goal of the African Community Center’s women support group is to help the women to become self- confident and self-reliant. By learning English and gaining job skills including learning how to work with modern technology like computers, many of these women will seamlessly be intergrated into the larger local community and be able to be key players in the life of the community. They will no longer be isolated in their homes but will rather be able to give and share their rich cultural and life experiences with others in the greater Grand Rapids community.
When Jozerene, heard that the African Community Center offers computer classes, she was very excited and asked “ when can I be able to join the classes so that I can know how to operate a computer?” One can see the hunger for knowledge and opportunity from not only this young refugee woman, but from many other newly arrived refugees from not only Burundi, but from many other parts of the world.
It is the hope of the African Community Center of West Michigan that many caring agencies will step up and partner with it to meet the challenging needs of refugee women by providing in-kind support or financial support in order to provide timely and much needed services.
Jozerene is an 18 year-old single mother with a 4year old son. She has been part of small group of Burundian refugee women who have been meeting often for small informal times of sharing and fellowship. She appreciates this time and opportunity for support as she works at settling in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. She and many other other Burundian refugees arrived in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the summer of 2007 and have lived here in the past eight months. Before then they lived in large refugee camps in the country of Tanzania where many of them were born and raised. Jozerene has known no other life than that of being a refugee. So when the prospect of her coming to the United States to start a new life came up, she was very delighted.
Jozerene had lived a tough life at the camp, both her parents had died when she was young and she and her siblings had to fend for themselves while living at the refugee camp. She remembers many times when she and her siblings had to sleep hungry because their food rations from the camp administrators had ran out.
Today, she lives in her own one bedroom apartment in Grand Rapids, and with the help of her local sponsoring refugee agency, she manages her own affairs while raising her son. However, challenges remain for her and other refugee women. She cannot yet speak English (as she only spoke Kirundi and Swahili while at the camp) and she does not have reliable transportation which forces her to rely on Public transportation in order for her to go for shopping or meet her appointments. Recently she stated to her support group leader “ I want to learn English and also get a job with a local company. Can you be able to help me with that?”
Many of the refugee women meeting in the support group talk of their desire to be able to speak English and to get jobs that would help supplement their household incomes. Some of them have been attending English as Second Language (ESL) classes that are conducted by various agencies within the city, but with the onset of the cold season combined with unreliable transportation, and lack of child care options, many have had to temporarily suspend their attendance in these classes.
The African Community Center of West Michingan, that is organizing this women’s support group continues to work with these women to find solutions to the challenges they face. The support group leader from the African Center visits with these women, listens to their concerns and answers their many questions about life in West Michigan. These women greatly appreciate this kind of support. Settling in a foreign country with the additional obstacle of not being able to speak or understand the local language can be a major hurdle to overcome. But having someone to listen to those concerns and offer suggestions and a helping hand is a major relief for any refugee person.
The African Community Center strives to provide culturally sensitive and appropriate services to its clients. Over the last five years it has served hundreds of refugees by providing them with services that include ESL classes, Computer literacy classes, Financial literacy workshops, referrals for community services like clothing and food aid, medical help, and job opportunities.
The goal of the African Community Center’s women support group is to help the women to become self- confident and self-reliant. By learning English and gaining job skills including learning how to work with modern technology like computers, many of these women will seamlessly be intergrated into the larger local community and be able to be key players in the life of the community. They will no longer be isolated in their homes but will rather be able to give and share their rich cultural and life experiences with others in the greater Grand Rapids community.
When Jozerene, heard that the African Community Center offers computer classes, she was very excited and asked “ when can I be able to join the classes so that I can know how to operate a computer?” One can see the hunger for knowledge and opportunity from not only this young refugee woman, but from many other newly arrived refugees from not only Burundi, but from many other parts of the world.
It is the hope of the African Community Center of West Michigan that many caring agencies will step up and partner with it to meet the challenging needs of refugee women by providing in-kind support or financial support in order to provide timely and much needed services.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
UK papers call for 'robust pressure' on Kibaki, Raila
By PAUL REDFERN
Special Correspondent
The escalating political violence in Kenya is the inevitable end-result of politicians “hiring thugs to do their dirty work for them,” according to a leading international academic on Kenya.
UK-based academic David Anderson, who has written extensively on Kenyan politics, including recently the respected book on the Mau Mau era Histories of the Hanged, says that violence has become a part of Kenyan economic and political life.
He says that the murder of Orange Democratic Movement legislator Mugabe Were last week “revealed how violence has permeated to the very heart of Kenya’s failing democracy,” and says that the current political violence “has been purposefully fostered by those whose political interests it serves.”
At the heart of Mr Anderson’s viewpoint is that in poorer suburbs where crime is endemic and the police ineffective and corrupt, gangs have proliferated.
These gangs are used by the politicians they serve, either as “youth-wingers” or to intimidate opponents.
“In Kenyan politics it has become the norm for politicians to hire thugs to do their dirty work, especially at election time,” Mr Anderson writes in the Independent newspaper.
With the current outpouring of violence threatening Kenya’s very stability, it is the politicians who are to blame and they are reaping what they have sown.
The UK media meanwhile, is urging the British government to back the threat given by the United States on Wednesday, to impose a settlement, if bickering leaders cannot find one.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph newspaper David Blair says that, “Effective and robust pressure has been missing from Britain’s response to Kenya’s crisis. Mr Kibaki will compromise only if the cost of intransigence is made unacceptably high. Mr Kibaki may have stolen an election and turned a blind eye to hideous violence, but he is no Robert Mugabe. He is not a ruthless, deluded megalomaniac like the Zimbabwean leader.
Mr Kibaki knows full well that Kenya is inherently vulnerable to outside pressure because its economy depends on foreign investment. Unlike Mr Mugabe, he is not willing to see his country bankrupted and its nascent prosperity destroyed. So he will move if the right levers are used.
The first step is to set out Britain’s demands. Incredibly, neither Lord Malloch-Brown nor any other British minister has publicly called for last month’s election to be re-run under international supervision.
The rigged poll was the principal cause of the violence. The only solution is for Kenya to have another election, under outside supervision if necessary.
If Mr Kibaki fails to oblige, a graduated scale of penalties should be imposed.
First, Britain could marshal the European Union (EU) and America to announce without any ambiguity that they no longer recognise Mr Kibaki as Kenya’s president.
From that moment on, he would become an international outlaw. Then Britain could ask the Commonwealth to expel Kenya. Afterwards, London could press the EU to impose penalties targeted on Kenya’s government.
Mr Kibaki and all his ministers could be banned from travelling to any EU state, while any assets they hold in European banks could be frozen. Kenyan ministers are not known for their financial probity. A measure that would deprive them of their loot and stop all shopping trips to Europe might concentrate minds.
Along the way, Western aid given directly to Kenya’s government could be halted. All this would dramatically reduce foreign investment and deal a body blow to the country’s largest single industry, tourism. Unless Mr Kibaki knows these measures are on the table — and that Britain is serious about imposing them if necessary — he will not agree to hold another election.”
Mr Blair adds that the “tragedy is that Mr Kibaki has been allowed to get away with so much.”
There are however indications that London, along with Washington is reaching the end of its tether in terms of negotiations with President Kibaki’s government.
Following his visit to Kenya this week, British Foreign office minister Lord Malloch Brown who met both President Kibaki and Mr Odinga, expressed pessimism that they could agree on an urgent solution to the crisis.
“I felt that they were talking about two different crises, with a different view of the facts and differing scenarios about what must happen and what needs to be done,” he said.
Before leaving Kenya, Lord Malloch-Brown publicly lamented the intransigence of Mr Kibaki and his key opponent, Raila Odinga to make headway on finding a political compromise acceptable to all Kenyans.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called on Kenya’s leaders to pursue constructive dialogue urgently, which he says must include “addressing the underlying issues — as they have committed to do in order to resolve Kenya’s problems and put in place the basis of governance that is representative of the democratic will of the Kenyan people.”
The Times newspaper in an editorial noted that, “Western leaders have done little except urge restraint, hint at a suspension of aid and draw up plans to evacuate their nationals. It is time that George Bush, Gordon Brown and European leaders were more outspoken in their demands, robust in their diplomacy and forthright in their denunciations of the terrible events threatening to ruin Kenya....The UN and the European Union must be ready to back peace with muscle.”
The UK has acknowledged that it is keeping its development programme in Kenya “under review” because of the current situation, but it adds “our commitment to the Kenyan people remains undiminished.”
London does however say that “The size and content of the future programme will reflect the extent to which political differences can be resolved.”
Writing in the Guardian, Madeleine Bunting says that Kenya is now “stuck in a dangerous stalemate, with no point of agreement between Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga.
Ms Bunting says that in Africa which has seen more wars since 1990 than it did in the whole of the previous century, “violence can be a form of communication of last resort. When all other channels for seeking justice for embittered grievances in a corrupt regime appear to have been exhausted, some will see violence as the only way to protect their interests. That doesn’t make the violence right, but neither does it make it senseless. It can have its own awful rationality.
What we are seeing in Kenya, is how human beings behave when faced with the kind of chronic insecurity that globalisation is incubating the world over. Dislocation breeds fear in which old, buried identities become an insurance policy....(But) the outcome is always tragic.”
http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/news0402089.htm
By PAUL REDFERN
Special Correspondent
The escalating political violence in Kenya is the inevitable end-result of politicians “hiring thugs to do their dirty work for them,” according to a leading international academic on Kenya.
UK-based academic David Anderson, who has written extensively on Kenyan politics, including recently the respected book on the Mau Mau era Histories of the Hanged, says that violence has become a part of Kenyan economic and political life.
He says that the murder of Orange Democratic Movement legislator Mugabe Were last week “revealed how violence has permeated to the very heart of Kenya’s failing democracy,” and says that the current political violence “has been purposefully fostered by those whose political interests it serves.”
At the heart of Mr Anderson’s viewpoint is that in poorer suburbs where crime is endemic and the police ineffective and corrupt, gangs have proliferated.
These gangs are used by the politicians they serve, either as “youth-wingers” or to intimidate opponents.
“In Kenyan politics it has become the norm for politicians to hire thugs to do their dirty work, especially at election time,” Mr Anderson writes in the Independent newspaper.
With the current outpouring of violence threatening Kenya’s very stability, it is the politicians who are to blame and they are reaping what they have sown.
The UK media meanwhile, is urging the British government to back the threat given by the United States on Wednesday, to impose a settlement, if bickering leaders cannot find one.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph newspaper David Blair says that, “Effective and robust pressure has been missing from Britain’s response to Kenya’s crisis. Mr Kibaki will compromise only if the cost of intransigence is made unacceptably high. Mr Kibaki may have stolen an election and turned a blind eye to hideous violence, but he is no Robert Mugabe. He is not a ruthless, deluded megalomaniac like the Zimbabwean leader.
Mr Kibaki knows full well that Kenya is inherently vulnerable to outside pressure because its economy depends on foreign investment. Unlike Mr Mugabe, he is not willing to see his country bankrupted and its nascent prosperity destroyed. So he will move if the right levers are used.
The first step is to set out Britain’s demands. Incredibly, neither Lord Malloch-Brown nor any other British minister has publicly called for last month’s election to be re-run under international supervision.
The rigged poll was the principal cause of the violence. The only solution is for Kenya to have another election, under outside supervision if necessary.
If Mr Kibaki fails to oblige, a graduated scale of penalties should be imposed.
First, Britain could marshal the European Union (EU) and America to announce without any ambiguity that they no longer recognise Mr Kibaki as Kenya’s president.
From that moment on, he would become an international outlaw. Then Britain could ask the Commonwealth to expel Kenya. Afterwards, London could press the EU to impose penalties targeted on Kenya’s government.
Mr Kibaki and all his ministers could be banned from travelling to any EU state, while any assets they hold in European banks could be frozen. Kenyan ministers are not known for their financial probity. A measure that would deprive them of their loot and stop all shopping trips to Europe might concentrate minds.
Along the way, Western aid given directly to Kenya’s government could be halted. All this would dramatically reduce foreign investment and deal a body blow to the country’s largest single industry, tourism. Unless Mr Kibaki knows these measures are on the table — and that Britain is serious about imposing them if necessary — he will not agree to hold another election.”
Mr Blair adds that the “tragedy is that Mr Kibaki has been allowed to get away with so much.”
There are however indications that London, along with Washington is reaching the end of its tether in terms of negotiations with President Kibaki’s government.
Following his visit to Kenya this week, British Foreign office minister Lord Malloch Brown who met both President Kibaki and Mr Odinga, expressed pessimism that they could agree on an urgent solution to the crisis.
“I felt that they were talking about two different crises, with a different view of the facts and differing scenarios about what must happen and what needs to be done,” he said.
Before leaving Kenya, Lord Malloch-Brown publicly lamented the intransigence of Mr Kibaki and his key opponent, Raila Odinga to make headway on finding a political compromise acceptable to all Kenyans.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called on Kenya’s leaders to pursue constructive dialogue urgently, which he says must include “addressing the underlying issues — as they have committed to do in order to resolve Kenya’s problems and put in place the basis of governance that is representative of the democratic will of the Kenyan people.”
The Times newspaper in an editorial noted that, “Western leaders have done little except urge restraint, hint at a suspension of aid and draw up plans to evacuate their nationals. It is time that George Bush, Gordon Brown and European leaders were more outspoken in their demands, robust in their diplomacy and forthright in their denunciations of the terrible events threatening to ruin Kenya....The UN and the European Union must be ready to back peace with muscle.”
The UK has acknowledged that it is keeping its development programme in Kenya “under review” because of the current situation, but it adds “our commitment to the Kenyan people remains undiminished.”
London does however say that “The size and content of the future programme will reflect the extent to which political differences can be resolved.”
Writing in the Guardian, Madeleine Bunting says that Kenya is now “stuck in a dangerous stalemate, with no point of agreement between Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga.
Ms Bunting says that in Africa which has seen more wars since 1990 than it did in the whole of the previous century, “violence can be a form of communication of last resort. When all other channels for seeking justice for embittered grievances in a corrupt regime appear to have been exhausted, some will see violence as the only way to protect their interests. That doesn’t make the violence right, but neither does it make it senseless. It can have its own awful rationality.
What we are seeing in Kenya, is how human beings behave when faced with the kind of chronic insecurity that globalisation is incubating the world over. Dislocation breeds fear in which old, buried identities become an insurance policy....(But) the outcome is always tragic.”
http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/news0402089.htm
Arrest gangs, Fida tells police
Story by CAROLINE WAFULA
Publication Date: 2/8/2008
The International Federation of Women Lawyers (Kenya) has asked the police to crack down on gangs reported to be harassing and stripping women wearing trousers and mini-skirts in some parts of the country.
Fida says the gangs should let women wear what they want, and has asked the Government to ensure that no woman is harassed because of what she puts on.
This follows several incidents in parts of Naivasha, Limuru, Thika and Kiambu towns where criminal groups are said to be forcing women wearing trousers and mini-skirts to either cover themselves with lessos or go back to their homes “to dress decently.”
The criminals, suspected to be members of the outlawed Mungiki sect, claim it is immoral and “not African” for women to wear trousers and mini-skirts.
New form of violence
Fida warned that coming hot on the heels of the post-poll clashes, the incidents could spiral into a new form of post-election violence targeting women.
The organisation’s chairperson, Ms Violet Awori, said the harassment was not only unlawful but also barbaric and had no place in modern society.
“Fida Kenya wishes to remind the perpetrators of these attacks on women that there is no law against the wearing of trousers by women,” she said.
She cited Section 238 (1) of the Penal Code which provides that any person who intimidates or molests another is guilty of an offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years.
In a statement, the organisation called on the police to intensify security in Naivasha and other parts of the country affected by the post-election violence to ensure the protection of women.
Bring to book
It demanded urgent investigations into the matter and urged the police to bring the perpetrators to book .
In some of the affected areas, police are reported to be complaining that they lack adequate manpower to handle the emerging cases.
Naivasha district commissioner Katee Mwanza and his Kiambu counterpart Peter Leley have warned that those behind the incidents would face the full force of the law.
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=116351
Story by CAROLINE WAFULA
Publication Date: 2/8/2008
The International Federation of Women Lawyers (Kenya) has asked the police to crack down on gangs reported to be harassing and stripping women wearing trousers and mini-skirts in some parts of the country.
Fida says the gangs should let women wear what they want, and has asked the Government to ensure that no woman is harassed because of what she puts on.
This follows several incidents in parts of Naivasha, Limuru, Thika and Kiambu towns where criminal groups are said to be forcing women wearing trousers and mini-skirts to either cover themselves with lessos or go back to their homes “to dress decently.”
The criminals, suspected to be members of the outlawed Mungiki sect, claim it is immoral and “not African” for women to wear trousers and mini-skirts.
New form of violence
Fida warned that coming hot on the heels of the post-poll clashes, the incidents could spiral into a new form of post-election violence targeting women.
The organisation’s chairperson, Ms Violet Awori, said the harassment was not only unlawful but also barbaric and had no place in modern society.
“Fida Kenya wishes to remind the perpetrators of these attacks on women that there is no law against the wearing of trousers by women,” she said.
She cited Section 238 (1) of the Penal Code which provides that any person who intimidates or molests another is guilty of an offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years.
In a statement, the organisation called on the police to intensify security in Naivasha and other parts of the country affected by the post-election violence to ensure the protection of women.
Bring to book
It demanded urgent investigations into the matter and urged the police to bring the perpetrators to book .
In some of the affected areas, police are reported to be complaining that they lack adequate manpower to handle the emerging cases.
Naivasha district commissioner Katee Mwanza and his Kiambu counterpart Peter Leley have warned that those behind the incidents would face the full force of the law.
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=116351
Kiai for probe in election fiasco
Story by KEVIN J KELLEY
Publication Date: 2/8/2008
Documented flaws in the presidential tally “rendered untenable the conclusion that Mwai Kibaki was validly elected,” Kenya’s leading human rights activist told the US Congress on Wednesday.
Mr Maina Kiai, chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, also called for an independent international investigation of the presidential election. Such an inquiry should seek to “find out who did what and why (and) who ordered it.”
Official result
His sentiments were echoed by Congressman Donald Payne, the chairman of the US House of Representatives panel that convened Wednesday’s hearing.
Mr Payne, a Democrat, pointed to “a series of highly irregular events which cast significant doubt on (Mr Kibaki’s) so-called victory.”
The congressman added: “Let me be blunt. The election results announced by the ECK do not reflect the wishes of the Kenyan people. The people of Kenya voted for change. What they were given was the status quo.”
Congressman Payne called for formation of a transitional coalition government with a mandate to oversee adoption of a new Constitution, electoral law and Electoral Commission. Kenya should then vote for a new president within two years.
Political solution
A State Department official testifying at the Wednesday inquiry said “power sharing is an essential element to a viable short-term solution for Kenya.”
But Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs James Swan stopped short of calling for new elections.
Congressman Payne was critical of the charge that some of the violence in the Rift Valley constituted “ethnic cleansing.” That comment by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer “played right into the hands of the Kibaki camp, allowing them to portray themselves as victims of an ethnic conflict,” the congressman said.
Mr Kiai took a similar view, saying “the violence is neither genocide nor ethnic cleansing.”
Mike McConnell, director of national intelligence, said Mr Kibaki “probably will do everything he can to hold on to power.”
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=2&newsid=116362
Story by KEVIN J KELLEY
Publication Date: 2/8/2008
Documented flaws in the presidential tally “rendered untenable the conclusion that Mwai Kibaki was validly elected,” Kenya’s leading human rights activist told the US Congress on Wednesday.
Mr Maina Kiai, chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, also called for an independent international investigation of the presidential election. Such an inquiry should seek to “find out who did what and why (and) who ordered it.”
Official result
His sentiments were echoed by Congressman Donald Payne, the chairman of the US House of Representatives panel that convened Wednesday’s hearing.
Mr Payne, a Democrat, pointed to “a series of highly irregular events which cast significant doubt on (Mr Kibaki’s) so-called victory.”
The congressman added: “Let me be blunt. The election results announced by the ECK do not reflect the wishes of the Kenyan people. The people of Kenya voted for change. What they were given was the status quo.”
Congressman Payne called for formation of a transitional coalition government with a mandate to oversee adoption of a new Constitution, electoral law and Electoral Commission. Kenya should then vote for a new president within two years.
Political solution
A State Department official testifying at the Wednesday inquiry said “power sharing is an essential element to a viable short-term solution for Kenya.”
But Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs James Swan stopped short of calling for new elections.
Congressman Payne was critical of the charge that some of the violence in the Rift Valley constituted “ethnic cleansing.” That comment by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer “played right into the hands of the Kibaki camp, allowing them to portray themselves as victims of an ethnic conflict,” the congressman said.
Mr Kiai took a similar view, saying “the violence is neither genocide nor ethnic cleansing.”
Mike McConnell, director of national intelligence, said Mr Kibaki “probably will do everything he can to hold on to power.”
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=2&newsid=116362
The genie that was let out of the bottle
Those people who resurrected the much maligned terror gang , the Mungiki, to fight, maim, and even kill other communities after the recently botched elections in Kenya did not know what they were getting themselves into.
Because they wanted to settle score with other communities after they perceived that their people were being unfairly treated and targeted, they recalled the once despised group to come and do their dirty job. After a week of terror and numerous people killed and others driven from their homes in Nakuru and Naivasha, this terror gang is now unleashing its terror on innocent women and girls for the “crime” of wearing trousers and mini-skirts!!
There are reports of women being harassed, disrobed, and even being threatened with death for simply exercising their right to being dressed with their choice of clothes. Mungiki’s wild allegation that dressing in this manner is immodest is rubbish. Now how will this dangerous gang be put back where they belong and so stop the harassment of innocent Kenyans especially women?
Those people who resurrected the much maligned terror gang , the Mungiki, to fight, maim, and even kill other communities after the recently botched elections in Kenya did not know what they were getting themselves into.
Because they wanted to settle score with other communities after they perceived that their people were being unfairly treated and targeted, they recalled the once despised group to come and do their dirty job. After a week of terror and numerous people killed and others driven from their homes in Nakuru and Naivasha, this terror gang is now unleashing its terror on innocent women and girls for the “crime” of wearing trousers and mini-skirts!!
There are reports of women being harassed, disrobed, and even being threatened with death for simply exercising their right to being dressed with their choice of clothes. Mungiki’s wild allegation that dressing in this manner is immodest is rubbish. Now how will this dangerous gang be put back where they belong and so stop the harassment of innocent Kenyans especially women?
Kenya and China
The sound of silence
Feb 7th 2008
From The Economist print edition
The murky role of one of President Mwai Kibaki's closest new allies
IN THE six weeks since Kenya's disputed election, an array of bigwigs, from the UN secretary-general to the chairman of the African Union, have flown into Nairobi to urge Kenya's warring parties to negotiate. But this frenetic diplomacy serves only to amplify the silence coming out of China, which may soon be the only big country left that has omitted to send an envoy, special or otherwise, to see Mwai Kibaki, Kenya's unyielding president.
This is not for lack of interest. In Kenya, as elsewhere in Africa, the Chinese have a large and growing economic stake, which the Kenyan government is keen to emphasise. The Chinese defence minister visited just before the elections to agree to modernise Kenya's armed forces. Hu Jintao, China's president, honoured Kenya with three days of his attention on a whistle-stop tour of Africa in 2006. It is ideology, not indifference, that is keeping the Chinese away from the diplomacy.
China's stance is consistent with its policy of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs. An editorial in Beijing's People's Daily on January 14th upset Kenya's opposition by saying that “Western-style democratic theory simply isn't suited to African conditions but rather it carries with it the root of disaster. The elections crisis in Kenya is just one example.”
This sort of non-interference has consequences. With China to fall back on, Mr Kibaki may feel better able to cling on to power and withstand any Western threats to impose sanctions or suspend aid. According to the IMF, China's trade with Kenya was $706m in 2006, a startling 36% up on the year before. Kenya's trade with America, its largest Western partner, was $919m, but down on the previous year; with Britain it was $864m. The Chinese have invested in mining and offshore oil exploration, plus some big infrastructure projects, such as new bypasses around Nairobi.
http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10653924
The sound of silence
Feb 7th 2008
From The Economist print edition
The murky role of one of President Mwai Kibaki's closest new allies
IN THE six weeks since Kenya's disputed election, an array of bigwigs, from the UN secretary-general to the chairman of the African Union, have flown into Nairobi to urge Kenya's warring parties to negotiate. But this frenetic diplomacy serves only to amplify the silence coming out of China, which may soon be the only big country left that has omitted to send an envoy, special or otherwise, to see Mwai Kibaki, Kenya's unyielding president.
This is not for lack of interest. In Kenya, as elsewhere in Africa, the Chinese have a large and growing economic stake, which the Kenyan government is keen to emphasise. The Chinese defence minister visited just before the elections to agree to modernise Kenya's armed forces. Hu Jintao, China's president, honoured Kenya with three days of his attention on a whistle-stop tour of Africa in 2006. It is ideology, not indifference, that is keeping the Chinese away from the diplomacy.
China's stance is consistent with its policy of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs. An editorial in Beijing's People's Daily on January 14th upset Kenya's opposition by saying that “Western-style democratic theory simply isn't suited to African conditions but rather it carries with it the root of disaster. The elections crisis in Kenya is just one example.”
This sort of non-interference has consequences. With China to fall back on, Mr Kibaki may feel better able to cling on to power and withstand any Western threats to impose sanctions or suspend aid. According to the IMF, China's trade with Kenya was $706m in 2006, a startling 36% up on the year before. Kenya's trade with America, its largest Western partner, was $919m, but down on the previous year; with Britain it was $864m. The Chinese have invested in mining and offshore oil exploration, plus some big infrastructure projects, such as new bypasses around Nairobi.
http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10653924
Kenya's tragedy
Stop this descent into hell
Feb 7th 2008
From The Economist print edition
President Mwai Kibaki must be persuaded to compromise or he may lose a country
AFP
SIX weeks after Mwai Kibaki stole an election, the bloodshed and ethnic cleansing in swathes of Kenya are getting frighteningly worse. Parts of the country are in danger of sealing themselves off (see article). Areas where a medley of ethnic groups once lived together are being ripped apart in tribal mayhem. The economy is rapidly deteriorating. The export of tea, coffee and flowers, big foreign-currency earners, has slowed drastically. Tourism is plummeting. Whole towns have been paralysed, as ethnic cleansing has spread, with Mr Kibaki's fellow Kikuyus, who run thousands of businesses outside their own heartlands, being chased out or even killed. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.
Mr Kibaki has been hoping that time is on his side, that the violence and anger will burn itself out, that the opposition led by Raila Odinga will gradually be forced to accept a fait accompli, that the African Union and leaders of countries close to Kenya will rally to the incumbent in their usual clubbable manner, and that Kenya's biggest trading partners and aid givers will shrink from penalising him because general sanctions would hurt Kenya's many poor. But this happy (for him) outcome seems a distant prospect. If Mr Kibaki is to save his country, let alone his presidency, he must give ground. Otherwise Kenya will move beyond saving. This would be terrible not just for Kenya; it threatens the well-being of the entire region, for which Kenya and its capital, Nairobi, have long served as a hub of political moderation and economic bustle. Landlocked Uganda and Rwanda are being hurt. Goods are piling up in the region's main port, Mombasa.
The international bodies and countries that might have been expected to squeeze Mr Kibaki into seeing sense have been incoherent. The Americans first endorsed Mr Kibaki's flawed victory, as he has been an ally in their war on terror, then withheld approval, then sent out confusing signals after their State Department's head of African affairs said, rightly, that ethnic cleansing was happening. The British and their European partners have been more united in disapproval but have yet to present a real plan. Next door to Kenya, Uganda's president, Yoweri Museveni, himself the beneficiary of a constitutional fiddle to give himself a third term, has been alone in granting full support. The Chinese, whom Mr Kibaki is looking to for economic and moral support, have unhelpfully sneered that multi-party democracy is ill-suited to Africa.
This leaves a former UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, as the sole plausible mediator. He has made a little progress. At least Messrs Kibaki and Odinga now have two teams of negotiators grappling with each other under Mr Annan's gaze. But Mr Kibaki still seems loth to share power, let alone contemplate rerunning the election under international supervision.
A rerun would have been the juster solution. But with Kenya burning, the world may have now to settle for second-best, a government of national unity. Mr Kibaki should also promise to reform the electoral commission, perhaps bringing in members from Commonwealth countries in Africa and Asia. Ideally, he should also agree in principle to long-mooted constitutional changes that would provide for a prime minister and a more devolved administration, thus softening the winner-takes-all attitude that is partly responsible for the current intransigence on both sides.
Bringing the entire building down on himself
There is no easily enforceable way for outsiders to impose such sensible conditions on Mr Kibaki. Certainly, the United States and the European Union, if not the African Union, should impose targeted sanctions—with asset freezes and travel bans—against a clutch of the most venal ministers, some of whom Mr Kibaki has even promoted since his fraudulent re-election; they should be named, too. Kenya should be suspended from the Commonwealth and aid reconsidered.
But the most powerful pressure against Mr Kibaki is the sight of his country's economy threatening to implode. Many of his keenest Kikuyu supporters must realise that his refusal to budge is leading all Kenyans, whether supporters of himself or Mr Odinga, into a bloody and bankrupting dead end from which it may soon become impossible to retreat.
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10651817
Stop this descent into hell
Feb 7th 2008
From The Economist print edition
President Mwai Kibaki must be persuaded to compromise or he may lose a country
AFP
SIX weeks after Mwai Kibaki stole an election, the bloodshed and ethnic cleansing in swathes of Kenya are getting frighteningly worse. Parts of the country are in danger of sealing themselves off (see article). Areas where a medley of ethnic groups once lived together are being ripped apart in tribal mayhem. The economy is rapidly deteriorating. The export of tea, coffee and flowers, big foreign-currency earners, has slowed drastically. Tourism is plummeting. Whole towns have been paralysed, as ethnic cleansing has spread, with Mr Kibaki's fellow Kikuyus, who run thousands of businesses outside their own heartlands, being chased out or even killed. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.
Mr Kibaki has been hoping that time is on his side, that the violence and anger will burn itself out, that the opposition led by Raila Odinga will gradually be forced to accept a fait accompli, that the African Union and leaders of countries close to Kenya will rally to the incumbent in their usual clubbable manner, and that Kenya's biggest trading partners and aid givers will shrink from penalising him because general sanctions would hurt Kenya's many poor. But this happy (for him) outcome seems a distant prospect. If Mr Kibaki is to save his country, let alone his presidency, he must give ground. Otherwise Kenya will move beyond saving. This would be terrible not just for Kenya; it threatens the well-being of the entire region, for which Kenya and its capital, Nairobi, have long served as a hub of political moderation and economic bustle. Landlocked Uganda and Rwanda are being hurt. Goods are piling up in the region's main port, Mombasa.
The international bodies and countries that might have been expected to squeeze Mr Kibaki into seeing sense have been incoherent. The Americans first endorsed Mr Kibaki's flawed victory, as he has been an ally in their war on terror, then withheld approval, then sent out confusing signals after their State Department's head of African affairs said, rightly, that ethnic cleansing was happening. The British and their European partners have been more united in disapproval but have yet to present a real plan. Next door to Kenya, Uganda's president, Yoweri Museveni, himself the beneficiary of a constitutional fiddle to give himself a third term, has been alone in granting full support. The Chinese, whom Mr Kibaki is looking to for economic and moral support, have unhelpfully sneered that multi-party democracy is ill-suited to Africa.
This leaves a former UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, as the sole plausible mediator. He has made a little progress. At least Messrs Kibaki and Odinga now have two teams of negotiators grappling with each other under Mr Annan's gaze. But Mr Kibaki still seems loth to share power, let alone contemplate rerunning the election under international supervision.
A rerun would have been the juster solution. But with Kenya burning, the world may have now to settle for second-best, a government of national unity. Mr Kibaki should also promise to reform the electoral commission, perhaps bringing in members from Commonwealth countries in Africa and Asia. Ideally, he should also agree in principle to long-mooted constitutional changes that would provide for a prime minister and a more devolved administration, thus softening the winner-takes-all attitude that is partly responsible for the current intransigence on both sides.
Bringing the entire building down on himself
There is no easily enforceable way for outsiders to impose such sensible conditions on Mr Kibaki. Certainly, the United States and the European Union, if not the African Union, should impose targeted sanctions—with asset freezes and travel bans—against a clutch of the most venal ministers, some of whom Mr Kibaki has even promoted since his fraudulent re-election; they should be named, too. Kenya should be suspended from the Commonwealth and aid reconsidered.
But the most powerful pressure against Mr Kibaki is the sight of his country's economy threatening to implode. Many of his keenest Kikuyu supporters must realise that his refusal to budge is leading all Kenyans, whether supporters of himself or Mr Odinga, into a bloody and bankrupting dead end from which it may soon become impossible to retreat.
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10651817
Kenya
More mayhem than mediation
Jan 31st 2008 | NAIVASHA
From The Economist print edition
Kenya's warring politicians are only just beginning to talk to each other as ethnic violence threatens to slip out of control
Reuters
THE small propeller-driven plane piloted by Peter Szapary, an Austrian count turned Kenyan flower farmer, banked and flew low over the Rift Valley town of Naivasha. Some traffic was visible on the main road, the same rotten one that connects much of the interior of eastern Africa, including Uganda, with the sea. But in the town itself things were largely at a standstill. Several streets were controlled by crowds of Kikuyu youths armed with clubs, machetes, bows and arrows. Here and there, houses were burning. A few hundred youths were strung along the road outside the police station, where several thousand of Naivasha's Luos, whose heartland is some 200km (120 miles) farther west, had taken shelter. Mr Szapary landed his plane on a grass airstrip by Lake Naivasha and found out the whereabouts of his two Luo managers. One had taken shelter in the town prison, too scared to leave. The other had fled in a boat to an island in the lake; Mr Szapary later landed there and flew him back to Nairobi.
The Rift Valley has become a hub for much of the ethnic violence that has worsened sharply in the past fortnight. In Nakuru, north-west of Naivasha, at least 80 people have been killed. Now it is often a case of simple revenge, Kikuyus striking back against their Luo and Kalenjin tormentors who, in turn, did most of the killing immediately after the disputed election of December 27th. At least 1,000 have since died and 200,000 been driven from their homes. The cycle of bloodshed may be gathering its own momentum beyond the control of Kenya's political leaders.
But at least this week they started talking to each other. A former UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, who is the leading mediator, has persuaded the incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu, to enter into negotiations with Raila Odinga, a Luo, who leads the opposition Orange Democratic Movement. Both leaders have appointed teams of three representatives to resolve what Mr Annan calls their “immediate political issues” and break the impasse. He gave warning that it may take much longer, even a year, to forge a solid and comprehensive agreement.
Still, that is progress of sorts. Mr Kibaki's newly appointed ministers at first insisted there was nothing to negotiate. Yet the main difference remains. The opposition insists that Mr Kibaki stole the election and is an “illegal” president, whereas the government argues that Mr Kibaki won fairly, so the country should carry on as normal. Britain's minister for Africa, Lord Malloch-Brown, met both sides earlier this week and said he felt they were talking about separate crises and solutions.
Mr Annan has apparently ruled out a recount of the vote on the ground that Kenyans have lost confidence in their electoral commission. He also reckons a new election is unthinkable for a year or so. The Oranges are being urged to suppress their anger and soften their demands; even if they did, it remains unclear whether Mr Kibaki and his backers would sit alongside Mr Odinga in an interim government.
Should Mr Kibaki drag out the talks in the hope of bolstering his position without making any concession on the election or on any other issue, the European Union may seek “targeted” sanctions on Kenya. These would punish Mr Kibaki's more obdurate ministers and backers, while sparing poorer Kenyans from the effects of general trade and aid sanctions. The targeted version would include travel bans on specified individuals and their families, increased international oversight of prospective privatisations, and publicity to advertise new investigations into grand corruption by named ministers. More extreme measures would be to downgrade diplomatic relations and withdraw the considerable military support that Kenya gets from Britain and America, though Mr Kibaki has been warmly embraced in the past as an ally in the global “war on terror”.
In any event, the shooting dead, in separate incidents, of two Orange MPs, set off more spasms of lethal riots in the capital's slums and elsewhere. One was Mugabe Were, a Luhya who was popular in Nairobi; the other was David Too, a Kalenjin. In the Luos' provincial capital, Kisumu, more Kikuyus were butchered and “necklaced” with burning tyres by Luo youths.
Kenya is rife with rumour. Some say there are furious disagreements within Mr Kibaki's circle in State House. Others say he is poised to impose a state of emergency. Among Kikuyus, there is fearful talk of Luo militias loyal to Mr Odinga being trained in southern Sudan.
All sides realise that an escalation in violence from machetes to machineguns would be ruinous for all Kenyans. So far, the use of traditional weapons, including clubs and poisoned arrows, has caused the flight of several hundred thousand Kenyans who belonged to ethnic minorities in their places of abode—for instance, Luos in Central Province and Kikuyus in the west. Wholesale slaughter has yet to occur on the scale of Rwanda in 1994, but the prospect hovers in people's minds. Indeed, the fear spreading across the country may offer Mr Annan his best chance of success.
Diplomats have joined Kenyan business and church leaders in giving him their support. Though many believe Mr Kibaki is to blame for rigging the presidential vote, they have agreed not to press for immediate sanctions so as to give Mr Annan's negotiations a chance to succeed.
But if there is no breakthrough, Kenya could tear apart even more drastically along ethnic lines, with Mr Kibaki's Kikuyu-dominated government controlling the wealthy centre of the country up to Nakuru, north-west of Nairobi, while Mr Odinga's Orange opposition holds sway over the west and much of the north. Most of the Kalenjin people in the Rift Valley are hostile to Kikuyu political domination.
For many Kenyans this is both an appalling and, until recent events, incredible prospect. The country's largest newspaper, the Daily Nation, which had slightly favoured Mr Kibaki during the election campaign, has lost patience with him. An editorial declared that the government's “inertia and ineptitude” were “exposing base instincts and driving the country back to pre-colonial times”.
http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10609000
More mayhem than mediation
Jan 31st 2008 | NAIVASHA
From The Economist print edition
Kenya's warring politicians are only just beginning to talk to each other as ethnic violence threatens to slip out of control
Reuters
THE small propeller-driven plane piloted by Peter Szapary, an Austrian count turned Kenyan flower farmer, banked and flew low over the Rift Valley town of Naivasha. Some traffic was visible on the main road, the same rotten one that connects much of the interior of eastern Africa, including Uganda, with the sea. But in the town itself things were largely at a standstill. Several streets were controlled by crowds of Kikuyu youths armed with clubs, machetes, bows and arrows. Here and there, houses were burning. A few hundred youths were strung along the road outside the police station, where several thousand of Naivasha's Luos, whose heartland is some 200km (120 miles) farther west, had taken shelter. Mr Szapary landed his plane on a grass airstrip by Lake Naivasha and found out the whereabouts of his two Luo managers. One had taken shelter in the town prison, too scared to leave. The other had fled in a boat to an island in the lake; Mr Szapary later landed there and flew him back to Nairobi.
The Rift Valley has become a hub for much of the ethnic violence that has worsened sharply in the past fortnight. In Nakuru, north-west of Naivasha, at least 80 people have been killed. Now it is often a case of simple revenge, Kikuyus striking back against their Luo and Kalenjin tormentors who, in turn, did most of the killing immediately after the disputed election of December 27th. At least 1,000 have since died and 200,000 been driven from their homes. The cycle of bloodshed may be gathering its own momentum beyond the control of Kenya's political leaders.
But at least this week they started talking to each other. A former UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, who is the leading mediator, has persuaded the incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu, to enter into negotiations with Raila Odinga, a Luo, who leads the opposition Orange Democratic Movement. Both leaders have appointed teams of three representatives to resolve what Mr Annan calls their “immediate political issues” and break the impasse. He gave warning that it may take much longer, even a year, to forge a solid and comprehensive agreement.
Still, that is progress of sorts. Mr Kibaki's newly appointed ministers at first insisted there was nothing to negotiate. Yet the main difference remains. The opposition insists that Mr Kibaki stole the election and is an “illegal” president, whereas the government argues that Mr Kibaki won fairly, so the country should carry on as normal. Britain's minister for Africa, Lord Malloch-Brown, met both sides earlier this week and said he felt they were talking about separate crises and solutions.
Mr Annan has apparently ruled out a recount of the vote on the ground that Kenyans have lost confidence in their electoral commission. He also reckons a new election is unthinkable for a year or so. The Oranges are being urged to suppress their anger and soften their demands; even if they did, it remains unclear whether Mr Kibaki and his backers would sit alongside Mr Odinga in an interim government.
Should Mr Kibaki drag out the talks in the hope of bolstering his position without making any concession on the election or on any other issue, the European Union may seek “targeted” sanctions on Kenya. These would punish Mr Kibaki's more obdurate ministers and backers, while sparing poorer Kenyans from the effects of general trade and aid sanctions. The targeted version would include travel bans on specified individuals and their families, increased international oversight of prospective privatisations, and publicity to advertise new investigations into grand corruption by named ministers. More extreme measures would be to downgrade diplomatic relations and withdraw the considerable military support that Kenya gets from Britain and America, though Mr Kibaki has been warmly embraced in the past as an ally in the global “war on terror”.
In any event, the shooting dead, in separate incidents, of two Orange MPs, set off more spasms of lethal riots in the capital's slums and elsewhere. One was Mugabe Were, a Luhya who was popular in Nairobi; the other was David Too, a Kalenjin. In the Luos' provincial capital, Kisumu, more Kikuyus were butchered and “necklaced” with burning tyres by Luo youths.
Kenya is rife with rumour. Some say there are furious disagreements within Mr Kibaki's circle in State House. Others say he is poised to impose a state of emergency. Among Kikuyus, there is fearful talk of Luo militias loyal to Mr Odinga being trained in southern Sudan.
All sides realise that an escalation in violence from machetes to machineguns would be ruinous for all Kenyans. So far, the use of traditional weapons, including clubs and poisoned arrows, has caused the flight of several hundred thousand Kenyans who belonged to ethnic minorities in their places of abode—for instance, Luos in Central Province and Kikuyus in the west. Wholesale slaughter has yet to occur on the scale of Rwanda in 1994, but the prospect hovers in people's minds. Indeed, the fear spreading across the country may offer Mr Annan his best chance of success.
Diplomats have joined Kenyan business and church leaders in giving him their support. Though many believe Mr Kibaki is to blame for rigging the presidential vote, they have agreed not to press for immediate sanctions so as to give Mr Annan's negotiations a chance to succeed.
But if there is no breakthrough, Kenya could tear apart even more drastically along ethnic lines, with Mr Kibaki's Kikuyu-dominated government controlling the wealthy centre of the country up to Nakuru, north-west of Nairobi, while Mr Odinga's Orange opposition holds sway over the west and much of the north. Most of the Kalenjin people in the Rift Valley are hostile to Kikuyu political domination.
For many Kenyans this is both an appalling and, until recent events, incredible prospect. The country's largest newspaper, the Daily Nation, which had slightly favoured Mr Kibaki during the election campaign, has lost patience with him. An editorial declared that the government's “inertia and ineptitude” were “exposing base instincts and driving the country back to pre-colonial times”.
http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10609000
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Kenya wont move forward until the bitter truth is told
Story by DONALD KIPKORIR
Publication Date: 2/2/2008
Former UN chief Kofi Annan has the support of Kenyans in his quest for a way out of the national crisis. But he must know that we will not countenance Zimbabwe-like AU-sponsored mediation which has been dancing on the spot as Mr Robert Mugabe presides over the annihilation of his country.
A police officer charges at a rioter at Bondeni in Mombasa. Police should bear in mind that their duty is to maintain law and order and not to kill. Photo/FILE
Zimbabwe, once a jewel of Africa, now has 3 million refugees in South Africa and 1 million in England yet Mr Thabo Mbeki is still massaging the fraudulent ego of Comrade Bob! Annan must not take us the same road and ought to know that we will not allow him.
He must play his role of a mediator knowing that his fidelity and duty is to the people of Kenya who have genuine grievances arising from a disputed presidential election and historical injustices.
The time for euphemism is over. We leave it to court jesters like Eric Kiraithe and Alfred Mutua to tell the emperor that he is dressed in the finest clothes when the opposite is true.
Finest clothes
Unlike the sycophants of Emperor Nero who joined him in dancing as Rome burnt to the ground in 64 AD or those who applauded Empress Marie Antoinette in telling Parisians in 1789 to eat cake when they couldn’t afford bread, we will not lie to President Kibaki that all is well.
Mainstream American media is brutally honest and that is why America is the richest and most powerful empire ever. The current edition of Newsweek in its cover article, calls George W. Bush’s presidency the American tragedy and that he is an idiot comparable to an American president called Grover Cleveland who historians can’t even remember.
The media in Kenya must play their role of being harbinger of truth and not play a partisan role.
With the same honesty, we must tell President Kibaki that after Mr Samuel Kivuitu declared him winner in controversial circumstances on December 30, 2007, he has decided to retreat to State House and let the country burn.
He didn’t take the oath of office to be giving us taped messages aired through KBC or unsigned statements by the PPS. He seems to have forgotten that a president is demanded of him to offer national leadership, administration, management, and as George W. Bush correctly stated, he must be the decider. In 1960s America, the civil rights movement was being twin-pronged in its leadership by radical and militant Malcolm X on one part, and the other by evangelical Martin Luther King. Blacks wanted to correct historical injustices that had lasted centuries, and the privileged ruling white clans stood in the way.
President John F. Kennedy, who has since been sainted, never trusted these black movements. In 1963, King vowed to organise a million-man march to Washington for blacks to demand their rights to Kennedy’s protestations. When the march was on, no gun was fired and no tear gas was thrown and as they say, the rest is history. The lesson? Presidents must never stand in the way of history and people’s rights for correctional justice.
As we search for solutions, it is time we give names, faces and identity to people killing and being killed. It is a tragedy when people are killed because the police suspect they were going to burn property, and it is a catastrophe when we shy from identifying the names and tribes of all the protagonists and victims.
Part of Europe wanted to behave the same way on the killings of Jews until states legislated to make denial a crime. Do we want legislation to force us to do the same? We cannot move on till we face the brutal truth as it is.
The death of any Kenyan, whether Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luo or Luhya carries the same weight. No tribe is superior or has monopoly of political hegemony.
The police have abdicated their cardinal duties and have allowed our country to follow the footsteps of Cote d’Ivorie and Lebanon. The police think they are an armed wing of PNU and cannot allow people allied to ODM to enjoy their constitutional rights or even mourn their dead! In the fullness of time, they must face the law for dereliction and abdication of their statutory duty.
The police need always to remember that they are regulated by the Police Act, Cap 84 and no other law in respect of their use of arms. The law does not provide for use of lethal force to disperse demonstrations or protect property. In only three instances are they allowed to use force — to stop escapees from lawful custody, those aiding the escapees and those resisting arrest. However, in these instances, the police must give clear and unequivocal warning that they intend to use force.
In March, 2005 and November, 2007, Paris suburbs went up in flames, thousands of motor vehicles were burnt, shops and libraries were destroyed, and 77 policemen injured. The financial and political costs on France arising from the riots were monumental and crippling, yet the police did not shoot one demonstrator!
When police realise that their duty is to maintain law and order and not to kill, Kenya will stand proud.
In addition to France, deaths of civilians or police caused by civil strife have not been recorded in decades in Europe and America. In Italy, when one policeman was killed by football hooligans, the country mourned and a national shake-up in the police force was ordered. In Kenya, the rupture will happen first before any police commissioner takes moral responsibility for lapses in the conduct of the police.
In the meantime, the army should remain in the barracks. Their intervention ought to be the last line of defence. Over 40 years ago, crooked and corrupt civilian leaders facing popular revolt in Lebanon, Turkey, Thailand and Pakistan invited the army to protect them and since then, all successive governments in these countries are answerable to the army, not the people. We may applaud the intervention by the army now but we must not be blind to history. The army should not open the doors of their barracks till our borders are breached or our State House has locked its gates when the country is burning. Those flying over in Naivasha, Nakuru and Eldoret must return to the barracks.
Likewise the Church in Kenya has no moral integrity to guide us. Church leaders have taken sides and are demanding that we maintain peace and move on. In the Old Testament and from the time when Cain killed Abel, Jehovah rejects sacrifices offered to Him and demands instead truth and justice, and in the New Testament, Jesus says that He is the way, the truth and the life. Let the Church take a break and listen to the Holy Spirit and not political spirits!
Customs and traditions
As the country grapples with the current crisis, perhaps Kenyans should ponder over some of the customs and traditions of conflicts. Indeed, we cannot bury our heads in the sand, when more than 1,000 people have been killed and no one is taking responsibility.
Such acts as killing non-combatants, defenceless persons, or those who have surrendered are outlawed. If any force is used, it must be humane and proportionate. The killings and burning of non-threatening women and children in conflict zones or of innocent passengers in PSV vehicles are totally and wholly out of order and criminal under local and international law.
That is why the Government has the ultimate responsibility of maintaining law and order. Under international law, a government bears legal responsibility for armed gangs operating within its borders. When normalcy finally returns, some people may have to answer for all that went wrong and that is the law.
Kenya deserves peace, not mere peace, but peace based on the truth, justice and equity.
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=39&newsid=115873
Story by DONALD KIPKORIR
Publication Date: 2/2/2008
Former UN chief Kofi Annan has the support of Kenyans in his quest for a way out of the national crisis. But he must know that we will not countenance Zimbabwe-like AU-sponsored mediation which has been dancing on the spot as Mr Robert Mugabe presides over the annihilation of his country.
A police officer charges at a rioter at Bondeni in Mombasa. Police should bear in mind that their duty is to maintain law and order and not to kill. Photo/FILE
Zimbabwe, once a jewel of Africa, now has 3 million refugees in South Africa and 1 million in England yet Mr Thabo Mbeki is still massaging the fraudulent ego of Comrade Bob! Annan must not take us the same road and ought to know that we will not allow him.
He must play his role of a mediator knowing that his fidelity and duty is to the people of Kenya who have genuine grievances arising from a disputed presidential election and historical injustices.
The time for euphemism is over. We leave it to court jesters like Eric Kiraithe and Alfred Mutua to tell the emperor that he is dressed in the finest clothes when the opposite is true.
Finest clothes
Unlike the sycophants of Emperor Nero who joined him in dancing as Rome burnt to the ground in 64 AD or those who applauded Empress Marie Antoinette in telling Parisians in 1789 to eat cake when they couldn’t afford bread, we will not lie to President Kibaki that all is well.
Mainstream American media is brutally honest and that is why America is the richest and most powerful empire ever. The current edition of Newsweek in its cover article, calls George W. Bush’s presidency the American tragedy and that he is an idiot comparable to an American president called Grover Cleveland who historians can’t even remember.
The media in Kenya must play their role of being harbinger of truth and not play a partisan role.
With the same honesty, we must tell President Kibaki that after Mr Samuel Kivuitu declared him winner in controversial circumstances on December 30, 2007, he has decided to retreat to State House and let the country burn.
He didn’t take the oath of office to be giving us taped messages aired through KBC or unsigned statements by the PPS. He seems to have forgotten that a president is demanded of him to offer national leadership, administration, management, and as George W. Bush correctly stated, he must be the decider. In 1960s America, the civil rights movement was being twin-pronged in its leadership by radical and militant Malcolm X on one part, and the other by evangelical Martin Luther King. Blacks wanted to correct historical injustices that had lasted centuries, and the privileged ruling white clans stood in the way.
President John F. Kennedy, who has since been sainted, never trusted these black movements. In 1963, King vowed to organise a million-man march to Washington for blacks to demand their rights to Kennedy’s protestations. When the march was on, no gun was fired and no tear gas was thrown and as they say, the rest is history. The lesson? Presidents must never stand in the way of history and people’s rights for correctional justice.
As we search for solutions, it is time we give names, faces and identity to people killing and being killed. It is a tragedy when people are killed because the police suspect they were going to burn property, and it is a catastrophe when we shy from identifying the names and tribes of all the protagonists and victims.
Part of Europe wanted to behave the same way on the killings of Jews until states legislated to make denial a crime. Do we want legislation to force us to do the same? We cannot move on till we face the brutal truth as it is.
The death of any Kenyan, whether Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luo or Luhya carries the same weight. No tribe is superior or has monopoly of political hegemony.
The police have abdicated their cardinal duties and have allowed our country to follow the footsteps of Cote d’Ivorie and Lebanon. The police think they are an armed wing of PNU and cannot allow people allied to ODM to enjoy their constitutional rights or even mourn their dead! In the fullness of time, they must face the law for dereliction and abdication of their statutory duty.
The police need always to remember that they are regulated by the Police Act, Cap 84 and no other law in respect of their use of arms. The law does not provide for use of lethal force to disperse demonstrations or protect property. In only three instances are they allowed to use force — to stop escapees from lawful custody, those aiding the escapees and those resisting arrest. However, in these instances, the police must give clear and unequivocal warning that they intend to use force.
In March, 2005 and November, 2007, Paris suburbs went up in flames, thousands of motor vehicles were burnt, shops and libraries were destroyed, and 77 policemen injured. The financial and political costs on France arising from the riots were monumental and crippling, yet the police did not shoot one demonstrator!
When police realise that their duty is to maintain law and order and not to kill, Kenya will stand proud.
In addition to France, deaths of civilians or police caused by civil strife have not been recorded in decades in Europe and America. In Italy, when one policeman was killed by football hooligans, the country mourned and a national shake-up in the police force was ordered. In Kenya, the rupture will happen first before any police commissioner takes moral responsibility for lapses in the conduct of the police.
In the meantime, the army should remain in the barracks. Their intervention ought to be the last line of defence. Over 40 years ago, crooked and corrupt civilian leaders facing popular revolt in Lebanon, Turkey, Thailand and Pakistan invited the army to protect them and since then, all successive governments in these countries are answerable to the army, not the people. We may applaud the intervention by the army now but we must not be blind to history. The army should not open the doors of their barracks till our borders are breached or our State House has locked its gates when the country is burning. Those flying over in Naivasha, Nakuru and Eldoret must return to the barracks.
Likewise the Church in Kenya has no moral integrity to guide us. Church leaders have taken sides and are demanding that we maintain peace and move on. In the Old Testament and from the time when Cain killed Abel, Jehovah rejects sacrifices offered to Him and demands instead truth and justice, and in the New Testament, Jesus says that He is the way, the truth and the life. Let the Church take a break and listen to the Holy Spirit and not political spirits!
Customs and traditions
As the country grapples with the current crisis, perhaps Kenyans should ponder over some of the customs and traditions of conflicts. Indeed, we cannot bury our heads in the sand, when more than 1,000 people have been killed and no one is taking responsibility.
Such acts as killing non-combatants, defenceless persons, or those who have surrendered are outlawed. If any force is used, it must be humane and proportionate. The killings and burning of non-threatening women and children in conflict zones or of innocent passengers in PSV vehicles are totally and wholly out of order and criminal under local and international law.
That is why the Government has the ultimate responsibility of maintaining law and order. Under international law, a government bears legal responsibility for armed gangs operating within its borders. When normalcy finally returns, some people may have to answer for all that went wrong and that is the law.
Kenya deserves peace, not mere peace, but peace based on the truth, justice and equity.
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=39&newsid=115873
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