Is it a class war in Kenya?

asked my friend K over dinner last night. He's one of the rare friends who can take on both the full spectrum of what I'm feeling, as well as the multilayered political and economic complexity of the issues at stake.

This seminar by Kiama Karaa and Karanja Mbugua, at the Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal, gives the best perspective I've read to date on the question.

Excerpts:

...the powerful and dominant class [in Kenya] deliberately used the identity of ethnicity to persuade and entrench a notion of collective responsibility. Mirroring their gains in the context of their tribes and any criticism as an onslaught on the whole tribe(s) holding power at a particular moment. Kenyatta set the fertile
ground for this with the rise of the infamous “Kiambu/Kikuyu” mafia that held sway in his government while Moi and Kibaki have only managed to deepen this, albeit in different shades.

Hence, valid discussions around equality, equity, social development and societal wellbeing are projected as a primordial competition of one tribe trying to gain the upper hand over the other. A misnomer that unfortunately even the international journalists, commentators and observers of Africa seem to buy hook, line and sinker!

The 2007 election has to be seen in the backdrop of sustained pressure to correct these historical injustices. [ ]... the Kenyan people were united in the conviction that they could correct these historical injustices through their democratic power. The ballot. As shown by the intensity of the political campaigns, the large voter turnout, the patience exhibited at the voting centers, the level of youth participation, ultimately the voting patterns exhibited and the massive increase in women’s participation.

after catastrophe

poetry becomes as essential as bread.

Csezlaw Milosz (Polish poet, winner of Nobel Literature Prize)

If you're moved to donate to Kenyan relief

Sukuma Kenya was set up a few weeks ago by Dipesh Pabari, close friend, dedicated Kenyan journalist and activist. It's the charity I recommend to everyone who asks where they can donate to ease the suffering of displaced Kenyans. First, because I can personally vouch that EVERY PENNY you donate, beyond transaction fees, goes directly to the relief effort. All those involved are volunteers - no overhead costs.

Secondly, because it channels the relief efforts through a Kisumu organization, Ladies in Action, that has been in operation for several years. The Ladies in Action are all long-term Kisumu residents (many were born there) who have chosen not to flee the crisis. They know Kisumu better than any outside relief organization.

And why donate to Kisumu, rather than all the other areas of Kenya in dire need? Words from another dear friend, Yvonne Adhiambo, 2004 winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing:

Given the extraordinary force applied by the Government against Kisumu, the damage to the town, its businesses and morale is so extensive, it will take at least fifteen years of work for Kisumu to return to its 2007 standards. It looks like a bombed out crater, a town that has been immersed in a long and terrible civil war. The despair of the business community is tangible. The spirit that made Kisumu one of the most interesting worlds to inhabit is shattered. People are trying to make do with almost nothing. The major appeals for help are not easily accessible there.

On the other hand, I believe that the mobilisation of minds, hearts, and imagination can build out of chaos and destruction something new, transcendent and meaningful. There is no greater revenge than success. Vietnam did it. South Korea did it.

Here is Dipesh's appeal:

How many more must die? How many more must lose their homes, their farms, their livelihoods? The weekend was a bloodbath in Nakuru and Naivasha. I spoke to a close friend in Nakuru who is huddled in a house with others as they listen to the screams of people who were once friends calling for their blood. Already two of her aunts were killed in the earlier violence in Burnt Forest. Kisumu was ablaze again.

As the people fight a battle against themselves instead of against years of exploitation by the very leaders we vote for, the Ladies in Action continue to feed. My mother founded the Ladies in Action several years ago to help orphans and elderly people primarily. When the post-election crises broke out we created Sukuma Kenya to reach out through our friends for Ladies in Action.

We have had an amazing response from people around the world. In just three weeks, we collected £5000! Most of it has been used up to buy food items in bulk such as maize flour, cooking oil, sugar and also blankets and medical supplies. With the escalating problem, Ladies in Action need more help. Please spread the word or make a small donation online. Ladies in Action are a registered charity in Kenya and are affiliated to the Jersey Overseas Aid Network.

US Senate resolution passed unanimously!!

And now we need to build and sustain pressure on the State Department and the White House to implement its recommendations.

A tiny victory - but I needed that today. Lay awake all night thinking of 300,000 displaced, destitute, homeless. Towns I know burned and devastated. Close friends and colleagues in Kenya on assasination hit lists. A whole generation of young Kenyans imprinted beyond erasing with the experience of carnage. Even if all the violence stopped today, even if the roadmap to peace began this minute, it will take us decades just to return to where we were as a country on December 26th.

As someone said in one of the KPTJ meetings:

We will not see the repair in our lifetimes.

I'm crying as I type this.

the root problems

This account, from Aggrey Omondi, Director of Ugunja Community Resource Center, in Kenya's Siaya District, supports the findings of human rights monitors. The militia being deployed by politicians in Kenya to carry out attacks on particular communities, are made up of impoverished young men. They join the militia for income, activity, and a sense of purpose - they are told they are "defending" or "avenging" their communities.


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

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

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

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

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

Donate to the Center via Common Hope For Health

So much bigger than Kenya

Been too heartsick to post anything, until I spoke to Siyad Abdullahi in Minnesota this weekend. Since the whole crisis began, he's been tirelessly organizing the East African diaspora community in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The Twin Cities also happen to be the home of my goddess-child, and her over-achieving parents, as well the fabulous Pangea World Theater where I led one of my most memorable workshops).

Siyad's lobbying efforts, combined with the work of KPTJ civil society leaders, have finally put Kenya on the agenda of the US Senate.

Siyad inspired and re-energized me by reminding me how much larger than Kenya this is. Minnesota is home to the largest Somali community outside Somalia - close to 70,000 people. Not to mention thousands of Ethiopian and Sudanese migrants and refugees, as well as diaspora Kenyans. They remit millions of dollars annually to Kenya, to support families who resettled there as a result of the troubles in their own countries. In Siyad's words:

MILLIONS of East Africans are counting on Kenyan civil society to be the voice of reason. Please include the plight of refugees from neighboring countries as you continue to speak of the magnitude of this crisis, and dangers of an impending full blown civil war.

When I got off the phone to Siyad, I recalled the words of one of my favourite writers, Toni Cade Bambara:

Depression is collaboration with the enemy.

US Senate Resolution on Kenya

Introduced on Friday, to be tabled this week, the resolution sets out terms for a viable, sustainable peace process. Among other things, it calls for the US to apply sanctions, including a travel ban and asset freeze on leaders of PNU and ODM, until the crisis is resolved. The resolution is expected to pass unanimously, but this can be ensured by generating a critical volume of calls and emails to senators.


Call or email the sponsoring senators (Feingold, Sununu, Coleman) to express your appreciation,

Call the senators on the Foreign Relations Committee (Lugar, Biden, Clark).

Call your own senator, urging him or her to support the resolution.

THE RESOLUTION:

1) Commends Kenyans for their commitment to democracy

2) Urges all politicians and political parties to desist from reactivation, support and use of militia organizations

3) Calls for leaders of both parties to engage in internationally-brokered mediation and dialogue

4) Calls for a "thorough and credible independent audit of the election results" with the possibility of a recount, retallying, or re-run of the presidential election within a specified time period

5) Calls on Kenyan security forces to refrain from excessive force and respect the human rights of Kenyans

6) Calls for those found guilty of human rights violations to be held accountable

7) Calls for an immediate end to the restrictions on media and rights of peaceful assembly and association

8) Condemns threats to civil society leaders and human rights activists

9) Holds all political actors in Kenya responsible for the safety of civil society leaders and human rights activists

10) Calls on the international community, UN Aid organizations, and neighboring countries to assist Kenyan refugees

11) Urges the President of the United States to:

- support diplomatic efforts towards dialogue between ODM and PNU leaders

- impose an asset ban and travel freeze on PNU and ODM leaders

- restrict all non-essential aid to Kenya until a peaceful resolution is reached

KPTJ behind the headlines

Civil society leaders of Kenyans for Peace With Truth and Justice (KPTJ) were in Washington DC last week, to brief the State Department and US policy makers. And in London the week before, to speak to the UK Parliament and Foreign Office.

They emphasized the key components of a viable peace:

1) We need to bring closure to the Presidential elections by having an independent investigation into the counting and tallying;

2) Power sharing alone is not enough. We need a transitional government, with a limited mandate, leading to new elections within 2 years;

3) That mandate should include Constitutional reforms (re: presidential power); electoral reforms (a new Electoral Commission of Kenya); transitional justice (to address the ongoing violence);

The groundwork for this mandate has already been laid in the last 5 years through the Bomas draft of a new constitution and electoral bill, and reports from professional/academic working groups on politically instigated clashes, transitional justice, land issues, and the Goldenberg and Anglo-Leasing corruption scandals.

Kenyans for Peace With Truth and Justice is a civil society coalition of over 40 governance, human rights and legal organizations, and individual Kenyan citizens.