Eyes on Ngugi wa Thiong’o, ethnic cleansing and the Orange Democratic Movement
Kenyan novelist and play writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o published a comment today from the diaspora in the United States via BBC news. He compares the incident of the Eldoret church massacre with the massacres in Bosnia, Iraq and Rwanda. He then says that the “ethnic cleansing” must be separated from the accusations of a rigged election. To him it seems like a “co-ordinated program with similar acts occurring in several other places at about the same time against ordinary members of the same community.” He also says that Ethnic cleansing does not happen spontaneously, that it is almost always premeditated by members of the political elite, who usually do not have to suffer the consequences of their actions. He proposed an inquiry by the United Nations as necessary, that if political organizations have a “campaign on a program that consciously seeks to isolate another community as a community, then they ought to be held fully accountable for the consequences of their ideology and actions.” He continues to say that this should not only be the case if such is instigated by the government, but also if “such a massacre is inspired by a program of an opposition movement… “ He then says that they must be condemned “even when they (the campaigns) are clothed in progressive, democratic-sounding words and phrases.” In conclusion he urges “all progressive forces not to be so engrossed with the political wrongs of election tampering that they forget the crimes of hate and ethnic cleansing.”
Ngugi wa Thiong’o
We would like to add some remarks to Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s comment. We can not say that we could have foreseen what happened in post-election Kenya, not even after reading Ngugi’s novel “Wizard of the Crow”, “…where the ruling party and the opposition parities engaged in Western-sponsored democracy become mirror images of one another in their absurdity and indifference to the poor.”, as he writes. No doubt, it is a great novel with fitting reflections on Kenya’s and Africa’s political situation. But the book does not lift Ngugi wa Thiong’o to the position of the prophetess Cassandra as he implies. Despite the inadequateness of the Kenyan political Parties, one should take into account that ODM obtained so much support, because it was more likely to deliver the promised constitution. Of course, from the lookout of a prophetess, that might be very little, not bringing uhuru, not breaking the claw of the World Bank. But, decentralizing and sharing power, having control bodies against corruption, and elevation of human rights would have made a difference especially for the poor. Or in Binyavanga Wainaina’s words: “A Constitution that names and recognizes the tribal nations within our nation, that decentralizes some power and that includes us all in the process is possible.”
An 11-year-old survivor stands amid the burnt out ruins of the Kenya Assemblies of God Pentacostal church, where at least 18 people were burnt alive ,near Eldoret in western Kenya (from josephkaroki)
Referring to the atrocities in Burnt Forest he writes that, “…this must be separated from accusations and counter-accusations of rigged elections by the contending parties.” From the ethic and moral judgment, we could not agree more: Under no circumstances should there ever be a reason for such a massacre. But can you fully separate the rigged election as a cause? That is what you have to do, if you understand the atrocities as premeditate and “… a campaign on a program that consciously seeks to isolate another community as a community,”.
The genocide in Rwanda started 45 minutes after the President’s plane was shut down. It is no doubt that the genocide was planned to the extent that it would have happened, regardless of the reason. The German genocide would have happened no matter whether the Secretary of the German Embassy in Paris would have not been shot by a Jew on November 7th, 1938, after which the active killing of Jews in Europe started.
We have not found any hints that the killings in Eldoret would have happened independently from the rigged election.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o postulates the thesis that the killings were “part of a co-ordinated program with similar acts occurring in several other places at about the same time against ordinary members of the same community.” Following the international media, reading many blogs from Kenya and trying to keep in touch with people, NGOs and Journalists all over Kenya, we have not found any evidence or hints backing up this thesis, besides Lands Minister Kivutha Kibwana, who stated “It is becoming clear that these well-organised acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing were well planned, financed and rehearsed by Orange Democratic Movement leaders prior to the general elections,”. Independent sources could not support this thesis.
“Ordinary people do not wake up one morning and suddenly decide to kill their neighbours.” As true as this quote is, it reduces “ordinary people” to people without a history. And the atrocities, especially in Rift valley have a history, going back to the early 1990s and beyond. In the context of the 1992 ethnic clashes in Rift valley Province, Franz Fanon’s warning “of the dangers of the ideology of regionalism preached by an elite whose money can buy them safe residence in any part of a country.” hits the point. As Macharia Geitho puts it: “In the rift valley, the genie of violence, uncorked in the early 1990s as the Moi regime sought desperately to halt the march of democracy, has never been stilled. It is always there, lurking below the surface, and ready to boil over at a moment’s notice. Some elements, now in the Kibaki regime, might have created the Mungiki as a Kikuyu counterweight to the Moi era Kalenjin warriors in the Rift Valley.
The problem is that such forces, once created, often take on a life of their own. We have witnessed after the elections an ethnic violence in the Rift Valley that could recur again and again unless the underlying grievances are properly and comprehensively addressed.”
The roots of the violence lie much deeper than this election and we do believe that ODM was not needed to start the fire and the anger about a. That was once again, stolen election was enough to once again start the killing.
Concerning the “similar acts occurring in several other places” we would like to point out that there is little known about the influence of mobiles on a turmoil like this. It was no surprise, that the government and safaricom sent sms, to prohibit political messages. We received news, that in Nyanza Province a Kikuyu police officer was asking people randomly if they were Luos and if so she shot them, killing at least 10 people before she got killed by the mob. We do not know how many of those messages were broadcast and how many saw/ read them. But without any media coverage, without the possibility to confirm or disprove them, we believe they had a strong impact on the escalation of violence.
Burned homesteads just outside the town of Burnt Forest (from josephkaroki)
“But what about if such a massacre is inspired by a programme of an opposition movement?” is Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s question. We have followed the election campaign of both ODM and PNU, and we can not say that inspiration for massacres were given by the programs. ODM is a movement with many faces, held together by the common agreement to bring the Kenyan constitution to life. With such a big multitude of interests, tribalism would not have been helpful, or in Binyavanga Wainaina’s words: “When it came time to conduct our most recent election, Raila Odinga had built a movement on the back of President Kibaki’s betrayal of the spirit of 2002. His political party, the Orange Democratic Movement, was the big ethnic tent similar to the one that had first brought President Kibaki to office.”
We are not naïve, ODM supporters and members were involved in crimes for which there is no justification. And we agree with Ngugi wa Thiong’o that there has to be independent investigations. Those to whom injustice and cruelty have been done have to be heard and those who committed those atrocities must be brought to justice, no matter which side they are on. Only this way there can be reconciliation and the vicious circle can be broken.
And we strongly condemn, that some ODM politicians “have stoked tribal paranoia and used it to cement electoral loyalty.” as Binyavanga Wainaina expressed it. Still, with nothing to match Kibaki’s GSU backed up State House Power, one of ODM few hopes is that the international community will not acknowledge Kibaki. But with ethnic cleansing and the suspicion of ODM causing them, international solidarity will vanish. Anything else, but pictures of the “sort of Ukrainian “people’s revolution” (…) so America can say, ah, the people have spoken.” (Wainaina), will cost that international solidarity. The more violence there is, the sooner the EU on the US will accept Kibaki and increase the pressure on the opposition. Odinga is certainly aware of this.
Based on our current knowledge, we do dispute the conclusion that can easily be distilled out of Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s comment: That ODM premeditated the massacres in Eldoret North. (Of course, he can deny saying it, but it is what people read.) Hopefully there will be an independent inquiry, that either prooves us right or wrong.
One should not underestimate the power of Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s words on international intellectuals and therefore on the public opinion abroad. In a way, his comment comes already close to a judgement, a judgement without any independent inquiry.
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A quote from the wizard of the crow: “Real crooks are guided by realism.” On this principle he promotes the thoroughly, helplessly venal Titus Tajirika, who has had his sympathetic moments and his momentary reversals but keeps bouncing back. The Ruler “had started to think well of Tajirika the moment he realized that the man was a crook,” who could be entrusted “with any task that required bending or breaking the law under the guise of legality.” Extreme crookedness insures extreme loyalty to another crook, he reasons.
We know the ruler (who has many names, Kenyatta, Moi, Kibaki) and there are many Tajirikas. But is Odinga one of them? I doubt that he is “guided by realism”, since he would be there own Titus Kalonzo Tajirika’s chair by now.
But where does this leave us?
Comment: JoMo – 12. January 2008 @ 1:32 pm
I do appreciate that Kenya’s intellectuals are taking their positions. But reading for example the kwani blog (http://kwani.org/blog/) or other interesting sites, you find some great mistrust towards ODM. I did not really find many people trusting in the promises of Odinga. Sometimes it sounds like people belief that he is just another Kibaki. No doubt, after all we Kenyans have been through with politicians, I understand that one is sceptical before the politicians have delivered something. But isn’t this the time to take a position towards democracy, and isn’t ODM the closest we can get there at the moment. Of course it is important to support the growth of the civil society in Kenya, to take away power from the Party-System, but still, doesn’t it come down to either Kibaki or ODM?
To quote JoMo here:
But where does this leave us?
Comment: Beth – 12. January 2008 @ 2:48 pm
[...] Eyes on Kenya « Eyes on Ngugi wa Thiong’o, ethnic cleansing and the Orange Democratic Movement [...]
Pingback: Eyes on Kenya » Blog Archive » Eyes on the World Bank and Kibaki’s economy – 13. January 2008 @ 11:08 pm
There’s one thing missing from your pontification – objectivity. To suggest that we do not know whether the genocide against the Gikuyu would have taken place but for a rigged election is to ignore the facts.
A day before the presidential results were announced i.e the 29th of December, violence against the Agikuyu had already been initiated in Kericho with armed youths demanding ID cards to establish ethnicity and hence selectively carry out their pogrom.
No amount of fulmination will hide this truth. Similar incidents occurred on the 29th in Lower Nyanza again, with similar demands for ID cards. The Kenyan media has essentially been pro-ODM and the Kalenjin owned KTN & Standard have barely disguised theirs. That is why they incited youth with unfounded allegations of rigging plots pre-election to trigger attacks against unwanted ethnic groups under the veil of protecting the integrity of the electoral system.
There’s more to be said but I’ll conclude with this. Let no one think for a minute that Raila won the elections. He simply did not. It was a close race but he had not banked on the galvanizing effect his anti-Gikuyu platform would have on GEMA communities. Anyone thinking that the Gikuyu, Embu, Meru & other close relations do not have votes is folling himself.
This is why ODM has been prevaricating on the issue of a forensic audit. Initially, they refuse to assent to one claiming that the ballots had been tampered with post-election. Now they demand the same be conducted by an internationally group acceptable to them. to paraphrase Nietzsche phrase – If you stare long enough into an abyss, the abyss will swallow you.
Comment: Ngigi – 14. January 2008 @ 9:49 am
are you blind to Mr.kivuitu statements????? let alone the indpendent observers’ statements on the shenanigans on the tallying issue!! how do you accuse another of lacking objectivity, then you go right ahead and display such copius depravity of the very same thing?
Comment: vincent – 14. January 2008 @ 12:03 pm
And once again Ngigi, do the math. ODM’s 99 MPs against PNU’s 43 MP’s? I thought that was the whole concept about winning. Let the numbers do the talking. Should I help you do the math?
About prevarication, why did PNU prevaricate about releasing results? I happen to know that the impatience of the wananchi about these results are what caused the beginnings of the tensions as you not so delicately put it.
In times like this, we call for clear heads in making conclusions based on facts like the numbers I have just given above.
Comment: Tristan – 14. January 2008 @ 12:49 pm
Dear Ngigi,
thank you for your comment. I think it is very important to collect and verify information about atrocities that happened to get a full picture. Therefore I would like to ask you to submit the above mentioned atrocities and your source to http://www.ushahidi.com/ . It is important to document what has happened and what is still happening. Victims and perpetrators shall not be forgotten. There are a lot of reports circling around and Ushahidi is trying to verify them. Please support them.
Comment: Jannek – 14. January 2008 @ 12:52 pm
You can spin it any way you want, it remains a fact the murders of kikuyus the destruction of their properties were planned events months before the elections. In Molo neighbors marked the houses of kikuyus a few days before the elections so the hired killers could move fast and with precision. most of their occupants were burned alive or hacked to death. 50 women and children seeking shelter in a church were burned alive in Eldoret! In Ndeffo, Njoro houses belonging to kikuyus were burnt and kikuyus were hacked with machetes. Kalenjins in surrounding areas are currently on the run, some came forward and admitted they were paid off by the opposition to carry out the CRIMES! Lets not even talk about Eldoret, that is for another day. We call it ethnic cleansing! Like it or not don’t try to dress it up or excuse it, it is what it is! Those who planned these attacks should not and cannot be allowed to go free. As the rest of the world tries to excuse these acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing as spontaneous reactions to a rigged election the rest of us should do whatever it takes no matter how long it takes for justice to prevail. These people were poor and innocent, their only “crime” was that they were kikuyus and they were marked for death by those who want to rule Kenya at all costs. Those with information should go to the human right bodies currently investigating these crimes, not some unknown website whose motives are unknown! Don’t be fooled the LSK (Law Society of Kenya) is behind ODM so don’t expect much from them! If anything they will cover up. Everyday people who have souls are the ones who will get results for the sake of all victims to ensure that these acts never occur again, we must value all human life because it is sacred! To watch those who planned these acts sitting in parliament proclaiming to be pursuers of justice and democracy makes me sick to my stomach. My hope is that there are enough of us out there who see past the smoke screens and will push hard enough for justice.
Comment: ku – 15. January 2008 @ 8:28 pm
Ku,
I am just wondering, not being a Kenyan though having lived there and understood the whole nitty gritty of having so many tribes living together. I have also done a lot of research (as it is my field of study) about ethnic conflicts in Kenya.
What you say may be true, there is no denying that and that these people who started this should be prosecuted. However, I think its closely related to the same pre-election conflicts that Kenya underwent right before the 1992 elections. An understanding of human and group psychology must be called to surface in order to make such stong statements. I for instance think that it has a lot to do with the underlying hatred that the politically instigated 1992 ethnic clashes unleashed. I also posit that group psychology around that area has oriented them to link elections with settling old scores. It was the only “opportune” time that they had and have it lie back on allegations of rigging, kind of like swallow the reasons behind their inhumane acts.
I also posit that they are having all the post-colonial hatred that arose due to to the unequal redistribution of land. Its only a position.
I would like to ask you to read this article, I have taken out a portion. Its at http://www.fidh.org/spip.php?article4259
Politically motivated ethnic clashes started one year before the December 1992 first multi-party general elections, when KANU leaders (presidential party of Arap Moi) who wanted at any cost to preserve their political, social and economic “privileges” fuelled ethnic rivalries into violence in many parts of the Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western Provinces. Pro-governmental communities were intended by governors of Provinces and other leaders of the previous one-party regime, to “secure” that their constituency be “cleaned” from other communities viewed as opposition supporters. As a consequence of the State-sponsored violence, many displaced Kenyans as well as those in the clash-torn zones were unable to register as voters or were barred from voting by violence and intimidation. Violence continued relentlessly in the post-election period until 1996. According to KHRC, from 1991 to 1996, over 15,000 people died and almost 300,000 were displaced in the Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western Provinces. In the run-up to the 1997 elections, fresh violence erupted on the Coast, killing over 100 people and displacing over 100,000, mostly pro-opposition people. Other incidences of politically instigated clashes were experienced between 1999 and 2005 mostly in the Rift Valley, Nyanza and the Western Kenya regions.
Another interesting article on the history is at this website: http://eyesonkenya.org/blog/?p=27
Hopefully, we will all go deeper to the roots of this and as Ngugi wa Thion’go says, let there be an independent inquiry and all perpetrators be brought to justice. My heartfelt condolences for the victims of this season of horror.
Comment: Tristan – 15. January 2008 @ 8:53 pm
To back up what you say Tristan, I found yet another interesting article at
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=75905
MOLO, 17 December 2007 (IRIN) – Mother-of-four Ann Wacu is afraid to return to her home in Kenya’s New Molo District, where inter-ethnic violence has killed dozens and displaced thousands of people since September.
“I don’t want to go back because all our property was destroyed or looted; this happens every five years when we have general elections,” the 24-year-old said. “The attackers have even injured the police officer who was guarding us after we left our homes. He is now admitted to the district hospital here in Molo.”
“Who will guarantee my security if I go back? They tell us elders who are members of peace committees will help, but how can we be sure of their intentions?” she added.
Before violence broke out, Wacu had a home and farm, earning a living from selling her vegetables at the local market. Now, she is seeking refuge in a church compound in Molo town, along with hundreds of other internally displaced persons (IDPs).
The New Molo District, recently carved out of the larger Nakuru District, has been the scene of periodic violence since 1992. Fighting has intensified during general election years – held in 1992, 1997, 2002 and 2007 – and in 2005, when the national referendum on the country’s constitution was held.
The district has an estimated population of 600,000 and is divided into two constituencies, Molo and Kuresoi. Kuresoi has 10 administrative divisions while Molo has six. Kuresoi is the constituency most affected by the clashes, which pit three communities – the Kalenjin, Kikuyu and Kisii – against one another.
This year’s violence, in the run up to the 27 December elections, has mostly affected the Kuresoi divisions Keringet, Kuresoi, Kamara and Olenguruone. Neighbours turn against their neighbours, burning homes and looting property, in what political observers say is incitement by politicians who promise them the land of those who flee.
“The constituency has not fully recovered from the 1992 clashes, hence the constant eruption of violence every time elections approach,” Mohamud Salim, the New Molo district commissioner, said. “As a result of the tension between the communities, opportunists have taken advantage of the fluid situation to fuel hostilities.”
An issue that cropped up many times during a recent visit by a delegation of UN officials to Molo and the Mount Elgon region, another clash-torn area in Western Province, was the role of local peace committees.
In Mount Elgon, where fighting that erupted in late September is between two clans of the dominant Sabaot community, civic, religious and local authority leaders have questioned the make-up of the peace committees and whether or not they were operational before the conflict.
At a meeting between local leaders and the UN delegation on 10 December, chaired by District Commissioner Birik Mohamed, leader after leader urged Mohamed to help revive and restructure the peace committees, which they believed could play a pivotal role in pacifying the warring groups.
The committees were an initiative of the Kenyan government to boost conflict resolution and peace-building efforts in the two regions, where fighting has caused the displacement of 15,000 people in Molo and 45,000 in Mount Elgon.
Comment: Florah – 15. January 2008 @ 10:37 pm
Tristan,
I don’t know what point you are trying to make! The good news is today with the internet, and cell phones we can communicate with ease than in the past years. It has therefore been way easier to receive actual information from family and friends in the affected areas. This was not the case in 1992 and 1997. We am not overlooking the fact that ethnic clashes did occur in 1992 and 1997, that does not mean we sit back and say “deja vu”. You explain it but don’t say what you point is! Are you trying to say its not ethnic cleansing?
The issue you bring up of land distribution makes me sick! It is these kinds of blanket uninformed statments that the opposition (ODM) used to unite the country against the GEMA community. Never mind that the majority of the GEMA community are poor and have gained nothing from the Kenyatta, Moi or Kibaki eras! The majority of Kenyans are poor across ethnic lines, we must call out empty rhetoric when we hear it. Why don’t we address the issue of the President MOI era! It equaled 24 years of hell! What is totally pathetic is both Raila and Kibaki were once bedfellows of this evil man! This was a destructive man who ruined the economy of Kenya and brought it to its knees. Kenyan’s of all backgrounds who didn’t agree with him were brought to financial ruins, to put it mildly. Most notably the kikuyus! Most fled the country to simply survive. Today they invest heavily in the country from afar!
I am not a fan of Kibaki, but when I looked at the alternative, I was sick to my stomach. For me the choice was picking the less of two evils. If I had thought Kalonzo could win I would have supported him. My fears of Raila came true when Ruto came into his camp, I knew inevitably bloodshed would follow, that has come true. Ruto was at one point joined at the hip with president Moi (lest we forget the 1992 and 1997 clashes), give me a break guys!
Kibaki is not a saint but given the condition of the country when he took it over in 2002 after 24 years of total destruction, I think it is hypocritical of some to say he didn’t do anything, then turn right around and tell their buddies how great Kenya has become under his watch and they can’t wait to go back! Kibaki failed miserably in the fight against corruption, but to many of us Raila was never the alternative for Kenya.
We were right, this man is self centered, a tribalist to the core, evil to the born and will do anything for power. He has no accomplishments, other than to mobolize his community by preaching messages of hate, the muslims by lying to them and the poor by lying he will move them from Kibera to Muthaiga. What a desparate man! When we are on our knees facing the heavens we must ask god to place every barrier in the way for this man to never, ever rule Kenya. Violence is just not the way. He also should be reminded consistently that over 4 million kenyans voted for Kibaki, yes guys, kenyans! It seems as though most of you have forgotten. Lastly, “Tristan” your closing sentence is spooky and insincere, maybe you should un-mask yourself!
Comment: RV – 15. January 2008 @ 10:48 pm
Ku,
a government that can do nothing, when kiuk houses were marked b4 elections, as you claim; that cannot prosecute “ethnic cleansing” which you claim has occurred; cannot act when “youths are hired to kill” IS NOT A Government to support. or what principles do you live for? but i do agree the murders were horrendous and OUGHT to be met with justice.
RV,
Trista, i hope, is trying to argue that there are possible explanations for events, unless you have evidence beyond reasonable doubt. One, i did not even know that kenyans “hate GEMA because of land”. i have not read anywhere that raila has made tribalist statements. claiming that he is “tribal to the core”, would be better served by elaborations. otherwise, your emotionally charged and wild statements do not progress any discourse.
Comment: vincent – 15. January 2008 @ 11:53 pm
Vincent,
Lets not play naive! First, if you happen to be an attorney then by all means when these criminals are brought to justice you can represent them, pro bono! might I add. To kill someone is a crime anyway you look at it! To plan to kill and then kill is known as “premeditated murder” at the very least. These criminals however should be charged with crimes against humanity! I am glad the investigations are on going, thank god for the internet and other modern communication equipment! They got away with in 1992 and 1997 no way in 2007!
Second, Raila does not have to around making statements that he is a tribalist, actions, or lack thereof, speak louder than words.
Comment: RV – 16. January 2008 @ 5:28 am
RV
i am not an attorney. but i TOTALLY agree that murder be prosecuted. whether premeditated or not, the courts will decide. the problem is, such crimes can be committed while we have a “gava” in place!!!! . then you turn around and accuse an opposition figure, instead of lobbying your gava to act. if your gava is not acting, credibly, are you not undermining your very argument that “culpability” exists on those you accuse? or is it another case of institutional failure?
since i am really intrigued, can you table evidence of raila’s tribalism? and dont argue that coz many of his followers are luos, therefore the man is triablist, coz that is illogical.
Comment: vincent – 16. January 2008 @ 11:38 am
RV,
btw, here is a chillingly accurate and prescient article written in 2003! if such articles can be shown to have existed then, and were deemed a true reflection of issues, then Obaks/PNU has a case to answer. it can be argued that obaks knowingly stole an election, in total disregard of what was common knowledge – that violence would follow! i am not sanitizing or absolving the tribal cleansing culprits, i am merely suggesting that Obaks bears culpability that can be proven in a court of law.
Sunday Nation, Dec 2003
Why our second liberation is yet to be completed
By MUTAHI NGUNYI
This week I want to give a suggestion to President Mwai Kibaki: He should fire his speechwriter! If we lived in a ”banana republic,” these people would have actually been charged with sabotage. What they gave the President to read on Jamhuri Day was flat and shoddy.
In fact, his speech on this day sounded like recycled material from the Madaraka Day and Kenyatta Day addresses. And what is worrying is that his speechwriters did not even seem to notice the repetitions. The question we should ask here is why?
The answer to this is simple: Maybe they also slept through the speeches! The long and short of things is therefore that someone is being negligent.
Let us now turn to the fact that the President has finally put his portrait on our currency. In my view, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, there would be nothing wrong if he put a family portrait on one of the currency notes.
What we must understand here is that President Kibaki is a human being. He has urges and excesses. To deny him some things is therefore ridiculous. It is like placing a pot full of honey in front of a little boy and expecting him not to dip his finger into the stuff! In other words, our new President is cuddling in the warmth and comfort of the institutions that shaped former President Daniel arap Moi. And, if this is the case, why should we be surprised if he ”hatched” into a dictator?
What we have witnessed in the last one year is the degeneration of President Kibaki from a reformer to a ”Toad King”. This process begins with the President becoming insensitive. At this point, he breaks one pledge after another without feeling a thing. And, as he does this, the question in his mind is: Where can you take me?
In the case of the MoU for instance, we took him nowhere. The begrudged politicians yapped until the cows came home. Now the President has put his portrait on our currency and we will take him nowhere. The general attitude here is this: If you do not like it, you can sit on a pin!
Numbing his sense to popular voices will definitely degenerate into a state of paranoia. At this point, the President will make one blunder after another. And instead of correcting his mistakes, he will increase his speed in the direction of the wrong. This is where former President Moi was when he introduced ”Project Uhuru” to the country. The crowds booed him, his loyal followers in Kanu abandoned him and even his own people questioned his wisdom. But the more we rejected his ”project”, the more determined he became.
There is a lesson for President Kibaki here. He is increasingly becoming like Mr Moi during the 2002 elections. He is not yet paranoid, but his insensitivity could develop into ”political blindness”. Who knows how low he will have sunk by the 2007 elections? And this is what worries me.
Consider a hypothetical situation here. What would happen if President Kibaki decided to run for re-election in 2007 and lost? Would he and his men have the grace to hand over power peacefully? From the way they have behaved in the last one year, I doubt it. And where would that leave the country? At the risk of sounding crazy, I want to suggest the following: If we thought that Mr. Moi would plunge the country into civil strife, he proved us wrong. Narc is the party to plunge the country into civil strife. You just have to listen to the FM stations and the call-in television programmes to see a pattern. From the name of the caller, you can almost predict
what they will say and what side of the divide they will take. In a disputed election, such polarity would certainly take ugly proportions.
But there are two possible ways out of this. The first one has to do with the agenda of the second liberation. This process was meant to achieve two things – to remove Mr. Moi from power and replace him with reform-minded leaders. This was done successfully. However, as we are beginning to realise, Mr. Moi was not the problem. The problem was the institutions he inherited from the Kenyatta. To change the leadership without changing the institutions is like treating cancer with Malaraquin. This is partly why the ”institutional cancer” in the presidency is beginning to affect President Kibaki.
Putting his portrait on our currency and junking the pre-election MoU are just manifestations of this cancer. This is why the other agenda of the second liberation was institutional reforms. Until this is completed, the second liberation will not have happened. More specifically, this refers to the constitutional review process. And, at this point I would want to address the delegates preparing for Bomas III on January 12, 2004 .
It is my hope that you have had time to reflect on the issues at hand in Bomas III. We are also told that the politicians have spent this long break to bribe you. In my view you should take the bribes and use the money to enjoy your Christmas. You must realise at this point that you are involved in politics and that in this game there is no morality. As such, you should have fun on someone else’s account! However, when it comes to voting, you must reject the ”bribe givers” and vote for the country.
This is important because of the following reasons. If the second liberation had two phases, the first phase of replacing the leadership had to be carried out by 3.1 million voters. Replacing Mr Moi and his cronies was in my view the easy part. The second phase is the tough one. And this is where you come in. You are only 600 people, and the future of our country depends on you. I have two questions for you at this point. One, as you vote for
issues, will you be thinking of your ”tribal chief” or your children? In my view, your tribe is your children. If you make a constitution for your children, you will have made a constitutionfor Kenya .
Two, consider the question of the Prime Minister’s post. And the question to you is this: If this post had been created before the 2002 elections, do you think President Kibaki would have ”trashed” the MoU? Do you think he would have put his portrait on our currency and retained corrupt ministers in his Cabinet? If the answer to
these questions is no, then the cure to the ”institutional cancer” in the presidency is the creation of this post. Do think about it! The second possible way out of civil strife has to do with the Kikuyu. Now that the presidency has returned to the ”House of Mumbi”, some people from the community are convinced that it is there to stay. In my view, this kind of thinking is retrogressive and could result in ethnic animosity.Kikuyus should come to terms with the possibility that they could lose the presidency in 2007. As such, they should do two things: One, ”bank” with the other communities. This is important because they cannot survive alone in future. Two, they should disown the Kikuyu ‘’sharks” in the Kibaki government.
Unless they do so, the entire community will be blacklisted simply on account of a few people. In future, a Kikuyu presidential candidate would be rejected because of the misdeeds of isolated people. My submission therefore is: They should not support this regime blindly!
Comment: vincent – 16. January 2008 @ 11:48 am
RV,
You questioned my referring to resource especially land as a resource. I was just wondering why you even questioned it. But then again, anyone living in these affected areas will tell you, its about resources. Here is a report by hopefully an independent body about this. I link this with comment I made above to Ku. Its available at http://allafrica.com/stories/200705280505.html
Here is the full text of a statement issued by the Catholic Religious Superiors’ Conference of Kenya, RSCK, on ethnic clashes. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, a state organ, estimates that about 500, 000 Kenyans have been internally displaced by inter-ethnic violence since 1992.
The RSCK statement:
Ethnic clashes are a running sore too frequently breaking out on the face of Kenya. Their roots run deep in history and they themselves are the violent children of a multi-sourced parentage.
The purpose of this memo therefore is not to repeat what has frequently been said and done. Rather it is that in the light of the past we map out the broad parameters of cooperation bringing all Kenyans together in a thrust forward for the sake of the hitherto neglected peoples in particular.
Though ethnic clashes are sporadic, instantaneous and unpredictable in the short run there is clear evidence of a recurring pattern to their outbreaks. Historically ethnic clashes in Kenya have had five major sources which mutually nourish, reinforce and sustain each other:
The Five Roots
a) There is the tribal element that goes back to the beginnings of the Republic.
b) There is the cult of personality that depends so heavily on tribal sentiments.
c) There is the issue of the unfair distribution of land.
d) There is the specter of poverty due largely to neglect by successive governments.
e) There is the unsettling awareness that outbreaks are too frequently linked to elections.
Added to these roots is the proliferation of small arms and border insecurity.
The church must offer prophetic, responsible leadership while ever mindful of the crucial need to monitor that its own house is in order.
Its available at
Comment: Tristan – 16. January 2008 @ 12:23 pm
Vincent,
Great job!
Let me tell you all something “you are preaching to the choir”! Your assumption that kikuyus are following kibaki blindly is completely wrong! From where I sit I can tell you in my circle it was a 50/50 divide kibaki and ODM. Post election violence has changed that Kibaki is now at 99%. Why? Our personal security has been threatend! Personally, I never supported ODM, the reasons were simple, Raila, majiboism and Ruto! Replacing Kibaki with Raila is in my opinion playing a game of “musical chairs” The stakes are so high that we must bring in someone with a record of substance, not empty rhetoric. We must also bring in someone who will unite the country. Raila has proved he absolutely cannot do this, case in point, their campaign strategy was to unify the country by isolating the kikuyus! Come on guys, think this strategy is for a loser, and it has caused innocent lives to be taken. Did they stop to think that there are other tribes in heavily dominated kikuyu areas who may not feel safe after all their hate mongering speeches? Did anyone analyze the larger implcations of this strategy? Also, with the kikuyus, you must include meru, embu and kamba land, haven’t they all united. We need someone who can unite this country, and that person is not Raila, so what is the purpose of playing musical chairs? Can someone also tell the world what Raila’s record is? The way I see it they are dressing a devil in white clothing and presenting him to the public as an “angel”. Those who are desparate for change embrace and spread the empty rhetoric that will ultimately get the country nowhere. I chose to ask questions, and will continue to ask questions, thank god people are beginning to see the light, in my humble opinion we almost walked into an ambush of sort. I will support a candidate who first sees himself/herself as a kenyan, and not a kikuyu, luo, kamba etc.., whose objectives include: fighting corruption indiscriminately, creating opportunities to widen the middle class, move more people out of poverty, grow the economy so that more jobs are created in the private sector, provide access to a good affordable education and health care acess for all etc…. and whose ideals are based on capitalism. Also, as a country we must go back to supporting strong family values, if we don’t things like corruption will be hard to fight, because people will always find ways to excuse bad behaviour. Integrity is essential and lacking in all facets of the community. The job ahead is monstrous, I wonder why anyone would truly want it?
Comment: RV – 16. January 2008 @ 3:51 pm
I have just followed this argument with great interest.
I don’t think that the ideals you mention are practical RV. Not in the sense of the word, but that even in such countries as are in “the north” according to development language, such a leader is mythical.
Capitalism? Think again RV. Here is a definition I found of Capitalism.
Capitalism generally refers to an economic and social system in which the means of production are predominantly privately owned and operated for profit, and in which investments, distribution, income, production and pricing of goods and services are determined through the operation of a market economy.
When one is in the mercies of a market economy, which is what drives investment in our age and time, and which does not allow for the percolation of resources to the majority poor who we seek to address (they are actually a tool, what we blow out of our trumpets, we use them in all our discourses), then what do we really seek to achieve?
I am also not for socialism and any other schools of such thought. I advocate for a maturity of our own economic model, one that fits the state of affairs as-is-where-is (kenya or whichever African nation).
Talking about capitalism, its starkly reflected in the economic growth of Kenya of 6.7% while the number of poor increased by about a million…
We have to look into/ for a leader that can address the problematic as it is and with credible results. I would rather have had a leader who addressed the question of poverty than one who quotes economic growth that does not benefit me one bit.
I believe we all have specific issues we would like a leader to address and you sum it all very well RV. One good thing is that we all have a power of mind to chose whichever leader we imagine could best address our needs. Choices may differ according to this and we each have to respect the others choice.
I am still yet to see and choose a leader who can address all I need. I have to realize that this is truly a mythical person.
Comment: Fred – 16. January 2008 @ 4:53 pm
RV,
we are not getting anywhere. too many un-substantiated allegations. kibaki may well have 99%, BUT the ECK tallies must be accordingly carried out, for us to accept kibaki’s 99%. asking what raila has done b4 misses the point and introduces a criteria that is best left to the voter. had we wanted to see what they had done b4, THEN mandela, bill clinton, abraham linclon etc would not have been elected, AMA? dont forget kenyatta came form prison to lead, without the questionof wehat he had done b4 being asked. if rail is running in a competition, treat him as you would like to be treated. fairly. maybe you dislike him, maybe some dudes elsewhere do.
why kiuks must be associated with merus, embus, kambas etc etc beats me! i think you are a long way away from preparatory class for democracy 101, buddie!
Comment: vincent – 16. January 2008 @ 10:24 pm
There is something I do not understand and can someone please explain to me. The kukuyu called Raila Njamba why because he was supporting Kibaki: one of their own. Now the Moi factor; he is accused of 24 years of hell including planting the seeds of the tribal clashes whose fruits we are seeing now, except in 2002 because Kenyans were united. Moi, of 24 years of hell was supporting and openly campained for Kibaki and suddenly the memories 24 years of hell and clashes disappeared and he was embraced warmly. So why is Raila suddenly the enemy? simple…there are certain people in this country who want to dominate others and will do it by any means including accepting support from hell itself.
On genocide..so if it was well planned in advance does that mean the intelligence arm in this country was totally asleep? or did the governemnt know and decided to risk life and limb so that it can use it as an excuse to rig elections? What it means is that a governement that can allow such a seriuos thing to take place under its very nose is incompetent and needed to pack and go.
Please give Kenyans a break!
Comment: Mamamia – 18. January 2008 @ 8:12 am
Luo Community Way Forward
Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:33:44 -0800 (PST)
I have been soul searching which way forward as a Luo community. The just concluded election as a community we organized and supported Raila as we have always done. But I knew things won’t go well when Raila used the tribal card as his main campaign tool where he turned other tribes against Kikuyu in order to defeat Kibaki. I found that irresponsible because at any time it could bring bloodshed.
I am from Ugenya constituency and most constituents wanted Stephen Okoth because Orengo once elected stays in Nairobi never comes back. So we wanted somebody who will be with us as a community. The Raila machine rigged Orengo in and that was the end of the people’s choice. Raila did not talk about rigging then why is he speaking about it now. When Orengo went against Raila he was rigged out but when he supported Raila he was rigged in. So I have come to realize that Raila is not about justice or democracy or common man he is about power.
I think it is time as a Luo community we start supporting another family we have been supporting the Ondinga family for over 50 years but we have nothing to show for it.. Every government comes along they rub it the wrong way and we had to stay in the opposition all this time. When Kenyatta offered Ondinga the Vice Presidency he continued to attack the government and even went ahead and started his own party when he was just a heart beat away from the presidency and I think that was very stupid. Kenyatta appointed Moi and Moi was an example of what Odinga would have done, he remained royal to Kenyatta and he finally got his reward. After Moi became president he invited Odinga to join his government. Odinga started bragging that Moi could not lead without him. Moi heard it and dropped him like a hot potato.
When Raila said tosha to Kibaki all he needed was to continue to be royal to Kibaki and probably when Wamalwa passed away he would have been made a VP but just like his father he started attacking the government from inside and he was eventually kicked out.. Now Kibaki would not want to hear of him in the government because he is a headache.
What has been polarizing even among us as a community without knowing is that the Odinga family has been portraying a communist image, a man of the people or the people’s president but the family is as capitalistic as any one can get. The fact remain the family is one of the richest in Kenya through the gas business, entrepreneurship which they have failed to lead us into. I was surprised when Raila informed us that we can grow coffee in Nyanza. I asked myself after 40 years since every other community who could grow coffee has grown it is the time Raila is talking about it?
Fellow Wajaluo it is time to give another family a chance, the Odinga family might have charisma but they don’t have the wisdom to lead us as a community where we want to go. Look at Oburu he sleeps for 5 years and then get elected almost unopposed as if he owns Bondo constituency just because his name end with Ondinga. Now compare that with all the work Tuju did for Rarienda but because his name does not end with Ondinga he was thrown out or rigged out.
We have also to think again on how we conduct ourselves as a community, since independence the Kikuyus have change their royalty from Kenyatta, Matiba and then Kibaki. We are the only people who have been stuck with one family. If we have been held by a spell we need to get rid of it, we cannot keep backing the same family for a whole century. When Matiba was rigged by Moi in 1992 did the Kikuyu people riot and loot and burn Murang’a? No. In 1997 when Moi rigged Kibaki did the Kikuyu in Nyeri riot loot and burn businesses? No. We have to think again and abandon this type of leadership which radicalize the youth with nothing to offer. We are suffering now in Kisumu because most of the stores are either looted or burned now who is going to suffer the Kikuyu the Kisii or Luo? Jaluo. The Kisii too have done away with Nyachae they have changed their loyalty. The Kalenjin have changed their loyalty from Moi they have refused to stick with his sons so we need to wake up.
It is time to support a progressive leader who people can disagree with without being stoned who can lead Luo people in doing business, in doing farming and in wise politics. By wise politics I mean a person who knows when to oppose and when to cooperate. Opposing all the time is stupid and retrogressive.
Concerned Luo.
Comment: Wake up everybody – 23. January 2008 @ 8:48 pm
i keep wondering what concept of “democracy” people like you subscribe to!. what is it based on? what are its principles? how is it structured? what informs it? what are its underpinning fundamentals? who needs a ‘family” to lead them? do you want a leader based on credentials or do you want to be led by a family? if raila is not your man, elect another!!! it is unfortunate that others blindly follow him, but what can you do about that? how can you correct that by “selecting another family man to follow?”. democracy, in its generic form, is not about the “luo community ditching one family leader for another or abrogating its leadership to some dynasty or some one annointed individual”. i believe any good leader is enough, in the general understanding of a a “capable” leader, however we define that. no need to base it on “Luoness or luo -community-ness”. strong local or regional governance is most probably a better concept rather than Luo-community-ness.
Comment: vincent – 30. January 2008 @ 1:38 pm
Inasmuch as Ngugi wathiongo wants us to understand that ODM organised the killing in Rft valley,he should be reminded that he is not in kenya as per when he was writing.Infact he is aware of the kenyan sition more than us that is why he sort asylum.Also another of his brothers John Githongo is in the uk fully aware of the injustices being metted on Kenyans.Instead of talking from far he should just pray for us and hope that God will sort us out.
Comment: alexander aliero kagali – 26. February 2008 @ 5:34 pm
Dear Alexander,
I strongly disagree with your comment. Ngugi was more right than many thought when he published this article. He published it way before the Human Rights Watch Report (http://eyesonkenya.org/blog/?p=46). And thank him for speaking out, no matter where he lives. I do not agree with all he wrote in this comment, but we should be grateful for people who pressure our politicians.
Comment: kimati – 27. February 2008 @ 12:29 pm
Hi Mr Kimati,
It seems most of us kenyans don’t understand the predicaments our country is in.My major take with Ngugi Wathiongo was on how he seems to conclude his letter.Inasmuch as i fully does not support the attrocites commited in our land,i would urge us to think deeper into the issues at hand.First in Kenya social injustice thrives more than maybe any other country in africa.When will Kibera,Mathare,Kwa njenga remain an office to ngo’s and govt.Awalk in Kibera you will see people taking picture of the slum and arranging others for ashot but rarely do people see any results due their frequent visits.It is understood that most people are doing business using the most vulnerable in the society in this slums yet they get no return for what they’re promised.After the skirmishes it was reported by one of our dailies that some rich people were swaming the IDP’S trying to woe innocent school girls to work for them as househelps. In 2002 bulding Kibera was in the top list on the NARC govt.What happened?Providing 500000 jobs annually was another one.Have they achieved this one also?Most of the people are frusttrated and are hanging in any hope another person gives and thus ODM’S influence in the area.Also as akenyan i seem to think that justice is somehow foreigh in our country thus people like Githongo get frustrated and run.Even The courts and the commisions that have been formed before have ended with no results.It seems justice is for aselected few thus ODM’S refusal to go to court.In light of all this i know there is going to be ajust society in our land as ilook around is as if people are demanding for just that.Let us judt pray for our country and let God deal with the leadership other than putting blanket assumptions.Thanks
Comment: alexander aliero kagali – 27. February 2008 @ 5:44 pm
Alexander,
Justice will not prevail in Kenya through violence. It just won’t happen. The ethnic cleansing was a total mis-calculation on ODM. They killed poor, innocent people because they were kikuyus. The result, horrified GEMA community as you all like to call them are now united around Kibaki. Prior to the election it was easier to show them Kibaki’s faults, now you might as well forget it! They feel their security has been threatened and that has now become a priority issue for them. You can’t convince them that ODM will secure the country, not with Ruto at the negiotiation table – another fatal mistake. Raila’s leadership skills are lacking to say the least. The opposition needs new leaders to convince the rest of the country to unite. It won’t happen with Raila, Ruto et al,……… Also, kiss the talks goodbye, that people took them seriously with Ruto and Dr. Sally Kosgey at the table is a laughing matter – again, Raila’s leadership skills are greatly lacking. They are not the alternative for Kenya, if we haven’t learnt nothing else from this whole situation, that point should be clear to all who are objective!
FYI: I happen to agree with Ngugi Wa Thiongo, it was ethnic cleansing and justice needs to be quick and severe!
Peace to all peace loving kenyans.
Comment: Justice Must Prevail – 28. February 2008 @ 5:10 am