Violence
This is our stand on violence in Kenya.
WE REJECT ANY FORM OF VIOLENCE AND HOOLIGANISM IN SOLVING THE CURRENT POLITICAL CRISIS IN KENYA. WE CONDEMN THE ACT OF ARSONISTS BURNING PEOPLE IN A CHURCH, AND THE POLICE SHOOTING INNOCENT CHILDREN IN KISUMU. THIS IS A POLITICAL PROBLEM AND VIOLENCE ONLY SERVES TO INFLAME THE SITUATION AND GIVE OUR NATION A BAD IMAGE ABROAD. SHUN VIOLENCE BUT RESIST DICTATORSHIP THROUGH PEACEFUL CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE.
prochange08 said
KENYA WILL NOT BE THE SAME
By Joseph Koyugi
The writer works for a political subdivision of the State of Colorado and is co- founder of Friends of Leadership Development and Governance
The gains made during the Second Liberation from the Moi dictatorship regime are now a thing of the past. The American media earlier equated the clashes in Kenya to the Rwanda genocide. The Kenya conflict is as a result of a people that have been violated, an election that has been stolen and angry citizens who feel abused and betrayed specifically by an act of theft. Tribal tensions have been in existence since independence from British rule but that someone would be killed because he is a member of a certain tribe is new to Kenya. The use of the Mungiki militia is a well-calculated move by the State to intimidate the opposition strongholds. At independence promises of equal distribution of the resources were made and these have not been fulfilled 43 years later. The clashes are a culmination of the 1969 ideological fallout between the first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga the then Vice President and at that time the clique of people surrounding the president vowed that leadership of the country was not going to cross the famous River Chania. It is by this design that there was every effort to dismantle the opposition and declare Raila Odinga unelectable because he is a Luo. Kenyan people are crying to get a better institutional framework to ensure fairness and curtail the powers of the incumbency. The historic voter turnout and peaceful way in which the electorate conducted them during the 2007 elections is an indication of how determined Kenyans are to make change. They found their voice in the Orange Democratic Movement and all they are now getting, after exercising a peaceful election is a police brutality and a repressive regime. The gains of the Inter Parties Parliamentary Group (IPPG) that brought about constitutional changes during the famous Second Liberation have been shoved out of the door. Kenya will not be the same !
Jomo Kenyatta’s approach to nation building after independence using the “harambee motto”, a socio-capitalistic approach to development inherited specific problems with regard to the equitable distribution of resources. Certain parts of the country were more advantaged than others and here lies the origin of the present conflict between the “haves” and “have nots” Unfortunately the Kenyatta regime by design did little to address this issue even when his own Kikuyu tribesmen were displaced by the occupation of their land by the White settlers. Little did any one know that the same ghost of unequal distribution of resources would haunt this great nation 44 years later? The “white highlands” where the colonial masters settled were better developed than other areas in the country, better infrastructure to facilitate commerce and industry. These areas are the coffee and tea growing zones of Kenya. The promise to equally share the national cake has not been fulfilled. There is a big gap between the rich and the poor. During the campaign period in 2007 the opposition headed by Raila Odinga did a tremendous job in communicating their agenda on the equal distribution and a careful scrutiny of their manifesto reveals a custom made approach to this distribution that is specific to the resources of the various regions in Kenya. This explains why it turned out that the Orange Democratic Movement became popular with the poor. The strength of the opposition in the 10th Kenyan parliament proves this statement and for the first time in the history of post independent Kenya the Speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly were voted in from the opposition side. This in itself speaks volumes; Kenya will not be the same.
The ideological fallout between Jomo Kenyatta, a Kikuyu, and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, then vice president, a Luo is a significant event in Kenyan history. The latter advocated for the immediate equitable sharing of the national cake among the 42 tribes in Kenya and establishment of legal and constitutional structures that would ensure proper checks and balances. The Senate was proscribed after a brief post independence stint, a clear red flag that Kenyatta had a dictatorial agenda. The Judiciary has been highly compromised to date, leaving the executive with excessive powers. The above ideological fallout is the origin of the Luo/Kikuyu rivalry, which was worsened by the first political killing of president Kenyatta’s economic development minister, Tom Mboya, a Luo. A comparison of the punch words of the government and the opposition during the 2007 elections explains why the opposition became the darling of the masses. “Business as usual” was the government slogan while “vote for change” was the opposition slogan. The dream of the equitable distribution of resources was well articulated within the “Majimbo” concept during the 2007 political rallies of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement. The poor majority from all the 42 tribes voted change. The anger and frustration seen in the media lately is truly resentment due to day light robbery witnessed during the presidential tally. The Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Kenya is on record having confessed that he did not know who won the presidential elections and that he was under pressure to declare Kibaki president and after this confession one can only guess what more we are not being told.
It is simplistic to view the current conflict as a Luo /Kikuyu affair. In the Kenyan context tribes are being used to further political agenda and hit at rivals. The real problem is a stolen election. With intermarriages especially in the urban centers the tribal equation in the country has significantly changed since independence. The only time this vice shows up is during elections!
Kenya suffered another 24 years of the use of the tribal tramp card under dictator president Moi who did not help heal the already tribally polarized nation. This dictator started his incumbency by his philosophy of following the footsteps of his predecessor and indeed he lived to his word. He used the “silencing” approach and again Luos took the most casualties during this reign culminating in the killing of the then foreign affairs minister, a Luo. The Luo as a community uphold values that have caused them the greatest number of casualties including political assassinations. At independence Luos had the largest number of professionals, from lawyers, doctors engineers etc. They are certainly the most outspoken community hence fodder for silencing by dictators. The advent of Second Liberation however saw leaders from Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luhya tribes join in the struggle for change. The attempted coup during president Moi’s regime was conveniently branded a Luo conspiracy, even though court martial proceedings proved that the event on August 1st 1982 was a pre emptive strike to avert a well organized conspiracy and coup by mercenaries hired by a powerful individual in the Moi government, a Kikuyu, to wrestle power from him. Poor Luos had to be blamed again because the young junior officers in the military involved in the “preemptive strike” were from the Luo tribe. By the time the truth came out these poor souls had already been executed. In his biography, Raila Odinga has mentioned being privy to information regarding this coup. The momentum for change was strongest during Moi’s regime and other tribes joined in the struggle for justice culminating in the Second Liberation and establishment of the Inter Parties Parliamentary Group (IPPG) which among other achievements exposed president Moi’s torture chambers, endorsed the freedom of assembly and the repeal of the notorious Section 2A of the constitution, that had made Kenya a de facto one party State. These gains are currently at risk with the Kibaki regime’s ban on peaceful mass demonstrations and independence of the media houses. The shoot to kill orders has brought the country back to the dark days of terror. It is alleged that the dreaded Mungiki Militia, is a state sponsored gang, to conduct ethnic killings targeted at the opposition strong holds. This deadly gang is unique because they are taking oaths in Kikuyu language and are now working in cahoots with the Kenyan police. Certainly this is not what Kenyans voted for when they peacefully lined up in the queues to vote for their candidates and with all these killings of innocent souls, Kenya will never be the same again.
From the vows taken during Kenyatta’s regime to perpetually retain the presidency within certain geographical confines, to a recent portrayal of Raila Odinga as unelectable because he is a Luo, I truly believe that what is happening in Kenya today was designed then at a high level of conspiracy. President Kibaki was sworn in at a private function at State House even before the official declaration of results of the presidential tally. This is reminiscent of the conspiracy in the “Willie Lynch Papers” on how to control a black slave.
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The presidential tally has Raila winning in 6 out of 8 provinces whereas Kibaki has only 2. By the laws of trend analysis one would expect the occupant of State House Nairobi to be one other than Emilio Mwai Kibaki. My Kenyan dream is a day when we shall be judged not by the ethnic backgrounds we come from but by the content of our character. Kenya has 44 years post independence governance track record. It is evident that the 2007 election was unique. The electorate consciously chose their leaders and the post electoral demonstrations bear testimony. There is certainly a wave of change despite the killings and a repressive regime. The incumbent is on borrowed time!