Kenya crumbling as the continent’s cornerstone

Posted by admin on Feb 6, 2008 in Issues & Ideas | 0 comments

This article is not about partying. It celebrates little. Yet in a joyless world we see glimpses of hope. Now that’s something to honour.

Kenya has long been a gem of Africa – prosperous, progressive and peaceful. Situated right in the horn of Africa, Kenya’s stable presence has been a launching point for relief to conflicts in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Darfur. But with 30 days of violence, its allure and security has altogether vanished.

One month ago, sparks from an election controversy literally set the country ablaze with violence. Hearing horrifying stories from friends in Kenya as well as news services, past and present visitors and residents of Kenya are maddened and upset by accounts of tribal violence – armed mobs chasing pregnant mothers – and by the newest estimate of displaced persons, currently standing at 250,000 and counting. How does this happen in a country that is one of Africa’s anchors for order?

The violence began with protests over a disputed election result. Last December President Mwai Kibaki’s narrow win against opposition leader Raila Odinga was fiercely contested and a recount was demanded. Upon denial of this request, ethnic violence erupted along party lines. The Luo, Luhya and Kanlenjin tribes are loyal to the opposition and the Kikuyu tribe are staunch Kibaki supporters. Zealous partisanship is stoking the embers of historic contentions over land ownership, an issue which lay dormant through the 2003 election, which thankfully was peaceful. Kibaki came to power in 2003, replacing President Daniel Arap Moi after 24 years of rule.

Last week the world flinched at the assassination of Mugabe Were, an opposition MP, in Nairobi. Last Friday the opposition lost another MP, David Too, to police gunfire in Eldoret, a town in the Rift Valley, Kenya’s normally flourishing horticultural sector. The region used to export one tonne of roses and other flowers daily. Now farms are operating at severely diminished capacity because workers are afraid to leave home, risking violent death for their ethnic status or political affiliation.
Bernard Terlouw, director of the Kenya program of Mission Aviation Fellowship (a global non-profit Christian air support organization) shares, “Busses have their passengers screened and complete quarters of villages are ‘cleansed’ from members of the ‘wrong’ tribe.” In the past weeks, MAF has evacuated hundreds of Kenyans escaping threats on their lives.

I don’t mean to trivialize the situation by making a point, but it’s needful to say that the situation in Kenya exposes the dark underbelly to partisanship—parochial tribalism. The government has not looked out for the best interest of the people in this case. Instead of allowing for fair democratic process, party power-trips stand in obstruction. Politics doesn’t mix with pride, and it ought to never mix with hatred. The violence won’t end by fighting fire with fire. The message that Jesus gave is to love people who do not love you. We saw its profound effect on post-apartheid South Africa through the Truth & Reconciliation Committee. This type of love is exactly what Kenya needs to experience amidst political, social and spiritual disarray.
Organizations like MAF could leave the country, but Terlouw affirms that staying is the truest testament to Christ’s strength: “We could fly out, but instead we simply say if you need evacuation, come on board, we will help you.” We need to keep praying for intervention and reconciliation. Worldly governance sometimes fails. But there is a Greater Governor whose good will can be carried out regardless. Fourteen years ago, Romeo Dallaire did the right thing in Rwanda by refusing to abandon the people. Can we do it again?