Human Rghts Watch group had released report indicating that post-election violence in Kenya was pre-planned (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7300147.stm). According to the lobby political and business leaders organized and funded the ethnic cleansing that almost drove Kenya to abyss.
This report comes a time when alot of political ground has shifted since the signing of the peace deal between Kibaki and Raila on February 28. That Kenya will never be the same again since last year's disputed polls and the violence thereafter cannot be gainsaid. It is a tight rope we must walk in addressing these explosive past deeds as we chat the way forward. The onus is on us but are we upto the challenge?
There were so many faces and facets to the violence that it's impossible to capture what took place by focusing on a single region. I doubt any one report will be definitive.
ReplyDeleteWe have come a long way from those dark January days, but until the displaced folks return home, we must keep walking. It may take a several more weeks even months, but we can't turn back now.
Reconciliation is good, but it's not enough. Ultimately, Kenyans will have to forgive one another if we are to move on. That means starting where we are, not where we wish we were, or the other person was.
Forgiveness will not deny what happened and it may not take away the hurt. But it will allow us let go of the resentment and desire for reprisal and help rebuild broken communities.
We have heard that.....Who are these local leaders, kwani hawana majina...A chief is a local leader, a pastor is a local leader, councillor is a local leader, mzee wa kijiji is a local leader, so tell Human Rights Watch we have heard that line, and if they can't give us names....Wachukue fifth ammendment.....Shut up coz there is nothing new they are tellings us.....It is equated to "udaku" gossip from the villagers, such rumours are the ones that make people start maligning other people's names.
ReplyDeleteWhy does international media treat external reports more authoritatively than reports carried out in Kenya by kenyan human rights groups? Without pointing fingers, I do not see any concrete facts in this report, names of real people interviewed or real culprits, apart from a rather general and vague conclusion. Anyone could have come up with that conclusion or the opposite, but what counts is real facts that can be useful in dealing with the issue.
ReplyDeleteI agree fully with this post. We are all Kenyans, at least that's what we thought until now.
ReplyDeleteWhy and how did all this change? Just because some people told us to go back to our 'roots', everything changed? Our neighbours and even our friends changed to become our enemies... just because they belong to a different tribe?
But all of us represented Kenya .... and we still do.
And this even includes all the 'Whites' - some of which even feel to be more Kenyans, i.e. Africans, than most of the others do who...... and I am proud to say that I am part of them.
I am proud to be African = African by soul, body and heart .....
Taabu, of course the violence was meticulously preplanned. Don't you remember the numerous government vehicles ferrying pangas, arrows, simis and other assorted farm implements to Western Kenya? Don't you remember the forceful reemergence of Mungiki right before the elections? Sir Taabu, don't you remember Kibaki's crony Nyachae unleashing Chinkororo on Ruto?.... who was beaten until his knee bled.
ReplyDeleteWere the rest of Kenyans expected to sit and wait for the executioner? My point is; violence begets violence. The way I see it, a government that is seen to tolerate and in some instances support or propagate violence through militias must expect the same. The widely quoted term 'government militia' certainly bares some truth. You see, it is these types of underground policies that in fact are misused to 'justify' the mayhem meted on hapless shopkeepers and innocent small scale farmers from a certain community through out the country outside of Central Province. Let me explain.
To many ignorant village folk in the RV bush, Mungiki is synonymous to Kikuyu/GEMA. Now, we all must agree that based on the ritual Mungiki beheadings, the entire nation was engrossed in perpetual fear (even today). Further, in it's initiation, Mungiki was a source of pride to Kikuyus subscribing to traditional ways.
With stiff fear of succumbing to Mungiki-death, killing and displacing Kikuyus becomes an easy sale. To take advantage of village ruffians who cannot understand the sanctity of a title deed, all a politician/village elder has do do is misinform them on fallacies such as the Kikuyu stole your land and you must get it back. When Anglo-Leasing goes unpunished and in some cases rewarded, word on the street is that 'all Kikuyus' are stealing. When Kimunya allows the Finance Ministry to become another Muranga affair, the grapevine news is that Kikuyus are getting situated to feast on Kenya. It seems to me that all the ukabila things accomplished within the last regime benefiting only the connected Kikuyus has given a lot of bad press and publicity to the common struggling Kikuyu folk in Eldoret and other towns. It is indeed this very bad and negative publicity that allows counter militias to form with ridiculous goals such as 'let's burn these folks out of town'. The stealing of the elections was the capper i.e. enough is enough.
You must understand that that little boy torching an abandoned Kikuyu hut in RV is at most a standard six dropout. He does not think in terms of Kenyatta distributing land to Kikuyu folk or the intricate nature of land buying companies (or where they got their funding to buy land). All he has to be told is that his great great great great distant grandfather is buried beneath the foundation of that house...and by the way, here's Ksh. 200. and if you are in further doubt, hear the news bulletin on how Kikuyus (Mungiki) are beheading and skinning the heads of littlie boys in Kibera.....oh and do you know where they get their arms? Anglo-Leasing money.
In retrospect, Kibaki could have avoided all the mayhem. As the great leader we elected in 2002, he could have totally wiped out the indomitable politically funded Mungiki alongside all other offshoots and emerging counter groups..I mean the guy had five years. He could have adopted the Ndungu report even if Raila looses molasses. I mean why do we have squatters in Taita? He should have maintained fairness in public office appointments/hirings...even if only to reduce the resentment of Kikuyus that of course reached alarming levels. He should have done something with the intelligence reports showing the emergence of RV/Mt. Elgon militias....don't tell me he didn't know. Ultimately, he shouldn't have stolen the election.
here is the full report from human rights commission
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/kenya0
308/kenya0308webwcover.pdf
Kalamari take it fro me that you have authority from Her Majesty or surrogates to rig out Sirs. Don't go via Heathrow otherwise utakiona from M16. They may well ask you to explain with help of graphins what is meant by dish Andy capp.
ReplyDeleteThat said spare Emilio some heat. The old chap was brilliant among his peers in the 1960 but now he has to learn slowly. That is why he is doing now what you elected him to do in 2002. You know some STATE HOUSEKEEPKING was necessary before you go nationalistic. You have to have the right people manning the gate and coffers before you start talking.
In Emillio's mind miaka mitano ni kidongo tu. So now he can remind himself of the MOU and implement it retrorespectively. Si hata mkia ni nyama. Meanwhile leave Mungiki out of this becasue their task is noble - cultural purification. All tribal oaths come with rituals only that Mungiki's involves skinning severed heads. Sio kucheka kwa matanga, hapana.
You insinuate improperly in the noble Mt Elgon purge. You see those Laibon had learnt fast extortion from the urban Mungiki. And tehy were smart enough to localize the idea. Now they are only unfortunate to be used as gunea pigs before the army and Mungiki attacks its sophisticated self (Mungiki). You see Boxer was not just another animal, some are more equal than others. And BTW wewe hauna red blood, pumbavu.
ADVICE !!
ReplyDeleteMr. Chris. I think it's about time you updated your list of blog contributors. PKW is apparently back from tallying votes at KICC, however, it appears Vikii has received a plum job in the office of the Vice Presidency and with his new found importance and affluence has absconded this blog. People like Danlieve, Karol and Sue appear to have lost their internet connections due to unpaid bills. Phil and Taabu continue to be prolific and precise ….of course adding value to the blog. The twins, Ritch and Luke might as well buy shares in Kumekucha for their consistent voices of reason. Kalamari on the other hand is altogether a nut case…..your hesitance in striking him off the list of contributors is evidently a major battle of conscience within yourself.
For a balanced view, I suggest you add new discordant critics and consorts such as Mrembowaodm, Danny Waweru, Kimi Raikkonen, Sam Okello and Wanjiku-Mombasa. Wengine wajitetee.
As we've been told of Kenya, Kumekucha will never be the same again…only better.
This is what the Human Rights report says on page 21:
ReplyDeleteThe Hijacking of Kenya's 2007 Presidential Poll
____________________________________________
While it is true that the post-election violence in Kenya has deep-seated roots, the
immediate trigger for the violence was the rigging of the election. This was not only a
proximate cause of the violence but also an abuse of Kenyans' democratic rights.
...the most damaging acts of fraud were committed during the final stages of tallying the presidential poll, when the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK)presided over what was by all appearances a desperate last-minute attempt to rig the contest in favor of incumbent Mwai Kibaki.
Andy Cap - I have read your list with interest.
ReplyDeleteOne name struck me and please clarify:
Sam Okello.
Which one - the one of Marianne Briner Fame or do you even refer to the new Mayor of Kisumu ?
And just in case it slipped your knowlege: these are to very different persons - one lives in the US talking from the 'diaspora' and the other one is the hard-working Sam Okello - so which one are you referring to? I hope you make the right choice !!!!!!!!!!!
Kalamari, your analysis is as accurate as one can possibly get - THANK YOU!
ReplyDeleteI don't need to read that report to know that its claims are HOGWASH.
ReplyDeleteAs one contributor above has said, the violence had many facets and a history that is very complex indeed.
Human Rights Watch is seeking to package the conflict in a folder that neatly fits into its Third World conflict watch blueprints.
kalamari,
ReplyDeleteSuppose you’re right. Suppose that what caused the post-election violence in 2007 was (i) the (re)emergence of Chingororo and Mungiki, (ii) the tribalism of the Kibaki administration, and (iii) the policy failures of the Kibaki administration. Now, imagine a situation in which those things hadn’t happened. We’d expect to find a peaceful country, right?
Wrong. In 1991 and 1992, neither Chingororo nor Mungiki were militarised - indeed Mungiki was a Gikuyu-revivalist sect led by Ngonya wa Gakonya. Kibaki wasn't president, and there was, therefore, no Kibaki administration. Yet in the Rift Valley over 1500 people were murdered, and more than 250,000 displaced (See estimates on pp. 71-3 of Nowrojee et al. (1993): Divide and Rule: State-Sponsored Ethnic Violence in Kenya). Chingororo and Mungiki became militias after the 1992 violence by recruiting its victims. (see Anderson 2004).
Your attempted explanation blatantly omits the most obvious causes of the violence: the politicians who financed the violence in 1992, and the people who actually carried it out. Then, as now, their names are no secret; ignorance is no excuse.(see Akiwumi) and Nowrojee for 1992). It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that you begun with the conviction that Kibaki was to blame, and then sought evidence for it.
Dear All,
ReplyDeleteTruth whether it takes a 100 years will come out. People can forgive and never forget. Whoever killed someone, his or her day of reckoning will come. If not hear on earth up there. This is just the beggining. Gods creation is divine
We will never forget those who murdered our brothers and sisters in the RV. One day...ngoja tu!
ReplyDeleteDaniel Waweru is it wrong to blame Kibaki.....Isn't he the "DULY" elected president of Kenya? He swored himself in and vowed to protect the lives of the people of Kenya....So what is his business being in the office if he can't.....Si hata kwa job yako if you dont perform, unafutwa au you go home willingly.....Even the bible is clear if you dont work you dont eat ama....So it is not fair, for kibs to pick a million plus every month then he continues sleeping on the job.....Hata si hivyo peke yake instead of protecting life, he orders others to be shot ati coz they were looting...When was it decided that you shoot guys coz they were stealing Tvs, carpets, shoes foodstuffs and yet this order was not enforced when some jamaas decided to anglofleece us of billions of shillings.....How come those hooligans who caused mayhem in std were never shot at...Or is it that some thieves are better coz they still big sums of money...Kibaki took an oath to ptotect life...May he just do that!!!
ReplyDeleteIvy
This is the time to arrest the perpetrators of violence and make sure they face the full wrath of law. The law should not be selectively applied, the orgnisers and those who actually killed or maimed their neighbours because they belong to different ethnia and political party should be punished.
ReplyDeleteThis will send the message that we should stop this ancestral land crap. Kenya belongs to all us and we should be able to own property and work anywhere in the country. All our leaders(MPs) own property in Nairobi and other parts of the country. More than 98% of kenyans who own property in all large cities have no ancestral link to those regions.
In RV there are people who own large tracts of land including politicians and some white farmers. If those guys chasing and killing other kenyans peasants were serious, they would have started with the big commercial farmers the way Mugabe did in Zimbabwe.