In just a handful of days, what happened in Nyalenda, Kisumu recently has moved from being highly sensitive to the Ruto government to something being discussed openly. And surprisingly, the international media and community are suddenly leading the discussions and showing great concern.
Few Kenyans would have missed the local media’s apparent phobia for carrying any reports on the Nyalenda slums massacre. Indeed it was only the Kenyatta family owned K24 that carried a detailed report where they even interviewed casualties. It is not clear whether it was just a coincidence that is was K24 that took the lead on this sensitive issue, or the reporters received encouragement and guidance from the owners of the media house.
The sensitivity of the issue was further confirmed by the very quick Kenya Kwanza response to Opiyo Wandae’s remarks referring to it as genocide. Kikuyu legislator and Ruto’s blue eyed boy, Kimani Ichungwa angrily responded by referring to Wandae’s remarks as “unfortunate” and “false.”
And if anybody still doubted the sensitivity of Nyalenda, then they would have been totally convinced last Saturday afternoon when reports emerged that close Uhuru ally and recently nominated Jubilee party official Pauline Njoroge had been arrested by DCI officers. Pauline Njoroge is extremely influential and active on her tweeter account with over 400K followers (a colossal number for any political commentator in Kenya). Numerous Kenyans immediately pointed to her tweets on Nyalenda as the cause for her arrest. And they indeed ended up being proved correct (after the attempt to plant narcotics on her failed) because Nyalenda-related tweets were at the very top of her charge sheet when she finally appeared before a Malindi court on Monday afternoon.
So the big question has to be, what has changed so suddenly?
The answer may surprise most because at the top of the list of the movers and shakers who have impacted the Nyalenda saga developments are the Kenyan community in the diaspora.
It should now be crystal clear that any government or persons who may wish to get into some mischief whilst ignoring the influence of Kenyans abroad will be making a grave mistake as has been proven by what has unfolded over Nyalenda debacle.
It would appear that in recent years diaspora Kenya has quietly moved from being the sleepy ignorant Kenyans who only remit lots of money back home to voracious watchdogs with influence that one can only underestimate at their own peril.
And now very suddenly the focus of the international community has moved from concern over the demonstrations and the possible impact on the economy to scrutiny on the Ruto administration for its handling of demonstrations and the use of a brutal police force.
Grave concern has been expressed over the government's response to peaceful protests and the excessive use of force against protestors. The questions being raised now are about the Ruto administrations’ commitment to upholding human rights and ensuring freedom of expression. That is a clear shift from; what is troublemaker Raila Odinga up to this time round?
Now we have a situation where the international community, including human rights organizations and foreign governments, are closely monitoring the situation in Kenya. And are even making calls for an end to the excessive use of force against demonstrators urging the Ruto administration to respect democratic principles and protect citizens' rights.
As the pressure mounts on Kenya Kwanza, it remains to be seen how the Ruto administration will address these concerns raised by both domestic and international stakeholders. More so as Ruto is under pressure to carry out his brutal plan to silence critics and weaken the opposition as it becomes clear that that is the only way he can remain in power.
But what exactly happened at Nyalenda and can it qualify to be called a massacre, or in the words of Minority leader Opiyo Wandai; genocide?
Raila Odinga at his briefing with the international press was asked if he had any evidence to support his assertion that what was happening in Kenya was ethnic cleansing. And in his response he pointed out a glaring fact that has now emerged. And that is what has happened in that part of the country (in Nyalenda, Sondu, Migori and elsewhere in Luo Nyanza) has NOT been repeated elsewhere. For instance most of the victims at Nyalenda were dragged out of their own houses and were not even participating in any demonstrations. The victims also included youngsters.
This was clearly confirmed by the K24 news report that interviewed victims, many of whom said that police were moving door to door and dragging people out of their houses for beatings. Some were even shot at.
But the most alarming report of all was the claim by one witness that he heard a policeman (who was meting out violence on him) talking about the target he had of number of people to kill for the day. This of course is yet to be proven or verified.
In conclusion, this recent development is very clear writing on the wall. And the writing should tell anybody who understands how these situations end that Ruto’s government is rapidly running out of room to breathe, let alone move.
There is too much evidence in the form of video clips, bodies in morgues and Kenyans fighting for their lives in hospitals to be ignored much longer.
And now that the dreaded “ethnic cleansing” has dramatically entered the conversation, it should be only a matter of time before we witness major changes in Kenya, for better or for worse.
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