re: Think Again
written by aeichener , February 07, 2008

Kunule's addition is certainly worthy; he adds a spirit of humble relativism and tolerance when he chastises "righteousness", and points to the fact that intransigency and hard-headedness are not good counsellors for healing.

However:

Peace is not something you build "step-stone by step-stone".

How else could one ever hope to build peace? It is not something that falls from Heaven, jettisoned by a flying saucer.
It did not even fall from Heaven when Christ was born; the angels only announced to the herdsmen a future, transcendental peace, not a chiliastic "here and now".

Alexander

...
written by Nyabs , February 07, 2008

Just saw the clip from Channel 4. Over a 1000 "Kalenjin Warriors" armed with all manner of weapons killing people and burning property.

The hard reality is that we have militarized some sections of the Kenyan society through the rites of passage from childhood to manhood where we train them to handle bows and arrows and spears. It is only a matter of time before we train them to handle guns, especially with the retreat of each Kenyan community into its tribal enclaves and the renaissance of negative ethnic nationalism.

At this point in our history, we have two options: try to appeal to reason and use restrained policing to disarm the warriors or use brute force that will pass the message that any one with an offensive weapon will not be provided an opportunity to use it against another Kenyan, for whatever reason- stolen election, land etc.

Methinks that if we allow these situation to deteriorate, the 1000 already killed will look like small change. A show of force is needed now, before we regret that we did nothing as 3 million Kenyans were killed.

I do think that we also need to outlaw customs that train young men to be warriors. We need as a nation to decide whether we want to centralize the monopoly of violence to recognized state agents like the army and the police, or whether we want to devolve them to tribes, which is what we are currently doing by allowing certain ethnic groups to militarize their young men.

If we opt for the latter, then we should apply it across all ethnic groups in order to have a balance of terror in the same way that the American society considers a right to have arms as a constitutional right. Short of this, every five years, sections of unarmed, unprepared communities in Kenya will be slaughtered by communities with trained and militarized youth, as state agents either respond too late or not at all.

...
written by muiruri , February 07, 2008

nicely thought out, but I have misgivings when you advocate the killing of fellow Kenyan. What we need to preach most is the understanding of this murderous gang to know that they wont hide behind those perceived ills of their masters for long and they will pay dearly, with their destroyed abodes and neighbourhoods. Think twice when you lift that panga. No body chose to be born where he or she was born. It is only when the fathers teach their children to hate that the children think it is o.k. Any man who has children should tell them that we are all brothers and it is only that your brother comes from across the ridge. Preach love man.

Think Again
written by Kunule Imbayi , February 07, 2008

Peace is not something you build "step-stone by step-stone". Our country is surely bleeding. The gangs manning roadblocks are not different from the gangs that are now using their pens and "intellect" to wage even deeper wars from their comfort zones. To use your pen to advocate the killing of others on the presumption that you are different from "them" is worse than rape. There will be calm , but peace will not flourish when we are still polarised. Remember that the darkest moments of our history as human beings have been as a results of opposing ideas, opposing sides in which both parties are wise in their folly. And that's exactly what is happening in our country, there is a righteous side that is emerging. I say to you.. the death of the "righteous" is just as important as the death of the gangs on our roads.

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written by manta ray , February 07, 2008

Whether one likes it or not, the fact is that there already is an entity in place exercising executive authority. It cannot exercise this authority in a vacuum if it wants to be taken seriously, and if it indeed wants to demonstrate that security must prevail for peace to be fashioned out of the ashes.
Its seriousness is already being challenged by the gangs Oyudo talks about and the only way to bring them to heel is to instigate a shift in the defiant perception that they and their masters are invincible, by applying overwhelming and decisive military force on them. Only then will they get out of their cocky mindset and come down to earth, and realise that there is and will always be only one monopoly and instrument of violence. Remove the thinking that violence is a card the gangs can play at will and they will have no choice but to make peace, if they want to live normal lives.

...
written by manta ray , February 07, 2008

Thus the infuriating reality of Kibaki and his advisor's weakness in this regard. You cannot exercise authority if you have a big stick but are unwilling to use it.
I really disliked Margaret Thatcher for her right wing views especially where Africa and Kenya were concerned, but she still showed that she had more balls than most chest thumping male rulers.

She demonstrated this with alacrity and exemplary decisiveness in the way she handled the then IRA and Argentina's despotic military dictatorship.
As she once famously proclaimed, "You do not negotiate with terrorists, you defeat them".
What then, is Kibaki doing negotiating with the likes of Ruto? The mistakes and cowardly indecisiveness of Kibaki will come to cost this Nation very dear in years to come.

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written by aeichener , February 07, 2008

Both, dear Manta Ray, both.

You first defeat the terrorists, then you negotiate about the remaining rest. Erskine showed that it was possible.

Alexander

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written by Ndorobo , February 08, 2008

to those that have lost ones, condolences!

Slowly but surely Kenyan media is catching up with the realities of the violence. Here is the standards article asking: Who is funding the violence.
At KI, this issue was addressed a month ago,here

What to do with criminals? As I have stated elsewhere:. They are criminals and the full force of the law should be used. I actually think that the military should be deployed. Flamboyant lawyerly arguments might be against this but any illegally manned roadblocks with the intent to kill, harm or main people based on ethnicity constitutes an act of war or a crime against humanity. Take your pick. In either case, common sense dictates that the military be deployed. This should not be in certain parts of the country but in all regions. It is not a state of emergency, it is restoring law and order.

Bw. Muiruri, the extermination of crime is not the killing of fellow Kenyans. It is ensuring that the right to life, liberty and freedom are maintained. We cannot have the country beholden to criminal elements and gang leaders.

re:
written by wanjik , February 08, 2008

nicely thought out, but I have misgivings when you advocate the killing of fellow Kenyan. What we need to preach most is the understanding of this murderous gang to know that they wont hide behind those perceived ills of their masters for long and they will pay dearly, with their destroyed abodes and neighbourhoods. Think twice when you lift that panga. No body chose to be born where he or she was born. It is only when the fathers teach their children to hate that the children think it is o.k. Any man who has children should tell them that we are all brothers and it is only that your brother comes from across the ridge. Preach love man.

Muiruri, the author is not advocating for the killing of innocent Kenyans. If you read carefully he's calling for the killing of the members of murderous gangs who seem to have hijacked the western part of our country, committing acts of violence with impunity. Those people do not deserve a trial, nor do they deserve mercy. Kibaki really does need to wake up and stop dragging his feet about his issue. I don't even understand why he's allowed it to go this far.

re:
written by manta ray , February 08, 2008

Bw. Muiruri, the extermination of crime is not the killing of fellow Kenyans. It is ensuring that the right to life, liberty and freedom are maintained. We cannot have the country beholden to criminal elements and gang leaders.

Those who use violence to put across political views are simple criminals and must never be allowed to raise their heads. NEVER. It is about the rule of law, and the only authorities allowed by law in civilised countries to use violence are law enforcement agents, including the military. Not screaming hordes of ignorant, drunken savages.

Kiai is ... I don\'t know what
written by Vlad , February 08, 2008

Folks,
Have you read Kiai's comments to the US congress? I have underlined the unbelievable ...
""The violence is neither genocide nor ethnic cleansing: The root of the problem is not that different ethnic groups decided they could no longer live together. The root of the problem is the inability of peaceful means to address grievances," he said.
For it to be regarded as genocide, Kiai added, there would have to be State complicity or collapse.
"Instead, we have uneven and selective policing with emphasis on preventing ODM.
Vlad, we have now published Kiai's speech in its entirety. Eds

...
written by aeichener , February 08, 2008

Slowly but surely Kenyan media is catching up with the realities of the violence. Here is the standards article asking:
Who is funding the violence.

The African correspondent of the leading German newspaper FAZ, Thomas Scheen, who diligently researched on the ground, reported about the involvement of one female MP, and the "Nation"'s Rift valley circulation manager in the mass murders. He reported witness statements that apparently "Nation" delivery vehicles were supplied, to transport some armed gangs.

Alexander

(Here is the original quotation, of which we take the liberty to supply an English translation, for the benefit of all those who only took French in secondary school ;-). Only the fat typography is ours. Ed.

Von einer "spontanen Racheaktion" wegen der massenhaften Vertreibungen von Kikuyu aus den im Westen gelegenen Stdten Eldoret und Kisumu, wo die Kalenjin und Luo den Ton angeben, kann vor diesem Hintergrund jedenfalls nicht mehr gesprochen werden. Hier wie dort waren die Vertreibungen organisiert und ganz offensichtlich von langer Hand geplant.

Die abgerissenen Gestalten im Gefngnis nennen Namen von T䤤tern, den von Jane Kihara beispielsweise. Sie ist eine ehemalige Parlamentsabgeordnete aus Naivasha, die ihren Sitz an den Kandidaten der Opposition verloren hat, und koordiniert jetzt angblich die Angriffe der Mungiki-Sekte. Die Menschen sagen, dass die Rollkommandos der Sekte nachts an strategisch wichtigen Positionen abgesetzt werden, und zwar mit Fahrzeugen der regierungsnahen Tageszeitung "The Nation".

Translation:
Against this background, one can certainly not speak of "spontaneous actions of revenge" caused by the massive eviction [cleansing] of Kikuyus from the Western cities Eldoiret and Kisumu, where Kalenjin and Luo dominate. Here as there, the evictions were organized and most obviously planned long beforehand.

The ragged figures in the prison give names of the perpetrators, for example of Jane Kihara. She is a former MP from Naivasha who had lost her seat to the opposition candidate and who now allegedly coordinates the attacks of the Mungiki sect. People report that attack commandos of the sect have been dropped at night time at strategically crucial places, and that with vehicles of the government-leaning daily "The Nation".

Source:
FAZ of 1st Feb 2008, Thomas Scheen: Das Morden in der Stadt der Schnittblumen

End of editorial source addition and translation. Ed.

correction (minor)
written by Ndorobo , February 08, 2008

aeichener wrote

Jane Kihara. She is a former MP from Naivasha who had lost her seat to the opposition candidate

For the record, Jane Kihara was the former MP. She ran on a PNU ticket and lost to a KANU candidate (Hon. Mututho) who is NOT an opposition candidate. Hon. Mututho is a member of a party that is part of the coalition that supports the president.