from elsewhere
written by truthseeker , January 05, 2008

I am currently stuck in Teso District, near the Malaba border with Uganda. As I write this, more than 150 shops in the border town have been razed to the ground. All people bearing a Kikuyu name have taken refuge in the police station, the only place they feel really safe.
Only yesterday, I went there to buy some items, and there was no shop that was stocked. Now is when people are realising that the very shops they burned were the ones they relied upon for their supplies. Thousands have crossed across the border. They are living under makeshift polythene structures, really deplorable.
The truth of the matter is that these people have lived here for years. Even one of the shopkeepers, one Ben Maina has been brought up here. He even served in the local ODM campaign team.

from elsewhere
written by truthseeker , January 05, 2008

I have just arrived in North America and tired to make clear comment
on what is happening on the ground. Forgive me if this sounds like
rumbling! It may well be so!

The violence I saw was confounding; I am angry at such wanton murder,
maiming others and destruction of property. This madness must be
stopped regardless of which side of the political divide one is.
Moreover, as the ordinary folks kill each other, political leaders,
driven by greed, continue their daily lives in the security of their
homesteads where, perhaps, they sleep soundly without caring that
innocent people were being hunted and burnt alive, as happened in
Eldoret! And for what other than being of a different ethnic group?

I was in Nyamira when the presidential results were announced. And
the reaction was immediate, especially among the young people that
had largely supported ODM's call for change. Then we heard that there
had been shootings in Kisii town of people that had attempted to set
fire to property belonging to Kibaki supporters! I marveled at this
attempt even as ODM had won big in parliamentary races in Gusii,
accompanied with the defeat of one of Kibaki staunchest supporters,
Simeon Nyachae. Raila also got a substantial share of the
presidential vote, trouncing Kibaki in some constituencies!

Soon we heard of blockading of roads through Kericho and Bomet, and
that Kisiis couldn't be allowed through! And I wondered why? And
someone suggested that Kisiis had given Kibaki a lifeline with
respect to the 25% of the provincial tally! I wondered even more: if
indeed we are building a democracy, why should people vote as a
block, like sheep that blinding close the road; regardless of whether
it is safe to close or not!

In Kisumu, my cousin's hardware store was looted dry; there were
attempts to set his building and cars on fire but were thwarted by
the security guards and the tenants (mainly Luo) in the compound.
Police reinforcements did come later to help evacuate the family. My
cousin has lived in Kisumu for more than 30 years; his children are
more fluent in Luo than Kisii; the family largely supported ODM! But
for being Kisii, they were targeted, as was Nyachae's business in
Kisumu town!

Call it ethnic madness! And nothing to do with elections!

Our journey to Nairobi, through hundreds of "roadblocks" was the most
scary; and never doubt that we would have been killed but for the 40+
GSU escort that accompanied our 10+ cars procession; the GSU was
fully armed and shepherded us from district headquarters to the next;
first it was Borabu to Sotik; then Sotik to Bomet and Bomet to Narok!
In the distance that usually takes 1 hour, we spent 4+ hours.

The thugs had erected roadblocks, almost every km (or so) of the
distance we covered; these were made of stones (nay boulders!),
felled electric poles (some nailed together with metal), burnt shells
of cars/minivans and the like, felled trees, and burning tires! At
bridge crossings the favourite tool of blockade was the metal guards
that were torn down and laid across the road, and nailed together
using the wooden poles with tires burning on the side.

At each blockade, the GSU would scare of the gangs after which we
would all disembark from our vehicles and clear sufficient space for
cars and buses to pass. Then we would repeat the process at every
such blockade, some that were as close as half a km. And once we
crossed a district boundary, the head of the GSU team would duly
report to the local DC and get the next orders.

We had one GSU in our car who indicated the gangs went back to work
as soon as we passed their blockades and that the process of
reopening would be repeated on the return trip!

And who were the gangs: tens (and perhaps hundreds) of young men who
scampered in all directions when they saw the GSU, some hiding in
bushes and peeking at us while we dismantled their blockades. The GSU
in our car told us that there were thousands of unemployed youth in
the area, idling and itching for action. That said, however, I was
amazed to see elderly people (men and women) at some of these
locations that appeared to do nothing to dissuade the young men from
doing what they were doing! The same GSU in our car suggested that
these were the people directing the events, telling the young people
where to put the roadblocks and even lending them tractors to carry
boulders to the road for the purpose!

We arrived in Narok past 12:00 pm, having started earlier than 6:00
am! This was relatively safe, at least on the roads. In town,
however, it was a different story. Here a building that belonged to a
Kikuyu businesswoman had been looted and torched the previous night;
another building, belonging to a Maasai but with a Kikuyu tenant, had
just been looted and spared the fire! We heard stories of people
raiding homes belonging to non-Maasai's (mainly Kisii and Kikuyu!);
and we heard that a number of Kikuyus had been hacked to death the
previous night! There were also stories of forced circumcision of
adult Luo men and rumour had it that one of them had died from
excessive bleeding!

We drove to the police station to check the security situation past
Narok towards Nairobi. The entire place was full of parked vehicles -
buses, matatus, cars, motor cycles, name it! And many, many people
sleeping in vehicles and shades at the police station! We later were
told that many non-Maasais had left their homes and were spending
their days and nights at the police station. A policemen I talked to
indicated that they had intelligence on planned raids that evening,
which they were busy disrupting with the arrest of ring leaders!

We traced a friend to a government property in town and discovered
even more people in the compound; men, women and children that had
abandoned their homes for the safety of the government property; they
told of threats to set their homes on fire that night and the killing
of any non-Maasai found in the process; some people said they chose
to sleep in the bush rather than be caught in their houses.

We heard more stories (not confirmed) of the torching of wheat
shambas of PNU supporters; and I marveled why that had to be so!
Burning food just to punish a PNU supporter!

Others told us of the pre and post-election tension! Some politicians
had whipped up ethnic sentiments with one promising to shut down
Kikuyu-owned businesses in town. Indeed, one such politician (an
ODMer) had promised to get rid of Equity Bank out of town as a first
act! Yet, for those in the know, the bank had the best lending terms
of all the banks in town! It is said that others expressed grievances
of such nature as: such as such a person (usually a non-Maasai) came
to town recently, started selling mandazis and look, now they own a
building! Pure jealousy, I would say! But there was also gloating
once ECK announced that Kibaki had won! Some of his supporters went
around gloating and taunting their opponents! So you have
envy/jealousy mixed with incentive gloating at the PNU win!

I spoke to and heard from many people about this. In one case, a
close relative spoke of the anger that overcame him when put aside a
Kikuyu in an office. And I asked why? He could not explain, except
for the fact that he felt resentment at their success. And I asked
whether he had asked how they succeeded? He didn't reply!

Kikuyus are 23% of the Kenyan population, more than double the next
most populous ethnic group. As such, their numbers are going to be
felt everywhere: in jail, business, pimping, prostitution, politics
and all! They are also a step ahead of most ethnic groups with
business sophistication (being close to Nairobi is one factor
contributing to this) and were given a "leg up" by the government of
the late Jomo Kenyatta!

My take is this: learn from them; educate yourselves in business and
do some catching up. Fighting them is only detrimental to our
collective well-being because a better-off Kikuyu is a better-off
Kenyan. Work hard to catch up! We forget that the Asian population (a
tiny minority) and other foreign interests have a larger section of
the Kenyan economy than many ethnic groups combined; and people are
not whining about it! Take the example of Equity Bank: in its place
we would have the Barclays and Standard banks take the business! And
who the hell owns Barclays and Standard banks?

My other take is this: the Kikuyu need to do something about
perceived insensitivity to others' concerns; some claim the Kikuyu
leadership is arrogant and need to learn that we are a nation of 41
ethnicities. And we must live together! It is work we must partake as
a nation, making it our collective responsibility.

My other take is this: murder and destruction of others' property
merely takes us back as a nation; we should learn from Mexico: they
protested a flawed election with neither killing each other nor
destroying others' property. My cousin's hardware shop served the
Kisumu population; his housing united accommodated the local
community. The wheat torched in Narok was food for Kenyans,
regardless of tribe and class. And hacking people to death doesn't
advance the cause for justice that arose of the rigged election.

This is getting too long. However, here are some observations
pertaining to the elections:


This election wasn't about issues in many places; tons of money was
spent by both sides to get voters to polling stations; I visited some
of these and saw a number of candidate agents dishing out money to
voters; many voters lurked in woods and bushes around polling
stations waiting to be given "something small" before they voted! In
many locations, voters who thought we were part of the campaign,
asked us to "free them" so that they can vote before polls closed.
Both sides rigged the elections, especially in the presidential poll.
Molo was perhaps the highlight where there was clear discrepancy
between the tally from the returning officer and what was read by
ECK! Molo, in my view, is a tip of the iceberg. My own intuition is
that examination of all returns will reveal massive discrepancies,
making the outcome too close to call! That said, in this respect, ODM
was more vigilant, more vocal and their complaints got all the
attention that came out. Whatever the case, the presidential vote
outcome was substantially impacted by the low integrity of the
electoral process.
The stalemate was bound to happen! Kivuitu needed to announce the day
he did as Kibaki's term was expiring midnight that night; failure to
swear in a president would have left a power vacuum. I wish that the
ECK had been more vigilant, more thorough and ensured that
discrepancies in tallying had been caught in a timely manner. An
inquiry may establish the extent of rigging and it may show that
(indeed) there was massive rigging on both sides. However, that will
be too late as those who feel aggrieved wouldn't have attained power
that they feel they rightly won.
As the early results came in, many of us had resigned to the fact
that ODM would form the next government. In one conversation I had
with an ODM insider, I suggested that this may be a blessing in
disguise for us who never supported ODM. And for good reasons: the
many promises made by the party and its presidential candidate would
be extremely difficult to fulfill; examples: a constitution in six
months when you don't have 2/3 majority in parliament; implementing
majimbo and spending 60% of revenue in the jimbos! insuring Maasai
cattle with the unpredictable conditions in which they are kept, let
alone convincing Maasais to pay a premium for the coverage,; growing
the economy by 10% (some utterances suggested 20%); implementing the
Kroll and Ndungu reports, etc. etc. Too many promises with low
likelihood of success.
etc etc.
So what next:

Both Kibaki and Raila need to realize that they hold the nation's
future in their hands; they should climb down the high horses and
work out a plan that would restore peace to the nation;
Neither Kibaki nor Raila alone can govern the country without the
cooperation of the other. With the poll differences degenerating to
ethnic wardom, I doubt any of them would want to preside over a
degenerating Kenya.
We need an independent examination of all the votes that were cast
and the tallying of them all to determine what happened and whether
the outcome would have been otherwise. In any case, we should
consider the possibility of a repeat poll (even is simply
presidential) within a period of six months.
Regardless of that poll outcome, both leaders should consider a
government of national unity; for PNU to form a government and leave
out large sections of the country unrepresented would be
unacceptable; the same applies for ODM with its lack of
representation in key areas.
As Kenyans, we should tone down our rhetoric that fuels ethnic
animosity. Over the past few years, some of us have been warning
about demonizing others simply because of where they were born into;
in a way, this rhetoric, some fueled by the Internet and FM stations,
is responsible for the senseless murder of innocent people and
destruction of their properties. Surely, we can do better; and
surely, there are better ways to get along.

Enough for now.

Unedited.

Matunda Nyanchama

...
written by Mwambu , January 05, 2008

Mwambu: Please make your comment in an appropriate thread (not this one), and a bit longer than that. Ed.

...
written by a guest , January 05, 2008

The tragedy of our times is this construct called centralized unitary Kenya.

Why have Kenyans chosen to delude themselves for forty five years that they are a nation. Ever since Kenyatta Kikuy-centric chauvinists chose to create a dualistic Kenya with one group at the helm, tribalism in post-indendent Kenya has sprouted like wild daffodils.

Kenyatta invented tribalism, Moi let it grow, and Kibaki nurtured it to maturity.

re:
written by manta ray , January 07, 2008

The tragedy of our times is this construct called centralized unitary Kenya.

Why have Kenyans chosen to delude themselves for forty five years that they are a nation. Ever since Kenyatta Kikuy-centric chauvinists chose to create a dualistic Kenya with one group at the helm, tribalism in post-indendent Kenya has sprouted like wild daffodils.

Kenyatta invented tribalism, Moi let it grow, and Kibaki nurtured it to maturity.

This is precisely the blinkered thinking and stupidity that gets us nowhere, and that Mr Nyanchama has tried so hard in his article to get through pig-headed fanatics like you. There is no such thing as Kikuyus, for example, being at the helm because of the tribe of the President. The people at the helm are the President and his cronies, not his tribe!!