After a fortnight of political violence during which an estimated 250,000 Kenyans were displaced, health workers are scrambling to ensure that HIV-positive people on life-prolonging anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy continue to receive their drugs and adequate food supplies.

The European Union (EU) parliament has recommended an immediate aid freeze on Kenya to push President Mwai Kibaki to urgently kick-start efforts to end the East African country's post-election political stand-off. EU parliamentarians, meeting almost 20-days into the country's post-election political crisis, also recommended an urgent re-run of the presidential elections if a recount of the disputed presidential votes was not possible to determine the winner.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that at least 100,000 children have been forced to flee their homes due to the wave of violence that swept through Kenya following last month’s disputed elections. The agency said that as many as 75,000 children are now residing in over 100 camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), while many thousands more children are believed to be living temporarily with other family members.

Police on Wednesday shot dead four people and violently dispersed opposition leaders at the start of the three-day opposition mass protests which saw businesses paralysed in Nairobi and all the major towns and cities, including Kisumu, Mombasa and Eldoret. The opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has vowed to pursue protests and engage in international mediation efforts while constantly raising the issue of the flawed presidential elections in parliament where it has a controlling majority.

Renowned Kenyan novelist and playwright Ngugi wa Thiong'o give his views on the unrest that has engulfed Kenya since last month's disputed elections.

Writers must sometimes feel like the Greek prophetess Cassandra, gifted to see the future but fated not to be believed.

What is unfolding in Kenya could as well have been lifted from my novel Wizard of the Crow where the ruling party and the opposition parities engaged in Western-sponsored democracy become mirror images of one another in their absurdity and indifference to the poor. The picture of men and women burnt down in a church where they had gone for refuge still haunts my mind. A child running away from the fire was caught and hurled back into the flames.

One of the few survivors was quoted as saying: "But they knew me; we were neighbours. I thought Peter was a friend - a good neighbour. How could Peter do this to me?" I had heard the same puzzled cry from Bosnia. I had heard the same cry from Iraq. I had heard the same, same words from Rwanda: "We were neighbours; we'd married into each other. How could this happen?" And now I hear the same cry from Eldoret North in my beloved Kenya. For me this burning of men, women and children in a church is a defining single instant of the current political impasse in Kenya.

And this must be separated from accusations and counter-accusations of rigged elections by the contending parties. Rigged elections is one thing - it can be righted by any mutually agreed political measures - but ethnic cleansing is another matter altogether. What is disturbing is that this instant seems to have been part of a co-ordinated programme with similar acts occurring in several other places at about the same time against ordinary members of the same community.

Ordinary people do not wake up one morning and suddenly decide to kill their neighbours. Ethnic cleansing is often instigated by the political elite of one community against another community. It is premeditated - often an order from political warlords. Or it may be the outcome of an elitist ideology of demonising and isolating another community. Either way the aim is to drive members of the targeted community from the region.

Premeditated

Frantz Fanon, the intellectual visionary of the Third World, had long ago warned us of the dangers of the ideology of regionalism preached by an elite whose money can buy them safe residence in any part of a country. A single instance of premeditated ethnic cleansing can lead to an unstoppable cycle of vendettas - a poor-on-poor violence - while those who tele-guided them to war through the ideology of hate and demonisation are clinking glasses in middle-class peace at cocktail parties with the elite or the supposed enemy community.

This crime should be investigated by the United Nations.

If it is found that a political organisation has run a campaign on a programme that consciously seeks to isolate another community as a community, then they ought to be held fully accountable for the consequences of their ideology and actions. It is often easier to blame a government when it is involved in massacres. This is as it should be. A government must always be held to higher standards, for its very legitimacy lies in its capacity to ensure peace and security for all communities. But what about if such a massacre is inspired by a programme of an opposition movement?

This ought to receive equally severe condemnation from all and sundry, for being in opposition does not give an organisation the right to run on an ideology of isolation and hate targeted at another community. An opposition movement is potentially a government of tomorrow. A programme that such a political organisation draws while in opposition would obviously be the programme they'll try to implement when in power.

That's why such acts must be condemned even when they are clothed in progressive, democratic-sounding words and phrases. I therefore call upon the United Nations to act and investigate the massacres in Kenya as crimes against humanity and let the chips fall where they may. For the sake of justice, healing and peace now and in the future I urge all progressive forces not to be so engrossed with the political wrongs of election tampering that they forget the crimes of hate and ethnic cleansing - crimes that have led to untimely deaths and the displacement of thousands.

The world does not need another Bosnia; Africa certainly does not need another Rwanda.

*Professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o is Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature, and Director of the International Centre for Writing and Translation, at the University of California Irvine.

*A version of this article first appeared in BBC World Update on January 10 2008

*Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Dear all Kenyans and friends of Kenya,
My name is John Barbieri. I am desperately trying to reach out to other people in the US who are concerned and outraged about the current situation in Kenya, and to see ways that I and others may help take unified action in any possible way. In that vein, I am reaching out to all Kenyans living in the US and friends of Kenya, and am proposing the idea of trying to form and expand a network of people in the US in order to establish a kind of united front to vigorously advocate for the US to play a more neutral, multilateral and transparent role in the negotiation process for peace with truth and justice in Kenya.

In part one, Onyango Oloo diagnosed the Kenya crisis. In Part two he prescribes, amongst other remedies, continued civil action against the Kibaki government

In this section of my essay, I want to examine the options ahead for the Kenya democratic movement.

Many of us heaved a sigh of relief when Raila Odinga announcement the postponement of the rallies.

Let me hasten to add that our sigh of relief DID NOT coincide with NOR WAS IT THE SAME AS the sighs from the Kenyan comprador and petit bourgeois elite.

Rather, our own sense of relief was grounded on organizational, tactical and strategic considerations.

We felt that the initial round of protests were largely spontaneous and unfocused.

Even the first attempts of ODM to rally the troops to Uhuru Park relied heavily on the passions and voluntarist energies of the ODM popular base. These actions were not very well coordinated in our view and that is why the cops had an upper hand.

We also felt that after the series of lumpen jacquerries in the informal settlements which had left in their wake infernos, innocent victims and tribal acrimony, it was crucial for the ODM to step and take charge, because contrary to the strident accusations of PNU supporters online and throughout the country, the Orange Democratic Movement as a party HAD NO ROLE in the riots and subsequent carnage.

This fact is graphically illustrated by the plight which befell hundreds of innocent Kisii speaking voters in Nyanza and parts of the Rift Valley. A comrade of mine who was one of the defeated aspirants in one constituency on the southern tip of Nyanza province recounted to me the violent reprisals and terrible ordeals which befell innocent Kisiis who had actually voted for Raila Odinga. He told me that there was a series of very blatant rigging of the ballots for Kibaki in parts of the Greater Kisii region where the PNU Presidential candidate got abnormally high amounts of votes- a clear plan to steal votes from Raila Odinga. When these artificial tallies were announced by ECK and especially after the shocking award by Kivuitu to Kibaki of the 2007 Presidential prize, mass anger erupted in places like Migori, Kericho, Kuresoi and Kisumu. The target this time was not confined to innocent Kikuyus and their property but also members of the Kisii who were wrongly accused by enraged Luo and Kipsigis mobs of having “betrayed” the people of Nyanza in bringing back Kibaki to power. I am told that even now there are unclaimed bodies literally some of the tea estates in Kericho with many members of the Kisii community losing their businesses in Kisumu and some areas in the Rift Valley. The many illegal road blocks erected on the Kisii-Nairobi road especially the Sotik-Narok section were scenes of unbelievable horrors if one happened to be a Kisii. This account corroborates the harrowing narrative of the Toronto-based Dr. Matunda Nyanchama that was posted on the Africa-Oped and Mwananchi online discussion forums.

My comrade told me that it took his own urgent personal intervention to two members of the ODM Pentagon that enabled the leadership of ODM to travel to the Rift Valley and Nyanza to appeal for calm and the end of ethnic slaughter.

The point I am trying to drive home is that the ODM leadership could have hardly "ordered" an ethnic attack on the Kisii community which rallied together to rout Simeon Nyachae and eliminate the PNU as a political force in Gusii land.

If anything, the ODM leadership, especially in southern Nyanza can be accused of being largely impotent in the face of a grave crisis affecting their own fervent supporters.
I would like to state for the record that I have been disgusted by the emerging PNU propaganda that attempts to portray the ODM leadership as Interhamwe type masterminds of genocide when the facts point to two developments:

The deployment of state troops who went on a shooting rampage in Nairobi, Eldoret, Kakamega, Bungoma, Kisumu and Mombasa killing innocent civilians and two; The cynical abdication of duty by the same state employed uniformed security forces when looting and plunder was taking place in Kisumu, Kibera and Mombasa to just cite three examples where eye-witnesses (including my brother in law in Mombasa who happens to be a half-Kikuyu and who had his bar on the west mainland pillaged and plundered under the uncaring eye of hordes of heavily armed cops who stood by as his club was stripped of all the equipment, appliances and facilities that he spent the last two years installing to revamp the place). It is my considered opinion that the looting and plunder WAS CONSCIOUSLY FACILITATED BY THE STATE TO DISCREDIT RAILA ODINGA AND THE ODM. This position was echoed by an elderly clear headed Kisumu resident when he was interviewed last night by a KTN television crew.

The PNU propagandists peddling the spurious “genocide” allegations are of course blissfully oblivious to the fact that the MAJORITY OF DEAD VICTIMS of the post-electoral violence has police wounds riddling their corpses.

If there is a case that can be made of pre-meditated mass killings, then the person in the dock should be those Kibaki connected and conniving political schemers who instituted a shoot to kill policy after arming cops with live ammunition instead of rubber bullets.

The breaking news revelations by Maina Kiai, the fiercely independent Chair of the state funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights to the effect that members of the dreaded Mungiki sect had been reactivated by the Kibaki regime to carry out murderous attacks in Nairobi slums thought to be ODM strongholds is a stunning setback that is already causing ripple effects and knocking the wind out of the sails of those Kibaki supporters online who have been trumpeting a concocted campaign against Raila Odinga and his ODM colleagues who they have stridently accused of ethnic cleansing.

What is even more astonishing that this story was broken by none other than Mungiki insiders who took the initiative of contacting Maina Kiai's offices.

It should be recalled that only a few months ago the same Kibaki regime was indiscriminately executing innocent Agikuyu youth suspected of being Mungiki members based on the sole “evidence” of ethnicity.

What a CYNICAL case of Use and Dump and Abuse Again!

The PNU propagandists may very well get what they wish for with unintended legal consequences for their paymasters because I earnestly believe that an independent, transparent international inquiry composed of legal experts into the Kenyan post-electoral deaths is far more likely to indict the Michukis and the Murages than anyone else within the ODM leadership.

And that is why I say:

Bring on the Inquiry, the Tribunal, the Commission!

Let the investigations commence this very afternoon!

As I was saying before I veered off on that tangent, many progressive and democratic minded Kenyans were grateful when ODM called off the mass rallies.

Why?

The masses were fatigued; they were famished; they were unorganized and disorganized and certainly not very politically conscientized and sensitized. As one of my comrades was pointing out to me yesterday evening, mass action is NOT A JOKE.

You need a detailed strategy.

You need mobilizers.

You need resources; in the same way an army needs supply lines, commanders and maximum flexibility of tactics to outwit the other side.

Of course Onyango Oloo is NOT going to delve into any kind of detail about how one can implement a successful, sustained and popular mass action strategy here online.

I would have to be certified INSANE for me to do that.

The key thing to remember is that the crisis in Kenya has by now evolved far beyond Raila Odinga and the stolen Presidential vote or the right of ODM to form the next government.

What we are now dealing with as Kenyans is the need to repulse a criminal conspiracy to overthrow democratic rule and restore the neo-colonial fascist ethno-kleptocracy of the Moi-KANU years.

What we are dealing with as Kenyans is a direct danger to ALL of the democratic gains we have made over the last twenty-five to thirty years.

What we are dealing with as Kenyans is an immediate threat that could plunge Kenya into a bloody civil war that would make Liberia, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Congo look like child’s play.

The danger we face as a nation calls IMMEDIATELY for, among other prerogatives:

1. A UNITED response that does not look at the problem through PAROCHIAL ETHNIC spectacles;
2. A DEMOCRATIC and PEACEFUL response that eschews militaristic and violent conspiracies;
3. A perspective grounded on SOCIAL JUSTICE and ANTI-IMPERIALIST precepts to ensure a progressive, egalitarian and just eventual outcome;
4. A PROTRACTED approach realizing that Kibaki and his henchmen, having tasted state power, will not, of their own accord relinquish the same unless forced to do so by united, democratic, progressive determination of the Kenyan people rising up to demand their country, their rights and their aspirations back from the PNU usurpers;
5. An organic linkage with the international solidarity and fight back campaigns spearheaded BY PROGRESSIVE AND PATRIOTIC KENYANS OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY together with our other global comrades in many countries throughout the world; There is ONLY ONE WEAPON at the disposal of the Kenyan people at this present time and that weapon is:

ORGANIZATION.

Let me repeat Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary dictum over and over and over and over again:

Organize, Organize, Organize!

Yes we know that the MOST AGGRIEVED IMMEDIATE ENTITY is the ODM who have just been robbed of an election that they won fair and square in broad daylight.

However the issue is far, far beyond the ODM and its immediate supporters. They are millions of Kenyans who are not necessarily aligned to ODM who are completely outraged and want to be part of a successful fight back.

This reality calls for the launching of a Kenya- wide organizational and democratic conduit which is much broader than any one political party in the country.

The other day I called for the formation of a NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT founded on the four pillars of JUSTICE, PEACE, DEMOCRACY and TRUTH. This movement must be based on the poor wananchi in the urban and rural areas, the youth, the women, the cultural and religious minorities, the progressive elements among the middle-class, patriotic Kenyans outside the country and all anti-imperialist forces.

My call is merely one of dozens of such calls emanating simultaneously from Kenyan progressives from all over the country, from Mombasa to Malaba, Moyale to Loitoktok.

Already we see fast mutating ancestors of that kind of an organization sprouting almost on a daily basis.

At the civil society front, a network of over 30 NGOs and non-profit formations formed a Coalition for Peace, Justice and Truth within the first few days of January.

At the core of this coalition are such credible institutions like the Kenya Human Rights Commission, Mars Group, Law Society of Kenya, Kituo Cha Sheria, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, NCEC, the Centre for Multi-Party Democracy-Kenya and other like minded bodies.

We must commend the admirable work of such Kenyan militant patriots and progressives like Muthoni Wanyeki, Gladwell Otieno, Cyprian Nyamwamu, Kepta Ombati, Ndung’u Wainaina, Maina Kiai, Zahid Rajan, Haron Ndubi, Zarina Patel and Mwalimu Mati in jump-starting this much needed vehicle and process.

Among the praise worthy initiatives of the new coalition are efforts to engage members of the Central Kenyan communities through an entity called the Republican Forum- a network of younger business people and professionals from among the Agikuyu. This forum which meets regularly at a certain Nairobi hotel and counts among its regulars people like David Ndii, Mutahi Ngunyi to name just two, is right now assessing the ECONOMIC and FINANCIAL immediate impact and long term ramifications of the Kibaki/PNU on Central Kenya within the context of the national reality that the Agikuyu, like other Kenyans live all over the country and if the anti-Kibaki backlash maintains an ethnic tag how this will mess up national harmony. Apart from that, the group has a mandate to emphasize to the GEMA communities that Kibaki’s coup should not be seen as synonymous as a “victory” for millions of individual Kikuyus, Merus and Embus but rather an insult and assault on every one of them who as Kenyans are equally affronted by this callous subversion of democracy, justice, and yes, prospects for peaceful coexistence across all our diverse Kenyan peoples.

Over and above the above, forces within the coalition are exhorting Kenyans to do the following:

(i)Agitate for new presidential elections within the next three months;
(ii)Urge ODM to take up their seats and continue their struggle in the 10th parliament because a boycott will be a political faux pas that will play right into the hands of the PNU usurpers;
(iii)Engage the police, the paramilitary and the military with a view of winning over these security forces to the side of the democratic and patriotic forces;
(iv)Mobilizing the international community, especially the United States, Canada, Japan and the European Union to realize that Kenya will be UNGOVERNABLE under an illegitimate regime and that their interests and the interests of neighbouring countries like Uganda, Rwanda, the DRC, Sudan, Ethiopia etc will be at risk if the current political impasse persists;
(v)Step up indigenous, in country humanitarian efforts reaching out to ALL the victims of the post-electoral strife regardless of ethnicity, political affiliation and regional origins;

There are of course some other interesting developments but I guess it as this point that I will dutifully ZIP MY LIPS.

*Onyango Oloo, a Kenyan political activist and ex political prisoner.

*Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

From the look of things, it would appear that we are still a long way from resolving the serious post-election crisis that is gripping and almost crippling Kenya.

Even after Raila Odinga and ODM considerably softened their preconditions for internationally mediated talks with their opposite numbers by dropping their demand that Kibaki must resign; calling off a series of rallies and mass actions across the country and lowering the decibel of their political rhetoric, Mwai Kibaki and his fellow usurpers seems set on a suicidal path to tighten their hold on the stolen public offices.

On Tuesday, January 8, 2008 the besieged Pretender President in the State House compounded the putschist, undemocratic initial injury he had inflicted on the Kenyan nation by unilaterally and illegally appointing his cronies and side-kicks to ministerial positions literally hours before African Union Chairperson John Kuffuor of Ghana landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to mediate in scheduled talks between ODM and PNU.

Not only did Kibaki violate Kenyan law by appointing these individuals before they had been sworn in formally as members of parliament, the Othaya MP was desperate to confront the visiting Kuffuor with a fait accompli by grabbing the most powerful and strategic cabinet positions for himself and his faction.

In doing so, Kibaki also laid bare a lot of what Kenyans had been suspecting for months:

Kalonzo Musyoka, the ODM-K leader and also ran presidential candidate had always been a fifth columnist amidst opposition ranks causing much rancour while still in the original ODM and bolting off to form ODM-K as a stratagem of wangling for himself the coveted VP slot. Now every boast of Kalonzo’s about being a “peace maker” and ‘Mr. Clean Hands” rings hollow; words and phrases added to the growing hill of human turd, the self-created merde composed of his swaggering and sauntering election campaign boasts of being the “most formidable opponent” of Kibaki and the “people’s servant”.

How could Kibaki’s so called “most formidable opponent” agree to be a mere junior stand in for his alleged nemesis?

How could an alleged “peace maker” and so called “servant of the people” jump hastily into bed with someone whose criminal actions had led to so much blood shed, ethnic acrimony, economic devastation and political uncertainty?

What is also clearly evident is that Kibaki’s move to appoint Kalonzo Musyoka as his deputy could be an advance gambit anticipating a re-run of the presidential contest where Kibaki and his schemers reckon that Kalonzo may single-handedly delivered the Akamba bloc vote.

Judging by his less than stellar showing at the just concluded parliamentary and presidential elections, it is by no means a sure bet that Kalonzo will actually live up to this lofty expectations.

Many of us in the progressive and democratic camp here in Kenya have been chastened with the emerging agenda of the United States and such multi-lateral global bodies like the World Bank.

A leaked memo authored by the Guyanese born Kenya Country director of the World Bank Colin Bruce basically setting the ground for an acceptance of the Kibaki coup d'etat is a very sobering reminder that when it comes to crunch time, institutions such as the World Bank will gravitate towards the status quo.

Some of my reliable sources here in Nairobi inform me that the United States publicly unstated position militates against a re-run of the election, leaning more towards a negotiated power-sharing formula between Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki- as if the national crisis that has seen tens of thousands of democracy seeking Kenyan protesters lash out in anger in response to the stolen presidential vote outcome.

It is also not very clear what the mainstream African agenda is regarding the current crisis in Kenya.

Conterminous with the arrival and presence of John Kufour was the puzzling tour of ex-Presidents Kaunda of Zambia, Mkapa of Tanzania, Chissano of Mozambique and Masire of Botswana.

Were they in Kenya to bolster or undermine the shuttle diplomacy of the Ghanaian head of state?

What are more disturbing are the personal, ideological and strategic intentions of President Yoweri Museveni from the neighbouring nation-state of Uganda.

Credible reports indicate that Ugandan troops-some of them dressed in Kenyan police uniform, some of them in civvies- have been implicated in the extra-judicial state ordered executions of unarmed civilians in Kisumu, including many infants and minors, with some shot at close range while cowering in their own homes.

An observer in Nairobi has privately suggested to this writer that the Kibaki posse of political criminals did approach the Ugandan government expressing their insecurities about dealing with any negative fallout from within the Kenyan military establishment in the aftermath of the elections.

Museveni, according to this source, is supposed to have reassured the Kenyan head of state and his shadowy kitchen cabinet that Uganda was ready to do ANYTHING- including dispatching troops to Kenya to thwart any efforts at overturning the Kibaki civilian coup.

The observer in Nairobi is of the opinion that the main thing driving Museveni’s mother hen attitude towards Kenya has less to do with guaranteeing Kenyan political stability as with the Ugandan president’s own megalomaniacal ambitions to be the capo dei capi of East and Central Africa over the next few years. As many readers of these lines know, there is a push to consolidate the process of implementing the East African Community as an economic, legal, social and POLITICAL entity. Part of the provisions of that process is the creation of an East African Community President.

My source avers that Museveni sees himself as the natural born leader who will fit that slot. M7 (as the Ugandan president is often referred to, especially in his native land) thinks that Kenya’s Raila Odinga stands in Museveni’s way because of the ODM flag-bearer’s own charisma, Pan African appeal and political pedigree (it never hurts to be scion/offspring of one of the Third World’s most celebrated nationalist heroes, Jaramogi Ajuma Oginga Odinga).

The observer in Nairobi is convinced that Museveni’s covert and overt (he is the only leader to have so far "recognized" the illegitimate hostage in the State House) support for Kibaki is rooted in a cynical, mid term quid pro quo strategy of neutralizing any aspirants to the ultimate East African crown jewel.

I ran this hypothesis by another friend of mine, this one a highly placed individual embedded at the core of Kenya’s National Security Intelligence Service.

My NSIS contact was very skeptical about the Museveni Factor as delineated by my observer pal.

He says that going by his own contacts within the Ugandan armed forces and intelligence agencies, there does not seem to be ANY credence that could lift the Museveni Hypothesis above the level of wild rumour and baseless speculation. He also doubts the reports, lately echoed by Raila Odinga himself about the active participation of Ugandan troops in the state-engineered massacres of civilians in Kisumu.

I will leave my readers to use their own discretion to interrogate, verify and/or corroborate the veracity or otherwise of these serious allegations regarding the role played by President Museveni in the current Kenyan crisis.

Nevertheless, my spooky intelligence pal shared with me something else:

He told me that there is a high level of uncertainty and even mild dissent within the armed forces, the regular police and other elements of the Kenyan state security apparatus.

He claims that the wildly refuted SMS rumours which speculated that Kenya’s army chief and the police commissioner had resigned around New Year’s Day were NOT totally baseless because there had been some kind of heightened pressures on the duo within those ranks that the military and the police should not be seen to be condoning Kibaki’s electoral grand larceny.

The NSIS Deep Throat also told me that overall morale within the armed forces has been lowered considerably and that there are more and more middle-ranking officers who are quitting the Kenyan military to pursue soldier of fortune opportunities in places like Iraq or take up private civilian security consulting gigs within the country- a trend that he evaluates as not being in the best interests of the Kibaki junta.

My shadowy source also asserted that the MAJORITY of the members of the REGULAR police are OPENLY sympathetic to ODM and that could be one reason why the Michukis and Murages opted for members of the dreaded GSU and the Administration Police together with the elements from the National Youth Service as the storm troopers to protect the illegal installation of Mwai Kibaki. Even here he says that many of those young people dressed up in those fierce looking anti-riot gear are actually NOT GSU but AP and NYS personnel because the commander of the Administration Police is allegedly closer to the kitchen cabinet cabal than the other police heads.

Again what I am purveying here is a perspective from one individual. Whether what he is saying is true or not is subject to further investigation and verification.

There are so many things which have been happening in Nairobi which are yet to make it to the public domain. For instance we are told that immediately after the polls, former President Moi (with or without some of his kids) boarded a plane bound for Germany. Upon arrival, the authorities in that European state loaded promptly on another Nairobi bound flight, barring his presence in Germany.

* This is the first part of the essay, the second of which will appear in the next issue of Pambazuka News

*Onyango Oloo, a Kenyan political activist and ex political prisoner.

*Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

I read your comments on the Kenyan elections with great interest. While acknowledging that the Kenyan electorate has indeed lost the elections, I would like to point out that we should have seen the post-election violence coming. After all, ODM never lost an opportunity to state that the elections would be rigged - it was a psychological game that heightened people's fears and anxieties so much so that even if Kibaki had won with a landslide, they would still have cried foul. I do not agree with your sentiments that since majority of the PNU ministers were floored, it is an indication that Kibaki was unpopular. I think for the first time, voters opted to stay away from the 3-piece style; the message some of us were sending was: You may be in PNU but you have not delivered as an MP but we believe Kibaki could do better with a new crop of MPs.

As I look at the line-up of MPs Kenyans have voted into parliament my heart weeps for the citizens. What nation turns a blind eye and votes in remnants of a dictatorial corrupt regime? I cannot believe that the ODM euphoria has brought in men and women who have corruption scandals firmly tied around their necks? So will we ever get justice for the crimes committed against us? And to see some of them give rhetoric speeches on justice is a mockery of our intelligence!

On the other hand, I think it is time we put lots of pressure on Kibaki to deliver on issues that are crucial for the Kenyan citizen. I think it's high time civil society (I wonder if we are still relevant at this rate considering that most of us have been compromised) began to speak with a loud voice on socio-political and economic issues affecting the Kenyan populace. As a young girl growing up, I knew that there were courageous men and women who never lost an opportunity to stand for the rights of the people. Slowly, the voice of justice has died over the years, and what we have as civil society in Kenya are men and women eyeing the political seats too and waiting to oil their pockets with hefty salary perks. The role of religious institutions cannot be under-estimated in the cause for justice. Religious institutions in my opinion, should be impartial, keeping a keen eye on the going-ons in society and providing a critical analysis of the happenings. They should be able to challenge injustice at all levels and ensure that the citizens' rights are prioritized at all costs. I have been disheartened to see religious leaders routing for particular candidates or political parties - how then can one provide impartial criticism when the individual or party disregards the rule of law or disrespects the rights of the common man? The media in Kenya has in some ways been irresponsible, airing politicians' irresponsible utterances and I don't think they were aware of the potential harm of their "freedom" to give every politician the space to abuse and call one another names. The chickens have indeed come home to roost. I honestly believe the media in this country needs to re-define themselves into a professional unit and for once, let news be devoid of name-calling and tribal alignments and assessments.

We need a paradigm shift in this country. As Kenyans descend on one another and kill one another, the politicians to whom they owe allegiance retreat in the safety of their homes and the comfort of their families. Is there any politician who really cares? In my opinion, none. Let us not lay blame totally on the state forces; it is clear in some regions that people had been incited to ensure that those belonging to a particular ethnic tribe should be annihilated or vacated. Could somebody please explain why Kikuyu businesses in Western Kenya were targeted? The youth in Kenya should also be motivated to think independently and it is high time each young man/woman realized that no politician will put a plate of food or salary on their tables. A successful society is made up of people who are able to exploit the existing socio-political and economic space in order to better not only their lives, but also the lives of the communities around them.

As we all wait for peace to be restored in this nation, it is my sincere prayer that we will learn from our errors. Aside from politicians, the civil society, religious institutions and the media have a crucial role to play in ensuring that the unity we have enjoyed as a nation is restored and sustained.

Lucy Simiyu
A concerned Kenyan citizen

Targeted and broad-based sanctions must be imposed against the illegitimate and corrupt government of Mwai Kibaki. Everyone knows that the elections were fraudulent and steps must be taken to defend Kenya's nascent democracy. No lasting peace will come to Kenya without justice in the 2007 elections and too much is at stake. The welfare of 150 million people in the East African region is in jeopardy.

UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM ACADEMIC STAFF ASSEMBLY (UDASA)

STATEMENT ON THE GRAVE ELECTION AND POST-ELECTION SITUATION IN KENYA

As an association of academics with the social responsibility of pursuing truth and being obliged to take up issues of great concern to citizens of countries in which we work, UDASA wishes to register our grave concern about loss of live and the wanton destruction of people’s property arising from the sad events that have been unfolding since the hurried inauguration of Mr. Mwai Kibaki as the President, for a second term, of the Republic of Kenya. As intellectuals we have made our modest contribution to the building and consolidation of democratic institutions and traditions in Tanzania and, more generally, in East Africa. General Elections are the principal means by which citizens may exercise their hard-worn sovereignty.

On the 27th of December 2007, General Elections were conducted in Kenya. On the 30th of December, 2007, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Kenya, Mr. Samuel Kivuitu announced that Mr. Mwai Kibaki, the leader of the Party for National Unity (PNU) that had gained 33 seats in the 210 seat Kenyan Parliament against 95 seats gained by the party of his main rival, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), was the winner of the Presidential race in that General Election.

Immediately, thereafter, Kenya has been plunged into violence triggered by outbursts of anger and resentment against supporters of PNU and those ethnically associated with Mr. Kibaki who ODM and its supporters accuse of rigging the tallying of the final count of the General Election results and thus stealing victory in the Presidential race from Mr. Raila Oginga of ODM. More than 300 people are said to have died so far and thousands have been internally displaced. Some Kenyans are said to be already fleeing to neighbouring countries as refugees. All the General Election observers, both local and international are in agreement that there were undue delays in having the constituency election tallies submitted to the Electoral Commission headquarters. There is also consensus now that the results that the Chairman of ECK announced on the 30th December 2007 on the basis of which Mr. Kibaki took the oath as the winner of the Presidential race were not credible tallies of the General Election results where the Presidential race is concerned. The ECK Chairman himself has subsequently made the surprising admission that he himself did not know who won the Presidential race in spite being the one, who announced that Mr. Kibaki won the election on the 30th December, 2007.

Popular displeasure has been unleashed. This displeasure has in some cases taken a very violent turn that has expressed itself in ugly scenes of the destruction of people and property. Political passions have been aroused and in heat of the raised political passions ethnic bigotry has been aroused and made to thrive. Some citizens now have taken to thinking that an injustice had been committed against a political leader or groups of political leaders they considered to be of their kind. Other citizen also now being encouraged to believe that an advantage, however unfair, had been gained by a political leader or group of leaders considered to be of their kind. Seeds of ethnic cleansing are being sowed among residences with mixed ethnic backgrounds coinciding with rival political camps.

UDASA believes that it is time to call on all concerned to sit down and discuss the underlying issues that are the source of the unfolding conflict. The tallying of the election results needs to be revisited. Furthermore, a wider debate needs to be initiated on issues such as the composition and role of election commissions.

Dr. D.L. Nyaoro Chairperson

For over a week now, post election violence in Kenya has dominated the news. A country formerly seen as one of the most stable in Africa has turned overnight into chaos, violence and ethnic clashes that are being compared to the nightmare of Rwanda 13 years ago. What happened ?

The most frequently used headlines for the election-related violence has been “tribal killings” between the dominant Kikuyu and the Luo. The New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle have used words like “savage” in the front page and described the Mungiki ethnic group as “blood drinking” in last week’s articles.

In framing the conflict this way, the media not only misleads and oversimplifies the problem, worse, it affirms existing stereotypes that all of Africa’s problems can be reduced to savage tribal violence. The implication is that still, fifty years after independence, most African institutions lack the “sophisticated political and economic contentions” of other countries in the West. It becomes obvious in such scenarios to consider “humanitarian” intervention to bring in much needed civilization.

What the Kenyan election controversy has uncovered is that it much more to do with economics than with ethnic rivalry. Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong’o, in a recent article on the subject stated “They don’t seem to recognize sufficiently that Kenya like Africa as a whole has only two tribes: the haves and the have-nots.”

Much of the violence is concentrated in well known slum areas like Kibera and Mathare in the capital Nairobi. At around this time last year, we were in Nairobi for the World Social Forum. What we observed in the city were the obvious contradictions that can be seen in many African cities – well paved roads, fancy hotels and banks not unlike those in London or New York. But, spread throughout the city were the poor. In pockets within the city were the slums where the poorest of the poor reside in conditions unimaginable for human survival. It is in such areas that the violence is concentrated; people who have nothing to fear and nothing to lose.

When violence erupts so suddenly, the immediate response of the most vulnerable is to leave their homes and flee. Already there are reports of Kenyans leaving for neighboring Uganda in the thousands. What is alarming in this case is that there are already in Kenya millions of refugees from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda. Kenya has provided safe sanctuary and passage to millions of refugees escaping conflicts in the Horn of Africa.

The Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia & Sudan) is the most volatile region in the continent. Assistant Sec. for African Affairs Dr. Jendayi Frazier stated in a talk in San Francisco that she spends 70% of her focus on issues related to the five countries in Horn. The violence in Kenya, if not abated soon, has the potential to engulf an existing volatile situation into further chaos.

Nothing short of an independent investigation into charges of election rigging will begin to restore confidence of Kenyans. It is the first step toward long term cessation of violence and hostility that can then lead to political stability. It is important that both candidates exhibit the necessary leadership in resolving a crisis.

The worst proposal to “solve” yet another problem in Africa is the consideration of a military alternative, as in AfriCOM (an Africa Command center) which the State Department announced a year ago.

Expected to go into full operation in September of this year, AfriCom is being promoted as “security” measure to end conflicts and provide humanitarian assistance to Africa’s hotspots. The current violence in Kenya will, no doubt, be used as yet another reason why the US should speed up the operational phase of AfriCom.

As we have seen in the case of Iraq, military responses to deeper economic and political problems are no solution at all. They in fact exasperate and further divide communities along religious, ethnic and economic lines.

Let Kenyan leaders step in to propose solutions to the elections.

We speak in the name of Kenya’s governance, human rights and legal organizations, as well as the concerned citizens who have contacted and chosen to work with us over the last two weeks.

We have been meeting and organising for the past two weeks in order to understand and make public what happened with the counting and tallying process of our Presidential vote, as well as the nature of the violence experienced across the country since. With respect to the former, it has been our considered and informed opinion that the electoral malpractices—and illegalities—experienced invalidate the swearing in of Mwai Kibaki.

We are Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice, an initiative which has been meeting and organising for the past two weeks in order to understand and make public what happened with the counting and tallying process of our Presidential vote, as well as the nature of the violence experienced across the country since. We have also continually reiterated the need for the Kenyan Police Force and the General Service Unit to respect the right of all Kenyans to the freedoms of expression, assembly and association to respond to concerns raised—in a legal and legitimate manner.

Famine looms large in parts of Eastern Province due to lack of rains. Crops, especially beans and maize, are withering, sparking panic among farmers. A spot check in parts of Machakos, Makueni, Kitui, Yatta, Kangundo, Kibwezi and Mwingi districts showed that most farmers did not expect to harvest anything.

This is the agreement ODM says its leader Raila Odinga and President Kibaki were to sign to end the political impasse brought about by the disputed presidential election results. It was to be witnessed by mediator John Kufuor who is the President of Ghana and also the chairman of African Union, British high commissioner Adam Wood, US ambassador Michael Ranneberger, French ambassador Elisabeth Barbier and the local head of the European Union.

The Ministry of Health has advised displaced Aids patients not to take an under dose of Antiretroviral drugs. The ministry acknowledged that victims might experience difficulties accessing the drugs, but cautioned against reduction of the daily dosage. On Thursday, the Director of Medical Services, Dr James Nyikal, asked patients who interrupt medication to keep records to enable medical staff help them when they resume.

The Government has asked parents displaced by the recent post-election violence to take their children to the nearest school from where they are camping. On Thursday, the Government also directed teachers and other staff displaced by the violence to report to their work stations. Rift Valley PC, Mr Hassan Noor Hassan, told a news conference in Nakuru that only three of 38 districts in the province were not affected by the skirmishes.

A leading Kenyan political science academic, Prof. Ali Mazrui, has accused President Mwai Kibaki of plunging the relatively peaceful East African nation into tribalised bloodshed by grabbing state power through a "civilian coup". "This (Kenyan post-election scenario) is a civilian coup at a presidential level," Prof. Mazrui, who is the director of Global Cultural Studies at State University of New York in the US, said.

The crisis of violence and disorder in Kenya since the election [1] of 27 December 2007 poses hard questions to members of the country’s political class of all parties and ethnicities. It also raises the issue of what can and should be done now to meet the needs of Kenya’s citizens and the interests of truth, justice and democracy.