A country and people hanging in the balance

Here is the second feature article I have written for my former employer, Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, and a few photos that I took from my visit to the slum on Friday last week:

A country and people hanging in the balance

Nairobi, January 14, 2008--While opposing political parties and outside mediators struggle to find a peaceful solution to Kenya’s political crisis in the highest halls of power, another struggle for peace is being played out on the streets of the country’s capital and in other hotspots across the country.

The disputed announcement of the results of the presidential election on December 30, 2007, has sparked violent unrest across Kenya. Riots have erupted, businesses and houses have been looted and burned, women have been raped, and people have been hacked to death with machetes as the presidential candidates and their parties have traded accusations of voter fraud.

Muthare, Nairobi’s second largest slum area and home to 800,000 people, is one of the areas hardest hit by the violence. Rioters burned to the ground a large section of houses and businesses in the slum, leaving about 600 families homeless. A total of 225,000 people across Kenya have been forced from their homes and desperately need food, shelter, clothing and medical care.

But amid the struggle to meet the physical needs of displaced people, and while the country awaits a solution among the politicians at the top, another battle has developed among Kenya’s peoples that could last beyond this political crisis.
Those causing the violence and their victims are largely divided along the lines of the two biggest political parties, and the conflict has further been defined along the lines of Kenya’s tribal divisions. Most affected by the conflict are members of the majority Kikuyu tribe, to which Mwai Kibaki, the president since 2002 and declared winner of the December election, belongs.

Muthare resident Jacob Ogodo, 24, watched his neighborhood erupt in violence after the election. “This has been the worst experience for young people. We have never seen such a thing,” said Ogodo.

He said members of different tribes were living together in Muthare for decades, but now they are fighting. He described the difficulties he and other residents have in buying food, and how houses have been burned and belongings stolen. “Women and children are innocent and suffering,” he said.

Gathering on a calm day nearly two weeks after the election, Ogodo and other boys who are members of a community working group that promotes empowerment spoke about the pressure they were under to join the violence. In part because of his involvement in the working group, Ogodo resisted the pressure and encouraged his peers to resist as well. “I advised them not to take part in looting,” he said.

The working group is coordinated by GROOTS Kenya, a local partner of Church World Service-Kenya (CWS), which in turn is a member of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International. CWS has been working with GROOTS Kenya in Muthare since before the election, and now, in addition to meeting the urgent physical needs of people in this crisis, CWS is exploring ways to work with members of the GROOTS Kenya groups in Muthare to address some of the psychological and social issues that have arisen because of the violence.

Ogodo owns a small shop on one of Muthare’s business streets that sells batteries, cell phone cards and CDs. It was spared in the violence, but many of the others who were also lucky have kept their businesses closed for now out of fear of continued looting. Ogodo decided to keep his business open, motivated by his hope that the situation will soon improve. But the number of shoppers out during the week is down significantly, noted Ogodo.

There is a mixture of pain and optimism in Ogodo’s voice as he speaks of his neighborhood and country being torn apart but with the hope it can be reunited. “We should be living together as neighbors,” he said, adding that this is especially true in this time of crisis when neighbors need to share basic food items like salt and tea that are in short supply.

In Ogodo’s voice, one hears the fear of watching his country teetering on the brink, of being at a turning point that could determine his future, of slipping into a drawn-out battle between ethnic groups of the type Kenya’s neighbors have experienced.

Approximately 77 percent of Kenya’s population of 37 million is under the age of 29. People like Ogodo who are young participants in Kenya’s democracy are confused by the disputed election and resulting chaos and fearful of what will happen to their country as they become citizens who are able to contribute to its welfare.

Ogodo sees young people as part of the solution to the country’s crisis. He said they are still young enough to remember living and attending school together and need to remember how they got along before their tribal differences became something to fight and kill over.

Ogodo maintains hope for his neighborhood and country by acting it out. He said, “I try to preach peace. After all, we are still brothers, we are still sisters, we are still neighbors.”