Which way Kenya 2013 and beyond?

A month from today, 4^th March 2013, what will Kenyans celebrate in a costly General Election that will be just have concluded?

One- if we perhaps get the right figures announced after the hard lessons unlearned from the election of 2007 gone awry – we shall celebrate that at least technology can reduce vicious human tendencies to steal power. The failure of technology here could  mean total darkness for on it our democracy hangs.

We shall be using an electronic system of voting for the first time, something that I remember insisting on after seeing how votes were not counted and how a document of the time called Form A 16 was not returned as the law required. I had some Forms 16 A found discarded by polling agents.  We hope for the best. Perhaps it will be the first time in history that every tally will be correct.

But many people failed to register as voters in 2013 due to mistrust of politicians. Many still feel wounded by the killings of 1 133 persons that followed the 2007 General Election and the sudden being turned into IDPs overnight, for another 600 000 Kenyans. Many women were raped and tension became explosive between different ethnic groups. Kenya, some of us said would never be the same again. We had let greed for power reach levels which left the message that anything can be done to get power. Rape. Kill. Steal. Burn.

So unlike the national inauguration of Mwai Kibaki in 2002 when Moism was defeated and all celebrated, the swearing in of Kibaki in 2007 was a dusk affair. Present there some politicians who had defended his take as winner of the election to the hilt. These include politicians that again Kenyans have showed they will never trust for that betrayal. Whatever they have tried to do or get into as office has been rejected by Kenyans for they feel that they did not stand with them at the nation´s hour of trial. 

But that seems to apply more keenly to a former Minister of Justice, a woman, who now gets 1% support in presidential polls. Strange this remains the case even as a large vote is commanded by Uhuru Kenyatta who supported the Kibaki win and who is along with William Ruto and others summoned, no, indicated, a word not so light in law am reminded, by the International Criminal Court for the violence that ensued in 2007.

At that time Ruto was working with Raila Odinga in the Orange Democratic Movement. What makes these get support but not the other is perhaps based on personality and charisma. The two since they are summoned by ICC have kept on declaring their stand. The woman candidate did not take this as a matter of importance after so many people kept on saying that she needed to clear her name. She has been a legislator for many years and she helped draft the Political Parties Bill and many others in Kenya.

It is very clear that we did not follow the Political Parties Bill when it came to the nominations during the primaries. We modified it to suit our own poor tendencies to hop into a new party when defeated in one´s own party. What are political parties in Kenya at the time? In truth, they have never really been serious. People leave them and those with power buy them like clothes in order to have a platform.

The National Alliance (TNA) now contesting the elections was bought not so long ago from a politician to another and re-launched as a vehicle for Uhuru Kenyatta to clinch power. But we are looking at what and why we will celebrate post 4^th March 2013. How we shall feel and react after the election.

This might be the first step in taking elections to the level where the votes will always be counted right but much remains to be proven. Why and how have some people been judged with regard to the violence of 2007 by Kenyans since they are offered red carpet reception wherever they go? What explains the voters behavior in sticking to them? They say only two things. Money and the ethnic block size in their support. Fame and history might also be in the mix. But to be president in Kenya, one will need a simple majority of all votes cast in the country as well as a majority in half of the 47 newly Counties. So, it appears if we can say who is president on the 4^th of March, we shall have truly overcome many obstacles. That might be a great celebration. Those who represent the Counties and Constituencies will be seen in the light of the president they supported. Different peoples of Kenya will watch carefully to see who of their children get rewarded with senior positions. Many will fight to get national jobs. Favours will be returned. Sometimes qualifications will be shunted aside to repay campaign monies and they say this is so in many a land.

Two. Judging from comments I read in the media both traditional and social, most people will be glad that at last the season of electioneering is over. "It has been too much!" We say.

There are many people already wishing that voting had been over and done with. The Constitution which was adopted in August 2010 stipulates that General Elections be held on the 14^th day of August every five years.  August was named because many people found elections in December when they used to be held interfered too much with end -of- year celebrations. December holidays were rendered into grueling and tiresome days during election campaigns. Candidates have always been in terms with the idea that campaigns begin immediately after an election but not so the people. The result is that many say Kenya is over politicised. Other matters need attention. But so far I have not seen anyone asking for any ministerial public accounting, balance sheets and statements. It is assumed that the Permanent Secretaries will be there in another form and shape and will find out why nurses, lecturers, public transport operators, doctors and so many others went on strike in recent times.

 Kenyans are weary of the money and energy expended in elections. That it is not repaid in service is nothing new.  Many are fed up of the greedy politicians that always make it back due to bribery of the voters with a little money here and there. So third maybe Kenya celebrates the rejection of some former legislators, some of which they had buried symbolically before the election, but some of them will be back for quite some years. No smiles. 

Fourth and very important: There will be some who will be celebrating the win of especially their presidential candidate the closest to getting into State House being Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta. And just as these will be celebrating, the losing team will be smarting but I hope not fighting over the results as in December 2007, for this time nobody can say that Kenya does not have a competent -even if threatened- Judiciary system to resolve any differences that might arise.  Article 87 Electoral Disputes in our constitution promises that petitions can be filed 28 days after the election except in the presidential case of presidents when a petition is filed within seven days. We have a judiciary worth celebration.

 Why would we be saying the Judiciary is not up to the task when so many have argued that we could even try the suspects who have been summoned by the International Criminal Court in our own courts since we are up to the mark? It begins to get dark here.

 Kenya will apparently be a very happy country to live in because the winners in this race might also be the very people that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is interested in trying. This will mean seeing a head of state who has claimed that he is so clean proven so before the whole wide world.

Uhuru Kenyatta who in his Jubilee team with running mate William Ruto have been implicated in the violence that rocked Kenya in 2007 after the last General Election we held. The Constitution of Kenya 2010, Chapter 6 on Integrity was cited as reason why Uhuru and Ruto should not have vied for the presidency but it was superseded by their own reasoning and that of the Eugene Wamalwa, Minister for Justice, who unlike his predecessor Mutula Kilonzo, declared the two fit to run for office and in fact belonged to their team for the presidency too. We need they say to have youthful leadership in Kenya. Wamalwa, Kenyatta and Ruto are seen as youth. They are in their 50 Jubilee decade.

Uhuru and Ruto, also referred to as Uhuruto have always declared they are innocent and do not need trial first to prove their innocence. They set out to work to contest for the highest office saying that if the ICC summoned them after the election, they could run the country via the internet. They belong to the Jubilee Alliance.

If their team wins versus the CORD whose presidential candidate is Raila Odinga, then there will be a mood of  victory clearly tinged with the honest realization that a legal process of no simple nature awaits them. Many have said that they are using Kenya as shield since if elected they can always ask how  so -if they are so likeable and electable- could they also be so criminal as to have made Kenyans chop one another with machetes. The ICC has its evidence. Everything will be pegged on their professional and uninfluenced work. If declared innocent, Kenyans will have only lost, so they say a little concentration on running the country. Kenyans will be celebrating again, the power of the internet. Wow! The first country to be governed online will be Kenya. She has firsts you know too, in marathon running. And an old motto that said Yote yawezekana bila Nyayo ...All is possible without Nyayo, the nickname of Moi who insisted that Kenyatta Jomne had done such a sterling job in leading Kenya that all we needed was to follow his nyayo footsteps. He so believed this that he turned Kenyatta Uhuru, the son of Jomo into a politicians whose little footsteps were worth enlarging into those of a president. Uhuru had Moi´s support for presidency in 2002 but he flopped. Now he apprently does not have it for Moi sees it this time as tribalism, but the job is done. Uhuru believes Kenya cannot do without him at the helm.

We will be lucky to get a Kenya that grows no matter who of the two : Raila or Uhuru win. For that will depend so much on how the losers submit themselves to the winner and work hard to knit a nation split by the votes into one. For growth as we saw with Kibaki is not only about the economy but about Kenyans remaining united. But as of now, the signs for that are non –existent.

Many times the words exchanged between the two teams -Jubilee and Cord- have not been words that make Kenyans proud to be one nation. What will happen after one side wins? And to complicate matters more there might be no clear winner and then there will be a run off and as polls show this will be between Odinga and Uhuruto.

Will the people of Kenya really then rest from electioneering? It has been almost three years of tight racing. If the Odinga side wins, then will there be less action towards having Uhuru Kenyatta and Ruto tried at home in Kenya?

There are a number of people writing to say that Kenya Election 2013 is a cursed vote. Damn it if you go this way and damn it if you go the other. But does Kenya deserve this kind of situation in her 50^th year after independence and if not why are we here?

When Kofi Annan and the team of Eminent persons helped Kenya come together in 2007, there was an agreement that the coalition government of Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki would implement an accord which included Agenda 4. This work was slow. If it had been done we would not be in that where the majority speakers of one language and of one region seem to be wooed almost to a man as they say and this time to a woman to vote in their tribal king again. 

I think that many Kenyans have realized that one of the great things to celebrate on 4^th March 2013 is that President Mwai Kibaki, third president of Kenya from 2002 – 2013 will have left office. He spoke at length in the last national celebrations about his great achievement in giving the people of Kenya a constitution in 2010.

But we know that it is the people of Kenya who fought for this constitution. We also know that he had favored in the referendum of 2005 a document - Bomas Draft- which was voted out by the people, leaving his government embarrassed. He then proceeded to plant the biggest roots of tribalism Kenya has had since colonial times.

Mwai Kibaki sacked Raila Odinga, Mutula Kilonzo, Kalonzo Musyoka and others who opposed the Draft Constitution from their ministerial positions. The leadership of Kibaki failed Kenya in 2005 for we did not need him trumpeting his take on the constitution and having Awori, the late Michuki, the late Njenga Karume in a Mount Kenya block that was opposed by ODM as his team. He was not president of Central Kenya but of Kenya. He did not need a kitchen cabinet from his own area. He did not need to fear the views of the late Wangari Maathai (and others from Central Kenya who opposed him) because she could traverse borders in thought but he shunned her and her ideas.

 We did not need the sacking of a whole lot of ministers from mainly all communities except Central Kenya because Kibaki had already reneged on the Memorandum of Understanding which was seen as swindling Raila   and his supporters who again would end up seeming to be mainly from Nyanza and therefore as Central Province versus the rest of the country. This is how vicious tribalism ended up being the worst enemy of Kenya today.

And this bridge had been crossed when Raila Odinga campaigned for Kibaki in 2002 and said Kibaki Tosha! Kibaki is capable! Such trust has never been shown to other ethnic groups by Central Kenya leaders of old. The so called younger ones should have been our bet. But no. Uhuru Kenyatta perpetuates this old dichotomy between the people of Nyanza and those of Central Province.

Bringing the two communities together would have been one of the greatest legacies he could have given to Kenya. The same applies to Raila. But as far as we know, none of the two are even campaigning in the so called other´s block. We are entrenched in tribal voting. We have been unable to close the chasm the British left between the Gikuyu and the Luo in 1963, a divide that one Harry Thuku of Kenya in 1922, had bridged as he tried to get the Kikuyu Association to work with the Kavirondo Association of Nyanza but was stopped in his tracks by colonial masters. Beyond 2013, Kenya will need to open up to leadership that defies Kenya´s historical track.

Minister for Education, Kenyan minister Mutula Kilonzo threatens to ban The Whale Rider . Reason is that the author, Maori Ihmaera Witi is gay

To: The Minister of Education, Kenya

Dear Mutula Kilonzo,

An article by Evans Mwangi in a Kenyan newspaper informed us that the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) had selected The Whale Rider by Ihmaera Witi as a set book. Prof Mwangi wrote that he knew that the author of this book is gay. He also mentioned that there was a time he withheld this information because he knew what that would lead to in Kenya. He wrote that he knew trouble would arise on the chosen book. The Whale Rider is praised for its artistic content and indeed some students in Kenya have already studied it for examinations. http://www.nation.co.ke/News/KIE-censors-score-a-first-by-picking-gay-authors-novel-/-/1056/1657730/-/14qow9s/-/index.html

The next headlines on the book came swiftly. They indicated that the Minister for Education was trying to slap a ban on The Whale Rider. As expected many Kenyans jumped into the fray to discuss how we cannot have such 'immoral people' writing books that are read by 'our children'. A few people wrote to question your hasty judgement and the idea of banning our book in our days was rejected. Others  supported your idea. The churches too called for the ban of the book as expected.

 Short skirts

Well, you more than anybody else knows that directly.  It was only in July 2012 that an uproar ensued from a comment that you made regarding girls' school skirts. The girls wanted to wear short school uniform skirts. There was an uproar. You mentioned 'nuns' saying that the school girls did not have to go around dressed like nuns. Some nuns asked for an apology. It was very clear that you were not giving a directive but speaking lightly but they reminded you that you are a heavyweight and must not speak lightly. The church and many Kenyans expressed serious reservations. You tried to explain but I think you ended up apologising to the imaginary nuns you were talking about in your speech for really you never had mentioned any particular group or convent. 

I still remember Sister coming to check if our skirts were more than three inches above the knee with her fingers and if they were, one had to let down the hem. But the nun was funny and we often laughed.  She would call you from far and she would quickly hold up three fingers before holding your knee down to see exactly where the skirt was. Looking back at old photos once I saw that none of us in school wanted long skirts. This was a very important matter for us. Indeed some girls were very offended when they had gone into real minis and the nun stood by them to bring down their hems. At that time in the 70s, we did not even know that homosexuals existed. Now everything is on the internet.  We read words here and there but no educator would touch on the subjects of sexuality. To be very honest, this same nun prayed very hard before we opened Mackeans Biology book on the Reproduction Chapter. But she loved the skeleton in the lab.  

Whereas I remember with humour our lives in the schools, I know for a fact that Kenya is directed by a very strong grip of some churches. That we badly need to thaw some lines and to see a different picture. We have been to a point where parents who are involved in such schools will come together and bring down such pressure to bear when they do not agree on an issue, and woe unto you if the issue has anything to do with sexuality. You will remember the debates on whether or not to have sex education in the school curriculum. It is their right to do this but not to ban books on the basis of the sexuality of the author. 

I remember I attended some debates with you on Crossfire with Judy Thong'ori, Otieno Ka'ajwang and  Kogi Wa Wamwere. We often spoke about the fundamental freedoms of all people regardless or origin and that people cannot be discriminated upon on the grounds of sex, religion or gender. I know you quoted and can quote these sections very well and many more as a lawyer of long standing. I do not then understand what is going on. Knowing how some people will use their churches to say that certain books are unclean or when the government of poor quality also subversive and since you experienced yourself how unreasonable discussions can become, why do you use your office to try to ban this book? Is this not an affront to freedom of expression?

How is it that in Kenya we can tolerate no difference except if it is the same and therefore does not exist? We have deep problems of tribalism based on games politicians will play for votes. But this book or the author actually do not require tolerance. They deserve respect and reverence. This is because as one teacher and a few other people already wrote to the papers to say, the book is enjoyable reading and it is not pornographic. No one would have allowed pornography on the Kenyan syllabus. 

Institutions

Then the unilateral way of responding as a matter of your own taste and opinion. Why? If a book has been approved by the KIE surely there must be a different process for getting it off the syllabus rather than a minister saying it to the press?

It is urgent that through our institutions we make ourselves understand that there is more to how we can do issues than just according to our own taste. I am glad the article by Prof Mwangi was published even when some rejoinders have come up to disapprove him strongly as was to be expected. But I remember one thing Prof Mwangi wrote. It was that he did not wish that his child should ever think that he was a homophobe. Can we afford more homophobia than we already have in our country and the region as well as in Afrika? I know that this is also to be found in Europe. Of course there are many people who  may not want to know that gay people exist. The fact is that they do and they are super gifted in many cases. And the bigger fact is that we cannot say we are defending human rights and then turn our backs on some humans.

I know that the coming election takes all your attention now and that there will be a new minister in office soon. We hope to see the end of this threat to ban a book because its author is gay. We have a constitution and a duty to the young people and our nations with regard to free thinking. Let the K.I.E be respected. Lead in helping people to distinguish how to always act in order to take the course of justice for all. Homosexuals had to wear a distinct mark before being sent to the gas chambers under Hitler. Jews, Homosexuals, the Romani, the disabled and intellectuals were gassed to death. We cannot approve of discrimination at the level you are suggesting. The book pages stay open to be read and criticised.

Philo Ikonya
Voice and Vote

Kenya's worst enemies cannot be Human Rights Activists

What is the use of intimidating those who speak openly in Kenya when troubles surround so many people like seas? Are you safe in the hands of power hungry politicians who will kill for votes? Are you then not thrown to many a wolf in sheepskin posing as a preacher with heavenly dew to take your money? Have you ever been invited to take tea by a Multinational or Five Star Hotel or to take your children for help when as now nurses are on strike  in Kenya? Were teachers and doctors not on strike the other day and the matatu workers? Why are you afraid of human rights activists? This is a job you can do well yourself and for no pay.

What are we afraid of when people are transparent and strong in their stand and speak out? When human rights activists are abused in Kenya, it hurts personally and I wonder how on earth anyone or a group of people have set themselves up to constantly downplay human rights activism for?
There is so much greed and hunger for political power that we are lucky to have some voices that only point out what is wrong, but we treat them badly. Why do these people who discourage such work not instead join the people who ask questions, educate and are there to see how laws work on the ground and who gains or suffers from the national institutions that we as the people of Kenya have?

So some politicians have even taken to talking about the Chief Justice of Kenya, Dr. Willy Mutunga lightly as an activist and many other things simply because they wish that the Kenyan judiciary were weaker and this way they could manipulate elections. Too bad for them. Dr. Mutunga is learned. He worked hard and gave extra time to form a strong civil society in Kenya. He has never been afraid to be seen as an activist.

Dr. Mutunga personally encouraged those who spoke up against injustice and he still does. So that means you will find politicians who are to be arraigned before the International Criminal Court for the violence that rocked Kenya in the election year 2007 saying he is working with the west. They are the same ones and their followers who bad mouth Kofi Annan. He stepped in to help Kenya but now many forget what he did. What we must define in Kenya is what we really want. Do badly want a progressive nation or are we happy to see years go by without making all the progress that we can make together?

I am sure that these are not the type of people we need to be afraid of. A good Chief Justice, a man who works for peace in the world and ordinary Kenyans who step out without protection and point out what goes wrong in the country. Kenyans worst enemies cannot be these people. It is a shame that activists still receive threats from different quarters. The last one I heard about is on the person of Kamotho Patrick with whom I have worked for many years. He blogged about this himself. http://barazalataifa.blogspot.no/2012/11/how-my-poor-community-responded-with.html

I am passionate about human rights and the word activism does not seem cheap to me. It happened that I often responded to issues that disturbed people in my area in Kenya. Some of them would be arbitrary arrests of women selling vegetables to make a living. I remember clearly that one big concern for me was for those whom houses were demolished without notice and left to live on their own in a cruel city. I have not forgotten the demolitions of Kibagare. This is a slum area that sat in a valley between two progressive areas on the higher level, Kyuna, Lavington and Loresho.

If one crosses the main Nairobi-Nakuru Highway at Kangemi, one has below the area where Kianda School lies and along the main road well developed facilities and homes. Not too far from there and just a few kilometres behind the main road lie the slums of Kibagare on the one side. They were demolished so often that I would be surprised that they still exist. A nun, Sister Wanjiru used to run a school there and many people lived in shacks around the school. Some of them had lived there since the 1960s when they claimed they were given land there. I was a teacher in Kianda School and often walked around this area.

The demolitions of Kibagare woke me up to the pain of the people living in the slums. This often came into my writings and I was never the same again. That was in the late 1980s. It was Christmas time and they had nowhere to sleep. It rained and they prayed, got sick and died as the City Council abused their rights. It was my frequent visits and enquiries in the area that started off many referring to me as a human rights activist. Indeed one editor just asked me whether after a commentary I had written he could add that am a human rights activist and I gave the go ahead.

Maybe seeing that in writing led me to even more commitment. I have defended human rights in Kenya for many years. This means that I run workshops almost entirely on my own on women issues and more, and had public discussions in many markets long before I came to the notice of the national media as an activist. So many times we set up meetings about HIV and Aids and human rights. People who received them taught us a lot. They were always grateful. I have discussed power with women and political participation. In the areas where we did this there was always great joy. It is some people and among them the Intelligence who disparage the work of activists. They do not go a day without commenting in the media about the uselessness of activism.

In 1992, I witnessed the home and school of the late Sister Wanjiru flooded with people who were leaving the Rift Valley where ethnic cleansing was going on at election time. I remember one family came to Kianda School and we received them. The old man with them and his son told of how pregnant women were being slashed in the stomach to be checked if they were carrying a boy child. I was filled with dread especially as we saw some of these reports in the media as well. It was then that I went to write about a group of children who had gone to camp in the area.

I interviewed them about their journey on foot from the Rift Valley to Nairobi and their story was carried by the Daily Nation. I will always remember how traumatised these homeless children were. They would get up and run in the middle of our conversations, all of them if a sound was made and hide. Nothing could convince them that they were safe anywhere. I remember how the words they repeated and said they heard when being chased away. There is a very deep wound in Kenya with regard to this violence which is often equated with election time. From this to going to sites where police shot young people dead

All you need is to pick up recent comments on articles in Kenyan media and see how often people insult human rights activists. Yet very many human rights activists are people who often without much training and for no pay at all, respond to human rights abuse in neighbourhoods. Some, especially those who started early are well known and sometimes, like in all parts of the world, they receive some media coverage. But for sometime now there is a consistent thread of responses that trash human rights activists in Kenya and the reasons given are shallow.

So what if some human rights activists failed in the past? Or as is so often said, got into government and then stopped being active on defending human rights issues? That does not mean human rights are irrelevant or baseless. How can they be when we are talking about a country where human rights were first abused so severely by a colonial outfit that also left much suspicion and hatred between different peoples in the country? How when in all parts of the world good records of human rights go hand in hand with democracies that are striving to be just that, having the people be their own force unto goodness?

We do not forget that many people who are human rights activists sign no contract with anybody to be whom they are. It is a commitment that they embrace and that should be engaged by many more people in the country. For even though Kenya has a new constitution since 2010 and a strong judiciary, there is so much work to be done. Activists as some people say to paint them poorly are not in charge of everything that goes wrong. You will often hear people saying that they are of no use since they do not campaign for everyone.

Activists voice out on some cases which they can manage so that following those cases much more abuse can be uncovered. In Kenya activists are often told things like "Why are you speaking now and you did not speak when policemen died in an accident or were shot dead by gangsters?" The truth is that this is done just to ridicule them. It is not even said out of concern for those who died. In other words, they should be quiet rather than speak out about what strikes them as evil. And why do not these critics take up the work then? Activists hold authorities accountable and there is much to be done in that regard for women, children, refugees, victims of police brutality, land grabbing and evictions.

After five years since the last election on December 27, 2007, Kenya is not looking up but many are optimistic that she will do well in the election on March 4th 2013. Optimism has always been our strength but we have to do more than to be optimistic to really make a difference. To begin with, what is it that we can all look at together and say is ours in Kenya. Well, there is plenty. Let us look at the Judiciary and the new constitution and act so that there will be peace in Kenya after the elections of 4 March 2013.

Amani Kibera: Tribalism is retrogressive, patriotism is wisdom

Amani Kibera: Simple wisdom wins our smile 

Amani Kibera (AK) is working for peace in a slum area. The library has become a movement for peace. Artists united against tribalism is a great project of AK. 

We love to drive in peace. Always room for all, Ubuntu!

In a non-conventional format, I intersperse my interview questions in my feature on Amani Kibera. I spoke to BO who manages Amani Kibera. I am PI. I use narrator to continue commentary. This is experimental mixing. And I do not hide that am partisan in loving peace and freedom.

Amani Kibera serves democracy to Kenyans for Kenya  

Narrator:
Political personalities hog the banner headlines in Kenyan newspapers almost every day. The people make themselves felt, seen and heard in many ways. Out of Kibera slums in Nairobi a huge spirit of peace and victory may well fill Kenya, our beloved nation this new election on 4 March 2013.  
                                                       
PI: Who are you BO? I know you are a volunteer for Amani Kibera but what else do you do for a living?                                       

B: I am one of the co-founders of AK and we all work for AK as volunteers. For a living I work with the Humanist Center of Kenya as the deputy director. Humanist Center of Kenya is an NGO that provides educational sponsorships to needy children from vulnerable backgrounds in Kenyan slums and rural areas.                                                                          

P: It was good to be with you on Skype and one of those unexpected things that happen to us from far away. I am inspired. Let me just ask you a few questions as would like to publish it on my website. I am doing this first but we keep talking so do not think am in haste not to hear you.

B: We aim at delivering to the people of Kibera a symbol of unity, one that each and every person will identify with and participate in building. That is the Amani Kibera Library and Resource Center.

Narrator

Social media, banners of old,  text messaging for mobilising and simple village greetings. Often simple is best. AK may look small their style compared to the big lavish styles of the politician, but in African folklore it is often a small animal that outsmarts the big ones. Kenyans must win peace now  and on March 4, 2013. We cannot harvest violence as politicians triumph in their ways.  And all peace is related, therefore the issues of Somali refugees being sent away to the North camp, Dadaab must be resolved. Somalis are Kenyans were it not for the borders Europe made in Africa. The issue of Al Shabaab needs a better approach. The Kenyan social fabric is fragile and we do not need bombs and grenades anywhere. We must find a peaceful way out. 

Artists united against tribalism

                                        PI:
How do you feel AK reaches Kenyans with regard to our daily problems of bread, education, health and tribalism?
                                        BO:

We empower people especially the young with knowledge by provision of library services, talent and leadership development through value based sports. We also involve the youth in income and learning generating activities that empower them economically. AK is also strongly involved in advocacy work.

From our projects the youth have better opportunities for employment opportunities hence improving their livelihoods and peace-full coexistence.

Narrator:
I am sure it is the small efforts that people have made to connect after the violence we experienced in politics that will hold Kenya together. It was people who saw how hard it is to organise peace during violent times that are more prepared to work even harder for peace. For in this case too prevention is much better than a cure. See how they long for peace. African culture is one of peace in many places. 

https://www.facebook.com/amani.kibera?fref=ts We need to put politics in its place. It cannot be more than our unity, our love, our soul. We are challenged but we know that our ancestors spoke peace. And we are not the only people of mrembe, or peace.  AK began to work before the General Election of 2007.  Tribal animosity was whipped up and enmity began to be tangible everywhere. Yet Africa has many shrines of peace. Justice is a guarantee of peace.

Recently at Chief Albert Luthuli´s home, which is a museum, I listened to an ancestor (on audio tape) speaking peace for Africa. he said in his Nobel Peace Prize speech: 

"This is an honor not only for South Africa but for the whole of the continent of Africa, this continent, Mother Africa! To all its people, whatever their race, colour or creed might be...It is an honour for the peace-loving people of the entire world and an encouragement for us all to redouble our efforts in this struggle for peace and friendship."  

I am peace!

A library is a place of peace. In Africa there are messages of peace everywhere. And words of inspiration such as the late Prof. Wangari Maathai´s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT98uQ74X1c

We need to listen to other things beyond political rhetoric and of course to VOTE! That must be our little task even though some of us abroad have been sidelined. There is no political will for that. But we must find more voices for strong and effective culture and talk about them more, fearlessly.

Our culture. Ubuntu. Utu. are based on the effect persons have on persons when we are open to one another. This is ironically Africa´s gift. You do not find it all over. We must make it ours. 

I was reading somewhere that Africa must hold this that peace will be ours if we listen to our soul. An article by Robin- Edward Poulton and Djely Karifa Samoura elaborates on that. The two remind us that African ways of peacemaking are appropriate for all including Muslims and Christians. Yes, I , know Mali is threatened by rebels too. The people working for peace must not cease to organise. People against peace are fewer than those for it but they work in overdrive whilst we sit back. Amani Kibera is awake.

Amani Kibera told me that at the time they organised more than 
10 000 peace ambassadors. For now, no big politician can boast of having done that. Most people feel and fear the opposite has happened. In any case even those indicted for the last atrocious violence are still thumping their chests about leading Kenya. None of them have prayed the people for forgiveness. Not one.

In October 2007, the lesson was learned by Amani Kibera and others. Amani Kibera will not sit on her laurels. Discussions on democracy, leadership courses, sports and entertainment has been taking place, all with the aim or reiterating how important it will be for Kenyan not to be divided by politicians. 

Amani Kibera is among the beautiful ones in action. Amani Kibera, which means Peace Kibera, has been strategically working for peace. 

Going back to our culture. In our stories, the hare beats the big elephants, the Big Five if you wish at everything - and just an aside, I remember one hilarious woman who told us in Zimbabwe never to forget we have the Big Sixth- the politician who almost scares the lion, the rhino, the hippo, the leopard and the Buffalo back in their lairs becoming the Greedy Sixth. They often use the law against us, the people. But now Kenya has a new constitution since 2010 August. The people gave it unto themselves! And a new Chief Justice, a better judiciary. Dr. Willy Mutunga, the Chief Justice visits slums sometimes.

PI:What kind of people do police arrest in Kibera and who are considered to be dangerous?     

BO: Most of the people who are arrested are young people since most of them are unemployed hence idle most of the time. Because of this, the levels of insecurity is growing each day as we have many young people graduating from colleges and high schools and are not absorbed anywhere.

Most of these young people are also easily used as hooligans by politicians to disrupt, instill fear or be violent to those opposing them.

Narrator:

What has been happening at AK? In the last five years, many people have been reading in the library after school. I had a Skype conference with Amani Kibera in 2011 when more than 60 youth sat doing their school homework. 

To appreciate a library completely in a slum area, one has to understand that when people live in shacks, doing homework is a hard. There is no space often. There is no table. There is little light and no silence for the rest in the house must do their other business. There is even more noise from outside the shack. The library I sat in for the Skype conference in was a have of peace in comparison. But now the elections in Kenya are nigh and Amani Kibera has been spilling with action. There has been many activities there and most of them posted on this Facebook page. 

 They hold a banner across a railway line "Ukabila ni ushenzi: Uzalendo ndio hekima": It means tribalism is retrogressive, stupid and not worth it and patriotism is wise. For indeed when it comes to crossing many of our bridges, it is not about an ethnic group anymore. It is about the tribe of the poor. And clearly the poor get into tribalism only because of corruption and nepotism at the top. They do not make tribalism, it is a result of poor leadership. The buck stops at the top.

Where we live, our shadows touch, our clothes touch, we are so close we cannot afford a fire of violence or any other. We are one.

But there are many problems of division in Kenya.
PI:Are there religious differences on the ground? Which are expressed negatively?

BO:Yes there are! The constitution making process was not well taken by the different religious groups around saying some of the items included to do go well with their religion. Alshabaab war in Somali is looked at by some Muslims as war against Islam.

PI:Is tribalism visible at other levels of our society or only politically?
BO:Generally there is negative ethnic based stereo typing within the society that politicians take advantage of especially during political campaigns to gain political mileage. After the post election violence, it is clear that most people would not like to invest in what they call passive as “home”. Most people feel comfortable investing or even living in places where they have many people from the same ethnic groups as themselves.

PI:What do you feel regarding this coming election?

Personally, I think these elections are highly likely to be very violent. The wounds of 2007 are not yet healed. Recent Political Party elections have been very aggressive and turned violent. The ICC process is not yet over and the politicians are using the process to divide people along ethnic lines. Little has been done to reconcile the people especially those who were thrown away from their homes. They are unable to go back to their property since they don’t trust the same people who killed their relatives and destroyed their property.

Narrator:
So cry, my beloved our country. But we hope to win peace still. What have the politicians done to help heal Kenya? Healing was not among the subjects touched by the presidential speech on 12 December a day on which in celebrating Kenyans independence which was won in 1963 many listen to the presidential speech. Neither was HIV/Aids for that matter nor the nurses on the latest strike were mentioned despite the fact that World Aids Day falls a some days before. Nurses were on strike. Doctors have been on strike several times in recent years. So have teachers. The questions rage. Is Kenya healing or has Kenya healed? If we are still healing, what is the quality of our healing? Who is doing what for justice and peace in Kenya? Who is working for future generations? 

Amani Kibera is open to support from all people.

PI:
I found out about Amani Kibera in Oslo through Elise, tell me how you met Elise? 

BO:

I met Elise through a Mercy, friend who works for the Haki Jamii and NGO working in human rights issues. Elise’s grand father wanted to support a football team and at this time we were also organizing our soccer tournament. So my friend Mercy introduced me to her and since them we have grown together with Amani Kibera as friends and supporters of our initiative.

1Do you see libraries as homes of peace?

Libraries are definitely homes for peace since they are essential information centers for the communities. They provide safe space for people especially the young to use their time creatively. Libraries accommodate people from different backgrounds in equal capacities who only know one thing in common while in it, to gain knowledge. In our library, we have discussion groups and each group contains boys and girls from different ethnic and religious backgrounds and they work together very well.

2  What about democracy?

For me Libraries are a perfect example of real democracy. At AK library we have discussion groups and each of the participants always have different view and opinions on every topic that they discuss. During these discussions, each person’s opinion is highly respected and taken into account until such a time that they will all agree on a common opinion. There have never been any cases of violence or abusive language used because one does not agree with your opinion.

Women always raped in conflict. Violence is violence whether in Kenya, Syria, The Middle East or DR Congo

The status of my mind
I don't know about you but  the weight of so much violence around the world has reached an unbearable level. I look at it from individuals to countries and the last few weeks have been so shocking that courage to ask for bettter things must be drawn from events of these days or else our spirits will weaken.

Girls
I am sure you were angered by the attack on Malala of Pakistan. And then there was Anusha whose parents burned her with acid because she smiled or talked to a boy. She died a horrible death. Oh, if only we could let love riot!  Cultural and religious complexities. Not so easy. Jerusalem is named after peace.

Women
Rape. Ten women in Kenya have joined the legion of so many raped women in the world. Raped in times of conflict and of peace. "Women are condemned to not only see their children die in war, their husbands and sometimes their femaile friends but to also have their wells of life poisoned with rape.Sometimes they are infected with the HIV/virus. In this way their minds and souls are shattered and their lives broken and in the end, they have to get up again and continue to hold the nation together, a task they were already doing for thankless people, when the enemy got them down."

The ten women that are reported to have been raped in Kenya in the last few days are not just ten. Ten is the figure of a few who speak up. They are not just ten because in many situations rape is not reported. We have a poor record of dealing with rape that is reported. The result is that women who were raped in during the Post Poll violence which we suffered in 2007/2008 have not found justice. They have been left infected with HIV/Aids and soon, even their story will tire us. We shall not want to hear. The signs are all there. Politicians are abandoning political parties to join new ones for political convenience. Parties have been sold and bought.

 
Wars
 The face of war is terrible anywhere in the world. Look at how the Middle East has been shattered for years. It is incomprehensible in away that nations will accept wars to happen. It is clear that even if we keep saying women and children should never be attacked, they and children bear the brunt of any war. Lyse Duset of the BBC wrote a story that makes one ask self what they are living for if these things continue to happen in our world today. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18951552. Indeed the UN has not much to show for success today for even if a ceasefire comes in the Middle East tonight, this spot has been in conflict for most our lives. This is a conflict that was born pretty much at the UN. But today Banki Moon looks exhausted and yesterday Kofi Annan had to leave Syria still broken. What is that the world needs then? What are some of the earliest signals we can read in a place before war breaks? The DR Congo is at war now but we hardly hear much about DR C unless things are at their worst.

Kenya
Kenya is not at war but deaths and scenes of conflict in Garissa were compared to those in Syria today by some Members of Parliament. Rapes. Tomorrow shall we say that we had not foreseen it if Kenya should come apart? An alarmed investigative journalist Mwenda Njoka penned his last column in a local paper regarding the attack of politician Kingi on an election platform in Mombasa and stated that this has not been seen before in Kenya and that it was a sign of worse things to come. Since then a politician has been stabbed in the back during a rally in Nyanza and a few more have been attacked in similar ways. A political activist Okiya Omtatah endured a terrrible assault last week. Scores of people have died in different violent situations. But are we willing to learn and accept the truth?
 
The two main politicians summoned before the International Criminal Court ICC for the problems of violence that beset Kenya during the last election are working to be the elected leaders of Kenya next year. For this and all the violence going on Kenya is not in a good place. In August hundreds of people died in the Tana River District in what turned out to be politically motivated killings. Last week the deaths of 43 Kenyans in Suguta Valley has not been explained. Worse still, it seems the government thought the cause was the usual cattle rustling as we have called it for ages, but it is not. Nobody has been clear on what is really going on. A grenade attack on November18 has unlike the many previous ones thrown by people thought to be part of Al Shabaab which Kenya sent the militatary to Somalia to finish has sparked a two day long battle between what some people seem to see a Christians versus Moslems. People, among them politicians are dismayed.  http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/1624454/-/xa8thdz/-/index.html

What is disturbing is that this is one country which can make it but which it seems is determined to go the way of a failed state. I did not want to say to go the way of Somalia because Somalis are taking enough blame for all the grenaded thrown by Al Shabaab fundamentalits, but Paul Muite had once in great frustration in Moi days declared that Kenya would go the Somali way. The way of becoming ungovernable. We escaped it then although we have to say that in 2002 when Narc took power under the leadership of Mwai Kibaki and on the platform of reform it appears that the country took things easy and expected change to just happen. In fact, taking things easy is the wrong phrase to use. The newly elected government began to behave just like the one it had dethroned. You have to read Michela Wrong's It's Our turn to Eat, the story of a Kenyan whistleblower and hear an insider's story to believe this.

But let me give one hard stare at Kenya. There are some disturbing facts. Early on the morning of June 10th 2012, Kenya's Internal Security Prof George Saitoti, and his deputy died in a helicopter crash. Since then it has transpired that this may not have been an accident. It has been said that the National Security Intelligence Service have asked for reports on the matter not to be released. It is also said that doctors and other experts working on the matter have received warnings not to divulge their findings. But what else is not being faced after these deaths? What are we hiding from in the country? What are we not able to face and name right now? I ask these questions because it seems clear that there is a lot that we do not want to, or have not wanted to face.

George Saitoti in a last meeting with his colleagues in Mombasa had said that there are some people in Parliament who are ready to use militia gangs to get votes to remain in power. I ask these questions because so many of the currrent Kenyan politicians including the president have had long experience in Kenyan political life and have the responsibility to leave the country stronger not weaker. It is a sad thing to watch to many  opportunities lost in Kenya. It is a sad thing to watch a country which was before 2007 if not completely peaceful, well at least filled with hope. Today if one reads the newspaper articles and comments  made on them, it is very clear that Kenyans are losing hope, are tired and are even as they wish for better times are becoming more and more uncertain regarding what is really going on and who has their interest at heart.  I ask these questions because those who care need to train their eye in Kenya more closely. We do not want to pretend that we are taken by surprise should things go worse than they are.

Kenneth Matiba, Masinde Muliro..How power kills resilient Kenya: There are other reasons why Kenya is so divided ethnically

Killed in 1992. Masinde Muliro, born in Kimilili Kenya in 1922, can be described as a great president Kenya never had. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masinde_Muliro

 The sad thing is that he is not the only one. Many leaders have been killed in Kenya. Let us fix our gaze on them that do this for power and shame them! The country is starved of leaders now.Masinde studied in Cape Town, South Africa in 1949 and was surely informed and inspired by Nelson Mandela and other leaders in South Africa. He was an intellectual and a good and happy man. His children were simple at school and they did not flaunt the family wealth.

He would have provided a tribal balance what would have helped heal Kenya. I will not hesitate to say that the late GPO Oulo assassinated on March 5 2009 was another budding leader.  He had recently left the University. He was killed along with Oscar King'ara. These leaders would have helped spin unity across ethnic groups.

Whoever doubts this view is welcome to read up on Harry Thuku (1922)and how he worked form Kiambu (Central) to Kavirondo Gulf. He wanted to form a bridge with Kavirondo and he was stopped by the British. He had raeched the youth orgnisation in Kavirondo, Nyanza-

And what have those who have stayed in power done? They have formed just like Jomo Kenyatta royal families of Kenya. Families who believe they must be at the top. Young people are frustrated by politicians who overstay in leadership.

No excuse for tribalism

We have no excuse none of us, to think that only a person of our own color, ethnic group, sexual orientation and creed can lead a country. To think we are better than our aunt who did not go to school because we have certificates and she got a baby and dropped out of school. Only today a Congress candidate in Virginia was telling the world on radio, at least we heard it it in Norway, that Obama is a Muslim. Oh, man! we used to say when we were young, Americans are so educated! But it was a woman, so... Ohboy? What to say? So old fashioned in this time and age of Internet and connectivity.

Perhaps today's politics bring peace in very few places, especially the huge competition called the election. Of course I love it when people are proud of Obama at home. Why not? Fact. There is something so fundamentally flawed in us that it will never be just about a person but also their religion and their origin?

The world might not listen up, the way it does when someone says Obama was born in Kenya when he was not and insists that is true to the end, when many say that desparation is seeping big in Kenyan politics. Bleeding. This is Kenya, that is America. We do not perish for lack of knowledge.

We know so well where things went wrong or go wrong. But we like to hang on to Achebe's neat statement that "We must find out where the rain began to beat us!" This is strange. We have been saying this for years. Of couse we cannot forget or overlook that Africa was divided from offices in Brussels in 1884 ten years before Kenyatta who became the first president was born. We know it happened to the whole of Africa, but not every single country in Africa is stuck in tribalism, a word we had decided not to even use at the University in literary essays back in the 1980s.

What I know we have different ethnic groups in different countries and Europe has most of the speakers of one language or very few others in one country. Germans, Italians, Spaniards ( I know there is Catalan, Gallego, Euskera and two more) but on the whole the main language is Spanish. Russian in Russia, with variations and the so called minority languages. We know that Eastern Europe has ethnic tensions and has suffered and that mostly people notice differences especially in language.

And while not pretending to be experts in language distribution we know that Africa has over 2300 languages. This is the mother continent and it follows it has many tongues. Kenya alone has over 70, Nigeria 5 87, Rwanda 2, Tanzania 242, and so on.All these languages fall under Nilotic, Hamitic and Bantu. They are different of course. I found I could read some Chechewa in Malawi and am from Kenya and speak Kiswahili. My point is that if we split Kenya for instance along ethno linguistical borders we would not manage. What is in our will to do is to stop emphasising our differences especially the negative ones and this comes from the top. We have to establish a culture of inclusion and act upon it to allow chances to all peoples. We cannot have groups who feel they are never heard.

The President Kenyans never had

I think we need to look closer to ourselves for why our country is starved of leadership at this moment. yes, about 11 candidates are offering themselves for president. Kenyans however are  disgruntled, many of them and they feel that the cleanest choice is not available among the candidates. 

I know one needs to be in politics long to make it so no one will be accepted from outside the political arena. But even as we chose the best available, we must not forget that many people whose ideas and actions could have helped Kenya build a stronger identity as a nation were either silenced throught exile particularly in Kenyatta and Moi days or assassinated. 

And we thought we had seen the end of assassinations. We have lost many people who had a big spirit. People who valued what we call Utu. A humane approach. Most of them were killed. We have lost people who stimulated Ubuntu. People who lay themselvs like bridges, if I may say over troubled ethnic groups which the British left.

I know they are dead. I know Kimaathi Wa Wachiuri was hanged by the Brits and his remains have never been found for burial and closure. But I imagine a Kenya which had a chance to speak to the people and I see it would have been different. All one needs to do to be certain about this is to find words from Kimaathi and see his commitment. His life was fairly short. 31 October 1920 – 18 February 1957 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dedan_Kimathi. Many leaders perished at thsi time. General Mathenge disappeared.

Before that the Brits had incarcerated and killed many others. Mekatilili Wa Menza was a great woman leader. She was exiled and killed in Kismayu for opposing the coming of colonialism. The same thing happened to Waiyaki Wa Hinga. Here we can list also Moraa Ong'iti, Wanje Mwadori, Ndui Wa Ndumbo, Mohammed Khamis Kombo, Mwenyi Jaku, Noosa Hersi, Chief Mbaruk Bin Rashid. So many. From so many ethnic groups, making Kenya resisting. Arap Samoei Koitalel, Arap Manyei, Kimnyole, Arap Turugar. Harry Thuku, Muthoni Nyanjiru and many others.

I know that there are some who say, hmmmm, this is not possible to imagine, they died. But I see the vacuum left by the absence of their voices. We did not only lose them as individuals but also Freedom of Expression. When some of these people were killed also in post colonial times and by African presidents, fear was instilled in those who watched this happen. Entire societies went silent. 

Post independence deaths of Tom Mboya, 1969, JM Kariuki 1975, Robert Ouko 1990, Pio Gama Pinto. We really cannot recover in a long time losses of talented and fabulous people and above all losses which we have never acknowledged on one single day. Losses of life that have not seen justice. This means there are wounds unhealed. The assassination of Mboya in Kenyatta's time left a deep rift between the Luo and the Kikuyu and that bad blood has lasted.
Kenyatta was stoned when he visited Kisumu in 1969. Kenyatta made many mistakes. We cannot afford not to have a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Committee that can be trusted. Kenya needs healing.

Those who died, feared not to point out that we have a clique of very few rich people and to predict that millions or beggars will follow. JM Kariuki is on record pleading with Kenyatta that he and his cronies and family stop taking so much land in Kenya. He always emphasied that the child in Turkana, Magadi, Kiambu will starve. He spoke about the widows of Mau Mau being desolate and hungry. He was assassinated.

We have had many prisoners of conscience. The mothers of Freedom Corner as we call them stripped naked to demand that their sons are relaeased from prison. Many died in the cell in Moi days 1978-2002). Some fled including writers who were outspoken. These voices are not tapped any more. Examples are: Adulatif Abdala, Yusuf K, Alamin Mazrui Jr. Micere Mugo, Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, Wangui Wa Goro and others. The silence that became of more tame writing after this is not to be underestimated.

Daniel Arap Moi also owes Kenya the life of Kenneth Matiba and Charles Rubia. Matiba who had a great following in the country when he led Saba Saba Asili  survived a massive stroke after being denied medication but never had the same capacity he had for leadership before this event. But if he survived the stroke, the young people who many know followed him in great numbers and totally believed in him became the disgruntled Mungiki and other gangs that we see in Kenya today. These and all the others are incredible losses of opportunities. Kenya has bled a lot  at all  levels and continues to suffer.

Wikipedia tells us regarding these two that Kenneth Matiba "... was imprisoned together with Charles Rubia, another leading figure calling for multiparty democracy.Whilst there Matiba was refused medication and suffered a massive stroke, which affected half of his body and incapacitated him for some time. 

Later, a multiparty system was inaugurated and Matiba was released. He was part of the opposition alliance that formed the popular movement by the name Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD)." We do not forget that Masinde Muliro also a politician died unexpectedly at the airport too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Matiba

What shall I say about Bishop Alexander Muge, also murdered in Kenya. I quot from Presidential Awards, a poem by Philo Ikonya, published in Out of Prison-Love Songs, translated into German by Helmuth A. Niederle "Do they never gather to listen to Alexander Kipsang Muge, their colleague? Read his story and celebrate his anniversary with the President ? Bishop Muge had a vision for Kenya. He could inspire beyond the grave but important people do not commemorate him.

Of course when the leadership does not inspire.. .. I am just hearing all the shouting and joy as Obama delivers his re-election speech. " We have not lost hope for America.... I have always insisted that hope is that stubborn thing that lives in us... that insists against all odds... " 

Please, I have not heard anything inspiring from people in power. A nation like I have described above needs this inspiration so badly! I am not saying Obama and the US are perfect but hey, am reminding that his roots are in Kenya! 

At which point I also realise how many truly intelligent people went into alcohol and wasted away or jobs and became silent when they saw how power rapes Kenya!I am filled with stubborn hope, nonetheless.