Kenya’s riots run deeper than politics
Normally a stable and a peaceful country, the recent elections have ripped open Kenya’s society along tribal lines. Peter Campbell and Christiana Hambro speak to locals caught in the sweeping violence.
“Youths plan arson and loot, houses were torched last night, and there are sounds of gunshots nearby,” Elijah Masira, a 24-year-old Kenyan living in the slums of Nairobi, told Nouse via email last week. Elijah, who was in the city of Kisumu, the epicentre of the rioting, when the violence began, was notably shaken. “I am so distressed by this, I can’t stand to see Kenya turn into hell on earth because of individuals who are so heartless to understand that defeat is part of life.”
Kenya had always been a stable country when compared to its neighbours Sudan and Somalia. However, since the Boxing Day elections it has been engulfed by conflict, with the failure of transparent elections splitting the country over Mwai Kibaki’s rule.
The delayed election results gave Kibaki, the incumbent President, just over 4.5 million votes, a mere 200,000 votes more than the main opposition leader, Raili Odinga. Odinga, who secured the poor vote by promising wealth redistribution, immediately called for a re-run.
Kenyans are divided into 42 tribes, and strong ties to them are one of the major contributors to the spiralling violence. Both Kibaki and Odinga are from two of the largest tribes, Kikuyu and Luo respectively, and the problem has descended into tribal violence rather than party politics.
The two worst affected areas have been the city of Kisumu, Odinga’s birthplace, and its neighbouring town of Kericho, the centre of Kenya’s thriving tea industry. Following Kibaki’s refusal to step down, Odinga’s Luo tribe have formed violent gangs which have “sworn that there is not one Kikuyu that will live in Kericho.” Local communities are normally widely diverse and tolerant of multiculturalism, but the recent political upheaval has caused divisions within the multi-ethnic group, sending certain tribes back into isolation amidst prejudice and superstition.
23-year-old Venessa Monyangi, who lives in Kericho, talks about a lack of freedom of speech, to the extent that she will not discuss the current political situation in public for fear of being beaten or shot. She explained how “the schools within the main tea estate have been closed indefinitely with desolate villages replacing the vibrant communities which once flourished”. She continued: “I am no longer able to speak with lifelong friends due to differences in our cultural heritage. There is no peace at all; Kenya is no longer what it once was.”
In Kisumu, after the elections, people did not dare venture out of their houses for three days. One woman in Kisumu, who was housing 28 people for safety, said it was “difficult to keep everyone fed. Prices are trebled, but we don’t have a choice: We have to eat. We have cut down to one meal a day. One boy went out alone to get food, and suffered a severe beating and a deep cut that had to be stitched up at home.” She blamed one of the main tribes that supports Odinga for why Kisumu was badly hit, as it is heavily mixed in with the Kikuyus.
In Kisumu, the police have been given orders of shoot-to-kill. A woman in Kisumu said: “after five years of stability, free primary education and economic growth, it is a shock and deeply distressing to see the current turmoil.” On visiting a refugee camp, Elijah commented: “I saw thousands of displaced people, most of whom were women and children. Police vehicles were still bringing more people. I was very concerned about the sanitation.”
People are too frightened to sleep, and herd together for protection. The tea estate outside Kericho has been razed, the villages destroyed, and workers accused of supporting Kibaki have been machetteed to death. The employees have been urged to return to their tribes in a desperate attempt to stem the flow of violence.
“The killings will not stop until Odinga is president,” is a commonly heard cry, but since tribal warfare has become an intrinsic part of the battle, the scars may run deeper than we think.
Fred
I believe your reporters need to get their facts correct before you post them on the net. Luos are not the occupants of Kericho, Kipsigis are the dominant and original ethnic community there(no violent Luo gangs have been formed). Kisumu for your information is Luo country, (not heavily mixed with kikuyus).
Joseph
The luo were targeted before the whole thing was played out. The rigging that is. Thus, the live bullets. And the only other place than Kibera that it was used. Watch more closely and you will see more to come from all the tribes.
And the fact you need to understand is that Raila was elected by the ODM to run for presidency. He did not asigne himself that duty. Since you are not very well informed, let me put it to you simply. The rest of the kenyan nation does not agree with the rigging. THE REST OF KENYANS.
Peter Campbell
Fred and Joseph,
Many thanks for taking the time to read the article and comment.
During the process of writing the article, Christiana and I contacted ten individual sources in Kenya, from Kericho, Nakuru, Kisumu, and Nairobi.
Perhaps the article was not as clear as it could have been, and for that I apologise. I will, however, seek to address the issues you raise concerning the factual content.
Concerning Luos, three separate people in Kericho told us that Luos were forming gangs along with the Kalenjin tribe. Furthermore, the church burned in Eldorat on January 2 was a direct attack on Kibaki’s tribe by supporters of the ODM, the majority of who belong to the Luo tribe.
Concerning the ethnic mix in Kericho, Christiana lived in Kericho for five months and taught in a school there for the duration. The large tea estates attract workers from all over Kenya, resulting in a multi-tribal “hub” surrounding Kericho.
Concerning Kisumu, it may be “Luo country”, but areas of the city do have a high Kikuyu presence according to a woman there who is helping to shelter people of all tribes from the violence. Given that she is a long-standing resident of the city, I would be inclined to trust her judgement.
I hope this has addressed your concerns. If there is still anything that you would like clarifying, please feel free to get in touch. Thanks again for commenting.
Peter Campbell,
Deputy Politics Editor
Dan Taylor
Could do with a good dose of re-colonisation.
Robin
A gloriously practical solution to a seemingly intractable problem. Simple, yet elegant. Why had no-one thought of this before?
Rinky Stingpiece
I’m afraid this is human nature: group-forming and competition for resources.
The first signs of it here were in the Summer Riots of 2001; dampened now by white flight.
Africa was deliberately cut up across tribal lines to divide and conquer; the moral solution is for ethnic states both there and everywhere in the world.
In Britain and Holland; Spain; France; Belgium; Germany; Italy… we face a similar future.
You don’t have to be a follower of the prophet Enoch to believe that; you just have to spend some time living in an urban ethnic hotspot.
The sooner it is recognised that there is an indigenous, autochthonous group of ethnic British (mostly Haplogroup R1b1c & I1a, and a dash of R1a), the better we may be able to deal with it, by defining some clear territories to divide our land between us and the immigrants.
Kosovo anyone?
Elijah Masira
i have just read your article.Many thanks for highlighting on the kenyan situation.I have noted with much concern though that the situation was actually different from the way it appears on your article.IT WAS NOT BETWEEN KIBAKI’S COMMUNITY;KIKUYU AND RAILA’S that were fighting!It was kenyans against injustices perpetrated by the electoral commission.For your information,There was mass demonstration everywhere in the country condeming the action.The international media had given a wrong report on the Kenyan crisis too!Kindly follow the happenings in kenya closely!You may also need to get a bit of kenya’s history to help you in future.Once again thanks!