Peace does not live here anymore! Anne Kithaka
I wrote this piece sometimes in November this year, a few weeks before the outbreak of the present mayhem. I am submitting it in the hope that you will publish it (even with amendments!) because I feel it is still very relevant to the current situation. Due to the stress that I have been undergoing for the last one week I am not able to update this article. I live in the conflict area, western Kenya. Many of my friends have lost their houses in fires; many have left for Nairobi under heavy police escort. Many are still residing at the open grounds within the police station; many are helpless, unsure of tomorrow. We need to bring a sustainable peace in our country, a peace that will see us through crisis of this nature in future.
Ann kithaka
Peace does not live here anymore! (written on 11th November 2007)
In Kenya, we pride ourselves as being a peaceful country; an oasis of stability in a region flaunt with conflict. We even appoint our illustrious sons to be peace envoys to our neighboring countries because we have ‘peace, love and unity’ which we can ‘sambaza’ (share) around.
Yet the truth is that peace is a relative term. For all intent and purposes, we cannot say that we have peace in Kenya if the reality of Mt. Elgon and Kurusei conflicts can be anything to go by. Add the mungiki menace where beheading and desecration of corpses is carried out ritualistically; add the endemic cattle rustling in West Pokot where even little boys know how to wield a gun and shoot at fleeing enemies; add politically instigated violence where the likes of Flora Teera are confined in I.C.U after being beaten senseless by thugs; add the endemic violence against women including defilement and deflowering of babies; and you have a fluid situation where peace has fled!
All this is evidence of underlying structural injustices which are not conducive to peaceful co existence for the diverse people that make up our country. Our development as a nation will continue to be stunted as long as we continue think of peace as a situation where there is absence of war. According the current international standards, peace and security are synonymous to human security. Security ceases to be military security but becomes all encompassing term that takes in democratic values, respect for human rights, strategies for sustainable development, engendering social equity and elimination of extreme poverty.
It is only when all these cross cutting issues are taken care of that we can proudly say that we have peace and security in our country. Failure to observe them will lead to conflict at all stratums of our society. A conflict becomes dangerous when it is not resolved appropriately. That is why there is emphasis on transformative conflict resolution mechanisms in many parts of the world today.
During the First Standing Conference on Stability, Security and Development in Africa held in Durban in 2002, a resolution was passed in which each country agreed to establish a national framework for the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts by December 2004. Kenya started on a high note. There was a draft National Policy on Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation whose progress remains shrouded in mystery. The common person on the street is not aware of the current status of this policy.
My suggestion is that we should borrow a leaf from Ghana and take conflict resolution seriously at all levels of our society, be it at home, office or community.
Ghana has already put in place a National Framework for Peace that has devolved peace initiatives from National level down to the district and location levels. The common people are the owners of this initiative whose major goal is to institutionalize a culture of peace within the society. This is achieved by creating ‘space for dialogue’ among different conflicting groups. Also, the National Legal Aid scheme has established Community Mediation Centers (CMCs) where alternative dispute resolution mechanisms are encouraged. Here family disputes, child maintenance, debt recovery, matrimonial disputes, personal injuries, minor criminal cases, human rights abuse, and harassment are settled out of court.
This has decongested the court system and ensured that police are left to apply their professional resources to serious crimes.
If we had such a system here, the on going war of words between Maina Kiai and the Police Commissioner would not have taken place. The levels of mistrust, misunderstanding and lack of dialogue that we are witnessing would not have been necessary because the two institutions would be working together for peace. It is evident that our police department has a disdain, nay palpable hostility for human rights. They are always on the defensive whenever their human rights record is put on the spot. Peace will only settle here when our police officers get sensitized about human rights. It is the duty of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights to come out and sell this concept to them for the benefit of Kenyans. As it is, human rights appear to be the preserve of the elite. I belief one of the mandate of KNCHR is to educate both the right-claimers and duty-bearers about human rights. That is my understanding of their mandate.
ann kithaka
Next entry: Mugumo Munene: Disputed election has left death and destruction in Kenya
Previous entry: Update from Tom Maliti