Letter from Njoki Njehu
“The tribalists, the criminals, the rapists, the vengeful, the power-hungry, and other destructive forces have hijacked this moment which had the possibility of seeing Kenya and Kenyans birth a new future. Many people have tried to explain and/or give rationale to what unfolded in Kenya in the last week. Is it a class struggle or tribal warfare/ethnic cleansing? Is it disenfranchised voters demanding their rights? Or is it opportunists who have taken over for their own gain? They always seem to win and to be better prepared – there were reports before the elections of machetes being purchased in large volumes, and in one case someone was arrested with a trunkload/boot of new machetes! The previous three general elections (1992, 1997, and 2002) were preceded by so-called tribal violence, this time it has come post the elections. And this time, for the first time, the violence was unleashed in the full glare of the media because they were already covering the elections.”
January 7, 2008
A quick update from Kenya. I apologize that we aren’t able to answer all the emails individually.
We are well and safe. Things are much calmer and quiet all around. There continue to be some problems in Rift Valley, but not on the scale we were seeing last week. In Nairobi, you can almost catch yourself thinking things are normal.
We have friends visiting Mombasa where there was violence and tear gassing report after Friday prayers. In our conversation yesterday (Saturday) they reported that it was very contained and only in a few blocks around the mosque.
My cousin who lives in Rift Valley, near Kericho, the tea growing region, says things are quiet and calm and this is also evidenced by the steady stream of arriving displaced people. It is calm in that they are able to get out and to travel away from where they were hiding or under police protection.
My sister Ciiru and I went to deliver blankets and clothing to one of the Red Cross centers about 30 kilometres from Nairobi in Limuru. Two trucks had just arrived packed with people fleeing the violence, they were just being given water, covered in dirt and soil - not just dust, and looking haunted, but relieved - men, women, and children with no personal belongings having lost everything. The stories of ordinary people’s generosity, selflessness, and taking to great risk to protect, shelter, and feed the displaced is one of the true rays of hope in this heart-breaking situation. I witnessed women and men accompanied by their children and in some cases obviously grandchildren bring whatever they could to help, a bag of flour, a cabbage, cooking fat, tomatoes, clothes, blankets, shoes, etc. and as word went out that fuelwood was needed to cook, charcoal and firewood.
Things are cooling down, though not back to normal yet. All is not well in Kenya, although it seems that tempers are cooling some and the killing rampage has slowed down and/or stopped. Reports from some other parts of the country (Mombasa at the Coast, Eldoret in the Rift Valley, etc) are heart-wrenching - food scarcity; fuel shortage, so people are not able to leave the areas that have had lots of the violence; there are reports of rape of women and girls; and people are still generally scared and very terrorized based on their ethnicity, and/or perception of who they might have voted for in the presidential elections. Some of the demagoguery has quieted down, and the hardliners are softening, but still it is quite chilling. Rumors sprout everyday and the media and government has to keep issuing denials – on Friday it was that the water supply had been poisoned… People are generally scared and even in public places you do not hear laughter, the spirit of joy seems to have been sucked out of Kenya.
Archbishop Tutu was here to help with the situation and I believe he succeeded in getting the Kibaki and Raila sides to drop some of their hardline positions and move closer to dialogue. It seems that the hundreds of dead people, over 100,000 displaced, and dozens of raped women and girls are invisible and disappeared and this has become about these two men. It is quite obvious that the elections were rigged, but their greed for power and disregard for the loss of life and welfare of Kenya and ALL her peoples is outrageous.
The tribalists, the criminals, the rapists, the vengeful, the power-hungry, and other destructive forces have hijacked this moment which had the possibility of seeing Kenya and Kenyans birth a new future. Many people have tried to explain and/or give rationale to what unfolded in Kenya in the last week. Is it a class struggle or tribal warfare/ethnic cleansing? Is it disenfranchised voters demanding their rights? Or is it opportunists who have taken over for their own gain? They always seem to win and to be better prepared – there were reports before the elections of machetes being purchased in large volumes, and in one case someone was arrested with a trunkload/boot of new machetes! The previous three general elections (1992, 1997, and 2002) were preceded by so-called tribal violence, this time it has come post the elections. And this time, for the first time, the violence was unleashed in the full glare of the media because they were already covering the elections.
Kenya and all her peoples have been betrayed in so many ways and many times, but this time it somehow cuts deeper. We have fallen back and far from where we were five years ago. The 2002 elections were a victory for Kenyans everywhere and the gains since had turned Kenya around on to the path of change. Now the hearts of Kenyans are broken and our country has been ripped apart. And sadly we seem befuddled about how to begin healing. I believe we must start with each one of us reaching out in friendship and in peace. During the international days of action around January 26 called for by the World Social Forum (which was last held in Nairobi, just a year ago), our organization, Daughters of Mumbi, will be sponsoring events which will provide space for open discussion of what has befallen Kenya.
The people have already begun to lead and the “leaders” must follow in the quest for healing and reconciliation in Kenya.
Thank you for all your expressions of concern and good wishes.
Njoki (& Soren too)
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Njoki Njoroge Njehu (Ms.)
Executive Director
Daughters of Mumbi Global Resource Center/ Solidarity Africa Network
P.O. Box 23306 – Lower Kabete - 00604
Nairobi, KENYA
Phone/Fax: +254-20-418-0282
Mobile : + 254 723 229 426
Email:
SKYPE: solidarityafrica
URL: http://daughtersofmumbi.org
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