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March 3, 2010

Before you become a Kikuyu Elder

Before someone becomes a Kikuyu elder, One must must meet the following conditions.

i)The Candidate and his last born son must be circumcised.
ii) A candidate from another tribe, must denounce his tribe(This is done by offer of 3 sheep)and an Elder (muchuha) of his choice will become his/her God father.The person is not entitled to any dowry for his daughters and the dowry goes to the ‘Muchuha’.
iii)He must be recommended by ‘athuri a matathi and Athuri a maturango(Elders of Matathi and those of Maturango.)These two recommend the person to Arathi.
iv) the Arathi (12 in number) then verifies the persons past to see if he/she has been involved in any murder or general crime against the community.

If the person has met those conditions, he is given two mithigi’s(Sticks).One is straight (signifying one God) while the other is two pronged at the end Signifying Ngoma (Kikuyu right word for Ancestoral spirits, not satan)

The muthigi was taken to Kirinyaga by the arathi for 40 days where they were to speak with God.its then that they come up with a decision of whether to make a person an Elder.

when all this is done the person receives the following items

1 Muthigi (stick-two pronged)-signifying power to lead
2 Rwenji (Circumcisers knife)-power to circumcise
3.Kioho kia migathi (stringed Beads)-Power to choose what other elders and agemates will be adorning.
4.Ruhiu (Panga/sword)-power to slaughter a goat

5.Coro (Blowing horn)-power to rally people together

6.Itimu na ruhiu rwa njora (Spear and sword)-power to call his people to war.

PS .The last Arathi (12 in number) were from the Mwangi generation, 1898-9 [Hobley]. They were officially disbanded in 1925 by the colonial government .The Kikuyu have No Official Kikuyu Council of Elders or Community Elders though every father as the head of the household can represent his family in the only recognized council(local/village council) called kĩama kĩa Athuri comprising other family heads .In Urban areas the family heads do not have to live in the same area.It could be a kĩama of family friends or business associates.

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Tags: kikuyu council of elders, KIKUYU ELDERS, rice, Uncategorized

September 5, 2008

Kenya has failed at healing ethnic divisions

A power-sharing agreement between the opposition Orange Democratic Movement and the Party of National Unity in Kenya has failed at healing ethnic divisions in the one-time politically-troubled East African nation, according to a new report by Minority Rights Group International (MRG).

“Tens of thousands of Kenyans remain displaced, living in miserable conditions in transit camps, while ethnic tensions fester, following the country’s worst outbreak of violence,” says the London-based organisation. The clashes, which broke out after disputed election results early this year, left Kenya with its biggest crisis ever in terms of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Over 400,000 were driven from their homes, and 1,500 were killed.

MRG found peace-building efforts were “patchy, poorly funded and lacked major government backing.”

MRG’s head of policy and communications, Ishbel Matheson, says that from the outset, the new government seemed more interested in breaking up the highly visible IDP camps in major towns, rather than facilitating the sustainable return of these people. Without a serious commitment to build bridges between these communities, violence could easily erupt again, she warned.

According to the report, titled “Kenya Six Months on: A New Beginning or Business as Usual?”, the biggest difficulties are in the Northern Rift Valley, where the violence carried out by Kalenjin ethnic militia, against the Kikuyus, was worse.

But small communities, like the indigenous Ogiek hunter-gatherer group living close to the Rift Valley town of Nakuru, were also hard-hit.

Asked for his comments, Salim Lone, a former senior U.N. official and currently spokesman for Prime Minister Raila Odinga, told IPS: “The report correctly points to the complexity of the healing process that is underway in Kenya, since the underlying factors for the terrible violence are decades old.”

But it is far too early, he said, to characterise the exercise in such negative terms. “Some other independent observers have in fact described the government’s efforts as encouraging.”

“A key part of our reconstruction and healing revolves around resettling displaced people,” Lone pointed out. “That process must ensure that the marginalisation of some ethnic groups over the last 45 years is quickly reversed if we are to avoid further instability.”

William Ruto named in Violence Report

Lone, who is based in Nairobi, said the prime minister is doing everything within his powers to ensure that the government does not end up paying the most attention to the IDPs of the largest and most influential communities.

“That is why the prime minister, who draws a lot of support from the Rift Valley, where many killings occurred, boldly associated himself with the resettlement drive in that province,” he said.

Lone said it is important to point out, however, that it is not only small and remote groups that have suffered marginalisation, “which is severe and a threat to our stability, (but also others). We are determined to end it.”

Unfortunately, he said, the report portrays the killings as being primarily ethnic in nature. “This is false,” Lone asserted.

“The killings were triggered by a very controversial outcome of the presidential election, and the political revolt to this did take on heavily ethnic overtones in some areas. But a large number of killings were actually the result of police shootings,” he added.

Asked whether the United Nations has done enough to ensure the continuation of the peace process, Matheson told IPS that it was ultimately an African Union-sponsored peace process, which former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan presided over, that helped broker the agreement.

But the visit of Ban Ki-moon, the current secretary-general, at a crucial time in the process back in February 2008 was undoubtedly vital, because it brought pressure to bear on the two parties to reach a power-sharing agreement, while the violence threatened to tear the country apart, she added.

“It is vital that that diplomatic vigour does not fade, as the coalition government becomes more established,” Matheson said.

She said that high-level U.N. pressure should be brought to bear, for example, to ensure that the vital reform processes — the constitutional review, a new land policy, and a truth, justice and reconciliation commission — be kept on track.

“If it looks like it is faltering, Ban Ki-moon should appoint a special U.N. representative to Kenya, to flag up the immense importance of the success of these reform processes,” Matheson said.

In addition, the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR), conducted a fact-finding mission to the country at the height of the violence, and made a number of key recommendations in relation to the reform processes and the treatment of IDPs.

The OHCHR must return before the end of the year, to chart progress on its recommendations, and establish whether Kenya is meeting its obligations to its people under international human rights norms, she added.

The findings of that report should be made public, and again, will help to reinforce to Kenya’s politicians that there can be no backsliding when it comes to reform.

“The relief at seeing Kenya return to peace, and attempt to rebuild its shattered economy, should not deflect from the fact that fundamental problems remain in the governance of the country, and that this is probably the best chance in a generation to put them right,” Matheson said.

The United Nations has a massive engagement with Kenya. The country — and Nairobi, in particular — is the host to the headquarters of several major agencies.

“It is greatly in the interests of the U.N.’s political wing — as well as its humanitarian agencies — to secure true reform in Kenya, so that a truly modern inclusive society can be forged,” she declared.

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Tags: Kenya, Uncategorized

September 4, 2008

BBC: Kenya Six Months later

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Tags: burnt church, Ethnic clashes, Kiambaa, kikuyu violence, Uncategorized

August 30, 2008

Africa Confidential:KHRC Violence Report -Names

August 30, 2008 at 5:36 AM- The state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has produced a researched but politically explosive report which links six government ministers to the violence that followed this year’s elections, when over 1,000 people died and some 350,000 were displaced (AC Vol 49 No 16). Although the KNCHR is yet to release the full list of the 209 people it named as involved in the violence, Muigwithania 2.0 and Africa Confidential have both obtained a copy which includes what the KNCHR describes as ‘a list of alleged perpetrators’ which it believes ‘provides a basis and a good starting point for further investigations’. The KNCHR emphasises that it is ‘not making any conclusions that the persons mentioned are guilty’. It insists that it has made every effort to ensure that the information about the named persons meets a threshold of credibility and that it has subjected the list to review by ‘independent persons’ and ‘national experts’.

Perpetrators
The KNCHR’s list of ‘alleged perpetrators’ includes six cabinet ministers: xxxx xxxxxx from President Mwai Kibaki‘s Party of National Unity, Sally Kosgei, Henry Kosgey, William Ruto, Najib Balala and the late Kipkalya Kones from Prime Minister Raila Odinga‘s Orange Democratic Movement. It also included allegations against a bishop and several preachers, Christian and Muslim, for involvement in the violence. List of Alleged Perpetrators.

To substantiate its ‘list of perpetrators’, which includes 20 MPs, the KNCHR report goes into some detail about political meetings leading up to the election crisis and some held once the violence had started. It argues forcefully that at least part of the violence was well organised prior to the election.
For example, it reports that Agriculture Minister William Ruto (MP for Eldoret North) held a meeting in August 2007 with other senior ODM leaders in Kipkelion near Kericho which included the late Lorna Laboso (MP for Sotik), the late Kipkalya Kones (MP for Bomet and a Minister) and Franklin Bett (MP for Bureti). At this meeting, the report states the attendees resolved to carry out mass evictions of non-Kalenjins from their homes in the Rift Valley, particularly the Kikuyu and Abagusii.

In a separate section, the report names former High Commissioner to London and now Minister of Higher Education Sally Kosgei as ‘planning, inciting and financing’ the violence in the Rift Valley. It also accuses Tourism Minister Najib Balala of inciting and paying youths Ksh500 (US$7.37) each to cause violence.

The Commission Chairwoman, Florence Simbiri-Jaoko, who replaced Maina Kiai at the end of July, said the full report listed five ministers, five religious leaders, eight senior provincial administrators and 13 others. She would pass its findings to the government’s own probe, the Commission to Investigate Post-Election Violence, which is headed by Justice Philip Waki and which is partly funded by the United Nations, she added. She will call for the prosecution of the named officials and others implicated in the events in five of Kenya’s eight provinces (Rift, Nyanza, Western, Coast and Central) and in Nairobi.

Now politicians and journalists are taking aim at the KNCHR’s report. Nairobi’s Daily Nation claims that an annexe with the full list of names was removed at the last minute and suggests that the names of Odinga’s allies were removed but those of Kibaki’s stayed. KNCHR officials deny any such doctoring.

It is true that in the version of the report made public, the Odinga supporters named – with the exception of a former lieutenant of ex-President Daniel arap Moi, William Ole Ntimama – are almost all minor political and business players who would have drawn finance and support from more senior figures. Many say that powerful Kikuyu business and political interests financed the pro-Kibaki gangs in Nairobi’s slums but the report says nothing about the financiers of the anti-Kikuyu gangs.

Three chapters of the report are devoted to the worst hit South, North, and Central parts of the Rift Valley. They detail atrocities such as the burning alive of Kikuyu people in a church in Kiambaa in Eldoret, the forcible circumcision of Luo men who then bled to death, murders and lynchings by gangs in various parts of the country and in Nairobi’s slums, and hundreds of rapes.

The report criticises the ‘negative ethnicity’ of FM radio stations and of members of parliament at pre-election rallies. In the Rift, the term kuondoa madoadoa (‘remove the spot’) incited constituents to get rid of Kikuyu. Kihii (‘uncircumcised man’ in Kikuyu) was used to berate uncircumcised Luo.
Information was collected over four months in 136 constituencies from 1,102 deponents, including 46 senior policemen, 40 provincial administrators, 33 councillors and ten MPs. The detail, numbers and naming of at least some names is a breakthrough. It is unclear whether the individuals interviewed will testify, given the police’s difficulty in obtaining evidence, or whether the information will stand up in court.

The KNCHR asks the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to open investigations on Kenya, claiming crimes against humanity were committed as part of a planned policy, and to determine ‘who bears the greatest responsibility’.

The KNCHR details violence against Kikuyu and upcountry groups in the Rift and elsewhere, and retaliatory violence against Luo, Kalenjin and people of other non-Kikuyu ethnic groups, which led to 7,500 ‘episodes of violence’, numerous rapes, and the destruction of property. It claims that this was premeditated, highly organised and financed by key politicians, businessmen, community leaders, civil servants and many teachers.

The former District Commissioner of Uasin Gishu in the Rift, Bernard Kinyua, has told the Waki Commission that he and others received no reports that youths were being trained and said the violence there was spontaneous. Hassan Noor Hassan, Provincial Commissioner of the Rift Valley, also insisted to the Waki Commission that the violence was spontaneous and that reports of oath-taking had been inferred incorrectly from circumcision ceremonies taking place at the time.
Three District Commissioners from the North Rift, Stephan Ikua (Koibatek), Mabeya Mogaka (formerly of Nandi North) and Aden Parake (Kipkelion), also told the Waki Commission that the violence was spontaneous. In the 1990s, the Akiwumi Commission’s investigation into tribal clashes accused government administrators of being untruthful and attempting cover-ups.

The report argues that the police and security agencies adopted a shoot-to-kill policy, mainly in Kisumu and parts of Nairobi. Police officers from Kisumu and Homa Bay in Nyanza (Edward Mwamburi and Simon Kiragu) told the Waki Commission that they were ordered to use live rounds.

The KNCHR chastises the government for failing to act on warnings from the National Security Intelligence Service. Earlier, the Director of that service, Brigadier Michael Gichangi, had testified to the Waki Commission that it had information forecasting violence before the elections, including reports of oathing and the names of gang sponsors.

The report describes positive actions to quell violence by police and other agencies, acknowledging that their task was enormous and sometimes overwhelming. It also describes cases where police and others assisted individuals from their own groups and failed to protect other communities. Some clergy did likewise, although in Narok and Mombassa, elders, religious leaders and police persuaded local youths to desist from violence.

The report asked the Attorney General or the police to investigate those listed in its unpublished Annex 1, while noting that the list is not comprehensive. It also calls for an investigation of the security forces and for special courts in the ‘theatres of violence’. Its other recommendations include the enactment of legislation on ‘hate speech’, provision for internally displaced people and human rights education for nation-building.

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Tags: karua, Kenya, kenyan violence, Kibaki, Mungiki, Uncategorized, william ruto

August 20, 2008

Kenya:Mathare-Slum Tv

Amidst the mayhem of Kenya’s post-election ethnic violence, one group of ethnically-mixed aspiring young journalists from Nairobi’s Mathare slum decided to take up cameras instead of knives. Slum TV aimed to project some hope back into their scarred community. Africa Uncovered follows the team at Slum TV as they count down to a public screening and revisits some of the characters they filmed during the violence.

Part 2-Video section

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Tags: Elections, Kenya, mathare slum, Uncategorized, violence

August 13, 2008

Love for Enemies

Not because you defeated our people ,burnt our churches,women and children …Not because we cant fight back or we don’t want to fight back…Not because we want harmony or believe in the Kenyan state …Not because we agree or even disagree with you .I will never look at ODM supporters in the same way and our “Kikuyu Leaders” who only care about their own interests !I will never again say I am a proud kenyan, when innocent kids and families live in tents but I will now love my enemies .God didnt promise we will not have enemies but He did tell us to love them even if they are our enemies .1657 Dead many more still homeless .

I think i have worked out my bitterness and I now lay it to rest……..

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighborand hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Matthew 5:43-45 (New International Version)

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Tags: election violence, Kenya, Kikuyu, Mungiki, tribalism, Uncategorized

August 12, 2008

Religion

Guest Writer:K.Ngome

Jesus Is Lord

Most Kikuyu are Christians, and it is difficult to come across one who professes to be anything else.Yet there are other signs, too, that the old ways have not been completely forgotten. The institution of elder hood may at first sight appear to be defunct, but here too, the Kikuyu have adapted and adopted to the new ways rather than simply discarding the old: it has been estimated that 90% of the Catholic priests in the Nairobi diocese have also been elected as ‘elders’.

Ngai-The Creator

Traditionally, as now, the Kikuyu were monotheists, believing in a unique and omnipotent God whom they called Ngai (also spelled Mogai or Mungai). The word, if not the notion, came from the Maasai word Enkai, and was borrowed by both the Kikuyu and Kamba. God is also known as Mungu, Murungu, or Mulungu (a variant of a word meaning God which is found as far south as the Zambezi of Zambia), and is sometimes given the title Mwathani or Mwathi (the greatest ruler), which comes from the word gwatha, meaning to rule or reign with authority.

Ngai is the creator and giver of all things, ‘the Divider of the Universe and Lord of Nature’. He gave birth to the human community, created the first Kikuyu communities, and provided them with all the resources necessary for life: land, rain, plants and animals.

He – for Ngai is male – cannot be seen, but is manifest in the sun, moon, stars, comets and meteors, thunder and lighting, rain, in rainbows and in the great fig trees (mugumo) that served as places of worship and sacrifice, and which marked the spot at Mukurue wa Gathanga where Gikuyu and Mumbi – the ancestors of the Kikuyu in the oral legend – first settled.

Yet Ngai is not the distant God that we know in the West. He had human characteristics, and although some say that he lives in the sky or in the clouds, they also say that he comes to earth from time to time to inspect it, bestow blessings and mete out punishment. When he comes he rests on Mount Kenya and four other sacred mountains. Thunder is interpreted to be the movement of God, and lightning is God’s weapon by means of which he clears the way when moving from one sacred place to another.

Other people believed that Ngai’s abode was on Mount Kenya, or else ‘beyond’ its peaks. Ngai, says one legend, made the mountain his resting place while on an inspection tour of earth. He then took the first man, Gikuyu, to the top to point out the beauty of the land he was giving him.

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August 10, 2008

Secret Amnesty for Poll Suspects. “And we all lived happily ever after in a glorious Kenya”

Odm supporter

Adopted from a Capital Fm Exclusive-08/10/08

Corroborated by interviews with some Rift Valley MP’s who have even begun taking a tally of those released so far.

“A number of the youth that we had asked for have been released and are now back home. We are still taking stock of whether there are still more who are likely to be in police custody,” said Isaac Ruto of Chepalungu.
The suspects were arrested for offences ranging from arson attacks, malicious damage to property, and incitement, among others.It is said that they did not appear in court to face any of the counts they were arrested for.

kIambaa Church Victims

Then just why were they arrested and where were they being held prior to their release?

When we put that question to Police Spokesman Kiraithe, he changed tack and even denied that the said suspects were ever in custody.

“Our position remains that we really did not have any young men in our police cells and therefore, we cannot be releasing any young men we do not have,” he stated, adding that the matter was being dealt with by the Commission of Inquiry into Post Election Violence (CIPEV).

Happy Valley :we all love each other

Isaac Ruto made remarks that tied into Kiraithe’s version: “We do not know exactly whether there was a general release because when we ask them (the youth) most of them do not exactly know whether they are expected to go back or not. And they do not seem to be having any papers showing they have been released on bond or whichever arrangement.”

Though he could not state the exact number of those so far released, Ruto is categorical that the youth who have been set free are more than the ones missing.

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Tags: Kenya, Uncategorized

August 5, 2008

Martha Karua

When Martha Karua announced in late 2007 that she would be one of the debutantes for the 2012 presidential polls, most of us ignored her.Enter 2008, she has repeatedly reiterated this and proceeded to underpin it with concrete political action. She is now interim chair of NARC-K, the PNU partner boasting the highest number of members in the tenth Parliament. When she therefore asserts that she is no longer interested in PNU unity and wishes to strengthen her party in preparation for 2012, only non-serious political strategists can afford to take her lightly.

Ms Karua is the embodiment of political suave. No one quite understands how she appeared on the political scene. She stands on no historical political legacy akin to Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, Mr Musalia Mudavadi or Mr Raila Odinga, nor was she chaperoned into politics by any national or regional kingpins as was Mr Kalonzo Musyoka. Neither was she born into financial plenty to help her “buy” her way into parliament as many others have had to. And, in the many years she has served from the backbench of parliament and later the front bench as cabinet minister, she has not been embroiled in financial improprieties.

Her tenure as cabinet minister has also been colourful. Those in the Water ministry will tell you that she left a legacy that endures. She is credited with a reform model that has now become a benchmark for reforms in other sectors. And, she was strong and no-nonsense when she served there. Those in the Justice ministry will have stories to tell about her tireless style. She works indefatigably. That’s good for policy formulation and driving.

Raw courage

Her raw courage amazes. Recall when she stoically walked out in broad daylight, cameras zooming, on former president Moi in Kerugoya stadium, that she had been denied a chance to address her people?
Why then would anyone be surprised that she, today, can easily stand her ground against President Kibaki on this small matter of PNU unity? That’s Martha for us.That’s why I think it would be political folly to disregard her current drive for presidential office. Here’s a Kenyan with an unblemished record of public service, occupies a key cabinet office, is leader of a growing political party, has courage and a doubtless clarity of mind.Clearly, she has come from afar to occupy ground earlier reserved for only the likes of Mr Uhuru and Mr Saitoti in taking the mantle from President Kibaki.

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Tags: Kenya, Kibaki, Kikuyu, kyuks, martha karua, Raila Odinga, Uncategorized

August 1, 2008

Kenyatta on BBC Hardtalk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImreW9AHm3g%5D

INTERVIEW CONTINUED-VIDEO TAB

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Tags: bbc, Kenya, land reform, Mungiki, uhuru kenyatta hardtalk, Uncategorized, violence

July 25, 2008

In the News (Baltimore Sun interviews Joe Wachira & friends)

kelly.brewington@baltsun.com

Over grilled goat meat and Amstel Light, the men banter in a rapid-fire blend of Swahili and English. It’s hot, humid and loud on the gravel patio of this Northeast Baltimore bar, where the tables are covered with thatched umbrellas and Kenyan-style Lingala tunes pulse from a nearby TV.Friday nights at Charlie Brown’s are typically reserved for partying. But on this recent night, it’s all about politics, as conversation centers on Kenya’s most famous son – Barack Obama.

It doesn’t matter that Obama was neither born nor raised in Kenya (his father, also named Barack, was from a small village in Kenya’s Nyanza province). And whether he wins the race for the presidency is somewhat irrelevant. Among this circle of friends, Obama’s nomination alone is cause for celebration, reflection and intense debate.”In Kenyan culture, they consider Barack their son,” said Mike Mugo, a 34-year-old nurse from Baltimore who grew up in Nairobi. “You are a son of Kenya, no matter where you live. And because of that, Kenyans feel immense pride.”But if he is president, how does it help Kenya?” William Gachiri interjected, playing the self-described devil’s advocate.

The exchange reflects a mix of pride, hope and trepidation about Obama’s run for president. The pride is easy to articulate – Obama shares their lineage and appears to care deeply about the east African nation. An Obama presidency could boost Kenya’s reputation in the U.S. and the world, they hope.They also acknowledge that their dreams for an Obama presidency might be too lofty. Surely, Obama alone can’t end ethnic tensions in Kenya, improve diplomatic relations between the U.S. and the world, and run the most powerful nation, they say.

Joe Wachira (left), Jackson Nganga and Mike Mugo

In January, Kenya’s flawed presidential election resulted in ethnic violence between Luos and ethnic Kikuyus, the nation’s most populous ethnic group (which includes President Mwai Kibaki). Obama’s father was a Luo.While many in Kenya reject tribalism, tensions remain, even among Kenyans in the United States, said Mugo, who grew up in Nairobi and moved to Baltimore for college 12 years ago.”It’s very subtle; you see it in the places people choose to hang out,” he said. “I, personally, hate the tribal sentiment, but it is there.”Mugo and the others – all Kikuyu – said Obama’s ethnic ancestry doesn’t matter to them, nor to most Kenyans.At the pool table, Steve Maina of Parkville said he wished Obama spoke out more forcefully against the ethnic strife several months ago.

“Being a presidential candidate in the most powerful country in the world, he needed to do something more to condemn the killing,” said Maina, who is half Kikuyu, half Masai and has lived in Baltimore for 13 years.Gachiri is the first of the four to say he fears Obama’s race will be his chief barrier to the White House.”Race is a huge factor here,” he said, the other men nodding in agreement. “It’s a part of the American social fabric. Just look at Hurricane Katrina.” “Remember what happened to Harold Ford?” chimed in Muchiri Kiiru, a teacher from Cockeysville, referring to the black Tennessee congressman who lost his bid for Senate in 2006 amid allegations of racially tinged ads. “We know about how complicated the South is.”Mugo agreed, saying he feared that Obama will be unable to shake the “black candidate” label, hurting his chances with white voters. Still, Mugo is hopeful.”I believe there is a majority of Americans who are willing to do the right thing, black and white,” he said.Mugo is the constant optimist among his friends and family. His parents, who live in Kenya, have few expectations of an Obama presidency.

“Over the years, they have been disappointed by so much, even by the local politicians next door,” he said. “Why would they expect anything of someone 10,000 miles away?”Nevertheless, like many Kenyans, they see are Obama as an extension of themselves, Mugo said.”If he can do it,” Mugo said, “that means that little boy in the village can aspire to the greatest dream of allIn neighborhoods straddling Baltimore’s northeast border with Baltimore County, Mugo has found a small but tightly knit community of Kenyans of various ethnic groups. About 4,700 Kenyans called Maryland home in 2006, according to the Migration Police Institute. Mugo and others say jokingly that nearly all of them hang out at the patio of Charlie Brown’s.

They come for NyamaChoma, which translates to “grilled meat” in Swahili, a hugely popular Kenyan specialty served in heaping piles on styrofoam plates. The smoky scent of goat ribs wafts between the crowded tables of the dimly lit back patio. Meanwhile, in the front room of the bar – popular with a diverse bunch of native Baltimoreans and Kenyans alike – hip-hop music thumps through speakers.

In a conversation that touched on Kenya’s economic and social problems and the complexities of race in America, the group expressed worries that Obama has a rough campaign ahead and that even if he wins the presidency, his administration might be unable to fulfill their expectations.

Gachiri dryly wonders aloud if too many Kenyans in America support Obama simply because of his lineage.

His three other friends scoff and chide him with laughter. Mugo shakes his head – no way.

“My support for Obama has nothing to do with him being black or Kenyan,” Mugo said. “When I heard his speech at the Democratic National Convention, I started standing. I started cheering. Anybody, black, white, green or yellow, who spoke like this, I would have to identify with them. He appeals to a sense of decency.”

Days after watching Obama’s break-out speech in 2004, Mugo purchased his book, Dreams FromMy Father. He was impressed with Obama’s accomplishments and how candidly he described being raised by a white mother from Kansas, longing to know his father in Kenya and ultimately finding his racial identity.

Obama also expressed deep affection for Kenya, said Joe Wachira, a high school teacher from Middle River. Wachira remembers a photo that appeared in the Kenyan newspaper, The Standard, showing a young Obama on the first of three visits to the country.”He was helping his grandmother carry things, hanging out in the market, just doing the things that we do,” said Wachira intensely. “He blended fairly easy in this Third World country, and that meant a lot to Kenyans.”

And even though Kenyans affectionately call Obama “point 5″ as in 0.5, to connote being half-Kenyan, they consider him every bit one of them, Wachira and others said.Back home, Obama is considered such a hero that some people expect the impossible from him, Wachira said.”They think Kenya has a rich friend in the U.S.,” said Mugo. “For so many years, all we hear about Africa is negative things. Any person who goes and becomes famous and important and is contributing in this nature, they are proud.”

The presumptive Democratic Party nominee receives rock-star treatment in Kenya, where a popular beer called Senator is known simply as “Obama.” His popularity permeates a nation fractured along ethnic lines.

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Tags: blogs, Elections, Kenya, Kenyan blogger, obama, Uncategorized

July 22, 2008

Problem Of Peace (Kenya)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8sK-epEAy0%5D

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Tags: >, African, East Africa, Kenya, kenyan blog, Nigeria, Raila Odinga, tanzania, tribalism, Uganda, Uncategorized, zimbabwe

July 17, 2008

Grand Hoax running Kenya

Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Justice Minister Martha Karua on Wednesday tore into the anti-corruption policy of the very Government they serve.By the virtue of their positions, the statements only added to the confusion that has characterized the war on corruption.As Prime Minister, Raila is charged with supervising and coordinating functions of Government, which has been the breeding ground for corruption. On her part, Karua is the custodian of the Justice machinery. In principle, the two should serve as the fulcrum around which the battle must be fought.
On his part, Raila appeared to plead lack of political will, but Karua attacked the Executive, accusing it of failing to live up to its promises.

And by calling for the return of celebrated anti-corruption czar John Githongo, who fled the country in 2005 amid claims that his life was in danger, Raila appeared to openly express dissatisfaction with the individuals and institutions charged with the task. Karua challenged the Grand Coalition to take the unique opportunity and bi-partisan approach and suggest policy and legal options to rid Kenya of corruption once and for all.“So long as we have pending cases of old corruption arising from transactions of Goldenberg, Anglo-Leasing and the Ndung’u Report, we cannot clear the backlog. The perception will be that the Government is still tolerating corruption,” Karua noted.

However, Raila and Karua admitted that the Government faced legal and policy hurdles in the fight against corruption.“While the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission tries to freeze assets acquired corruptly in foreign jurisdictions, our own courts have issued injunctions against the same,” Raila said.
Backing Karua’s stand on unfinished business of old corruption, Raila said it was embarrassing to see people named in corruption cases reports of Public Accounts Committee and Public Investments Committee of Parliament demonstrating and accusing others of the vice.

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Tags: corruption, karua, Kenya, Kenyan hoax, Kibaki, raila, Uncategorized

July 11, 2008

Raila Odinga is a disgrace to the African continent

By Susan Chipanga

MARK Twain, an acclaimed American author wrote: “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt”.

This timeless quote was brought to mind after intolerable criticism of Zimbabwe by Raila Odinga, Prime Minister of the Kenyan Government of National Unity whose ticket to power was signed by the blood of innocent people. Odinga’s moral right to condemn Zimbabwean elections is overshadowed by his coming into office as a result of the death of 1 500 people and the displacement of over 600 000 people.

On December 30, 2007 the chairman of the Kenyan election commission declared Odinga’s opponent, incumbent president Mwai Kibaki, the winner by a margin of about 230 000 votes. Raila challenged the results alleging fraud by the commission, but refused an election petition before the courts and urged protests, which plunged the country into one of the brutal and bloody post-election violence ever to be witnessed in recent history. Shamefacedly, the poor fellow has been blabbering on about Zimbabwe’s elections, violence, peacekeepers and for the country to be barred from regional bodies; a case some may attribute to being overwhelmed by the glare of the media after being in political obscurity for so long. Consequently, the whole of Africa and the world are regaled by the antics of a witless and hypocritical African politician whose propensity to expose himself unearths his want of tact and maturity in African politics.

Some who are not so harsh in their criticism of Odinga’s unwarranted utterances on Zimbabwe are easy to forgive him as he is a product of incarcerations, flights into exile and betrayal by erstwhile political allies which undoubtedly has made him a bitter man mad at the whole of Africa for not intervening on his behalf. Odinga, as a result, has made himself a champion of opposition politics in Africa after his backdoor entry to leadership in Kenya making him an emperor without clothes after Kenya’s recent history which someone said reads like a Shakespearian tale; full of dramatic intrigue, intricate conspiracies and king making plots.

Odinga’s unwarranted criticism of Zimbabwe might be borne from a need to outshine Mwai Kibaki, the Kenyan president who trounced him in the December election. But, Zimbabwe cannot bear the brunt of his inferiority complex in a bid to gain recognition in African politics. Someone should advise Odinga that the route he has taken is a dead end and neither is it going to absolve him of the blood that is on his hands as rightly pointed by the presidential spokesperson, George Charamba, during the recent African Union Summit in Egypt.

Maybe Odinga’s weakness is more to do with not acquainting himself with African history. He should start to appreciate that more is at stake than meets the eye in the Zimbabwean situation. If the sentiments he echoed during his inauguration are anything to go by, then he is in for a rude awakening in his quest to liberate Kenyans from neo-colonialism.

When Odinga was sworn in as Prime Minister of Kenya on April 18 2008, he told the gathering that “we will ensure that power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of many, not the few”. Robert Mugabe whom he is now alleging is a dictator was once the darling of the West until he decided to empower his people by distributing land, which was in the hands of a few whites to the majority of the landless blacks Kenya, like all other African countries, is no exception. It would want to address these historical imbalances and some have alluded that the chaos that Kenya witnessed is the result of historic injustices including land tenure systems and the unequal sharing of resources between the country’s more than 40 ethnic groups.

Other African leaders know that addressing the injustices born out of colonialism is at the core of all African problems and that sooner or later, these issues have to be addressed by each member country. The decisions made by African leaders at the AU summit, that is, wanting Africans to solve their own problems is born out of a realisation that abandoning Zimbabwe at this critical stage will set a bad precedent.

Some delusional African politicians like Odinga might not understand that sticking together with Zimbabwe is also for their future well-being. That, Mr Odinga, is the definition of Pan Africanism. It is not about calling yourself a Pan Africanist when your deeds are devoid of “ubuntu” as you were able to countenance the beheading, skinning, raping, murdering and torturing of innocent people for your own political gain.I am no religious fanatic but I do believe the good book offers sound advice in the case of looking at a straw in another’s eye whilst not considering the rafter in your own eye. It is evident Odinga is singing for the few morsels that the United States is dropping on his lap whilst mortgaging Kenya in the process. Reports indicate that the US government is negotiating base access agreements with the government of Kenya that will allow American troops to use military facilities when the United States wants to deploy its own army in Africa. So at the right intervals Odinga has to make the right noises on Zimbabwe so as to appease his benefactors. Shame on you Odinga!

Odinga is a disgrace to the continent, which has produced notable statesmen like Nelson Mandela who spent all his life fighting for the liberation of his people and Robert Mugabe who is fighting for the total emancipation of his people. What has Odinga to show for himself, except bloody hands, which no doubt soiled his reputation of ever being regarded as a statesman. Instead of being fixated with what is happening in Zimbabwe, Odinga should be concerned with healing his own country where thousands still remain displaced, traumatised and reluctant to return to the their former homes because the horrors they witnessed are forever etched in their minds. Odinga will remain an overly ambitious politician who would stop at nothing to achieve his political ends. He should keep his tainted hands off Zimbabwe.

BREAKING NEWS: China and Russia Veto Zim Sanctions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEMvABKDaSk%5D

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Tags: corruption, grand regency, Kenya, Kenyan news, Kibaki, mdc, Raila Odinga, Uncategorized, us africa relations, zanu pf

July 8, 2008

As the world turns:Kenya

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Enfd3WUdlXo%5D

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Tags: >, Africa G8, food crisis, G8, Kenya, Kikuyu, poverty, Raila Odinga, Tags, Uncategorized

July 1, 2008

Zimbabwe Responds ‘Odinga’s hands drip with blood’

The zimbabwe government has responded to kenyan prime minister, raila odinga’s calls for military action on zimbabwe and for the african union to expel the country from the group by saying he is not qualified to speak on zimbabwe as his hands ‘drip of blood’. In response to questions about recent utterances by prime minister odinga presidential spokesman, george charamba said: “you follow politics carefully.

I hope you follow kenyan politics closely. Prime minister raila odinga’s hands drip with blood,” said charamba. He continued, ”raw african blood, and that blood is not going to be cleansed by any amount of abuse of zimbabwe.”odinga has become one of the harshest critics of the zimbabwean government. He called for zimbabwe to be suspended from the african union until president robert mugabe allows ‘free and fair elections’ adding that the au would be making a grave mistake if it recognized president mugabe as a legitimately-elected president.he also asked the african union (au) to deploy peacekeeping forces in zimbabwe to protect opposition supporters from alleged harassment and torture.charamba’s response referred to kenya’s recent which saw raila odinga declared prime minister after coalition talks with president mwai kibaki.

The kenyan election was marred by the worst election violence ever seen on the continent, with 300 pre election deaths and over 1 500 people dying post election.the government of president kibaki accused odinga’s party of unleashing “genocide” on the kenyan people. The coalition government in kenya has not been without problems as violence has continued in kenya.kenyan politics is deeply embedded in tribalism with most members of parliament elected on the basis of tribal and community votes.recently tension has been rising in kenya’s rift valley, the epicentre of last january’s post-election chaos

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Tags: Kenya, kenyan blog, kenyan violence, mugabe, Raila Odinga, Uncategorized, zimbabwe

July 1, 2008

Mps after kimunya’s blood over taxes

Finance Minister Amos Kimunya remained defiant last night, rebuffed calls for his resignation and denied acting with impunity over the secret sale of the Grand Regency Hotel.The minister insisted the Sh2.9 billion the Government received from the Libyans was the best value for the national asset and that the deal was clean.Kimunya, who spoke to The Standard on the telephone, said the deal did not involve President Kibaki and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.”It was a clean deal that was directly between the Libyan Embassy in Nairobi and the Central Bank of Kenya,” said the minister as he sought to distance the two presidents from the sale that has sparked controversy and calls for his resignation.Despite the barrage of condemnation and protests by Cabinet ministers, religious leaders, civil society and other Kenyans to resign, Kimunya said the calls were not justified and some of his colleagues were making utterances from a point of ignorance.He threw brickbats at his Cabinet colleague, Constitutional Affairs Minister Martha Karua, accusing her of emotionally whipping propaganda to misinform the public.Kimunya suggested it was Karua and other ministers of her ilk who should be resigning and not himself. He said they were “incompetent to serve as ministers”.”If a minister can accuse me on the sale of Grand Regency without clarifying from me the details of the same, it is really unfortunate, and that is why they should resign first because they are incompetent,” said Kimunya.

Its mere politics

He added: “This deal was so official that I cannot understand why ministers would want to demonise it without even knowing the facts,” said Kimunya.The minister said calls for his sacking and resignation were “pure propaganda” and that his colleagues were a let down to the Government and Kenyans for commenting on issues before verifying facts “which are in the open”.”The highest value for the purchase of Grand Regency was Sh2.1 billion, but it was sold for Sh2.9 billion last week after the sale was finalised and the transfer made,” explained Kimunya.He said claims that the hotel was sold for Sh7 billion were malicious and a plot by some politicians in Government to demonise him.Kimunya also defended claims against single sourcing, saying the Libyans registered their interest for the Grand Regency since April and nobody else came up with any other offer.”The issue of single sourcing does not arise because no other country was interested. Again, there are no complaints from any country that had shown interest in purchasing Grand Regency,” the minister said.He said several brokers and agents had been cut off from the deal and this had not gone down well with many parties, including some politicians now making accusations.

“My colleagues are busy making comments on an issue they seem not to understand. None of them has asked me to explain the details, and again, it’s all in the open. Theirs is political propaganda which does not help anybody,” he said.The minister also denied allegations of corruption and money changing hands between senior officials and the Libyans. He said no government could bribe another in such a deal.”It was the Libyan government that wanted to deal directly with Central Bank. I could not have said anything until the deal had been done. It’s on record and in the open,” said Kimunya.

MPs are malicious

Kimunya introduced another dimension to the saga, claiming that he had suddenly become unpopular among MPs in Parliament after introducing taxes on their allowances.”They think by making malicious statements on serious issues they will cut me down to size. I challenge anybody who has evidence that the hotel was sold at Sh7 billion to produce it,” said Kimunya.And Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula, speaking from Egypt where he is attending the African Union summit, said he knew of the deal between the Libyan Embassy and the Central Bank.Wetangula, however, said he had long left Wetangula, Adam Makhokha and Company Advocates, the firm said to have handled the sale transaction.The minister said he retired from the firm in January after he was appointed to the Cabinet. But the law firm retained the name for purposes of business.

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Tags: Kenya, kenyan blog, kenyan blogs, Kenyan news, mugabe, raila, Uncategorized

June 29, 2008

British knighthood means nothing to Africa

Queen Elizabeth’s decision to withdraw an honorary knighthood bestowed on President Mugabe in 1994 is actually a blessing in disguise as it removes one of the last vestiges of colonial titles on an outstanding African statesman and revolutionary, Mugabe’s supporters have said. While the rabid western media ranted and raved about the event because of their warped value system, progressive Zimbabweans saw it as signifying the further decolonization of Africa, they said, according to Friday’s The Herald, a state-owned newspaper.

A social commentator was quoted as saying Zimbabwe was independent and has its own value systems that protect African humanism, integrity and empowerment.”The decolonization process was a rejection of British value systems and so as Zimbabweans we simply see this as the removal of one of the last vestiges of colonialism. No one has ever referred to our President as ‘Sir’ Robert Mugabe. He is known as ‘Comrade’ Robert Mugabe and that says it all,” he said.The supporters said the move should be seen as further proof of the British Empire’s brazen interference in Zimbabwe’s internal affairs, as if the country is still their colony.They said it was shameful that the Queen still thinks the knighthood has more meaning to Zimbabweans than the 100 percent black empowerment program that President Mugabe has embarked on.

The Deputy Minister of Information and Publicity Bright Matonga laughed off the development, saying the continued existence of the knighthood had given the British the mistaken impression that they still held some form of sway over the country. “My President never used that knighthood. It meant nothing to him and it means nothing to us as Zimbabweans and this is why it was never talked about here,” he said. British Queen Elizabeth II stripped Mugabe of his ceremonial knighthood on Wednesday on the advice of Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who said Mugabe should have the honor revoked following widespread violence and intimidation of the southern African country’s opposition before the presidential run-off.

Mugabe has repeatedly slashed Britain and other Western countries for trying to interfere into Zimbabwean politics.He said the Western powers are angered by Zimbabwe’s land reform program, under which the government acquired land from white farmers for re-distribution to landless blacks.Zimbabwe held presidential run-off Friday, with Mugabe being the sole candidate after his rival, the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, pulled out, though the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has dismissed his withdrawal, saying his submission of the withdrawal letter on Tuesday is too late.

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Tags: african union summit, mugabe, mugabe wins, queen elizabeth, Uncategorized, zanu pf, zimbabwe elections

June 24, 2008

Uncle Bob:Zimbabwe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhme6ZEgj7A%5D

“Was it not enough punishment and suffering in history that we were uprooted and made helpless slaves not only in new colonial outposts but also domestically.”

“We don’t mind having sanctions banning us from Europe. We are not Europeans.”

“We have said we will never collapse, never ever. We may have our droughts, our poverty, but as a people we shall never collapse, never ever.”

“The voice of The United States and the voice of the British can’t decide who shall rule in Zimbabwe, who shall rule in Africa, who shall rule in Asia, who shall rule in Venezuela, who shall rule in Iran, who shall rule in Iraq.”

Robert G. Mugabe (Uncle Bob)

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Tags: British, Kenya, Kibaki, mugabe, Uncategorized, zimababwe

June 11, 2008

A Cure For Futility

What does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? —Micah 6:8

I once heard interviews with survivors from World War II. The soldiers recalled how they spent a particular day. One sat in a foxhole; once or twice, a German tank drove by and he shot at it. Others played cards and frittered away the time. A few got involved in furious firefights. Mostly, the day passed like any other. Later, they learned they had just participated in one of the largest, most decisive engagements of the war, the Battle of the Bulge. It didn’t feel decisive at the time because none had the big picture.

Great victories are won when ordinary people execute their assigned tasks.

When followers of Ignatius (1491–1556) endured periods of futility, he always prescribed the same cure: “In times of desolation we must never make a change, but stand firm and constant in the resolutions and determination in which we were the day before the desolations.” Spiritual battles must be fought with the very weapons hardest to wield at the time: prayer, meditation, self-examination, and repentance.

Perhaps you sense you’re in a spiritual rut. Stay at your assigned task! Obedience to God—and only obedience—offers the way out of our futility.
— Philip Yancey

When comforts are declining,
He grants the soul again
A season of clear shining,
To cheer it after rain. —Cowper

If you sense your faith is unraveling, go back to where you dropped the thread of obedience

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Tags: Kenya, kibaki raila, kones, laboso, Uncategorized

June 6, 2008

Kenya- Post election violence update

NAIROBI, Kenya — “We hurriedly buried the seven in the shallow grave and fled due to fears of attacks,” explained cattle farmer Joseph Mwangi-Macharia last month as armed police accompanying him went through the motions of unearthing the bodies of his entire family, unwitting victims of the violence that followed Kenya’s disputed December 2007 election.

“This was my lovely wife. They decapitated her when she pleaded that they spare her 18-year-old granddaughter,” said the 52-year old Mwangi-Macharia amid sobs, “Why in God’s name did they have to kill her in this fashion?”

As the seven bodies were interred in Kenya’s Rift Valley province, a flashpoint of some of the deadliest intertribal skirmishes, a moral dilemma was also confronting Kenya’s people and leaders: Would a blanket amnesty for perpetrators of crimes against humanity — such as those who wiped out Macharia’s entire family — be a pragmatic way for the country to get past recent events? Or would it constitute an injustice of epic proportions, given the circumstances that led to the formation of the now two-month-old coalition government?About 1,500 people were killed and 355,000 others displaced from their homes soon after the controversial results of Kenya’s presidential elections were announced in December. Now the country is wrestling with how to deal with that reality while preserving a fragile peace.

“The remote perpetrators, leaders and planners of the type of violations witnessed in Kenya must never be exempted under any circumstances. To do so would be a travesty of justice,” said Maina Kiai, executive director of the Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KNHRC), a government-funded organization.

According to Kenyan police spokesman Eric Kiraithe, 12,000 people are awaiting trial for crimes related to the post-election violence, while another 340 suspects whose identity is known are yet to be apprehended.Georgette Gagnon, Africa program director at Human Rights Watch, says her organization has evidence against leaders of Prime Minister Rail Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) for helping to incite the ethnic violence, and she cautions against playing the amnesty card.The violence was triggered by the widespread perception that Kibaki, an alumnus of the prestigious London School of Economics, stole the election from opposition politician Raila Odinga, an East German-trained mechanical engineer.

According the government-appointed Electoral Commission of Kenya, Kibaki won 4.5 million votes compared to the Odinga’s 4.3 million. But independent observers accused the commission of engaging in fraud to put Kibaki over the top.To stem the spiral of violence that threatened to tear the country asunder, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan attempted to negotiate an acceptable political settlement between the two parties.In April, Kibaki and Odinga settled for a power-sharing arrangement that saw the former grudgingly give up some of his executive power to the latter, who now serves as prime minister in the so-called “grand coalition” government of the country’s two largest rival parties, a first such coalition in Africa.But the power-sharing by the two antagonists has been anything but calm as their respective camps have disagreed on practically everything, including amnesty. The battle for political succession in 2012, when the next polls are scheduled, continues to undermine the cohesiveness of the government.

On the amnesty question, Odinga’s ODM favors an unconditional release of all those suspected of taking part in the violence, while Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) seeks due process for all suspects.
“Many of those being held were acting as our vigilantes whose only crime was to ensure that a free and fair election took place. But the police force has been biased in the whole issue. Only ODM people were picked up. I have raised the issue with President Kibaki severally and we expect the matter to be resolved expeditiously,” Odinga told a public rally in late May.He added: “I don’t think we should be talking about giving amnesty to those already in custody because they committed no crime. Is it a crime to fight for your democratic rights? Or is it a crime to stand and say that last year’s elections were rigged?”

Henry Kosgey, ODM chairman and the country’s minister for industrialization, also believes genuine reconciliation will only be achieved if the government releases the suspects unconditionally.”There should be no double application of the law,” Kosgey said recently. “Youths that butchered people in the name of defending Kibaki have never been arrested but ours are rotting in the cells.”Meanwhile, others, including world-renowned Kenyan novelist and playwright Ngugi wa Thiong’o, say the reality of election rigging cannot justify the violence committed in retaliation for that crime, and are urging the U.N. to probe the killings.

“I . . . call upon the United Nations to act and investigate the massacres that took place in Kenya as crimes against humanity and let the chips fall where they may,” Thiong’o told the BBC in January.

“For the sake of justice, healing and peace now and in the future I urge all progressive forces not too be so engrossed with the political wrongs of election tampering that they forget the crimes of hate and ethnic cleansing — crimes that led to untimely deaths and displacement of thousands,” he added.Conspicuously, President Kibaki has so far remained above the fray, though his PNU allies are unanimously agreed that nothing should get in the way of justice for the perpetrators.

“Whether the investigations come from the international scene or from our own jurisdiction does not really matter. What is important is that they are done and those found guilty charged accordingly,” said Martha Karua, minister for justice, national cohesion and constitutional affairs.

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, who is also in agreement with his fellow party members, has a message for those who committed violence: “You can run for 20 years but the law will still catch up with you,” he said. “Take for instance the case of Felecian Kabuga, the fugitive Rwandan who is still being pursued for having had a role in the genocide that took place in 1994. Those who were involved in crimes against humanity here are undeserving of amnesty.”

Meanwhile, some arguably more independent observers contend that the nation’s political culture must be cleansed of its tradition of deception if Kenya is to move forward.

“Kenya is a country that is built on a shaky foundation of half-truths with regard to its past,” said human rights lawyer Njonjo Mui. “If we are to survive and reinvent ourselves as a nation, we must discover our truth and urgently deploy it to the task of truly setting us free.”

Indeed, the most recent violence is part of a well-established history of interethnic strife, particular at election time. Such clashes also have occurred in 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2006.

Paul Wanyande, a lecturer of political science at the University of Nairobi, traces the roots of election-related violence to former President Daniel Arap Moi, who he says pursued a political strategy of balkanizing the country “into tribal fiefdoms.”

“Unfortunately, when a new administration ascended to power in 2002, it encouraged impunity when it dithered on acting on myriad official reports that had named and shamed individuals linked to past human rights violations,” said Wanyande.

Amnesty International also has added its voice to those who want a full investigation of the post-election abuses and killings.

“Amnesty International wants the African Commission and the Kenya Government to prioritize an investigation into the human rights violations and abuses perpetrated during the post-election period,” said the organization’s Africa program director, Erwin van der Borght. “Impunity for human rights violations will only store up problems for Kenya’s future.

Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is investigating whether to bring charges against those involved in the violence.

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Tags: amnesty international, human rights watch, Kenya, Mungiki, Uncategorized, violence, william ruto

June 4, 2008

Inflation hits 31.5 pct

Kenya’s annual inflation soared to 31.5 percent in May from 26.6 percent for the previous month, led by a hike in food prices which have been affected by a global trend and the east African nation’s post-election crisis.”Overall inflation rate increased from 26.6 per cent in April 2008 to 31.5 per cent in May 2008,” the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement on Tuesday.The May rate was the highest in four years, according to Central Bank data that only has monthly inflation figures going back to 2004.

The food and non-alcoholic drinks’ index led the overall rise, up 44.2 percent year-on-year.Underlying inflation, which excludes food, rose to 10.5 percent in May from 9.6 percent in April.The statistics bureau said the fuel and power index rose 17.9 percent year-on-year, while transport and communication was up 20.3 percent.Like other developing countries, Kenya has been hard hit by global food price rises. Police in Nairobi fired teargas on Saturday at hundreds of people protesting against high prices.

The Kenyan situation has been exacerbated, however, by post-election violence in January and February that affected agricultural production and planting.The statistics bureau collects data every second and third week of the month from shops in 13 towns in the country.Its basket is intended to be representative of the spending behaviour of urban Kenyan households.

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Tags: KENYA raila, kibaki amnesty, Uncategorized

May 30, 2008

IDP update

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thFR95qywhk%5D

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May 23, 2008

Human Right Watch against forced IDP returns

The Kenyan government should immediately stop forced returns of internally displaced people and ensure that all returns are safe and voluntary, Human Rights Watch said today.On May 5, the Kenyan government launched Operation “Rudi Nyumbani” (Return Home), aimed at returning thousands of men, women, and children to their homes, which they fled in the violent aftermath of the December 2007 elections. However, on May 8, the provincial commissioner for Rift Valley province announced that all displaced persons camps in the province would be closed within three weeks. Since the announcement, there have been mounting reports of forced returns and inadequate services once people reach their homes.

idp2 “How can you have a voluntary return program with a deadline?” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Internally displaced people have the right to return voluntarily, when they feel safe, not when it suits the government.”More than 250,000 people were newly displaced by the post-election violence in January and February 2008, and more than 100,000 were still in camps as of May 8. Many people fear that their home areas remain unsafe and that adequate reconciliation between hostile communities has not taken place. In the past weeks, there have been attacks on returning persons in Trans-Nzoia and Molo districts. Moreover, many people are being forced to return to areas where there is no food or shelter and the government has not provided any services.

In Trans-Nzoia district, in the northern Rift Valley, international nongovernmental organizations described to Human Rights Watch how police officers forcefully emptied camps in the Kitale area and ordered displaced people to leave. For instance, on May 13 in Kitale town, aid workers witnessed armed police dismantling occupied tents and the district commissioner beating a woman who refused to return home.

This account is just one of many incidents in which displaced persons have been driven out of camps in recent weeks without food or shelter. Many have gone back to the camps or simply set up informal camps closer to their home areas because their homes are still not safe. A man was killed by hostile neighbours in Patwaka when he returned two weeks ago. A group of 145 people who were moved from Explosion camp to Kitwamba on May 13 returned to Explosion because there was no food. According to the Nairobi-based National Internally Displaced Persons Network of Kenya (IDP Network), residents in Kuresoi complained that they had no shelter and no food upon reaching the places where their homes used to be; some went back to the camps on foot. Newspapers have reported at least two people were killed in Molo district by hostile neighbors unhappy at their return.

The UN’s Guiding Principles on Internally Displaced Persons state that “Internally displaced persons have the right to be protected against forcible return to or resettlement in any place where their life, safety, liberty and/or health would be at risk.” The Guiding Principles reflect international humanitarian law as well as human rights law, and provide a consolidated set of international standards governing the treatment of the internally displaced. Kenya has ratified the Great Lakes Pact which incorporates the Guiding Principles.

Forcefully returning displaced persons is not only a violation of the rights of those who had already been forced to flee their homes, but it also risks fuelling further conflict in an already volatile environment. The situation of internally displaced persons in Kenya is complex and requires a much broader examination and response. Many of the recently displaced people, as well as many others, were previously displaced from their homes and were never compensated for the losses they suffered during previous rounds of violence as far back as 1992.

“Returning people to unsafe or contested areas in a hurry will only lead to an illusion of peace, and in the long run it may make matters worse,” said Gagnon. “With the National Dialogue and Reconciliation and the new coalition government, Kenya has an opportunity to right historical injustices and address the problem of displacement in its totality.” idps

Even before the 2007 election, Kenya had a massive number of displaced persons due to decades of land disputes and conflict. In 2006, the IDP Network estimated that the total number of displaced persons in Kenya was between 250,000 and 365,000.

Successive governments have failed to solve the underlying causes of the displacement: disputes over land ownership and allocation as well as political violence fuelled by the political manipulation of ethnic tensions and communal mistrust.

Human Rights Watch called for the government to address the short-term concerns of security and assistance by engaging internally displaced persons in discussion about the return and resettlement process. The government should keep the camps open until such time as internally displaced persons feel safe to return. In the meantime, the government should continue to meet its obligations to provide people with security, assistance, and basic services such as health and education.

A durable solution to Kenya’s endemic problem of violence and displacement will only be realised when the government seriously addresses the long-running disputes over land rights, corruption, and unequal land ownership.

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May 16, 2008

Kenya: frustrations are now boiling up into ethnic territorial claims

Kenya’s recent history has been dotted with several intense episodes of land-ownership conflict, starting in the early 1950s with the bloody repression of the Mau Mau movement by the British colonial power. This conflict caused 11 000 deaths among the rebels and also prompted the first regrouping of agricultural lands in Kenya. Access to land in this former European colony is still to this day a particularly hotly disputed issue.

The colonial heritage also found expression in an administrative tradition where territorial control was paramount of all priorities. Stemming from this, interior boundaries defined exclusive territories, both in the form of nature reserves (forest, national parks) and “ethnic reserves”, which often took on the aspect of administrative bodies. The result was a sectorization which certain repercussions on the distribution of the different communities which populate the country. This situation has become a source of inter-ethnic tension. And it is particularly portentous in the Chebyuk area of the Mount Elgon district where an IRD researcher has been conducting a long-term study on the origins of the conflict over access to arable land which opposes the Kalenjin language communities (Sabaots, Ndorobos and Soy), and whose emergence is closely linked to identity affirmation.

The fertile, well watered Chebyuk region on the southern slopes of Mount Elgon, about 2000 m high, was until 2006 home of a population of 35 000 over a 10 km2 surface area. Following primary forest clearance which had begun in the 1970s, crops of maize, cabbage, onion and potatoes, for export to Kenya’s large towns and cities, developed steadily. Since that time, the geographic area has represented an agricultural front for families coming mainly from the Sabaot community, settled on either side of the frontier between Kenya and Uganda. To meet people’s demand for farming plots, in the 1970s a committee of elders, co-opted by government authorities, organized a first land distribution operation. However, from the mid 1980s, rivalries rose up over ownership of this expanse of land.

Pressure from the Sabaot community led to the settlement and clearance of a more extensive zone than the legally delimited area. In 1989, complaints about the misappropriation of these land allocations prompted a government decision to reorganize the attribution of the farming plots. It was a time when tensions came to a head and houses were burned down. Tensions broke out with rival land claims which were arbitrated by a politico-administrative class which persisted in maintaining a a system of partiality.

The 1989 land reform therefore provided for the redistribution of all land in the localities of Emia and Chebyuk. It was organized in three phases, each corresponding to a particular area of Chebyuk: the lists of beneficiaries of phases 1 and 2 were finalized in 2004; the one for phase 3 was made official in 2006, marking the end of what was a 30-year-long land redistribution programme (see Map). It was subsequent to this final reorganization that the conflict rose to the surface, ending in a form of spatial segregation that rent asunder the apparent unity of the Sabaot community. Towards the end of 2006, clashes between the Sabaot and Ndorobos, a new ethnic identity that had gradually emerged from among those of the Sabaot group who had been cast aside, resulted in the displacement of 60 000 people and the death of 200 others. The region’s inhabitants assimilated with the Ndorobos then took refuge on the high moorland expanses of Chepkitale and in the forest reserve area at the boundary of the Trans Nzoia district. Others, assimilated with the Soy, went over to the plains not far from the Ugandan border (Cheptais), the main town of the district (Kapsokwony) or the neighbouring district of Trans Nzoia.

More recently, the violent stresses associated with the December 2007 elections, expressed locally by rival factions’ taking up of arms, played a role in the magnifying the conflict. Those long battles for land nevertheless find their origin more in the history of State schemes for regulating access to land ownership, rooted in practices of political favouritism and authoritarian methods employed to implement land redistribution operations. Land appropriation battles in the Mount Elgon region stem in the end from repeated episodes of land allocations and evictions which gave rise to frustrations that are now boiling up into ethnic territorial claims

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Tags: Ethnic, Kenya, Kibaki, Kikuyu, raila, Uncategorized

May 14, 2008

Kibaki,Raila and Nairobi understimate the anger of our people

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Tags: Kenya, Mungiki, raila, Uncategorized

May 10, 2008

Grand coalition “Kenyan treaty of versailles”

According to the East African standard things in Central Kenya might be looking good for Raila Odinga.

There is soul searching in Central Province with disappointment targeting President Kibaki and elderly politicians who have surrounded him over the years.With the anger and rebellion that for now is being expressed only in hushed tones, the idea of a generational transfer of power initially associated with followers of the outlawed Mungiki sect, is getting a new life and going mainstream.

Anchoring these is the feeling that the General Election last year left the region hugely isolated from the rest of Kenya, in what some upcoming leaders blame on the old guard. They accuse them of using the community to fight the battles of just 100 or so rich people.

Sources told The Sunday Standard that the clamour by some leaders to have the Government negotiate with Mungiki instead of killing its followers is inspired largely by two issues:One, old leaders are trying to catch up with, if not all the same hijack and control the idea of a leadership change.There is also the fear that the youth in this region could soon rally behind Prime Minister Raila Odinga who called for an end to the killing of Mungiki members and advocated for negotiations.Interviews with various sources familiar with the simmering dissent in the region revealed that people here, especially the young, are beginning to take a new look at Raila, especially after he agreed to share power with President Kibaki, then going with him to the camps for the displaced in the Rift Valley.

According to the resident “experts on Kikuyus” Raila Odinga could run away with votes from poor Kikuyus and the children of the Mau Mau because people are resentful of kibaki . It is always amazing how people will spin almost any story to their advantage .The only problem with spin is that its just spin. So lets get the facts straight.Mungiki is what can be considered an ultra nationalist organization(and i dont mean kenyan Nationalism).Mungiki is founded on returning kikuyu people back to their basic beliefs and roots. How Raila can fit into this supreme goal i don’t know. Mungiki is for kikuyu supremacy .If a polite moderate like Kibaki trashed the MOU with Raila . What will the faceless shadows that control Mungiki do .

On a side note

The grand Coalition is like the Treaty of Versailles.Everyone thought it solved all the problems and settled things I don’t need to tell you what happened later.What has the coalition settled apart from sharing out seats none of the underlying historic issues real or imagined have been resolved .Everybody is smiling as we sweep the dirt under the carpet .

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Tags: Raila Odinga, Uncategorized

April 23, 2008

Rift Valley & KenyaToday

The highest law of the land, the Constitution of Kenya, is explicit on the issue of property ownership by any Kenyan anywhere in the country.This was deliberate because the right to property was one of the sticking points during the Lancaster conferences at the dawn of Independence.The Constitution that was agreed on was explicit that no property of any description shall be compulsorily taken possession of, and no interest in or right over property of any description shall be compulsorily acquired from any Kenyan anywhere.

The import of that is that even if a Truth and Reconciliation Commission is set up, it is doubtful if its mandate will be to extinguish the right to property in the name of correcting historical injustices.The saddest thing about the land situation in Kenya is that the largest culprits actually are amongst some of our political elite and are the same ones who manipulate the peasantry to unleash terror on perceived ‘foreigners’ amongst them.

That a section of Rift Valley Members of Parliament, piqued after failing to clinch Cabinet posts, are actually using the internally displaced people in Rift Valley as a bargaining tool with the government, is not only morally unacceptable, but also highly alarming and extremely myopic.One of the reasons why Kenya is facing a looming food shortage is that thousands of farmers cannot till their land as they are afraid of going back to their farms after being chased away due to the outcome of the just concluded election.It is therefore very irresponsible for political leaders to use these people as political bait to further their personal ambitions. That is the height of sadism.

But more so, this is a grim pointer to the levels that our politicians have gone to achieve their aims and what precedent such actions portend for the future.It is clearly emerging that a new style of political ransom is slowly taking root in Kenya, where disgruntled politicians use all means at their disposal, legal or illegal, to score political goals.This is a bad precedent for Kenya. This time round, the Government should not negotiate with the disgruntled MP’s who want their fellow country men to live in sub-human conditions. The supreme law of the land is clear and it should be followed to the letter.

The President and the Prime Minister should put their feet down and refuse to be held hostage by a group of disgruntled politicians and move swiftly to ensure that the internally displaced are quickly and securely resettled.Similarly, any politician who is found to be inciting the population to chase away and make it hard for the internally displaced from settling down, should face the full wrath of the law without mercy. The culture of political impunity should be brought to an end in Kenya and no one should be allowed to hold a group of people hostage like this.

We all understand the genesis of the land inequity in Kenya and we cannot simply wake up one day and seek to undo history. The colonial notoriety of land acquisition and the subsequent land redistribution mess under both Kenyatta and Moi regimes will not be tackled by torching houses, chasing and killing innocent people.

Finally, it makes sense for the Government to quickly step in and assist in compensating Kenyans who were affected by the political turmoil that beset this country.These were Kenyans who were paying taxes on the belief that the Government would do its part and ensure their property is secure but the Government has failed to fulfil its end of the bargain and should thus step forward and compensate its tax payers.That is the way forward.

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Tags: Kenya News, Kibaki, raila, rift valley, Uncategorized

April 23, 2008

The Future

By Mary Ndungu

Wamuraya and Waiyaki
Wamuraya an unsang heroin.
You will go unnoticed

You are a woman of Great intentions
A woman of Divine intentions
Wamuraya you have set an example
You offered land for a community school in a prime area
Others were starting private schools!

The school is serving Njiarwa and will serve Njiarwa na Njiarwa
A testimony that mboco no igwe thi andu menyurane!
Your spirit is linked to PDIs

Let’s follow Wamuraya
Let us re establish the umbilical cord with PDIs
Help them to relive their Divine mission
Do like Wamuraya did

Waiyaki can you lead us!
The rest: Kaihwa na gucukuru will follow
Wa ten! Wa ten!
Wa giciko! Wa Giciko!
Wa mutungi! Wa mutungi!
Wa Rwiga! Wa Rwiga!
Wa Ihiga! Wa Ihiga!
Wa Lori! Wa Lori!
To restore the umbrical cord
So that people can cease to be managi!

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April 8, 2008

Democracy Do we care?

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Tags: kenyan agreement, kenyan cabinet, Kibaki, PNU, Raila Odinga, talks, talks collapse, Uncategorized

March 27, 2008

Not willing to give up on tribe

I am not yet willing to give up on the concept of tribe. I am unwilling to grant that colonizers were right in their claims that tribe was a limited concept that had no place in the modern world. I am unwilling to accept their definitions that my history and heritage are small and uninteresting, lacking in depth and complexity, beauty and joy.

I am not yet willing to give up on the concept of tribe.

Tribe lets my friend say, “my name means one born at night,” and my other friend to say, “I belong to the people who shape metal,” and yet another friend to say, “I bring rain in the dry seasons.” Tribe marks the changing of generations, Maina to Irungu, Kamau to Peter.

Tribe celebrates how we have lived, how we have loved, how we have suffered, how we have mourned. We are the descendants of Gatego, the generation riddled with syphilis and Ngige, the generation decimated by locusts. To say these names is to claim that our stories are not yet done. We are not yet done. We are here.

I am unwilling to relinquish tribe.

To say tribe is to recognize the diversity of who we are. To say that women from that ridge discipline their men. Men from that hill are bowlegged. Children from that place run like the wind. To say that people from that place make the best ũcũrũ (porridge), from that other place the best mũratina (an alcoholic drink), from that other place the best mũtura (a dish made from stuffed animal intestines).

To say tribe is to say people from that place talk fast, they sing their language. And people from that other place are tall. And people from that other place are dark. And people from that place like the dark taste of burnt beans. And people from that place like the iron-rich veins of green weeds.

I am unwilling to relinquish tribe.

There’s too much left to discover, too much left to explore, too much potential to be realized. The past remains an untapped ore, myth, a rich vein, the present a fertile, fallow field. Songs remain to be sung, stories written, dramas acted.

We have much creating to do.

Tribe is not simply an inheritance, but untapped potential. It is the material we can work on, work with, transform and translate.

For me, tribe is Wamũyũ, Gikuyu’s tenth daughter, mother of an illegitimate child, founder of a hospitable clan. Wamũyũ, who embodies the mystery, wonder and potential of intimate hospitality. Wamũyũ, whose unnamed and unnameable lover fractures any sense of insularity, Wamũyũ, whose intimate welcome illustrates the best of tribal hospitality, tribal love, tribal openness.

For me, tribe is Wangũ wa Makeri, the leader who dared to dance nude in the moonlight. Wangũ, who let the moon’s rays caress her, her people’s eyes embrace her. Wangũ, who understood that leadership meant being vulnerable and taking risks that might compromise her leadership.

Against all logic, against all sense, I am in love with the concept of tribe.

It is, like all love, fraught with complications and ambivalence. At times I want to scream at what seem to be the limitations of tribal identification, the ways I am called upon to perform tribe: to sing, dance, or act in a certain way. I chafe at the constrictions that ask me to speak my language to gain certain favours. I worry that my positions are taken for granted, that my identity may be said to dictate my politics.

I am often seduced by the invitation to identify myself as national, international, or cosmopolitan. I am tempted by the idea that I can and should transcend tribe. I am compelled by the idea that I would be a better person if my allegiances were less local, less idiosyncratic, less wedded to nine clans that face Mount Kenya. But I believe in this love.

I believe in its potential. I want to see where it leads.

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March 26, 2008

What Next ?

It seems my post on Kikuyu Jews of Africa has brought about a big debate .Some have asked for a new post so that the issue of what next can be discussed. So what next !IDPs are still living in camps Kibaki watching golf with Raila. So what next ?

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February 23, 2008

Maina Kiai needs to be honest – Billow Khalid

While on US tour, Mr Maina Kiai, the chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, and Ms Muthoni Wanyeki asked their American hosts to freeze all military financial assistance to Kenya.They wrote in the Washington Post that “some of the security forces benefiting from this aid and equipment have been killing Kenyan civilians with impunity.There is no doubt that the country has been experiencing ferocious eruptions of violence since December 30, 2007.

The four words, happy, home, peace and prosperity are heavenly music to the ears of traumatised and displaced Kenyans.The Kenya Army has played and will for sure continue to play its rightful role by clearing highways of marauding gangs, securing the national economic arteries, maina kiai escorting public transports, and providing medical services.While some 57 brave police officers have died in the violence in the line of public service, I have not heard of a single civilian killed by the military during these public unrest.What got me worried, however, are the serious, unsubstantiated aspersions on the integrity of our Armed Forces coming, as it were, from a highly placed and a jurist of Mr Kiai’s status.

To begin with, the Kenyan qualifying to be a member of the country’s military takes an oath to uphold the Constitution of the Republic and defend the country against all enemies, to bear true allegiance and to discharge well and faithfully, the duties of office.Most of them attend to their duties with fidelity, valour and patriotism. Our security personnel operate under difficult and risky environment.

They are like all public officers, the glue holding the country together.Without their exemplary sense of fidelity, the country could not have endured in its present form since the turbulent times of the 60s.The least the military personnel expect are encouragement, appreciation and understanding of their heroic contributions, not unjustified condemnation for crimes they have not committed.

BILLOW KHALID,
Wajir.

http://billowkhalid.blogspot.com/

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Tags: attack, congress, East Africa, horn of africa, Kenya, Kenya army, kenyaarmed forces, kiai, Kibaki, latest blog news, Maina kiai, odm, Patriotism, PNU, Raila Odinga, Uncategorized, usa military aid, war on terror

February 23, 2008

Shocking BBC interview of Kalenjin Church Burners and Jackson Kibor

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Tags: belgrade, bush, clinton, Genocide, iraq, Kalenjin, Kenya, kenyan violence, kiambaa church, Kibaki, Kibor, Kikuyu, kosovo, Murder, obama, odm, post election violence, putin, serbia, Uncategorized, usa

February 9, 2008

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

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January 13, 2008

Resurrecting the Kiama(council of elders)

During the first two months of this year, there was a deliberate isolation of the Kikuyu as a community. Whatever the reasons were, the result was that the community retreated to its tribal relations, creating a unity some say has not been seen since the Mau Mau war of the mid 1950s.The Kikuyu have been coming together primarily to raise material support to help their displaced brothers and sisters, especially in the Rift Valley. But these meetings have also tackled debate on how things got this bad, where ‘the river left the banks’. One result of these discussions has been the gradual realization that Kikuyu seem to be the only tribe with no non-political community leadership. During several community events, there has been debate on whether the community should re-establish a council of elders, last heard of in the 1950s.Those against its formation say political leaders are articulating the needs of the community adequately. They also think a council would lead to confusion over whose opinion has more weight in decisions, especially those with political ramifications. This group also insists that the Kikuyu should lead other communities away from tribal cocoons and into nationalistic platforms whenever dealing with issues. But those who want a council of elders established feel that ethnicity is a reality, with political positions being negotiated according to community numbers.

This group believes there is need to separate political representation from community leadership, to avoid confused signals, especially when the interests of the political class go against those of the community. They argue that a council of elders will enable the Kikuyu wield their 22 per cent stake in the country in a way political leaders cannot. They also say the community’s politicians are currently not being heard when they speak. They say the views of politicians tend to be taken out of context because the President is a Kikuyu, which would not be the case were it a council of elders speaking. It is a fact that community leadership has a profound effect on politics, both at the local and national levels.

This was strongly apparent during the campaigns where the media were awash with clips of members of the Luo, Kalenjin, Miji Kenda, Luhya politicians seeking blessings from their community elders. This was the same even with politicians from Meru, who are ethnically close to the Kikuyu, who consulted the Njuri Ncheke. Those trying to find solutions to problems that have afflicted the community feel several Kikuyu politicians would resist the formation of a council because it would dilute their influence in the community. They say such a council might stand in the way of political ambitions because it might vet how well an individual can articulate the needs of the community. This would determine whether they would support one’s political bid. A significant question is whether a Kikuyu council of elders would have appreciated the danger of an opposition political strategy seeking to isolate them as a community, by branding them as the root cause of all the country’s problems.

This was also evident during and after the referendum. The proponents ask whether such a council would have advised on an appropriate counter-strategy to the Kikuyu-phobia the opposition whipped up in last year’s campaigns. It would also have been interesting to see how such a council would have responded to the government’s operation against the Mungiki last year, which seemed to target any young Kikuyu male adult. Would a Kikuyu Council of Elders have talked to their counterparts from other communities after the presidential vote tally? Would the various sides have reached an agreement that their communities would avoid violence, and leave the dispute to politicians?

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Tags: kenya cabinet, kiama, Kikuyu, njama, raila, Uncategorized

March 2, 2007

The Enduring Power of Ethnic Nationalism

On a visit early this year to Africa , President Bush deplored the genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s, defended his refusal to send U.S. troops to Darfur and decried the ethnic slaughter in Kenya.Following a contested election, the Kikuyu, the dominant tribe in Kenya, have been subjected to merciless assault. People are separating from one another and butchering one another along lines of blood and soil.According to a compelling lead article in the new Foreign Affairs, “Us and Them: The Enduring Power of Ethnic Nationalism,” we may be witnessing in the Third World a re-enactment of the ethnic wars that tore Europe to pieces in the 20th century.”Ethnonationalism,” writes history professor Jerry Z. Muller of Catholic University, “has played a more profound role in modern history than is commonly understood, and the processes that led to the dominance of the ethnonational state and the separation of ethnic groups in Europe are likely to recur elsewhere.”

Western Man has mis-taught himself his own history.

“A familiar and influential narrative of 20th-century European history argues that nationalism twice led to war, in 1914 and then again in 1939. Thereafter, the story goes, Europeans concluded that nationalism was a danger and gradually abandoned it. In the postwar decades, Western Europeans enmeshed themselves in a web of transnational institutions, culminating in the European Union.”Muller contends that this is a myth, that peace came to the Old Continent only after the triumph of ethnonationalism, after the peoples of Europe had sorted themselves out and each achieved its own home.

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were three multi-ethnic empires in Europe: the Ottoman, Russian and Austro-Hungarian. The ethnonationalist Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913 tore at the first.World War I was ignited by Serbs seeking to rip Bosnia away from Austria-Hungary. After four years of slaughter, the Serbs succeeded, and ethnonationalism triumphed in Europe.Out of the dead Ottoman Empire came the ethnonationalist state of Turkey and an ethnic transfer of populations between Ankara and Athens. Armenians were massacred and expelled from Turkey.

Out of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires came Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. In the latter three nations, however, a majority ethnic group ruled minorities that wished either their own national home, or to join lost kinsmen.

In Poland, there were Ukrainians, Germans, Lithuanians and Jews. In Czechoslovkia, half the population was German, Slovak, Hungarian, Polish, Ruthenian or Jewish. In Yugoslavia were Slovenes, Croats, Bosnians, Serbs, Macedonians, Montenegrins and Albanians.The Second World War came out of Hitler’s attempt to unite all Germans in one ethnonational home—thus the Anschluss with Austria, the demand for return of the Sudeten Deutsch, and the pressure on Poland to return the Germans’ lost city of Danzig, and for Lithuania to give back German Memel and the Memelland it seized in 1923.World War II advanced the process in the most horrible of ways.The Jews of Europe, with no national home, perished, or fled to create one, in Israel.The Germans of the Baltic states, Prussia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Balkans and their own eastern provinces, almost to Berlin, were expelled in the most brutal act of ethnic cleansing in history—13 million to 15 million Germans, of whom 2 million perished in the exodus.At the end of World War II, Europe’s nations were more ethnically homogenous than they had ever been, at a horrendous cost in blood.

After 45 years of Cold War, the remaining multi-ethnic states—the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia—broke up into more than two dozen nation-states, all rooted in ethnonationlism.As Muller argues, ethnonationalism may be a precondition of liberal democracy. Only after all the tribes of Europe had their own ethnically homogenous nation-states did peace and comity come. And what happened in Europe in the 20th century may be a precursor of what is to come in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

In China, Uighurs, Mongolians and Tibetans all resist assimilation. Tatarstan may be the next problem for Russia. In the Balkans, it is Kosovo. Serbs there and in Bosnia may emulate the Albanians and secede.Many, writes Muller, “find ethnonationalism discomfiting both intellectually and morally. Social scientists go to great lengths to demonstrate that this is a product not of nature but of culture. …”But none of this will make ethnonationalism go away.”Indeed, we see it bubbling up from the Basque country of Spain, to Belgium, Bolivia, Baghdad and Beirut. Perhaps the wisest counsel for Kenya may be to get out of the way of this elemental force. Rather than seek to halt the inexorable, we should seek to accommodate it and ameliorate its sometimes awful consequences.

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Tags: african leader, african news, bbc, cnn, george bush, Kenya News, Kibaki, Kikuyu, meet the press, obama, raila, Raila Odinga, south africa, Uncategorized

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