The trademark railway tracks of Kibera : Indymedia Kenya

The trademark railway tracks of Kibera slum, Nairobi were uprooted last night by protesters, who reacted in anger to the killing of innocent civilians by Kenyan police officers. Attempting to strangle Kenya’s economy is one of the ways protesters are demonstrating their disapproval of the recently “elected” government, and sends a direct signal to Uganda where the tracks are bound, that the Kiberan people are unhappy with Uganda’s support of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki.

We’re in week three of a nation wide civil uprising in response to the fraudulent December 27th Presidential elections in Kenya and among the areas most affected are the slums of Nairobi.

The massive civil unrest began upon the announcement of the returning President Mwai Kibaki as the winner of the elections after three days of tallying, despite numerous local and international observers claiming rigging. During the immediate inauguration of the President, the people of Kenya took to the streets to fight for justice. They’re fighting for Raila Odinga, leader of the opposition’s Orange Democratic Movement, who has successfully stolen the hearts and minds of the popular masses of Kenya, especially the most marginalised factions of society. The poor, the unemployed, the landless, the homeless and the youth for the first time in Kenyan history, whole heartedly placed their faith into the democratic process, believing that if they voted for Mr. Raila Odinga, a man who helped to organise a coup d’état in 1982 against former Kenyan dictator Daniel Arap Moi, their interests would finally be represented in politics. But when this right was perceived to have been stolen from them too, it was the last straw for many. To make things further complicated, Kibaki is a member of the historically dominant and now resented Kikuyu tribe, while Raila is a member of the Luo tribe, a tribe which has yet to have had a president in power since Kenyan independence in 1963.

Evidence of rigging was found in virtually every riding and on both the government and opposition sides. Ballot boxes were stuffed with more votes than voters in certain constituencies; names beginning with A-E were removed from voter’s lists in ridings in the Luo dominant slum of Kibera, as most Luo names begin with such letters; and the opposition leader Raila Odinga himself was not even on the registrar. It was a matter of days before the entire country was up in arms. Neighbours who had lived harmoniously together began attacking one another, Kikuyus being the most affected with their houses and shops looted and burned to the ground, leaving roughly 300 000 people, mostly women and children displaced in transit refugee camps across the country. Entire villages have been pillaged, 1500 women and children have been reported raped and recent counts put the death toll at 700, though it’s known to be higher and swelling as each day passes. And yet still the opposition movement ODM continues to call for nation wide protests saying they will not stop until Kibaki steps down. Is this democracy looks like?

While the poorest of the poor are on the streets daily fighting for “justice,” up against heavily armed Kenyan police officers, notoriously known for excessive uses of force, and their “shoot to kill” policy, the political leaders whom they fight for and whose orders they follow, sit comfortably behind walled compounds, seemingly unfazed by the bloodshed in their names. Negotiations have been failing. South Africa’s Archbishop Desmund Tutu and the African Union and Ghanaian President Kuffuor have both come to help mediate a dialogue between Kibaki and Raila yet both sides seem unwilling to budge even a fraction from their positions. Kibaki will not step down and Raila has said that he will continue to call nation wide rallies and take actions to cripple Kenya’s economy, until he does.

How many lives must be taken, people displaced and livelihoods ruined before our political leaders can step aside from their egos and think about how much their selfish decisions affect the people of Kenya? Estimates say there will be 500, 000 more people unemployed as a result of this post-election violence. In a country with 40% unemployment, you tell me how that’s just. Everyday Kenya looses 33 million dollars in investments and already 14 countries have halted their development aid. If the people of Kenya are fighting for change, for a just leader who will help alleviate their poverty, then why are the actions which are being taken to achieve a goal of justice, exacerbating the suffering and poverty of the very same people who are fighting? People can’t go to work, while price inflation is rampant, children in the slums of Kibera, Mathare and Dandora eat tear gas instead of food and can’t go to school; the death toll is raising by the minute with police brutality at it’s highest – officers shooting at random, killing innocent people including children, breaking down innocent slum dwellers’ homes and shooting them for no reason other than their geographical location, and people live in a constant state of fear. How long can this go on for?

While protesters continue chanting “No Raila, No Peace,” it’s very difficult to predict where the future of Kenya lies. Thinking about what it will take for Kenya to return to a state of normalcy is not easy. This will not just go away over night, it’s a long process of reconciliation. The aggression, violence and ethnic cleansing the country has witnessed in the past three weeks are the effects of years of deep rooted resentment and frustration. This is revenge in many ways towards the historically dominant and affluent Kikuyu people, but yet some of the poorest Kenyans are Kikuyu and many of those affected are of the other 41 tribes in Kenya. At this point, most Kenyans are looking inward within themselves, in somewhat of an identity crisis, trying to understand what it means to be Ukoo Flani - of a certain tribe, and what it means to be Kenyan in a country of 42 tribes. How last month a Luo may have been able to share the traditional maize meal of ugali na sukuma with their Kikuyu neighbour may today seem impossible. But at the end of the day, we are defined by our actions, by our thoughts, by our word and not by our tribe. Who we are cannot be classified simply along ethnic lines, because underneath the differences of custom, language, music and geography, we are all human. Kenyans are all Kenyans. A beautiful country full of talented, energetic people with a strong sense of brotherhood and sisterhood whose people have chosen to stand together under the national language of Swahili, in fact. We mustn’t classify this conflict as yet another failed African state in tribal conflict, yet we must look deeper and understand why ethnic, racist and religious conflicts continue to arise in every corner of the globe. Why does humanity fear difference and struggle for sameness when that homogeneity defies everything that is natural. The beauty of our uniqueness and diversity is what makes us human and must be cherished. Perhaps one day we will truly understand the meaning of togetherness, tolerance, acceptance, forgiveness and integration and realise that what hurts our brothers and sisters hurts us all. I pray for that.