Peace Pundit

Recent news from Kenya has been very distressing. After a hotly contested election, Mwai Kibaki, the incumbent squeaked to a razor-thin victory over his primary opponent, Raila Odinga. Accusations of vote-rigging flew, and international observers monitoring the election supported at least some of the accusations. Violence flared in the slums of Nairobi and in western Kenya, where Odinga’s Luo tribe is centered.

Having spent a lot of time in Kenya, I am very concerned about the mayhem and destruction and the secondary problems it will cause. I am concerned about friends and acquaintances there, who span a wide variety of tribal backgrounds. I am also concerned from the future of Kenya as a whole. This concern prompted me to write the following open letter to Kenyans.

Please Stop the Violence

What is happening to Kenya?

News reports indicate that the violence that flared after the recent disputed election is not diminishing and may be increasing. In fact, there are reports that some of the violence is not just young hot-headed men committing spontaneous acts of fury, but instead was planned and instigated before the election. People who just a few months ago lived near each other and co-existed peacefully are now killing each other or talking openly about doing so.

For the good of Kenya and all its citizens, this must stop.

Kenya is a country that was rising out of the so-called “Third World”: a popular tourist destination, a thriving multi-cultural democracy, and an economy that rivaled South Africa as a driving force in Africa. One great aspect of Kenya is its rich mix of tribal cultures. What other African country has forty-two tribes living and working together? In large measure it is this cultural diversity that makes Kenya such an interesting and successful nation.

Now all that great potential is being dashed to pieces, as the ongoing violence stops tourism completely, slows Kenya’s economic engine to a crawl, wrecks Kenya’s democracy, and replaces inter-tribal cooperation with suspicion and fear. Furthermore, the violence depicts Kenya in the eyes of the world as a land of violence-prone tribes.

Kenyans: don’t do this to yourself.

Those of you who are committing the violence — attacking longtime neighbors and driving them away because they are the “wrong tribe” — think about this: you may get the property, but what good is that if the value of that property drops to zero? That is what the violence is doing: dropping the value of everything in Kenya to nothing. What good are more cows if you cannot feed them or protect them from other cattle thieves? What good is land if you cannot afford seed or cannot sell your crops? You end up with more, but it is worth nothing.

Furthermore, by attacking your neighbors — people you used to work with, trade with, go to school with — you are losing not only the respect of the world, but your own self-respect. How can you respect yourself once you have killed former neighbors for their property and burned their home? Doing such things is not courageous and virtuous; it is cowardly and depraved.

Be strong; be brave: stand up against the violence.

To Kenyans who are waiting for your so-called “leaders” to stop the fighting: stop waiting for them and stop it yourself. Neither President Mwai Kibaki nor his challenger Raila Odinga are capable of ending the violence. Not only can they not stop it, there is strong evidence that their respective organizations are helping fan the flames. Through their self-serving, power-hungry actions and their unwillingness to negotiate, both Kibaki and Odinga have shown the world that they are unqualified and undeserving to lead Kenya. They are not statesmen.

Kenyan citizens must therefore take control and stop the violence. Stop giving weapons to young angry men and sending them to attack others. Do not allow your towns, villages, and communities to be torn apart by inter-tribal hatred and vengeance. Don’t let your society be wrecked by misguided people who care more about immediate personal gain than about the good of all. Take back power from so-called “leaders” who are “leading” Kenya towards disaster.

If there is no Kenyan Gandhi; each must become Gandhi. It’s up to you: Stop the violence.