Letter/reflections from Mary Lord:

Reflections from Mary Lord, in Nairobi.

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 Dear Friends,

 I want to offer some reflections on the situation in Kenya, partly as

 a way of shaping my own thinking.  Please remember that I have been

 here a short time and do not claim expertise.  Dave Zarembka has been

 writing some excellent daily reports from Western Kenya and background

 pieces which I highly recommend.  E-mail  dawn@aglionline and ask to

 receive Dave's updates.  I came to Kenya for two months starting in

 mid-December to visit an old college friend, see the country, and

 visit the Kenyan Quaker community.   I played tourist in December,

 visited among Friends here in Nairobi and planned to visit Friends in

 Western Kenya in January.   My old friend, Connie Freeman, is the

 regional director of the International Research Development Centre, a

 Canadian NGO based here in Nairobi. She has lived here a long time and

 has a wide circle of friends, so I have had a good window on the

 unfolding events around the elections.

 In the conversations I heard leading up to the Kenyan national

 elections, it was clear this was a watershed event in the development

 of Kenyan political democracy.  It was also clear the Presidential

 election would be very close, and charges of planned vote-rigging

 were  credibly hurled by both of the two major contenders in the weeks

 leading to the voting.  Great hope was placed in the ECK (Election

 Commission of Kenya) to see that the free and fair election promised

 would  occur.  There is no question that the ECK let the people of

 Kenya down.  On election day there was a huge turnout of voters,

 standing peacefully in long lines.  Counting was done at the local

 polling station and announced publicly in front of Kenyan and

 international observers.  The polling station results were then sent

 to the next level for tabulation and it was here and at the ECK

 headquarters that the system broke down.  Early results showed a big

 lead for the opposition and also that the voters were turning out the

 corrupt incumbent parliamentary leadership.  At that point tabulation

 on the Presidential race suddenly slowed down.  Tabulation officials

 in contentious districts disappeared with the results and couldn't be

 found.  When the results began to reappear, the tabulation was

 strongly for the incumbent President Kibaki, in a way that was

 not credible.  As the days passed and there were still no results,

 people grew restive and sporadic violence broke out.  Then the ECK

 chairman announced and certified the election results, despite the

 discrepancies, and within ten minutes a stunned nation was watching

 the swearing in of the incumbent President Kibaki for another five

 years.    Violence almost immediately erupted in the strongholds of

 the opposition ODM party, particularly the poorest slums of Nairobi

 and the western part of the country. 

 In the days that have followed, both leaders have resisted the

 negotiations and compromise that might have found a solution. 

 Incumbent President Kibaki offered a coalition government but has

 named half of the cabinet with the strong departments (defense,

 internal security, justice, finance, foreign affairs, local

 government, and public works) in the hands of his party before

 negotiations start, presenting the opposition with another fait

 accompli.  Opposition leader Odinga who has no reason to trust Kibaki

 was open to negotiation only if Kibaki first admitted he had really

 lost the election and stepped down.  Also a non-starter. International

 mediation now seems the best hope.  The president of the African Union

 is here today meeting together with both leaders.  For the moment, the

 country seems calmer, but there is sporadic violence, many tens of

 thousands of displaced people, hundreds of dead. Unrest could return.

 Some underlying factors:

    Kenya is emerging from decades of colonialism and dictatorship and

 the institutions of democracy are still fragile. Some constitutional

 issues are unresolved.

      Kenya's government structure is a weak Parliament with a strong

 President, rather than a Prime Minister.  Thus, even though the

 opposition ODM has a near-majority in the new Parliament the President

 can be of a different party and has most of the power.  The President

 appoints the cabinet without Parliamentary approval and also appoints

 the local provincial executives.  There is little ODM can do despite

 its parliamentary victories without also gaining the Presidency. It

 takes 2/3rds vote of no confidence to bring new elections, which ODM

 could not muster.

    For a long time, Kenya had one-party rule.  Kenyans united to throw

 out the Moi regime in 1992, but the political alliances from that

 effort have fractured.  There were literally more than 200 parties on

 the recent ballot, and the principal coalitions split and fractured

 and realigned during the current election period.  It is therefore not

 entirely clear how stable Kibaki's PNU and Odinga's ODM coalitions

 will remain over time.

    There is pressure from the western parts of the country and the

 Rift Valley for greater autonomy reflecting the different ethnicity or

 tribes, but a constitutional reform that would have moved in that

 direction was defeated in a 2002 referendum leaving the central

 government in control.  Regional pressures therefore have no clear

 outlet.    

     Corruption is endemic in the government, and those in power seem

 to have an attitude of entitlement to rule.  There is little trust

 across the divisions in this fairly evenly divided electorate.

 Underlying the political divisions are the social and economic

 realities of a dynamically developing nation.  Kenya's economy has

 been taking off, but the benefits of growth have often exacerbated the

 division between the poor and well-to-do.  More Kenyans are benefiting

 from the growth but there is a huge number of landless, desperately

 poor people in the large slums of Nairobi and in the

 underdeveloped rural areas.  Many youth are unemployed and have little

 hope.

     Colonial rulers and the dictators that followed played ethnic and

 tribal groups against one another in a "divide and rule" strategy. 

 Ownership of ancestral lands, especially in the Rift Valley, is one of

 the prime sources of displacement and of the current violence.  The

 Kikuyu, the largest people or tribe in Kenya and the dominant group in

 government, is seen as benefiting at the expense of others.  Thus when

 the violence broke out, it was Kikuyus who were targeted by those who

 believed the election was stolen, and their aspirations for a better

 future dashed.   The Kikuyu who suffered most, of course, were those

 near to hand, who had little enough themselves.

 The issues are formidable, but there are many signs of hope.  Kenyans

 are a well-educated and basically optimistic people.  Among younger

 people there is more of a sense of nationhood than of tribalism,

 although the current crisis may well have undermined that.  Kenyans

 have seen themselves as different from the political chaos that has

 plagued other African countries and I encountered many people in

 Nairobi who were shocked by what they thought could not happen here,

 but did.  There is hope that attention may be focused on the

 longer-term issues--but will the political leaders rise above

 themselves to do that?

 I have been impressed by the local media, whose coverage has been

 quite good.  The local media has been careful to avoid giving

 attention to hate media and hate speech, but unfortunately the

 international media has not been so careful.  Control of hate media

 is a principle factor in controlling violence.

 The government attempted to cut off independent broadcast news

 coverage and text messaging, but the companies involved soon refused

 to comply and resumed independent service.  In an Internet world,

 control of media is simply too difficult to sustain over time.

 There is a well developed NGO sector, and the faith based community

 has been very active in promoting peace and working to end violence. 

 All of the churches sponsored a national day of prayer for peace last

 Sunday.  Churches continue to provide sanctuary for refugees and

 families.

 There is a great deal of international attention to the crisis in

 Kenya, offering mediation and urging the leaders to find a peaceful

 way out of the stalemate.  Kenya is too important to the region to be

 left to slide into chaos.

 Humanitarian aid is coming to the affected areas, although more is

 needed.

 Business and economic leaders are pressing for a resolution of the

 crisis.

 Is it enough?  Time will tell.  Personally, I am seeking out

 opportunities to connect with the local Quaker and peace communities

 and see if I can help.   As I learn more about what Friends and others

 are doing for peace, I will share what I can.

 Trust you are all safe.  We can all at least, and at most, join our

 Kenyan brothers and sisters in prayers for peace in their beautiful

 country. 

 Mary Lord

David Zarembka 1/8 report#1.  Quaker in Kenya:

I have been asked to discuss the issue of how the violence here in Kenya

is affecting the Quakers in Kenya.

Friends United Meeting (then Five Years Meeting) sent missionaries to

Kenya in 1902. They trekked up country and settled in Kaimosi which is in

Western Province of Kenya. Western Province stretches from near Lake

Victoria about a hundred miles north to Mt Elgon, along the border with

Uganda. The British divided up the provinces by ethnic groups so Western

Province is the home of the Luhya who are the second to largest group in

Kenya after the Kikuyu. Almost everyone in Western Province is Luhya. Of

course, over time, many Luhya have immigrated to other parts of the

country. Partly do to the excellent education the Quaker missionaries

promoted during colonial rule, the Luhya tended to go into the educated

professions--teachers, managers, government civil servants, and similiar

occupations.

There are more Quakers in Kenya than any other country in the world. FWCC

says 137,000. FUM-Africa office is trying to get a better count, but this

is going to be difficult for such large numbers. I think that the total

is considerably higher. If there are 3,000,000 people in Western Province

and 100,000 of them are Quakers, then 3% of the population is Quaker.

While still a small percentage, it is probably one of the highest

concentrations of Quakers in the world. Quaker churches and Quaker

schools can be seen everywhere.

At the time of independence all the Quakers were in one very centralized,

yearly meeting--East Africa Yearly Meeting. But due to mismanagement at

the center, sub-ethnic group differences, beginning in the 1970's East

Africa Yearly Meeting began to split apart until now there are 15 Yearly

Meetings (there is actually another one which hasn't been officially

recognized yet). Much of this division was very acrimonious. Note how

parallel this history is to the history of Kenya that I reported

previously. Most other religious groups in Kenya went through similar

conflicts and divisions. Now all the yearly meetings are members of

Friends United Meeting. All except a silent worship group at Friends

Church--Nairobi, Ngong Road are programmed Friends, with singing, vocal

prayer, preaching, an offering, etc.

Starting in about 1999, the many yearly meetings began to settle down and

re-develop normal relationships among themselves. Now the Friends Church

of Kenya includes all the yearly meetings. During the time of conflict,

the Quakers were not represented in the National Christian Council of

Kenya because they could not agree on who would represent them. Now the

Friends Church has a representative there.

Politically the Luhya have been seen as the political "plum" that would

allow someone else to run the country. If a politian could get the votes

of the second to largest tribe, he would have a nice voting block.

Consequently there have been many Luhya vice-presidents. Kibaki's vice

president was a Luhya, Moody Awori, and you can see the resentment

against Kibaki when Awori was unable to even hold is own seat in

Busia--he was beaten badly by the ODM candidate. In Moi's last

government, Musalia Mudavadi was vice-president for only a short time. In

the 2002 election the Luhya were determined to oust the Moi government

and Mudavadi like Awori in this election lost his seat. He soon

recognized his mistake, joined the ODM campaign in 2005 against the

proposed constitution, and returned to the good graces of the Luhya. He

is now Raila Odinga's vice-presidental running mate. I cover these

details because Musalia Mudavadi is a Friend. I am told that he sometimes

attends church at Ngong Road in Nairobi.  I have found him to be

level-headed, a calmer speaker than most politicians, and carried the ODM

campaign very well when Raila was in the United States raising funds.

As part of the larger population of the province, the Quakers have been

directly and indirectly affected by the violence. I mentioned a Luhya who

was killed in Nakuru (I don't know if he was a Quaker or not). Another

prominent Quaker's shop in Nairobi was looted and burned. If a Quaker

lived in a Kikuyu's house, they were burned out. If they rented a house

to a Kikuyu, it was also burnt. There are probably many more examples of

death, looted shops, and burned homes among the Kenya Quakers that I do

not know about. Of course indirectly everyone has been adversely

affected. Prices have gone up, transport has been almost impossible, and

anyone with a business has seen sales decrease. On top of this is the

tension, the uncertainty of what will happen, the retreating into the

home and with trusted neighbors only. Then there are the questions, "How

can our society have fallen apart like this?" "Where have we gone wrong?"

"Is this going to happen again?"

In my daily reports I try to highlight those things that I hear that the

Quaker community are doing--digging latrines at an IDP camp, caring for

people in Eldoret Friends Church, our beginning attempts at

reconciliation here in Lumakanda, attempts to dialogue with the looters

in Kakamega.  All these are small initiatives in hard times. As the

conflict here in Kenya is no longer is "news," and you hear little about

what happens, I hope that you can stay informed about our Quaker brothers

and sisters in Western Kenya.

Peace,

Dave

David Zarembka report 1/8 #2:

Dawn sent me the following from an Associated Press news article from yesterday, titled "Kenyan Rivals Make Concessions" by Elizabeth A Kennedy:

"An official in neighboring Uganda said over the weekend, 30 fleeing Kenyans were thrown into the border river by Kenyan attackers, and were presumed drowned. Two Ugandan truck drivers carrying the group said they were stopped Saturday at a roadblock mounted by vigilantes who identified the refugees as Kikuyus and threw them into the deep, swift-flowing Kipkaren River, said Himbaza Hashaka, a Ugandan border official. The drivers said none survived, Hashaka said."

This is total nonsense. The Kipkarren River is where my post office box is and within walking distance of my home. If anything like this would have happened, it would have been the talk of the town. Bodies or survivors would have been brought here to Lumakanda Hospital which covers Kipkarren River. If this had occurred, it would have been one of the biggest massacres in Kenya since the election. I have told a number of people about this story (Gladys, Florence Machayo, people from Lumakanda Church) and all have said it is "lies." I asked Dawn to contact AP to retract this article and she has done so. If you would also like to email Associated Press, the email address is info@ap.org. Unfortunately this misinformation has gone out throughout the world. I am sure that this story will be repeated over and over again, and particularly inflame the Kikuyu community towards retaliation. This is totally irresponsible journalism. So beware. Don't believe everything you read.

Back to the home front. The Lumakanda Church Relief Delegation went to the School this morning. At first the security officers would not let them in "unless they brought a little something." The Red Cross officials were not there. So they came back to our house and got the children clothing, toothbrushes, and over-the-counter medicines that had been brought from the US by the workcampers, to the Machayo's house by Getry, and then by Alfred Machayo to our house. When they returned, they were warmly welcomed by the leaders of the camp. The delegation asked them what their  needs were and they are "soap, salt, cooking oil, firewood, vaseline, sugar, tea leaves, and blankets." We don't really have any source for firewood. I have seen the kids going out to pick up small sticks for firewood and this is in an area with lots of trees, but 2500 people can pick an area clean of firewood in short order.

Gladys and I plan to go to Kakamega tomorrow and buy some of these items. We will then have to figure out how to get these back to Lumakanda. We are told that the banks in Kakamega are open, calling cards are available (but I don't know at what price), and the price for the matatu ride has increased from the usual 120/- to 300/-.

Florence Machayo came by today and we had a good discussion on the situation here in Lugari District. She came to see the District Commission who does not seem to be around. Florence thinks that she is afraid. Florence wants her to call a meeting of community leaders to discuss the situation, but if she is not available, how can this be done? Has the government here in Lugari District abdicated its responsibility to govern?

Today in Kakamega Friends for Peace and Community Development has organized people from Kakamega Friends Church to dig latrines at the police station where there are many IDP's. There was concern about the sanitation at the site.

I just received 1000/- of airtime from Dawn Amos and I feel so wealthy!

Peace,

Dave

David Zarembka 1/9.

Dear All,

Last night Kibaki named his cabinet, mostly filled with appointees from

his inner circle.  Shortly thereafter we got an SMS from Eden in Kisumu

saying she was seeing fires and hearing gunshots. We had planned to go to

Kakamega today, but then this made us doubtful. When morning came, we

called Malesi and Getry and both said that Kakamega was calm. So we went

to Kakamega and back. The matatu price was double what we usually pay.

Matatus were few and very crowded. The drivers and conductors were all

Luhya or Kalenjins--ie, no Kikuyu. People including the conductors were

much more subdued than before as there was not much hassling even with

the high fares.

We saw a number of burned houses and shops on our way in and a very large

store next to the bus station which was completely burned out. The lines

at the banks were very long and we could not get all the funds we wanted,

but enough for now. We were also able to buy 5,000/- of calling cards at

the regular price. This will last us awhile.

I had a good meeting with the Freinds for Peace and Community Development

folks--Malesi, Getry, Janet, and Shamala. We were looking at our short

term and longer term strategies. It seems that they will meet with the

boda-boda (bicycle taxi) drivers on Friday. I will be very interested to

see what the learn. They are wanting this to be a listening session where

they hear what those who were responsible for much of the violence in

Kakamega have to say.

We bought goods for Lumakanda Church committee to take to the School

tomorrow. Fortunately we found Alfred Machayo in town and he carried the

goods back to our house in his station wagon. We purchased soap, salt,

cooking oil, and rice.

I got and read my first newspaper since Dec 28 and we bought two loaves

of Kenyan bread. Bread, calling cards, and a newspaper--what a wonderful

life!

Peace,

Dave