Kenya's Post-Election Crisis:
An Opportunity for the Country to Develop a More Genuine and Stable Democracy
By Tevis Howard
This article was posted in June 2008
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| Shops Selling Local Wares in Nairobi by Erico Hiller, Kenya Tourist Board (www.magicalkenya.com) |
Kenya is currently overcoming months of political and tribal strife that erupted after the disputed December 27, 2007 presidential elections. What used to be perceived as one of the most politically stable countries in Africa was shaken by conflict after opposition party leader Raila Odinga (along with several international organizations) accused incumbent President Mwai Kibaki’s government of rigging the elections. What started as selfish political squabbles between two political parties quickly triggered the escalation of longstanding tribal tensions.
The ethnic violence that erupted resulted in the deaths of more than 1,000 Kenyans and the displacement of up to 600,000 families. Although international media portrayed a country in flames, only few areas experienced severe violence. Yet all suffered. The price of staple food items have doubled in recent months as violence prevented planting crops, market supply chains came to a halt, and the price of fertilizer and fuel soared. As the predominant regional economic hub, the instability in Kenya has rocked all of East Africa.
Kenyans are not inherently violent. The post-election tragedy derived from longstanding socioeconomic struggles. With more than 75 percent of the population engaged in farming, the generally accepted cause of the post-election violence is longstanding ethnic tensions over land ownership. This hotly contested issue has no easy solution—there is a finite amount of good farmland, and the population is quickly growing, with half the population under the age of 18.
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| Maasai women and children living in a traditional village by Erico Hiller, Kenya Tourist Board |
But the root problem is not who farms what land. The problem is poverty. If Kenyans had more opportunities for earning cash income, there would not be such pressure for farmland. If most Kenyans were not so desperately poor, senseless government fighting would not escalate family struggles for life security and prosperity into ethnic war, resulting in the poor of one tribe fighting the poor of another tribe.
As soon as Kenya’s crisis erupted, the vast majority of Kenyans wanted it to end as quickly as possible. In most parts of the country, people on the street were not volatile—they were deeply saddened by the state of their nation, and they wanted peace for all Kenyans.
On February 28, 2008, after weeks of arduous political negotiations, Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan facilitated the signing of a power-sharing deal between government and opposition leaders.
Kenyans were ebullient, and are now working hard for life to return normal. But more than 300,000 people were relocated during the violence to camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs). The dissemination of aid to these camps was insufficient but better than many similar situations in Africa. Yet the people living in camps still suffer greatly: several camps have been attacked by small gangs of opposing ethnic groups, as the police force is currently overextended; there are several reports of sexual violence against women; and disease incidence is very high, primarily resulting from appalling sanitation and cramped living conditions.
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| Young women selling handbags at a market in Nairobi by Erico Hiller, Kenya Tourist Board |
Even before the power-sharing agreement was brokered, the government started closing IDP camps to forcibly encourage people to return home. It appears most people are not yet returning home, and instead have ended up relying on family or friends for shelter. With insufficient land and economic opportunities, they are unable to relocate back to their traditional ethnic homeland. Families are even more reluctant to return to their pre-election homes located in another ethnic area—they fear insecurity if they return too soon and they face dramatic obstacles to reinstating their livelihoods.
All the devastation of early 2008 was caused by political greed and a few crazy gangs. This tiny number of people triggered havoc for a nation of more than 33 million people. Yet despite these challenges moving forward, Kenya is largely back to normal, with parents working hard to build a better future for their children.
Many people believe this is an opportunity for Kenya to develop a more genuine and stable democracy. Politics must transition from being selfishly motivated and ethnically charged to working toward the good of
all Kenyans. This lesson must be learned by both future political candidates and by voters—each must put tribal association aside and do what is best for the country. If those with power focus on the majority who live at the bottom of the economic pyramid, regardless of tribe, Kenya is sure to have a bright and stable future.
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Courtesy of the Kenya Tourist Board |
People fortunate enough to have been born in a developed country have unparalleled opportunities to help ensure future prosperity in Kenya. Tourism accounts for 10 percent of Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product. Each person employed by the touristy industry generally helps support 20-40 people in their extended family. Although post-election violence did not target foreigners and the primary tourist destinations were largely unaffected by violence, in early 2008 Kenya’s tourist industry crashed. There are now many thousands of hungry families wishing for tourists to return. So simply by traveling to Kenya and enjoying all the country has to offer, you can help the lives of many kind, honest Kenyans return to normal.
More directly, you can support one of many high-quality nonprofit organizations working in Kenya. The true path to prosperity is (although it sounds cliché) sustainable economic development. With this, the rest (education, health, female empowerment) will follow. Poor Kenyan families need help transitioning from agricultural and pastoralist livelihoods to a cash based economy. Find an organization, like KOMAZA, that provides families in need with a complete development solution for sustainably and dramatically increasing their cash income. You can help these families by donating to or fundraising for organizations that work with them, or by volunteering or working in either the United States or Kenya. Only when Kenyan families have basic life security and economic opportunities will tribalism and selfish politics be overcome by strong communities and genuine democracy.
Tevis Howard is the Founder and Executive Director of KOMAZA. Tevis graduated from Brown University in 2007 with a Sc.B. in Neuroscience. His enthusiasm and vision for KOMAZA derived from several working trips (totaling three years) to Kilifi, one of the poorest, least-developed, and agriculturally inadequate districts in Kenya (first doing malaria research and then launching KOMAZA in 2006). In 2008 he was awarded the highly-selective Draper Richards Social Entrepreneur Fellowship and Rainer Arnhold Fellowship. Read more about KOMAZA at www.komaza.org.