A Plea for Peace from the director of the Jesuit social center in Nairobi

Time for Compromises and Hard Choices: Save the Country from falling apart!

February 1, 2008

By Rev. Elias Omondi, S.J., director of the Jesuit Hakimani Center in Nairobi.

It is time to make serious compromises at the negotiation table in order to save this country. We are faced with a civil war and something ought to be done immediately by our leaders. More than 800 people have died and 400,000 are displaced. We have successfully attained more than 95% of all indicators that a country needs to be in a state of internal conflict. The proportions could be minimal compared to other African countries that have known conflict, but life is sacred and ought to be defended at all times.

In fact, the current conflict in Kenya has taken on a completely different dimension. The illusion for many Kenyans in the cities, especially in Nairobi, is that the current ethnic violence being witnessed in Rift Valley, Nakuru, Naivasha and some slums in Nairobi is about the post election dispute.  We have already been surpassed by events.  The depth of the ethnic violence will take up to 40 years to heal this country. This is the time we need leadership and prophetic voices in the country: from politicians, civil society, religious leaders and youth.  The security forces have been so disappointing in quelling down the skirmishes since 30 December 2007.  How can a whole province be ruled by armed militias killing people and destroying property not for hours or days but for weeks and yet the security forces in this country continue to look on while sending minimum number of police to calm down the situation?!

Why should the two opposing parties fight to rule a country so divided and disintegrated? It is time that both the Raila and Kibaki camps realize that the country is already in a civil war and their power games at the mediation table should not take any longer than necessary.  Sacrifices will have to be made in the quest for power in order to keep this country together. There is so much suffering, some of which has been expressed in the media and others not. For example, there are villages that have been burnt down in Kitale and yet hardly talked about. The current divisions and inter-ethnic conflicts and revenge will certainly continue unless there are serious measures taken to face the situation on the ground.  The immediate priority is to bring the country together. This country is falling apart.

The desperate calls for peace have been drowned or complemented by similar calls for justice.  But we ought to know that these two are complimentary and not opposed to each other.  The search for peace should not compromise justice, nor should the quest for justice employ unjust means that cause more injustices.  Peace ought to be understood in a more comprehensive manner. It entails a state where there is harmony in people’s lives and relationships at the social, economic, political and religious levels.  It is clearly understood that the current calls for peace demand an immediate stop to the inhuman killings going on in the Rift Valley, Nakuru, Limuru and some parts of Nairobi.

On the other hand, the call for justice is in three dimensions: the settlement of the election dispute through a mediation process that calls for statesmanship and visionary leadership.  The justice measure here is the good of the country and a win-win compromise.  This process is representative in that it is not only about the Kibaki and Raila camps but equally about the electorate from both sides.  The second level of justice focuses on those that have lost their lives and property.  Every Kenyan has a right to security and ownership of property in any part of this country.  Those whose family members have been killed or have lost their property have a right to compensation or reclamation of their grabbed property.  The third level of justice is a right to citizenship.  It unjust to be forced into an ethnic cage and to limit one’s identity to ethnic affiliation.  Many people have been discriminated against based on their ethnic identity.  This has led to ethnic cleansing in several parts of Kenya and has spread into places of work as well as living quarters where landlords force out tenants based on their ethnic identity.  The justice measure here is that the Kenyan identity is bigger than the ethnic identity, and this country belongs to all of us.

I have worked in close to six African countries in conflict and it is evident that most conflicts mutate into various levels and as time advances the primary reason of the conflict takes a completely different turn. If you ask a person from Somalia what the current conflict is about you will never get a comprehensive answer. This is because the conflict has taken so many dimensions since the fall of Siad Barre in 1991. Similarly the conflict in Ivory Coast which broke out due to a poorly managed election process has mutated to various levels leading to the division of the country into two.  The more the conflict degenerates, the more players come into play and the more the objective is distorted.  The Kenyan conflict is gradually mutating and the talks at the mediation table ought to be focused on a process that will keep Kenya as one. Time is running out and in the next one month I don’t know whether I will talking of a country named Kenya or a country that was once Kenya.  Can we bridge our ethnic sentiments and pull this country together, right from our families, communities, places of work and positions of authority!

Fr. Elias Omondi, S.J. is a Jesuit priest from Kenya and conflict analyst. He directs the Jesuit Hakimani Center and also serves as the Social Apostolate Coordinator for the Jesuits throughout Africa. The Jesuit Hakimani Center is a social center dedicated to research, formation and advocacy. The name HAKIMANI combines Swahili words which articulate the Center’s mission: HAKI (justice), IMANI (faith) and AMANI (peace).