Arriving in Kisumu, Part 2

The following post was written by UUSC President Charlie Clements. Clements writes from Kenya, where he is leading an emergency delegation to assess the political and humanitarian crisis that has engulfed the country in the wake of the flawed presidential elections of December 2007.

Chronic Water Deficiency

As a public-health physician who has been involved with water and sanitation issues, I was most alarmed by reports about the water scarcity in the area. I was surprised to learn that Kisumu, despite being next to Lake Victoria, is chronically water deficient and that its water utility has a very small customer base. Only 13 percent of Kisumu residents have piped water in their homes.

The Lake Victoria water utility is adjacent to one of the largest slums in Kisumu. When youth poured out of the slum in anger on December 30, they climbed right over the fence into the water utility’s facilities. A community resident told us that the youth, thinking there was money in the water-utility building, broke in. The police responded with force, surrounding them and firing repeatedly, killing 18 young men.

The next day, there was a massive retaliation by youth from the slum. They occupied the water-utility compound and torched the three-story building -- a feat that could not have been easy as it was largely constructed of concrete and plaster. Then they torched about 20 vehicles, including water-delivery trucks. We saw the burned trucks still sitting in the compound later that afternoon. There are no water-utility officials to speak to because they’ve set up headquarters elsewhere.

During the riots, many water points (outlets), which are sources of water for poorer neighborhoods in and around Kisumu, were vandalized. Where the outlets were destroyed, water is now delivered in “jerry cans” to many neighborhoods, and the price has escalated from 5 Ks to 20 Ks for 20 liters.

There are legitimate concerns that the water utility, now privatized, could decide that it does not want to pay the expenses to fix the current problems or invest for the future.

“Protestors” vs. “Hooligans”

Security seems to be a universal concern or as one community leader put it, “Security may be our biggest need.” The “protesters” have used the pretext of dissent to commit a lot of common crimes, which are on the rise. (I put protesters in scare quotes (“…”) because these incidents of theft, vandalism, and other crimes like battery are not related to the postelection events per se.)

A prime example is what happened to a school that was supposed to open today. The principal was warned that if the school opened, it would be targeted. It remains closed. We are told that people are not seeking medical care for chronic conditions at clinics because they fear for their safety while walking in some neighborhoods. Young people are reported to be stealing from the few market vendors who are still selling. We heard about a woman whose fingers were chopped off with a machete when she denied a demand for sex from one of the hooligans.

Perhaps that is the word I will use now, “hooligans.” Throughout these many testimonies, the perpetrators of one kind of violence have been called “protesters,” “young people,” “youth,” “rioters,” etc. I’m going to refer to those who are using the pretext of dissent to commit crimes as ”hooligans.”

There is also police violence, as well as violence committed by so-called militias, which I think of as being organized. Militia, here, refers to illegally armed groups that are usually associated with a political party or official and can be mobilized to commit crimes, such as the ethnic cleansing, which we’ve heard about, or start fires at specific homes. Then, there is the kind of mob violence that may not necessarily be planned or controlled.

We are not claiming to be taking away from our trip a complete, balanced picture given the short period of time we’ll have spent in the country. However, it does seem that the vast majority of incidents that occurred just after the announcement of election results and the swearing-in ceremony were more likely to have been planned. [A recent New York Times report seems to confirm this view.] As things have appeared to calm down, the number of incidents related to organized violence seems to be increasing.

I should also apologize to any youth or young-adult readers for, until now, having parroted back what I‘ve heard, rather than taking the time to clarify and rename those responsible. In the kind of forums we’ve been attending, Kenyans refer to those persons who are directing violence against them as “youth,” “protesters,” or “young people.”

If asked to sketch out who’s behind that label, they would suggest it means someone between the ages of 15 and 25, who is most likely a resident of a slum like Kibera, unemployed, with few prospects in life. They may or may not have finished secondary school, but even if they did graduate, they are not likely to be working as a full-time wage earner. They are young people who were angry before the election. They are frustrated by their plight in life. The prospect of Raila being elected led them to hope for change.

I have not heard anyone we’ve talked to speak about leadership these young people can turn to, which, I think, suggests the absence of any organized outlets for their frustrations. Far more youth and young adults are not hooligans, of course, but we don’t hear much about them because they’re not newsworthy.

It is clear that a just and lasting solution cannot be reached unless these young people are actively engaged in the process. I sense that if either Odinga (the opposition) or Kibaki (the government) ignores them, it will be at their own peril…and everyone else’s. Ultimately, much of their behavior could be interpreted as stemming from desperation.

An alarming number of incidents of violence attributable to the police in Kisumu appears to be what might be referred to as “collateral damage.” As one religious leader said, “The manner in which police chased people into neighborhoods and began to shoot through walls or pursued young people into their homes caused one woman to be struck by bullets in her home as she cooked and one woman to be struck while washing clothes on her veranda.”

Another determined soul that we met was a 71-year-old carpenter. When the riots started, he had just arrived at his carpentry shop. Hearing some noise in the street, he went out to bring in his bicycle. He felt a sharp pain and was surprised to see a bullet wound in his left thigh. He feared he might bleed to death before he could reach a hospital. He walked to our forum very slowly, on crutches, but with dignity; he introduced himself with the story above. He said he could not afford medicine for his pain, but is more concerned that he may not be able to continue his work.

He concluded by saying, “Thank you for inviting me to this forum. I never imagined I would participate in such a gathering. The most important thing is that I thank God I am alive.” A quiet murmur of “amens” went around the room.

The community leaders told us there were many more patients stuck in the their homes who could not travel to where we were. An imam told us the story of a 10-year-old found dead beside the door of his house. He was shot after putting his hands in the air as instructed by a policeman. He, like many others, the imam said, died without medical care.

As we ended one session and asked for closing remarks, someone said with great hope, “I think Bush can do something for us. If they [the Americans] could have gone at the speed of the British, Kibaki would be gone by now.” He was referring to strong statements by the ambassador from the United Kingdom, who stated publicly that a grave injustice had been done to both the Kenyan people and the Kenyan democracy. He said it must be put right, and threatened that millions of dollars (read British pounds) could be at risk. That got the attention of the government!

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