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.
We are booked on the last flight out of Eldoret on January 25 and the airport is half an hour away. Usually I feel fine getting to the airport half an hour before a flight, but with dusk approaching, fires being lit at roadblocks, and so much at stake, I’m glad to arrive at the airport an hour before our scheduled departure.
As we say our goodbyes, I have to acknowledge to myself the privilege that allows me to leave all of this uncertainty, fear, and tragedy. The commitment we have made to everyone we spoke with, or who assisted us, is to use this information in a way that will increase understanding and aid as well as contribute to a lasting solution.
Soon enough we will write a briefing for the House and Senate subcommittees on Africa; we hope to meet with their staff early next week. There may be hearings soon, and I hope the members of this delegation are asked to testify about what we’ve witnessed and experienced.
I try to think of a sentence or two to sum up our trip, as we fly away from Eldoret.
Kenya feels like it is on the edge of a precipice. Anguish and anger are pushing people into a free fall toward communal violence, which neither the leaders nor the security forces may be able to easily stop once it begins. As Kisumu, and now perhaps Nakuru (if the reports we got this afternoon are true), slip toward economic meltdown, the volatility of the situation will only increase. I fear that both Kibaki and Raila may be too insulated by hardliners to sense that they are engaged in a dangerous game of brinkmanship.
Visit our Kenya Crisis home page.
Labels: Kenya crisis
2 Comments:
As I read the days news tonight - trying to absorb all that has gone on in the last days / weeks and months / years and decades (this has may be sparked by the election irregularities but that isn't the whole story) and imagine what I, my faith community, our outreach project to communities in Western Kenya . . . or any of us can do, I find myself profoundly grateful for all that you (Charlie), the delegation, the UUSC, the partner organizations and all the supporters have done and are doing to try to understand and do something not only about this current crisis but the root causes of economic and other social justice that press people to a precipice where something that should have been preventable is consuming the hopes, dreams and lives of a Nation and a region that has endured so much already. May your voices ring loudly, clearly and be heard by people with the power to make a difference. You have my attention and support.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
The situation in Kenya is sad, but we must, and all of us must work on how to start the process of healing.
The current challenges in Kenya are a clear pointer to the need for transformational leaders. Gratefully, there are a few- even here in Kenya- who are doing something about the current situation. The story below shared by a friend demonstrates the need for transformational leaders:
In the midst of the hopelessness that we have watched helplessly, there are rays of hope. This morning at a meeting, a friend who is Kikuyu but was born and brought up in Lugari (an area where the Kalenjin and several dialects of Luhya are dominant and borders Eldoret), shared with us a story that I wish could be heard on national radio and TV as we have only been treated to the negative aspects of our nation.
After the major eruption of violence on Dec 30, his mother’s two buildings including the granary with the year’s produce was burned and her 8 cattle and 20 goats stolen. This was horrifying as she had been assimilated into that community - though she is of a different tribe - for the last 42 years!
Their local MP, Hon. Cyrus Jirongo who was voted in the small KADDU party, however decided to give leadership to his constituents. He put away his limousine and rode a bicycle to every village speaking to his people and showing them the folly of what they had done. They took the cue! They invited back the Kikuyu lady (as well as others who had been chased away) and different members of the community, in remorse and as a sign of their repentance, who are mainly peasant farmers helped rebuild her house and gave from their own produce and animals to restore all what the lady had lost!
This is the only way for Kenya to heal back into a Nation after the divisions we have seen! We need more of these kinds of transformational leaders!
Monday, February 04, 2008
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