Where Truth and Rumor End and Begin

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.

Earlier in the day, someone told me that Kikuyu gangs called Mungiki are being armed by Kibaki’s government and moving around at night dressed in police uniform. It sounded like a rumor. The source told me the Mungiki leave the IDP camps at night in their police guises and take revenge on non-Kikuyu for what has happened to them.

I was told that the burnings and killings that are taking place now seem to be revenge for the events of the past weeks, keeping the violence alive, though the attacks are sporadic compared to the initial violence.

It’s hard to know where truth and rumor end and begin.

I know men in the IDP camp fear what’s outside the camp. And I know Non-Kikuyus outside the camp are afraid that Kikuyus inside the camp are arming themselves and will seek revenge for what was done to them. It seems like a recipe for an escalation of violence.

There are no checkpoints to monitor who is entering the camp, at least in the daytime. Only six armed men in camouflage guard the camp. That’s the security force for 25,000 people, or, at least, that’s the only security I saw…perhaps there are more guards, but there can’t be many more.

Visit our Kenya Crisis home page.