REFLECTION ON THE POST ELECTORAL SITUATION IN KENYA

Social/Economic Analysis

Mr. P. Wakulwa
The presentation will cover the following points:

• Brain storming
• Inequality and poverty
• What next? (way forward)

Brainstorming

You have seen in the last few weeks a country which is shattered due to the violence following the elections. The following are regarded as some of the causes underlying the current situation as the participants perceive them out of personal reflection and observation:

• Lies - People felt cheated and reacted looking for private justice
• Entitlement syndrome (unattainable hopes – people were expecting too much)
• Desire for change
• Tribal intolerance
• Unfinished businesses from the past
• Resources – land, income opportunities, employment etc.
• Youth frustration
• Population explosion/social revolution without cultural revolution (people are not ready, also the church). We have failed to promote a transformation of people’s consciousness.
• Brain-washing and manipulation by the leaders
• Mass hysteria
• Inadequately prepared institutions (Church included)
• Skipped opportunities
• Rise of people social consciousness
• Dissatisfaction after the promises of 2002 – political disillusion
• Presence of slums (Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu have plenty of informal settlements)
• Disparity rich/poor (10% of Kenyans own 50% of the monetary resources)
• It is not the moral constraint put on people that will prevent violence to occur, but institutions able to adequately address the situation – this brings us to talk of institutional violence. This is to say that a call for rationality when violence is already occurring is impossible 
• Hybrid mix of power and impunity. People have experienced very challenging situations and have seen that measures have not been taken in order to punish the crimes perpetrated. This is going to remain for years in the conscience of people, also in terms of trust towards institutions
• Egoism/self-centeredness has grown in the past few years

Inequality and Poverty

Inequality finds its root in denying the assumption that, as human beings, we are all equal. Of course, we cannot overlook the fact that we face inequality at different levels (economic, gender, social, etc.). Inequality is given due to an unevenness in opportunities, social exclusion/inclusion, ownership of assets, health status, education, political representation, area of food, employment/salaries.
To talk about inequality in Kenya (being the 5th country more unequal in the world) means to face the fact that the is no political will of addressing the issue. Slum upgrading and equal distribution of resources cannot be regarded only as a contingent event, but a clear refusal of tackling the situation on the side of the political leaders.
It is crucial to differentiate between inequality related to personal endowment and to benefiting of basic human rights. It is true that we cannot all be professors, but also that we all have the right of life and all the other human rights. 
What we are witnessing nowadays is that the louder voice claiming an equal distribution of resources comes from those who do not have anything to share. Not the riches are those who call for equal distribution, but the poor. So we see that:

• We all are born equal
• Life brings about differences among us
• Those who louder call for equality are the those who do not have

What has been pointed out represent the different levels where inequality can be expressed. Now, we ask ourselves: where do we see these inequalities expressed? In a traditional setup, we observe a quite high level of mutual care between those who own and those who are destitute. Nowadays, the several layers of inequality make it difficult to find a way where to go in terms of mutual care/sharing. We observe inequality expressed in:

• Family
• Community
• Gender
• Ethnic identity
• Race
• Population
• Grouping
• Religions

Why does inequality matter?

• It brings conflict, hatred… it matters due to the consequences out of inequality
• The origins of inequality assumed the presence of evil – injustice
• It matters depending on which side we stand on
• The  Bible, starting from the Old Testament, is quite clear on matters of equal distribution of resources (the idea of the jubilee, and the parable of Lazarus, as an example)
• Inequality challenges immediately its causes. When there is inequality we feel that something somewhere is to be changed. It challenges you to look for reasons behind inequality. It is a way through which we better understand our universal brotherhood. We do not curse the rich and sanctify the poor: through inequality we are challenged to see that something has to be ameliorated in order to improve our being brothers and sisters and children of God. It tells something about our authentic humanity.

The following are some useful figures to understand the distribution of resources:
At a national level:
Top 10% controls 42% of the national income
Bottom 10% controls 0.5% of the national income
Going through a bit of mathematics, we see that as a poor earns Ksh 1-, the rich fellow earns around Ksh 56/-. Comparing the figures against urban centres only, we have that the average ratio is 1/28.

On average, only 7.6% of all Kenyans have access to pipe water. Only 3.6% of rural population have access to pipe water. In towns, 19.6% have access to pipe water.

On national scale, in urban population 50% have electricity, whereas in rural areas only 4.6% have electricity in the house.

As we have seen, in Kenya inequality has the face of material deprivation, low human development facilities (schools, sanitation, etc.), nature (which strikes first the poor). This can be represented by the following chart:
Poverty:

• Natural disasters strike them first
• Material deprivation
• Lack of voice in decision making
• Low human development initiatives

Way Forward

The following is what has come up from the assembly as suggestions:

• Lobbying for salaries harmonization
• Work with the civil society – call for a determined unity of purposes (talk one voice)
• Build/strengthen institutions (civil society, churches etc.)
• Focus on youth initiatives
• Debt management vis-à-vis the international debt
• Encourage participative representation in finding solutions
• One of the main problems is related to the education system, which is based on job formation, whereby once a person finishes form 4, there is no job to be sought. The system and syllabi should be redesigned according to the real situation of Kenyans in their different realities and environments.
• Infrastructures to facilitate self discovery
• Avail affordable financial services/support to the poor (here is all the world of micro finance)

Social and Political Analysis

Fr. Elias Omondi

Background

Since the campaign for the referendum on the constitution (2005), the situation started being quite tense at a political and social level. These elections have seen a huge turn out, especially as far as youths are concerned, which historically represents quite a record. Out of the results of the elections we can say that there are no winners and all of us are losers. The country in fact is divided and political and ethnic violence is at stake every day.

Root-cause analysis

Some basic assumptions:

• Election violence is deeper than the event of election itself
• It is a battle of inequality, specifically in terms of:
  1. Distribution of economic welfare
  2. Poverty growth and social stability
  3. Land factor

Resources

As far as land is concerned, with coming of the colonialist the traditional system of land ownership was dismantled, especially in the area of the Rift Valley. Kikuyu, Luhya and Luo squatters found themselves working in the Rift Valley. After the independence, these people were re-settled in that area (originally belonging to the Kalenjin), were legally given land or they themselves bought it.
During the time of Moi, especially in 1992, the president instigated ethnic violence in the Rift Valley, aware that the Kikuyu would not support him in the multi-party elections.  In 1997 again, ethnic violence was politically instigate. Majimbo (devolution of power and resources) can be regarded as another crucial factor underlying ethnic and political instability.
Economically speaking, certain areas of the country (Central and Rift Valley) were favoured since the first years of the colonial presence. Moreover, the first missionary work was located in central, producing a faster development, compared to other provinces.

Militia

These are groups of youths politically instigated (they are given money to carry out the job) and taken from common citizens. They have limited military training, are available for emergency services, generally for local defence. Once the informal militia finds its room, it is not immediate that they will disappear when the crisis is over. What we have seen is that it usually becomes an organized body rather difficult to get rid of (the case of Mungiki is exemplar, from the experience of 1992, 1997 and 2002: first against Moi, then used by him, now a completely independent entity, difficult to control and disarm).

Media spreading violence

National media were quite unite in promoting a message of peace and unity, against the general wave of violence. However, since the referendum, vernacular radios have been contributing in spreading ethnocentric messages and encouraging violence. A serious check-up should be carried out in order to find balances at this level of mass communication.

Way out

It is clear that a mediation process must to take place, as it is I fact happening with the intervention of Koffy Hannan. To be relevant it should keep into account the specific requirements of the parties involved. (See the material provided on the Power Point on the position of the parties).
Instead of being worried about the two different hard positions, most important is to understand the interests of the two parties: what do they really want? What interest do they have out of what they seek?
There are three institutions which need a radical transformation: executive (too much power on the president), legislative (parliament too much dependent on the president) and judiciary (appointees of the president and not an independent institution as it should be).

feelings and suggestions of the assembly

• A stand should be taken by the Episcopal Conference. As religious, we should take a stand a have our voice heard by the Episcopal Conference, expressing our concern
• It is difficult to influence directly the Episcopal Conference, since for the bishops themselves it is not easy to go beyond their cultural background. A good work could be done through the Christian communities, talking to them not with a top-down approach, but really listening, since they themselves want to take a stand. Today they feel that the Catholic Church stands with Kibaki, so it is hard to have relevant statement from the Episcopal Conference in a way that can be unbiased.
• The church should be more involved in the formation of political leaders (e.g. MPs) and of priests/ministers (in the seminaries).
• We are in a society where we can easily perceive the struggle in diversifying the person from the role he/she occupies. As priests, we do find it difficult to bring social justice in our homilies. It looks like a lack of courage on the side of the church’s leaders. Looking at what is happening, as a church we seem to have withdrawn from the debate.
• We cannot forget the role of the international community, which has played a remarkable role in whatever has been happening. Since the beginning of these facts, EU and USA related to the Kenyan situation as a colonized country, by giving orders blindly and clearly taking side with the opposition. This cannot help any mediation process, but incentive stronger positions, hence violence.
• The international media did play a role, inflating the situation in what they reported overseas. The bounce back of the news were not indifferent to people and to the way Kenyans were looking at their internal situation
• This particular crisis has helped us to bring this to the light and around a table and to tackle the issue seriously
• Can this situation tell something to the forthcoming Synod of Bishops? Sure this is a big task for the Synod. The challenge is how to come up with something from the grassroots before the deadline in April
• Can we say that what is happening in Kenya today can be taken as an indicator, an alarm to other African countries as far as growth in democratic awareness is concerned? Surely we can say that this is a test for African countries and the issue is to be delved into. It can be a potential situation of explosion also in other countries. What appear clear is that African governments are nowadays trying to address political crisis more through participation than through military resolutions. This fact denotes a remarkable growth in political awareness, though definite tools to go about the issue are still to be found
• What we note at a grassroots level is that the division that has occurred is extremely deep and not easily addressable. This represent a real pastoral challenge, for which we do not seem to be ready. The political manipulation that we have seen in this last elections had never been seen in previous elections. The game the two parties played was exactly the same in terms of manipulation, with different interests but with the same methodology
• There is the need, as a church, to go back to our prophetic role and speak out a real option for the poor and for social justice. At times there is the perception that we fear to take a serious stand, so that we mingle with all the other non-clear positions   

Theological Reflection

Sr. Anne: cikuannie@hotmail.com
Lk. 24, the disciples of Emmaus
The disciples were meditating on all the events that had happened in the last days. Let’s go through what we have experienced in the last 2 months, bring thing, emotions, images at home.

• How do I react to what has happened?
• Who do I want to be vis-à-vis what has happened?
• What kind of conversation are going on out there, in our Christian communities?

“what are you discussing as you walk along?”
We are listening to people who on the 26th had a family and on the 28th had nothing left. “If you see the jigger’s head, the body is inside”. What made all this happen? It’s not enough to remove the head: you are to dig around all the jigger and remove the whole of it.
George Zalbeka is the one who wanted the atomic bomb to be tested before the end of the Second World War. His words are brought as a reflection for us today in the form of a song. The core of the song is to go and light a candle for my brothers and sisters that he has killed by throwing the bomb. For whom do we light a candle? We cannot enter heaven if not reconciled to those we have hurt. How deep is the need of reconciliation for those who killed, burnt, cut…?
The following are the questions for the reflection:

• How have we mediated the presence of God with our Christian community?
• Which is our role in this situation? 

Passages for the reflection:

• Mt. 5: the sermon on the mount
• John 20:19
• Lk. 24:13-35
• George Zabelka’s: reflection
• Rom. 2:28

One hour is given for personal reflection and meditation.

Sharing of the assembly

How to mediate God’s presence in our Christian communities?

• Being present in the situation
• Listening to hurts and experiences
• Accompaniment: helping people to respond rather than react to the situation
• Giving people signs and messages of hope
• People need courage to come out from the fear of exposure
• How much can the Gospel challenge basic human traits?
• We have witnessed to great sacrifices and commitments of many people affected by the situation, in terms of prayer and help to those who were most affected (people protecting others whose house had been burnt and whose life threatened or people fasting for peace). This is not said in the news, but it is a sign of great faith, hope and humanity
• Help people to come to term with what happened, to accept reality and move from there

What is our role in this situation?

• Rebuilding the human spirit (through bringing back the Bible to people and a long process formation of Christian values – e.g. social teaching of the Church)
• Take side with the Gospel, which means the people
• Work on reconciliation, which require a strong commitment. On this we need to think more of the steps to be taken, since reconciliation might be seen as the end of the process: How to go about it? To touch reality and embrace diversity is essential in order to move towards reconciliation
• Political talks need to be brought to our table
• Certain Christian values need an anthropological presupposition, otherwise they cannot take roots. Going through cross-cultural communication, for example, is crucial and it is based on science. We need a foundation on which to build Christian values, and this container is basically human
• To accept the reality: what is the reality which we need to accept? The one previous to 27/12/07 or after it? There is an historical and social revolution which cannot be reversed and needs to be accompanied appropriately. There is the need to find motivations for ourselves and move on, even challenging traditional cultural values
• The Gospel itself carries a strong anthropological perspective which we need to go back to. It is in the Gospel where we find the revelation of who I am, regardless of religion, faith, ethnicity or whatever. It is rather our sectarianism that reduces it to a partial and spiritualistic interpretation of reality
• We live the challenge as ministers, to sacrifice our own stand (political and ethnic) for the sake of providing guidance to people. Unless we transcend our stand, we cannot accompany people properly

general observations of the participants

• Church and government should work together. Nevertheless, it is already difficult to collaborate with other churches. This is not an easy task at all
• Looking at the matter of inequality, as one of the major root causes of the problem, is paramount
• Many things have been taken for granted for many years (peace, structural injustice, evangelization, etc.). It is important to come to terms with what is not granted, reconciliation for instance. What has happened is not a surprise: we new that we were sitting on a bomb, but nobody wanted to admit or tackle it. There is a wound which is there and needs to be touched and healed: what information we have from history and where do we find the courage to tackle the situation accordingly

Where did we experience the presence of God?

• In the truth: the historical injustices that have been hidden for ages now have come to light
• The longing for justice and peace all over
• Solidarity towards the most affected people: the calamity becomes an occasion for showing mutual care
• The fact that a genocide could have been reached, but it has not. However, we remain with the doubt: why did not God intervene?
• The courage that there is evil somewhere, which should be unveiled in order to counteract his action. It is a way not to be naïve but realistic
• Readiness of people to declare the evil of the situation. This means that people’s consciousness is fed with good values, it has been nourished with a longing for justice and peace, which, when missing, can be acknowledged and called upon immediately
• It is part of human history to go through upheavals. This gives us the opportunity of going beyond the sense of guilt and look at our future with optimism, and be committed. The sense of guilt can refrain our commitment
• Division is where we see absence of God
• In the manipulation towards people
• In tribalism
• Withdrawal from one’s consciousness (people do not listen to their conscience and react out of emotions)
• Rather then absence we should talk about silence of God. It can be looked at as a test from God, which can be turned into good (Rom 8:28). This has been seen in hate, stealing looting and so forth.

What should we do as communities, zone, province?

• Within our communities, to work more on relationship
• To respect each other cultural identity: rediscover plurality within our communities, which is a powerful witness to the outside world
• We are still imperfect, so none of us is a criterion of judgement or, worse, of perfection
• To have a self-critical identity
• To focus more on reconciliation, within the communities and towards the broader society
• Empathise with people also through a concrete action and economic aid to the parishes we are in touch with
• To challenge the cultural background underlying violence and division, as well as the very understanding of culture itself
• To work for a more positive promotion and understanding of leaders, particularly among the poorest groups (slums and pastoralists). This comes out of the realization that there is too much division between political life/leadership and Christian life
• To distribute literature that can help people pray and form their mind on peace and reconciliation
• As a province, to dedicate a person to work full time in the field of justice and peace
• To have a symbolic initiative on the front line, where people are most divided (e.g. home of peace, but something appropriate to the place – this at a zone level)
• To look at the situation of division as a pastoral priority
• At a provincial level, to network with organizations at a national level, which are already working in the field of reconciliation and communion
• To work more on professional ethics with our Christians
• To try to discover neutral figures for leadership, a member of a community which has not a direct stake in the problem (a sort of super-partes figure)
• To revitalize or promote traditional ways of reconciliation and conflict resolution
• To make use of mass media to promote justice, peace and reconciliation
• Accompany people in prayer and promote reconciliation
• Find any means to bring people together
• Promote strong initiatives of civic education, in parishes for example, after catechism (example of Zambia)
• Continue the reflection as a province
• Promote theological reflection through bible and social teaching of the church
• Involve youths in the healing process (case of Philippine, where the youths were going around singing songs of peace and reconciliation); they can become a counterpart to the contribution other youths gave in spreading violence

Looking at a possible action, we ask ourselves: if I was the superior today, what is the only one thing that I would do, I would like to happen, I would be ready to put my energy in?
Together with this: what is the competing commitment? What commitment is opposing the one I want to take? This will help to fix the focus to our real commitment.