Diary 4 – How I feel..

By Nyamse. [As KP I have asked readers to submit their own perspectives on the unfolding events. This is their voice.]

vuitu et al acted according to what is required by law when there are election disputes, all this mess would likely have been avoided. Had he gone ahead and announced a presidential outcome based on partial results, Raila Odinga would have been declared president, and we would more than likely be in the same situation that we are in right now. Because I have lived away from home for over 12 yrs, and never made it a priority to educate myself on the ODM/PNU/ODM-K platforms, I had no preference for any of the presidential candidates/ political parties. All I wanted was a peaceful election and I was encouraged by the long lines of voters as seen on TV. I am truly saddened by the fact that so many people have lost their lives. I will be very honest and say that in the beginning, I focused on the GSU shootings in Kisumu because I come from Nyanza and felt as though “my people” were being targeted. Then I realized that this was not just the government forces targeting any one particular tribe. There were a lot of Kikuyus being targeted in Rift Valley (particularly Eldoret), some Kisiis in my mother’s village had their house burned to the ground because they supported PNU. I kept telling myself that this could not, and was not, happening in Kenya. Haven’t we been the “haven of peace” in East and Central Africa? Aren’t we the ones that continually provide refuge for those escaping the turmoil in Sudan, Somalia, Uganda etc? I spoke to my family and friends in Kenya many times over the phone, feeling very fearful for their safety. Inevitably, the issue of tribe/ethnicity kept coming up. One of my closest friends, who is politically as uninvolved as I am, casually “sided” with me by saying “wow, you guys have been robbed”. Sadly, some of my Luo friends seemed almost happy that people from the GEMA community were being targeted particularly viciously in Rift Valley. I feel so disappointed in my generation, especially those of us in urban areas, who have interacted very closely with people from different tribes. We have always said that our parents’s generation is the one that is still firmly rooted in tribal division but it appears we are so very wrong. You are right Ory, at this time so many of us pride ourselves in saying that we have close friends who are Kikuyu, or Luo, or Kisii..whatever the case might be. But the mere fact that we have to voice this is probably an indication that tribal divisions run deeper than we care to think. So many stereotypes have been highlighted by this election and the subsequent violence. There was talk of “Luos will not pay rent if Odinga wins”..this because the assumption is that most Luos rent from Kikuyus. I mention this because I heard this comment over and over before elections, even from non-Luos who were themselves not landlords. It has been very casually mentioned that the reason why Mwai Kibaki et al want to hold on to power is because they are “money loving”, a longtime stereotype of Kikuyus. We as Kenyans, have destroyed ourselves; our politicians have taken advantage of ethnicity/tribal divisions and it has exploded in the most unimaginable way. I was naive to think that this could not happen in Kenya and it has been a very rude awakening. We truly have a long way to go and my sincere condolences to all those who have lost their loved ones. I feel outrage that we did not see this coming and unless we come to a point where we share a collective responsibility for all Kenyans without regard to tribe, we may never know peace.