And So It Goes

Ok, so I'm not going. There are many who are breathing a great sigh of relief. I'm not, but with yesterday's news and today's editorial I don't need to walk into the lion's den and wonder what those chewing sounds are. The real truth is coming out. What is interesting to me is that this white girl saw it months before the elections, so why are the experts only talking about it now??

When the mungiki ran amuck last June there were the echoes of the Mau Mau. The papers even said so. There was the continued violence in Mt. Elgon which Mother got to see up close and personal. These incidents were not political they were tribal. The carnage of colonial Africa screams at us through the years.When the Brits pulled out they left a scarred land, they had taken the best for themselves and displaced the tribes. Then they pulled out leaving chaos in their wake. It is land and wealth of resources people are fighting about. The politicians just stir the pot.

Young men have taken to the streets as thugs. They identify with their tribe, but they are hungry, out of work kids with nothing to do. They have no jobs, they have no future, many are infected with HIV, so why not rob and loot? Is it any different than the street gangs here? Without hope, without food why is there shock that violence occurs? We just contain the violence better here, and we placate better.

For me, I know the Kenya I have experienced over the past 6 years is gone. What will replace it I don't know. How I will get money to the children I don't know. What the future of One Village at a Time is in Kenya I don't know.

It's interesting to live with not knowing. We're doing it here, in our own politics. I suspect people will start to get angry here too. We don't like not knowing. I hear that Barack and Hillary really can't stand each other but are trying to behave so that
they don't totally divide the Dems. Mcain has his plate full too (not that Mother M cares one whit)All these divisions...and we've been at the business of democracy for 250 years. I'm only seeing that we are wealthier than Kenya, but if you think we don't have tribes look at our own elections. We have African Americans, Bible Belt, Conservatives, Liberals, Hispanics, Women, White Men, Gen Xers, Gen Y's,and really they are all tribes in some way. They are all being played just as Kibaki and Odinga playsed the Kikuyu and the Luo.

So that's my world today folks. Things to think of. People to pray for. Sadness to be born, hope to be encouraged. Stay tuned.
And to keep you informed. Here is the editorial from The Nation, Kenya's newspaper.




EDITORIALS

Idle youths behind new wave of crime


Publication Date: 2/7/2008

We are beginning to see an element of lawlessness permeating through our society. Reports from various parts indicate how gangs of criminals have taken advantage of the erstwhile volatile situation to terrorise, harm, rob and even kill people.

For example, police in Kisumu have reported about gangs roaming the town, attacking residents, breaking into houses and robbing people. In Limuru, a Mungiki gang has decreed that women should not put on trousers and to make good its threat, stripped some women naked.

Humanitarian agencies assisting the displaced have also reported facing such gangs, which are increasingly taking charge of communities or regions and causing mayhem.

A number of these gangs like Mungiki are known illegal entities, which should have been demobilised years ago. Some, however, have been operating as youth wingers of politicians and soon after elections joined in the protests against the disputed presidential election results. Others are pure criminals exploiting the void created by the crisis.

Whatever the case, the point is that the country is quickly sliding to anarchy, where gangs of criminals roam around and strike terror on people indiscriminately. They have nothing to do with the election; they are criminals who should be dealt with as that. This is why we ask the police and the provincial administration to quickly round up such gangs and take them to the force of law.

A fundamental issue, however, is why we have a big army of youngsters roaming about. The answer is simple: unemployment, hopelessness and disillusionment. These are the underlying factors to the problem and must be addressed in the long term. The leaders must find ways of expanding opportunities to create jobs or income-generating activities to the thousands of youth in the streets and villages.

For now, we urge the police and the provincial administration to move with speed to rein in the criminal gangs so that Kenyans can live in peace. The violence visited on this land in the past one month was horrifying and as we recover from the trauma, the least we want to hear are gangs terrorising citizens.