Kenya Needs a Different Approach to Reconciliation
Unless and until the
historical injustices of this country are addressed, Kenya will be operating on
rhetoric and the reality will always be haunting natives. We thank God that
Uhuru and Ruto, formerly accused of committing crimes against each other’s
community came together and seized power back in 2013. Whether it was
legitimate or not, I prefer leaving it open ended for reasons that are obvious
to me. The duo has since battled the ICC and recently they “celebrated their
victory” against The Hague based international tribunal. They have since kept preaching
reconciliation. It is a gospel they have kept singing very well but arguably
with little significance or no known impact as yet. Perhaps they have been doing it in
a wrong way.
My opinion would be that
reconciliation is normally the last tool in the enterprise of conflict transformation.
I recently watched with horror some victims of the post-election violence shed
tears. If they can do it 8 years on; it only helps to send a message that victims
are hurting. And I mean real victims; after all, we have many victims of the post-election violence around these days.
It is often not easy to differentiate between the genuine and the fake. We
recently saw some pray for the termination of the cases and others celebrate
when the cases were finally terminated. But at ones we saw others claim they
have been neglected and that this was victory for impunity. The Jury is out.
Methinks it is absurd to
talk about reconciliation, before, the truth is established, justice is seen to be served, before apologies are made, before forgiveness is genuinely sought and granted, before mutual resolve, by the people, to accept the reality, however painful it is and
move forward as a nation. The ongoing top-down approach through which politicians
proclaim reconciliation from political rallies and “prayer gathering” is inherently problematic. I dare say it will surely fail, it shall fail. And that leaves us
on a more precarious situation. Needs of victims if not satisfactorily and
conclusively addressed and if victims are not going to be convinced to move forward
with the political elite, most of whom, who are actually the perpetrators of the
violence, then we can be sure that we are not out of the woods yet; we might not
be any time soon. I don't know when but we can rest assured that someday
whether in this generation or the other Kenya will explode unless we tackle
real issues and we tackle them comprehensively well.
It
is absurd for us to pretend that nothing is happening and that Kenya is at peace
and that let us move on. We risk a time when those burdened with accumulated injustices
will refuse to move on. Kenya is hurting. We cannot possibly and meaningfully
so move on without recourse to our past and without serious consultation with
the people of Kenya. We have to reconcile our nations with the past since therein
lies the key to a future prosperous nation. But not this one we are proclaiming
from rooftops. Let us be humble and go consult the people; they will tell us
what to do and how to do it. We might pick a lesson or two on how to search for healing
and reconciliation for the good of the nation.
Kenya Needs a Different Approach to Reconciliation
Reviewed by Ibrahim Magara
on
April 25, 2016
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