Global Focus

Kenya - Heading for disaster

Denis Okenye, Kenya, Sunday 27 January 2008

While the world’s focus is on Gaza, I feel it is important to mention the massacres in Kenya – and wish to use this platform for this purpose. Kofi Annan, the Former UN chief, has stated that he had seen tragic, heart-wrenching scenes, and gross and systematic abuse of human rights – this is an issue that the entire world must become aware of.

For those of you unaware, the violence is the result of post election fraud, with this nation never before witnessing this level of violence. There was obvious and blatant vote rigging, where both sides mobilized their supporters, chiefly along ethic lines. And this is the problem – with rigging as transparent as it was, created an explosive situation due to the ethnic divides. My nation right now is in a pitiful state, and I fear for the future of my democracy – a democracy which is so new and rare, and yet taken for granted.

I shall not go into where I am from, or who I support – but all I can say that most of our politicians, be they government or opposition, are two sides of the same coin. It seems to me that all the politicians what to do is to steal billions of dollars of our revenues, and then create ethnic tensions in order to gain power and steal more.

Gangs of youth paid by these corrupt officials are marauding the streets, killing at random, their blood lust being driven by the powers that be. Clearly this violence was orchestrated, with those orchestrating the attacks knowing that they will not be held to account in my corrupt nation. True – some of the violence is spontaneous – but this is a direct correlation to the orchestrated attacks, and so those officials have blood on their hands.

I ask the international community to do something. To help stop the violence and the corruption. Is it that there is no oil in my nation that you take no action? That if there was oil, you would do something? You stood by while millions died in Rwanda, Angola, Sudan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, etc – my nation’s weak democracy is now under threat, and we could end up being the next on the list of Africa’s failed states unless you help us.

Mwai Kibak and Raila Odinga's responses to the crisis has been entirely inadequate, and with little middle ground between them and being satiated with their thirst for wealth, there is little optimism amongst us now for the future.