Goodbye civil strife, into a neat little bundle

Just to "tie up" some of my posts on Kenya over the past couple of months - as much as one can tie up civil strife/violence in a neat little bundle of online text - let me point you to yesterday's announcement on the power sharing agreement between the current President (Mwai Kibaki) and the opposition leader (Raila Odinga):

Kenya Rivals Sign Power-Sharing Deal
By REUTERS (posted on the NYTimes)
Published: February 28, 2008

Kenya rivals agree to share power
By BBC News
Published: February 28, 2008

The agreement - in basic terms and, for now, in theory - sets the stage for an overhaul of the current government structure (based upon Kenya's 45 year old constitution). In fact, the constitution will actually have to be modified in order to effect yesterday's deal into law, a process that will begin this coming Thursday (and hopefully acted upon as soon as possible, thereafter) when parliament reconvenes. On a side note, doesn't it seem remarkable that the constitution of the United States has been going strong for over 220 years (with the occasional hiccup, of course)?

In any case, the biggest change in the Kenyan system seems to be that the main opposition leader will assume the position of Prime Minister (a newly created post), but there are myriad details to be worked out - including exactly how much power the Prime Minister has in the overall government; Kenya's political parties will also be jostling for new deputy prime minister and other cabinet positions.

Uncertainty of execution aside, the agreement is certainly a step forward (back) towards societal stability. And - again, according to the Western media sources that I've tapped for information about the situation - the average Kenyan person welcomes the potential to get their lives back to normal (even as some happiness is tempered with skepticism). In fact, hopefully the country takes this opportunity to improve the overall infrastructure of government and society at large; it's a time when people are ready and open to change, and they've got support and attention from the international community. For sure, it's still a long road, but a worthy one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a related note, my sister decided to come home to the US around the start of this month, just two weeks after she was officially discharged from the Peace Corps. She found it impossible to get back to her village in the Western portion of the country, given the levels for violence at the time. So, in-person goodbyes with the people she lived and worked with the past year and a half were never said, and I can only imagine that added to the surreal nature of her Kenyan experience.

Death, by arrow or otherwise

Killed by an arrow?

Man, that idea is so foreign to me - death, by arrow or otherwise, is inconceivable for the young in America - but apparently it's all the rage in Kenya. Of course, I say that with the blackest of humor possible (puns notwithstanding), but the NYTimes mentioned today reported that there is renewed and vigorous enthic fighting in Nakuru, one of the biggest towns in the troubled Rift Valley. And gangs of young people are walking around with clubs and machetes and bows and arrows, attacking people from rival groups at will; people are being maimed and killed, homes and shops destroyed:

Kenyan Gangs Clash in New Trouble Spot
By Jeffrey Gettleman
Published: January 26, 2008

And you read these sorts of accounts of far-off lands by Western journalists - mostly good folks trying to present the situation accurately - and you can't help but wonder if this article presents a proper version of "reality" (nebulous in definition itself, sometimes, I know). I mean, I'm sure there is plenty of fighting in Nakuru (and other Kenyan towns), and machetes are out in full and horrifying force, so what I really mean to say is that I question the commentary around these sorts of episodes: the "whys" around the political unrest, ethnic tensions and eruptions of violence. Yeah, and now that I say that "out loud", I realize that I will never know "the truth"..

In any case, as you may have heard, my sister was discharged from the Peace Corps last week, but she's back in Kenya (from Tanzania), sticking around with a few friends in Mombasa indefinitely until she figures out what she wants to do next. Hopefully, she'll be able to get back to her town in Western Kenya to continue some work on her own, or, at least, to tie up some loose ends before moving on (eventually back to the US after some traveling), which would imply that there was major progress in the political situation in the capital, and that violence had mostly subsided.

Unstructured or not

Well, my sister's time in Kenya was officially called to a close on Tuesday - at least from the Peace Corps perspective. In her own words..

They're having us all take Interruption of Service and flying us from Dar (Tanzania) to the States beginning on Sat!!! Got this tonight and we're all full of emotions that are very hard to describe. They're asking us to give them one month to figure out stuff here in Kenya. so I'm Done, for the most part..

(since my sister's Peace Corps service was done in August anyway)

The news is very hard to take for myself and mentally I don't know where I am with this whole situation. I left thinking I would go back home to Matayos and continue the life I made for myself for the next few months; obviously, that's not going to happen.

As I mentioned earlier, my sister was evacuated - via motorcycle, then car - from her village, Matayos, about two weeks ago due to the violence that erupted over disputed presidential elections.

In fact, the NYTimes reported yesterday (with updates today) on new protests and killings in Kisumu (the closest city to where my sister was stationed), as well as in other large cities like Nairobi and Mombasa. The article itself is a little all-over-the-place, touching on a lot of subjects related to the current violence and potential for continued political and civil unrest, but not really getting into any details on any one aspect. In other words, it's not a good article to "start on", but if you've already been following the action, it does provide a little view into the latest scene. Check it:

Protests Bring New Violence in Kenya
By Jeffrey Gettleman
Published: January 17, 2008

And the BBC fills in a little more:

'Seven dead' in Kenyan protests
BBC News, January 17th, 2008

In any case, I read these stories with a bit of amazement (and a grain of salt); I really don't have any practical experience to call upon when I try to empathize with any of the players involved, from native Africans - especially from the native African perspective! - to international workers (ex. from NGO's, foreign governments and so forth).

You see, I've never lived in a place with such a level of uncertainty with respect to its everyday societal constructions.. from transportation infrastructure to general rule of law (including the expectation to NOT be hacked with a machete). These types of things should just "be", right? I, of course, say that with a wink-wink and a nudge-nudge: these things are *hardly* simple in their implementation, maintenance, and, later, evolution with the times. But that fact is easy to forget because while they are all intrinsically complex systems - built layer by layer, and tweaked infinitely (and, many times, slowly) - they can have a seemingly-simple interface.. as least when viewed by a given individual.

In any case, I'll let the news speak for itself.. before I get too off track and start philosophizzizing without hard data to back me up. Besides, as I write, more updates are pouring in, BBC-style:

Kenya 'turned into killing field'
BBC News, January 17th, 2008

Alas, the who's-at-fault-hype coming from both sides, it seems, is strong (and conflicting). But that is the way of the world, unstructured or not..

UPDATE: My sister will be discharged from the Peace Corps on January 19th, but will be sticking around Africa until at least the end of February; there are belongings to collect and goodbyes to be said.

Hope too late for the 600 already dead

"The only way to restore the Kenyan people's rights and confidence in the (social and political) system is that the political leaders have to stop the violence, because innocent people are dying." - Jendayi Frazer, the top US official for Africa.

True that.

And, so, it seems like (minor) progress is being made in Kenya to address the stalemate between the presidential contenders and their supporters as they try to resolve questions around "fair elections" (amid a backdrop of ethnic tensions). The sitting president, Mwai Kibaki, has invited the main opposition leader, Raila Odinga, to participate in face-to-face talks in order to discuss the disputed election results. While the exact goals of the meeting seems to be a little vague, the gesture is enough that violence seems to have, um, died down a little over the past day or two. Read more, courtesy of the BBC:

Kenya leader invites foe to talks
BBC News, January 7th, 2007

For those of you that have asked about my sister Megan, she's been fine, spending this past weekend in Kampala, Uganda with another Peace Corp Volunteer (PCV) from Kenya. The two of them will be flying out to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania tomorrow for the next two weeks; we'll see where she goes from there. Megan is itching to get back "home" - to Matayos - but seeing her current day-to-day living in unfamiliar places as an opportunity to explore new territory.. physically and emotionally.

Back to thinking about the country (née, the world) at large, I'd like to have faith in the triumph of reason and order over chaos (the second law of thermodynamics notwithstanding); and everyone displaced will be able to go home and work towards a more stable existence, now and into the future.

As I've mentioned before, I really don't have any background in African politics, but I am willing to listen to folks who do and would like to tell me about it - in whatever way that means, given your personal expertise; it's a big continent.

UPDATE: Easy come; easy go. No talks for now:

Kenya Opposition Leader Rejects Talks
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 8, 2008

They are counting on your arrival

What an odd turn of events in Kenya over the past couple of days! But maybe I say that because I really don't know that much about Kenyan culture - or any African culture, really; maybe this was all to be expected. It seems the country has devolved into a bit of chaos, with old ethnic rivalries springing into modern-day violence..

Kenyan Riot Police Turn Back Rallying Protesters
By Jeffrey Gettleman
Published: January 4, 2008

The *extremely* short version is that many people, including some independent observers, are questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election results from a few days prior. The existing president has unequivocally declared victory with 52% of the vote, and, in fact, has already sworn himself in for this next term (hasty, indeed!); on top of that, he refuses to negotiate with the opposition in any capacity.

You might think that that this sort of situation would be manageable in a civilized manner, but add in tribal allegiances (something I have no internal notion of), under-developed social infrastructure, and general trappings of a poor nation (even if it is one of the most successful in Africa), and you start to approach an understanding of how a society with a veneer of stability can so quickly fall from such grace. But, still, yeah, you can only just *start* to approach such terrible understandings..

Continue your contemporary Kenyan education with another article from the NYTimes, written by the same journalist:

Kenya, Known for Its Stability, Topples Into Post-Election Chaos
By Jeffrey Gettleman
Published: January 3, 2008

Again, start your journey here in newspapers like the NYTimes and in general Western media, but take it all with a grain of salt. One of the main ideas that I came away with after reading "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families" last month is that, like I mentioned before *for myself*, many international players who have a hand in the African condition (governments - continental and beyond, NGOs, foreign industry, journalists, general travelers) do not know the history of the people that they are observing and/or interacting with; they can hardly tell who is who sometimes. In other words, when they are giving commentary, passing judgments, or making decisions related to the African world, they are doing so with assumptions about "how people/societies work" that many times do not hold true there for one reason or another. And, hence, the place sometimes seems to be random and doomed to its failure after failure after failure.. even to people who should "know better".

In any case, the subject of "how to help Africa" - whatever that means - is a HUGE subject in itself and beyond the scope of this entry.

Admittedly, I would have probably glossed over these articles on "Kenya's problems", except for the fact that my sister has been living there for the past year and a half (in a village called Matayos, near Busia), working for the Peace Corps. In the weeks leading up to the election she had mentioned to us folks back home that there would be some precautions related to the election time, mostly in the form of travel restrictions. But I don't think that anyone imagined the scale of violence that has erupted.. although, again, it's hard to tell the true scope of the violence without being there first hand.

However, she did send an email yesterday describing a fairly dramatic evacuation out of Kenya:

"Hey all!!! Here's the update. Yesterday, the 2nd of Jan, another PCV and I were moved into Uganda. Peace Corps called me in the morning, then my supervisor came with his motorcycle to come pick me (first time I left my compound in a week and as we were just going there were fire burns in the roads and rocks for road blocks (hoolagans from diff places are stopping vehicles and making people speak their mother tongue and if they're kikuyu they're killing them):also, there's NO public vehicles running)) and brought me to Busia to this volunteers house. (Also, there's NO petrol/gas so it was a good thing I left when I did because his motorcycle was on LOW). Got to her house, and the Father from the Catholic Church, where she stays, took us across the border in his car where we met with 2 Uganda PCV's who live on the busia side of Uganda and we came up to Tororo, UG(27km from Busia, UG) for safety. TODAY: 13 PVCs in Kisumu are supposed to be leaving with the CDC via police escort and coming to meet us. We may stay here for another night or two or go to Kampala... we will have to wait and see. KNOW that I'm safe and thinking of everyone back in the States. It's quite surreal... Take care. Miss you, Love, Megan"

So, my sister is safe and sound, and just waiting in Uganda for things to cool out, hoping to return to her village in Kenya sooner rather than later. Luckily, Megan can roll with the punches, so I know she's been keeping high spirits throughout this unplanned adventure.

At this point, all I can say is that I hope for the violence to stop and some sort of reconciliation process to begin - within the national government, within local communities, and within each individual.. intellectually, spiritually or otherwise. And to all of you on that delicate, and sometimes terrible, journey - especially those in positions of power and influence: Godspeed. The path to peaceful resolution might be long, but your first steps must start now; the lives of a lot of people, in Kenya and beyond, are counting on your arrival.