In Kenya, as the second opposition MP is assasinated, African human rights activitist Dismas Nkunda says that the chaos reminds him of 1994 Rwanda:
Kenya’s falling apart has made other conflicts on the continent look like chicken feed. Somalia and Darfur have now taken second stage. Never in my life of attending the [African Union Summit] have I seen so many Kenyans, busy telling the world what has been in our purview for a month now. They have met whoever has weight on the continent to deliver their disquiet.
One individual took to the podium and painted the glossiest picture about Kenya. He eloquently defended the government, saying the pictures we see on television about the dead and wounded were concoctions by international media meant to hurt the economy. He said the dead bodies shown on TV around the world were taken from the main mortuaries in the country. He went on to say that no one had been killed in the post-election violence. He was mocked off the stage, told that if he continued his litany, he was going to be lynched. He fled for dear life.
So I asked other Kenyans where this particular individual came from. Without blinking they told me he was a Kibaki supporter. I asked how they knew that. The answer was chilling: “His name is Mwangi and he for sure is a Kikuyu”. And what tribe are the others; “we are Luo,” they said.
The author continues into more details of violence rooted in tribal divisions. For a timeline of the violence, read the wikipedia article, Civil unrest in Kenya (2007-present).
That Kenya, long heralded as an “African success story” because of a so-called stable democracy with a growing economy, is facing tribal violence reminiscent of Rwanda shows how little hope there is in much of the African heartland. And as Kenya provides ocean access to export and import global markets for inland landlocked countries, places that depend on Kenyan infrastructure to keep their economies going, such as Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, are facing shortages of vital supplies. And there are few signs of the situation improving—in fact, all indications point to just the opposite.
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COMMENTS / 8 COMMENTS
dj added these pithy words on 01 Feb 08 at 8:38 amI recall a BBC report in December stated that Machete sales went through the roof that month prior to the elections. Aside from the police and army using firearms is most of this violence committed with Machetes and burning things down?
IN added these pithy words on 01 Feb 08 at 12:58 pmaround 800 people have died in Kenya over the last month.
45,000 people are dying in Congo every month…800,000 people died in Rwanda(about 260,000 a month). Somalia has lost thousands over the last couple of moths. About 500,000 have died in Darfur!
Just thought i’d put things in perspective!
Adrian added these pithy words on 01 Feb 08 at 8:37 pmBut IN, those countries are too dangerous for journalists to travel too! Thus they are not as important…
I take issue with this statement:
“That Kenya, long heralded as an “African success story” because of a so-called stable democracy with a growing economy, is facing tribal violence reminiscent of Rwanda shows how little hope there is in much of the African heartland.”
Did the collapse of Yugoslavia, or the bloody coup in Romania show how little hope there is for Europe? Perhaps the violence in Columbia shows how the entire continent of South America is going down the tubes? Kenya’s problems are Kenya’s (and even confined to a part of Kenya), not all of Africa’s. For instance I haven’t seen any reports of the violence spreading across the border into Tanzania, despite shared ethnicities.
Michael added these pithy words on 01 Feb 08 at 9:55 pmI wonder what this will do to Uganda’a and Tanzania’s ability to contribute to UN and AU peacekeeping missions? I don’t see them considering donations of troops to faraway problems when their next-door neighbor is disintegrating.
Curzon added these pithy words on 02 Feb 08 at 6:32 amAdrian: I see your point, but I think that we’re now beyond thinking that the the viscious ethnic violence resulting in civil war over the past 15 years in DRC, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Rwanda are isolated cases. People have long talked about the similar potential for violence in places like Guinea-Bissau and Chad and Nigeria, I’ve never heard anyone say that Kenya was on the verge of a tribal meltdown. That this can happen in Kenya DOES show
Yes, the Europe had Ireland in the 1980s and the Balkans in the 1990s, and other notable ongoing tensions in places such as northern Spain. But it wouldn’t be until you saw ethnic cleansing in Denmark and Portugal that I’d have the same fears I have about Africa.
IN added these pithy words on 02 Feb 08 at 6:07 pmDenmark and Portugal(and most European countries are mono-ethnic states formed and administered (mostly) through a(consensual)social contract. As the last century has shown us, Europeans, placed in the same situation would react in much the same way!
dj added these pithy words on 03 Feb 08 at 12:14 amYou guys make some good points. If these places are going to work as Nation-States the nationalism part of it needs to develop. Multiculturalism with parity of numbers between different sides will just lead to this no matter what the level of economic development is.
random african added these pithy words on 03 Feb 08 at 4:27 amFirst of all, IN is right: the Rwanda comparision doesn’t make any sort of sense. The numbers and the mind-state are very different.
And yes, Ethnic issues in Kenya don’t say much about the rest of Africa. For one, Kenya’s ethnic situation has been, for a bunch of reasons, one of the worse on the continent. And that among other things is why it has been ranking very high on the Failed State Index for a while. Now when Tanzania or Senegal degenerates in ethnic violence, you can say “it can happen anywhere”.
But at the end of it, the ethnic part of it is somehow overestimated. The tensions and conflicts that are now coming to the surface thanks to a rigged election and a weak democracy are really about land, politics, control of ressources, control of the state, not in “tribes”, even if they express themselves that way.
But the most important thing is that the Kenyan stable democracy has never existed.
