Kenya 2008

It was only yesterday that Kenya was a peaceful country and good references were made to it from many sectors of the world of commerce, culture and politics. Besides Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, and Ghana - in the 80s and 90s - one will also likely find students from Kenya - in any college in the mid West. The country was serious about developing their human capital.

Thus the breakdown in law and order after an election to elect the country's President is surprising : one would expect such a vicious outbreak of violence to occur in somewhat less developed democracy, where the phrase "nation building" has just started to be hailed across hailers, radios and TVs - but not in the beacon of African democracy - Kenya !

Reminiscent of Rwanda: the breakdown appear to have a tribal warlordism, and perhaps along Sudan fault-lines, it also has religio-tribal tinge to it. Political awakenings, along religious and tribal lines - factors which are below the surface of electioneering - has got to be the dominant cause for the civil conflict at this time. If the current problem is not address to the root cause into the anthropological realm, the same conflict will rise again and again in future generations.

The simplest explanation for the vicious violence; if CNN were to be believed - is simply that Kenyan political landscape - similar to most third world country - is still dominated along tribal/race. And when the key institutions break down - in this case, the election commission - the tribes/race/religious group, throw out their civilised struggle in 3-piece suits to hip-hop head gear and torn blue-jeans street brawls and machete wielding street soldiers with spontaneous war cries coming from the deepest recess of human raw emotions.

If it can happen in Kenya, and quite recently in Iraq - and most brutally in Rwanda, and one can also point to Sudan: how can it be prevented from happening in other seemingly peaceful and progressive countries ? Is the inevitable political awakenings of minorities; which are often brutally suppressed by the all too familiar tyranny of the majority in any emerging democracy -will also inevitably lead to a convulescent event - before the flaw in the system of governance can be corrected ? New countries (less than 50 years old) which were ex-colonies of the western powers - were carved out more by geography than natural tribal regions (look at Congo, Rwanda, etc) so its fair to say the stability of such countries are held together by fragile threads of the need to co-exist, or else the stability would have been imposed by strong-willed dictator or an oligarchical politics of coalitions.

In the short term, the fires erupting in Kenya need to be put out urgently so the world can be spare of the painful concience - that was Rwanda. In the long term, the powers and the influentials should really look at the rights of minorities and tribes who can easily be marginalised by the ruling majority. If its difficult to champion individual rights as enshrine in the Human Rights Declaration, it should not be more difficult to establish similar charter for minorities - or the world will risk more implosions in other parts of the world after Kenya ?

If the Rwandan tragedy does not become a wakeup call to action for the intellectual/political elites of the world , consider this: Kenya must have hundereds of tribes which could have provided the world with a rich tapestry of human experience if the tribes language and culture are encouraged to flourish by the other Kenyan majority but instead, and lets be honest about it: Kenya ascent as a major tourist destination and the subsequent embrace of democratic model where votes and US$ alone shape the country's destiny - its rich tapestry of cultures has atrophied to the extent that even street brawlers appear to be wearing torn-jeans and bandana head gear !

Now at the risk of offending many: I can extend Kenya to just about any other countries including my own - Malaysia: and point to the danger , or at least the regrets that future generations will experience when - a century from now, hundereds of unique tribal custom and languages would be lost - and every Malaysian would have become "one with the world" and exhibit no other uniqueness of identity other inherited physical features. And if truth be told: for once I absolutely abhor the oft quoted slogan of harmony and tolerance, as basis for social compact: Malaysians and Kenyans, and Americans - should celebrate the diversity in peoples - instead of "barely" tolerating their differences. Then and only then, perhaps - the likes of tragedy that was Rwanda, and potentially Kenya - will permanently be avoided at the root cause, below sloganeering and electioneering !

For a Just World,
Meramat (Feb 2008)