The Tragedy of Kenya

Okay, so I have received some not so discreet comments about the length of my postings and the fact that it would be better to write less more often. As my friend Anna said, "Sarah, even Carl Bildt doesn't post more than 2,500 characters at a time!" (If you don't know who Carl Bildt is, he's the former Prime Minster of Sweden and one of the best diplomats in the world, currently wasting away as the Foreign Minister of Sweden.) Well, maybe Carl doesn't have as much to say as I do!

Anyway, I will try to do better, especially since I found out that my sister's pre-teen students in Walla Walla, Washington are reading these postings in order to learn more about the world outside of the U.S. Boy, does that put the pressure on!

I have been meaning to write something about the current situation in Kenya, not because I am an expert, but because those who don't know what is going on, should, and those who do might find it interesting to hear something that they won't hear on the news.

I have been traveling to Tanzania and Kenya (and now Uganda) for the last 6 years. Even before the current ethnic turmoils I was fascinated by the difference in ethnic identity between the two countries. My colleagues in Kenya knew exactly who belonged to which ethnic group in the office. They often referred to it jokingly, but it was always there. In Tanzania, however, you couldn't get anyone to tell you what ethnic group they belonged to, let alone guess what ethnic group their colleagues belonged to. It was a non-issue. They were simply Tanzanians. This is thanks to Julius Nyerere, former President of Tanzania's, socialist policies. He simply abolished ethnic identity in favor of a Tanzanian one.

This isn't to say that such political instabilization could not happen in Tanzania, but it would be a shock if it took the form of pitting ethic group against ethnic group. In fact, my colleagues here in Uganda (yes, I'm back in Kampala at the moment; seems to be the only place I have time to write!) are regarding the situation in Kenya with shudders. As they say, Uganda could easily go the same way; that despite the calmness of things here on the outside, it is actually a powder keg. They report that one can be at a social event such as a wedding and hear the minister begin to speak of politics along ethnic lines, something that has not been heard of before. This is truly frightening given the situation in Kenya.

On the way down here I changed planes in Nairobi. I picked up a local paper and found this in a Letter to the Editor, addressed to President Kibaki: "I am concerned and disturbed with the new and the fast-growing ugly face of this nation. I have seen the violence, the hatred and the victimisation of the innocent on the basis of tribe. Mr. President, our country is in ruins. The future, if it still exists, is threatened. There seem to be no light at the end of the tunnel. What was a political dispute has graduated into a rotten valley of death and destruction" (The Standard, January 31, 2008).

But the tragedy for me is that most people in the U.S. and Europe will simply think that this is "business as usual" for Africa, which is not true. People of different ethnic identities have been living in close proximity to one another (including marrying each other) for centuries. This seems to be a new tool used by some who are interested in power, and the fact that the political system allows it (see article in The Washington Post about the "real" culprit, which the authors see as the parliamentary system).

Having lived in the relative chaos of West Africa, Kenya for me has been a country of hope for Africa. Its population is relatively well-educated, the land is rich, it has a well-developed middle class, and it is a popular tourist destination. It is simply unthinkable that it develop into a situation like Rwanda. I only hope that Kenyans agree with me...