The recent wave of violence in the Tana Delta has jolted the country into the explosive potential of unresolved conflicts to erupt into full blown security crises. While at the beginning the assumption was that it was a case of two communities fighting over grazing land, the reprisals that followed and the brutality with which they were executed are indicators of deep-seated issues that must be resolved once and for all.
The fact that the perpetrators of the inhumane acts saw it fit to burn down peoples’ homes while their occupants were still inside is something that should worry all Kenyans and not just the government. Over 120 innocent Kenyans were murdered within a span of three weeks, including security officers sent to quell the violence.
The question on everyone’s mind at this point, therefore, should be: when were the seeds of such heightened hate sowed? How comes we did not read the signs before this blood bath took place? When the first incident took place and over 30 people died, what interventions did we take as peace-loving citizens? Whatever we did or did not do, the fact remains that we are all affected and we will continue to pay the price of such violent conflicts long after the smoldering embers from the burnt houses have died down and the sounds of gunfire have gone silent.
Any violent conflict will have negative ramifications socially, economically and politically. The loss of lives and displacement of populations, sometimes whole communities, creates a cycle of poverty and hopelessness among citizens who were hitherto independence. It will disrupt family units and dent the social fabric that holds human communities together.
The displacement of persons also leads to interruption of markets and commerce causing substantial losses to investors and the ripple-effect of lost jobs. The loss of breadwinners also is likely to lead to an increase in orphaned and vulnerable children. Disruption of education programs for school-going children may lead to more school drop-outs, more young people with no skills to earn a living and consequently whole generations engaging in crime for survival.
Whereas this may seem like a non-issue from a cursory glance, such conflicts as the one in Tana Delta have the potential to degenerate into full-blown security crises of catastrophic proportions that will definitely affect all of us, directly or indirectly. Therefore, the responsibility for peace cannot be left to government agents, political leaders and the clergy.
All Kenyans must make a personal pledge to embrace and preach peace. Peace cannot be some garment that we put on as dictated by certain weather patterns; peace must be in our DNA, an integral part of our value system… a part of who we are. It should not be a phrase that we suddenly remember when we see our own people butchering each other with machetes.
Peace must have a place in our own homes, our workplaces and at every level of our society. We must learn to listen, accommodate, compromise and collaborate with those of divergent views. To purport to be indifferent to any conflict will eventually cost us, and the price may be too high for Kenya.
Finally, in our quest for long term solutions to violent conflicts, we must include two things: one, a Police Service that is well trained, efficient, disciplined and well equipped. Police reforms are a must and the delay is only making things worse. Two, history has taught us time and again, that in the absence of justice, and justice has to be seen to be done, peace is forever elusive. We must therefore relentlessly pursue perpetrators of violence and end all forms of impunity.
Hussein Mohammed is the Chief Campaign Manager, Hon. Martha Karua Presidential Secretariat, and also Chair of the Board, Youth Agenda
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment