kibera article

the following piece was written by my dear friends anne and peris chege, who live in kibera, in kenya. i post this piece to remind everyone of the ongoing strife of many innocent kenyan citizens.

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In the wake of the disputed December 27th General elections, Kenyans experienced what nobody ever had dreamt of. Our beloved country was in shambles, murderous gangs grouped according to tribe orientations. One tribe in particular was victimized; this could be traced back to pre-election period. The campaigns which were ongoing tried to group other tribes against one tribe, the particular tribe was branded as the imperialists; wealth accumulation in one region as was claimed.

The election results announcement was delayed; soon the opposition realized that it was going to lose their leaders walked out of the conference room. This led to mayhem by their supporters; burning of houses and homes countrywide, eviction from their residential places of those who supported the government side.

This was more serious in Nyanza and Rift valley provinces, considering the fact that these areas are the stronghold of the opposition. In Coast province there was also skirmishes which eventually died out. The situation in Rift valley was so grave, what happened there left people debating whether it was genocide or ethnic cleansing.

Of more than 1000 people who died, most of the deaths were recorded in Rift valley; almost 70% approximately.

In Nairobi province, the capital city, things were abit contained. Nairobi is a cosmopolitan city, with about 3 million residents. However there were cases of mishap in areas like mathare, Kibera, Kariobangi and Dandora.These areas are populated mostly by people loyal to the opposition. In these areas residents involved anti riot police in running battles for days.

Days after the election results, the opposition called for mass protests. The rallies were banned by the newly inaugurated Government; the rallies were viewed by the Government as promoting civilian coup. The rallies were to be convened at Uhuru Park, a public park; it was guarded by police for about a week to deter the opposition supporters from reaching there. The sympathizers when dispersed turned to looting, traffic obstruction, stoning of vehicles, burning of business enterprises, burning of houses in residential places aforementioned. This led to displacement of more people in their own country. Places like Kibera, Huruma and Mathare were more affected, the displaced from these places camped in Jamhuri Park.

Kibera the second largest slum in Africa, particularly was the place where most of the drama was captured. The police had to keep a 24-hour watch to keep the feuding gangs from regrouping and possibly massacre of innocent people. In Laini Saba, the residents pulled out the railway line, burned the train cargo which was the relief food being ferried to regions with inflow of internally displaced people (IDP), leaving in camps.

There was seizing of houses, mostly for rental by the opposing groups. These houses were then occupied by the captors. The landlords and government supporters were left with nowhere to stay, the only place for them was the camps; specifically Jamhuri park in Kibera.Considering the fact that these places are mostly slum areas; the youth are the most affected because they’re targeted by the politicians. With a very bureaucratic system, these youths are left with little or no option; they have to toe these rich men ways; thus participating in these crimes including killings and destruction of rivals’ businesses premises and firms. For instance the economic strike that was called by opposition leaders targeting corporations owned by individuals loyal to the Government.

During these dark moments, the whole nation was in sorrow, divided along tribal lines .People that were displaced from other regions were taken to their home regions, this was to avert more atrocities. The economy was most affected, people were losing jobs, there was inflation contributing to general rise in prices of commodities. Teenage girls living in camps were sexually abused by men pretending to be good Samaritans. They took such girls and hoaxed them to offer them jobs. The situation here in Kenya was that grave, with time however things settled.Wars, murders, civil strife, ethnicity and other evils hold true nowhere in Kenya. What happened was of great regret and our beloved country will not succumb to that again.