The crisis that erupted in Kenya following the December 2007 election was closely followed by many in Britain and across the world. Although not without faults, Kenya was seen as a maturing democracy, one of the few countries in Africa where leadership had changed at the ballot box. There was little sign of the ethnic tensions and power struggles that had gripped other African nations. So what did go wrong? We asked UK Board member Wanyeki Mahiaini, a Kenyan, to give us his take on the crisis. 

Trouble started when the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) lost control over the tallying process. After an unduly long delay and not a little confusion, the Commission Chairman declared Kibaki the winner. This acted as the tragic trigger to the time bomb that had began ticking when Kenyans interpreted the delay in announcing the winner as a clear sign that ECK had lost the plot. The rest is the blood-stained history that Kenyans scripted until the Kofi Annan Compromise signed between the two protagonists on 28 February 2008. The peace agreement resulted in a grand Coalition government such as the one in Germany. The government will be composed of members of Kibaki’s group of parties and Oginga’s* ODM in equal numbers. Another innovation is the creation of the Office of an Executive Prime Minister occupied by Raila Oginga.

The original fight was over who had won the December presidential elections but by early February that grievance had become merely a fig leaf pretending to hide a rampaging elephant; namely the abuse of ethnic identity by politicians. It is my observation that ordinary Kenyans have little time for ethnic rivalry and even less for ethnic hatred. All over the country Kenyans from every ethnic group live in peace with each other and also inter-marry without any problems. My parents, for instance, originally came from Kibaki’s central province but that did not stop me and three other members of my family taking spouses from the Western part of Kenya which is seen as strongly supportive of Oginga. Marriages across ethnic lines are common. Easterners and Westerners, we live in peace. For our children, as with most ordinary Kenyans, ethnic hatred is a tool shaped by politicians in order to win power. Certain politicians played the ethnic card to their advantage and they must take most of the blame for the present situation in Kenya. Their identity is well known and will be the subject of a judicial commission following the signing of the peace agreement.

It bears repeating that although before colonialism was imposed on us there was some ethnic rivalry, there was little ethnic hatred to talk of. The often quoted fighting between Agikuyu and Maasai for example was purely a disagreement over who owned all the cattle in the world. As far as the Maa are concerned, it is a matter that remains unresolved but we don’t go to war over it. In times of famine in Maasai land for example, Maa women and children would be granted temporary refuge in Gikuyu country and vice versa. Settler politicians changed that delicate equation when it became clear that the Agikuyu and later the rest of the Kenyans were determined to push them out of the so called White Highlands. To manage the challenge they implemented a policy of divide and rule. All native-born Kenyans were categorised according to their ethnic origin. Top favours went in decreasing measure to the settler community followed by Indians, Coastal Moslems and Somalis. After that came anybody who was ready to help the settler politicians fight the Mau Mau. Human flaws being what they are, there was no shortage of people keen to perpetuate ethnic hatred in those circumstances.

What we are seeing in Kenya today is exactly the same thing. The previous president of Kenya, Daniel Arap Moi, perfected the art of playing on ethnic tensions but was clever enough to know that he was riding a wild elephant. It seems to me that the sort of brinkmanship Kibaki and Oginga engaged in from 29 December  to 28 February demonstrated they don’t know a wild animal when they see one, or perhaps they don’t care that when two elephants fight it is the grass that gets hurt.

But I hear you ask, ‘Why do Kenyans allow their politicians to misuse them in this scandalous way?’ Apart from the reasons suggested in the last two paragraphs there are at least two other explanations. Generally, traditional African cultures discourage independent thought. Titles and honours went to people who perpetuated and lived out the collective wisdom of the community as handed down through the ancestors. Even today Kenyans love to give weight to their words by prefixing them with ‘Kama vile wahenga walivyosema...’ As the ancestors have said. There is nothing wrong with that practice except to the extent that it discourages independent and critical thought. Not everything that the ancestors said or are meant to have said is good for Kenya. The 2007 hustings provided more examples than ever before of some politicians using emotive language to bypass the voters’ brains. The use of emotive ‘arguments,’ popular catchy tunes and elections promises that could never be fulfilled were a badge of dishonour on the lapels of politicians.

One particular politician trivialised national issues and tensions by telling amusing anecdotes involving football metaphors and riddles. The crowds fell about laughing unaware that they were being set up to see things in black and white. And so it was that outsize wooden hammers would be waved freely in such meetings with the excuse that it was merely an amusing play on the word Hummer (Humvie – USA military vehicle) that their candidate enjoyed to ride in. It does not surprise me that now wooden hammers have been replaced by real hammers, machetes, bows and arrows in the fighting. These developments have reminded me of Neil Postman’s warning about the danger of amusing ourselves to death by switching off our brains when watching entertainment. The warning is in a book by the same title.

Even if Kenyan politicians do not learn this lesson, I hope Kenyan churches will. It is no secret that a lot of what is passing off as preaching in Kenyan churches is mere entertainment. There are two lessons we should learn from the events we are witnessing. Our cultures have great strengths but also terrifying weaknesses. Firstly, the church was caught off guard because church leaders allowed ethnic loyalties to override gospel concerns. The extent to which this happened was sobering. I was the recipient of many articles written by Kenyan Christians and I found the vitriol in them frightening. One Mission leader, after raging against one ethnic group and condemning them en masse as brazenly domineering, predicts the end of Kenya. Scratch the surface and you find that the gospel has barely begun to transform us.

Perhaps the church is learning its lesson. At the time of writing this article, churches in the country are engaged in a ‘Caravan of Hope’. Christians will drive from Mombasa at the coast to Kisumu in the West preaching peace and giving packets of food, clothing and sanitation to internally displaced people living in camps along that route.

But ultimately Kenyan Christians must become more questioning in spite of our natural predisposition to trust. Not everything preached from the pulpit is good for the Kingdom of God or for Kenya. Like Bereans in the Acts of the Apostles we must learn to question and to study the scriptures for ourselves. Kenyans must heed Jesus’ warning to take care how we listen (Luke 8:17) ‘Nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear for the one who has will more be given and the one who has not even what he has will be taken away.

*Raila Oginga Odinga, son of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, the first Vice President of Kenya. Journalists in this country have tended to use Odinga whereas this writer has chosen to use Oginga. Either is acceptable.

About the author

Born in Kenya, Wanyeki Mahiaini runs the Philip Project, a ministry of Friends International, which aims to prepare students in UK universities to return home to Africa equipped as people who can teach the Bible.

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