28 January 2008
editorial
Nairobi — The fresh tidal wave of deaths and violence, mainly witnessed in Nakuru and Naivasha, is clearly pointing to an ominous dimension the political turmoil is taking. At the close of Sunday, at least 72 people had added to the grim statistics of Kenya's bloodbath.
What we are witnessing is not just raw anger triggered by irregularities in the presidential poll tallying. Even if it was, the crisis has taken a life of its own and there is no knowing how bad it will get. For when armed gangs descend into an estate and hack people to death and get away with it, or when youths surround a monastery hosting displaced people, burn hostels and hold priest and other occupants hostage for hours, then we cannot talk about the rule of law. And not when armed gangs can block the Nairobi-Nakuru highway and cause mayhem in broad daylight as they did Sunday.
Reports from the Rift Valley illustrate one eerie fact, that the Government has lost control of some of this country. The police is overwhelmed and the provincial administration, as we know it, cannot even fathom the depth of the crisis. That the Government had to bring the military to help restore sanity in Nakuru and combine that a dusk to dawn to curfew underlined that things have got out of hand.
The humanitarian tragedy attending to this is not within the scope of Kenyans' comprehension. Never in our history did we ever imagine that this country would disintegrate and rapidly go to the dogs right under our watch. Such stories were best left to the TV episodes from other parts of the continent.
But all is not lost. We still have time and chance to redeem this country and stem the losses and further bloodshed and misery. This is why we reinforce the strong message mediator Kofi Annan delivered to President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga; the two must make hard and tough choices. They must quickly agree to resolve the political stalemate by eschewing their hardline positions. What more must happen to convince the two principals at the heart of the poll dispute that the country is collapsing and that they stand to lose everything they are haggling over so fiercely.
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The violence in Kenya is truly horrifying.
On my PeacePundit.com blog, I wrote an open letter to the Kenyan people. It argues that the violence is destroying Kenya, not only physically, but also economically and morally. See http://PeacePundit.com.
Jeff Johnson