26 April 2008
editorial
Nairobi — Despite reservations expressed by MPs from some of the affected areas, it is encouraging that the series of peace rallies in Rift Valley led by President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga are proceeding well. The region, Kenya's most cosmopolitan, was the worst affected by post-election violence and is the natural focal point in efforts to restore peace and ensure the return of people uprooted from their homes.
The current effort is one of the most urgent and important challenges since the establishment of the grand coalition government, and it is one that must be supported by all people who value peace and the restoration of a Kenya in which all communities can live together in harmony.
It must be restated, however, that just as the power-sharing agreement and the formation of the national unity government was not an end in itself, the resettlement effort must go much deeper than mere entreaties for the people to live in peace. Real and lasting peace must be built on foundations that address the demons unleashed in the first place.
There is need to remind ourselves that the dispute over the presidential election was merely the trigger that unleashed ethnic bloodletting - even if on a much bigger scale than typically witnessed at general elections every five years.
But the underlying ethnic tensions have always lurked latent, ready for exploitation by politicians, and these are the factors that must be comprehensively addressed. The President, the Prime Minister, the Vice-President and a whole retinue of Cabinet ministers should go to the effected areas and preach peace.
Their pleas can result in a softening of hearts, and some of the displaced might even go back to try and resume their normal lives. But they might be achieving only partial and temporary solutions. Unless the underlying issues are fully resolved, the peace will be illusory and the potential for sudden outbreaks of violence will remain.
This is why it is doubly important that the continuing mediation aimed at finding solutions to Kenya's deep-seated problems be not forgotten simply because leaders from both sides of the political divide are now in the same Cabinet and appealing for peace from the same rostrum.
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