allAfrica.com: Kenya: The Displaced Are a Test of Our Freedom (Page 1 of 1)

The term IDP encompasses three elements. "Internally" defines a geographical boundary. If it were not internal, it would be boundless. "Displaced" denotes an invasion that knocks the victims out of their positions.

"Persons" specifies which section of creation has suffered the displacement. The error in this "IDP" description is that it conveys a homogeneous image of a people in desperation.

The abbreviation has the unintended effect of concealing the heart-rending stories of the affected men, women and children. Branding them "IDPs" diminishes their personhood by unfairly using only three letters to define who they are.

And as the debate on what to do with the displaced rages on, at least this fundamental consensus remains: the displaced must be resettled. The critical activity then becomes how they will be resettled. On this, two main opinions prevail. One side is asking for more time to prepare the communities to re-accept the returning people, while the other insists on an immediate operation to get the displaced back to their homes. But more sensibly, the resettlement should be given priority but done systematically.

The question of the displaced gives us an indication of just how free the free Kenya is. The ideal response that would indicate true freedom in Kenya would be if each of the displaced persons were free and safe to return home unless they chose otherwise.

However, what is most likely to happen is that the returning persons will face hostility and rejection on the basis of their ethnic affiliation. They most likely will be forced to suffer for the "historical injustices" committed by forefathers they never knew.

We must ask ourselves the question, how free is Kenya if a Kenyan is not free to settle anywhere? The existing restrictions on where one can settle should cause us to reinvestigate our claim of upholding freedom. Even the term "Kenyan", which denotes a form of ownership of the entire Kenyan space, means little if one cannot move and settle freely in the country.

'Friendly' places

The displaced are being given the option of selling their land and purchasing new parcels in more "friendly" places. Given their current suffering, this seems to make sense, but in the long run, it sets back the level of integration that had been achieved between communities. By curtailing integration, the country risks heightening polarisation.

The fact is that today's Kenya, including the formation of the grand coalition government, is a compromise that no one can claim was his or her objective. No one can push their fist through the air and say, "Yes! This is exactly what I wanted when I was doing my pre-election campaign." Then, everyone thought there would be a clear-cut "we win, you lose" situation.

The country that we have today was no one's goal. We find ourselves going through events that no one is an expert on. Everyone is a student. Even the most vocal leader who is posing as very knowledgeable is in reality just as overwhelmed by events as the next person.

Therefore, every leader should be seeking wisdom and labouring to discern the appropriate path to effectiveness in these surprise circumstances in which we find ourselves. If leaders took this reality seriously and devoted themselves to doing their utmost for the country, a book chronicling the works of 10th Parliament would be a much sought-after guide to good governance.

It is imperative that a strategy factory be installed with the task of coming up with creative, appropriate and patriotic approaches to best respond to this new socio-political situation. And as our leaders discuss and address the matter of the displaced, they must bear in mind their own inexperience. And if they understand their lack of experience positively, they will spend much more time in discernment and will walk into the debate with much more humility and respect for the stories and hopes of the displaced.

A vital element must be the religious institutions. Listening to politicians express the kind of environment Kenyans hope for in this season of reconstruction, one notices that they punctuate each of their sentences with words such as "love", "peace" and "forgiveness".

If we define these precisely, we see that they are spiritual in nature, which points to the undeniable spiritual solution we need to sort out the problems we are facing. This is not to say that the reconstruction rallies by politicians are of little worth. They are not. However, processing such attributes as love, peace and forgiveness is the mainstay of religious institutions.

Religious leaders

In light of this, a major concern then is that religious leaders persist in keeping a safe distance from this critical effort of reconstruction, choosing instead to criticise politicians as they fumble in their attempts to rebuild our society's relationships.

The nature of the assignment at hand proves that Kenya is in a place where religious institutions are best positioned to lead the way. It is their time to shine. To further prove this, politicians are working harder to portray a religious front to connect with their people. But regrettably, religious institutions, which already performed poorly in guiding the country during and after the General Election, are barely contributing. Their presence is hardly felt, and their participation ranks well below that of charitable organisations.

At the heart of good religion, at least theoretically, is the theme of grand liberation. And reconstructing Kenya is a liberation project - liberation from external circumstances like displacement and poverty, and liberation of the soul from hatred and its allies.

To redeem itself from irrelevance, our once thriving religious sector must rise more faithfully to save our country.

Buri Edward is a theologian and religious minister based in Nairobi.

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