Buri Edward
11 May 2008
opinion
Nairobi — The camps that have been home to those who were flushed out of their homes following the 2007 elections may have been an eyesore to some observers, but if we consider them a little closer, they are actually a symbol of great salvation.
Had those who carried out the attacks followed the script, many of those displaced would have been dead not in camps. From this perspective, the camps, with all their unpleasantness, are signs of a miracle.
The effort to resettle the internally displaced persons is optimistically and fittingly dubbed Operation Rudi Nyumbani. The hope of this welcome operation is to reverse the effects of the earlier tragic operation which we can call "Mrudi Kwenu".
Legitimate existence
In Operation Rudi Nyumbani, "nyumbani" bears two meanings. First, it announces that these people had a legitimate existence in the places they are returning to. They are not visitors nor strangers there.
They did not belong to the camps they are coming from. They were sojourners there. They are now returning home and the legitimacy of their great trek cannot be questioned. They are a rightful part of the localities they are returning to.
Secondly, and contrastingly, the "nyumbani" they are going to is not so "homey". Under normal homecoming circumstances, we would hear sighs of relief from them.
But given the circumstances we are all well aware of, the sighs we hear from them are not of relief but of tension. With the despair that surrounds them and memories of slain members of their families, home reawakens unhomey memories.
'Rudi Mashambani'
Operation Rudi Nyumbani rekindles memories of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta's calls to "Rudi Mashambani" during the early days of independence.
The intention of Rudi Mashambani was less a call to migrate to particular geographical locations and more a call to build up communities through heightened economic production.
Similarly, Rudi Nyumbani must not be a dumping of the returnees to particular geographical places, rather, it should be a statement of hope built on two premises: the continuity of on integrated community and the resumption of economic productivity.
Though there are those who invest heavily to effect ethnic disintegration, there must be a hefty counter investment to ensure that they do not win the day.
Burning the bridge of ethnic integration would be a tragedy. If this happened during our watch, the present would not spare us and the future would not forgive us. As a nation, it is important that the gains of integration already attained are not punctured.
Rudi Nyumbani is a bold, positively stubborn pronouncement by both the government and the returnees that we are a pro-integration society, and we will not let up.
It is likely that when some leaders resist the return of these peoples back to their lands, it is because they are advocating for time to quieten their discontented followers who did not receive the rewards promised by their political patrons. But we must stop being so selfish.
Sense of home
Also, there might be a temptation to think of "home" only in terms of the returnees. But home must also be seen in terms of the people who are already living there. Among these are the people who schemed the removal of IDPs.
While the desire is that the people shall return to their lands and resume their normal daily activities, the fact is that for these communities to create a sense of home, a transformation in attitude is imperative.
Alan Geyer in the book Just Peacemaking - Ten Practices for Abolishing War says that restoration of order after conflict requires "a variety of capacities for self-transcendence".
He isolates three elements that are essential in reconstructing coexistence in conflicting communities: empathy, repentance and forgiveness. The common thread in these essential ingredients is that they are premised on humility and sacrifice.
All people of goodwill desire an accelerated resumption of normalcy in these affected communities. But for that to happen, vengeance must be overwhelmed by peacemaking.
Those who embody peacemaking must out sprint any competing advocates of taking revenge. More persons in the community must be converted to favour integration and its possibilities.
Critical phase
While there is faith that these persons can rebuild their communities, transporting them to their farms must not be presumed to mean "mission accomplished".
Their return is definitely a laudable step. But that success must be seen as the beginning of another critical phase towards reconstruction. In this phase, these fellow citizens need the support of the larger community.
We supported the IDPs while they were in the camps, let us not abandon our countrymen now. Let us resolve to support them all the way for the local and national good.
Buri Edward is a Nairobi theologian and religious minister.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
