A Visit to Lake Naivasha, Kenya
I put my finger on it today - Kenya is a country in a state of emotional depression. Naivasha really made me think. It’s a mess up there; people are in shock. There are two new large refugee camps that are a result of the turmoil. The numbers for the death toll and people displaced are a blatant lie in the media. I have heard first hand that the death toll could be as high as 10,000, not 1,400 as stated in the press.
NO one knows what their neighbors are thinking anymore. Luos and Kikuyus who have lived side by side in harmony now turn on each other. There are gangs of bandits called Mungiki that roam the countryside disrupting the peace and killing targeted people. These guys are either drunk or on drugs and seem to have no conscience. In Naivasha there is an army presence and police everywhere stopping all cars and trucks searching for the troublemakers.
Anyway, Kenya is a country in depression and not healing. There is much denial that nothing is wrong coming from the upper class, as their paychecks have not been disrupted. Most are not so privileged and are out of work. There are truly no outside people coming in - hotels are closed or closing. Most of all the future is gloomy as the leaders continue to play games and not get along.
I was telling one of our female suppliers how I saw things today and she started to cry. I think they can’t verbalize depression but if you suggest emotional trauma and lack of routine and everyday life everyone really gets it.
I spoke to a family last week who had a son who was going to be studying in Kenya nexct term. Perhaps this is a sign that Americans are begining to feel more comfortable with traveling to the country again. I can only hope that more people will start to feel the same way and begin heading back into the country.
Comment by april-dawn — May 13, 2008 @ 10:55 am
“Gangs of bandits called the Mungiki.”
Who are the Mungiki?
The Mungiki are actually more than a gang. They are a quasi religious sect that was started by the poor amongst the Kikuyu population. The sect first became noticed in the early 1980s. They believed in the old Kikuyu religion that said their god Ngai spirit resided at the top of Mt. Kenya.
At first they were against all things western, and believed that in reverting to the old ways it would bring their salvation.
Their grievances included lack of jobs, and , land, that their ancestors has lost to the British and never reverted to them after Kenyas independence . Some of the original Mungiki were children the Mau Mau, who were Kikuyu freedom fighter who fought the British in the 1950s.
Even though the Mau Mau were a catalyst to Kenya getting its independence, the Mau Mau were never rewarded for their effforts. Instead the land that the British gave up which had belonged to the Kikuyu, was instead given to the the new political elite.
The Mungiki ( which means us the people) thus were a metamorphosis of the Mau Mau in modern times.
In the mid 1980s the Mungiki began moving into the Nairobi areas and began getting into different “businesses” in order to make a living. In essence they got into the extortion business. They would station their soldiers at Matatu (local van buses in Nairobi) stops and demand a toll from the Matatu operators. In poor slums like Mathare in the Nairobi area, they would charge the local residents for use of toilets, and electricity that they had diverted from the main grid.
Also in the late 80s and 90s, politicians began hiring them as political goons during elections to attack their rivals youth wings.
With arms coming across the border from Somalia and Ethiopia, many of them came to posses AK47. On the whole, the sect was quite disciplined and only carried out operations under strict orders of their leadership, but like in any organization, there were the freelancers who would get involved in common crime.
As the organization grew in number from 50,000 in the 1980s to 300,000, they began clashing with the police more and more. But the more force the police used, the more the sect grew in strength. The police vowed to wipe them out by force, but the more they tried this, the stronger the Mungiki grew. For the police it was like fighting a Hydra.
During the political turmoil after the elections in December 2007, the Mungiki were used to revenge killings against the tribes that had attacked the Kikuyu in the Rift Valley and other towns in Kenya.
As a sect. the movement has grown to the point that they have become sophisticated enough to form quasi political party as a front to air their grievances. The leadership that was against all things western, now dresses in suits, and some of them have even tried to stand for political office.
The Mungiki, even though some of their violent methods cannot be condoned, still have legitimate complaints against governments that have failed to resolve their land and job issues. Even though the methods that they have picked to use are violent and detestable; the politicians from both parties are realizing that this problem cannot be resolved by brute force alone. Someone has to start speaking with them to see if this problem can be resolved ; otherwise Kenya will end up with the same problem that Uganda has had from Joseph Konys the Lords Resistence Force.
Comment by Papa — May 23, 2008 @ 6:17 pm