Message from Kenya. January 15, 2008

Many people have sent messages of concern since the recent disturbances have occurred in Kenya. I thought to put down some reflections on the situation as it is currently.

I actually travelled to South Africa on the day of the elections to attend a Conference on Consecrated Life. We have had good encounters with Albert Nolan OP, Diarmuid O’Murchu MSC, Joan Burke SND, Christine Mwale OP, and a number of discussions on various experiences of Religious Life, especially in Africa, India and Southern America. There were about 50 Religious Brothers (Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers founded by Edmund Rice) and Presentation Sisters (founded by Nano Nagle). These three congregations have close connections from the Irish heritage of the early 1800’s. This was a good experience, but somewhat distracted because of the situation in Kenya. I was able to monitor through BBC, VOA and regular phone calls to Kenya, especially calls to the RSCK Chairman.

The new year of 2008 has started with a rather threatening scenario in Kenya. The day of the election went well. The outcome of the elections has brought much division among the people and a strengthening of the ethnic lines of division within the population. There were obvious flaws in the process of counting and transmitting results from the local voting places to the central authority. Some tampering seems to have taken place, and much pressure applied to the Electoral Commission of Kenya to announce the results, before complete “investigations of allegations of rigging”.

One group the ODM (opposition party, associated with the Luo tribe) believed that the election was stolen from them. The PNU (previous government alignment associated with the Kikuyu tribe) claimed the election and the Mwai Kibaki, the continuing President, was very quickly and privately installed. He has since announced a Vice President and most of his Cabinet ministers.

This was objected to by the ODM and they have managed to encourage the people to express their anger at the situation. There have been much rioting and looting of property, groups of people targeting other groups especially because of alleged tribal allegiance. Most of this disturbance is taking place in city and town slums (informal settlements) and in rural areas. Some of the worst has been in Kisumu, the “capital city of Luoland. Al of this has delayed normal work going on, schools commencing, and the year beginning in the normal way. The price of food has doubled in the past two weeks, petrol and other supplies are not being restored because transport system has closed down because of the precarious nature of moving about through unofficial roadblocks, where particular people are being targeted (and sometimes killed). It seems the most recent count has been 600+ killed and 1,000,000 displaced and driven from their homes.

It seems now that our politicians are reluctant to speak with each other to even try to bring about peace. We hope that the work of some esteemed (international) mediators, e.g. President Kufour, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Kofi Annan, will change most of this and will protect us, and especially some of the people of the rural areas, from further disturbance. There will bring a real challenge to all of us to work to restore some sense of unity among the people we are called to serve in Kenya.

The Brothers from Otiende, our community close to Kibera, the largets of the informal settlements, have been involved in assisting the Sisters of Charity with the distribution of food and other scarce resources e.g. blankets and mattresses, to the people who have been displaced from Kibera and other places who have sought refuge in the vicinity of the Agricultural showgrounds in Jamhuri Park. This initiative has been possible because of the support of friends from Australia. This has been happening also with the response of the Red Cross. But we are far from a solution.

Parliament opens today with the promise of more violence. One group cannot accept that the Parliament is legitimate. Both sides claiming their right to sit on the government side of the House.

On my return to Kenya I have been immediately involved in the deliberations of the Religious Superiors Conference of Kenya. We speak for 63 Congregations of Men Religious, about 3500 individual priests and brothers, and serve hundreds of thousands of people in parish, educational institutions and community projects. We are attempting to set up private meetings with individual parliamentarians (Muchuki and Mudavadi) from each side of the debate. Our purpose is to underline the suffering of the people. As they say here, “when the elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers”. We also want to push for some particular matters to be resolved by the “new government”. A new Constitution, which shares power more equitably between President and Parliament; an assessment of the land question and its ownership; the creation of work to alleviate the poverty situation; the setting up of social welfare for the poor, the issue of availability of education and medical services are some of the issues of Social Justice that need immediate attention.

Apart from that I have been hearing many appeals for a little help from many of the people of Kibera, in particular, for food, for clothes, in conversation. This as well as meeting some students at the start of the school year has been taking up much time.

So our prayer is that soon peace may “break out” from all of this turbulence. Hopefully the big men too will be held accountable for the destruction that has occurred. Your prayers mat also be the turning point for us. God bless us all “even in the mess”.