|
Where are Kenyans to Turn?
By Kesse Buchanan
Posted January 19, 2008
I am learning that the situation in Kenya is far more complex than
it seems. There are undercurrents of deceit and corruption and
nothing is clear. I don’t know who to believe. Every day the story
seems to change.
The other day I met some young business men from the US with high
contacts up in the government and they shared some information
with me that makes the whole situation seem more internationally
insidious than expected. Even foreign interests play a role in the
political aspects of the election. Things are more complicated
than they seem and I don’t know what to think.
But politics aside, going to the real people on the ground-level
of who this power struggle is affecting I see that things are
worse than I thought as well. It is one thing to hear about the
struggles going on with the higher ups and quite another to listen
to a woman tell me about her narrow escape from rape because of
the conflict.
Right now Kenya is in an eerie tenuous state of almost lawlessness.
I have never felt tension like this in my life and though things
seem fairly normal on the surface, it feels like the air is loaded
with dynamite. There is a government that people say is not
legitimate. There is the opposition trying to encourage people to
dismiss the government. There are thousands of police and GSOs
(Government Service Officers) employed on the streets to keep the
peace, but they act under the government which many deem to have
no authority.
Some of the GSOs are taking advantage of their power in the
lawless situation. They are no better than the looters and
criminals. I have spoken to many people who have told me that they
saw the GSO officers and policemen looting beside the rioters.
There is a shoot to kill order as well and there is no telling how
many deaths have been caused by police who are supposedly trying
to keep the peace. What worries me is that if these people are
benefiting from a lack of peace through looting themselves, what
motivation do they have to prevent this from happening? They have
yet to be paid by the government for their long hours
post-election so some of them seem to be taking matters into their
own hands and furthering the suffering of Kenyans.
“The other day (January 10th) when they were supposed to go to
Uhuru Park, there was a big group of Mungiki outside my compound,”
said a woman who works as a housekeeper that I was talking too.
“The police (GSOs), they fire tear gas at them then run away. They
come back and into my house pretending to look for Mungkiki. They
ask for money. I tell them I do not have. They say they rape me
and my daughter if I do not have money. They say they rape me in
front of my daughter and my daughter in front of me.” She is
visibly shaken and her eyes cloud with tears.
“I go give them more than 12,500 shillings and they go away. I was
lucky because I had my pay money and money from Christmas. I had
it all together to pay school fees and transportation for everyone
home from Christmas.”
She said they went around to all the homes in her compound, 6 in
total and did this with all the women that were in the homes alone.
She does not know how many of them were less fortunate and were
raped because they did not have enough money to prevent it.
There is a huge refugee situation that has received much attention,
but even those who still have homes are not safe in their own
houses.
The most shocking part of this to me is the lack of surprise when
I talk to other Kenyans about what happened. Another woman I spoke
to told me that the GSU is known for that. It almost seems as if
they accept it. There is nothing the people can do. The people
that are supposed to protect them are looting and raping. This is
not an isolated incident. It is widespread and happening
throughout Kenya. The longer this conflict continues, the more
damage is being done to women and children.
It is a very scary thought that the very people charged with
keeping peace might have more to gain by keeping the chaos.
|
