May 30th, 2010

On May 18th, 2010 the University of Nairobi was closed indefinitely because of ‘post-student election violence.’ Even after the lessons of the 2007/2008 post election violence, it is amazing that university students, Kenya’s very-soon-to-be leaders, are choosing the way of violence to express themselves.  Something is WRONG with this picture!

(Note: please see the 11 minute video below)
In January of 2008, Kenya experienced serious ethnic turmoil that we chose to call ‘post-election violence.’ At the end of 2007, after the presidential election results were announced, Kenya went into a mini civil war mode. This was a shock and deep disappointment to me a peacemaker in Kenya and Africa. I was a parliamentary candidate during these elections and so one of my main goals during the campaigns was to minimize the traditional high levels of violence perpetrated by candidates. This I was able to attain by focusing on my development agenda instead of character assassinating the other contestants. Since I was not insulting anyone, when other men contestants (I was the only woman campaigning in this constituency and we had a total of 16 candidates), when the male contestants started insulting me, women would shout: “Tell us what you have done for us and what you will do for us and leave Karambu alone! She does not insult you. She tells us what she has done for us and what she will do for us.” This changed the tone of campaigns in my region that year.

Once the coalition government was created after Mr. Kofi Annan came to Kenya, there was a sense of hope, healing and reconciliation among the people. But the leaders had neither the will address the root causes of the crisis nor to resolve the problems emerging after the crisis such as re-settling the Internally Displaced People (IDP). To date we have people living in IDP camps. The Kofi Annan peace team had only one woman.

Lately I have felt quite discouraged about Kenya with regard to the possibilities for development, security and peace for the country as a whole. When the 2007 elections turned the shore of hope into a tidal swamp, rather than sweep the swamp, the new government has added a tremendous weight that has institutionalized corruption and oppressed the economy into seemingly eternal servitude to the voracious appetite of a gluttonous Parliament. However, I have hope, just like there are many other Kenyans out there, those few who can imagine a greater good while still scratching out their own survival.  There are some who still have a vision for community, real independence, for inspired leadership, and for a society not mired by tribalism and classism. And I am one of them.

But the chances of those like me being allowed to emerge as leaders, threatening the status quo and therefore the moneyed politicians as they would have to, seem pitifully small, while the price they would pay for the effort would undoubtedly be supreme. In the face of such a political and social climate, my own vision and hope has been shaken. The enthusiasm with which I came back home to build my country after graduating in 2007, while most other Kenyans chose to stay in USA (who can blame them?), has been dashed. I saw the effects of greed and corruption on the streets and in the terrified eyes of those in the IDP camps in 2008.  And now, I ask myself: where is the hope?  I wonder if the hope was exchanged for a compromise government that prevented civil war.  If so, it was, arguably, a reasonable trade, but what a cost.

No one can imagine how it has felt for me having lived through all this: from all that moved me to run for office in the first place, to the whole election energy and drama, to finding a job and lifestyle in post-election Kenya. It has been like a life in slow motion of one government mess/corruption scandal after another. Reflecting on all this, I have come to the conclusion that hope cannot come from outside. Hope must come from within. And women of Kenya are a critical aspect of this revolution.

Today, the main threats to humanity are no longer wars between states, but those from destabilization within states caused by inequality, poverty, spread of infectious diseases, injustice and marginalization. They come from greed, the scarcity and abuse of natural resources, and from the destruction of the environment. Furthermore, they stem from ethnic, cultural and religious conflicts, and from the systematic violations of human rights. They come from transnational organized crime, from the stockpiling and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and from the illicit trafficking in small arms. Finally, they derive from fundamentalism, especially those forms that proclaim themselves the guardians of the truth and that seek to impose this truth through force, including through terrorist acts.

Africa has had its share of wars in the last 50 years. Starting from the apartheid wars in South Africa to the liberation wars in Angola and Mozambique, Congo, Uganda, Sudan, the oil wars of Nigeria, and now we have the clan wars of Somalia, to name just a few, Africa has been a continent in turmoil. These wars have led to the collapse of political, social and economic structures of nations, untold suffering of people, displacement and the abuse of rights of women, children and other vulnerable groups of people in the continent.

In Kenya, the main threats to our national security and peace emanate from being surrounded by nations who have been at war within their states due to ethnic, cultural and religious conflicts, and from the systematic violations of human rights. Being a neighbor to a nation like Somalia, a country without an operational government, and the resultant emergence of piracy, has implications for the security Kenya. But we also have our own homegrown problems. Having a coalition government that does not work any more and is threatening to lead Kenya down the chaos route of other neighboring countries is a challenge for good governance and democracy. Corruption and high levels of selfishness and greed for power are the leading vices that threaten the core of our nation today. In addition, the lack of political will to address inequities and other social injustices has had a toll on citizen’s trust of our leaders. Our leaders have no sense of excellence and integrity in the way they lead Kenyans. Although the UN, governments, international and local organizations and other organs of the UN and governments have a role to play in contributing to ending these threats, every individual has a role to play out of a common moral sense, to build peaceful co-existence with others wherever we are, and create possibilities for lives of dignity for every person.

When war breaks out anywhere in the world today, targeting the combatants has shifted to civilians – and women and children are finding themselves the ground on which wars are being fought in the world today. Indeed, women’s bodies have become battlefields for ‘demusculing’ the warriors. Women’s experiences of war are thus different from those of men in many ways. Yet, when it comes to negotiating peace accords, women have not been equal participants with men. It is assumed men will adequately speak on behalf of everyone. This is a fallacy that has outlived itself in so far as evidence of peace deals has shown globally, as well as the fact that it is clear that men have no idea how women experience war. They cannot therefore speak on their behalf. A new approach is inevitable.

In the past, women were excluded from participating in peacebuilding processes in their countries because as some people have observed, those who began the war must end it. Today, women are insisting on representation at peace tables everywhere where post-conflict reconstruction is taking place because they have come to realize that those who started the war and fought it cannot be the same ones to bring peace. In view of this, the role of the Security Council Resolution (SCR) 1325 cannot be overemphasized. Sustainable peace depends on the full participation of all citizens affected by the conflict, especially women, in all decision-making to end the violence, prevent recurrence of violent conflict and to protect all civilians.

The full implementation of SCR 1325 and promotion of the Beijing Platform for Action, CEDAW and other supporting instruments have a broad and positive impact on the lives of all people endeavoring to rebuild after war. In addition, the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 is a necessary tool for the prevention of armed conflict and to facilitate inclusion of gender in the ongoing peace and security discourse taking place within the UN and internationally. The need for the full implementation of SCR 1325 and all other Security Council resolutions that address women, peace and security, including ensuring the equal and full participation of women in issues relating to peace and security is critical for Africa today. These instruments are the only ones we have as guiding vehicles that promote a gender perspective and respect for human rights in all peace and security, conflict prevention and management and peacebuilding initiatives anywhere in the world.

The slow pace at which African governments are signing and ratifying these international instruments is a point of concern for me. In view of the fact that women recognize the critical need to be included in these peace processes, and in view of the fact that male-led governments will not be eagerly giving up their power, it behooves women to wake up and take the reins of the security of their children and themselves in their hands. Only African women themselves can change this situation by identifying and working with like minded partners locally and globally to meet the demands of the Beijing process and the subsequent UN Security Council Resolution 1325 that calls for the inclusion of women at all decision making levels in all national regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts.

My interest in raising the issue of women’s leadership in Africa in general and Kenya specifically is therefore inspired by a deep concern that many governments in Africa are reluctant to ratify treaties that enable people to access the protection that these UN instruments offer. Understanding in depth the workings of issues relating to local and international peace and security discourses and putting pressure on our governments to ratify these laws is the challenge that women must take up now if they want their rights as human beings to be recognized. Women need to be pro-active for themselves and their children’s peace, security and development in Africa in general and Kenya in particular.

A second level of my advocacy for women’s leadership relates to the need to create awareness of these instruments among civil society groups Africa as a whole. Working with women in post conflict situations has shown there is a large information and awareness gap that exists among women and civil society groups. Sometimes, our Ministries of Gender and Social Services leaders have no idea of how they can push this agenda with our governments because perhaps they are run by men. Or where women are the leaders, they do not want to rock the boat because they are aligned to certain parties. There is need for putting in place a well informed and concerted effort to fill this in Africa in general and Kenya, specifically.

Working with like-minded entities in Kenya to push the agenda of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 as we celebrate ten years since its inception is a good place to begin. Training from a premise of nonviolence in order to build a culture of peace is critical for Kenya. The goal of peace education through the lens of nonviolence is to inspire people to see the possibility of a world without wars and to consider using nonviolence as a strategy for peacebuilding and responding to violent situations; thus create an alternative voice that challenges the existing tendency to reinforce the male dominant discourse embedded in violence when dealing with issues of conflict and security.

I know it is a challenge to change the paradigm of a people used to seeing violence as a way of life. There is a tendency to wallow in the notion that this is the way things have always been, and they cannot change. However, I believe that change begins with taking the first small step towards a big dream. My dream is to change the premise upon which we build peace and security for our people in Kenya: from one based on violence to one of nonviolence. The way we think about and do conflict management must change to a pro-active way of thinking about building peace by addressing conflictual situations as scenarios human beings have capability to transform into peaceful situations without resulting to violence.

Conflicts are opportunities for creative thinking that opens up spaces for collaboration and partnerships through dialogues that seek common ground solutions that give all sides a chance. These are spaces that women are able to envision as they seek common ground where all their children can grow in peace. In Liberia, South Africa, Rwanda, Eastern Europe, Southern Sudan, and around the world women have time and time again shown they can lead the way to peace and prosperity for everyone. It is time Kenyan women wake up and take the leadership of our nation to the next level.

When the future crop of Kenyan leaders still reverts to violence as a means for peace, it is evident they have learned well from their fathers; but women must rise up and change the tide of violence to one of nonviolence.