KikuyusForChange

On the weekend of 23^rd to 25^th May 2009, kikuyusforchange, in partnership with Nyanza Youth Coalition & Rift Valley Dialogue Forums, convened a meeting for youth-led community groups representing  over 15 ethnic communities drawn from across the country. The event is part of a programme we are calling Regional Dialogue Forums. Other events that have been held under this programme include a peace meeting in Ndeffo, Njoro, in the Rift Valley, conceptualized & hosted by Rift Valley Dialogue Forums, as well as an Agenda 4 discussion meeting in Kisumu conceptualized & hosted by Nyanza Youth Coalition. Both have been held within the last 2 months.  

 

The concept for this particular meeting was developed by kikuyusforchange, who were also the hosts of the meeting. The people who were invited to attend came as representatives of their respective ethnic communities, to discuss whether Agenda 4 could be the key to unlocking ethnic tensions in Kenya.

 

General Background.

There was a total of 170 people attending the discussions on Saturday the 23^rd, with a group of close to 95 people having come in the previous night & slept at Jumuia. From Eastern, we had leaders of community groups from the Kamba, Embu, Meru & Borana communities. From Western, we had representatives of the Luhyas, from the Rift Valley we had representatives of the Kalenjin, Masai & Kikuyu. From Nyanza, we had representatives of the Luos, Kuria & Suba communities. From Coast, we had representatives of the miji kenda & taita. From North Eastern we had representatives of the Somalis, while from Central, we had kikuyus representing the 5 regions of Kiambu, Muranga, Nyandarua, Nyeri & Kirinyaga. We also had Thematic Sectors representatives from the Faith-based organizations, (Christian & Muslim) trade unions, jua kali artisans, professional services and national youth organizations/civil societies.

 

Resource People

Among the people who helped move this discussion along were Paul Muite, PLO Lumumba, Bob Mkangi (Constitutional Review Commissioner), Suzane Gachukia (Media Consultant/Artist), Harun Ndubi (Human Rights), among others, and their ideas were very useful in enabling us tackle various aspects of the discussion. His Excellencies Micheal Ranneberger & Walter Lidner (Ambassadors for America & Germany respectively) also spent part of the Saturday afternoon with us. Maina Kiai did a terrific job of moderating the discussions on Saturday, which was quite something as they were quite emotive. He did this with remarkable firmness whilst ensuring what needed to be said was said & that the discussions stayed on track. 

 

Support

KPTJ (Kenyans for Peace, Truth & Justice), a coalition of over 30 Kenyan & East African legal, human rights & governance organizations that convened immediately after the elections of 2007, facilitated this meeting fully (to the tune of a substantial amount of cash) & they really made it possible to have a comfortable meeting for what was certainly a large group of people. We say  ‘Áhsante sana’ for making it happen and we are extremely grateful for their support. We are especially grateful for their accepting to support something like this that is certainly outside the beaten path.

 

Actual Events:

On Saturday morning, during the first session we went through Agenda 4 with Paul Muite & PLO Lumumba, with a question & answer period on areas that were not clear. This was to help the young leaders present understand Agenda 4 in depth, to enable subsequent discussions and analysis on whether it is a tool that could be used to fight against tribalism.

 

After tea break the group went into 5 breakaway groups and discussed 5 key aspects of ethnicity, which was done through discussing narratives on ethnic:-

1. Stereotypes
2. Victimhood
3. Marginalization
4. Manipulation, &
5. Why, of all the identities we have as Kenyans, the ethnic card is the easiest one to use for political purposes

 

In theses groups things got pretty hot, as different people spoke out about what they, as communities, think of others. Once the groups reconvened the moderator took the team through the groups’ discussions, which were still emotive to a point one person walked out of the meeting! However, gradually participants came to a consensus that the danger of ethnicity is when attacks on an issue are generalized to a tribe/community as the result is for the members of that community to automatically reject & react aggressively against the proponents of that view & their community.

 

It was also agreed that this was the trick used by the political class, such that an issue with an individual politician tends to immediately be translated to an issue with the guilty party’s community, as they tap into ethnic identities and manipulate them for their personal protection. 

 

Immediately after lunch there was a presentation by H.E Ranneberger, the US Ambassador, about Racialism in the US, how it compares to Kenya’s tribalism and why reforms is the way to go for Kenya. The German Ambassador, H.E. Walter Lidner also shared some experiences from Germany on ethnic entitlement/superiority. This was followed by a session of questions on their talk from the plenary before the group moved into suggestions on what the US & German governments should do to help speed up reforms in Kenya (one of them was that they should freeze travel to their countries by all 42 ministers, until reforms are in place).

 

After they left the plenary picked up the discussion on ethnicity, going into solutions to the issues raised in the morning. The result of this session was a list of 20 ideas on activities we can carry out: i.e.

1. Identify & deal with the issue of generalizations on stereotypes
2. Encourage contained venting out sessions within the various communities about others.
3. Take individual responsibility for the things we do to others and/or pin individuals for things that are done to us.
4. Be careful with language & terminologies used while referring to other communities even in our own homes. Focus on the positive sides of other communities in discussions on regional issues-think about our own attitudes towards others and let it be positive. Know how to speak and relate with others. Avoid the issue of people introducing themselves stating where they come from. Do away with tribal chauvinism.
5. Go back to values of nationhood and set up a political ideology to have them implemented-identify a political ideology that will give this generation an identity. Set a political agenda for this country as the youth and stick to it. Carry out massive civic education. Conduct massive campaigns by the youth to enlighten other youths on their role as national stake holders. Get to understand that money shall not buy us change so keep away from politicians who use money power to seek for support.
6. Network more, have inter-ethnic youth group exchanges for better understanding of each other. Encourage social networking.
7. Encourage tools to promote community cohesion
   1. Cultural exchanges
   2. Celebrate & nationalize our individual heroes
   3. Promote intercultural dialogue
   4. Encourage inter religious dialogue

e.       Respect each community for the diversity they bring to the whole

1. Encourage tools to promote community cohesionLet what we take from the forums trickle down to the people back in our communities.
2. Exploit our talents and use them to improve our communities (enlighten the youth on their need to make use of the youth fund, micro finance institutions etc). Encourage online communication
3. Study & learn from our various histories but not let it hold us back, irrespective of what happened in the past we can change the destiny of this nation; – accept the historical injustices but do not dwell on them .
4. Promote inter marriages.
5. Encourage our communities to venture out and settle elsewhere amongst other communities.
6. Rethink and advocate for review of the boundary divides outside ethnic identities.
7. Let these forums touch also on our higher learning institutions. Integrate schools in creating awareness to our students on the importance of cohesion.
8. Create a people-friendly Agenda 4 document & let it go to the people for them to know how it affects them so that come 2012 they will make informed choices.
9. Encourage the church leaders to not only minister to the people of their tribes but also reach out to others irrespective of where their churches/ ministries are located.
10. Confront ethnicity at the national level by holding everyone who makes negative comments about other communities to account
11. Be sensitive to other communities by standing up for them. Get to know and understand other communities.
12. Use the media to reach more people.
13. Build trust with each other.

 

On Sunday we started the day by going through some of the results of the PEV in Kisumu, and the pictures presented showed the number of young people killed in Kisumu after the disputed elections, and the issue was how this particular issue has never been raised nationally. The group got to realize the need to nationalize our issues and not let them be dealt with by our leaders as if they only affected one community.

 

After tea we broke out into groups again, this time per province, & each group discussed the following 4 questions:

a)       What specific activities can be done by each groups, in a ‘costless’ & regular basis, locally, and by doing them together and simultaneously, develop national pressure on the political class to implement Agenda 4 items?

b)       How can these activities be sustained in partnership with others while maintaining a common focus?

c)       How can we develop this meeting into a network that is nationally alive, but local, that works together but independently, that encompasses all the thematic sectors in each region, as a platform for pushing for change from ethnocentric political agendas to issue-driven politics?

d)       How can we encourage each other despite different circumstances & environments, as well as watch out for each other?

 

Each province came up with suggestions on 3-4 activities that they will go back & implement in their regions, and there was agreement that progress on this would be shared through a central coordination office, so that everyone was up-to-date with what is happening. We also agreed on a couple of activities we will do together nationally, as well as activities that we can do in each region simultaneously, to nationalize what we are doing.

 

The meeting dispersed after lunch. A much more comprehensive is being developed and will be posted on this site once ready

 

An immediate outcome of that meeting was the expansion of our network so that kikuyusforchange is now in a position to work with like-minded youth-led initiatives from nearly every part of the country.

Tags: Muite, Nyanza Youth Coalition, PLO, Youth Led Initiatives