Over one million people died during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and several scores have died in DR Congo, Central African Republic, West African states of Sierra Leon and Liberia, and Asian countries of Indonesia and Pakistan due to power struggles and ideological differences. People dying every other day in large masses like insects has made life so cheap, no more value for it, as some people rise to consecrate themselves as professional killers. In all killings, it was a few and handful fearless, insensitive but violent, and determined individuals who could find one or two pro-people views to spice up their egos -for the overall objective of justifying violence. They make going to a killing spree look like video gaming or movie acting and drama.
Just different moods, different ideas and the different scales at which people operate could cause conflict and violence since one party would want to make his or her views the best. Yet, it would be the diverse nature of people and things that could make life interesting -because of very many options to admire and adopt whenever current ones are felt boring. This would make diversity hardly a source of violence when there is respect for one another and diversity itself, tolerance until position of conflict is otherwise negotiated, co-existence without interferences until permitted, and nurturance of a sense of unity or brotherhood and sisterhood. Actually, these could be the principles to acquire and defend rather than harbor selfish interests. And competitions would be applicable to games and sports or any other set arrangement while cooperation as way of living with others.
However, violence is not the only human affliction: there are poverty, diseases, ignorance and natural calamities and as can be sub-divided to suit different areas suffered. If not managed, they could potentially threaten human existence unless man stands out to rediscover self-responsibility required of him over mother earth and fellow man. This like many past heroes (in its humane sense and meaning), could be the prestigious achievement everyone would work for. Yet if greed and selfish-led war breaks out, the situation could become too unbearable to handle. As a result, there would be all kinds of depressions, of course murders, and loss of human dignity. It would be a true sign that man has failed to take responsibility over fellow man and management of the environment. So if the leadership is insensitive and manifests failures, should the led be the same? If the led were the same then man, overall, would lose out completely -to possible extermination. It would therefore be foolish of man to act that way.
There could be help, perhaps, from elsewhere like the United Nations Organizations (UNO) whenever civil strife breaks out and that war and violence victims may anticipate for it. But such help need to always better come after exhausting immediate means to escape and survive violence. One common feature about such help, as one coming from the UNO, is that it could come after very many have been lost and property destroyed. Incidentally, it might not be similar to an incident involving their own (parent States of the UNO) as the panic to save 9/11 attack victims or to rescue countrymen from troubled areas anywhere in the world. In Rwanda , it took more patience than realistic for foreign intervention during the 1994 genocide. It would be upon this background that Africans must always rise up for one another and make all possible attempts to solve their own problems. It would perhaps be the same reason why one would not find Clintons fit for US presidency for acting as mere observers during Rwandan genocide. With Clintons in power it would be like a reincarnation of bad faith, insecure future for Africa , and revived memories of horror to derail healing processes. Their foreign policy, then, would always be a disgrace.
Men like Kibaki and Odinga have generated trouble for millions –including the 600 deaths, displaced (both internally and externally) and affected business community. Some of us, who have friends and relatives there, feel the pain. Yet, it has been just two people verses millions. Looking at the ratio, really, millions would have had a say and even taken responsive action against the two trouble causers. In fact, it would be these two, who millions of people would stand against. Much as when two elephants fight, the grass suffers, it would be a terrible cost to bare losing several people to death at the expense of just two people. It would rather be cheaper if the two were sacrificed for millions than millions for the two. After all, one Jesus Christ did it for the whole world.
Kenya once known to be model for peace and stability, whose differences were for long kept at bay, was at the end of 2007 tainted to disrepute. The one man mistake had thrown the nation in another Somalia world, where people begin to identify only to their families, clans and tribes. And those who respected elders for their age, could now opt for a new scale to determine respect. The electorate could have thought that Kibaki, being old man of 70+ would be compelled by age-associated health problems to step down after his first term in office. But, as some people say, “power corrupts and does so absolutely”, he could have fallen prey. Since God was the first political head of Israel and later commissioned Moses to represent him on Earth, perhaps the same way, we must entrust responsibility to notable persons of God.
It could not be imagined seeing innocent people suffer, maimed, massacred and moreover unarmed women and children at the hands of satanic people, sort of aliens, lacking a sense of humanism and like beyond humans -whose actions were evil (like devil agents). If the two leaders really had concern for the suffering Kenyans, it would not be difficult for them to restrain their fans from satanic acts. It would have been a matter of stationing themselves at places of violence and campaigning against alien outlook of some of their followers as solutions are sought. And a day or two, would be enough to see calm prevail. This is, understandably, the same approach that Museveni so often used when dealing with Kony rebels. Perhaps, Museveni too could have lent a ‘leaf” to them but chose only to congratulate Kibaki regardless of circumstances amidst which he came to power. The question then is: should Kenyans continue to be led by any of the two (Kibaki or Odinga). If an eye for an eye was bad, God believably would be happy with war on architects of evil and their followers. It would not be different from his own war he has fought with the master-devil for thousands of years.
Kenyan friends sent me messages about how unsafe they were after being besieged by violence. I got reminded about asking some of them to remain and work in Uganda which looked like a joke, but now proves me right to them. They said even buying air time was hard, as they could only save something for a “beep” and at most, send a message. Apart form asking them to remain indoors until sanity returns, I found no tangible assistance to extend. It required supernatural powers to help innocent people out of the devilish areas to safety, as them. But if 30 people could be followed up to church and killed, then you wonder where the supernatural powers could come from and how reliable they could be at that time. The other option was to appeal to his neighboring leaders -one of whom had sent congratulatory message to Kibaki -and in any case, he would have sympathized with him as a member of the incumbents, then the other was an idea of seeking possible help from influential African leaders like Gadaffi whose is known for mediating roles, and one from the unreliable UN who only intervene after scores have died.
But in general, all incumbents share same lives like; fear to lose power to opposition and sufferance from opposition pressure. The best action they could take is of course, to congratulate each other, among other things. It would be to their knowledge that any successes or failures could potentially bring similar sense of affairs, as they might have happened in a neighboring country, to their home countries. How would it then be an incumbent from else where to mediate and what would be the expectations? Could future conflicts entertain such criteria? Most likely, they would ask opposition to shelve themselves in favor of the incumbent. This alone, would have problems in future democratic practices. They would simply lose vitality in preference for war-culture to change guards since no peaceful means –neither democratic nor resignation to show moral sense, would be available while any foreign intervention could be in favor of political “robbers”. In summary of this, solution would best come from the affected people themselves rather than incumbents masquerading as peace-makers. The UNO, too, is another organ that nations would hardly rely on yet if just one of persons from founder nations got hijacked or killed, there would be panic. Even when you sit to watch CNN, BBC and SKY NEWS, at most, it is pretty things which make headlines. They take their small things very seriously compared to the seemingly bigger African issues.
In trying to use democracy as a means to empower people and build confidence in whatever leadership that comes in, the repercussions were not good for Kenya . It could be said that the electorate were taken for fools after realizing fraudulent intentions of the incumbent. And one would also say that if perhaps there were no such things as democratic elections in Kenya as was in Iraq , there would be stability. Democracy, which would have been used as a source of stability and to extend country’s reputation for the same regard, only conspired against Kenyans. Everybody could note that before elections, everything was fine in Kenya , and had a peaceful Christmas while the post-election events only ushered in chaos. What then could be the essence of general elections -especially when organizers under the incumbent continue to mastermind political “robberies”, waste peoples’ time who queue for hours to vote, give people false hope and make senseless of the need to exercise the power to vote? What a waste of time and a disrespect of the masses, this time by one person (the incumbent)! Amusingly, many elections are rigged but with minimal cases that are directly noticeable by the eye or well interpreted directly rather than indirectly by someone distant. The familiar rigging has been the strategy of disabling political parties and their activities, whose engineering begins several years back. Kibaki was probably a poor thief, a learner with no experience yet bold to carry out such acts in broad day light, and a poor Christian -who could not repent and abdicate. It seems the kinds of Pinochet and Surhato (former Chilean and Indonesian leaders, respectively) keep reproducing and sustaining themselves so that at retirement their poor health could foil justice. But can there be justice anyway at such a time where injustice is best interpreted as justice? Can the courts be trusted? Can’t it be wastage of time trusting Kenyan courts? Don’t the Kenyan courts harbor the likes of Kivuites? It is, really, a serious matter for Kenyans in particular and Africans in general.
Could life presidency or its equivalent be an option? After all, it has been a success in Britain under the Queen and Libya under Gadhafi. Could dictatorship be another option -since pre-election Kenya or pre-democratic Iraq had stability? It must be noted that the introduction of democracy and its practice in Iraq too did more harm than good. Is it rather political fraud the problem? Should incumbents first step down and become commoners like any presidential candidate until all votes are counted and president determined accordingly, with one of the Bishops or renown pastor as transitional head of state? Can we really eliminate political fraud? Should all affected governments high the Hague (International Justice Offices) to manage election? Should holy men of God take over the sensitive positions that are testaments to life or death? But there has been incidents were spiritual leaders have been compromised, participated in politics but with anti-people and pro-dictatorial lines of faith, supported repressive regimes and campaigned for them under the pretext of God’s anointment of the supported. What shall we do? Shall we just resort to prayer? But prayer too must be accompanied with both faith and actions. Perhaps, an example of action here would be for the electorate to determine performance records of Church leaders as a basis for political entrustment.
In a news report on Kenyan elections by Butagira and Othieno, (January 3rd 2008, Daily Monitor page1), it was shocking to read Election Chairperson’s (Kivuite) interview saying he did not know who had won elections though accepted being in custody of the valid ballot papers that could give factual results. The first question that flashed my mind, was how became Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Kenya with abject lack of management ethics and morality principles? Interestingly, however, was showing a contrast between so-called president-elect and possible but different account of what records under his custody had. Maybe as quick resolutions, such ballots would be retrieved and counted immediately. Why then, wouldn’t he order for a re-count of ballots rather than look on as the country sinks into violence? The poor man could have been promised heaven and earth whilst forgetting that he was making history that would badly affect whoever uses his name leadership-wise in the eyes of Kenyan society. But it seems to be the general problem in Africa -where the unfit are given responsibly or made fit on the basis of kinship, friendship, sensationalism and success at private business firm or individual self. If Kivuite was a “successful” private business dealer, he would be motivated by profits from any appointment deal. And in all operations, he would lack the critical sense of social responsibility required of him by the position of office held.
Having given all that the following would be very important to address; 1) the need to re-organize new elections as soon as possible under strict, watchful eye of the international community whilst having election officers obtained from reputable members of clergy -with equal numbers of election agents from either sides, 2) the need for an independent electoral commissions whose positions are advertised rather than appointed, that are screened by an all-parties’ committee and inheritable by future presidential candidates or as agreed in the contract, 3) the need to have presidents step down before elections and become commoners like any other presidential candidate, 4) the need to have a stronger African Union that is free from cliques of African leaders because these only support status quo of the repressive regimes, 5) seeking justice for the maimed in which the two presidential candidates must be brought to book and/or at least agree to compensate those who lost property and their loved ones, 6) instituting venting centers like ekimeezas (round-table discussions and debates) across Kenya and with media attention to them, 7) erecting a frontier for genuine peace, unity and brotherhood with branches at all levels and everywhere to preach co-existence, morality and mutual respect -as we continue evolve new reliable UNO values and its parent nations as well as for African Union (AU).
Jacob Waiswa, waiswajacobo@yahoo.co.uk, Kampala
The writer is a situation health analyst with interest in human behavior.
Just different moods, different ideas and the different scales at which people operate could cause conflict and violence since one party would want to make his or her views the best. Yet, it would be the diverse nature of people and things that could make life interesting -because of very many options to admire and adopt whenever current ones are felt boring. This would make diversity hardly a source of violence when there is respect for one another and diversity itself, tolerance until position of conflict is otherwise negotiated, co-existence without interferences until permitted, and nurturance of a sense of unity or brotherhood and sisterhood. Actually, these could be the principles to acquire and defend rather than harbor selfish interests. And competitions would be applicable to games and sports or any other set arrangement while cooperation as way of living with others.
However, violence is not the only human affliction: there are poverty, diseases, ignorance and natural calamities and as can be sub-divided to suit different areas suffered. If not managed, they could potentially threaten human existence unless man stands out to rediscover self-responsibility required of him over mother earth and fellow man. This like many past heroes (in its humane sense and meaning), could be the prestigious achievement everyone would work for. Yet if greed and selfish-led war breaks out, the situation could become too unbearable to handle. As a result, there would be all kinds of depressions, of course murders, and loss of human dignity. It would be a true sign that man has failed to take responsibility over fellow man and management of the environment. So if the leadership is insensitive and manifests failures, should the led be the same? If the led were the same then man, overall, would lose out completely -to possible extermination. It would therefore be foolish of man to act that way.
There could be help, perhaps, from elsewhere like the United Nations Organizations (UNO) whenever civil strife breaks out and that war and violence victims may anticipate for it. But such help need to always better come after exhausting immediate means to escape and survive violence. One common feature about such help, as one coming from the UNO, is that it could come after very many have been lost and property destroyed. Incidentally, it might not be similar to an incident involving their own (parent States of the UNO) as the panic to save 9/11 attack victims or to rescue countrymen from troubled areas anywhere in the world. In Rwanda , it took more patience than realistic for foreign intervention during the 1994 genocide. It would be upon this background that Africans must always rise up for one another and make all possible attempts to solve their own problems. It would perhaps be the same reason why one would not find Clintons fit for US presidency for acting as mere observers during Rwandan genocide. With Clintons in power it would be like a reincarnation of bad faith, insecure future for Africa , and revived memories of horror to derail healing processes. Their foreign policy, then, would always be a disgrace.
Men like Kibaki and Odinga have generated trouble for millions –including the 600 deaths, displaced (both internally and externally) and affected business community. Some of us, who have friends and relatives there, feel the pain. Yet, it has been just two people verses millions. Looking at the ratio, really, millions would have had a say and even taken responsive action against the two trouble causers. In fact, it would be these two, who millions of people would stand against. Much as when two elephants fight, the grass suffers, it would be a terrible cost to bare losing several people to death at the expense of just two people. It would rather be cheaper if the two were sacrificed for millions than millions for the two. After all, one Jesus Christ did it for the whole world.
Kenya once known to be model for peace and stability, whose differences were for long kept at bay, was at the end of 2007 tainted to disrepute. The one man mistake had thrown the nation in another Somalia world, where people begin to identify only to their families, clans and tribes. And those who respected elders for their age, could now opt for a new scale to determine respect. The electorate could have thought that Kibaki, being old man of 70+ would be compelled by age-associated health problems to step down after his first term in office. But, as some people say, “power corrupts and does so absolutely”, he could have fallen prey. Since God was the first political head of Israel and later commissioned Moses to represent him on Earth, perhaps the same way, we must entrust responsibility to notable persons of God.
It could not be imagined seeing innocent people suffer, maimed, massacred and moreover unarmed women and children at the hands of satanic people, sort of aliens, lacking a sense of humanism and like beyond humans -whose actions were evil (like devil agents). If the two leaders really had concern for the suffering Kenyans, it would not be difficult for them to restrain their fans from satanic acts. It would have been a matter of stationing themselves at places of violence and campaigning against alien outlook of some of their followers as solutions are sought. And a day or two, would be enough to see calm prevail. This is, understandably, the same approach that Museveni so often used when dealing with Kony rebels. Perhaps, Museveni too could have lent a ‘leaf” to them but chose only to congratulate Kibaki regardless of circumstances amidst which he came to power. The question then is: should Kenyans continue to be led by any of the two (Kibaki or Odinga). If an eye for an eye was bad, God believably would be happy with war on architects of evil and their followers. It would not be different from his own war he has fought with the master-devil for thousands of years.
Kenyan friends sent me messages about how unsafe they were after being besieged by violence. I got reminded about asking some of them to remain and work in Uganda which looked like a joke, but now proves me right to them. They said even buying air time was hard, as they could only save something for a “beep” and at most, send a message. Apart form asking them to remain indoors until sanity returns, I found no tangible assistance to extend. It required supernatural powers to help innocent people out of the devilish areas to safety, as them. But if 30 people could be followed up to church and killed, then you wonder where the supernatural powers could come from and how reliable they could be at that time. The other option was to appeal to his neighboring leaders -one of whom had sent congratulatory message to Kibaki -and in any case, he would have sympathized with him as a member of the incumbents, then the other was an idea of seeking possible help from influential African leaders like Gadaffi whose is known for mediating roles, and one from the unreliable UN who only intervene after scores have died.
But in general, all incumbents share same lives like; fear to lose power to opposition and sufferance from opposition pressure. The best action they could take is of course, to congratulate each other, among other things. It would be to their knowledge that any successes or failures could potentially bring similar sense of affairs, as they might have happened in a neighboring country, to their home countries. How would it then be an incumbent from else where to mediate and what would be the expectations? Could future conflicts entertain such criteria? Most likely, they would ask opposition to shelve themselves in favor of the incumbent. This alone, would have problems in future democratic practices. They would simply lose vitality in preference for war-culture to change guards since no peaceful means –neither democratic nor resignation to show moral sense, would be available while any foreign intervention could be in favor of political “robbers”. In summary of this, solution would best come from the affected people themselves rather than incumbents masquerading as peace-makers. The UNO, too, is another organ that nations would hardly rely on yet if just one of persons from founder nations got hijacked or killed, there would be panic. Even when you sit to watch CNN, BBC and SKY NEWS, at most, it is pretty things which make headlines. They take their small things very seriously compared to the seemingly bigger African issues.
In trying to use democracy as a means to empower people and build confidence in whatever leadership that comes in, the repercussions were not good for Kenya . It could be said that the electorate were taken for fools after realizing fraudulent intentions of the incumbent. And one would also say that if perhaps there were no such things as democratic elections in Kenya as was in Iraq , there would be stability. Democracy, which would have been used as a source of stability and to extend country’s reputation for the same regard, only conspired against Kenyans. Everybody could note that before elections, everything was fine in Kenya , and had a peaceful Christmas while the post-election events only ushered in chaos. What then could be the essence of general elections -especially when organizers under the incumbent continue to mastermind political “robberies”, waste peoples’ time who queue for hours to vote, give people false hope and make senseless of the need to exercise the power to vote? What a waste of time and a disrespect of the masses, this time by one person (the incumbent)! Amusingly, many elections are rigged but with minimal cases that are directly noticeable by the eye or well interpreted directly rather than indirectly by someone distant. The familiar rigging has been the strategy of disabling political parties and their activities, whose engineering begins several years back. Kibaki was probably a poor thief, a learner with no experience yet bold to carry out such acts in broad day light, and a poor Christian -who could not repent and abdicate. It seems the kinds of Pinochet and Surhato (former Chilean and Indonesian leaders, respectively) keep reproducing and sustaining themselves so that at retirement their poor health could foil justice. But can there be justice anyway at such a time where injustice is best interpreted as justice? Can the courts be trusted? Can’t it be wastage of time trusting Kenyan courts? Don’t the Kenyan courts harbor the likes of Kivuites? It is, really, a serious matter for Kenyans in particular and Africans in general.
Could life presidency or its equivalent be an option? After all, it has been a success in Britain under the Queen and Libya under Gadhafi. Could dictatorship be another option -since pre-election Kenya or pre-democratic Iraq had stability? It must be noted that the introduction of democracy and its practice in Iraq too did more harm than good. Is it rather political fraud the problem? Should incumbents first step down and become commoners like any presidential candidate until all votes are counted and president determined accordingly, with one of the Bishops or renown pastor as transitional head of state? Can we really eliminate political fraud? Should all affected governments high the Hague (International Justice Offices) to manage election? Should holy men of God take over the sensitive positions that are testaments to life or death? But there has been incidents were spiritual leaders have been compromised, participated in politics but with anti-people and pro-dictatorial lines of faith, supported repressive regimes and campaigned for them under the pretext of God’s anointment of the supported. What shall we do? Shall we just resort to prayer? But prayer too must be accompanied with both faith and actions. Perhaps, an example of action here would be for the electorate to determine performance records of Church leaders as a basis for political entrustment.
In a news report on Kenyan elections by Butagira and Othieno, (January 3rd 2008, Daily Monitor page1), it was shocking to read Election Chairperson’s (Kivuite) interview saying he did not know who had won elections though accepted being in custody of the valid ballot papers that could give factual results. The first question that flashed my mind, was how became Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Kenya with abject lack of management ethics and morality principles? Interestingly, however, was showing a contrast between so-called president-elect and possible but different account of what records under his custody had. Maybe as quick resolutions, such ballots would be retrieved and counted immediately. Why then, wouldn’t he order for a re-count of ballots rather than look on as the country sinks into violence? The poor man could have been promised heaven and earth whilst forgetting that he was making history that would badly affect whoever uses his name leadership-wise in the eyes of Kenyan society. But it seems to be the general problem in Africa -where the unfit are given responsibly or made fit on the basis of kinship, friendship, sensationalism and success at private business firm or individual self. If Kivuite was a “successful” private business dealer, he would be motivated by profits from any appointment deal. And in all operations, he would lack the critical sense of social responsibility required of him by the position of office held.
Having given all that the following would be very important to address; 1) the need to re-organize new elections as soon as possible under strict, watchful eye of the international community whilst having election officers obtained from reputable members of clergy -with equal numbers of election agents from either sides, 2) the need for an independent electoral commissions whose positions are advertised rather than appointed, that are screened by an all-parties’ committee and inheritable by future presidential candidates or as agreed in the contract, 3) the need to have presidents step down before elections and become commoners like any other presidential candidate, 4) the need to have a stronger African Union that is free from cliques of African leaders because these only support status quo of the repressive regimes, 5) seeking justice for the maimed in which the two presidential candidates must be brought to book and/or at least agree to compensate those who lost property and their loved ones, 6) instituting venting centers like ekimeezas (round-table discussions and debates) across Kenya and with media attention to them, 7) erecting a frontier for genuine peace, unity and brotherhood with branches at all levels and everywhere to preach co-existence, morality and mutual respect -as we continue evolve new reliable UNO values and its parent nations as well as for African Union (AU).
Jacob Waiswa, waiswajacobo@yahoo.co.uk, Kampala
The writer is a situation health analyst with interest in human behavior.
