Peace, Reconciliation in Kenya
While some still look to cast blame in Kenya, is appears that the narrative in that country, which saw an explosion of unexpected violence after several years in which it appeared that the country would be a model for all of Africa, has turned to reconciliation. Of course to have true reconciliation, there will have to be a process of determining what went wrong, and thus who or what was responsible. The new parliament and cabinet prepare to sit in the new coalition government this week and set about the hard work of governing after the chaos. The decisions they make would go a long way toward determining whether Kenya and its people are able to move forward.
More touchy will be what to do about those who engaged in violence, fomented riots, urged others to harm and maim and kill. In a country further removed from the razor’s edge, the obvious answer, which some even now advocate, is rigorous prosecution. But the question then becomes whether or not the legal system, police forces, and general bureaucratic apparatus is prepared to engage in the sorts of investigation and prosecution that would be called for, and whether doing so would not lead to more convulsions of violence across the country. prosecution in these cases cannot be selective, and it cannot go after the rank and file at the expense of those whose will was being carried out. And if those whose will was being carried out are still in the power structure — and we can rest assured that they are — won’t prosecuting them almost inevitably lead to more paroxysms of the same violence, pursued along ethnic lines even if the ultimate goal is political gain, from which the country is trying to recover?
This is not to advocate against demanding accountability for lawlessness and murderous behavior. But it is to take pause and realize just how formidable the task ahead is. In the end, perhaps the only real solution is to continue to develop democratic systems, rule of law, and accountability from leaders, and to ensure that those leaders do not grow so powerful that the will of the people becomes secondary to protecting their fiefdoms.